powered by Nook Inc.

Species: Tanuki (Japan)

Raccoon (International)

Coffee: Kilimanjaro, Lots of milk, One spoonful of sugar

Birthday: May 30th [Gemini]

Slogan on his picture:
"I'll be there with Bells on! Ho ho!"

 

Trivia:

- The Animal Crossing New Horizons 2.0 Update has introduced game tips that appear during the loading screens once the player has purchased the phone application "Island Life 101". Those tips are hosted by Tom Nook and Isabelle (and Lottie if you own Happy Home Paradise).

- There is an Animal Crossing Manga, the "Deserted Island Diary", that currently consists of 4 volumes. While Tom Nook does appear in it, I did not add those dialogues here, since the manga is mainly aimed at a very young audience and more of a parody in nature.

- In "Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival" the board game features a special event for Tom Nook's birthday. [30.05.]
- Several fan wiki pages state that Celeste has a crush on Tom Nook. 
However, I was not able to confirm this in any of the games.
- On Halloween, he is seen wearing red horns in New Horizons.

- Tom Nook's catchphrases are: "yes", "no" and "hm?". He also seems to use "oho" and "splendid" a lot.

- His laugh is: “Whoa ho ho ho ho ho” or simply “Ho ho ho ho ho!”

- In the Japanese version of Animal Crossing called Dōbutsu no Mori e+, Tom will, reluctantly, open his store at night:

He appears wearing a nightgown and with a cushion in his paw after the player bangs against the door using a shovel...

This event implies that Tom Nook sleeps inside of his store.

This is (roughly) what he says during this event:

“It's a bit too much to awaken me like that, hm? Couldn’t you just wait until we opened? Eh... Business at 2 in the morning isn’t really ordinary... [name], these items will be raised by 30%. Now just look around the store. Slowly.“

- In Kirby: Planet Robobot, one of the possible transformations with the Stone ability is a golden Tom Nook statue.

- He apparently blushes when somebody squishes his belly! ~ (as seen in one of the promo videos)

- The Nintendo Direct trailer implies that he is personally involved in making the new Animal Crossing title for Nintendo Switch.

- He is not a playable character in the Smash Series but there are trophies, an avatar and a sticker for him – and also: He appears on the Animal Crossing Stage “Smashville” and during the final Smash of the villager. 

- Shrunk implies that Tom Nook could, in fact, be human or at least not an actual raccoon.

“We all wear masks. You, me, Tom Nook (well, he wears a raccoon suit).”

- Saharah refers to him as “King Nook.”

- Tom Nook also appears in the 2010 Nintendo Collector's Edition of Monopoly with K.K. Slider and Rosie in the light blue grids. He is worth 120 US dollars on the game board, the highest of the Animal Crossing characters that appear in the game.

- You can hear cranky villagers complain about his prices.

- Before Resetti gives you his usual speech, he informs you that Tom Nook should have already given you his “song and dance” about the importance of saving.

- Tom Nook shows you the design of wallpapers and carpets by laying them out/putting them on the walls in his own shop.

- He has stated since the first Animal Crossing game, that he is not in the best shape

- In the later Animal Crossing installments, the villagers mention that he found Timmy and Tommy as orphans and took them under his wing

- He is a big fan of K.K. and his favorite song is "K.K. Lament".

- In Japanese folklore, tanuki are often depicted as mythical creatures with shapeshifting powers. Using leaves, they can assume different forms, generally doing so to pull pranks on humans; this is likely why pocketed furniture items are stylized as leaves in the Animal Crossing series. Tanuki cloth is also associated with wealth and money in Japanese culture, which might be the inspiration behind Tom's financial success.

- Even though he is depicted as a raccoon, Tom Nook is a Japanese raccoon dog/tanuki - so actually not closely related to raccoons, but closer to wolves and foxes.

- Companionship and family is important for these critters, so they usually live in monogamous pairs or in small, close-knit groups.

