The
life simulation
Life simulation games form a subgenre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual characters (human or otherwise). Such a game can revolve around "individuals and relationships, or it could be a simulation ...
video game series ''
Animal Crossing
is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo. It was created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. The player character is a human who lives in a village inhabited by various anthropomorphic animals and can ...
'', created by
Katsuya Eguchi
is a Japanese video game designer, director and producer, most known for being a creator of the ''Animal Crossing'' series.
He was born in 1965 in Tokyo, Japan and grew up in Chiba Prefecture. He began work at Nintendo in 1986 and spent some t ...
and first released in 2001 by
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles.
The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
, features an assortment of recurring characters. Titles in the series follow the player character as they live in a village populated by
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...
animals
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, have myocytes and are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a ...
, with gameplay that proceeds in a
nonlinear
In mathematics and science, a nonlinear system (or a non-linear system) is a system in which the change of the output is not proportional to the change of the input. Nonlinear problems are of interest to engineers, biologists, physicists, mathe ...
fashion and in-game events that occur in
real-time
Real-time, realtime, or real time may refer to:
Computing
* Real-time computing, hardware and software systems subject to a specified time constraint
* Real-time clock, a computer clock that keeps track of the current time
* Real-time Control Syst ...
. As of ''
Animal Crossing: New Horizons'', the most recent release in the series, there are over 400 animal characters that can potentially populate a player's village.
In addition to these villager characters, ''Animal Crossing'' features characters that appear in the villages of all players; these characters typically serve a particular gameplay function, or appear at a specific in-game event.
Characters
Introduced in ''Animal Forest'' and ''Animal Crossing''
was released for the
Nintendo 64
The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...
in 2001 exclusively in Japan.
An
enhanced remake
A video game remake is a video game closely adapted from an earlier title, usually for the purpose of modernizing a game with updated graphics for newer hardware and gameplay for contemporary audiences. Typically, a remake of such game software sh ...
of the game for
GameCube
The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...
was released as ''Animal Forest+'' in Japan, and as ''Animal Crossing'' worldwide. The games introduce many of the series' core recurring characters, notably businessman
Tom Nook
Tom Nook, known in Japan as , is a fictional character in the Animal Crossing, ''Animal Crossing'' series who operates the village store (or the Resident Services building in ''Animal Crossing: New Horizons''). He first appeared in the Nintendo 64 ...
, traveling musician
K.K. Slider
, more commonly known as K.K. Slider or simply K.K., is a character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise. One of the franchise's most popular characters, he debuted in the title ''Animal Crossing'', and has appeared in every installment since. ...
, and
Mr. Resetti
Mr. Resetti, full name Sonny Resetti (also known in Japan as ), is a fictional character from the ''Animal Crossing'' series of video games by Nintendo. His first appearance was in the Nintendo 64 game ''Dōbutsu no Mori'', released in Europe and ...
, who lectures the player if they
reset
Reset may refer to:
Film and television
* Reset (2015 film), ''Reset'' (2015 film), a 2015 French documentary film
* Reset (2017 film), ''Reset'' (2017 film), a 2017 Chinese film
* Reset (2024 film), ''Reset'' (2024 film), a 2024 Sri Lankan sh ...
the game.
Introduced in ''Animal Crossing: Wild World''
''
Animal Crossing: Wild World'' was released on the
Nintendo DS
The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
in 2005.
Introduced in ''Animal Crossing: City Folk''
''
Animal Crossing: City Folk'' was released on the
Wii
The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
in 2008.
Introduced in ''Animal Crossing: New Leaf''
''
Animal Crossing: New Leaf'' was released on the
Nintendo 3DS
The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...
in 2012.
The game introduces
Isabelle
Isabel is a female name of Iberian origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheba''). Arising in the 12th century, it became popul ...
, a secretary at the town hall who has been described as a "fan-favorite" and a
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...
of the ''Animal Crossing'' series. Additional content and characters were added to the game in ''Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Welcome Amiibo'', a free update for the game released in late 2016.
Introduced in ''Animal Crossing: New Horizons''
''
Animal Crossing: New Horizons'' was released on the
Nintendo Switch
The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
on March 20, 2020.
Certain characters introduced in previous ''Animal Crossing'' titles were not present in the game at launch, but have been added through free
downloadable content
content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...
(DLC) updates.
Other characters were added in ''Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Happy Home Paradise'', a paid DLC update slated for release on November 5, 2021.
Introduced in spin-off titles
Several spin-off ''Animal Crossing'' series titles have been produced, which feature their own original characters.
Appearances by title
Notes
References
External links
*
List of villager charactersat ''Nookipedia''
{{Animal Crossing series
Animal Crossing
is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo. It was created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. The player character is a human who lives in a village inhabited by various anthropomorphic animals and can ...