Penelope

Penelope (ちび丸ちゃん, Chibimaru-chan) is an adorable white and brown baby hamster. She is like a little sister to Pashmina. She always wears a yellow blanket over her head. She is owned by Kylie.

Character
Considered the youngest of all the Ham-Hams, Penelope is usually never seen without the cover of her yellow blanket. Although she is friendly to everyone, she feels particularly attached to Pashmina. Being innocent and naive, due to her age, she gets into trouble more often than most of the other Ham-Hams. In season three, she has shown some cross-species affection for Herbert the Pig, a boy by the name of Ethan (Kylie's younger cousin), and a rabbit at Ethan's school. Unlike the other Ham-Hams, and perhaps because of her young age, Penelope can't say anything more than 'Ookwee!' or 'Ookyoo!' ('Ukyu!' in the original version).

Pashmina
Pashmina and Penelope are always together. There are few instances where they are separated. Pashmina is basically a mother to Penelope, as seen in Watching Over Cute Penelope, where Penelope is very reluctant to let Pashmina go, and in Knitting Barrette, where Pashmina is out again and Barrette has to watch over Penelope instead, which Penelope is of course upset about, and misses her dearly throughout the episode.

Penelope is shown to get very jealous if Pashmina is occupied and sometimes misunderstands Pashmina's feelings towards her. Nonetheless, the two are the best of friends. It is later revealed in the Japanese canon that the two are actually sisters, and not just like them.

Marron
Marron develops a friendship with Penelope in Marron's Autumn Festival when Penelope helps her pick herself back up and lays down sand bags (to stop a river overflowing) using Fukusuke. She seems to understand what Penelope is saying. They are also of similar height (very short), which is unique to most of the other Ham-Hams. From then on, the two are very friendly whenever they see each other.

Appearances Without Her Blanket
While Penelope is almost never seen without her blanket, there are a few cameos of her true look:
 * In Opening #1 of the English dub, she is seen throwing her blanket up in the air during the train segment. She can also be seen without her blanket in the opening when she is asleep in the bed next to other Ham-Hams.
 * In Jingle, the Wanderer, she can briefly be seen without her blanket when she and Hamtaro fall out of Laura's bag. It's only for a split-second frame, though, so you have to be ready to pause the episode (or be watching it in slow-motion) or you'll miss it.
 * In Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite, she takes her blanket off momentarily when going back to the Ham-Ham Clubhouse with Hamtaro.
 * She also appears in some of the manga and books without her blanket.

Notable Episodes

 * Hamtaro, the Super Sleuth! (#17)
 * Pashmina's Present (#22)
 * Watching Over Cute Penelope (#34)
 * Penelope Makes a Friend (#62)
 * Welcome Home Penelope! (#74)
 * Tightrope Walking Together! (#112)
 * Penelope's Dream (#117)
 * Knitting Barrette (#133)
 * Finding the Flower in the Rain (#152)
 * Marron's Autumn Festival (#172)
 * The Sweet Milky Way! (#207)
 * Big Penelope (#220)
 * Skyham in Love (#286)

Trivia

 * Due to mondegreen (mishearing of words), the producers had to change "Ookyoo" to "Ookwee" as it sounded at some points that she was cussing. The first time she says "ookwee" is in The Precious Letter!, and Hamtaro even acknowledges it. Pashmina actually says early in the episode that she was "looking forward to showing off [her] new word". The official Hamtaro website was also changed to Penelope's new word the day the episode was released.
 * Penelope may know more words than just "ookyoo" and "ookwee". In Ham-Ham Clubhouse in Danger!, she says "badda-badda" as she's running to get help, though this may have been an error on the dubber's part. She is also known to use Ham-Chat words in the games.
 * In Volume 1 of Tottoko Hamutaro: Hamuchanzu de Gozaimachu!, Penelope is the sister of Bijou
 * Her 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, Home on the Range, Kermit's Winter Wonderland, and The Little Jungle Boy and will even be in more movie spoof travels.

Gallery
See also:Penelope/Gallery