Sanrio is the Japanese company behind Hello Kitty, and behind a few hundred other characters most people would recognise from a pencil case without knowing their names. A floppy-eared puppy who flies. A rabbit in a pink hood. Her rival in a black jester hood. A golden retriever in a beret. An egg yolk that would rather not. They don't come from one show or one story. Each was designed first as a character for stationery and gifts, and given a personality, a home town and a circle of friends later.
That's why there's no single "Sanrio cast". This guide sorts the best-known characters by era: the 1970s classics, the 1980s and 1990s expansion, and the modern characters from 2000 onward. It gives a debut year and species where they're well established, and leaves them out where they aren't. If you're after Hello Kitty's own family and friends, she has a page of her own.
- Company
- Sanrio Co., Ltd. (Tokyo)
- Founded
- 1960, by Shintaro Tsuji
- First characters
- Hello Kitty and Patty & Jimmy (1974)
- Fan poll
- Sanrio Character Ranking (since 1986)
- Theme parks
- Sanrio Puroland (Tokyo), Harmonyland (Oita)
The 1970s classics
Sanrio started life selling silk, then gifts, and only began building its own characters in the 1970s. The ones from that first decade are still the backbone of the brand. They're simple, round and easy to draw, and most of them have barely changed in fifty years.
Hello Kitty
Debut 1974 · Cat (personified)
Kitty White is Sanrio's flagship: a cheerful little girl from the London suburbs with a red bow over her left ear and, famously, no mouth. Sanrio's explanation is that she speaks from the heart, so whoever looks at her can read their own mood into her face. She has a twin sister, Mimmy, and a long-time sweetheart, Dear Daniel. Fifty years on, she's still the face on most of the company's products.
Patty & Jimmy
Debut 1974 · Human children
Patty and Jimmy are two neighbourhood friends, a girl and a boy, from the same year as Hello Kitty. They're among the very few early Sanrio characters drawn as people rather than animals. You'll mostly find them today on retro reissues, where their 1970s storybook look is the whole appeal.
My Melody
Debut 1975 · Rabbit
My Melody is a gentle rabbit girl from the forest of Mariland. She wears a pink hood her grandmother made, loves baking almond pound cake with her mother, and is best friends with Flat, a little blue mouse. She's sweet to the point of naivety. Her 2005 anime gave her a rival, Kuromi, and the two have been marketed as a pair ever since.
Little Twin Stars
Debut 1975 · Star children
Kiki and Lala are twins born on a faraway star who came down to Earth to learn how to shine brighter. Lala, the older sister, is gentle and dreamy, with pink hair. Kiki, her younger brother, is curious and tends to rush in, and has blue hair. Their pastel colours made them a defining look of 1970s and 1980s Sanrio, and they still have a devoted following.
Tuxedosam
Debut 1979 · Penguin
Tuxedosam (Sam to his friends) is a portly, well-mannered penguin in a sailor hat and bow tie. He's said to own 365 bow ties, one for every day of the year. He's a little vain about his looks and a little clumsy in practice, which keeps him from being too proper. He's a cult favourite among fans of older Sanrio.
The 1980s and 1990s favourites
In the 1980s and 1990s Sanrio widened its range well beyond sweet girls and pastel colours. It added goofy boys, sporty dogs, a grumpy penguin and a half-fish comedian. Many of today's most popular characters come from this stretch.
Hangyodon
Debut 1985 · Fish-man
Hangyodon is half fish, half man, and wholly a comedian. He wants to be a hero and make people laugh, but his plans tend to go wrong and he can come across as a little lonely. That lovable-loser quality makes him one of the more distinctive classic characters, and he's had a big revival among adult fans.
Marron Cream
Debut 1986 · Rabbit
Marron Cream is a soft, pastel bunny from Sanrio's mid-1980s line, drawn in the light, delicate style of the period. She was a minor character for years before retro collections brought her back. Fans of vintage Sanrio prize her for exactly that soft 1980s look.
