History WMG / AnimalCrossing

** Considering that there are actual youkai in the game such as the ghost from New Leaf and the dream-eater youkai, this is very possible.

I know every fan has been seeing the "Animal Crossing Purgatory Theory" pretty often, but I wanna add to the mix with ideas I’ve discovered after finding some input. Now let's tackle this theory step by step by starting off with the village itself (or island if you’re playing the new game).

But the gyroids don't stop there. Let's move onto a particular villager that especially has to do with them. Coco. Coco looks like a coconut, and it's easy to say, "Well duh! Her name is Coco because she looks like a coconut!". That may be true, however, her name has more meaning than a person may see on the surface. Her name, in Japanese, also means "Yayoi" which is the period of Japan where Haniwa figures began. We've already talked about the Haniwas/gyroids and what their purpose was, but it's more complicated for Coco, as YouTuber 'TheBigOReview' brings up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w77QSyIj10). As he explains, Coco's room is designed to be that of a Buddhist Japanese cremation ritual. There's evidence of the first cremation in Japan starting in the Jomon period, which would've been right before the Yayoi period in which Coco supposedly was based from, during which the Buddhist religion and cremation methods were ongoing. Sometimes, the Haniwas would be formed WITH the ashes of the deceased after the bodies would be cremated. This perfectly adds up with the theory that Coco is a special gyroid that's different from the other gyroids due to her ashes being mixed with the clay and forming a new body, allowing her to walk and live amongst the "naked" souls, but not entirely grounded in clay like the other gyroids. The fact that Coco is even able to walk amongst you further supports the theory that Animal Crossing takes place in Purgatory.

I know every fan has been seeing the “Animal Crossing Purgatory Theory” pretty often, but I wanna add to the mix with ideas I’ve discovered after finding some input. Now let’s tackle this theory step by step by starting off with the village itself (or island if you’re playing the new game).

Your village is something in which you can’t truly leave. You can visit areas outside of your own village, but you must continue living in your own village. This is because the village, or rather the world you’re living in is purgatory. You can’t leave the world you live in because you can’t come back from the dead, and the character you’re controlling doesn’t feel like moving on or going back into heaven (or hell) yet. As to why you can still travel to different “purgatory areas” in Animal Crossing is because purgatory works differently in the Animal Crossing universe. In Animal Crossing, purgatory is as big as the living world and is just as advanced in technology (as it should be). This explains why you still get things like cable, computers, and even cellphones in Animal Crossing. Purgatory lands are split up, even as islands in New Horizons, yet, you’re still free to travel though you can never really leave your new “home”. Each purgatory land can also only hold a specific amount of souls until one must move to another purgatory.

To add to this, there’s the gyroids. The gyroids are based on actual Japanese clay figures, known as ‘Haniwas’. Haniwas were created to be buried with the dead in order to serve the deceased in the spirit world. This leads to the popular theories that the Haniwas also contained the very souls of the deceased. This would explain why you may catch the Haniwas moving and making noise from time to time...It’s because the souls are still trapped inside and are yet, trying to express their feelings. The connection between the gyroids and the spirit world doesn’t just end here, as quitting the game in the middle of trying to visit another village back in the original game would result in your character’s face being replaced with a gyroid’s, implying that you’re not really a person, but rather a vessel of a spirit. But why does that happen right when you quit the game at that time and place? It may be a hint towards how the character in that game died, via train accident.

But the gyroids don’t stop there. Let’s move onto a particular villager that especially has to do with them. Coco. Coco looks like a coconut, and it’s easy to say, “Well duh! Her name is Coco because she looks like a coconut!”. That may be true, however, her name has more meaning than a person may see on the surface. Her name, in Japanese, also means “Yayoi” which is the period of Japan where Haniwa figures began. We’ve already talked about the Haniwas/gyroids and what their purpose was, but it’s more complicated for Coco, as YouTuber ‘TheBigOReview’ brings up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w77QSyIj10). As he explains, Coco’s room is designed to be that of a Buddhist Japanese cremation ritual. There’s evidence of the first cremation in Japan starting in the Jomon period, which would’ve been right before the Yayoi period in which Coco supposedly was based from, during which the Buddhist religion and cremation methods were ongoing. Sometimes, the Haniwas would be formed WITH the ashes of the deceased after the bodies would be cremated. This perfectly adds up with the theory that Coco is a special gyroid that’s different from the other gyroids due to her ashes being mixed with the clay and forming a new body, allowing her to walk and live amongst the “naked” souls, but not entirely grounded in clay like the other gyroids. The fact that Coco is even able to walk amongst you further supports the theory that Animal Crossing takes place in Purgatory.

But then there’s Lloid, but don’t worry, I have him covered too. This is gonna crossover with Tom Nook and Crazy Redd. In the Japanese version of Animal Crossing, Tom Nook isn’t some ordinary raccoon, but rather a Tanuki. In Japanese mythologies, Tanukis are animal spirits that are devious and playful towards humans. Tanukis also like to transport humans into the distant wilderness and like to curse people by making them run around hills and chase after objects (sound familiar to the game?). To add, Tom isn’t the only animal that’s supernatural by nature. In Japan, Redd is a Kitsune rather than a fox, which is a mythical creature that’s also known for having powers, being spiritual, and playing cruel pranks on humans that deceive them (kinda like how Redd’s shop is run). Back onto Lloid, why is he a talking gyroid like Coco, more grounded like the other gyroids, and works for Tom Nook at the same time? It’s because Lloid was once a regular gyroid, but was given more supernatural energy by Tom Nook in return for labor. This explains why he's a lot more interactive than the other gyroids, but isn't as interactive as Coco.

