->''"It's Hamtaro time! Kush-kush ticky-ticky ho!"''

An anime series (''Tottoko Hamutaro'' in Japan) [[AdaptationDisplacement based on a series of children's books about hamsters]], Hamtaro and his Ham-Ham buddies lead exciting adventures while his owner Laura is off at school having her own adventures.

It ran from 2000 to 2006 and lasted for nearly 300 episodes, only 104 of which were translated into English and aired on Cartoon Network. It later spawned a spin-off series of five-minute episodes known as "Tottoko Hamutaro: Norisuta Hai!". There were also four movies, none of which made it overseas.

It also spawned six handheld video games which, although largely obscure to those not familiar with the series, were considered to be rather good games for licensed media.

Bizarrely enough, it was initially featured on {{Toonami}}, Creator/CartoonNetwork's block for specifically action-based shows (that can be blamed on [[ExecutiveMeddling Cartoon Network's management]] at the time). It actually received a LampshadeHanging in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMJuFsGiAdY this promo]]. The show also aired on FoxKids in Europe.

A new series named ''Tottoko Hamtaro Dechu'' [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-02-23/tottoko-hamtaro-dechu-tv-anime-to-premiere-in-april has been aired]]; however, it's only a rebroadcast with a handful of new scenes.

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!!'''Series contains examples of:'''