Keroppi
Debut 1988 · Frog
Keroppi (full name Kerokerokeroppi) is a cheerful frog who lives at Donut Pond with his family. He's a strong swimmer, likes to sing and is always up for an adventure with his pond friends. His big round eyes and bright green colouring made him one of the most recognisable Sanrio boys of the late 1980s and 1990s.
Pochacco
Debut 1989 · Dog
Pochacco is a white puppy with floppy black ears who loves sport, especially basketball and football, and banana ice cream. He's curious, easygoing and always ready to try something new. After some quieter decades he has climbed back near the top of the Sanrio rankings in recent years.
Pekkle
Debut 1990 · Duck
Pekkle is a small white duck who loves to sing and dance, even though he isn't especially good at either. He's kind-hearted and a bit clumsy, the friend who'll happily make a fool of himself to cheer everyone up. He was a staple of early-1990s Sanrio goods.
Badtz-Maru
Debut 1993 · Penguin
Badtz-Maru is a spiky-haired little penguin with a scowl and a mischievous streak. He lives in Gorgeous Town, has a pet alligator called Pochi, and dreams of becoming important one day, preferably the boss. Sanrio designed him as an antidote to all the sweetness, and his attitude made him a hit with kids who found Hello Kitty too cute.
Pompompurin
Debut 1996 · Golden retriever
Pompompurin is a laid-back golden retriever with a brown beret. He loves milk, soft things, naps and his mother's pudding, and he collects shoes, which he tends to hide. He's slow-moving and contented, the kind of character you put on things meant to be cosy. He's been a top-five fixture in the rankings for years.
Chococat
Debut 1996 · Cat
Chococat is a black cat with big glossy eyes, named after the colour of chocolate. His whiskers are said to work like antennae, so he picks up the news before anyone else. He's curious, clever and a little absent-minded. He was especially popular in the US in the 2000s.
Corocorokuririn
Debut 1998 · Hamster
Kuririn is a round little hamster who loves sunflower seeds and is part of a large hamster family and friend group. He arrived at the height of Japan's late-1990s hamster boom, and he's remembered fondly by fans who grew up then.
Dear Daniel
Debut 1999 · Cat (personified)
Daniel Starr is Hello Kitty's childhood friend and sweetheart. He spent years travelling with his photographer father before coming back to London. He likes dancing and photography and is drawn as a slightly taller, blue-clad match for Kitty. He mostly appears alongside her rather than on his own.
My Sweet Piano
Sheep · My Melody's friend
Piano is a pink sheep and one of My Melody's closest friends in Mariland. She's soft, affectionate and inclined to follow My Melody everywhere. She communicates mostly in sheepish sounds rather than words.
Monkichi
Monkey
Monkichi is a cheerful monkey from Sanrio's older catalogue, drawn in a warm, simple storybook style. He's a minor character today, but he turns up in retro collections and character encyclopaedias.
Modern Sanrio characters (2000s onward)
Since 2000 Sanrio has been making characters for two very different audiences: young children, and adults who grew up with the brand. Cinnamoroll and Kuromi became global superstars. Gudetama and Aggretsuko took on burnout and office life.
Cinnamoroll
Debut 2001 · Puppy
Cinnamoroll is a white puppy with long ears that let him fly and a curly tail like a cinnamon roll, which is where the owner of Café Cinnamon got his name. He floated down from the sky one day and has lived at the café ever since, napping and making friends with a gang of other puppies. He's shy, gentle and endlessly cuddly. In the 2020s he has been the clear winner of Sanrio's fan poll.
Kuromi
Debut 2005 · My Melody's rival
Kuromi wears a black jester hood with a pink skull and calls herself My Melody's rival, mostly over grudges My Melody doesn't even remember. She leads a biker gang called Kuromi's 5, writes in her diary every day and has a sidekick named Baku. Underneath the punk attitude she's a romantic who loves cute things. She first appeared in the 2005 anime Onegai My Melody, and that mix of edge and softness has made her one of Sanrio's biggest stars with teenagers and adults.
