Imagine if people were like Tom nook in real life. "Oh, you need a house? Sure. All you have to do is pay me back whenever you want and collect some bugs"
Can we just mention that in the first game, the player moved to a new town with NO MONEY AND NO PLAN, and Tom Nook was like "well I mean, you're a total idiot, but you also can't go without a place to live, sooo have a home and you can pay back whenever. and like if you need money I'll give you a job too, nbd" Like what kind of "videogame villain" would do that, set you up on the fly without even knowing you despite the fact that you're clearly a loose cannon that makes awful life decisions? That's a hero in my eyes.
Valid. I played the original games when I was living with my parents before I understood the cost of living, loans, debts, paying rent, getting a job, etc. Never connected the dots. All these years I feel I need to go back to Wild World and find a stylus and write Tom Nook an apology letter from the future letting him know he will be redeemed in the year 2020.
Apparently a villager in New Lead actually states that Tom Nook was an Orphan, which explains why he specifically donates to the orphanage and another reason he’s so happy to teach kids how to take care of themselves financially.
His depression after coming back from his hard life in the city could be why he says in NH that his favorite song is K.K. Lament. Sometimes when you are feeling down a sad song can really help.
Me as a kid: This guy wants me to pay him all of this money, gives me work when I'd rather be fishing, complains when I'm late, and gets upset if I don't wear the stupid uniform! He's evil! Me as an adult: This guy will loan me the money to buy a house, give me a job, happily pawn my garbage even if he can't resell it, teach me the ins and outs of my new town, and never hound me to repay the loan or even charge interest? He's a saint!
Vireo he also charges you to reserve a plot of land that he then sells while giving you no reward other than virtual currency that can only be spent at his shop.
Matt J Eh, no, it is implied that it is the currency used in the place where the village is located, in City Folk you can spent it on the city, which Nook doesn't own in any way
Look all I'm sayin is, if I just gave a guy a house with zero interest AND job that's in walking distance of it. If he can't come in on time and with a uniform I'm sending eviction papers.
“Misunderstood”? Oh, I’ll tell you what I understand about him, alright. He most likely considers me his “cousin” so he can gain my trust in order to scam me. _AND_ he’s a *scammer.*
Isabella already has some decent lore herself. Apparently she and her brother digby run a podcast about Mr. Bean called “all about the bean” or something like that... and she like Yoshi is a tax evader
Hurray! I’m not the only one! Tom Nook is the classic “Japanese honest businessman”, with a strong sense of community and commitment to good ethics. Red is the “Japanese dishonest businessman” who only cares for profit and self gain. They’re meant to be two sides of the same coin, so to speak.
I stil never despised him but out of fun I imagined an entire apocaliptic story about the previous games including from pocket camp and the open vastness or emptyness that a thermo nuclear war happened as he now has his own currency and money BUT I never despised it I was perhaps then neutral about it but I never hated him at all!
One thing that really shows how determined and good Tom Nook is, is when he says he is willing to be seen as a mean person, a villain, he is willing to be called "evil", as long as he is able to pass his knowledge onto the player, Timmy and Tommy.
tom is literally so adorable i couldn’t stop laughing at his remarks at the player not paying bills and not having uniform on lmaooo how could anyone hate him?
Tom nook sees the the player as young (and according to the audience the game was made for) completely unaware of responsibility and took it as his responsibility to educate you and to keep you from making the same mistakes he made... He's a tough love kind of guy...
The reason we don't have paintings in New Horizons is because Redd scammed Tom Nook. Nook isn't going to let the person who ruined him onto the island HE runs.
When I was a kid playing Wild World, I was scared of Tom Nook. Now, I’m an adult with two part-time jobs. Playing New Horizons and seeing Tom again is completely different. I appreciate his kindness and understand that he’s probably doing the financial side while I do leg work for him. I don’t mind people joking about his seemingly pushy nature, but I’ve literally grown up with him. He’s really merciful if you think about it. I do think that the quality of graphics also works in Tom’s favor. The angularness of Wild World made him seem more as a threat visually. However, now he is plush, looks soft and comforting while still being firm. So, yeah. You’re not gonna see me complaining about my home loan. XD
I mean, Tom Nook isn't rude, He's just running a business, and does his job. He wants you to have a good impression on your new city. He's mad/evil (for some people) Because they just don't follow the rules.
