Blathers

"A pearl of wisdom is worth more than a diamond."

- Blathers

Blathers is an owl scholar who first appeared in and has appeared in every  game since. He is the curator for the museum, and accepts donations such as fish, bugs, fossils, and paintings. Blathers can also give the player information on the museum, such as exhibitions, what has been donated and by who. His name comes from the word "blather," which means to babble or speak rapidly without making much sense. He is very knowledgeable and informative, usually giving information on any object donated to the museum, and he will often apologize for his lengthy explanations. As an owl, he sleeps during the daylight hours, but the player can still donate by talking to him and waking him up.

He has a disgust for bugs and always mentions this when a bug is donated to him. He has a sister named Celeste who appears in, , , and , who manages the observatory in the former three games, while appearing on random nights in. Blathers was seen on the cover of, standing on the roof.

Appearance
Blathers is a large, brown-feathered owl with two pink-colored cheeks and large, feathered eyebrows. He possesses a teal colored face with two large eyes, as well as a checkered chest with a green bow tie. On the sides of his body exist two large wings, which Blathers uses as arms, as well as two talons used as feet.

In, Blathers is redesigned to have more human-like proportions, such as a larger chest, longer wings, and other changes like the other cast.

Personality
Blathers is a dignified, proper individual with an ambitious spirit, dreaming for years of becoming an archaeologist in. Blathers speaks in a refined, dignified manner when spoken to, and may possibly have a British accent. As his name implies, Blathers is very talkative about museum-related subjects, going off on various tangents when an item is donated to the museum, before quickly apologizing to the player for going on a monologue. Blathers is shown to have a large dislike of insects, most notably when one is donated to the museum, where he has the tendency to react in shock and disgust. Even so, he manages to overcome this disgust and accept the donation.

As someone who has studied relics, Blathers is able to tell a forgery from a real painting, indicating that he is a sharp individual.

Background
As a child, he was brought up in the city with his sister Celeste, living in his parent's house. After finishing school, he went on to university, completing a number of degrees until reaching the doctorate level. Before he could complete his studies, he was approached by his professor, who recommended that he take up a post in a country museum, as all the curators of the main Farway Museum refused to move from their posts. Blathers accepted the offer enthusiastically and despite occasional homesickness, he remains at his post. As a result of this move, Blathers still has not finished his doctorate. Blathers is, as confirmed in, in his mid-twenties.

Celeste
Blathers and Celeste are siblings who help one another, as Celeste is seen working with Blathers in the Museum, even if they share conflicting interests. Blathers has overacted numerous times to the sight of insects while Celeste was in his presence, leading Blathers to condemn himself and believe himself to be a "substandard" brother to her. Because of this, Blathers sees himself as someone needing to redeem himself to his sister, wondering if he should take her on certain activities that she may enjoy. Or, as put by Blathers, an "enjoyable time."

Brewster
Blathers considers Brewster, an employee at his museum, to be somewhat "simple." Blathers has described Brewster to be "entertaining" to him as a result, though he does not mean to insult him, as shown when he struggles to find a right word to describe him. In, Blathers describes Brewster as an old friend and allows the Mayor to unlock the Roost Café as a Public Works Project.

Redd
Blathers has encountered Redd a few times in the past, perhaps explaining his ability to discern real paintings from fake ones.


 * ''See also: Doubutsu no Mori § Partial source code leak

While Blathers does not appear in, early textures for him were discovered in a partial source code leak of the game in July 2020, suggesting that he was at one point planned to appear in the game.

"Our main purpose is to provide a place for the exhibition of items we feel have some significant paleontological, artistic, and/or zoological importance, the collection and classification of which..."

- Blathers

In, Blathers is the owner and manager of the town Museum, and during the day can be seen sleeping. When spoken to, Blathers tells the player about a correspondence course in fossil identification that he is participating in (he has expressed wishes of being an archaeologist) which he has not completed, meaning that all fossils have to be sent to the Farway Museum to be identified.

He will also accept fish and bugs, which are shown in the aquarium and insect exhibits, respectively.

