List of references in the Animal Crossing series

The following is a list of references to other media or popular culture in the.

Villagers

 * Alfonso is themed after the title character from the Mario series. His default outfit prior to, the big bro's tee, is designed after Mario's emblem, while his favorite saying is "it'sa me," deriving from Mario's line "it's a me, Mario" in Super Mario 64.
 * Apollo's name may be a reference to the by  in the United States, as he is designed after a, the national bird of the U.S., and his birthday, July 4, is.
 * Cyd is named after late English punk rock musician, tying in with his punk theming.
 * Two of Louie's initial shirts — the li'l bro's tee and big bro's tee — reference Luigi and Mario from the Mario franchise, respectively, while his appearance is likely a reference to Donkey Kong.
 * Marlo is named after American actor, who portrayed Don in the 1972  of the 1969 American novel , tying in with his -inspired design.
 * Rocco's favorite saying from onwards, "The only thing to fear is fear itself...and wasps" ("bees" prior to ), is a modified quote from United States President, spoken during  in 1933.
 * Samson's favorite saying from onwards, "Squeak softly and carry a big stick," is a pun on 's famous quote, "Speak softly and carry a big stick."
 * Tiansheng is themed after the (a.k.a. Sun Wukong), one of the main characters from the 1592 Chinese novel . His name is specifically derived from Sun Wukong's self-professed title, "Qí Tiān Dà Shèng" (simplified: 齐天大圣/traditional: 齊天大聖), which translates to "Great Sage, Equal to Heaven."

Crossover villagers

 * Felyne is a crossover villager that represents the Monster Hunter series. He appears in and.
 * Filly is a crossover villager that represents the 7-Eleven supermarket chain. She appears in and.
 * Six Sanrio-themed crossover villagers appear in, , and : Rilla, Marty, Étoile, Chai, Chelsea, and Toby. Each villager is themed after a Sanrio franchise.

Music

 * The artwork of "K.K. Metal" is based on the album art for the 1984 album  by American thrash metal band.
 * The artwork of "K.K. Rock" is designed after the 1980 album  by Australian hard rock group.
 * The artwork of "K.K. Technopop" combines elements of the 1981 album ' and the 1986 album ', both by German synth-pop group.

Item collections

 * The Mario Theme is a collection of Super Mario Bros.-themed items that appears from to.
 * Sanrio furniture and clothing items appear in, , and . In , the furniture collections are classified as the Hello Kitty Series, the Pompompurin Series, the Kiki & Lala Series, the Cinnamoroll Series, the My Melody Series, and the Kerokerokeroppi Series.
 * A collection of items appears in  and.
 * A collection of Monster Hunter items appears in and.
 * A collection of 7-Eleven items appears in and.
 * A collection of Splatoon items appears in and.

Furniture items

 * The Master Sword from The Legend of Zelda series appears as an item from to . It is part of the Nintendo Set.
 * The Triforce from the The Legend of Zelda series appears as an item from to . It is part of the Nintendo Set.
 * The Arwing from the Star Fox series appears as an item from to . It is part of the Nintendo Set.
 * The Metroid from the Metroid series appears as an item from to . It is part of the Nintendo Set.
 * The Blue Falcon from the F-Zero series appears as an item in, , and . It is part of the Nintendo Set in.
 * The Pikmin ("pikmin" in ) from the Pikmin series appears as an item in, , and . It is part of the Nintendo Set in.
 * The S.S. Dolphin ("Dolphin model" in ) from the Pikmin series appears as an item from to . It is part of the Nintendo Set in.
 * The Yoshi's Egg ("Yoshi's egg" in and ) from the Super Mario series appears as an item from  to, and . It is part of the Nintendo Set in.
 * The Triple Bananas ("banana" in ), Triple Red Shells ("triple shells" in ), and kart items from the Mario Kart series appears as items from to . They are part of the Nintendo Set.
 * The backglass of the pinball machine item from to  features the box cover artwork of Super Mario Bros. Additionally, the playfield of the item features artwork of Mario at the bottom near the paddles, and Bowser at the top by the round bumpers. Although the pinball machine reappears in, it no longer contains any references to Mario.
 * The arcade machine item from to  features characters that resemble Luigi and Mario facing off in a video game reminiscent of the  franchise.
 * The Chihuahua, Dalmatian, Dachshund, and Labrador ornaments ("models" in ) are based on the dogs from . The items appear in and.

