This is a rewrite of a post I made about the same topic 2 years ago. Broadly the point is the same, I think it's just worded a lot better now and this time I tried to cite everything. There was no real need for me to find citations for all my points, but it made me feel better since I just am really passionate about Animal Crossing. If you would prefer to read this on my blog then my blog is linked in my sig, but if you're dyslexic like me then it's probably easier to read this version of the post. I am eager to hear others opinions on this, but please keep in mind if you don't understand why I wrote this it's just because I really like AC.
Tom Nook is the business-man turned bellionare landlord who is subject to the brunt of hate from a select group in the Animal Crossing community - with a plethora of articles and videos dismissing Nook available allover the internet - but a lot of the hate seems to come from misjudgement of his character rather than genuine negative qualities. These concerns often stem from his character in Gamecube, who was known for non-optional house upgades with ever increasing loans, leaving the player in a seemly bottomless pit of debt, however the case for Tom Nook being more of a victim of angry players than an actually bad man is strong when considering the information Nintendo has slowly shared with us over the past 21 years. Therefore I present today: In defence of Tom Nook: The only good landlord.
It is made abundantly clear that in Animal Crossing houses are just as expensive and as big of a commitment as in the real world, and yet despite this Tom Nook is willing to give the player an entire house - free of charge if the player is never interested in paying off the loan given to them. There is no interest on the payments and profit margins don't appear to concern Nook. While it's true that in older games there was the expectation for chores to be completed for him, planting flowers and delivering carpets for a 20K bell house is still a fantastic opportunity for the player and these tasks can be easily completed in around 20 minutes.
If the player is not satisfied with their house - since it is a fact that if you do choose to never pay your loans your house will remain a measley 4x4 room - then New Horizons might be the perfect solution because Tom Nook provides the player an entire island, leaving it up to the player to decide how the island will look, feel and operate. The island belongs to Tom Nook (Specifically Nook Inc.) and so, reasonably, if he wanted to take full control and manage the beautiful getaway himself he could; and yet he is happy for you to take control and for him to take a backseat simply excecuting whatever land development wishes you come to him with. It could be argued that maybe he lets you design it because he wouldn't be sure on how to do it himself but even then Nook could still retain a lot more control than he does.
Some may argue that Tom Nook's major drawback is not the loans but instead the view that he is harsh and tough - too harsh and tough. This can be seen in older games where he was abrasive and sometimes outrightly rude, at times questioning the player for slacking or accusing them of making chit-chat when they're supposed to be running his errands. However it is not the case that Nook is just uncessarily rude because his blunt and sometimes seemingly unfair attitude towards the player comes from a place of concern and care. Nook is a life long business man and some of his experiences have left him with a hardened view of the world that the player should be mindful of when considering his personality. It is known when Tom Nook entered the business world he faced hardship - leaving his home town to go to the city with plans of being a successful business man and ultimately being unable to see his dream become reality, in part due to negative experiences with Redd. Tom Nook says himself that he is ok with being viewed as intimidating because it may enourage people to pay back their loans and I therefore believe that criticising him for being 'too tough' is unfair, given that the rough exterior comes not only from a place of care but from real world experience. For Nook, unprofessional behaviour is something that has negatively impacted his life before, so its not unreasonable that he would have a low tolerance for such behaviour - even Nintendo officials said that Tom Nook wanted to teach the player about responsibility as well as the fact that if the player doesn't repay their loans he wont be mad or make an issue of it.
Perhaps the strongest arguement in defense of the business man, is his relationship with the Nooklings. Although it was suggested in the original game they may be his nephews it is now publicly agreed that Timmy and Tommy are not related to Tom, as one might assume, but are instead orphans that Tom adopted. Its known that he raised them and wanted to teach them how to have good business practices and to develop financial security so that they wouldn't face the same hardship as him, which goes strongly in his favour. He has dedicated many years of his life to what were - when he first met them - two children with no relationship to him. It could even be argued that the fact that the twins share the same family name as Nook despite likely not being related is indicative of a high level of care and compassion he has for them irrespective of him educating and raising them.
Additionally, Tom Nook has been quoted as saying that 90% of the bells he makes in profit are donated to an orphanage 3 towns over and it can be presumed this is because of his experience with the Nooklings. A truly overly tough business orientated worker would not often donate the bulk of their profits - of which it can be assumed he has lots - to charity while also raising orphans and passing on his aquired knowledge.
Nooks compassionate personality extends beyond his children too, with Sable telling the player in Wild World that even though Nook was extremely poor in the city he would still find the time to write her letters and for her birthday gifted her a greatly expensive pair of sewing scissors. Nook can be found saying that Sable's wisdom still guides him and expresses regret for pushing her away.