In, Blathers has completed his course in fossil identification and can now identify fossils without having to send them to be identified, giving an immediate result. He still continues to accept fish and bugs, but now accepts paintings which are put up in a painting exhibit. If they are forgeries, he will reject them. His sister, Celeste, is also introduced in, having an office in the attic of the museum. Blathers sometimes talks of his encounters with bugs during his studies. He recalls one time in a library, when he opened a book and maggots fell out. He will also mention his fear of cockroaches when one is donated to the museum. If the player donates a bug that has been donated previously, he will reject it and beg the player to keep the cage closed until the player has left the building.

When fish are donated, Blathers usually talks about how the fish tastes, similar to Chip, the host of the fishing tourney.

Conversations
In, on certain days of the year, Blathers will reveal various background information about himself. These days can be determined easily, as he will be awake for all twenty-four hours of those select days. In addition to his consciousness, he will occasionally appear depressed. During these conversations, the player can talk, either choosing to go along with the conversation or to tell Blathers to stop talking.

"This... Upon close perusal, I see this is most certainly NOT the original! It is a vile, shameless forgery!"

- Blathers In, Blathers has the same role as he did in - accepting donations such as fish, insects, fossils and paintings, as well as identifying forgeries. He usually makes jokes and comments on fish and bugs and will bluntly tell the player of his qualification in identifying fossils.

In, the root of Blathers's disgust of insects is revealed: when he was younger, a mantis egg case ruptured on his writing desk, causing thousands of mantises to fly out. To hear this anecdote, a mantis must be donated to the museum.

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Blathers is in the museum again, having the same role as previous games. He can now identify multiple fossils at once, as well as accepting multiple donations at once. However, when the player donates to the museum, he does not talk ('blather') as much as in previous games, stopping himself mid-sentence just before going into a monologue. At some point in the game, Blathers requests a museum renovation as a public works project. When this is built, a second floor will be added to the museum, managed by Celeste. Also, after this renovation is made, Blathers will, at some point, request The Roost as a public works project. This building, unlike previous titles, is separate from the museum.

Blathers returns in. He has the same role like in previous main series games: that of a museum curator. Soon after the player's arrival on the deserted island, Tom Nook will let them know how to craft a bug net and a fishing rod. He will also ask the player to show him any bug or fish specimen caught. Tom Nook will ask the player to give him these specimens because he wants to show them to a friend of his. Once the player has given Tom Nook five different specimens of fish or bugs, Tom Nook will call Blathers on his NookPhone to invite him to come and visit the player's deserted island. He will then turn to the player and ask them to select a spot on the island to raise Blathers' tent.

Blathers will show up in his tent the day after the player has selected a spot for his tent. Once introduced to the player, he will ask for more critters, highlighting the fact that once he has collected a further 15 specimens he will then be able to secure permission to open up a proper museum in order to show them to the public. The feature of Blathers telling the player about their donated items has returned from games prior to, but unlike in those games, the player is allowed to choose whether they want to hear the explanation or not. The player can also bring him bugs, fish, fossils and sea creatures in order to hear an explanation on them at any time, regardless of whether they have already been donated or not. The art collection retains its reading ability from.

Blathers appears in when his amiibo card is scanned into the game via the amiibo phone, and will ask the player to build a house for him. Like all Special Characters, he will leave the theme up to the player, and won't request for specific furniture to be in his house.

Blathers is one of 15 (16 if Isabelle wearing her summer outfit is counted as a separate character) characters that can be played on the Board Game mode of Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival by using his amiibo figure. He and Celeste have the unique trait of being asleep before their turn if it is not nighttime. He is also playable in the other eight game modes via his amiibo card.

Blathers returns again in, this time as the host of Blathers's Treasure Trek, an activity that allows the player to explore as Blathers to find craft materials by collecting special maps. In addition, Blathers can also be used to unlock certain villagers, similar to Gulliver.

Doubutsu no Mori (film)
Blathers appears in the film alongside Celeste in the museum, where they meet Ai for the first time after Ai makes a loud scream after she has unexpectedly seen the fossils in the museum. When Ai speaks to Blathers, he typically begins a lecture on a dinosaur skeleton of a T-Rex, while Celeste is seen taking Ai away to The Roost to complete a delivery task set by Tom Nook.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Blathers, along with Celeste, appear as a trophy and sometimes appear in the background of the Smashville stage.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Blathers once again appears as a trophy, and as a background character in the stages Smashville, and Town and City.

In
In, Blathers will share a house with Celeste.