Clothing items

 * Four items are components of Mario's outfit from the Mario franchise:
 * The Mario's tee ("big bro's shirt" prior to, "big bro's tee" prior to ) is designed after Mario's emblem. It appears as an item from to.
 * The Mario outfit is modeled after Mario's red and blue overalls. It appears as an item in and.
 * The Mario hat ("big bro's hat" prior to, "Mario's hat" in ) is modeled after Mario's cap. It appears as an item from to , , and.
 * The Mario 'stache ("big bro mustache" prior to, "big bro's mustache" prior to , "Mario Bros. 'stache" in ) is modeled after Mario's mustache and nose. It appears as an item from to , , and.
 * Two items are components of Luigi's outfit from the Mario franchise:
 * The Luigi's tee ("li'l bro's shirt" prior to, "li'l bro's tee" prior to ) is designed after Luigi's emblem. It appears as an item from to , and.
 * The Luigi hat ("li'l bro's hat" prior to, "Luigi's hat" in ) is modeled after Luigi's cap. It appears as an item from to , , and.
 * Two items are components of Wario's outfit from the Mario franchise:
 * The Wario hat ("Wario's hat" in ) is modeled after Wario's cap. It appears as an item from to, , and.
 * The Wario 'stache ("bad bro stache" in, "bad bro's stache" prior to ) is modeled after Wario's mustache and nose. It appears as an item from to , , and.
 * Three items are components of Princess Peach's outfit from the Mario franchise:
 * The Princess Peach dress ("Peach's dress" in ) is modeled after Peach's dress. It appears as an item in and.
 * The Princess Peach crown ("Peach's crown" in ) is modeled after Peach's crown. It appears as an item in and.
 * Peach's parasol is modeled after Peach's parasol. It appears as an item from to.
 * The Toad tee ("toad print" in, "Toad shirt" prior to ) references Toad's name from the Mario franchise, and its orange-red coloration with white spots resembles certain mushrooms, such as Mushroom Platforms. The Toad tee appears as an item from to . Although the item returns in , it is renamed and merged with several other clothing tops as one of the variations of the  item.
 * Similarly, the Toad parasol ("polka parasol" in ) references Toad in the same manner. It appears as an item in all games.
 * The Toad hat is modeled after Toad's head from the Mario franchise. It appears as an item from to, and.
 * Four items compose Link's outfit from the The Legend of Zelda series.
 * The hero's clothes is modeled after the upper portion of Link's green tunic. It appears as an item from to.
 * The hero's pants is modeled after the lower portion of Link's green tunic. It appears as an item from and.
 * The hero's cap is modeled after Link's hat, hair, and ears. It appears as an item from to.
 * The hero's boots is modeled after Link's boots. It appears as an item in and.
 * Majora's Mask ("Majora's mask" in ) is modeled after Majora's Mask, the titular item from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. It appears as an item from to.
 * Midna's Mask is modeled after Midna's helmet, one of the Fused Shadows, and her orange hair, from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. It appears as an item from to.
 * The Fi mask is modeled after Fi's head from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It appears as an item in and.
 * Four items compose Samus's outfit from the Metroid series.
 * The Varia Suit ("Varia suit" in ) is modeled after the upper portion of Samus's Varia Suit. It appears as an item from to.
 * The Varia Suit pants is modeled after the lower portion of Samus's Varia Suit. It appears as an item in and.
 * The Samus mask is modeled after the helmet of Samus's Varia Suit. It appears as an item from to.
 * The Varia Suit shoes is modeled after the boots of Samus's Varia Suit. It appears as an item in and.
 * The red Pikmin, blue Pikmin, and yellow Pikmin headgear reference the three main types of Pikmin in the Pikmin series. All three hats appear in and, and the red Pikmin also appears in.
 * The green headgear is modeled after Little Mac's headgear and spiky hair from . It appears as an item from to.

Dialogue

 * When talking to Gulliver, he can say he might have "lost his Goldfish in Toad Town or Hyrule," which are references to locations from Paper Mario and The Legend of Zelda series, respectively.
 * When giving the player an item, Gulliver may say he "found it while sailing the Karagol Sea," which is a reference to the location from the Golden Sun series.
 * Kapp'n's sea shanties contain various references:
 * One verse says "Yar, I know Nintendo gives ye yer joys. But I ask this of ye: Can games sing like me? Mario can't croon, bro!", referencing both Nintendo and Mario.
 * One interlude references The Legend of Zelda, with Kapp'n asking the player, "Ye ever spend the night in a Hyrulian prison?" The line additionally acts as a nod to the quote "Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?" from the 1980 comedy film ', itself a reference to the 1978 prison drama '.
 * One interlude says "Ahoy there, Moby Dick! Ye wanna stop rockin' the boat?", referencing the from the novel of the.