Male raccoon dogs, in particular, have an exceptional reputation for being both compassionate partners and fathers.

- Technically speaking, Tom Nook is not actually a landlord. (despite often being referred to as one) The money you pay him is not your rent, but the construction expenses for your house.

- Two of Crazy Redd's passwords in Wild World actually seem to have been invented by him purely to bash on Tom Nook.

1)
Question: "Someone to wed"
Answer: "no way Nook"
2)
Question: "Tom Nook"
Answer: "one ugly fellow"
Besides, Redd's passwords reveal to us that he was 35 years of age during the events of Animal Crossing: Wild World - a useful clue for us to estimate Tom Nook's age.

- Creators of Animal Crossing believe that Tom is misunderstood. Both Hisashi Nogami (New Horizons Producer) and Aya Kyōgoku (New Horizons Director) have spoken out in his favor.

N: 
"It’s really hard to choose one. If I have to pick one, I think it’s Tom Nook.
This is background information on Tom Nook, but he was unsuccessful earlier in his life. Because of this early failure he has this sense of sadness to him. This is something that you’re able to learn a little about in Animal Crossing: Wild World. So, although he may seem like a strict capitalist to some, you do have to notice he’ll wait forever without adding any interest to your loan. He is a man with a huge heart and somebody that you can really depend on."
[Nintendo Insider, 3rd of July, 2019]

"[Making money] is one of the biggest motivations that users have to continue playing Animal Crossing, and Tom Nook is the man behind the motivation."
"He's an adult, so he's very careful with money."
[The Verge, 18th of March, 2020]

"Well, I do want to make a note that Tom Nook has always been a great guy, he's always been a good dude. Maybe you felt that way because his role in this game has changed a little bit. Tom Nook has always played a key role in maintaining the motivation of the player to continue to play the game. But then as a host character, we've always had somebody else.
And because New Horizons is set on a deserted island, and the first person you see is Tom Nook introducing you and welcoming you to the island, and then he continues to support your life on the island – maybe because he's taking care of the player a little bit more than the previous series is why you sense that he's gotten nicer.
[New Horizons interview, 2020]

"I think he's a really, really good guy. You do owe him money, but it's not like he comes over and asks you to pay him back. And he doesn't add interest in any of the loans that you may have. I think he really does stick around to wait for you and then lets you take the lead for paying him back." 
[Washington Post, 2020]

K: 
"I love Tom Nook. Even though sometimes he upsets me, I do have to admit that because of him and his hard work, I have a pretty good life in the game."
[Nintendo Insider, 3rd of July, 2019]

"We think he is very misunderstood. 
He's just passionate about his business. 
He's not like a loan shark.
He doesn't add a handling fee or anything like that.
He can wait as long as it takes for you to pay back.
He's not as bad as other people might think he is."
[Kotaku, 15th of May, 2013]

"Even if we borrow money from him and it takes time to pay him back, he never get's angry, he never gets mad. So if we could all try to be a little more responsible and pay him back, it might make him a little happier."
[The Verge, 18th of March, 2020]

"Even if the player didn't have any money, he would offer you a new home. And he'd even offer you a loan. And then if you can't pay him back, then he'll wait forever without really bothering you, and he'll never get angry that you've never paid him back, either. That said, he's always been a pretty good guy. But then in the past games, players may have only interacted with him when they were making big purchases, like buying a home, and then once that's paid off, Tom would just go ahead and expand the home without even checking in with the player, so maybe the impression that the players got back then was that he was money-hungry and he was always out to get your money. But he is a really caring guy, a bit of a busybody. And so he might give a wrong impression. But I do want to mention that he's had a self-reflection since the past series. Now, he actually asks the player whether the player wants an expansion to their home or not. I want to encourage the fans to pick up on a good side of Tom Nook when they play the game."
[New Horizons interview, 2020]

Despite that, Tom Nook is commonly viewed (or jokingly portrayed) as an evil loanshark and has even been nominated for the category "Best villain" during the Nintendo Power Awards 2003.