Animal Crossing: New Horizons continues to dominate Nintendo Switch sales and the lives of many players as they use the adorable life-sim game to pass the hours in these strange times of lockdown. More and more content is being added in the form of updates, or special timed events, giving players plenty to do as well as plenty to look forward to.
In a recent update, a familiar face returned to the franchise, much to the delight of fans. Redd the fox NPC showed up on player's islands peddling his wares and up to his old tricks of sometimes passing off fake artwork as the real deal. Despite sometimes doing players wrong, Redd remains a fan-favorite, as well as a mystery as not much is known about him.
10 Does he create his fake art himself?
Many Animal Crossing players wonder where Redd gets his art from, particularly the fake items. Does he create these pieces himself? Does that mean that Redd is both a master of painting and sculpture or does he have some team of artists that work somewhere to create his fraudulent wares?
When players meet Redd in New Horizons, he tells them he was a warehouse full of art that he's looking to shift, so either he has a lot of hobby time on his hands or he has a team of workers cranking out those art pieces on his behalf.
9 Does his character pay tribute to a well-known poem?
Another fan speculation is whether Redd's character pays homage to the Divine Comedy by Dante, specifically in regards to the Rubicante demon that Dante encounters in the Inferno. Rubicante is one of the demons in the Malebolge, the eighth circle of hell, which is the place reserved for fraudsters. Additionally, "Rubicante" translates to "red-faced terror", which isn't that far removed from "Crazy Redd".
Something that lends itself to this idea is that Redd wouldn't be the first character to be based on literary works, as the seagull Gulliver, who is often traveling (and getting lost), is clearly based on Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.
8 Does he have a personal vendetta against Tom Nook?
There's clearly something going on with Redd and Tom Nook as both characters make remarks about the other that leads fans to believe they dislike one another. It's not difficult to see why; from all appearances, Redd is ripping off Tom Nook's style and that wouldn't sit well with anyone. Redd even copies the trademark "leaf" symbol of Nook but instead uses a Ginkgo leaf.
Additionally, in the first Animal Crossing title, Redd also copied the Nook's Cranny theme tune for his own store, though it was played in an opposite pitch. Redd mentions to players in one of the games that he and Tom Nook were once in business together, but apparently the partnership soured.
7 Is his character influenced by Reynard?
There's another literary character that might have influenced the design of Redd, or possibly that the Animal Crossing fox pays tribute to, and that's Reynard the Fox from European medieval stories. This red fox character is infamous for deceiving other anthropomorphic animals, usually tricking them for his own gain.
Additionally, many variations of the Reynard the Fox tales have the devious character referring to others as "cousin" when he speaks to them, something that Redd does to the player in Animal Crossing.
6 Does he purposefully make the fake art obvious?
Whether it is Redd himself or a team that works for him, why is the fake art so obvious? They clearly have the skills to do a good job, but just decide to add some "flair" in there and mix it up from the original design. Of course, the real answer to this is so that players have a chance to realize their folly before it's too late and hand over their hard-earned bells.
But even still, Redd has to realize his counterfeits have dead giveaways? Perhaps much like his knock-off "leaf" symbol and slightly changed tune, he knows that by changing just enough of the original he can't get done for copyright issues. That's one clever fox.
5 Is he a thief?
Foxes are usually thought of as crafty, thieving characters in a lot of stories, such as Fantastic Mr Fox, but does Redd follow this trend? It certainly would explain how he gets his hands on very valuable and rare art pieces. Also, in Animal Crossing: Wild World, one of the password phrases Redd uses is "Even robbers have safes", which lends itself to the idea that Redd is a crook.
Additionally, one of the other Animal Crossing NPCs refers to Redd as being a thief. In Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, Joan will speak to the player about Redd. She discusses how she has to make boobytraps to protect her coveted turnips from "turnipnappers", adding the additional line, "Like that no-good fox. Ooh, if I ever get ahold of him, I'll knock the sly smirk right off his snout!"
4 Is he 35 years old?
Many players believe that Redd is 35 years of age. This is because in Animal Crossing: Wild World players need a password to enter Redd's shop, with Redd saying the first half and players needing to complete it. One of the password phrases was "Crazy Redd is 35", not only clearly stating his age but also reminding fans of how often people use their age or birth date in their passwords.
If Redd is 35, what age are the other NPC characters? If Nook and Redd used to be business partners then are we led to believe that Nook is of a similar age?
3 Is he based on Tekiya?
Many fans believe that Redd is based on the idea of the tekiya, traveling merchants in Japan that used to move from town to town to pedal their wares. They set up stalls to sell their goods to the locals but had a bad reputation of selling poor quality or forged items. The tekiya began to form organized groups, eventually leading to the formation of the yakuza.
Redd fits the bill of a traveling tradesman with a bad reputation, with the idea of him being a traditional tekiya being further emphasized in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp when he asks the player if he can set up his stall to sell his goods.
2 Is he a real or supernatural?
There is a fan theory that Redd is not a normal animal like the other villagers you encounter, but is actually a kitsune, a creature from Japanese folklore. According to the kitsune legend, these foxes can shape-shift into humans and are often known to be tricksters, though some are also regarded as protectors. Additionally, the more tails that a kitsune has denotes how wise it is.
Furthermore, many fans believe that Tom Nook is not just a normal raccoon, but is actually the fabled tanuki of Japanese folklore; another shape-shifting creature that is thought to be more jolly. His surname of "Nook" plays on this idea, as well as the fact that the furnishings that he sells can transform into leaves for easy storage. It would also add more credence to the idea of Redd and Tom Nook once being partners if both are supernatural creatures.
1 Why does he change his name?
Redd is known by a few names throughout the series, the first being his default first name of "Redd". In some games he is referred to as "Crazy Redd" and his store is also called "Crazy Redd's", possibly as a nod to Rubicante.
However, in Animal Crossing: New Horizons where his shop is now afloat as a boat, he is named "Jolly Redd". This most likely alludes to the idea of him pirating goods and having a boat for a shop. Perhaps his frequent name changes are in order to elude the police?