U*SA*HA*NA
Rabbit
U*SA*HA*NA is a bright, energetic bunny who loves dancing and flowers. Her name combines the Japanese words for rabbit and flower. She belongs to the early-2000s wave of cheerful, colour-saturated designs. She's a side character today, but fans of that era remember her well.
Charmmy Kitty
Debut 2004 · Persian cat
Charmmy Kitty is Hello Kitty's pet: a white Persian cat who was a gift from Papa White. She wears a key around her neck that opens Kitty's jewellery box. She was aimed at older girls and young women, with a more grown-up, glamorous look than Kitty.
Wish me mell
Rabbit
Mell is a gentle rabbit girl who wants to help people share their real feelings, usually through letters. She's one of the softer, quieter characters of Sanrio's 2010s line.
Bonbonribbon
Rabbit
Bonbonribbon is a bunny with a big ribbon on her head. She dreams of becoming a star and adores anything sparkly. She's one of several 2010s characters built around fashion and dress-up.
Kirimi-chan
Debut 2013 · Salmon fillet
Kirimi-chan is a cheerful slice of salmon. She came from a 2013 Sanrio contest for food-themed characters. She's proud of being fish and wants everyone to love fish as much as she does. Her deadpan design is part of a broader Sanrio trend toward odder, more self-aware characters.
Gudetama
Debut 2013 · Egg yolk
Gudetama is a lazy egg yolk who lies on a plate, sighs and refuses to do anything. The name plays on the Japanese word for "limp". It came out of the same food-character contest as Kirimi-chan, finished behind her, and then became far more popular, because its apathy hit a nerve with tired adults. Netflix gave it a live-action/animated series, Gudetama: An Eggcellent Adventure, in 2022.
Aggretsuko
Debut 2015 · Red panda
Retsuko is a polite young red panda who works in accounting and, once her shift is over, vents her frustration by belting out death metal at karaoke. She was made for working adults, and her Netflix anime, which ran from 2018 to 2023, dealt frankly with bad bosses, dating and burnout. She's probably the best-known Sanrio character that most people don't think of as Sanrio.
Cogimyun
Wheat-flour girl
Cogimyun is a small, squishy character made of wheat flour dough. She's a bit clumsy and easily flustered but works hard at everything. She's part of Sanrio's run of food-based characters, with a soft, kneadable look to match.
Mewkledreamy
Cat · Anime lead
Mew is a lilac cat from the stars who teams up with a schoolgirl to travel into people's dreams. She's the lead of Mewkledreamy, a 2020 anime aimed at young girls. In Japan she's one of the more recent Sanrio characters built around a TV series rather than stationery.
The Sanrio Character Ranking
Since 1986, Sanrio has run an annual fan vote called the Sanrio Character Ranking. It's open to fans in Japan and, in recent years, around the world. Results come out in early summer. They aren't just for fun: the company uses them to decide which characters get the most promotion, collaborations and shelf space in the year ahead.
A few patterns hold steady:
- Cinnamoroll has finished first several years in a row in the 2020s and is the dominant name of the modern era.
- Hello Kitty is always in the upper places, but as the brand's mascot she's no longer guaranteed to win.
- Kuromi, My Melody, Pompompurin and Pochacco make up most of the rest of the top tier. Pochacco's recent climb surprised long-time fans.
- Older characters such as Hangyodon and Tuxedosam have periodic surges when fans campaign for them, which is part of the fun.
What makes a Sanrio character work
Most Sanrio characters follow the same quiet formula, and it says a lot about character design in general:
- Simple, readable shapes. A Sanrio character has to work as a two-centimetre sticker as well as a giant plush. Round heads, small features and one strong accessory (a bow, a hood, a beret) do most of the work.
- A personality you can sum up in a line. The lazy egg, the punk rival, the sporty pup. Detailed backstories exist, but they're optional.
- Friends, not plots. Characters come with neighbours, siblings and pets rather than story arcs, so they can be dropped into any product or collaboration.
- Room for the viewer. Hello Kitty's missing mouth is the extreme case, but most Sanrio faces are deliberately calm, so people project their own feelings onto them.
