Isabelle

“A good attitude will always take you further than a bad habit.”

File:002 - Animal Crossing New Leaf (3DS) - Loading the Game (Isabelle).ogg

**“***Good morning, Mayor!***”**

― Isabelle, when being talked to by the player when the game is first turned on in the morning in *New Leaf*.

**Isabelle** (しずえ *Shizue*?)

​ is a dog who debuts in *New Leaf*. She assists the player in their new role as the town mayor as their secretary and assistant. She is also the older twin sister of Digby, who works and stands at the front entrance to the Happy Home Showcase. She also appears in the spin-off games, *Happy Home Designer*, *amiibo Festival*, and *Pocket Camp*.

## Personality

 File:AC Isabelle 7XU6aGu.17345b1513ac044897cfc243542899dce541e8dc.9afde10b.png
Isabelle is friendly, polite, hardworking, and eager to help the player in any tasks she can assist with. She is keen to make the town a better place to live in by encouraging the player to do tasks and Public Works Projects throughout the town.

For her, the town she works in is like a family, she knows the ins and outs of it, and has enough influence to make a villager stop undesirable behavior - such as making them change their clothes or stop them from saying an unwanted catchphrase. Otherwise, she seems to prefer to not want to confront them.

On the Valentine's day event in New Leaf, she appears embarrassed in the introductory segment and sends them a chocolate cake. This may be because of her shyness, or a crush on the player which is debatable because the letter sent to the player is about gratitude.

If the player disappears or becomes absent for a while, Isabelle takes in the workload of the mayor herself until the player returns. In *Happy Home Designer*, she complains about mayors destroying the town or disappearing, making her overwhelmed and stressed with all the work.

She's clumsy and a little bit of an airhead but very intelligent. Her twin brother, Digby, remarks that she has engineering degrees from nineteen different universities.

Both siblings grew up in a cardboard box that Digby has fond memories of. The two siblings used to fight when they were puppies because Isabelle couldn't help but be mischievous and want to eat her brother's shoes. Now, they get along better, but Isabelle confesses she still feels tempted to eat her brother's shoes whenever he gets a new pair.

 File:HNI 0022-0.JPG
Isabelle is portrayed as gentle and dislikes confrontation.

In *New Horizons*, snooty villagers can comment on how easy to talk to and wise she is, and express desire in keeping her company, while smug villagers say that she is the real brains of the player's island.

## Appearance

Isabelle is a nearsighted bright yellow dog who resembles a Shih Tzu (this is similar to her Japanese name - *Shizue*). Her head is also shaped similarly to a bag of bells (hence, the pun on her English name - "Is-a-belle"), meaning "is a bell". She has a happy appearance with rosy cheeks, and white fur patches on her tail and around her mouth.

In *New Leaf*, She wears a green checkered vest with a white short-sleeved blouse and a red ribbon tie, with a navy blue skirt. During fall and winter, she wears a yellow cardigan instead of a vest, and a black skirt. Her hair is tied up with a red elastic hair tie and bells attached that jingle as she walks or move her head. This is the outfit she wears in *Mario Kart 8* as well as in her *Super Smash Bros.* series appearances.

Based on whether there is a special event going on, she may wear different shirts. For example, she will wear a flowery shirt during the Fireworks Show, a bunny shirt during Tsukimi, and a Santa-style shirt on Toy Day.

In *Happy Home Designer*, when her house is designed, the player can visit her and find her in casual wear. She wears a pink and white blouse, light blue jeans, and black glasses. Otherwise she wears her usual summer clothing as seen in New Leaf, and her clothing does not change during fall or winter.

In *New Horizons*, she now wears a rosy-colored Hawaiian-style shirt with white-colored leaf patterns, a white skirt, and brown slip-on shoes. She still wears her bell hair tie, which still jingles as she walks or moves her head. During late fall and winter, she will wear a brown, furry sweater with two white cosmos flowers attached on her right-hand side, worn on top of a white shirt, and wears a black skirt.

In *Pocket Camp*, she normally wears her usual *New Leaf* summer clothing, except on special occasions such as anniversary celebrations.

## Role

### In *New Leaf*

In *New Leaf*, Isabelle is the mayor's secretary. She can be found standing at the front desk inside the Town Hall. At the start of the game, she provides most of the tutorial work for the player, replacing the previous role that Tom Nook did prior to *New Leaf*. She also allows the player to change the town tune or flag, and can be notified about unpleasant villagers. If the player is the mayor, she will be able to assist them with enacting Ordinances and building Public Works Projects if the player sits on the mayor's seat in the back of the Town Hall.

