Tom Nook: Evil Landlord Or Kind Raccoon? Animal Crossing Gamers Debate

Gamers are in the middle of a wild debate over the character Tom Nook from the Animal Crossing series.

Tom Nook is a major presence in the game, running the town shop but also acting as a kind of bank for the player. He seems to hold immense power in the Animal Crossing community, essentially controlling the means of production.

Has Tom Nook taken over the island or has the island taken over Tom Nook? 🤔🌾Candle 🕯 Day 6 of #animalcrosstober by @acnhpeachbay 🤍 pic.twitter.com/oNxxFAIOSy

— Lula 🌸🌈🌙 (@welpthatwasrude) October 6, 2022

A viral tweet asking users to post what their phone’s autocorrect feature gives them based on the sentence “Tom Nook is…” quickly spiraled into threats of violence against the fictional businessraccoon. This also isn't the first time gamers have discussed trying to defeat Tom Nook, as it's been a running joke within the community, but never at the scale we're seeing today.

tom nook is the most important part in this world

— diana 🦇 (@dianahorizons) October 11, 2022

the second i get a gun on this island it's OVER for tom nook

— Alexandxor (@ID10TErrors) October 11, 2022

Tom Nook is going to take a nap and then I’ll take him out Adding him to the list https://t.co/D3tPvD4PEg pic.twitter.com/YVfrsVpqa8

— veda ❀ (@viewyorker) October 12, 2022

A number of players shared fantasies of overthrowing Nook and murdering him.

And also where you can stage a coup with your villagers against Tom nook https://t.co/pxXPt1pGLC

— reheated coffee 🧝🏻‍♀️ (@ms_jerrytrainor) October 11, 2022

Fuck that landlord Tom Nook. pic.twitter.com/ZaLgzhtEU2

— Kidney Envy ☭ (@KidneyEnvy) October 12, 2022

playing animal crossing for the first time but after watching Dont Worry Darling… i got my eye on you Tom Nook 🤨

— alex but spooky 🎃 (@beyondbeefcake6) October 4, 2022

Many posters jumped into the ring to defend Tom Nook, saying his practices as a money-lender, landlord and business mogul are generous and not at all exploitative. They pointed out the fact that loans given by Nook in the game are interest-free, and it is Nook’s benevolent guidance which allows the utopia of Animal Crossing to happen.

Tom nook is INNOCENT HE LITERALLY GIVES YOU INTEREST FREE LOANS WITH NO PENALTIES. HE ADOPTED TIMMY AND TOMMY OFF THE STREET AND HE DONATES HIS SALARY TO ORPHANS. HE GAVE YOU A HOME AND HE’S MENTORING YOU IN FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND YOU SUCK IF YOU DONT APPRECIATE HIM https://t.co/faI8fO6mYK pic.twitter.com/jHNDp0lC4v

— Sam Meravi-Lewis (@slew14) October 12, 2022

Reminder, Tom Nook is not a landlord. He is a contractor who provides you housing and doesn’t even put an interest rate on your loan. He is a good egg, a sweetie, a reasonable gentleman, good ol’ Thomas Nook yessiree

— cosmic 🏳️‍🌈🔞 (@LovelyCosmic) October 12, 2022

enough tom nook slander. the man loans you a total of $5,696,000, says "yeah pay it back whenever", and doesn't even charge interest. what more do you want from him.

— The Spookier Sam Hatch (@Zangheuse) October 12, 2022

hot take but people who hate on tom nook are the ones who have only played new horizons & it shows pic.twitter.com/VD3Wab4r3B

— jaz ☕ (@JazzGaI13) October 12, 2022

Others wondered if defenders of Nook were in reality under his thumb, or Stockholm-syndromed into liking the wealthy raccoon.

Did Tom Nook write this? https://t.co/tOxqSTXHdW

— Amanda Coleman (@thehauntedmanda) October 12, 2022

tom nook is the best and that is the best and that is the best and that is the best -someone who's being held at gunpoint by tom nook https://t.co/rPdjOa5Gwr

— Pilan ⭐ (@piophany) October 12, 2022

All the Tom Nook posting also led to a healthy amount of real raccoons showing up on social media, too.

Here is the LEGO Tom Nook model I recently made! #lego #AnimalCrossing pic.twitter.com/52rXvIyrkX

— Daniel (@TacoBricks) October 12, 2022

tom nook just taking a toast break https://t.co/dnCciB7eWI

— darth™ (@darth) October 10, 2022