 is a character designed by Sanrio. He is a black penguin with spiky hair and a commonly un-amused face. His birthday is on the first of April, April Fool's Day. In Japanese, "badtz" ("batsu") is a term for "X", the symbol for a wrong answer. "Maru" means circle or "O", and signifies a correct answer. He is often represented by "XO". Bad Badtz-Maru was released in 1993. He has far fewer releases than Hello Kitty, but has been a very popular important character. Badtz-Maru was the mascot for the 2006 FIBA World Championship of basketball, which was held in Japan.