Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the fifth entry in the long-running franchise. It came out in 2020 and completed its one-year anniversary in March this year. Animal Crossing also completed its 20th anniversary earlier this year.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons boasts the presence of a massive number of characters. Isabelle, however, is one of the most loved characters since her debut in 2012 in New Leaf. She is known for her cheerful and positive attitude and dislikes confrontation. She has a twin brother, Digby. Even though she mentions other family members on several occasions, nobody knows who they are.
Basic Information on Isabelle
| Name | Isabelle |
| Species | Dog (Shih Tzu) |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Secretary |
| Birthday | December 20th (Sagittarius) |
| Family | Digby (Twin Brother) |
| First Appearance | Animal Crossing: New Leaf (November 8th, 2012) |
| Other Appearances | Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros Wii U/3DS, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Super Mario Maker, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate |
Behavior of Isabelle
Isabelle is one of the most beloved characters in the Animal Crossing franchise. Even though she appeared for the first time in New Leaf, she has become a mascot for the title that is going strong for over 2 decades.
She assists the player as the mayor of the town as their secretary. She is kind, helpful, emanates a positive vibe, and considers the villagers on the island as her family members.
Tom Nook and Isabelle also run the Resident Services and make sure that everything is in immaculate condition. As soon as Resident Services transforms from a tent to a building with a paved plaza, Isabelle takes over Tom Nook to make daily broadcasts which include informing the players of upcoming events.
After Resident Services grows and becomes a building, Isabelle keeps a potted plant on her counter. This plant changes with season and so does her outfit.
She is portrayed as a very gentle character in New Horizons who dislikes confrontation. She also takes over as the mayor of the town if the player is absent from the game for a long time.
The players can also complain to her about characters they dislike and want to get rid of. This is a rather uphill task and might require weeks of effort. The players can also send Isabelle a letter explaining why they want to get rid of a character they don’t like.
Nintendo’s official Animal Crossing account is also named after her. This account informs the players of upcoming events and the changes that take place in the game. The account was handed over to Tom Nook for a short period before it came back to Isabelle in July 2020.
Appearance of Isabelle
Isabelle is essentially a yellow dog who resembles Shih Tzu. Her head is shaped like a bag of bells, which could be the inspiration behind her name. Bells is also the in-game currency in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Isabelle appears in the game wearing different outfits. These depend on the season and also on the events that might be taking place on the island.
She is one of the most cheerful characters on the island and can be easily identified as she has rosy cheeks and white fur patches on her tail and around her mouth.
In New Horizons she can be seen wearing a Hawaiian style shirt with white-colored leaf patterns, a white skirt, and brown slip-on shoes. Since her appearance in the game, she wears a bell hair tie which jingles as she walks.
Her appearance, however, depends on whether an event is happening in the game. During the fireworks event in 2020, we saw her wearing a floral shirt. She also wore a Santa-themed shirt during Toy Day celebrations.
Role of Isabelle in New Leaf
Isabelle plays the role of the secretary in New Leaf. As soon as the title begins, Isabelle replaces Tom Nook to give the player a glimpse of the entire island. The players can also inform her about unpleasant villagers. She also replaced Tortimer in organizing events in the game. Tortimer has been absent from the game for a while now.
There have been rumors suggesting that he will make a comeback in New Horizons. Sadly, that remains mere conjecture.
Role of Isabelle in Happy Home Designer
Isabelle took charge as the head of development. Once the players fulfilled the prerequisites required to unlock her, they could initiate a conversation and could invite her to work on new buildings on Main Street.
Role in Amiibo festival
Players could turn Isabelle into a playable character after scanning her card on the Wii U. If the player lands on the event square while playing the Amiibo Festival Board Game as Isabelle, they could partake in any event related to her.
She has six unlockable costumes in the game which the players can grab after reaching certain levels. The costumes include Summer and Winter outfits which can be unlocked after clearing level 1. The players can also unlock the Long Sleeve Dress and the Spring Kimono upon reaching level 4 and level 5 respectively.
