Shugo Chara! (Japanese: しゅごキャラ!, Hepburn: Shugo Kyara!), also known as My Guardian Characters, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the manga author duo Peach-Pit. The story centers on elementary school girl Amu Hinamori, whose popular exterior, referred to as "cool and spicy" by her classmates, contrasts with her introverted personality. When Amu wishes for the courage to be reborn as her would-be self, she is surprised to find three colorful eggs the next morning, which hatch into three Guardian Characters: Ran, Miki, and Su.

Shugo Chara! was serialized in the magazine Nakayoshi and published by Kodansha in Japan. Del Rey has licensed the English language manga rights, releasing the first volume on March 27, 2007. It won the 2008 Kodansha Manga Award for best children's manga.

Shugo Chara! has also been adapted into a fifty-one episode anime television series of the same title produced by Satelight under the direction of Kenji Yasuda and debuted on October 6, 2007, on TV Tokyo. On July 20, 2008, Anime News Network reported that the Shugo Chara! anime would be continued for a second year under the title Shugo Chara!! Doki—, the first episode airing on October 10, 2008; the official anime website later announced an October 4, 2008, start date.

On October 3, 2009, Shugo Chara! began featuring another series. The new program, Shugo Chara Party! containing Shugo Chara!!! Dokki Doki and Shugo Chara Pucchi Puchi! follow the current anime series as its power-up. The last episode aired on March 26, 2010.

The main protagonist of the story, Amu Hinamori, is a female student attending Seiyo Elementary. At first glance, her classmates refer to her attitude and appearance as "cool and spicy" and rumors speculate about her personal life. However, her real personality is that of a very shy girl who has trouble showing her true personality. One night, Amu wishes for the courage to show her "would-be" self, and the next morning, she finds three brightly colored eggs—pink, blue, and green—in her bed. These eggs hatch into three fairy-like guardians called "Shugo Charas" (Guardian Characters): Ran (pink), Miki (blue), and Su (green). The Guardian Characters aid Amu in discovering who she truly is and help fulfil Amu's dreams. Amu's life becomes much more complex, as she struggles to deal with her "would-be" selves and Seiyo Elementary's Guardians, who each have a Guardian Character of their own. People with Guardian Characters can "chara-nari" (character transform) or "character change". Each transformation has special powers, mainly for attacking or defending. Character changes have special powers too, but have more practical uses. Later on, they recruit Amu as the "Joker" to search for X Eggs and X Characters, the corrupted forms of people's dreams, so the Guardians can purify their dreams. In Japanese, the egg is shortened.

Meanwhile, the Easter Company is extracting people's eggs, in search of a special egg called the Embryo. The Embryo is believed to grant any wish to the one who possesses it. However, the process creates X Eggs and X Characters.

Later on in the series, a fourth (yellow) egg named Diamond is born. Unlike Amu's other Guardian Characters, she is only seen a few times in the series. Due to Amu's mixed feelings before Diamond was born, she becomes an X character and is "stolen" by idol singer Hoshina Utau, who uses Diamond to character change for her concerts, planned by Easter as part of their plan to get the Embryo. Later on, Diamond is purified and becomes a regular Guardian Character. She would then appear in times of heavy crisis.