Of course- but honestly? Mr Nook was introduced to me in "New Horizons" and I swear to buh-jesus I fell in love- *He's precious and it hurts to know he suffers depression!*
@@anime_idiot2717 it really challenges you to look up art works. Because the fakes are made close to originals but not close enough. For art majors this is best.
You can leave for the same amount of time it takes for a newborn baby to grow old enough to go through college and become a surgeon, and he'll just go "ehhhhh, it is what it is. Just pay it off when you're ready"
I love the subtle story progression in animal crossing. Tom really started out roughing it out in a city, lost it all, got a small shop back in his home town. Then got that shop expanded, got into real-estate, let his pupils run his shop, became a full on real-estate agent with a company. Allowed a seemingly once corrupt man to join his ranks (even inviting that mans family, as we see lotie working with them too), and now he owns a whole corporation. THIS MAN DONATES MOST IF HIS EARNINGS TO CHARITY! Bro, Tom Nook is my hero. Also, it kinda makes sense why crazy redd hasn’t been seen in New Horizons. Tom has seeming banned him from the island to protect the villagers from scammers.
New Horizons is my first Animal Crossing game so when Timmy and Tommy called him “fearless leader” I was immediately suspicious. Now I can’t shake it. I love learning about him though.
Imagine if there were a version of Animal Crossing where Red actually became successful through his schemes and he was the one running the show.ಠ︵ಠ Thank you Tom Nook for coming out on top.
@@awakenedpersona6488 Then there's the other side, ultra-capitalists, with such fine gentlemen as Andrew Wilson of Electronic Arts, Bobby Kotick of Activision, Strauss Zelnick of Take Two, Kagemasa Kozuki of Konami and Randy Pitchford of Gearbox Software are but a few of the video gaming industry's gentry here! *Of course, you won't bring that up in this particular argument, but it just goes to show when it's convenient for you to do so. ;)*
Tom Nook : * Recovers financially and build his business throughout the years, and becomes rich enough to own islands and create his own currency* Whatever you think about Tom Nook, he is a warrior, he struggled so much to get where he is today. He doesn't deserve that much hate
I was playing new horizon and on the day crazy Redd came to my island, Tom nook warned me about a shady charcter that appeared and to be careful with my bells. I probably wouldn't have thought much of it if it wasn't for this video
@@Twinklethefox9022 When he does come (and this goes into Tanuki folk lore) Tom won't let Redd stay on his island that is why Redd lives on a boat when he wants to live on your island just right outside the island borders
Tom Nook in New Horizons LITERALLY allows you to pay your first loan in achievements (nook miles). You paid 0 bells for the entire first loan worth 49k. NOOK IS NOT BAD FOLKS.
@Pixality Tried that with the first house loan and Nook refused. Gotta pay the 98k the old-fashioned way. (Not that it's that difficult to grind for money, anyway. Just get lucky with a few of the Dodo Islands and you'll be bells in.)
Seeing New horizons being the most popular game to date, and Tom Nook is very prominent in that game I can easily see him being playable if there’s ever another Smash game
I’ve always loved Mr. Nook, however my personal villain is Resetti... He made 8yo me cry in ACWW. My DS ran out of battery so it didn’t save. I then log back on only to be greeted by a screaming mole who’s demanding an apology, which I wrote out at least 5x but for some reason he wouldn’t accept it smh
OMFG I FEEL YOU. AND EVERY TIME YOU LOG BACK ON IT GETS LONGER AND LONGERRRR he also legit made us write that letter thing and waste time when i can go catch that rare bug that happens to conveniently spawn T-T
I HATE RESSETTI I hate it in my old Nintendo it slowly stop working and it would shut off unexpectedly and I would get greeted by him and he would just waste time
I remember in the Gamecube version Sable expressed she was frustrated with Tom because he sold clothing so cheap, meaning her and her sister got very little back for what they put in. I was actually just playing earlier and read about it. Interestingly enough, when you buy clothing from Tom he remarks about how cheap the price is and that his ability to keep prices low is a secret of the trade, he seems proud of it while Sable feels as though he is taking advantage of her and her sister. To be fair, that would've been in his early days, but still. He is a good guy, but certainly not perfect which is why I like him. A lot of thought was put into him.
