List of Sanrio characters

This is a list of Sanrio characters. Sanrio is a Japanese company that is specialized in making characters, and sells and licenses various products branded with these characters. One of their most successful and best known characters is Hello Kitty.

Characters

Badtz-Maru

Badtz-Maru is a penguin. He is one of the few Sanrio characters that is marketed to both males and females. In Japanese "badtz" (batsu) is a term for "X", the cross signifying a wrong answer. "Maru" means circle or "O", and signifies a correct answer. Thus, his name literally means "wrong-correct," and is frequently represented by "XO". Badtz-Maru has many different facial expressions and poses, but he is classically recognized for pulling one eye down and sticking out his tongue, a gesture akin to sticking out one's tongue.

Badtz-Maru has gone through many product lines since his release at Sanrio. While he has many fewer releases than Hello Kitty, he has been a staple character found in almost all stores worldwide. He has been portrayed as an astronaut, motorcyclist, DJ, camouflage monster, basketball player, boxer, and others. His products range from typical stationery supplies (e.g. pens, notebooks, erasers, pencil cases ...) to more novel items (e.g. CD players, guitars, license plate frames ...).

Badtz-Maru was the official mascot for the 2006 FIBA World Championship of basketball, which was held in Japan.

Charmmy Kitty

Charmmy Kitty is Hello Kitty's pet cat. She resembles Hello Kitty but has more cat-like features. Her name came from the word "Charm" as she wears the key to Hello Kittys jewelry box around her neck. Papa gave her to Hello Kitty as a gift. She has a younger sister named Honey Cute.

Chibi-maru

Chibimaru is a fictional puppy and one of the Sanrio characters. He was introduced to the world on February 2, 2003. He's very curious and does tricks for a hobby. He spends time inside his owners bag and goes to many places. He is one of three triplets, the other siblings being Chidi-Maru & Chifi-Maru.

Chococat

Main article: Chococat

Chococat is drawn as a black cat with huge black eyes, four whiskers, and like his counterpart Hello Kitty, no mouth. His name comes from his chocolate-coloured nose. Like other Sanrio characters, he appears on a variety of merchandise, including stationery, coffee mugs, plush toys, bath towels, etc.

When Sanrio releases new Chococat lines, the background colors and designs, Chococat's collar and fur color, and his accessories and friends are often altered. Chococat was originally pictured with a blue collar, but he has since been depicted wearing different colored collars, scarves, and even a lei. Sanrio has also produced new Chococat products that portray him in a greyish-brown color. In the Momoberry version, he is pink with a top hat, bow tie, and cane. Line names are often heavily relied upon in internet sales descriptions.

Cinnamoroll

Cinnamoroll is a white puppy with long ears that enable him to fly, blue eyes, and a plump and curly tail that resembles a cinnamon roll. He starred in his own anime movie which was released in Autumn 2007. Some people mistake Cinnamoroll for a rabbit because of his long ears and rabbit-like looks.Cinnamoroll was created in 2001.

Deery Lou

Deery Lou is a character created by Sanrio in 2002. He is a brown fawn. His birthday is January 8th.

Keroppi Hasunoue

Keroppi Hasunoue (はすの上 けろっぴ, Hasunoue Keroppi) is a frog character with large eyes and a V-shaped mouth. Keroppi has appeared in two video games: Kero Kero Keroppi no Bouken Nikki and Kero Kero Keroppi no Daibouken. Keroppi was created in 1988 and has been 'going green' ever since.

Hello Kitty

Main article: Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty (ハローキティ, Harō Kiti) is the best-known of Sanrio's fictional characters . Hello Kitty is a very simply drawn character who was created in 1974 by the Sanrio Company in Tokyo, Japan. Registered in 1976, Hello Kitty is now a globally known trademark. Hello Kitty has been marketed in the United States from the beginning and has held the position of U.S. children's ambassador for UNICEF since 1983. The brand rose to greater prominence during the late 1990s when several celebrities such as Mariah Carey adopted Hello Kitty as a fashion statement. New products featuring the character can be found in virtually any American department store and Hello Kitty was once featured in an advertising campaign of the retail chain Target.

Kuromi

Kuromi (クロミ, Kuromi) is the rival of My Melody from the anime Onegai My Melody. She is a white rabbit-like creature, wearing a black jester's hat with a pink skull on the front and a black "devil" tail in the place of a normal rabbit's tail. Kuromi's appearance also looks similar to those of cartoon characters from the 1920s and 1930s. Goods featuring Kuromi first appeared in Japan in July 2005. She has three image songs all sung by her seiyū, Junko Takeuchi.

Landry

Landry is a fictional little boy raccoon born on December 8, 1999 created by the Japanese toy company, Sanrio. He loves to wash anything he can get his hands on. His best friend is a rubber duck named "Pea". Landry's hobbies include dancing and running on top of his tub, sliding, taking Pea for walks, and listening to music. (Mozart is his favorite). Landry loves to eat donuts, sausages, nuts and ice-cream, but chocolate is his very favorite.

Little Twin Stars

Little Twin Stars is a pair of characters. The little brother is called Kiki, and the elder sister is called Lala. Kiki has blue hair, while Lala has pink hair (sometimes, Kiki's hair is brown, while Lala's hair is blonde). They were introduced in 1975 and enjoyed popularity in the early 1980s.

