| “ | Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, stop foolin' me. | „ |
| ~ Redd's catchphrase. |
Redd (In Japanese: つねきち, Tsunekichi), also known as Crazy Redd or Jolly Redd, is the main antagonist of the Animal Crossing franchise.
He is a kitsune (or fox outside Japan) who makes a living by scamming people into buying fake artworks and overpriced furniture.
Appearance[]
Redd is an orange fox standing on his hind legs. The insides of his ears are colored pink while his belly, hands, the tip of his ears, and the tip of his tail are colored white. His eyes are shut, portrayed by slashes that change shape based on his current mood. He wears a blue apron around his waist decorated with a cyan ginkgo leaf on it. In the original game, the apron instead features the letter B.
Personality[]
Redd acts very sly, as he tends to trick the player into buying forged artworks so he can bribe them of their Bells. He will ridicule the player if they refuse to buy an item or try to purchase something without enough Bells. Should the player leave his store without buying anything, he will sarcastically thank them for visiting.
He is a very cautious person, as he will only accept villagers who know his password, and because of this he has a small number of customers, so Animal Crossing City Folk will remind the player to send invitations from his shop to the friends he has registered.
When selling his products he tends to over-exaggerate both their origin story and the price, saying that he cried a lot or begged the previous owner of said object to give it to him because it was very valuable and even going so far as to gratuitously belittle Tom Nook under the name "Raccoon with an Apron" saying that his products are better than his, but all of this could easily be emotional blackmail to get his customers to buy his products.
Despite this and with the passage of games, Redd has come to act in a more friendly way with the player, especially when he is away from work, as seen in Animal Crossing Happy Home Desainer or Happy Home Paradise.
Biography[]
Pre-Animal Crossing[]
While little is known on Redd's past, Tom Nook mentions once being scammed by a fox in the past. It is highly likely that the fox mentioned by Nook was Redd, Redd seems to resent Tom Nook more than Tom Nook does him, as he sometimes disparagingly refers to him as "that raccoon in an apron," although I don't know anything else about their relationship.
Animal Crossing[]
Redd owns a tent labeled "Black Market" (the "Black" is crossed out in red marker) that appears at a random spot of the town. Once the player is part of their "family", he will notify the player with a letter for the next date when he will set up his tent. He sells furniture and paintings, which are at a charge of four times as much as Tom Nook would sell. He also appears during the Firework Festival in a stall near the town lake, where he will randomly sell either balloons, pinwheels, or fans for four-hundred and eighty Bells.
Animal Crossing: Wild World[]
Redd sets up his tent outside of Town Hall once a week based on what day the player requests Lyle to reserve it. While the first visit is free, Redd requires the player to find a password for any following visits, which can be acquired by asking villagers. Once the correct password is entered, Redd allows the player in the tent, but immediately demands three thousand Bells as a fee for accessing his store. If the player doesn't have enough Bells or refuses, Redd forbids the player from buying any items until next week. Each week requires a different password.
Redd's furniture costs twice as much as offered in Nook's Cranny. Starting in Animal Crossing: Wild World, the paintings Redd sell have a chance of being fake, in which Blathers will not accept it into the Museum and Tom Nook will only buy them for ten Bells. If insurance is enabled, Lyle will give the player one hundred Bells for each counterfeited artwork obtained.
Animal Crossing: City Folk[]
Redd runs a small shop to the left of the city in an alley. The shop is open from 10 AM to 1 AM, but will not let anyone in without an invitation, which can be obtained from a random villager. A fee of three thousand Bells is required before purchasing any items. Redd changes the store's inventory every Wednesday. Players can also be given an additional invitation which can be sent to other players. Redd will give the player a thousand Bells for each invitation they send to a friend should they visit his store.
The forgery and general artwork cannot be distinguished until the player buys them, although there is a chance that a villager may tell the player which artwork is a fake.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf[]
Once a week, Redd visits the town and sets up his tent in the plaza. Unlike the other installments, Redd will only sell four pieces of artwork, either paintings or statues. The player is only allowed to purchase one artwork and is not allowed to select another. Their bought artwork will arrive by mail the next morning. Unlike the previous games, the player is allowed to browse the artwork, making it easier to distinguish whether the artwork is real or fake. At least one of the art provided will always be genuine.
Red also participates in the New Year's Eve and August fireworks show, where he runs a booth in the plaza. He gives out fortune cookies for five hundred Bells each, and gives rewards if the player receives a winning ticket.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons[]
Redd was added in the game in the 1.2.0 April Free Update, where he runs Jolly Redd's Treasure Trawler, a small ship docked to the beach at the rear of the player's island. He sells four artwork at a time and two furniture that sell for 1.5 times more than Nook's Cranny. Similarly to Animal Crossing: New Leaf, the player can observe which of Redd's artwork is real or fake. There is a fifty percent chance of only one artwork to be real and a ten percent chance for all four artwork to be forgeries.