He was probably imagined initially as a "villain," but in subsequent entries they realized that they could breathe more life into him, make him a more understandable character. They did a good job of it.
@@queenkoko8686 I agree; from what I've seen of him, he's definitely mellowed out (I don't own it myself, but I've watched a number of people play it).
@@shinigamimiroku3723 He makes minor comments about money like, Timmy will buy anything you bring in. (Not very good buisness but...) And one in which he comments about how he expected more guests, and money, with his getaway package, but he still treats you like a partner, giving you control over almost everything on the island.
GalaxyDoes i think it's playing into like both him playing a villain character and also how he's teaching good financial policies since like he talks about business a lot like he's some greedy businessman but he's really just there to see everyone succeed and to support every body honestly i almost teared up a little opening the shop because it feels like timmy and tommy taking their first real step NH has a lot of personality so far and im loving it
My Optimistic Side: "Tom is NOT a bad person! He's a good person who bad things have happened to." My Pessimistic Side: "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't, I suppose." *(gives Redd the stink-eye)*
Okay I will admit I do follow the “Tom is evil” train... BUT- I mean, anybody who’s ever played Animal Crossing knows Redd is the more evil one. Redd LITERALLY scams you out of your bells.
I always pictured Crazy Redd as the more dangerous chaotic evil villain that the main villain (Nook) and the protagonist (the Villager) have to briefly put aside their differences to take down, leading the protagonist to come to sympathize with the main villain somewhat, even if their rivalry continues after the side villain has been defeated. Of course, it's hard to deny that Nook has gotten less and less evil as the games have gone on and at this point I pretty much buy the theory that he's a decent guy who's just a bit misunderstood.
Timmy and Tommy are based on the kids of the same name in the famous movie "The Sandlot". In the movie the younger brother always repeats the last phrase his brother says and at the end if the movie it says they grew up to invent mini malls and run a big corporation.
His business plan to stimulate economy: - give, house, job, and loan with no interest rate - teach that this loan, despite being without time limit, needs to be paid at some point - convince that you want more than you need - repeat until rich Some may call him evil, but really. Imagine that you are broke AF, and there is a person that will put you on a peaceful island just because he trusts you'll repay him with what you'll gather there. "Hi, you want to live on island?... You don't have any money?... No problem!" **after you pay moving fees** "Hi, you want more than just that tent, do you?... I can give you loan to make a house!" "Oh... and BTW could you gather some supplies for me? Thanks."
But still even after that, you're now part of his labor force. Because after getting a house. You're tasked to find spots for 3 guests who won a furnished house for each. Well Tom Nook isn't going to do it, so he gives you the job to make the furniture.
I agree. In retrospect, you're *essentially* agreeing to be an indentured servant till you work off your debt. Just there's no time limit since Tom will let you take your time to pay in full. A win win situation for both him and yourself.
Guess who lured you there? *HIM.* Who made the advertisements? *HIM.* Who made it so you can't even call your own mother?! *HIM!* WHO LURED YOU INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY ONLY TO PUT YOU TO WORK AND GIVE HIM ALL YOUR MONEY?! *TOM! FREAKING! NOOK! WHO PUTS YOU INTO DEBT 7,000,000,000,000 TIMES?! SAY IT WITH ME! TOM NOOK!* I rest my case, your honor.
Tom Nook: If it means doing the greater good of education, then i'm fine being the "villian" *sees Reed as most misunderstood character Tom Nook: Excuse me- *Flips table and sets fire to the island*
I’ll admit, after he “swindled” me into buying a larger house (I’m still not sure about that; maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention, clicked the wrong dialog option, and just couldn’t go back), I swore I’d never forgive Tom Nook. Nowadays... not only do I forgive him, but I think the tanuki needs a big ol’ hug!
@@jahmiahgreenturtle6995 Something not being there when it is normally common practice for it to be there is still generous. He is not charging you more money the longer you take.
I’ve never paid a loan before but even I know that is very generous. If they had put interest I would have been in so much debt when I was like 7 I didn’t even know what a loan was
That sucks, because In Older games when they were rude, it gave the villagers/nook even a slight feel of personality other than Nintendo being a punch of pansies and thinking the older games dialogue was “too much”
Nintendo was probably frustrated Tom was so missunderstood that they decided to change HIS WHOLE PERSONALITY to a pure and nice man that doesnt joke about sending goons.
