Of the countless characters in the Animal Crossing series, none is more notorious than Redd. The sly fox has been cheating and deceiving players for decades. Whether he slings forged artwork, overpriced furniture, or passive-aggressive slights, Redd’s practices put even the bell-pinching Tom Nook to shame. While he remains enigmatic, subtle hints to Redd’s past have been revealed over the years. Here is all you need to know about Animal Crossing’s black market maestro.
Redd’s Dawn
Redd is a shady fox NPC introduced in Dōbutsu no Mori, the first title in the series. More precisely, he is based on a kitsune, a paranormal fox derived from Japanese folklore. When Animal Crossing was first localized for the Nintendo Gamecube, many references to Japanese culture were altered for fear that Western audiences would not relate to them. Similarly, Tom Nook is often called a raccoon but is based on a tanuki, a raccoon dog prevalent in Japanese mythology, in the original titles. This comparison to Tom Nook is not a coincidence; in fact, the two characters maintain numerous commonalities.
Kitsunes, like tanukis, have a penchant for shapeshifting and deceiving humans. Like other mythological tricksters, sometimes these consisted of simple pranks while other stories are more malicious. As we will learn, this is all rather important to Redd’s characterization. In the spin-off title Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, it is hinted that he and Tom Nook were once business partners. Nook mentions in passing that he once worked with a fox but no longer does after an incident that is never elucidated. Redd often refers to Nook searingly as a “pesky raccoon.” Now that we know some of his cultural origins, let’s explore the fox’s in-game persona.
Redd’s Robbin’
Longtime players of the series are well-acquainted with the foxy peddler of dubious goods. In the first title of the series, he is introduced as the curator of “Crazy Redd’s Furniture Emporium.” His tent, emblazoned with the words “Black Market”—the Black portion of the text amusingly scrawled out with a giant red X—gave us a taste of his illicit business practices. While his clandestine operations were questionable, he was one source of a unique and important set of items in the game: Artwork. True to his furtive nature, the artwork sold by Redd could be either genuine or forged. Bootleg artwork set the stage for the fox’s maddening relationship with players for years to come.
In Wild World, Redd appears to have a working relationship with Lyle, the insurance salesman. The player can choose the day of the week that Redd will set up shop in town through Lyle. To make the business even shadier, the player needs to speak with their villagers and discover a password to gain access to his shop. Incidentally, some of the passwords that can be chosen indicate that Redd is 35 years old. This makes him one of the few characters in the series to have a confirmed age. Despite this, Redd’s physical appearance and role between games have largely remained identical. However, in New Horizons, Redd shakes things up a bit.
Jolly Redd in New Horizons
While initially absent from the game, Redd was reintroduced into New Horizons as part of the 1.2.0 Earth Day Update. But our finicky fox friend came crashing in with a new moniker: Jolly Redd. Rather than setting up shop on land as in previous titles, he decided to embrace the swashbuckling lifestyle and hock his wares by sea. While he treads new waters in his seafaring vessel, the Treasure Trawler, Redd’s role remains largely the same as before. He is one of the sole sources of artwork in the game, and his art pieces can once again be counterfeit. Unlike previous titles, however, it is much easier to discern visually which artworks are fake.
Certain prerequisites must be met in the game for the buccaneer fox to appear on your island. At the very least, the Museum must be built and it is generally believed that around sixty donations need to have been made. Blathers will eventually mention his desire to open an art gallery within the Museum, which seems to summon Redd to your island. After a few initial meetings with him, he eventually becomes a regular visitor to your island. He also appears during Fireworks Shows held in August. Similar to other games in the series, Redd will run a raffle wherein you can win festive items such as pinwheels, sparklers, and cotton candy.
This Fox Won’t Be Cornered
Whether you know him as Crazy or Jolly, Redd is one of the more intriguing and enduring characters in Animal Crossing. He is fickle, capricious, shrewd, and any other negative adjective you wish to bestow him. Despite his longevity in the series, much about him remains unknown. Why does he hold such disdain for Tom Nook? What was the incident in the past that seemingly splintered their relationship? Did Redd do something that even Tom Nook could not overlook? It remains to be seen if future titles in the series will allow us more of a window into Redd’s past. For now, we all know him as the law-skirting fox who can’t be cornered.
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