Isabelle also replaces Tortimer's role in organizing most town events. She will normally appear at the plaza during town events for the full duration of the day between 6:00 AM and 6:00 AM the next day. If the plaza is already occupied by a bug-catching/fishing event, she will instead be standing right outside the town hall. Like Tortimer, she can be interacted to receive free gifts commemorating town events. While a town event is active for the day, she will not allow any mayoral events to happen for said day. In addition, the town hall will be closed if she is partaking in a town event.

As of the

*Welcome amiibo*

​ update, she can be invited to the Campsite. Wisp will take her place at the Town Hall, and the player will be unable to ask any favors of him, as he will remark that the player must hurry to visit Isabelle as he doesn't have much time to be out of his lamp.

### In *Happy Home Designer*

Isabelle is the head of development in the town, coming to the player to help make certain locations in Main Street such as the School, the Cafes, the Hospital, and the Department Stores. Once she is unlocked, the player may talk to her to work on new buildings on Main Street.

Isabelle is also an optional character who can move into the village where the player makes houses. Using her amiibo card will allow the player to contact her so that they can design her house.

### In *amiibo Festival*

Isabelle is a playable character in *amiibo Festival*, available when the Isabelle amiibo is scanned on the Wii U. Sometimes when the player playing as Isabelle lands on an event square in the Amiibo Festival Board Game mode, a random event specifically related to Isabelle may appear.

Isabelle has 6 unlockable costumes for the game, unlocked through leveling up the Isabelle amiibo:

* Summer outfit (Level 1 with the Isabelle summer amiibo, Level 2 with the Isabelle winter amiibo)
* Winter outfit (Level 1 with the Isabelle winter amiibo, Level 2 with the Isabelle summer amiibo)
* Pink and white shirt with blue jeans (Level 3)
* Long-sleeved dress (Level 4)
* Spring kimono (Level 5)
* Green and white gingham dress (Level 6)

### In *Pocket Camp*

**“***If you have a question about your campsite, chances are Isabelle knows the answer... as well as the answer to five other questions you didn't even think to ask! You can find her at the town hall satellite office, providing support to anyone who needs it.***”**

― Official guide about Isabelle's description

Isabelle acts as an instructional guide for the player to refresh. She also appears in a few in-game events, as well as having her own furniture theme.

### In *New Horizons*

Template:Quote2
Isabelle will work for Nook Inc. and will appear in-game depending on the player's progression into the game. If the player progresses enough, a town hall will be built as Resident Services, where Isabelle will serve a similar role as she did in *New Leaf*. Whenever the player logs into the game, she will appear at Resident Services, where she will announce the date and time, along with any special events going on at the time (eg. campsite villager). If there are no events to report, she will announce any special characters visiting the island (which she began announcing following the 2.0 update), to make there be an announcement every day. She talks about Gulliver and Redd indirectly, saying that people have asked her what to do with fake art, or if someone is washed up on the beach.

Once the Resident Services building has finished construction, Tom Nook will invite Isabelle to the player on the next day. After he introduces her to the player, Isabelle will then introduce herself about her main roles on the island. Afterwards, she will be always inside the Resident Services building to assist with help around the island like she would with in the Town Hall: the island tune, island flag, island status/appeal, and inappropriate language or clothing from/on villagers.

In the 1.4 summer update (wave 2), Isabelle takes the day off during the fireworks festival every Sunday in August. She will give the player one of the four variations of bopper headgear each Sunday night. Players can login to separate accounts for the possibility of receiving another variation.

## Other Appearances

### In *Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate*

 File:MH4U-Palico Equipment Isabelle.png
Capcom revealed outfits based on Isabelle and Mr. Resetti via its Unity blog, and confirmed that Felynes' meow sound will be altered accordingly when they are equipped.

## Amiibo

 **Request** | Please enter a request

. The player will be able to play with her costume.

File:Super Mario Maker-Isabelle costume.jpg
### In *Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS*

Main article: Isabelle (Super Smash Bros)
Isabelle was confirmed to be an assist trophy character in Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS, on the 4th of March, 2014 in the Wii U version (although she is also present in the 3DS version). She was shown again in the Super Smash Bros in the Nintendo Direct on the 8th of April. Later on, she was confirmed that she will help the fighter who summoned her by throwing fruit towards them that can be 'eaten', lowering their percentage but fighters cannot interact with her. An Isabelle Suit for the Mii Gunner was included as part of Smash Bundle #2 as well.

