Social media users are in disbelief after finding out that Hello Kitty isn't actually a cat.
For decades, Hello Kitty has been widely accepted as a sweet white feline with her trademark bow.
After all, she has whiskers, pointed ears, and even the word “Kitty” in her name.
However, the internet has once again revived a surprising truth that continues to catch fans off guard: despite how she looks, Hello Kitty was never meant to be a cat at all.
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The Character Everyone Thought They Knew
Hello Kitty - whose full name is Kitty White - was created in the 1970s by Yuko Shimizu, with her current design credited to Yuko Yamaguchi.
Owned by Japanese company Sanrio, she became a global pop culture phenomenon, especially during the 1990s kawaii boom.
The character has appeared on everything from stationery and backpacks to animated TV shows, video games, books, comics, and even theme parks.
At one point, Sanrio’s senior director Dave Marchi said Hello Kitty generated more than $8 billion in retail revenue in 2013 alone, according to CNN.
With that level of fame, you’d think fans would know exactly what she is, but here’s where things get strange.
The Sketch That Reignited The Debate
The confusion resurfaced after a Saturday Night Live sketch featured a Hello Kitty store manager training new employees.
“If you open to page five of your employee handbooks, you’ll see a list of facts about Hello Kitty,” the manager says. “As you can see, she loves to bake cookies, she goes to school, and she’s not a cat, she’s a human little girl.”
A stunned employee replies: “Why did you say Hello Kitty was a human little girl?”
Experts Reveal The Truth
Christine R. Yano, an anthropologist at the University of Hawaii, previously clarified the situation when she was working on an exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum.
“That’s one correction Sanrio made for my script for the show,” Yano told the Los Angeles Times. “Hello Kitty is not a cat. She’s a cartoon character. She is a little girl. She is a friend. But she is not a cat. She’s never depicted on all fours."
“She walks and sits like a two-legged creature. She does have a pet cat of her own, however, and it’s called Charmmy Kitty.”
To make things even more surprising, Yano added that Hello Kitty “lives in London,” not Japan, another detail that caught fans off guard.
Social Media Reactions
Musician Mike Shinoda reacted to the news back in 2014, writing on X: "I just got off stage to find out that Hello Kitty is not a cat. This is worse than finding out Pluto is not a planet."
"Help. Nothing makes sense anymore," another said, while a third exclaimed: "I JUST FOUND OUT THAT HELLO KITTY IS A LITTLE GIRL AND NOT A CAT AND IM DISTURBED????"
Meanwhile, a fourth shared: "Hello Kitty being canonically a girl and not a cat is the sweetest thing. She is what a creative little girl who loves cats would draw herself as."
Hello Kitty isn’t the only beloved character who has confused the internet, as fans of Stuart Little were equally shaken after realizing the original book character wasn’t a mouse.
In E.B. White’s original 1945 novel, Stuart is described as a tiny human boy - “only about two inches high,” with “a mouse's sharp nose, a mouse's tail, a mouse's whiskers,” according to PEOPLE.
Film critic Chris Evangelista sparked fresh confusion when he posted on X: “I’ve just now learned that in the STUART LITTLE book, Stuart is not actually a mouse but a human boy who looks like a mouse, and I don’t know how to process this.”
One user responded: "That's just not right. Not right at all," while a second wrote: "WAIT WHAT??!!! Don't make me read the book again."
The 1999 film adaptation changed the premise, making Stuart an anthropomorphic mouse adopted by the Little family - a version that went on to gross more than $300 million worldwide and earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.