The life simulation video game series Animal Crossing, created by Katsuya Eguchi[1] and first released in 2001 by Nintendo, features an assortment of recurring characters.

Titles in the series follow the player character as they live in a village populated by anthropomorphic animals, with gameplay that proceeds in a nonlinear fashion and in-game events that occur in real-time.

The games introduce many of the series' core recurring characters, notably businessman Tom Nook, traveling musician K.K.

[14] Certain characters introduced in previous Animal Crossing titles were not present in the game at launch, but have been added through free downloadable content (DLC) updates.

[15][16][17] Other characters were added in Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Happy Home Paradise, a paid DLC update slated for release on November 5, 2021.