### In *Taiko no Tatsujin: Atsumete Tomodachi Daisakusen!*

 File:Isabelle and Tom Nook and AC Wada-don TnT ATD.jpg
In *Taiko no Tatsujin: Atsumete Tomodachi Daisakusen!*, Isabelle appears alongside with Tom Nook and Resetti as unlockable content via amiibo cards or figures being activated. Activating any Animal Crossing amiibo product may unlock other features from in-game features to soundtrack from *New Leaf*.

### In *Mario Kart 8*

Isabelle was confirmed as a DLC character, along with the Villager, for *Mario Kart 8*, and has been available since April 23rd, 2015.

### In *Miitopia*

Isabelle, alongside K.K. Slider, Tom Nook, and Resetti, appears as a special costume after her respective amiibos are scanned.

### In *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*

Main article: Isabelle (Super Smash Bros)

File:Isabelle68.jpg
On September 13, 2018, Isabelle was confirmed to be a playable fighter in *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* for the Nintendo Switch as number 68. In her reveal trailer, she is seen working around the mayor's office while the mayor is out camping and fighting in Smash. She then gets a letter from Pete and is shocked when it ends up being an invitation for Smash. Her trailer ends asking for the viewers to cheer her on, which many did. She is a Semi-Clone of Villager, who is also a confirmed character in Ultimate.

### In *Style Savvy Fashion Forward*

A DLC of outfits for Isabelle and Lottie exist, allowing the player to dress their character in a cosplay of them both. The Isabelle outfit can also be unlocked through scanning her amiibo.

Style Boutique DLC 011.jpg20210107 091701.jpg
## Advice for Living in Town

In *New Leaf*, asking Isabelle for advice on living in the town grants sub-quests the player can do. She will repeat advice several times, even if finished. Apart from listening to her advice, the player is asked to buy a shovel, collect one seashell and catch either three bugs or fish and eventually receives a basket of non-native fruit and a watering can. If the player can't find a shovel and talks with Isabelle, she will give the player a shovel. She will also provide the player with either a net or a fishing pole in the same manner after asking the player to catch bugs or fish.

Depending on what the player's native fruit is, Isabelle will give the player a certain non-native fruit:

 Cherries
 Oranges
 Peaches
 Pears

## Quotes

### *New Leaf*

**“***Is there something I can help you with today?***”**

― Isabelle, offering the player assistance.

**“***Oh my! Has my clock gotten out of whack? Then please tell me what the correct time is!***”**

― Isabelle, when asked to set the clock.

**“***What?! Sorry, but my ears are just too fluffy and muffly, I guess. Please tell me once more.***”**

― Isabelle, after being told that the changed clock settings are incorrect.

**“***Oh, is that all? Well, we'll just.. *WAIT, WHAT?!** **”**

― Isabelle, when asked to demolish the player's house.

**“***OK! The town will be... *WAIT, WHAT?!** **”**

― Isabelle, when asked to delete the town.

**“***I must say, I'm a fan of K.K. Slider myself...***”**

― Isabelle at the introduction spotlight, after Club LOL has been built.

## Amiibo

 **Request** | Please enter a request

### Other

**“***They want me in Smash?! (**Isabelle turns over a new leaf!**)***”**

― Isabelle, Isabelle being revealed in the 9/13/18 Nintendo Direct.

## Trivia

* Isabelle has her very own Twitter account at @animalcrossing, which was first used for sending news about *New Leaf* and later on for subsequent games.
	+ The account has sometimes temporarily been taken over by other characters with particular relevance to a certain game, such as Lottie with *Happy Home Designer*, Harvey with

*Welcome amiibo*

​ update, and Tom Nook with *New Horizons*. In early July of 2020, the account was taken over by Isabelle again.

* Isabelle shares her birthday with Digby (December 20th), because they are twins. She is the elder of the two.
	+ She and Digby also share their birthday with Rudy.
* There are some references throughout Isabelle's international names:
	+ Her English name, Isabelle, possibly comes from the resemblance of her head to a bag of Bells (Isabelle = "is a Bell") as well as her charming, popular nature (Isabelle = "is a Belle"). In *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*, these puns are mentioned in her Palutena's Guidance conversation. She also wears in her hair tie a red ribbon with bells that jingle when she walks or tilts her head.
	+ Her Japanese name, Shizue (しずえ?)

​, may be interpreted as "quiet branch", perhaps referring to the tranquility of an *Animal Crossing* town. It can also be derived from her dog breed name "Shih Tzu".