* AllJustADream
* AlphaBitch: Sparkle and her owner Glitter. Both soften up a bit and become type-A {{Tsundere}} in the later seasons.
* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: The English version uses two [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foYKKwteWik opening]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKk-4TSyTdk songs]] different from the Japanese version. However, it does use the tune of the first Japanese [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvP2wVqYGDY ending theme]].
* AnAesop
* BelligerentSexualTension --> HappilyMarried: Laura's parents. Comes off as quite the surprise, considering how they border in SickeninglySweethearts.
* BigEater: Oxnard.
* BigFriendlyDog: Laura's dog Brandy is normal-sized, but he has this role in regards to the Ham-Hams. Hamtaro himself often rides on his back.
* BlushSticker
* CatsAreMean: They are to hamsters, anyway.
** {{Aver|tedTrope}}sion: A lost and injured kitten that Boss took in [[TearJerker and had to let go of when he learned she had an owner.]]
* ChickMagnet: Bijou, her friend Oshare from France, and Sparkle all have crushes on Hamtaro. Unfortunately, [[ChasteHero he's too damn clueless to notice.]]
** And then theres Travis
* ChristmasEpisode: Two of them, in fact!
* TheFaceless: Due to her shyness, Penelope is only ever seen under cover of a yellow blanket. Subverted in the intro sequence, however, as her blanket flies up to briefly reveal brown and white fur.
** Subverted in the official guide, which includes an illustration of how Penelope really looks like.
* FestivalEpisode
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: On Travis's birthday, one of his friends goes, "Hey, we gotta get you to the girls' bathroom, man!" but only in the dub...and then there's Stan...
* HeavySleeper: Snoozer, duh.
** Also, Brandy. He's almost always seen sleeping in his doggy house, [[LetsGetDangerous until Hamtaro asks him for help]]
* IconicItem: Oxnard never goes anywhere without his lucky sunflower seed.
* TheIdiotFromOsaka: Howdy.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Boss at times can be quite temperamental, especially if he's thinking about Bijou. However, don't think for a second that he won't go out of his way to help his friends.
** On the human side, we have Roberto.
* {{Kodomomuke}}: only the hamsters, the humans on the other hand are more for older kids and ect. as what Laura and Kana go through (like Laura's crush with Travis).
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The main band of hamsters is 13 strong--and plenty more side-hams show up from time to time, not to mention the humans.
* LonelyRichKid: Maria, until Laura befriends her.
* LovableCoward: Oxnard.
* LovableSexManiac: Stan is a G-rated version, always flirting with the girl-hams, much to his sister Sandy's irritation.
* LoveAtFirstPunch: It's implied that [[DarkSkinnedBlond Roberto]] has a crush on Laura, who actually stood up against him for acting like a jerk. She doesn't romantically like him back, however.; [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan she still prefers]] [[NiceGuy Travis]].
* LoveDodecahedron So complicated it has to be broken down into [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hamster_relations_hahaha.gif a chart.]] Talk about SeriousBusiness.
** The fact that they can make a game called "[[HamtaroHamHamHeartbreak Ham-Ham Heartbreak]]", involving fixing 21 stressed relationships among characters from the show, just goes to prove it!
** In addition, the fanbases also love to spam recolors as [=OCs=], which is extremely similar to the situation in Franchise/{{Sonic|TheHedgehog}} fandom.
* MagicRealism
* {{Meganekko}}: Kana.
* {{Mondegreen}}: Likely why Penelope's catchphrase was changed from "Ookyoo!" to "Ookwee!"
* TheMovie: Four of them, in fact. [[NoExportForYou None of them were ever released outside of Japan]].
* MyNameIsNotDurwood: Jingle never gets Hamtaro's name right, much to Hamtaro's annoyance.
** Laura's Grandfather also had trouble getting Hamtaro's name right. [[spoiler:He eventually did.]]
* NerdGlasses: Dexter's fur is in the shape of a pair of glasses.
* NiceHat: Cappy.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Arguably Heidi from "Ham-Hams Ahoy!", due to having smaller eyes compared to the others.
* {{Ojou}}: Both Maria and her hamster Bijou.
* OfficialCouple: Maxwell/Sandy and Oxnard/Pepper. The series finale in Japan ends with the latter couple getting married.
* OncePerEpisode: Laura's journal entry followed by Hamtaro's "Heke!" at the end of every episode.
* ParentalBonus: Lots, including pretty much everything Stan does, the beach episode if you're into that kind of thing, and many of the human characters interactions, especially Laura and Kana's.
* PungeonMaster: Howdy.
* PunnyName: Most of the Ham-Hams' names were puns in the original Japanese version; Hamtaro literally means "trotting hamster".
* [[RealMenWearPink Real Ham-Hams Wear Pink]]: Boss is a rather strong and tough ham-ham, but on occasion, he will act disturbingly effeminate. In a later season, he becomes a nurse along with the rest of the girls, ''complete with fake blush and eyeliner!'' [[spoiler:However, from season four onward, he becomes Hero-Ham!]]
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter And HOW!
* RhymesOnADime: Jingle.
* ShipTease: On ''several'' occasions.
* SiblingSenioritySquabble: Stan and Sandy.
* SliceOfLife
* TheSmartGuy: Maxwell.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Mimi, Panda's owner, is young and innocent enough to be the only human who can talk to the Ham-Hams directly.
** Laura is able to communicate with them, but only in her dreams.
*** She also can be said to telepathically communicate with Hamtaro during the times where she writes in her diary, as sometimes they respond to each other's thoughts.
* SpoiledSweet: Bijou. Her owner is rich thus granting her some luxuries the other ham-hams don't have and she can be somewhat vain on occasion. Most of the time, however, she is very nice and will do her best for her friends even if it means getting her paws and fur dirty.
** Also Bijou's owner Maria, a softspoken LonelyRichKid who becomes friends with Laura.
* StockAnimalDiet: Sunflower seeds. It's also their TrademarkFavoriteFood.
* SugarBowl: What happens in the later, Asia-only seasons. [[SeasonalRot The Ham-Hams going to a magical world of candy.]]
* {{Tagline}}: Little hamsters, big adventures
* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: How do you tell Stan and Sandy apart? Sandy has a bow right above her tail.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Howdy and Dexter.
* TitleThemeTune: And a second credits theme tune too.
** And a third title theme tune, creating for the opening of the second season, but edited out of most of Cartoon Network's airings.
** And various international ones, including a quite catchy Italian one.
* TroubledButCute: Roberto.
* TwiceShy: Sandy and Maxwell.
* TheUnintelligible: Penelope. She can only say "Ookyoo" or "Ookwee."
* ValleyGirl: Sandy in the English Dub of the anime.
* VerbalTic: The entire ham-ham language is made up of them. For instance, they say "Krum krum" when eating, "Tiki tiki" while walking, "Heke" in response to something that confuses them...there's a ''lot.''
** In Japanese, Hamtaro ends his sentences "Na no da" while Bijou ends her's with "Dechu".
* WhatMeasureIsANonCute: Cats may be mean, but you know what's worse? Chickens.
* [[WhiteHairedPrettyGirl White-Furred Pretty Girl]]: Bijou.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Laura's teacher, Mr. Yoshi, has a crippling fear of chickens, and, of course he's in love with a girl whose father is a chicken farmer...and an OverprotectiveDad, to boot.
** The ham-ham's are also afraid of chickens as well as little chicks, but to their credit, the chickens on the show are pretty damn scary. One of the chickens that belongs to said OverprotectiveDad has an ''eye patch'' for crying out loud.
** A lot of the conflict between Laura and Roberto can be traced to the fact that he's deathly afraid of mice and other small rodents....like hamsters. Hamtaro twigged to it immediately but it took a while for Laura to do so.
* YamatoNadeshiko: Parodied with the teacher's girlfriend, Charlotte, who comes from a traditional family and has been raised as one... but acts like a borderline WildChild cow girl whenever she's out of her BigFancyHouse.

