Animal Crossing Villagers Drawn By AI Make A New Horizons Fever Dream

The Animal Crossing series is full of iconic, easily recognizable characters like Isabelle and Tom Nook, and the latest entry in the series, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, is no exception. However, even the most popular Animal Crossing villagers become a little harder to recognize when an AI illustrates them. The game quickly turns into a surrealist fantasy, punctuated by dreamlike environments unique interpretations of familiar NPCs. It’s an exciting exploration into which traits are kept and which ones are abstracted when an AI is in charge of interpreting the franchise.

Animal Crossing‘s art style has always been relatively cartoony and simplified, although that isn’t out of the ordinary for Nintendo series in general. Despite that, it’s still easy for players to figure out which animals villagers should represent. Animal Crossing‘s cat villagers look more or less like cats, dogs look like dogs, and even more unusual animals like axolotls can be picked out from among other NPCs. Even player-created outfits and patterns tend to blend in well with the rest of the visuals in New Horizons, which makes it all the stranger to see characters from the series take on such vastly different appearances when an AI handles them.

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The AI in question can be found on the Dream app by WOMBO, which is accessible both through web browsers and mobile apps. Users input a prompt, in this case, a character and series name such as “Animal Crossing Tom Nook,” and the AI will retrieve information and images on the topic to construct a work of art based on the title given. Although the resulting image isn’t always entirely clear, it tends to work better when a popular series or character is entered. To that end, some of the most popular villagers and special characters from Animal Crossing were reimagined, providing Animal Crossing fans with a good look at how New Horizons could change if Nintendo ever chose to reinvent the aesthetic of the game series.

Tom Nook Presents Colorful Wares When Drawn By AI

Tom Nook is a staple and perhaps even mascot of the Animal Crossing franchise, so it’s little surprise that he manages to stay reasonably recognizable even when drawn by an AI. He sports brown fur, masked eyes, and even his iconic green sweater vest, and the objects scattered around him make it look like he’s busy selling wares and managing a business even now. In the Animal Crossing series, green leaves are used in place of items in many cases, and it looks like Tom Nook’s AI-generated portrait takes that into account. The window behind him makes it look like he could be in one of his many shops found throughout the franchise, as well.

Animal Crossing’s Bob Is Almost Cat-Like In An AI’s Eyes

The famous cat villager Bob is the most difficult to recognize, but the two eyes and pink skin-like texture given to him by the AI makes it almost believable that he’s still a cat even in the strange, abstract world of the portrait. It even looks like there could be apple textures scattered across the ground and Nook’s Cranny in the background of the drawing, giving off the impression that he’s still a part of the Animal Crossing series no matter how bizarre he might look in this illustration.

An AI-Created Redd Still Sells Artwork In New Horizons

The conman Redd looks as though he’s still managing to pawn his wares off on others, even in his AI-generated drawing, as many of the boxes surrounding him look like they could be furniture items or paintings such as those players can collect from Redd’s shop in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Aside from that, his red-orange fur color and pointed ears help him stay recognizable even in such a bizarre art style.

New Horizons’ Sasha Takes To The AI-Drawn Oceans

Sasha was one of the villagers most recently introduced to Animal Crossing: New Horizons in the game’s latest update, and he’s quickly earned his place alongside Raymond as one of the more popular characters in the game. Although he doesn’t look much like himself when drawn by an AI, the scenery he’s surrounded by looks like it could place him in one of the island’s oceans, accompanied by some of the catchable sea life featured in New Horizons. Perhaps as Sasha’s popularity within the Animal Crossing community grows, he’ll become more recognizable in AI-generated content.

Even An AI-Drawn Isabelle Is Still Recognizable

Shortly after Isabelle’s introduction to the series in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, she rose to popularity among Animal Crossing fans and earned her place as one of the most iconic recurring NPCs in the franchise. She’s even appeared in crossover material like the Build-A-Bear collaboration and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Perhaps that’s why she’s still pretty recognizable in her AI-generated portrait, even sporting her iconic Bell-bag-shaped ponytail.

Raymond’s New Animal Crossing Home, Created By AI

Raymond, one of the most popular villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, doesn’t look much like himself in the AI-generated illustration, though he does still have the overall appearance of a cat, even down to the pointed ears. What’s more, it almost looks as though he’s wandering down a custom-designed Animal Crossing pathway in the village, accompanied by flowers and featuring what could be a building or some sort of outdoor furniture behind him. Given how much emphasis is placed on decorating the island in New Horizons, it’s not much of a surprise that some gameplay aspects would find their way into the illustrations as well.

Celeste Explores A Dreamscape In AI Animal Crossing

Blather’s sister Celeste received an upgraded role in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Rather than staying cooped up in the observatory, she now wanders the island during meteor showers, offering players unique space-themed DIY recipes. It’s fitting, then, that the AI reimagines Celeste in a dreamlike world that boasts a nighttime aesthetic. The purple and green floral patterns make it easy to imagine her wandering along the island’s cliffs, looking skyward for Animal Crossings shooting stars. Of course, her red feathers and white face are still recognizable, as well.

An AI-Generated Ankha Still Looks Familiar

Perhaps the most recognizable of the AI-created Animal Crossing portraits is Ankha, one of the most popular villagers in the franchise, thanks in large part to how much her blue-and-gold aesthetic stands out from other cat villagers. Her iconic color scheme is still very much present in the AI illustration, and it even looks as though there’s something akin to a pyramid in the background of the image to tie it all together. As strange as the generated drawing is, it still gives off the impression of Ankha walking down a pathway in the village and creates a whimsical feeling despite the abstraction of its subjects. The fact that she remains recognizable under absurd circumstances is a testament to how creative the stand-out character design is in Animal Crossing.

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