Animal Crossing's Blathers has been around since the original Animal Crossing. The owl character has been present in the series for as long as Tom Nook, and actually has quite a detailed background compared to other characters. He grew up in the city with Celeste and earned a number of degrees. He became the director of his first museum due to the recommendation of his professor.
With six main Animal Crossing games in the series and three spin-offs, Blathers has been through a lot of subtle developments. He has gone through voice changes, different doctoral studies, and the way he speaks to the player has also been adjusted. Of course, there are also some elements to him that have remained the same. For instance, his fear of bugs has never changed nor has his overall design and museum role.
From The Original Games To Wild World
Fans have leaked source code in 2020 for an early version of Blathers' design from the Animal ForestJapan-exclusive game. The image shows that early ideas of Blathers gave him pure black eyes and a bow tie that is blue instead of green. The early design also lacks his rosy cheeks. In the proper games, though, his design has been constant.
In the original Animal Crossing, Blathers has the ability to identify bugs, paintings, and fish but cannot officially speak for fossils. Players had to send fossils in the mail to another museum for identification. By Wild World, though, Blathers gets a license to identify fossils himself. It is in this game that Blathers actually talks a lot about his personal life with the player, such as why he is afraid of bugs, how he grew up, and what his university life was like. Wild World developed Blathers a lot as a character. It was also this title that introduced his sister Celeste and his friend Brewster.
From City Folk To New Leaf
Little change happens to Blathers in City Folk, but fans have noticed that he begins to talk less about fossils and paintings when those are turned in to him in comparison to fish, fossils, and bugs. He also tends to make more jokes about the bugs and fish. Just like Wild World, Celeste runs an observatory and Brewster oversees a cafe in the Animal Crossing museum.
In New Leaf, Blathers undergoes more subtle changes. Nintendo cuts his academic lexicon short and simplifies a lot of what he says while still making him speak formally. Blathers also mentions wanting a personal collection of his own outside the museum. His connections, Celeste and Brewster, are still around, except now Brewster gets to have a cafe separate from the museum.
New Horizons And Spin-Off Titles
In New Horizons, Blathers has a lot of favoritism for certain kinds of donations. He is most excited by fossils, a little excited by fish, and absolutely cannot stand bugs. His voice also changes, as his voice in New Leaf was that of a lazy villager and in New Horizons he gets the voice of a smug villager. His friend, Brewster, reverts to having a cafe in the museum rather than outside it.
Blathers has appeared in spin-off games as well. In amiibo Festival, he actually has six different costumes, which is interesting, since his design in the games have always been the same. The costumes include a Greek outfit, pajamas, and a top hat. He has also been in the Doubutsu no Mori movie and was voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi, the voice actor for L in Deathnote and Usopp in Once Piece.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now for Nintendo Switch.