This is a list of characters from Sanrio, a Japanese company specialized in creating kawaii (cute) characters. Sanrio sells and licenses products branded with these characters and has created over 450 characters. Their most successful and best known character, Hello Kitty, was created in 1974. Most Sanrio characters are anthropomorphized animals, while a few are humans or anthropomorphized objects.

Sanrio began creating characters to increase sales of its merchandise. Typical merchandise featuring the characters include clothing, accessories, toys and stationery. The characters subsequently appeared in media such as books, animation and video games. Beginning with Jewelpet in 2008, Sanrio started collaborating with Sega Toys in creating characters intended to become media franchises. Notable designers of Sanrio characters include Yuko Shimizu, original designer of Hello Kitty, Yuko Yamaguchi, lead designer for most of Hello Kitty's history and Miyuki Okumura, original designer of Cinnamoroll.

Sanrio hosts two theme parks in Japan featuring their characters: Sanrio Puroland in Tama, Tokyo, and HarmonylandHarmonyland in Hiji, Ōita, Kyūshū. Since 1986, Sanrio has held the annual Sanrio Character Ranking poll, where fans can vote on their favorite characters. It began in the Strawberry Newspaper published by Sanrio in Japan, but voting now takes place online and is open to international audiences.

Besides their own original characters listed here, Sanrio also owns the rights to the Mr. Men characters and Japanese licensing rights to the Peanuts characters such as Snoopy. The characters listed here are shown with the year in which they first debuted.

1970s

Coro Chan (1973) is the first original Sanrio character. Introduced in 1973, he is portrayed as a gentle and laid-back bear. Designed by Yuko Shimizu who is also the original designer of Hello Kitty. According to Sanrio's backstory, Coro Chan is a cousin of Hello Kitty's bear friend Thomas. His name comes from the croquettes on his cheeks, which he might eat when he gets hungry. According to official character profiles, he lives in Windermere in England, and his birthday is November 8.

Hello Kitty (1974)

is the best-known of Sanrio's characters. She is depicted as a white cat with a red bow and no visible mouth. The original design for Hello Kitty was created by Yuko Shimizu in 1974. However, the lead designer in charge of creating new design themes for most of Hello Kitty's history, since 1980, has been Yuko Yamaguchi. The first Hello Kitty item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in 1975.

Official character profiles list Hello Kitty's full name as , born in the suburbs of London on November 1. Her height is described as five apples and her weight as three apples. She is depicted as a bright and kind-hearted girl who is good at baking cookies and likes to play the piano. Hello Kitty is portrayed with a large family including her twin sister Mimmy, who wears a yellow bow, papa George and mama Mary.

Originally Hello Kitty was only marketed towards pre-teenage girls, but beginning in the 1990s, the brand found commercial success among teenage and adult consumers as well. The brand went into decline in Japan after the 1990s, but it continued to grow in the international market. By 2010 the character was worth a year and The New York Times called her a "global marketing phenomenon". By 2014, when Hello Kitty was 40 years old, she was worth about a year.

UNICEF has appointed Hello Kitty children's ambassador and the Japanese government appointed her ambassador of tourism. The Hello Kitty media franchise has grown to include several animated series, video games and other media productions. A variety of products have featured the character over the years, and as of 2008, there were over different Hello Kitty branded products.

Aside from the core Hello Kitty characters, several spinoff characters have been created: Hello Kitty's boyfriend Dear Daniel in 1999, Charmmy Kitty, Hello Kitty's pet cat, and Sugar, her pet hamster, both in 2004, and her superhero alter-ego Ichigoman in 2011.

Patty & Jimmy (1974) are two human characters originally released in 1974. Patty is a girl with braids who wears red overalls, and Jimmy is a boy with short unruly hair who wears blue overalls. According to official character profils, they are best friends who live next door to each other in Kansas City. Patty is a tomboy who loves sports, like tennis and baseball, but dislikes studying, while Jimmy is a studious bookworm who is great at chess but is clumsy and not very good at sports. They are shown in everyday settings like at school, on the couch or outside on a park bench, and engaging in activities like bug catching, riding bikes, playing instruments and doing sports.

Patty & Jimmy were designed by later known as who subsequently left Sanrio and went on to be an independent designer and picture book author. The character setting was based on a visit to Kansas City in the United States where Sanrio had an affiliate company. The designs were also inspired by American TV shows and the authors Joan Walsh Anglund and Richard Scarry. The character that would become Patty started out as a notebook doodle where she was seen from the back, and then came to be used unnamed in a series of designs using the slogan "love is". When the boy character was added he was originally known as "Jim" before the duos name was finalized as Patty & Jimmy.

Merchandise with the characters inspired by American school life, like book straps, lunch boxes and ring binders became popular. Picture books and a music EP with the characters were also released in the 1970s. The popularity of Patty & Jimmy was on par with that of Hello Kitty in the 1970s, but their popularity declined in the 1980s. Sanrio has since released products with Patty & Jimmy as part of retro collections.

