Shaki

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This page contains information about unused content that cannot be seen through normal gameplay.
SpecialSpeciesIconSilhouette.png Shaki xsq
Artwork of Shaki
Species Gender
Squirrel Female
Main appearances

Other appearances
Name in other languages
 シャキッ
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Shaki is a squirrel who exists in the data of Animal Crossing but does not appear in-game. Her intended role is not known other than that she would have served as a special character. No squirrel special characters have been officially introduced in any games in the series, making her a unique character among the species.

Shaki, alongside an unnamed cat villager (identified internally as CAT13) found in the source code of Doubutsu no Mori, are the only known characters to be completely cut from the series.

Background[edit]

Shaki's visual appearance resembles Bliss (later renamed Caroline) with elements of Hazel (later renamed Sally), earning the character the community nickname of "Blazel" until her true name was discovered. She has red colored fur and large blue eyes just like Bliss, and has a creamy white pinstripe on her tail just like Hazel. In addition, she has another creamy white swirl on her head that resembles a question mark, unlike Bliss's flowery swirl. She wears a green apron over a white shirt.

The character's actual name went undiscovered until 2017, when it was discovered in the files for Doubutsu no Mori+ as シャキッ ( Shaki?). Immediately after her name in the data the nondescript exclamation とりゃ〜 ( Torya?) is found, which may have been an expression or greeting. These strings are not present in the localized versions of the game. Shaki's name was originally mistranslated as "Chestnut" by the community,[1] however, the Japanese word for chestnut is completely unrelated. The hiragana equivalent of Shaki's name (しゃきっ) means "crisp," as in a crunchy texture, or refreshing, as in a cool breeze. The word is also used as onomatopoeia for the swift movement of blades.

Purpose[edit]

This section contains unconfirmed information or speculation.

It is unknown what Shaki's purpose in the game was intended to be. She is referenced in the game's code as ac_ev_dokutu, with "dokutu" possibly referring to どうくつ ( doukutsu?)[nb 1] meaning "cave" or "opening in the ground." This as well as Shaki's species being that of a squirrel, a creature known for burying food in the ground, may suggest she was originally connected to the buried treasure event that can randomly occur in the released game. As her name is used as onomatopoeia for the movement of blades, it may be a reference to an action such as a shovel striking the ground, which would further tie-in to a possible connection to buried items.

Alternatively, as Shaki's data is alongside stub methods for wilting and growing flowers, she may have been a special character relating to gardening (similarly to Leif in Animal Crossing: New Leaf).

Spawning in-game[edit]

The player speaking to Shaki, whose name is displayed as "Jambette"

Shaki exists as two different characters under character indexes 0xD06C and 0xE15A.

With 0xD06C she is a special character who speaks a line of Kapp'n's dialogue, as her own dialogue has been overwritten. She lacks a name in languages other than Japanese, so it will be displayed as a mojibake form of ジョニー・B ( Johnny B?) rendering as 🔑 ù«–•B¡¡. This string is used as a fallback for characters with an invalid name.[2]

With 0xE15A, her name will erroneously be displayed as Jambette (the lower byte is used to determine the character's name, and Jambette's index is 0xE05A) but will be identified as and act like male villager. This reason for the existence of this version of Shaki is unknown, though it may be a remnant of a changed data structure from earlier in the game's development.

Action Replay codes[edit]

Wisp NH Character Icon.png
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Please proceed with caution when following directions from this page, and be aware that saving the game can make undesired effects permanent. Nookipedia is not responsible for any damage that may occur to games as a result of this information.
Wisp NH Character Icon.png
This page or section contains instructions which may result in unexpected in-game effects.
Please proceed with caution when following directions from this page, and be aware that saving the game can make undesired effects permanent. Nookipedia is not responsible for any damage that may occur to games as a result of this information.

Shaki can be spawned into a player's town using the below Action Replay code, using "xxxx" as a regular villager and "yyyy" being set to either of the two indexes she is located at.

  • 040051A0 3C600001
  • 040051A4 3863xxxx
  • 040051A8 7C032040
  • 040051AC 7C832378
  • 040051B0 4082000C
  • 040051B4 3C600001
  • 040051B8 3863yyyy
  • 040051BC 4E800020
  • 0453A198 4BACB009
  • 04544FFC 4BAC01A5

Names in other languages[edit]

Japanese シャキッ
Shaki
Crispy

Notes[edit]

  1. With Kunrei-shiki romanization つ can be romanized as "tu"

References[edit]

  1. garrick (2020-02-06). "Japanese Debug Text in Animal Crossing". Twinkle Spiral Heart Attack.
  2. Cuyler (2018-01-10). "Solving Chestnut's Mysteries in Animal Crossing". YouTube.