Kapp'n

"A li'l wind goes a long way."

- Kapp'n

Kapp'n is a green turtle (kappa in the Japanese versions) that features in the as a driver of various forms of transport. He has been known to row boats, drive taxis, and also drive buses. Kapp'n himself is a sailor at heart, referring frequently to his life on the sea and speaking like a pirate would. He also expresses a fondness for women, cucumbers, and singing old sea shanties.

The word "kappa," from which Kapp'n derives, is the name for a river yokai (supernatural creature) in Japanese folklore. They are mischievous in nature, and reptilian in appearance. His name also plays on how a sailor would pronounce "captain," abbreviating certain sounds so that it becomes a phonetic pronunciation. His name reflects the way he speaks; he talks like a stereotypical pirate, saying things like "yar!", "sprat," and "garr," and he will sometimes refer to the player as a fish or sea creature, such as "scallop," "sea bass," or "urchin."

and
In, he is the ferry operator who rows visitors and the player to the island (commonly known as Animal Island) through the GameBoy Advance cable. During the voyage to the island he sings a sea shanty, usually about his life on the sea and women.

In, he drives the black taxi to the town and acts as the introducing character responsible for the gender and appearance of the playable character, as well as the name of the town. This is a role he takes on from Rover. He can sometimes be seen in the The Roost drinking coffee. He will talk about his life at sea upon talking to him.

In, he first appears driving the bus to the town, while Rover talks to the playable character determining the gender, birthday, and appearance of the character, as well as the name of the town. He will then appear again driving the bus to the city when going to the Bus Stop. During the journey to the city, he will talk about women, the city, and modern day youngsters to male players. If the player is female, he will subtly flirt with them, calling them 'cute,' 'pretty,' and that a 'manly bus-driver is available.' If the player does not respond, he will begin to whistle his sea shanty.

He also appears in The Roost, as he did in, where he will talk about his life in more detail.

Kapp'n returns to his roots in, this time with a motorboat. He will sing and joke to the player on the way to Tortimer's Island, and will flirt with female players. Approaching Kapp'n with friends will allow up to four players to travel to an island for local multiplayer gameplay. Once on the island, Kapp'n's wife Leilani, mother Grams, and daughter Leila also make an appearance, running a souvenir shop and providing tours of the island which take the form of minigames.

Although Kapp'n does not appear in, can be obtained from Nook Shopping after attempting to invite him to Photopia via his amiibo.

Animal Crossing Plaza
Kapp'n appears as a Miiverse stamp in Animal Crossing Plaza.

In, Kapp'n appears as one of the player's clients, although he allows the player to customize freely without any specific vision.

Kapp'n appears as a playable character in, entering the game if his amiibo character is scanned into the game.

In, Kapp'n is the host of the Bloomin' Beauty garden event, requesting players to capture ladybugs in exchange for sunflower-themed items.

Kapp'n appears as a minor character in. Near the beginning of the film, he drives Ai to Animal Village in his black taxi, like the one in. He appears later on in the film during the Fireworks Festival, as a member of the audience listening to K.K. Slider singing.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Kapp'n is a collectible trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. He also appears as a background character in the Tortimer Island stage.

Super Mario Maker
Kapp'n appears as an unlockable costume in Super Mario Maker.

Kapp'n makes a minor appearance as an assist trophy in, revealed in the August 8th Nintendo Direct, where he will appear with his bus from. Upon being summoned, Kapp'n will get in his bus and drive around stage, sometimes making the bus jump. Should the bus make contact with a fighter, he will put them in his bus, and drive toward the edge of the screen, KO'ing the fighter in the bus if they don't jump out in time.

Kapp'n also makes an appearance in two separate Animal Crossing spirits.

In
In, Kapp'n will share a house with Leilani, Leila, and Grams.

Trivia

 * While rowing to Animal Island in, Kapp'n sings one of a few random songs. A line to one of his songs is that he sings better than Mario.
 * One of his sea shanties is about cucumbers. In Japanese folklore, cucumbers were thrown into rivers for Kappa to eat with the names of children and/or families on. This would spare a family when bathing in a river. Children, and sometimes adults, are believed to be one of their favorite foods - cucumbers being their favorite. They would also help humans and not break an oath. This may relate to how friendly he is towards humans in the.
 * If in the player leaves the game idle long enough on the bus, Kapp'n will begin to whistle Totaka's Song, which also appears as K.K. Song.
 * While riding on the bus, in, Kapp'n is interested in celebrity gossip, and will question the player for juicy secrets, shortly before arriving at the city.
 * In a character popularity poll for held by Nintendo in Japan, Kapp'n ranked 6th with 1,572 votes, above Mitzi and below Sable.
 * Kapp'n appears on the album cover of "Marine Song 2001."