 * When managing Animal Island Game Boy Advance data, Kapp'n may say "Why, what in the name o' Jabu-Jabu's belly?" This is a reference to the dungeon of the same name in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
 * Tortimer tells a story that he defeated the "great sea snakes" at Pinnacle Rock, a reference to The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
 * While working for Tom Nook, if the player is tasked with delivering furniture to a cranky villager, the latter's dialogue upon receiving the item will include the line "So ask yourself: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well? Do ya, ?" This is a modified quote from the 1971 action-thriller film , in which the title character, while confronting a robber, states that "you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do you, punk?"
 * When waking a normal villager from a nap, they can occasionally respond with a startled "this is not my beautiful house, ! How did I get here?" This quotes two lines from the 1980 song "."
 * When meeting Wisp, he may mention "Large Marge" as one of the violent beings who will punish him. This is likely a reference to the character of the same name, the ghost of a deceased trucker, from the 1985 film .
 * The catch quote for the loach is "I caught a loach! You don't suppose it's Hylian, do you?". This is a reference to the Hylian Loach, a fish in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
 * If the player interacts with a storage unit in a villager's house, a random message will appear. One of them is "You found 100 Rupees! But you can't use them here," a reference to The Legend of Zelda series.
 * The letter received from Bob after his e-Reader card is scanned says that he had a dream where the player was "running around on a tropical island with a water pump on [their] back," referencing Super Mario Sunshine.

Items

 * The and  items contain a medal with Mario's face on it.
 * The and  items are statues of Mario and Luigi respectively.
 * The and  items are references to the outfits worn by Anju and Kafei, characters in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
 * The and  items reference the logos of the Nintendo 64 and Nintendo GameCube respectively. These items are part of the Nintendo Set.
 * In, the item replaces the N logo item, referencing the logo of the iQue Player. It is part of the iQue Set.

Other features

 * Various e-Reader designs feature references to other Nintendo franchises, including Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Pokémon, Kirby, Pikmin, F-Zero, and Star Fox.


 * The "egg" and "mushroom" objects resemble a Yoshi egg and a mushroom respectively from the Mario franchise.

Dialogue

 * After talking to Gulliver after repairing his U.F.O., he asks the player if they have ever seen "A space fox or a bounty hunter who can roll into a ball." These are references to Fox of the Star Fox series and Samus Aran of the Metroid series.
 * On the player's third reset, Mr. Resetti states his favorite movie is "A Few Good Moles," a reference to , a 1992 American legal drama film.
 * Goldie's favorite saying on her picture references , saying "I'm really into that Lab on the cover of Nintendogs. He's pretty dreamy."
 * The ant's catch quote, "I caught an ant! Ant misbehavin'!", plays on the title of the 1929 jazz standard "".
 * The letter received from Boondox after donating 1,100,000 Bells reads, "We finally have an arcade in town! It only has Donkey Kong, but it's still a lot of fun."

Dialogue

 * One part of Nat's dialogue during the Bug-Off reads "Hunt bugs in the fields! Hunt bugs in the hills! Hunt bugs in the streets! You must never surrender!". This parodies the preoration of British prime minister 's famed "" speech, delivered in 1940.

Items

 * Through the Nook's Point-Tracking Machine, Nintendo-related items are available for purchase as a reward for spending large amounts of Bells at Tom Nook's.

Dialogue

 * When waking Gulliver on the beach, one phrase he can say is "oh man! This sure is a fuzzy pickle!" This is a nod to the photo-man from EarthBound, who asks characters to say the phrase "fuzzy pickle" (instead of the conventional "cheese") when getting their photo taken.
 * After agreeing to help Gulliver, he'll mention that he's "never met a skipper so kind since Bobbery of Rogueport." This is a reference to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
 * One of the locations Gulliver mentions having washed up on is Isle Delfino. This is a reference to Super Mario Sunshine.
 * Gulliver may also mention The Overthere, a place in Super Paper Mario.

