Franklin

"Eat or be eaten."

- Franklin

Franklin the turkey appears during the Harvest Festival between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. on the fourth Thursday in November. He's a special character in all of the games except, , and. He also makes an appearance in.

Interestingly enough, Franklin was not available in nor, instead debuting in , making him and Farley the only characters in the series to be given this treatment.

Franklin makes his debut in. He was added by the North American localization team instead of Nintendo EAD, who developed the original Japanese game. Tortimer, the mayor, invites him for dinner, or rather, to be dinner. During this time, Franklin hides behind obstacles such as trees, buildings and signs, and waits for the player to bring him pieces of silverware from the banquet. Franklin believes that if the player pilfers the utensils, the villagers will be unable to serve him. For each piece brought to him, the player receives one piece of the Harvest Series.

If the player talks to the villagers during the Harvest Festival, they talk about where they've seen Franklin. The player can also get a map coordinate clue each time they speak to a villager. While in one hiding place, Franklin will accept only one 'knife and fork' set, so if players wish to give him another, they must move from the hiding place until Franklin disappears and search for him again. However, there is a glitch that allows the player to visit Franklin in the same hiding place multiple times. After talking to Franklin, the player must enter any building within the acre Franklin is found in, including houses, the Museum, or Tom Nook's store. When the player returns, Franklin will remain in the same spot. In, however, this glitch is removed.

Franklin returns in after being absent in, and his function from  is left unchanged in this game. The only differences being the dialog, and that Franklin's voice is now much deeper in a similar manner to cranky villagers. Besides this, no significant changes are made.

In, Franklin acts as a chef, rather than the 'main course' of the Harvest Festival. He asks the player to find ingredients that allow him to cook dishes, and hands out unique rewards upon doing so. Some of these ingredients must be obtained from villagers by completing tasks, while others, such as fish, have to be caught. There is also one secret ingredient for each dish that is required in order to receive all the unique items, and the villagers may tell the player what this is. Unlike previous games, Franklin does not hand out furniture from the Harvest Series, although he hands out the fruit basket and the cornucopia; the fruit basket can be obtained when getting the first secret ingredient right, while the cornucopia is obtained after the player makes all of the dishes.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Franklin appears as a collectible trophy.

Trivia

 * If the player cuts down any trees Franklin is hiding behind, Franklin will be frightened.
 * Franklin is likely named after, who supposedly preferred the to the  as the national bird of the United States.