How Tom Nook Has Changed In Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Tom Nook is extremely successful, but past games in the series show the tanuki has not always done well for himself.
Tom Nook is one of most omnipresent and mysterious characters in the Animal Crossing series. The tanuki businessman is kind-hearted and helpful to players, but he is also technically the antagonist of the games, being the lender to whom players owe money. This duality can also distract Animal Crossing fans from realizing he is probably the most successful business person in the world.
Indeed, Tom Nook's business has grown tremendously over the series. Though his humble persona does not allow him to brag about his successes, the tanuki owns both an island and an airline by the time of New Horizons and probably much more than that. He even supports other small business on the side like Nook's Cranny and Able Sisters out of the pureness of his heart - an easy enough thing for him to do because of all the Bells he has.
But Tom Nook was not always this successful in the Animal Crossing series. In fact, his rise as a tycoon was a slow one. By looking at all the Animal Crossing games, one can trace Tom Nook's timeline from being a small business to becoming one of the richest animals in the world.
Tom Nook Failed A Lot In Earlier Animal Crossing Games
In the first few games of the Animal Crossing series, Tom Nook worked himself incredibly hard for nowhere near the same reward as in later titles. He owned both a shop and invested in real estate in Animal Crossing: Wild World and City Folk. It appears he directly owns the property players purchase at the beginning of these games and is thus the animal to whom money is owed. But even though Tom Nook makes a lot of Bells off of this side hustle, he still dedicates a lot of time to his shop, Nook's Cranny. In fact, in the original Animal Crossing, players can knock on the shop's door thrice after it closes to wake up Tom Nook. He will slowly guide players through the store in his pajamas, marking up his prices almost by a third and paying a lot less for items being sold to him.
Though Tom Nook worked hard in this period, he wished better for himself. At one point in Tom Nook's backstory before Animal Crossing: Wild World, it is revealed he went to the big city to make something more of himself. However, this only ended up in failure, as he winds up back in the same situation he was in before in the original Animal Crossing.
Tom Nook may have been upset about his failures in business in the earlier Animal Crossing games, but even worse are the friendships he lost. His relationships in Animal Crossing: Wild World and City Folk feel frayed in comparison to the original Animal Crossing. This is especially true regarding Sable of Able Sisters. Sable and Tom once shared a very close relationship with one another as both friends and business partners. Tom Nook helped get the Able Sisters started, and Sable would often write letters encouraging the tanuki in his work. They would even go star gazing together. But in the month of January in Wild World, something happens regarding Tom Nook's failures in the city that results in the dissolution of their relationship. By the time of Animal Crossing: City Folk, their stores no longer stand next to each other.
Tom Nook Begins To Find Success In Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Perhaps as a consequence of losing his personal relationships, Tom Nook started to find success in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Rather than independently owning homes, Tom Nook runs a real estate company known as Nook Homes. This new line of work becomes Tom Nook's sole focus, which results in him hiring Timmy and Tommy to manage his other company, Nookling Stores (which consist of his stores from the other games and the Nook Emporium). Tom Nook also hires Isabelle in Animal Crossing: New Leaf to fulfill his past role as an assistant to the player. Quite sadly, this is indicative of how Tom Nook lost interest in creating personal relationships, as he essentially only focuses on his job. He no longer tries to befriend players or even randoms online, and instead relies on Isabelle.
Nevertheless, Tom Nook does have a heartwarming relationship with Timmy and Tommy in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Apparently, Tom Nook took the two tanuki in when he found them on the streets and raised them by himself. Though this story is heartwarming, it may not have been the best thing for Timmy and Tommy's reputations. In the German version of the game, they are known as Nepp and Schnepp, which essentially calls them con men. Even so, the two children have learned a lot about business from Tom Nook.
Tom Nook Has Made It Big Time In Animal Crossing: New Horizons
By the time of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Tom Nook is the most successful he has ever been. Instead of running Nookling Stores and Nook Homes, Tom Nook instead opens Nook Inc., a corporation of which the tanuki's original companies are subsidiaries. He also owns Dodo Airlines, as the tickets the company uses are called Nook Miles. Tom Nook also seems to own credit and NFT systems, as Nook Miles and Nook Points can be used to purchase many items within the game.
Tom Nook appears to have made it so big that he seems to want to return to his humble roots. Indeed, the Deserted Island Getaway Package he sells players at the beginning of the game seems to serve as his own getaway from the responsibilities at Nook Inc. He essentially serves as mayor of the island and an aid to Nook's Cranny in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which puts him in a similar yet less strenuous situation than he was in the original Animal Crossing.
Hopefully this means that Tom Nook will be able to develop stronger relationships with villagers in future games again. The poor tanuki has gone through a lot in his quest to become rich. Perhaps in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, he can finally patch up his relationship with Sable and the two can be happy again.