The characters make cameo appearances in 2004 on the front cover of Tommy February6's second album Tommy Airline and in her video for the song "MaGic in youR Eyes", and in one of the Sanrio Unico movies.

My Melody

My Melody looks like a rabbit and always wears a red or pink hood. It is especially popular in Asia and can be found on children's toys and merchandise. My Melody was released in 1975 and the first related merchandise was released at the end of that year. At first she was mostly marketed toward young girls, but like Hello Kitty her popularity has increased within all age groups, especially in Asia.

When first released she was the Little Red Riding Hood character in a version of the story featuring all animal characters. The name My Melody first appeared in 1976 and soon the connection to Little Red Riding Hood all but disappeared, with the exception of a series of Little Red Riding Hood-era goods which were re-released in 2000. After 1976, her animal friends, like Flat, Piano, Rhythm and others, started appearing. The initial My Melody goods featured a red hood but as of 1977 merchandise featuring a pink hood was released, which would be the norm for My Melody goods for several years to come.

My Melody's popularity waned toward the late 80s, and the only goods produced were candy. In 1996, during Ichigo Shinbun's reader survey, My Melody came out amongst the most popular characters and as a result standard merchandise started re-appearing as of February, 1997 featuring the original red hood. Goods with the pink hood were re-released in 1999 and as of 2000 there were goods released with multiple color hoods.

My Melody has been turned into a Pullip doll, like Hello Kitty and Cinnamoroll. The doll includes a Flat toy.

On April 3, 2005, an anime series produced by TV Osaka started to air on TXN television stations, see Onegai My Melody (おねがいマイメロディ). This anime also recently spawned a video game for the Nintendo DS titled Onegai My Melody: Yume no Kuni no Daibouken (おねがいマイメロディ～夢の国の大冒険～). The game relies heavily on a feature of the DS which requires the player to blow air into the microphone of the unit. You guide My Melody through timed levels by jumping and using her umbrella to float around and avoid enemies. The game also has unlockable content, such as music, pictures, and mini games. Currently, Sanrio has no plans to release this series in North America.

My Melody also appears in the The Adventures of Hello Kitty & Friends. She, however, is mouthless there, and her rival doesn't make an appearance.

A second game was also released for the Nintendo DS titled My Melody Angel Book ~Denshitechou & Enjoy Game~ (マイメロディエンジェルブック～電子手帳＆エンジョイゲーム～). The games primary function is as a day planner designed for young girls to keep track of appointments, class schedules, and mini diary entries.

On March 26, 2008 a special Japanese music compilation album titled "I LOVE 30 - MY MELODY" from Tearbrdige Records was released with the red riding hood My Melody character in various artwork by groovisions.

Patapata Peppy

Patapata Peppy is an owl-based character created by Sanrio in 1991 but is currently discontinued with unknown reasons. It is notable for being one of the few Sanrio characters that was displayed with a sketchy look. His birthday is August 26, born in Moonrise Forest deep in the heart of the North Woods. It is often seen carrying a cherry in its mouth or nut as they are his favourite foods. This character gained mild popularity and did not have its own anime or cartoon as it was a product-exclusive character. It was created by Matsubayashi Atsushi, who no longer works in Sanrio and has his own animation company.

Pekkle

Pekkle is a fictional cartoon duck. He is a small white duck with a blue t-shirt with the letter P on it.

Picke Bicke

Picke Bicke is a fictional cartoon mouse, he was made up on January 1 in Sanrio Puroland's Flower Garden and introduced to the public in 1993. He is a small, rounded brown mouse with a cream-colored underbelly, long red ribboned tail, and large blue ears, Picke Bicke is as playful as he is curious. He makes new friends all the time, including butterflies and frogs, and describes himself as "100% Mouse". Picke Bicke's hobbies include mimicry and trying to "fly" with his large, wing-like ears,though he never rises more than a few inches.

Pochacco

Pochacco is drawn as a white dog with black floppy ears, but no visible mouth. He is often dressed in athletic attire, as he has a sporty and playful personality.

Purin

Purin is a golden retriever dog character first introduced in 1996. Purin (or Pudding Dog) was born on a sunny day in April 16th 1996. He is a good natured golden retriever dog. Purin lives in his own basket at his owner's house. His trademark is his brown beret that is always on top of his head. Purin's interest is collecting shoes, which includes his owner's father's leather shoes, his owner's mother's sandals, etc. He likes to hide them.

Purin loves drinking milk and eating soft food and pudding that his mother makes. He also spends a lot of time sleeping or hanging out with his best friends. Purin's best friends include a hamster called Muffin, a mouse named Scone, and a bird who loves to steal Purin's hat.

He was twice voted Most Popular Sanrio Character in Strawberry News Magazine, a magazine published by Sanrio.

Spottie Dottie

Spottie Dottie is one of the many characters of the Sanrio family. Spottie Dottie was born March 21 1990. She is a Dalmatian and is a fashion expert from New York City. She can be usually spotted wearing a trademark pink bow and frilly pink dress with roses.

Tuxedo Sam

Tuxedo Sam is a cute penguin character from the Sanrio company, one of the "friends" of Hello Kitty. Sam is a plump blue and white penguin who wears a red bow-tie and a round white sailor cap with a red ribbon.