* + - The hiragana spelling (しずえ *shizue*?)

​ may be a simplified reading of more complex kanji that are meaningful to her character.

* + - * し *shi* • 仕 "official, civil service"; 市 "city"
			* ず *zu* • 頭 "head" (anatomy or title)
			* え *e* • 会 "gathering, meeting"; 依 "rely on, depend on"; 恵 "blessing, grace; clever, smart, intelligent"
	+ Her Spanish name, *Canela* "Cinnamon", is a symbol of wisdom and good health. The first syllable, "Can", is also another word for dog in Spain, and it is used in the Spanish version of the game with her brother's name, Candrés, as a pun. (**Can**ela, **Can**drés)
	+ Her French name, Marie, has several interpretations of meaning.
		- "Marie" is a pun on the word *Mairie* "town hall" or *Maire* "mayor."
		- Her French name is alliterative with Digby's French name, Max.
		- Her French name coupled with Digby's English name could form a pun referencing singer Marié Digby, potentially referencing Isabelle's involvement with the town theme.
		- The name itself, in both French and Japanese, can mean "beloved", "desired child", or even "river" (the latter similar to her Korean name).
	+ Her German name, Melinda, is related to the names *Melissa* (from Greek *μέλισσα* "honey bee", ultimately from *μέλι* "honey") and *Linda* (from Germanic *lind* "gentle, soft, tender"). It is also alliterative with Digby's German name, Moritz.
	+ Her Italian name, Fuffi, is a popular name for dogs, especially "toy" breeds such as Shih Tzus.
		- Her name is alliterative with with Digby's Italian name, Fofò. Both are also simple bisyllabic names.
		- Strangely and coincidental to the naming of *Isabelle* and Bells, *Fuffi* is a German colloquial abbreviation for *Fuffziger*, a DM 50 coin.
	+ Her Korean name, Yeoul (여울), means "rapids" or "shallows" from a river, or literally "female friend". It might also possibly be a corruption of *Yeou* (여우), meaning fox.
		- The Hangul characters individually have related meanings.
			* 여 *yeo* • 女 "woman, female" (can be used as prefix); 與 "ruling party"
			* 울 *ul* • "family, friend, kinsfolk, relatives"
	+ Her Chinese name, Xīshī Huì (西施惠), possibly comes from the origin and transcription of her Japanese name. *"西施 (Shih Tzu)"* is a re-translation of her dog breed name origin back into Chinese. *"え(romaji e)"* is usually written as the kanji (Japan-style Chinese character) *"惠"*(romaji *"e"* in Japanese and ancient Chinese)(pinyin *"huì"* in modern Chinese)" in Japanese women's names. Its first appearance was on 13th December, 2017, while the 1.4.0 update for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was released.
		- The Han characters also have meaning by themselves.
			* 西施 *xīshī* is a figurative phrase to mean "beautiful woman" or "fallen flower."
			* 惠 *huì* can be used to mean "benefit, favor" or "benevolent, kindhearted, gentle."

 File:Cardboard2.jpg
* Isabelle mentions that she still has cardboard boxes littered among her room, and is embarrassed to let Digby see. Isabelle in general may be a somewhat messy person, as Digby, who claims to be a neat freak, notes that while she isn't too messy, it's enough to get on his nerves.
* While he is at The Roost, Digby may mention Isabelle's coffee preference, and compare it to his own.
* In *New Leaf*, Isabelle changes her clothes from Summer attire to Winter attire in the second-half of October, specifically on the 17th of October. She changes back to her Summer attire on the 25th of February.
* The player may find Isabelle asleep in the Town Hall, and when confronted, she wakes up embarrassed that she was sleeping on the job. This is how the player unlocks the Public Works Project for the Dream Suite in *New Leaf*.
* Isabelle mentions having a band upon completion of the concert hall in *Happy Home Designer*.
* In *New Leaf*, Isabelle has the voice of a Peppy villager. In *New Horizons*, her voice is unique but similar to Normal villagers.
	+ In the trailers for *New Leaf*, Isabelle's voice was lower, using the voice of a Normal villager instead.
* According to Cranky villagers, Isabelle does not understand the concept of a drive-in theater.

 File:Isabellistic.jpg
* Talking to Jock villagers will reveal some hidden depths to Isabelle's character:
	+ They will sometimes mention that Isabelle taught them a new workout regimen where they pull weeds out from the ground, which may actually be Isabelle shifting her duties to the villagers. This could hint to a possible mischievous side of Isabelle's personality.
	+ More evidence to this side of Isabelle can be found in the

*Welcome amiibo*

​ update. After losing to Isabelle in Puzzle League, she will taunt the player by proclaiming herself as "leader of the Puzzle League," offering them a secretary position.