To conclude, despite the fact that some may assume Nook is a bad man due to his harsh attitude and constant loans in earlier games it is clear that Tom is simply a misunderstood soul. Due to the fact that he offers interest free house loans, wishes to teach the player responsibility while still being extremely lenient and - perhaps most compellingly - because he is a charitable man who has a track record of being extremely caring and going out of his way to ensure others have a better life than him even if it doesn't benefit him in any way it is clear that Tom Nooks good qualities outweigh the negatives of his personality and certifies the fact that Tom Nook is a good guy.
Notes: Things I could not find a place for in this post but I think are worth knowing is that his birthday is May 30th, he enjoys gardening as he says it keeps him 'hunble' and he also talks about how as a child he was mischievious and was known for not handling his school work when he was supposed to. its also been said by Sable that he has a beautiful singing voice and a pure spirit - so much so that she feared when he went to the city it would negatively impact him too much and be 'too harsh on his soul'.
References:
Money.co.uk. (2020). Here’s How Much Your Animal Crossing Home Would Cost in Real Life. [Online]. Twinfinate. Last Updated: 2nd September 2020. Available at: https://twinfinite.net/2020/09/how-much-your-animal-crossing-home-cost-real-life/ [Accessed 24 February 2023].
Nookipedia. (2020). Nook Inc.. [Online]. Nookipedia. Last Updated: 25th December 2022. Available at: https://nookipedia.com/wiki/Nook_Inc. [Accessed 24 February 2023].
JVGS Jeff. (2021). Samson's Pic, KC's Goodbye. [Online]. Jeff's ACWW Blog. Last Updated: 21st November 2021. Available at: https://www.jvgs.net/acwwblog/2021/11/21/samsons-pic-kcs-goodbye/ [Accessed 24 February 2023].
Jenny Mott. (2020). A Tom Nook Stan Post. [Online]. POMEmag. Last Updated: 27th March 2020. Available at: https://pome-mag.com/a-tom-nook-stan-post/ [Accessed 24 February 2023].
Nintendo of Japan. (2008). Animals working in the village. [Online]. Animal Crossing: Lets Go to the City!. Available at: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/ruuj/character/index.html [Accessed 24 February 2023].
Nookipedia. (2022). Mabel/Sable Episode 6 (Next Friday). [Online]. Nookipedia. Last Updated: 30th January 2023. Available at: https://nookipedia.com/wiki/Episode/Wild_World_dialogue [Accessed 24 February 2023].
Tom Nook is the business-man turned bellionare landlord who is subject to the brunt of hate from a select group in the Animal Crossing community - with a plethora of articles and videos dismissing Nook available allover the internet - but a lot of the hate seems to come from misjudgement of his character rather than genuine negative qualities. These concerns often stem from his character in Gamecube, who was known for non-optional house upgades with ever increasing loans, leaving the player in a seemly bottomless pit of debt, however the case for Tom Nook being more of a victim of angry players than an actually bad man is strong when considering the information Nintendo has slowly shared with us over the past 21 years. Therefore I present today: In defence of Tom Nook: The only good landlord.
It is made abundantly clear that in Animal Crossing houses are just as expensive and as big of a commitment as in the real world, and yet despite this Tom Nook is willing to give the player an entire house - free of charge if the player is never interested in paying off the loan given to them. There is no interest on the payments and profit margins don't appear to concern Nook. While it's true that in older games there was the expectation for chores to be completed for him, planting flowers and delivering carpets for a 20K bell house is still a fantastic opportunity for the player and these tasks can be easily completed in around 20 minutes.
If the player is not satisfied with their house - since it is a fact that if you do choose to never pay your loans your house will remain a measley 4x4 room - then New Horizons might be the perfect solution because Tom Nook provides the player an entire island, leaving it up to the player to decide how the island will look, feel and operate. The island belongs to Tom Nook (Specifically Nook Inc.) and so, reasonably, if he wanted to take full control and manage the beautiful getaway himself he could; and yet he is happy for you to take control and for him to take a backseat simply excecuting whatever land development wishes you come to him with. It could be argued that maybe he lets you design it because he wouldn't be sure on how to do it himself but even then Nook could still retain a lot more control than he does.