In his first appearance, Isabelle (or Tom Nook if the Resident Services has not been upgraded) will announce Redd's presence during the morning broadcast when he first arrives as a suspicious character. When the player first meets him wandering around the island, Redd offers artwork for four-hundred and ninety-eight thousand Bells, cutting it to four-thousand nine-hundred and eighty Bells when the player refuses. The first artwork is always genuine. On the second visit, Redd will be in the plaza, commenting on his interest in the island and sets up the Treasure Trawler.
In the 1.4.0 Summer Update Wave 2, Redd hosts Redd's Raffle during firework shows held every Sunday in August, allowing the player to purchase a random item for five hundred Bells each.
In the 2.0 update, Redd is one of the pop-up shops that can be brought to Harv's Island. He will sell two art pieces a day (one or both can be forgeries) and provide a raffle for five hundred Bells, giving the player an item depending on what number they obtain. The shop will be closed on days where Redd is docked to the player's island running the Jolly Redd's Treasure Trawler or participating in Festival Shows.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp[]
Redd appears as the host of Redd's Summer Festival, where the has the player plant flowers in their garden to attract flickerflies. When caught, they can be exchanged for various festival-themed items. Redd can also visit the campsite after Redd's Mask Stand has been built for three-hundred and fifty Leaf Tickets.
Other Media[]
Animal Crossing: The Movie[]
In the anime film, Redd plays a minor role where he sells Yu and Alfonso a golden slingshot (really just a regular slingshot painted yellow) during the fireworks show. While he insists it is one of a kind, he has an entire box of them in his tent and replaces it the instant they leave.
Here, he was voiced by Tetsuo Sakaguchi.
Super Smash Bros.[]
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[]
Redd appears as a trophy and a sticker, the latter of which increases Ness and Lucas' PK powers by sixteen points. He may also appear as a spectator for the Smashville stage.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Super Smash Bros. for Wii U[]
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Redd appears as a trophy. In the new Animal Crossing stage Town and City, Redd may appear as a spectator for the city portion.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]
Redd can be found as a spectator for both the Smashville and the Town and City stages. He also appears as a support spirit that increases the fighter's defenses at the cost of starting the match with thirty percent damage. His spirit battle is against Fox McCloud on the Smashville stage where items will be pulled towards him.
Allies[]
- The Villager/Player (Customer)
- Lyle (Only in Animal crossing Wild World).
Enemies[]
- Tom Nook (Rival and Archienemy).
- The Villager/Player (sometimes).
- Cooper and Booker (Police).
Trivia[]
- Redd could be seen as the counterpart of Tom Nook, as both make a living by selling items to the player.
- In Animal Crossing, Redd's market uses the same theme as Nook's Cranny, but using the opposite pitch.
- In the Japanese versions of the series, both are members of a species from Japanese folklore; Redd is a kitsune while Nook is a tanuki.
- In the first three games, Redd sold completely random things and you couldn't know if his paintings or sculptures were authentic or fake until you went to the museum, this makes completing the painting collection quite difficult, it wouldn't be until New Leaf that he would exclusively sell pieces of art (And now we could know which ones were authentic and which ones were fake).
- Redd tends to refer to his clients as "Pals" but in some translations of the games like the Spanish one he refers to his clients as "Primo" which in Spanish can have two meanings: either he treats him as if he were a close relative or to refer to someone very innocent.
- In the first Animal Crossing outside the police station there is a wanted poster where you can see a silhouette similar to Redd (so Cooper and Booker, the town's police officers, are looking for him).
- Apparently Redd had a friendship with Lyle among the events of Animal Crossing Wild World, since every week Lyle asked the player what day Redd could arrive to his town.
- In Animal Crossing New Horizons, if it's nighttime and you have a fake paint equipped, it's possible that these paintings can move, making it clear that Redd's paintings can be cursed.
- Redd's name may be based on Rubicante, or "Crazyred" in Italian, an underworld demon from Dante Alighieri's 14th-century poem Divine Comedy. Rubicante is a demon who gained profits by selling items through unfair or illegal means. This is further supported by Redd's trophy description in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which states "He's famous in the underworld."
- His name might also be based on the late comedian Redd Foxx, who played Fred G. Sanford in the sitcom Sanford and Son, a junk dealer who scammed people out of their money.
- It is possible that Redd's character was also influenced by Honest John, a character from the Disney movie Pinocchio. Like Redd, Honest John is a fox who has a swindling and deceptive personality, as well as the both of them having an adjective preceding their names. However, since the depiction of foxes being deceptive is age-old and spans across many cultures, it’s possible that this similarity is a complete coincidence.
- In Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, Joan remarks her fear in retiring, claiming "that wicked fox" may take her place.
- In Animal Crossing: Wild World, one of the passwords to access Redd's market is "Crazy Redd is 35", suggesting he is thirty-five years old.
- According to his amiibo Card, Redd's birthday is on October 18th and his star sign is the Libra.
- One of Katrina's fortunes implies Redd is frustrated each time the player wins one of his prizes at the fireworks festival.