Role of Isabelle in Pocket Camp
Isabelle didn’t have a huge role in the game. She would often appear during specific events and the players could bump into her. Apart from that, her role in the game was very limited.
Isabelle had her own furniture theme in the game and was an instructional guide for the players.
Role of Isabelle in New Horizons
Isabelle works for Nook Inc in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The frequency of her appearance in the game depends on the player’s progression into the game. Upon reaching a certain level, the Resident Services will develop from a tent to a building with a paved plaza. This is when Isabelle will take over a role similar to the one she had in New Leaf.
Isabelle appears on the screen whenever players log into the game. She informs the players of the date and time and will also inform them about an ongoing event if any. However, if there is nothing to inform, she might just go on about her family trivia. Be that as it may, she never talks about the fact that she has degrees from 19 different universities.
Her appearance on the island gets less frequent as the players delve deeper into the game. But we can always find her in Resident Services as she looks after several elements of the town including the island flag, language and clothing patterns of other villagers.
Complaining about a villager is a guaranteed way of getting rid of an unwanted villager. Players might have to speak to her several times before the unwanted character is kicked off.
Amiibo Cards
One of the major functions of the Amiibo Cards in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is to invite villagers to visit your islands. The players, however, will need to construct the campground on the island for the villagers to visit. The players can convince the villagers to stay on their islands for a while and with some special characters, they can also convince them to become permanent members.
To use these Amiibo cards, the players need to head to Resident Services once the Townhall is unlocked.
The players will be able to spot an ATM-like machine that will allow them to use their cards.
Isabelle has the highest number of Amiibo cards in the game right now, 5. They are:
Regular:
Winter Version:
Dress:
Kimono:
Special Edition:
Explainer Video
Trivia
- Nintendo’s official Animal Crossing Twitter account is named after Isabelle. This account was first used to disseminate information about New Leaf.
- She has a twin brother called Digby. During one of the morning announcements, she talks to the players about the conversation she had with her parents and relatives, implying that she has other family members too.
- Besides appearing in several Animal Crossing titles, Isabelle has also appeared in several other prominent franchises. She was a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros: Ultimate. Isabelle also appeared in the Wii U video game, Mario Kart 8 as a downloadable racer, as well as in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe which is available on Nintendo Switch.
- If the players speak to her while visiting other towns, she will inform them about other twin sisters that she has who, surprisingly, also work as secretaries.
- Isabelle also has the highest number of Amiibo cards: 4. This can be compared with Tom Nook who had 5 Amiibo cards when the game began.
- Like all special characters in the game, Isabelle also has the ability to walk over pitfall seeds.
- Several players have found her wearing glasses with her casual outfit. She informs the players that she is actually nearsighted and wears contact lenses while working.
Final Words
Isabelle is an integral part of the game. She became a fan favorite as soon as she debuted in New Leaf. It didn’t take long before Isabelle started appearing in other popular franchises. A lot of prominent organizations have also slated as one of the best video game characters. Several players have criticized her role in New Horizons on numerous occasions. Players feel that she should have a grander role and that conversations with her should be more or equally interesting as they were in New Leaf.
FAQs
Q. Can you marry Isabelle?
Even though she talks about June being the best month for getting married (probably in reference to the Wedding Season event that takes place in June), there is no mechanism in the game which allows characters to fall in love and get married
Q. How many family members does she have?
She has a twin brother called Digby. Even though she talks about her family on numerous occasions, there is no evidence to suggest who they are or if they’re present in the game.
Q. What does complaining to Isabelle do?
Animal Crossing players can complain to Isabelle about their problems with other villagers. She will do her best to make sure that they don’t happen again. Constantly complaining about a villager is the best way to get rid of an unwanted villager.
Q. Does Isabelle have a crush on K.K. Slider?
No, she doesn’t. However, she states in several instances that she really likes her songs. On the flip side, K.K. Slider was bullied by Tom Nook and his friends when he was a kid, and that’s where he revealed that he has a crush on Isabelle. Be that as it may, it's been a long time, K.K. Slider must’ve moved on by now.