Some may argue that Tom Nook's major drawback is not the loans but instead the view that he is harsh and tough - too harsh and tough. This can be seen in older games where he was abrasive and sometimes outrightly rude, at times questioning the player for slacking or accusing them of making chit-chat when they're supposed to be running his errands. However it is not the case that Nook is just uncessarily rude because his blunt and sometimes seemingly unfair attitude towards the player comes from a place of concern and care. Nook is a life long business man and some of his experiences have left him with a hardened view of the world that the player should be mindful of when considering his personality. It is known when Tom Nook entered the business world he faced hardship - leaving his home town to go to the city with plans of being a successful business man and ultimately being unable to see his dream become reality, in part due to negative experiences with Redd. Tom Nook says himself that he is ok with being viewed as intimidating because it may enourage people to pay back their loans and I therefore believe that criticising him for being 'too tough' is unfair, given that the rough exterior comes not only from a place of care but from real world experience. For Nook, unprofessional behaviour is something that has negatively impacted his life before, so its not unreasonable that he would have a low tolerance for such behaviour - even Nintendo officials said that Tom Nook wanted to teach the player about responsibility as well as the fact that if the player doesn't repay their loans he wont be mad or make an issue of it.
Perhaps the strongest arguement in defense of the business man, is his relationship with the Nooklings. Although it was suggested in the original game they may be his nephews it is now publicly agreed that Timmy and Tommy are not related to Tom, as one might assume, but are instead orphans that Tom adopted. Its known that he raised them and wanted to teach them how to have good business practices and to develop financial security so that they wouldn't face the same hardship as him, which goes strongly in his favour. He has dedicated many years of his life to what were - when he first met them - two children with no relationship to him. It could even be argued that the fact that the twins share the same family name as Nook despite likely not being related is indicative of a high level of care and compassion he has for them irrespective of him educating and raising them.
Additionally, Tom Nook has been quoted as saying that 90% of the bells he makes in profit are donated to an orphanage 3 towns over and it can be presumed this is because of his experience with the Nooklings. A truly overly tough business orientated worker would not often donate the bulk of their profits - of which it can be assumed he has lots - to charity while also raising orphans and passing on his aquired knowledge.
Nooks compassionate personality extends beyond his children too, with Sable telling the player in Wild World that even though Nook was extremely poor in the city he would still find the time to write her letters and for her birthday gifted her a greatly expensive pair of sewing scissors. Nook can be found saying that Sable's wisdom still guides him and expresses regret for pushing her away.
To conclude, despite the fact that some may assume Nook is a bad man due to his harsh attitude and constant loans in earlier games it is clear that Tom is simply a misunderstood soul. Due to the fact that he offers interest free house loans, wishes to teach the player responsibility while still being extremely lenient and - perhaps most compellingly - because he is a charitable man who has a track record of being extremely caring and going out of his way to ensure others have a better life than him even if it doesn't benefit him in any way it is clear that Tom Nooks good qualities outweigh the negatives of his personality and certifies the fact that Tom Nook is a good guy.
Notes: Things I could not find a place for in this post but I think are worth knowing is that his birthday is May 30th, he enjoys gardening as he says it keeps him 'hunble' and he also talks about how as a child he was mischievious and was known for not handling his school work when he was supposed to. its also been said by Sable that he has a beautiful singing voice and a pure spirit - so much so that she feared when he went to the city it would negatively impact him too much and be 'too harsh on his soul'.
References:
Money.co.uk. (2020). Here’s How Much Your Animal Crossing Home Would Cost in Real Life. [Online]. Twinfinate. Last Updated: 2nd September 2020. Available at: https://twinfinite.net/2020/09/how-much-your-animal-crossing-home-cost-real-life/ [Accessed 24 February 2023].
Nookipedia. (2020). Nook Inc.. [Online]. Nookipedia. Last Updated: 25th December 2022. Available at: https://nookipedia.com/wiki/Nook_Inc. [Accessed 24 February 2023].
JVGS Jeff. (2021). Samson's Pic, KC's Goodbye. [Online]. Jeff's ACWW Blog. Last Updated: 21st November 2021. Available at: https://www.jvgs.net/acwwblog/2021/11/21/samsons-pic-kcs-goodbye/ [Accessed 24 February 2023].
Jenny Mott. (2020). A Tom Nook Stan Post. [Online]. POMEmag. Last Updated: 27th March 2020. Available at: https://pome-mag.com/a-tom-nook-stan-post/ [Accessed 24 February 2023].
Nintendo of Japan. (2008). Animals working in the village. [Online]. Animal Crossing: Lets Go to the City!. Available at: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/ruuj/character/index.html [Accessed 24 February 2023].
Nookipedia. (2022). Mabel/Sable Episode 6 (Next Friday). [Online]. Nookipedia. Last Updated: 30th January 2023. Available at: https://nookipedia.com/wiki/Episode/Wild_World_dialogue [Accessed 24 February 2023].
