Animal Crossing has some strange villagers. Villagers that defy logic. Villagers that raise questions. Villagers that are a little spooky. As something that’s not supposed to raise these feelings and concerns, Animal Crossing is a perfect place to delve into The Nerdy-Files. Let’s start with the least strange and work our way up.
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The Robots
By far the least strange neighbours you’re likely to encounter are the robots Ribbot and Sprocket. These two are riveted metal with headlights for eyes and manufacturer’s numbers on the backs of their heads. These two raise some questions. Who made them? What is their purpose? And how many others are out there?
The Immortals
Lucky and Ankha are immortals from ancient Egypt. Sure, Nintendo says that Lucky is in a body cast because of an unfortunate fishing accident, but then what’s with his otherworldly, glowing yellow eye? Then there’s Ankha. She’s wearing a headdress that looks like something straight out of Cleopatra’s jewellery collection. Perhaps some four thousand years ago, Ankha was a practicing alchemist who experimented with resurrection and eternal life. After all, alchemy as it’s known in the West sprung up in ancient Egypt, and its biggest principle is eternal life. While Ankha came up with new alchemic techniques she tested her theories on Lucky who was already dead and mummified at the time and that’s why you’ll never see him out of his bandages. When her formulas/spells were perfected she performed them on herself and has since been wandering the Earth as an unaging, immortal being.
The Foodies
There are some villagers that constantly talk about food. Then there are the villagers that are food. There’s Tangy the orange (as in the citrus fruit) cat, Frita the French fry sheep, Chadder the swiss cheese mouse, and Ketchup the tomato duck. Are these villagers the result of aggressive genetic modification in the livestock and produce? Are they half-breeds? The offspring of a cat that couldn’t contain its lust for oranges? They never offer up an in game explanation and it just seems rude to ask them.
The TVs
Having appeared only once in the Japanese exclusive game Animal Forest e+, Meow and Bow are true oddities. They both appear to be regular animals but their faces are a different colour from their bodies. Why? That’s not their faces. It’s a television screen. Is it a Google glass situation where it’s something that just covers their faces or are their skulls hollowed out and filled with television components? If the latter is true, Meow and Bow raise the same questions as the robots.
The Living Dolls
There’s a Frankenstein-esque villager that could one day be your neighbour. Stitches the bear. He looks like a raggedy living doll. There are other neighbours like Cube and Peaches that have cross-stitch eyes but show no other signs of being doll-like. Stitches is different though. Along with his cross-stitch eyes, his body is composed of different coloured materials all sewn together to create his teddy bear exterior. Is he an animal or an animated object? Is it possible he’s both?
The Completely Unexplainable
Here they are. The strangest. The most unnatural. Coco the bunny and Blanca the cat. Blanca’s a genderless, faceless cat. Sometimes it will ask you (the player) to draw a face on it. Other times it will move throughout your village, imitating your friends: shape-shifting as it sees fit. Worst of all, it will get mad if you decline to draw it a face. Is it a ghost? A spectre? A figment of your imagination? We’ll never know. Coco on the other hand, has a face. Though it would be nice if she didn’t. She’s based on the Animal Crossing series gyroids that you dig out of the ground and can decorate with. She’s got gaping, hollow eyes and a mouth to match. Her body appears to be made out of dirt. She’s incapable of showing emotions but likes to collect gyroids. Perhaps because of a familiar connection?
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With this brief, exploratory look into the strangest villagers that the Animal Crossing series has to offer, it’s clear that there’s more than meets the eye to these small, critter filled communities. They’re filled with the unexplainable, the strange, the bizarre, all disguised as cuddly creatures. But what other mysteries might this game series be hiding? Only time, and further exploration of the Nerdy-Files will tell.