Even if he was screaming to you, you didn't need to pay that money back. If you would do that in real life, your bank would be like: "Give us the money and even more, or we will sue you"...
I love how Lyle was working with Redd, probably got to do with the fact that he is another Japanese yokai with pretty trickster skills called the Kawauso , which is basically a transforming otter yokai.
Just looked it up and yep... Guess we got our mystical japanese folklore trio :") (I know captain and his family are kappa and also folklore but they aren't included in this crazy trip of backstory so not counting him here)
New theory: animal crossing new horizons is where he's coming close to retirement. Its clear in the dialogue; he's delegating more and more work to his kids and the chatter they have, plus him being more in the background.
Ironically, my bank has given me the option to skip 3 payments of any loan, including auto and mortgage debts. Not all banks ae evil, Nook. Just like not all Tanuki are evil, clearly.
People wouldn't think he's a villain, if the "lore" wasn't so well hidden away. When days, weeks, MONTHS goes by between each snippets of dialogue... It's not surprising that people just don't remember what the characters have previously said... not to mention, quite a lot of people just play the game for the relaxing nature of it and don't care for dialogues.
Ironically, I think it's Tom Nook's loans (even if they have zero interest and no due date) that's the reason why people get a bad impression of him, specifically because of how video games work. As players, we're used to NPC's giving us a price which we then pay on the spot, so when Tom Nook puts us in debt, we instinctively feel like we've been cheated
I always get mad when people villainize Tom Nook. He makes you a house that you can payoff whenever you want, and all you're paying off is the cost of his labour! And you can totally ignore it if you want to! He doesn't even demand that you upgrade it once you pay it off, he just tells you he can and then *you* have to ask him to do it
Tom Nook has been biding his time ever since Redd had cheated him in the city, and in that Nintendo Power Magazine. One day, the Tanuki will win over the Kitsune once more so balance can be restored.
Honestly though, I love both Nook and Redd, for different reasons. Redd is so shady yet you could never complete the museum without his help, there's a possibility that Lyle was working with an unknown third party and they were using Redd, also he's way too ambitious... that said his cruel action helped Nook grow into a saint of a businessman and entrepreneur we see expanding and learning through the games. Where Redd never learns from his mistakes or takes away the bare minimum from them, Nook instead learns and evolves, their character foils. Opposite yet equal. Redd is a toxic individual if you drink up his words without some sort of reservation. Nook though is very upfront and runs things legitimately at the best rates I've ever seen. Because he was burnt by dishonesty and shortcuts, by society's very gears he's been crushed yet he came out stronger and wiser then most could ever dream. He's a fighter and a dreamer even still, though now he knows caution, patience and details. Nook is like a farmer, you reap what you sew. Where as Redd is lazy at least to begin with, his motivation is immediate profit, exploitation of resources, the opposite of Nook though they echo similarly, one is teaching responsibility the other is actively avoiding it.
I used to picture Tom Nook as annoying, but after I saw the The Tragic Backstory of the Able Sisters video (you should check it out)I changed my thoughts about him. A lot of this video was just reviewing what I already knew. (I knew it was Redd who betrayed him even before I got to the end.)
I'm playing New Horizons and my impressions of Tom Nook were that he's actually not so bad. He definitely likes money, but charging absolutely no interest (and letting you pay the first loan with MILES instead of money) made me lean towards him being good. This video makes me put him even further into that camp, even if he was pretty rude in the original.
Ya, oddly enough ... I never even considered him rude. I more or less just assumed every character hada comedic personality. I mean the very first person you meet in the game on the train says your name is weird and laughs at you lol.
I could swear too. Due to the orphanage side plot of his backstory I headcanon that he maybe indirectly adopted the twins as nephews in a way? Like taking legal guardianship while teaching them but not wanting to be a dad so he asks them to call him uncle instead? That would be cute!;;
I just googled if he adopted them. Found the following on the Animal crossing wiki on timmy and Tommy's page: "They are rumored to be his sons or nephews, and their last name is also listed as Nook. Certain jock or lazy villagers will tell of a rumor that Tom Nook found them in the streets and raised them by himself. Their full names were first revealed in New Leaf, when they are seen on the bulletin board during some shop upgrade announcements." So I suppose my suspicions might be correct
Im pretty sure he adopted them since they're orphans, but he wants to be more of a mentor figure to them than a father figure so he calls them his nephews.
