The Hamburglar is McDonald's striped-shirt hamburger thief character.
The character became part of the McDonaldland cast, a group of fictional figures used in McDonald's advertising and merchandise. The Hamburglar's recurring role was to attempt to steal hamburgers, creating a simple comic conflict for children's commercials.
His appearance changed over time. The earliest version was more exaggerated and sometimes portrayed as an older, vaguely human thief, while later versions presented a smaller, childlike character in a striped outfit.
The Hamburglar is often confused with Grimace, but the two characters had different roles. Grimace was a large purple character, whereas the Hamburglar's defining theme was trying to take hamburgers. Both belonged to McDonald's character branding.