The Hamburglar first appeared in 1971 as a McDonald's character who stole hamburgers.
The Hamburglar was introduced as part of McDonaldland, McDonald's fictional advertising world. Early versions of the character were more sinister-looking, with a masked face and black-and-white clothing. Later redesigns made him smaller, younger-looking, and more cartoonishly mischievous.
His role was simple and memorable: he wanted to take hamburgers, while Ronald McDonald and the other characters tried to stop or outwit him. This gave McDonald's commercials a recurring story pattern that children could recognize across different advertisements.
The Hamburglar is sometimes confused with Captain Crook, another McDonaldland villain associated with Filet-O-Fish promotions. Captain Crook was a separate character, while the Hamburglar's defining target was hamburgers.