Tuxedo Sam
Not a crime. A penguin, a settled relationship he is not part of, and a question about the standard for a restraining order.
The defendant
- A penguin, introduced by Sanrio in 1979, in a bow tie and a round sailor’s cap.
- Owns a collection of 365 bow ties, one for each day of the year.
- Has two younger brothers, Pam and Tam, and a best friend, Chip, who is a seal.
- Sanrio says he studied abroad in Britain. That is the extent of his foreign record.
The relationship
Hello Kitty’s name is Kitty White. Her boyfriend, since 1999, is Dear Daniel, whose name is Daniel Star. Daniel is the traveler: his photographer father moved the family through Africa and New York before he returned to London. Tuxedo Sam is not, and never was, Kitty White’s partner.
There is one documented complication. In the 1987 cartoon "Hello Kitty’s Furry Tale Theater," Tuxedo Sam played the romantic male leads opposite Kitty in fairy-tale parodies: the Prince in "Cinderkitty," the Beast in "Kitty and the Beast," rescuing and, in character, kissing her. Those were acting roles, and they predate Dear Daniel.
The restraining-order question
A civil harassment restraining order generally requires a course of conduct: repeated, unwanted contact that serves no legitimate purpose and would place a reasonable person in fear. Each element fails here.
The 1987 fairy-tale roles were employment, a legitimate purpose. A single engagement is not a course of conduct. And nothing in the record shows fear, contact, or any approach to Kitty White outside that work. There is interest, perhaps, but interest is not a tort.
Conclusion: no order would issue. Kitty White’s relationship with Dear Daniel is settled and undisturbed, and the matter is closed.