Since the beginning of the series, fans of Animal Crossing have thought of many different theories about its beloved characters. One such character that seems to have a mysterious past is Tom Nook, the landlord that fans either love or love to hate. With the help of Timmy, Tommy, and Isabelle, he makes sure that you can make the island of your dream with your getaway package.

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While he might seem like he just wants bells or that he's a familiar, friendly face welcoming the player to their new island home, fans have come up with many theories about Tom Nook's life.

10 MAKES SENSE: Tom Nook Is Keeping Players Captive

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This theory suggests that Tom Nook just wants the player to never stop giving him bells, so he keeps giving them tasks to do so that the player feels like they can't leave. It's a theory that one might not expect from the happy tone of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but it's one that makes sense, nonetheless.

Tom encourages the player to bring in new villagers, so they might feel compelled to stay on the island because of the new friends they've made. Staying most likely means that more fish, fruit, and seashells will be sold to Timmy and Tommy, who take that money to Tom. No matter the reason, Tom Nook seems to want the player to stay, and his motives might not be so nice.

9 DOESN'T MAKE SENSE: Tom Nook Is Dodging Taxes

While it seems pretty clear that Tom loves bells, the theory that he had the idea to run an island to get out of paying taxes seems a bit unbelievable. For one, it would be a whole lot of effort and bells to come up with this idea and to actually execute it just to avoid paying taxes.

But, let's say that he hated taxes so much that he was willing to go forward with this island getaway plan. Lots of characters seem to know about Tom and his island plans, so wouldn't someone find him and tax him eventually? It's hard to say, but his motivations do seem to be more about getting bells than avoiding taxes.

8 MAKES SENSE: Tom Nook Cloned Himself

There's been an ongoing debate about whether Timmy and Tommy are Tom Nook's sons, nephews, or students with no relation to him, but the idea that Tom cloned himself to make the twins could explain this.

It wouldn't be too far-fetched to suggest that Tom Nook was able to get his hands on a cloning machine somehow. After all, he's incredibly rich thanks to all the bells the player gives him, and he has a lot of connections. Maybe he asked around for help with this cloning idea, and he was willing to pay top dollar to make it happen so his Nook legacy can live on.

7 DOESN'T MAKE SENSE: Tom Nook Wants All The Credit

Some fans have suggested that Tom wants to be the star of the island. Cases in point, he wants credit for bringing K.K. Slider in for concerts and for opening new landmarks during ceremonies so that everyone knows that he's great. However, this doesn't seem to be the case.

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Tom does give the speeches at opening ceremonies, but he gives the player credit for the work. He could've continued being the all-knowing voice that players hear every time they open the game to hear announcements, but he later gives that job to Isabelle. Even the villagers give the player credit for their hard work instead of talking about how great they might think Tom Nook is.

6 MAKES SENSE: Tom Nook Controls Everyone & Everything

How can Tom Nook promise the player that whatever they want to build will be done the next day? It might be reasonable to say that, for certain projects, it would be unlikely that Tom builds them himself overnight. So, how do these projects get done so quickly? Some think that Nook is a brainwashing cult leader who can convince all the villagers to build these projects for him.

Other fans link this theory with the cloning theory by suggesting that Tom has built a clone army somewhere that does his bidding. It seems like Tom might be pulling the strings around the island more than players may think.

5 DOESN'T MAKE SENSE: Tom Nook Owns Mystery Islands

With Mystery Island trips, many fans think that there might be some selfish intentions behind these ventures. Several fans believe that Nook wants players to go to these islands just to clear them so he can sell more Island Getaway packages. This theory falls apart because if Tom Nook is really so money-hungry, why wouldn't he make players buy the Nook Miles tickets with bells instead of his imaginary Nook Miles?

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Plus, many players go to these islands just to find villagers that they want or to only get certain resources. Players might only clear the whole island if they want to catch bugs. It wouldn't be an efficient system to rely on players to clear out these islands.

4 MAKES SENSE: Tom Nook & Redd Fought About Morals

Ever since Redd was added to New Horizons, fans reignited their search for reasons why Nook and Redd hate each other. Some fans say that the rivalry is because of they had a bad breakup, while others say that they couldn't be business partners because Nook decided that he didn't want to scam people like Redd.

Regardless of players' feelings about Nook, it can't be denied that he could be worse. He doesn't charge interest, he doesn't rush anyone to pay debts, and he came up with Nook Miles to give players access to more items and activities. Meanwhile, Redd is scamming players with fake art for large amounts of bells. Maybe Nook doesn't want Redd to take advantage of anyone on the island.

3 DOESN'T MAKE SENSE: Tom Nook Is A Human In A Tanuki Suit

To those who were invested in the theories surrounding Zipper from the Bunny Day event, this might not sound so unbelievable. However, Zipper made clear references to his zipper, suggesting that he was in a suit. Additionally, other villagers seemed to have suspicions about this too.

As far as anyone has seen, Tom Nook doesn't have any features to suggest that he's a human in an animal suit. He might not have a mouth that can be seen, but some villagers are designed that way too. If he was in a suit, the game developers might've made it more of a running joke like the references to Zipper's suit.

2 MAKES SENSE: Tom Is Trying To Get Villagers Back On Their Feet

While some think that it's malicious of Nook to put the player and other villagers in debt exactly when they come to their new island, others think that Tom has made this island to help those who might've fallen on hard times. He doesn't expect anyone to pay him back quickly.  Plus, he gives everyone easy ways to make money, like catching bugs, fishing, and collecting resources, which players can see villagers doing.

While it might seem like he might be taking advantage of villagers, he has given them a way to live while teaching them about how to spend and save, which are skills they could use if they choose to move away.

1 DOESN'T MAKE SENSE: Tom Nook Had A Wife

This theory has made the rounds between fans who do or don't believe that Timmy and Tommy are Tom Nook's sons. Whether the boys are biologically related to Tom or not, some still say that Tom might've had a wife at some point. If this theory is true, it would still be unclear whether Nook's wife passed away, divorced him, or even went missing.

The loss of a theoretical wife could explain Nook's why he seems sad rather than tired. The main problem here is that there's no mention of Tom having a wife. Tom could be hiding this relationship with players, but he's shared his past before and he'd have no reason to keep his wife - alive or otherwise - a secret.

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