The other villagers are just a bunch of dead animal souls chilling, having fun, building their town, and just trying to make the best of purgatory. Aliens are beings outside of the realm of purgatory that exist in the living world, but have found a small way to communicate with the dead (TV signal at 3am). As to why you’re the only human on the village? Your character was buried in a pet cemetery where a ton of animals died. This explains the large amount of cats, dogs, hamsters, ducks, and even birds. The exotic animals that show up on your island are just visiting different areas of the purgatory world and happened to find you. Though, not all animals in Animal Crossing may have been pets, and some happened to just die in the wild.

Your island is a rehabilitation program designed to reform everyone encumbered by Ultimate Despair. It rewards kindness in the form of Nook Miles, gifting is encouraged plus the villagers give you their photographs and move out upon full restoration to their former selves. Then you might ask, why is your character and the NPC permanently stuck in the simulation? Simple; your character and all the NPC are, in fact, non-existent and part of the simulation to guide the villagers in the road to recovery. The ones that move out prematurely though are 1) too ridden with Ultimate Despair that they're transferred to a different and/or more powerful simulator or 2) the opposite; the simulation was so effective they don't need to be treated with it more than necessary and are thus released early.

When you are first taken there, it's dark and rainy outside. You then have to pay the taxi driver, like Charon across the River Styx. Once there, you're forced to perform repetitive tasks to pay off an arbitrary debt. And even after you pay it off in two months, you still can't escape. And have you ever thought why you have to collect Bells? It's a pseudo-reference to the OneHundredAndEight bells that must be tolled before you can enter the cycle of reincarnation in Buddhist mythology.

Your island is a rehabilitation program designed to reform everyone encumbered by Ultimate Despair. It rewards kindness in the form of Nook Miles, gifting is encouraged plus the villagers give you their photographs and move out upon full restoration to their former selves. Then you might ask, why is your character and the NPCs permanently stuck in the simulation? Simple; your character and all the NPCs are, in fact, non-existent and part of the simulation to guide the villagers in the road to recovery. The ones that move out prematurely though are 1) too ridden with Ultimate Despair that they're transferred to a different and/or more powerful simulator or 2) the opposite; the simulation was so effective they don't need to be treated with it more than necessary and are thus released early.

[[WMG: ''New Horizons'' is actually a ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' simulator.

The other villagers are just a bunch of dead animal souls chilling, having fun, building their town, and just trying to make the best of purgatory. Aliens are beings outside of the realm of purgatory that exist in the living world, but have found a small way to communicate with the dead (TV signal at 3am). As to why you’re the only human on your island? Your character was buried in a pet cemetery where a ton of animals died. This explains the large amount of cats, dogs, hamsters, ducks, and even birds. The exotic animals that show up on your island are just visiting different areas of the purgatory world and happened to find you. Though, not all animals in Animal Crossing may have been pets, and some happened to just die in the wild.

Your village is something in which you can’t truly leave. You can visit areas outside of your own village, but you must continue living in your own village. This is because the village, or rather the world you’re living in is purgatory. You can’t leave the world you live in because you can’t come back from the dead, and the character you’re controlling doesn’t feel like moving on or going back into heaven (or hell) yet. As to why you can still travel to different “purgatory areas” in Animal Crossing is because purgatory works differently in the Animal Crossing universe. In Animal Crossing, purgatory is as big as the living world and is just as advanced in technology (as it should be). This explains why you still get things like TVs, computers, and even cellphones in Animal Crossing. Purgatory lands are split up, even as islands in New Horizons, yet, you’re still free to travel though you can never really leave your new “home”. Each purgatory land can also only hold a specific amount of souls until one must move to another purgatory.

** OccamsRazor meets FridgeHorror: there are loudspeakers on the town hall that is loud enough to cover the entire land mass. They could just blast the hypnotic signals from there 24/7 and none will be the wiser.

Maybe Nintendo saw something on the show they didn't like (the show did poke fun at Nintendo characters and portray them in a less then flattering light in some episodes after all) and being the lawsuit-happy company they are, proceeded to sue the creators of the show. Seth Green, being the awesome insane person he is, brought up during the trial that Nintendo had a robot chicken villager in Animal Crossing and twisted that into their defense. So as part of the settlement, Nintendo had to drop the robot chicken and Robot Chicken can no longer feature Nintendo characters. Only in 2015 did a senior judge look over the trial and realized that it is a nonsensical attack on free speech both ways and invalidated it, allowing Nintendo to use Sprocket again and Robot Chicken free to satirize Nintendo characters again.

* As of ''New Horizons'', DIY recipes are a thing and dataminers have found allusions to cooking recipes in the latest version of the game code. Not calling it confirmed just yet, but it is starting to look really plausible that this will appear in a future update to ''New Horizons''. So I'm calling this '''''plausible'''''.

* As of ''New Horizons'', DIY recipes are a thing and dataminers have found allusions to cooking recipes in the latest version of the game code. Not calling it confirmed just yet, but it is starting to look really plausible that this will appear in a future update to ''New Horizons''.