That's a very different approach from story-led franchises like Pokémon or My Little Pony, where characters grow out of games and TV shows. It's closer to the greeting-card origins of the Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake, both of which also started as artwork before they had a cartoon.
Where to meet them on screen
Sanrio characters live mostly on merchandise, but there are good ways to see them in motion:
- Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures — short, free animated episodes on Sanrio's YouTube channel featuring Kitty, My Melody, Kuromi, Cinnamoroll, Pompompurin, Keroppi and Badtz-Maru together.
- Hello Kitty Island Adventure — a cosy life-sim game, first released on Apple Arcade in 2023, where you befriend the main Sanrio cast.
- Aggretsuko (Netflix) — the best place to start if you're an adult. It's genuinely funny about work.
- Onegai My Melody — the 2005 anime that introduced Kuromi, for fans who want the rivalry from the beginning.
Fans who come to Sanrio through anime often find the Mewkledreamy and My Melody series the easiest way in.
All Sanrio character names A–Z
A quick alphabetical reference for every character on this page, with debut year where it's well established.
A–B
- Aggretsuko (Retsuko) — 2015, red panda
- Badtz-Maru — 1993, penguin
- Bonbonribbon — rabbit
C
- Charmmy Kitty — 2004, Persian cat
- Chococat — 1996, cat
- Cinnamoroll — 2001, puppy
- Cogimyun — wheat-flour girl
- Corocorokuririn — 1998, hamster
D–H
- Dear Daniel — 1999, Hello Kitty's sweetheart
- Gudetama — 2013, egg yolk
- Hangyodon — 1985, fish-man
- Hello Kitty — 1974, Kitty White
K–L
- Keroppi — 1988, frog
- Kirimi-chan — 2013, salmon fillet
- Kuromi — 2005, My Melody's rival
- Little Twin Stars (Kiki & Lala) — 1975
M
- Marron Cream — 1986, rabbit
- Mewkledreamy (Mew) — cat
- Monkichi — monkey
- My Melody — 1975, rabbit
- My Sweet Piano — sheep
P
- Patty & Jimmy — 1974
- Pekkle — 1990, duck
- Pochacco — 1989, dog
- Pompompurin — 1996, golden retriever
T–W
- Tuxedosam — 1979, penguin
- U*SA*HA*NA — rabbit
- Wish me mell — rabbit
More kids & cute character guides
Sanrio is the hub of our Kids & Cute section. These are the other casts in it, from greeting-card classics to preschool TV.
Frequently asked questions
How many Sanrio characters are there?
Sanrio has created several hundred characters since the 1970s, and the figure most often quoted is more than 450. Only a few dozen are actively promoted at any one time. The rest turn up now and then on retro merchandise or in limited collaborations.
Who is the most popular Sanrio character?
Hello Kitty is the most famous worldwide, but in Sanrio's own fan poll, the Sanrio Character Ranking, Cinnamoroll has finished first several years running in the 2020s. Kuromi, My Melody, Pompompurin and Pochacco regularly place near the top too.
Is Hello Kitty a cat?
Sort of. Sanrio describes her as a cheerful little girl who is a personification of a cat, not a pet cat walking on two legs. Her name is Kitty White, she lives just outside London, and she even has a pet cat of her own, Charmmy Kitty. Our Hello Kitty guide covers her family and friends.
What was the first Sanrio character?
Hello Kitty and Patty & Jimmy both date from 1974, the year Sanrio's original character line really began. My Melody and the Little Twin Stars followed in 1975. Hello Kitty quickly became the flagship and has stayed there for half a century.
Is Kuromi good or bad?
Kuromi is My Melody's self-declared rival and likes to call herself a troublemaker, but she isn't a real villain. She has a soft spot for romance, keeps a diary and is secretly fond of cute things. That mix of punk attitude and sweetness is a big part of why she's so popular.
Are Gudetama and Aggretsuko Sanrio characters?
Yes. Gudetama, the lazy egg yolk, appeared in 2013, and Aggretsuko, the red panda who sings death metal after work, in 2015. Both were aimed squarely at adults, and both have had their own Netflix series.