The world is full of weird and wonderful things, and that goes triple for the world of fan creations. The nature of Animal Crossing means there are tons of different ways to interpret the game and its lovable talking animal inhabitants, all without even venturing near rule 34.
For this piece, we've gathered up eight of the most outstanding Animal Crossing fan creations. Some show the darker side of the Crossing world, others are about Isabelle, while some others are also about Isabelle. Then, of course, some just remind us why we love the game so much.
First up is a bit of nostalgia.
Will The Train Ever Arrive?
Will The Train Ever Arrive is a gorgeous lil’ GIF from @huttaburger. It hearkens back to the first Animal Crossing game — well, the first in the West at least — by placing the focus squarely on the Train Station, a fixture not seen since 2002.
It’s a rainy spring day, the flowers are blooming, and you’ve even got messages waiting on the bulletin board. But when will the train take you to meet your friends? *sigh*. It perfectly captures the low-key yet colorful life that is Animal Crossing.
What’s more, the artist even created it in a GBA style, further adding to the nostalgia of it all.
The Main Street
At the beginning of this piece, I mentioned we’d be covering a variety of Animal Crossing fan creations, both good and potentially disturbing. This one happily straddles both categories. It’s a Roblox fan game called The Main Street. On the one hand, it's well done to the person who made it ... since that had to be a lot of work.
On the other… it’s kinda' creepy. It somewhat faithfully re-creates AC: New Leaf, but there’s just something slightly off about the environments. They’re eerily empty most of the time. Some of the models seem a tad off, too, like they might follow you to the train station and do something horrible once your back’s turned.
I don’t think it was designed as a vehicle for disturbing Animal Crossing fan stories, though. Apart from the scary-looking locations themselves, a big part of the creep factor probably comes from the perspective.
Still, this is all coming from someone who probably couldn’t render a shoebox in Roblox, so again, respect to the creator here.
Rainy Day Friends
Poor Digby didn’t get too much attention after he was introduced in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, unless you were really keen on the design showroom. Despite his important role in Happy Home Designer, you still didn’t get to see him do much then either.
Why does that matter? Because this GIF from sarcastically exists to show us how much we need to see his adorable interactions with sister Isabelle. Both puppers shoulder a ton of responsibility — which is one reason why we showcased Isabelle for International Dog Day last year. But it’s just too cute seeing Digby in the role of responsible brother. Poor Isabelle, probably too busy thinking about where your next Public Works project should go, forgot her umbrella, and got caught in the rain.
Luckily, Digby happened by with one to spare, seeing as he’s got his raincoat. If you’re really in a Ghibli mood, as I apparently am at the time of writing, you can see a parallel between this and the iconic cover for My Neighbor Totoro — though this isn’t confirmation Kapp’n’s vehicle in New Horizons is the cat bus.
Jack's House
Animal Crossing is full of special characters, from the everyday ones like Tom Nook to holiday figures we only see once a year. But, apparently, they don’t live anywhere because we never get to see their houses. Tom Nook gave his fortune to an orphanage, so maybe he lives in a hostel paid for by the local Business Association, but the travelers who make your holidays jolly have no such luck.
Fortunately, Pretty Pretty Pixels dreamed up a house for our favorite Halloween trickster, Jack. It’s suitably creepy, with a dark tone (what else would you use for Halloween?) and blurred textures. Blurred though they may be, we can still get a glimpse of the Creepy furniture Jack hands out if you do his bidding on Halloween.
That the clock’s teeth stand out the most is a particularly nice touch, along with Katrina’s glowing red eyes.
Prison
This is definitely one of the odder creations out there. Instagram user Welcome to Thizzle Crossing decided to create a Pocket Camp prison, housing the worst animal offenders in the village, staffed by animals as well. Bob’s the thug guard with a water gun (gasp!), while Truffles happily mans the front of the prison, keeping all grody evildoers inside with, like, impeccable style.
The real mastermind of the operation sits almost out of sight monitoring the computer system, back turned to the camera, shades on inside. It’s Animal Crossing dystopia, the Panopticon come to life.
What’s especially fun here is how you can easily imagine a story behind each character’s participation since Animal Crossing has such distinct personalities. Goldie: “I… I bit Timmy Nookling after he tried selling me the doghouse I already lived in! *sobs* I’m so ashamed!”
Isabelle the Witch
Here’s another Isabelle-centric piece, because she’s just so darn wonderful. Here, we get to see Isabelle cutting loose for a change, freed from the responsibilities of work and able to pursue whatever task catches her fancy. Jessica sees her pursuing the life of a witch, which probably explains why that one spot in the woods was mysteriously not a good place for your jungle gym.
It’s okay, though. Because this is Isabelle, she’s naturally a super-cute witch who paints the world pastel with her starry-eyed spells, and that’s okay by us. What could she be cooking up in the cauldron? Kibble, perchance?
No, I suspect it’s a potion to help her beat you down even harder in your next Smash Ultimate match.
Tom Nook in Ghibli
This piece by Sea Knight doesn’t have a name, hence my attempts above, but it’s one of my favorites from the great deal of trawling through fan art done for this piece.
It imagines Animal Crossing in a very not-Animal Crossing style, but it gets to the heart of what makes the series so special: that warmth characterizing so much of Studio Ghibli’s work (unless you’re a film called Tales from Earthsea). It helps that Ghibli deals in snapshot, daily-life moments like this in many of its films too, where venturing down the dirt road to the general store is as much of an event as setting out on an adventure.
That’s what Animal Crossing is all about, finding beauty in the small things.
Brutus
Brutus the Bulldog doesn’t exist. That simple fact hasn’t stopped Animal Crossing fans from talking about, drawing, and fearing the purple bulldog hellmonster for 18 years. Back when Animal Crossing launched on the GameCube, sinister rumors swirled about a purple bulldog who may one day show up in your village.
What would he do when he got there? Well, like any good story, the tale of Brutus and his wrongdoings grows with every telling. He sends mysterious letters to some, letters in binary code. Others, he invites to his home, only to freeze their game and then disappear once it reboots.
Still others talk of Brutus kidnapping their favorite villagers (so, Hazel is safe for all time, in other words). But the worst of all is the Brutus who’d gleefully delete entire villages, sometimes all at once, sometimes doing it one row at a time like the true monster that he is.
Except he isn’t. Because he’s not real.
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This doesn't even begin to cover all the fantastic Animal Crossing fan creations out there. But it does serve as an important reminder that whether it be funny, creepy, warm, or something else entirely, Animal Crossing means something different to everyone. And that's exactly how it should be.
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