Crossover villagers

 * W. Link, Medli, Ganon, and Epona are crossover villagers that represent The Legend of Zelda series. They only appear in.
 * Cece, Viché, and Inkwell are crossover villagers that represent the Splatoon series. They only appear in.
 * Holden is a crossover villager that represents Fueki, a Japanese supply company. He only appears in.

Items

 * Fortune cookies purchased from Timmy and Tommy's store produce items themed from various Nintendo franchises.
 * The update added many items based on other video game franchises, including The Legend of Zelda, Splatoon, Monster Hunter, and .
 * The furniture item can have its pattern customized to the "Sports" variant, which features Little Mac, Doc Louis, and Glass Joe from the.
 * The furniture item has an unused seventh pattern in the files, depicting 8-bit Mario.

Other features

 * Designs of the Triforce from The Legend of Zelda series and a flower similar to the one used to represent the Pikmin series can appear on tree stumps.

Dialogue

 * If the player refuses to find the s for Gulliver, he says, "Oof. I haven't received a cold shoulder this icy since my brush with the Snomad fleet...". This references the Snowmads from Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, albeit with "Snowmad" misspelled.
 * Blathers's description of the eusthenopteron references the Splatoon series: "Imagine if we'd not left the oceans... How might fashion and music be different in an aquatic world? How would we resolve differences? Perhaps some sort of ink-squirting contest of champions?"
 * One of the quotes Isabelle restates during the island evaluation is "It's a place I've been quietly watching. It's a secret to everybody. I don't want it to be famous." The "It's a secret to everybody" part is a reference to an identical quote commonly used in the The Legend of Zelda series.
 * Flick's description of the player's island when giving a 5-star evaluation is a truncated parody of the "this royal throne of kings" monologue from the 1595 play .
 * When the player talks to a peppy villager, they may mention a game they have been waiting for to come out called Super Gyroid Brothers, a reference to Super Mario Bros..
 * During Bunny Day, peppy villagers may comment on finding colorful bottles that wash ashore; while doing so, they'll remark that it inspired song lyrics for them, which they sing as "Message in a bottle, ooooohhhh; Makes me hungry for a waffle, ooooohhhh." This parodies the chorus of the 1979 song by.
 * The three possible catch quotes for the squid reference other Nintendo franchises. "I caught a squid! Do they...not actually "bloop"?", which is a reference to Bloopers from the Mario franchise. The other two are references to the Splatoon series, with "I caught a squid! I had an inkling I might!" making a pun on Inklings and "I caught a squid! It's off the hook!" referencing the pop idol duo Off the Hook.

Items

 * The opens when interacted with, revealing a doll referencing Princess Peach, Princess Daisy doll, or Rosalina depending on its variant.
 * Forged copies of the academic painting include a key taped to the backside, a reference to a plot device in the 2003 novel .
 * The Mario Series is a collection of Super Mario Bros.-themed items, released to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros..
 * The record label logo seen on the cover art for "K.K. Swing", "K.K. Jazz", "K.K. Fusion", "K.K. Bossa", "The K. Funk", "K.K. Cruisin'", "K.K. Groove", "Drivin'", and "K.K. Hop" is based on the logo for, a famous jazz label based in the United States. Fittingly, many of the songs featuring the logo are based on jazz and related genres.

Animal Crossing Plaza

 * One of the dialogue lines for Pascal is "You know what'd make a killer video game? An RPG where a kid fights aliens with a baseball bat. Maaaan, that'd rock," which is a reference to EarthBound.


 * Louie's client vision is "A 30th-anniversary party!", a reference to the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. It unlocks many Mario-related items.
 * Alli's client vision, "A mushroom manor.", unlocks several items that reference the Mario franchise.
 * Octavian's client vision, "A squid-showdown citadel.", is a reference to the Splatoon series. His house exterior and unlock items are references to Splatoon characters and gameplay.


 * A crossover event between the Super Mario series happened in 2018 and 2019. The 2018 event featured the Super Mushroom, 1-Up Mushroom, and Mega Mushroom from the Mario franchise as crafting materials to Mario-related furniture and clothing items, in the Super Mario Set. The 2019 event has a special Fishing Tourney event where the player can fish for Cheep Cheep, Eep Cheep, Blooper, and Cheep Chomp, for Mario items.
 * A Poké Ball from the Pokémon franchise appears as a crafting material.
 * SOU • SOU Kyoto held a crossover event in with the SOU・SOU Collection, bringing along furniture items and yukatas for the player to craft with US$Leaf Tickets.