Nintendo’s Animal Crossing social simulation series got its start on the Nintendo 64 in ’01 and it’s still going strong more than two decades later. Animal Crossing is an open-ended gaming experience that’s more interested in an accurate simulation in the passage of time rather than big boss battles or a set number of goals. Players build a life for themselves in a quaint village that’s filled with anthropomorphic animals where anything from gardening, to fishing, to interior decorating are fair game.
The Nintendo Switch’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons became an unexpected hit due to its launch during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the series’ ongoing popularity is proof that the game’s success was hardly a fluke. Animal Crossing characters have even found their way into the Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. series. General audiences are well aware of Animal Crossing‘s relaxing nature and leisurely gameplay, but there’s also a surprisingly dense lore between the franchise’s many villagers that’s worthy of dissection and might turn curious outsiders into dedicated gamers.
10 Human Characters Represent City Folk & Animals Are Country Folk
Players are free to experience Animal Crossing through a multitude of styles, none of which are wrong, and will continually result in different stories. However, one commonality that audiences have likely noticed is that their villager persona is the only human in Animal Crossing and that everyone else is an anthropomorphic animal.
This clear demarcation between man and animal is speculated to be because humans live in the city and animals live in the country. This doesn’t mean that the villager is the only human in existence. If the tables were turned, a metropolitan city would be filled with people and have minimal animals around.
9 A Special Gnome Lives In The Wishing Well To Reward Intrepid Players
There may technically be no end to Animal Crossing, but the series does find ways to reward some of the more intrepid players that go above and beyond with their villages. Some of the franchise’s earlier games incorporate a magical element in the form of Farley, the mysterious gnome-like spirit of the wishing well who lives in the fountain/bell shrine.
Farley will come out of his home and give players a golden axe after they’ve assembled a perfect village. It’s a creative way to feature some sense of accomplishment while simultaneously adding new fantastical possibilities to Animal Crossing.
8 The Able Hedgehog Family Drama
One of Animal Crossing’s most interesting stories involves the Able Hedgehog family, Sable, Label, and Mabel. The various games explain that the siblings’ parents pass and Sable is left in charge of her younger siblings. A rift apparently occurs between Sable and Label, which pushes the latter to retreat to the city until City Folk. Conversations with Sable reveal that Label has become a fashion designer and changed her named to Labelle.
A series of letters that Label sends to Mabel add deeper context and explain Mabel’s guilt over leaving her family. In New Leaf, Label is back and working with Mabel and in New Horizons she’s even reclaimed her given family name and found peace with her siblings.
7 An Angry Mole Emphasizes Proper Game Saving Protocol
There is sometimes a fine line between entertaining and annoying, which is where Animal Crossing’s chaotic Mr. Sonny Resetti fits in. Resetti is a belligerent mole who’s a self-aware figure whose job is to reinforce the importance of proper gaming etiquette when it comes to saving one’s progress.
Mr. Resetti is so passionate about his cause that he threatens to punish the player if they reset their game too many times instead of the typical saving procedure. Resetti loves to lecture the player and even engages in fake penalties that are designed to scare the player from ever resetting again. Sonny Resetti is quite hot-headed, but latertitles reveal his calmer brother, Don Resetti.
6 Tom Nook & Sable Had A Difficult Relationship
Most Animal Crossing players interact with Tom Nook, a tanuki, but fail to pick up on the heavy history that surrounds him as well as his village relationship. Conversations with both Tom Nook and Sable the hedgehog reveal a tragic falling out between these two that likely could have been avoided.
Tom Nook and Sable grew up together in the same town, only for Nook to relocate to the city to pursue his passion for business. This new lifestyle changes Nook and he laments that he “lost a friend” during this shift in priorities, which is likely Sable. Nook returns home, defeated and depressed, and he retreats from those who care about him the most, like Sable.
5 Crazy Redd Is A Mischievous Charlatan
Animal Crossing is full of friendly villagers who are more than willing to help out the player. However, there are still predatory people who could be considered villains. Animal Crossing includes a duplicitous fox named Redd, who operates under the aliases of Crazy Redd and Jolly Redd, and pretends to be a helpful shopkeeper. Redd sells items, art, and furniture, but they’re either counterfeits or defective products with unreasonable price tags attached.
Redd sells standard furniture at twice its regular price and in Wild World he begins to peddle counterfeit artwork. This can be a real problem for less savvy players who want to trust this sly fox. Redd also has a longstanding feud with fellow entrepreneur, Tom Nook.
4 A Musical Dog Knows More Than 100 Songs
K.K. Slider is a guitar-playing dog musician, and later a DJ, who uses musical expression as a form of liberation. K.K. Slider is a perennially popular Animal Crossing character who’s gradually learned an increasing number of songs. For a point of reference, K.K. knows 55 songs in Animal Crossing, which has increased to 107 by the time of New Horizons.
Some of his songs are even tributes to Animal Crossing developers. K.K. Slider’s music is available to purchase and he’s even performed concerts in other Nintendo franchises like Super Smash Bros. and Splatoon. There’s even a popular theory that K.K. Slider is who taught Isabelle to be more musically inclined.
3 Tom Nook’s Business Whims Have Destroyed His Personal Life
Tom Nook is Animal Crossing’s most business-minded resident. There’s nothing wrong with a strong work ethic and striving to achieve one’s goals, but Nook goes overboard in this department to the point that it becomes detrimental to his overall happiness. Tom Nook is shown to be working endless hours and all just to make ends meet.
He starts to value profits and business over his personal relationships in the community, which all suffer as a result of professional ventures. Tom Nook convinces himself that he’s happy, but a darker truth occasionally slips out. Nook has also experienced a devastating business betrayal where he was robbed by all of his valuable bells, presumably by Crazy Redd.
2 Zipper T. Bunny Is Actually Crazy Redd
One Animal Crossing: New Horizons resident who has quickly stood out to audiences is Zipper T. Bunny, a villager who claims to be a bunny, but is obviously putting on an act. The big giveaway with Zipper T. Bunny is the obvious zipper on his back, but his behavior will also completely change when the player isn’t around them.
Zipper walks normally, stops acting like a bunny, and even sighs, as if this charade is a chore to him. It’s widely believed that Crazy Redd is actually inside the costume and that this elaborate roleplay is an effort to either repair his relationship with Tom Nook or evade him while scoping out the new island.
1 Timmy & Tommy Aren’t Actually Tom Nook’s Nephews
Family is a beautiful thing in Animal Crossing, especially when villagers open their hearts up to others and build life-long relationships in unexpected places. Timmy and Tommy are two adorable tanuki children who have sporadically appeared in Animal Crossing since its inaugural game. Timmy and Tommy are usually close to Tom Nook and help him with businesses. Tom Nook refers to Timmy and Tommy as his nephews, which players have had no reason to question.
More recent Animal Crossing games reveal that Tom Nook donates 90% of his earnings to an orphanage that’s even named a wing after him. There’s heavy speculation that Timmy and Tommy came from this orphanage and that they’re not actually Nook’s biological nephews.