!!The games provide examples of:

* BagOfSpilling: In the beginning of ''Ham-Ham Heartbreak'', Hamtaro trips and falls into a bucket of water while carrying his Ham-Chat dictionary, smudging up most of the words.
* CardCarryingVillain: Spat from ''Ham Ham Heartbreak'' is very much this.
* CopyProtection: The second game prevents you from achieving HundredPercentCompletion and the third game will lock up at the very start if it detects that you're playing them in either an emulator or on a flash cart. And let's just leave it at that.
* EdutainmentGame: ''Hamtaro: Wake Up Snoozer'' for PC/Mac and ''Hi! Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Challenge'' for the DS.
* FleetingDemographicRule: The second DS game which actually got a quiet US release. Apparently, Nintendo/AlphaDream/Natsume thinks that no one remembers the hamsters anymore, so they threw in a reintroduction of each of the characters in the opening title cinematic. After all, the show has been off the air in the US for over two years by then, and the last game was released in the US market over 4 years prior.
* GenreShift: The first GBC title was a [[WidgetSeries WJT]] title, essentially a fortune teller/love meter program with a virtual pet function threw in as an afterthought. The second GBC and first GBA titles were of the adventure/RPG genre, the second GBA title was a adventure/RPG+minigames genre game, the third GBA title was a sports title made to tie in with the 2004 olympics, the first DS title was a quiz game, and the second DS title as well as the only PC title was an edutainment title. Yeah.
* GottaCatchThemAll: The Ham-Chat words in Hamtaro Ham Hams Unite and Hamtaro Ham Ham Heartbreak.
** The fourth game takes you into the dark and crazy world of sticker and coloring pages collecting.
* HonestJohnsDealership: A Ham-Merchant in ''Ham Ham Heartbreak''.
** There are two in ''Ham Hams Unite'', a merchant and his immature protégé. [[MrFixIt Panda]] even [[LampshadeHanging expresses surprise]] at you for buying a [[FetchQuest required but predictably damaged item]] from them.
* HundredPercentCompletion: The stickers in ''Rainbow Rescue'' can potentially take players to the dark, ''dark'' world of (digital) sticker collecting.
* LicensedGame: Well, duh!
* TheKiddieRide: Bandai/Banpresto made one in Japan, using the same base design as one they used for an OjamajoDoReMi ride. It dispensed candies after the ride ended. Also made were about half a dozen knockoff rides from China. Those are, sadly, much more prevalent.
* MinigameGame: Both ''Rainbow Rescue'' and ''Ham-Ham Games'', though the former also has a story similar to ''Ham Ham Heartbreak''.
* ThePowerOfLove: ''Ham Ham Heartbreak'' makes a game out of it!
* ShipTease: '''ESPECIALLY''' in ''Ham-Ham Heartbreak'' and ''Rainbow Rescue''.
* ShoutOut: To ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', in two places. First, the shady Ham-Merchant says 'Buy somethin', will ya!?' like the original Zelda shopkeepers did. The second is [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments much funnier]]. You collect three marbles throughout the game, one red, one green, and one blue. Then you place them in a pedestal that looks like it has a sword in it. Then you tug on the sword. The 'Opening a Treasure Chest music' from Zelda plays. And... [[spoiler: IT'S A SPOON!]]
* ToiletHumor: The Go-P verb. First time you see it? When you're facing a tree.
* VerbalTic: ''Ham Ham Heartbreak'' villain Spat's "pfpth!" His angelic counterpart, Harmony, has "tee hee".
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: In the right circumstances the player can bite and scratch other hamsters, and even poke them in the face with a stick; this rarely accompishes anything beyond making them distressed. Bodyslamming is the only way to get certain hamsters to pay attention to you, and you have to outright knock some out of trees and off ledges or other great heights to learn their ham-chat words. The game remarks that you feel bad for it, but if you leave the area and come back they'll be right up there again, and you can keep shoving them without any consequences.