Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Can You Defeat Tom Nook?

There's an Animal Crossing question currently being asked within the peaceful franchise's community that players probably didn't ever foresee having to think about: Can you defeat Tom Nook, the capitalist raccoon who invites players to a deserted island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and then asks them to work for him to pay off debts? He certainly sounds like someone you'd have to defeat from that description, but as Animal Crossing players will know, you don't really "defeat" people in the game, unless your version of defeating them is removing them from your island, but Tom Nook isn't someone who can be asked to leave. Regardless, Animal Crossing players have been having fun with the question online and theorizing about what a showdown with Tom Nook might look like.

The discussion all began with one Twitter user who shared an image of an email they'd received from a professor who didn't know a lot about Animal Crossing but still wanted to reference the game. The professor said they hoped people were doing well and that they were able to defeat Tom Nook in New Horizons before admitting they'd never played Animal Crossing before.

It's 4:24 am and I was not prepared to read this sentence in an email from my professor pic.twitter.com/0u5xXh5gng

— Madeline C.B. 🍰 (@chickpeamcb) April 14, 2020

Animal Crossing ran with the idea from there. Could anyone ever even defeat Tom Nook even if they wanted to? Is it even possible to defeat someone with as much power as Tom Nook has even if players had the chance? Why would someone want to fight with Tom Nook anyway?

It's those questions and more that players asked themselves and others after the question was first posed on Twitter. As those who've played New Horizons will know, however, the best way you can come close to beating Tom Nook at his own game is to continue building up the island and paying off your debts as quickly as you amass them. This means making money quickly through some of the more profitable methods in New Horizons which include creating spider islands and playing the Stalk Market to make as much money off your turnips as you can.

Check out some of the responses below to the question that's been dominating Animal Crossing Twitter lately to see how other players feel about defeating Tom Nook.