Tom Nook has become one of my faves in Animal Crossing. I noticed at the beginning given the backstory, that Tom Nook was never evil, just jaded and cynical in the first game. Having played the games, he has my favourite story arc in gaming. New Horizons is easily Tom Nook at his most socially healthy. He’s a great presence. Also, that Nintendo Power article is ridiculous in hindsight.
My head canon is that Tom Nook is the Animal Crossing equivalent of Scrooge McDuck, while Crazy Redd is a mix of Flintheart Glomgold and Mr. Burns, with a side of Mr. Krabs' negative traits.
Idk why everyone dislikes Tom Nook. I always loved him and how kind and responsible he was. He had such a major character development... He shouldn't get this bashed by the community...
soffirechange at the start, he just needs to get financially stable but he softens up as his business grows because he has less chances to go bankrupt, that’s my reasoning for why he’s rude in the early games. He just needs money like we all do so we can buy food, water and other stuff we need or want, right?
Thank you so much for helping to clear this guy’s name! The “no interest” thing is what originally had me convinced he was nice. Also, Crazy Redd better have some good explanation for being such a scumbag. I remember getting scammed by him once in New Leaf because I couldn’t use the internet to check if a painting was legitimate or not, and... eugh. Left a bad taste in my mouth. Is he just not aware the paintings are fake? Nah, he’s gotta be... if he didn’t sell me fireworks, I’d have him banned from my town.
This makes me remember how much I miss the old dialogue in the older Animal Crossing games. It's so charming and interesting, and I couldn't be bothered to talk to any of the characters because most of them are so uninteresting.
@@georgewilson7432 That's not what I'm doing. I think the newer games are a vast improvement in almost every way. It's just that every games before New Leaf had way better interactions with Villagers and other characters, and this video kinda proves it by showing how much we learn about Tom Nook in Wild World compared to what we know about them now. I do prefer the villagers in New Horizons to the ones in New Leaf because they haven't been asking for endless favors but they still don't have much depth.
@@kayleigh3889 I don't know why you guys feel the need to be so hostile towards me, these are just my genuine thoughts and again, I like the new games better than the old ones. It's just that the interactions between characters has become less and less important and it sucks.
I agree with you. Nowadays everything is more vanilla/really pg-13 if you know what i mean lol. Also i play CF atm and i don’t even know that much about Tom Nook, he’s mostly just there, I didn’t even know he was nominated to be a villain, he even had complete different dialogue than in the future series
Even though Timmy & Tommy aren’t related to Tom, I think them calling him something like “Uncle Tom” makes sense because sometimes when your parents have really good friends, you call them Aunt or uncle and I think it’s a good way of showing how close the two are to him
In New Horizons Tom actually "warns" you about Redd at the beginning, before he visits you from now and then. And Redd coming with his ship on the other side of the island, makes everything kinda creepy too... it seems very suspicious... and what Redd does... with the art and on... When I played WildWorld, I first didn't like Tom Nook, because he was kinda strict, but I'm fine with him now, I understand why he reacted that way sometimes For me he is misunderstood too! Redd is the one we should focus on x3
This is a bit of a strange one but, how sure are we about Tom’s relationship to Timmy and Tommy? In Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, one of the special items you obtain is from the New Horizons and Pocket Camp collaboration, “Tom Nook’s Office Table”, in one of the dialogues, he says that he’s proud of Timmy and Tommy, and says that “he’s proud he raised.. er, such valuable employees!” Which does give a slight hint- They might be related to him in some fashion? I do want others to weigh in though. Do you guys think they might be related?
some villagers talk about a rumour where Tom found the twins on the street and adopted them. Since he mentions "an orphanage 3 towns over" I like to think he adopted them from there, but doesn't feel comfortable calling himself their father, and feels more comfortable as their mentor in the world
I think they might be his nephews? We don’t see any other Raccoons/Tanukis in AC so I’m assuming something happened to the twins parents and they had to be adopted by Tom Edit: This would explain their last name being Nook, as revealed in New Leaf
I mean if you took in a couple kids off the street and made them your apprentice, and let them take over your store you'd feel like family to them. Like the Sons he never had sort of deal.