* + Additionally, in *Happy Home Designer* Isabelle will playfully taunt Digby by calling him the "baby brother", to further irritate him.
	+ Jock villagers also mention Isabelle goes "Isabellistic" if someone break a window, hinting that Isabelle is not always as gentle as she seems, and can be pushed into rage.
* Sometimes, if the player talks to her while visiting another town, she will tell the player that she has many sisters who look exactly like her. They all work as secretaries in other towns, and all of them are also named "Isabelle".
	+ This could be a reference to the *Pokémon* anime series where the character Nurse Joy keeps reappearing in all the towns the protagonist visits with the explanation being that they are all "identical cousins".
* She has also appeared in a manga called *Tobidase Dōbutsu no Mori Minna de Seseragi Mura Life* as one of the main characters.
* When first announced, during the *New Leaf* developer commentary, Isabelle was not given a name, but was referred to as simply Secretary (ひしょ *Hisho*?)

​, then named in the June 2012 Nintendo Direct as Shizue. Her name was changed in February 14th, 2013 at the Nintendo Direct to Isabelle, to localize her in English.

 File:Worry.jpg
* Sometimes if the player talks to her while she's visiting the campground in the

*Welcome amiibo*

​ update, she'll reveal she's actually nearsighted, hence why she wears glasses with her casual outfit.

* + She also mentions she wears contact lenses while working.
	+ If the player talks to Digby in this update, he will mention that Isabelle occasionally takes road trips and claim she has a "terrible sense of direction", sometimes getting lost just walking around town hall.
	+ Another dialogue option has her remark on how she has "rediscover[ed]" the beauty of the player's town, causing her to remark "Technically, I think that makes this a work trip for tax purposes, right?". This hints that Isabelle may commit tax evasion, but she is likely only joking.
* If the player sets their birthday to December 20th, Isabelle will comment on how she has the same birthday as the player.
* If the player speaks to her during a Fireworks Show, Isabelle will say that the clothes she is wearing there were a present from Digby.

 File:Isabellelicense2.jpg
* An official render from Nintendo depicts Isabelle's RV. Her license plate bears striking resemblance to the state of California's license plate.
* In one of a series of English lesson video featuring Isabelle shown in Japan, Isabelle states that she enjoys whiskey while defining the difference between "whisky" and "whiskey".
	+ Because of this, many players joked that Isabelle's drink seen in the Animal Crossing Direct was whiskey, although if it were actually any form of alcohol, it would affect the game's international ratings. It was changed to a mug in a *New Horizons* update, likely to prevent any confusion.
* In New Horizons, during one of her morning announcements, Isabelle can mention video chatting with her family back home, specifically with her parents, implying that she has more living relatives besides Digby.
* Out of all the NPC Characters in HHD Amiibo Card Series, she has the most cards, at four. This is comparable with Tom Nook, who had 5 separate e-Cards when Template:GC was released.
	+ She is also the only character to have one card in every Series of HHD Amiibo Cards.
* Like all special characters, Isabelle has the ability to walk over pitfall seeds.
* Isabelle's *New Horizons* shirts are available to purchase with Nook Miles starting from the 1.2.0 update.

## In other languages

  Spanish
  German
  Italian
  Dutch
  Chinese

## References

Template:Reflist

Template:Special Species
Template:Dog

1. ↑ http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/10/random\_isabelle\_still\_seems\_upset\_at\_negligent\_animal\_crossing\_new\_leaf\_mayors
2. ↑ https://itsduckhuntingdavy.tumblr.com/post/130324129968/another-backstory-for-isabelle-quite-no-surprise
3. ↑ https://itsduckhuntingdavy.tumblr.com/post/130014421923/wowquite-a-backstory-for-isabelle-and-digby
4. ↑ Species navigation icons from Nookipedia by Sunmarsh, CC BY-SA 3.0
5. ↑ Species navigation icons from Nookipedia by Sunmarsh, CC BY-SA 3.0
6. ↑ Species navigation icons from Nookipedia by Sunmarsh, CC BY-SA 3.0
7. ↑ Species navigation icons from Nookipedia by Sunmarsh, CC BY-SA 3.0
8. ↑ Species navigation icons from Nookipedia by Sunmarsh, CC BY-SA 3.0
9. ↑ https://twitter.com/animalcrossing