Hamtaro

Hamtaro (ハム太郎, Hamutarō) is a male hamster and the main character of the anime Hamtaro. Hamtaro and his friends love to have fun. He has a great relationship with his owner, Laura. Bijou has a crush on him, but he doesn't seem to notice. Hamtaro is always there for his friends. It doesn't matter if it is Boss or Snoozer; he will gladly help.

Character
Owned by Laura Haruna, Hamtaro is a Ham-Ham who's always ready to help out his friends and his owner Laura. He can't stand being ignored by Laura. He is often seen as the real leader of the Ham-Hams. Due to his innocent nature, he is clueless about many things, most notably love, and it would appear that Bijou, Barrette, Sparkle, Lapis, and Oshare all have developed a crush on him at some point. Hamtaro makes the most of his life as a small hamster and lives each day in happiness hoping to make more friends and to have fun. In the original anime, Hamtaro ends his sentences with 'na no da', a phrase often used by playful characters. This is changed to, "Ham-ha!", "paka-paka", and "kushi-kushi" in the English version.

Hamtaro cares deeply about others. He loves to help his friends and is very selfless and kind-hearted towards everyone he meets. He is also incredibly brave, as shown when he saves Penelope from a cat in one of the first episodes. This is of course only one of many instances of his bravery and willingness to help friends.

Oxnard
Oxnard was the first hamster Hamtaro met after moving in their new house, and the two have been best friends since. They were neighbours until Oxnard went to be with Pepper. Even their owners are best friends.

Boss
After Hamtaro met Oxnard, they both fell into a tunnel, after which they met Boss. Hamtaro looks up to Boss, as he is older and usually wiser than Hamtaro, and they are very good friends. Boss is jealous that Bijou likes Hamtaro, but Hamtaro doesn't really notice. Perhaps Boss didn't value Hamtaro's friendship as much as he should until later, as shown in I'm Parting, Clubhouse! where he considers Hamtaro hypothetically leaving to just be another chance with Bijou.

Bijou
Bijou has a crush on Hamtaro. Although Hamtaro is completely clueless about it, he has shown signs of liking her back. In the first episode, she winks at Hamtaro after he sings and dances for her with Oxnard and Boss. Her crush on him becomes stronger in Come Out, Bijou! after Hamtaro compliments her ribbons. It becomes more obvious after Bijou's Favorite Ribbon, which is an episode centred around the relationship. There are a few more cases of a strong relationship in episodes such as I Want To See You, Bijou!, and Satisfied Bijou, where it is taken a step further and they go on a proper date. In A Valentine Battle! she competes for Hamtaro's love against Sparkle and Oshare.

Sparkle
Sparkle doesn't at first care much for Hamtaro or any other Ham-Hams, but in Someone Likes Hamtaro, she goes on a 'date' with him and after realising how he is always happy and so sweet and gentle, she develops feelings for him. Of course, Hamtaro doesn't return them, as with every other female hamster crushing on him. Sparkle later returns in Cupid Sparkle! where she attempts to shake off her feelings for him, and tries to help Bijou out with him instead. She (to her own shame) quickly regains her feelings for him. From then on she is infatuated with him in most episodes following, and even fights for him against Oshare and Bijou in A Valentine Battle!. Hamtaro obviously still doesn't care and is oblivious to the whole ordeal, even when Sparkle offers him a Valentine's Day present, which is a blatant sign of love.

Oshare
Oshare rather spontaneously falls in love with Hamtaro somewhere between A Valentine Battle! and Non Non, Oshare!. She previously shows no signs of affection for him, but seemingly finds where her heart lies. She fights for him against Bijou and Sparkle. Hamtaro, of course, doesn't understand why.

Barrette
In Knitting Barrette, Hamtaro is wrapped up with yarn by Barrette as some sort of woolly sweater. She calls him cute and kisses him on the cheek. Later, she announces she is in love with Hamtaro, to which Hamtaro is confused. She rivals Bijou. She continues to show affection for him throughout the episode. This love is short lived however, as this is the only and last episode before The Knitting Girl and Seamore, in which she instead has a crush on Seamore.

Lapis
Lapis kissed Hamtaro on the cheek after he saved Lazuli in A Mysterious Seed Experiment! so it was rumoured she had a crush on him. The following episode, it is revealed that this was just a 'Thank You Kiss' as she kissed Bijou as well. Lapis is ironically the most intimate out of any potential love for Hamtaro since no other girl ever kissed him (except for Barrette, but that crush was only for one episode). In Cupid Sparkle!, Sparkle tries to keep Lapis away from Hamtaro to help Bijou. It's also poked at in Devi! Big Panic! and Love Love, Valentine! but not really anywhere else.

Trivia

 * There are in fact many different Hamtaros for the anime series and a different one in each manga book.
 * As stated in the Happy Birthday Hamtaro Special!, Hamtaro shares a birthday with Cappy (August 6th).
 * Hamtaro doesn't truly 'love' any hamster. In fact, the only hamster he has ever shown obvious signs of affection for is Championi in You're Late, Prince! where he briefly stares adoringly at her along with the rest of the male hamsters present, and for Princess Cye-Ra in Movie 2 after she kissed him on the cheek.
 * His and the club's appearances in the Stephen Squirrelsky and Friends' movie spoof travels are The Many Adventures of AiAi the Monkey, Nikki's Adventures of Sing Along Songs Episode 3, Nikki's Adventures of Sing Along Songs Episode 5, Simba (Shrek), Vanellope Von Schweetz, Toon Age, Hoodwinked!, The Rescuers, Nikki's Adventures of Sing Along Songs Episode 4, The Rescuers Down Under, The Secret of NIMH, Nikki's Adventures of Sing Along Episode 6, The Little Mer-Lioness 2: Return to the Sea, Skunkules, and Home on the Range and will even be in more movie spoof travels.

Gallery
See also:Hamtaro/Gallery