Tom Nook is the universal constant of the Animal Crossing series. From the beginning of the first game, it’s Tom Nook who has defined the series and almost become its mascot. He owns and runs the stores where you buy all of your house furnishings and house upgrades. He gives you your first loan so you can put your roots down, have a house, and start interacting with other members of your town.

Yet over time, since the series debuted in North America in 2002, an undercurrent of suspicion and animosity towards the enterprising raccoon has slowly crept into the Animal Crossing fan base. Is it deserved? Why do so many Animal Crossing players now view Tom Nook as a villain?

Tom Nook – Champion Of The Free Market

The argument can be made that Tom Nook is the unappreciated superstar of Animal Crossing. His generosity and tireless work ethic are the bedrock which allows your town to exist.

Nook gives you the player your first house loan. His demands for your loan repayment are not onerous. In fact, by any standard, they’re quite generous: repay the loan when you can. No interest will be charged. His only requirement is that you repay the loan you already have before taking out another one. He never harasses or pesters you to pay the money back.

He lends out money to whoever asks for it, charges no interest on the loan, and never asks you to pay the loan back until you ask for even more money for another house upgrade. And for that, to many, he’s the bad guy of Animal Crossing.

A lot of the animosity Tom Nook gets is the same many successful entrepreneurs get: that he’s a greedy capitalist who’s only out for himself. When, in truth, in Nook’s case, the opposite is true. Nook makes no monetary profit from lending out money, since he charges no interest. The only thing he does is set a debt ceiling so you don’t get in over your head.

But for Nook’s detractors, they would rather there be no debt ceiling, and therefore not have to pay the money back. Which in most societies is called defaulting on your loan. Or it could be called theft. So, in essence, they don’t like Nook because he doesn’t allow them to steal from him. Disgraceful.

In truth, the world of Animal Crossing thrives because of Nook’s entrepreneurial spirit and generosity. What could Nook do to make his detractors like him more? Give out free money to whoever asks for it with zero repayment? Interest-free loans with no repayment plan or timetable isn’t enough?

Timmy And Tommy Nook

Not to mention that he’s trained his sons to be excellent salesman. In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Timmy and Tommy Nook run the T&T Emporium department store, provide fantastic customer service that even Amazon would envy, and let you order from an in-store catalog if you can’t find what you’re looking for that day. They have your orders delivered straight to your mailbox within one day. And their deliveries are always on time. What more can you ask for?

Hundreds and hundreds of household items you can furnish your house with come thanks to Timmy and Tommy. What would the world of Animal Crossing be without immaculate houses, impeccable interior design, and feng shui?

Timmy and Tommy sell you your first shovel you can use for gardening and digging up dinosaur fossils. They sell you your first watering can for watering flowers, your first fishing rod for catching fish, and your first axe you can use to chop down trees and creepily stalk your neighbors with – and they’re all reasonably priced.

All of the basic activities players take for granted in Animal Crossing would not be possible if not for Tom Nook and his hardworking sons.

Tom Nook – Entrepreneur Extraordinaire

When your town is trying to get itself off the ground, it’s Tom Nook who plants the seeds of what eventually becomes a bustling shopping center that allows you to buy and design clothes, shoes, get your hair cut and styled, etc. And for this, he is spit on by players who sit in their immaculate houses built and furnished by Nook and his sons. That is the thanks they get. Shameful.

If not for Nook, who would want to visit your town, or move there to live? If not for Nook, who else would give you an interest-free loan to help you build and furnish your mansion? If not for Nook, how would you get out of your wood shack you start the game in and have an opportunity for something better?

Like many fair-dealing successful entrepreneurs, Tom Nook is a misunderstood character.

But like most who view anyone flourishing in the free market with a suspicious eye, no amount of persuasion will change their minds. They will continue to view Tom Nook and his sons as greedy, opportunistic capitalists, while visiting their store and accepting his interest-free loans for their next new house upgrade.

Nook’s detractors don’t understand that if not for him, the world of Animal Crossing as we know it could not exist.

Tom Nook is a hero.

He’s my hero.

The demonization of Animal Crossing’s most important character needs to stop.