Little Twin Stars (1975) also known as in Japan are a pair of angel-like characters. The younger brother with blue hair is , and the older sister with pink hair is . Originally designed by Yōko Matsumoto (松本庸子) who also designed My Melody. They were initially created for a 1975 Christmas promotion and their birthday is December 24, Christmas Eve. Drawing inspiration from Christmas and winter themes, early sketches had the characters wearing warm coats and winter scarves, before Matsumoto settled on stars as the motif. Official Sanrio blog as verified by Because they came from the sky, she gave them white angel style clothes. In their first publication the characters were unnamed, and their names originate from a survey in the Strawberry Newspaper where readers could send in their suggestions. Official Sanrio blog as verified by Official Sanrio blog as verified by

Early Little Twin Stars branded products, like those for other similar Sanrio characters of the era, were items marketed to young girls, like stationery and accessories. In the late 70s, Sanrio also began publishing picture books with Kiki and Lala, illustrated by Matsumoto and others. Since the inception of the Little Twin Stars, new designs have continually been created, following trends of the times. In their original designs, Kiki's hair was brown and Lala's was yellow. In the 80s, the designs became more pastel colored, and their hair colors settled into being predominantly blue and pink. In the 90s, their faces were modernized, and designs were rendered in 3D CGI, and in the 00s there was a retro return to the styles of the 70s and 80s.

In 2015, EVA Air introduced a special livery Boeing 777-300ER, "Shining Stars", dedicated to the characters. The plane is mainly used on routes from Taipei to Houston and Singapore.

Little Twin Stars have previously been included in video games with other Sanrio characters, but in 2018, the first mobile game app featuring them exclusively was released for iOS and Android. Titled Kiki & Lala's Twinkle Puzzle (キキ&ララのトゥインクルパズル), it is a tile matching puzzle game developed by Imagineer. It incorporates illustrations from a 70s picture book with the origin story of the characters.

My Melody (1975)

is a white rabbit character. She is depicted as always wearing a bright red or pink hood that covers her ears. According to official character profiles, her birthday is January 18 and she lives in the forest of Mariland with friends like My Sweet Piano (a sheep), and Flat (a mouse). When My Melody debuted, she was portrayed as Little Red Riding Hood.

My Melody can be found on children's toys and merchandise (from jewelry to household items). My Melody was first released in 1975, and the first related merchandise was released at the end of that year.

At first, she mainly was marketed toward young girls, but like Hello Kitty, her popularity has increased among women and men of all ages, especially in Asia.

Beginning in 1989, My Melody has been regularly voiced by Rei Sakuma in Japan beginning with the 1989 anime short My Melody no Akazukin.

In the late 1980s, My Melody's popularity waned, and the only items produced were stationery and candy. According to a reader survey published in the Strawberry Newspaper in 1996, My Melody came out amongst some of Sanrio's most popular characters, and as a result, due to popular demand, standard merchandise started re-appearing beginning in February 1997 featuring the original red hood. Items with the pink hood were re-released in 1999; as of 2000, there were items released with multiple color hoods.

On April 3, 2005, an anime series based on My Melody and her friends and produced by Studio Comet started to air on TV Osaka and TV Tokyo television stations, called Onegai My Melody (おねがいマイメロディ), which aired from 2005 to 2008. This anime also 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 Nintendo DS console which requires the player to blow air into the microphone of the unit. The player guides My Melody through timed levels by jumping and using her umbrella to float around and avoid enemies. The game also features unlockable content as well, such as music, images, and mini-games. In 2007, a second game was 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 game's primary function is as a day planner designed for young girls to keep track of appointments, class schedules, and mini diary entries.

My Melody also appears in the Sanrio Digital and Dream Cortex series, The Adventures of Hello Kitty & Friends. She, however, is mouthless there, and her rival Kuromi does not make an appearance.

On March 1, 2008, Mattel released a Barbie doll named "My Melody". The My Melody Barbie doll featured a Barbie doll inspired by the My Melody character, with the character's face included in different parts of the doll's fashion and accessories. In an homage to the character's rabbit ears, the doll's hair is styled in pigtails. My Melody has also been turned into a Pullip doll with two versions: one originally released in 2008, and the latest one in 2016.

On March 26, 2008, a Japanese music compilation album titled I Love 30 – My Melody from Tearbridge Records was released with My Melody wearing the original red hood drawn in various artwork styles by Groovisions. Rei Sakuma has been the regular voice of My Melody in Japan since 1989.

In 2010, The New York Times said that My Melody was "moderately successful" in terms popularity but showed no signs of reaching the global popularity of Hello Kitty. My Melody was number one in the Sanrio Character Rankings in 2010 and 2011. In 2019 she was Sanrio's second most profitable character, after Hello Kitty.