The Hamburglar was McDonald's 1971 character designed as a thief who stole hamburgers.
He was introduced as part of McDonaldland, a fictional world created for McDonald's advertising. In his original appearance, the Hamburglar had a small, mischievous design and often spoke in a distinctive, playful style. His central gag was simple: he wanted to take hamburgers, while the other characters tried to stop him.
The character is sometimes confused with Captain Crook, another McDonaldland villain associated with Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. Grimace was not a thief; he began as a character connected with stealing milkshakes before being redesigned as the friendly purple figure most audiences know.
McDonald's later changed the Hamburglar's appearance, making him taller and more like a modern child or teenager. Despite those redesigns, the hamburger-stealing role remained the defining feature of his branding identity.