Badtz-Maru

Japanese Name

バッドばつ丸

(Baddo Batsu Maru)

Alternate Names

XO, Bad Badtz-Maru, Badtz

Birthday

April 1st (April Fool's Day)

Place of Birth

Oahu, Hawaii

Gender

Male

Universe

Badtz-Maru

Nationality

American

Personality

Dream

Becoming "the boss, of everything"

Hobbies

Collecting pictures of movie stars

Skills

Pretending to play the piano and violin (he has a home tutor); Escaping

Description

Has dreams of greatness when he grows up, but for now he rolls his eyes at his humorous life in Gorgeoustown

Family and Friends

Mother

Mama

Father

Papa

Siblings

Badtz Twins, Tzunko

Friends

Pandaba, Hana-Maru, Kahme, Iruka, Sameo, Goro, Anko, Kobun

Pets

Pochi (alligator)

Education

School

Gorgeous Academy

Grade Level

1st grade

Creation

Debut

1993

Created By

Hisato Inoue

Voiced By

Fujiko Takimoto

Badtz-Maru (バッドばつ丸, Baddo Batsu Maru), a male penguin with spiky hair, is one of the many characters produced by the Japanese company Sanrio in 1993. Unlike the more popular Hello Kitty, he has an attitude and is one of the few characters that is marketed to all genders. He was born on April 1st in Oahu, Hawaii.

Personality

Badtz-Maru has many different facial expressions and poses, but he is classically recognized for pulling one eye down and sticking out his tongue.

While he seems perpetually stuck in the first grade, he has dreams of becoming "the boss, of everything" when he grows up. "A bit selfish, he tends to make fun of things by thinking silly. This mischievous little penguin loves to fight for the wrong side. His hobby is collecting pictures of movie stars played by bad guys." He enjoys expensive sushi in Ginza.

Family and Friends

He lives in Gorgeoustown with his mother, pinball-playing father and younger siblings; the Badtz Twins and Tzunko.

Badtz-Maru has two best friends, who are often found accompanying him: Pandaba, a female Giant Panda who always is seen in a short frilly skirt, and Hana-Maru, a male white seal.

In addition to Hana-Maru and Pandaba, Badtz also is close with Kahme (a small blue turtle), Iruka (a white dolphin), Sameo (a blue shark), Goro (a small white bird), Anko (a black fish), and Kobun (blue henchman of his father).

XO Clan

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. So, his name is like "wrong-correct," and is frequently represented by "XO". Indeed, with his friends Pandaba and Hana-Maru, Badtz runs the mischievous XO clan.

Merchandise

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 (eg. pens, notebooks, erasers, pencil cases ...) to more novel items (eg. cd players, guitars, license plate frames ...).

Trivia

Badtz-Maru has some resemblance with Bart Simpson, a character from American cartoon The Simpsons, which both characters has the same birth date: April 1st (April Fool's Day).
Badtz-Maru was the official Mascot for the 2006 FIBA World Championship of basketball, which was held in Japan.
When Badtz-Maru was officially introduced in the Strawberry News June 1993 Issue, he was noted to be Sanrio's first "not nice" character.
- Likewise, the short Sanrio film Sam to Chip no wa Hachamecha Dai Race was released in both the same year and month as Badtz-Maru's debut, however he does not appear in the film at any point.

Badtz-Maru was a frequent guest in the Strawberry News' Chitty Chatty Strawberry column, where he and his friends (and sometimes family members!) often appeared in comics and talked about a variety of topics such as Christmas and Valentine's Day.
- Badtz-Maru also frequently appeared in a subsection of Chitty Chatty Strawberry titled (A Little...) Hocus Pocus, where a set of instructions similar to spells and charms are given to readers to try out in hopes of achieving something such as making up with a friend after a fight, curing stomach aches, and getting your crush to notice you.

Within a few years of his debut in June 1993, Badtz-Maru frequently landed in the top 5 of the official Sanrio Character Popularity poll; landing 3rd place in 1994 and eventually taking 1st place in 1996.