List of Sanrio characters (2024)

This is a list of some characters from Sanrio, a Japanese company specializing in creating cute characters. Beginning in 1962, Sanrio sells and licenses products branded with these characters and has created over 400 characters, with the most successful and best known being Hello Kitty.

These are some of the most popular characters. For more Sanrio characters, see the Characters category.

Badtz-Maru

Bad Badtz-Maru (バッドばつ丸, Baddo batsu maru) is a male penguin with spiky hair. His birthday is April 1 (April Fool's Day). 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 figuratively means "wrong-correct," and is frequently represented by "XO". Badtz-Maru has many different facial expressions and poses, but a common expression is of pulling one eye down and sticking out his tongue, a gesture equivalent to blowing a raspberry.

Charmmy Kitty

Charmmy Kitty (チャーミーキティ, Chāmī kiti) is Hello Kitty's pet cat. She resembles Hello Kitty but has more cat-like features. Her name comes from the word "Charm" as she wears the key to Hello Kitty's jewelry box around her neck. She debuted in 2004, alongside the Sugarbunnies.

Chococat

Chococat (チョコキャット, Chokokyatto) is a black cat with huge black eyes, four whiskers, and like his counterpart Hello Kitty, no mouth. His name comes from his chocolate-colored nose. Chococat was first released in 1996 and his birthday is May 10. His whiskers are able to pick up information like antennae, so he is often the first to know about things.

Cinnamoroll

Cinnamoroll (シナモロール, Shinamorōru), born on March 6, 2002, on a cloud far up in the sky, is a white and chubby puppy with long ears that enable him to fly. He has blue eyes, pink cheeks and a plump and curly tail that resembles a cinnamon roll. When he was first created by Sanrio in 2002, he was called Baby Cinnamon, but a year later he was "renamed" Cinnamoroll, to remedy any problems with the registration of the mark overseas. However he is now called in both ways, but also more simply Cinnamon. As of 2007, Cinnamoroll's original name "Baby Cinnamon" is no longer being used by Sanrio and is officially called "Cinnamoroll".

Dear Daniel

Dear Daniel (ダニエル・スター, Danieru sutā) is a sensitive and naïve little boy character from the Japanese company Sanrio. Dear Daniel is Hello Kitty's childhood friend and also her boyfriend. His birthday is May 3rd, which makes his zodiac sign Taurus. He's the same age as Kitty. Daniel and Kitty have known each other since they were babies. He gave a pet hamster named Sugar to Kitty. He finds wonder in even the smallest things and pays special attention to how he looks – very trendy!

Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty (ハローキティ, Harō Kiti) is the best-known of Sanrio's fictional characters, created in 1974. Hello Kitty is drawn simply with a trademark red bow. Registered in 1975, 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.

Jewelpet

Jewelpet (ジュエルペット, Juerupetto) are a group of animal characters created in 2008 as a joint venture between Sanrio and Sega Toys. There are 39 characters in the franchise and each of the animals are named after famous birthstones, minerals, and jewels. They each have a different kind of sparkling jewel for their eyes, used for casting special magic called "Jewel Flash". They belong to magicians and live in a mystical place called Jewel Land, attend a school to learn more about magic, and each of them are paired with their own human partners. The main Jewelpets in the series are Ruby the white Japanese Hare (whose birthday is on July 29), Sapphie the blue and yellow Cavalier King Charles spaniel (whose birthday is on September 1), Garnet the pink Persian Cat (whose birthday is on January 8), and Labra the pink and white polar bear (whose birthday is on December 27).

Keroppi

Keroppi(はすの上 けろっぴ, Hasunoue Keroppi) (also known as Kerokerokeroppi) is a frog character with large eyes and a V-shaped mouth. Keroppi loves adventure, and his bubbly personality makes him popular around Donut Pond. He has a brother called Koroppi and a sister called Pikki. Most often he is seen with his little snail friend Den Den, always tagging along a little behind. Keroppi is a fantastic swimmer and singer (but not at the same time).

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 "imp" tail in the place of a normal rabbit's tail. Kuromi's appearance also looks similar to that of classic cartoon characters from the 1920s and 1930s. Goods featuring Kuromi first appeared in Japan in 2005. She has three image songs all sung by her voice actress, Junko Takeuchi.

Little Twin Stars

Little Twin Stars is a pair of characters made by Sanrio. The little brother is called Kiki while 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). Both have a birthday of December 24. They were introduced in 1975 and enjoyed popularity in the early 1980s.

Mimmy

Mimmy Whiteis Hello Kitty's cute twin sister and playmate. Mimmy wears a yellow bow on her right ear while Kitty wears a red bow on her left and is also mouthless like her sister. Mimmy seems to have a slightly less outgoing, but more polite and thoughtful personality than Kitty does, and they seem to highly enjoy each other's company. Anyone would describe Mimmy as shy and very girly. Mimmy's hobbies include sewing and dreaming of marriage.

My Melody

My Melody is a little girl rabbit who is always shown wearing either a red or pink hood that covers her ears. She is often portrayed as humble, and rather oblivious. Her birthday is on January 18. My Melody's rival is Kuromi in Onegai My Melody.

Pochacco

Pochacco (po-cha-ko) is one of the many fictional characters produced by the Japanese corporation Sanrio. He 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. Pochacco loves basketball and soccer, and around the mid-1990s he took up skateboarding. Although Pochacco walks upright, he still has a hard time and trips often, usually resulting in head injuries and an accumulation of bandages. He was born on February 29th on a leap year.

Pompompurin

Pompompurin (or Pudding Dog) is a good-natured Golden Retriever dog character introduced by the Japanese company Sanrio in 1996. Purin was born on a sunny day on April 16, 1996. Pompompurin lives in his own basket in the entrance hall of his sister-owner's house. His trademark is his brown beret that is always on top of his head.