I had learned way back that he was a tanuki, but I still always saw him as a greedy somewhat human back breaking raccoon.
Fun Fact: According to legend, tanukis are known to be able to turn leaves into money, which explains why Nintendo chose a leaf to represent this series.
I've never really thought about it. After thinking about it for a minute I don't think I really have an opinion. It doesn't really matter to me how people want to refer to him.
I generally think of Nook (as a crook) as a raccoon, even though I know he's a tanuki. Maybe because he's lacking the enormous testicles?
I think of Redd as a fox, but the Western fox is a trickster so it fits very well. (Raccoons are generally more trash pandas which doesn't fit with the money-grubbing Tom Nook though...)
Kapp'n I 100% think of as a Kappa, because it looks like he has the hole in his head. Sometimes I would like to knock his creepy butt over and knock the water out of it, but then how would I get to the island? :sigh:
When I was younger and played Wild World, I saw Tom Nook as a raccoon. I did not know what a tanuki was at the time. But after playing New Leaf, learning some about Japanese folklore, and watching fact videos about the Animal Crossing series on Youtube, I view Nook as a tanuki.
I see him as the that one house seller that is friendly to you at day and stands with a baseball
bat next to your bed, with a scary face like "Where is my money, kiddo" at night.
But seriously, back then when I start playing Animal crossing, I didn't knew what a Tanuki is, so
for me, Nook was always a raccoon. Later when I learned more about AC, I found out that Nook
is a Tanuki and ever since then I keep this in mind.
I always grew up believing he was a raccoon. So even though now I know that he his a tanuki, I still think of him as a raccoon. I guess it?s just what you grew up with.