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Nintendo sure loves Isabelle

Neiteio

Member
Isabelle is the cute blonde(-furred) Shih Tzu that serves as your secretary in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Lately, I've noticed Nintendo promoting her left and right.

So, GAF, where will Isabelle fall in the pantheon of Nintendo characters? Passing fad, or the next Rosalina?

Some exhibits:

First, you have all the merch:

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You have her Assist Trophy in Smash Bros. on 3DS and WiiU:

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You have her as a playable character in Mario Kart 8 DLC:

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You have her as one of your Felynes in Monster Hunter 4:

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She's featured on faceplates for the New 3DS, and in themes:

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And now we have her in an all-stars lineup in the New 3DS campaign.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS:

Is Isabelle on the upswing? Will she be an unlockable character in Super Mario 3D World 2? Do we welcome our new anthropomorphic Shih Tzu overlords?
 
People love Isabelle. Nintendo knows it and exploits her for merchandising and stuffs.

It also helps the fact that she fits the mascotte-like Nintendo model, and she is in one of the most popular Nintendo games of the past years.
 
Who doesn't love Isabelle? BTW, I think it's part of the "female push" Nintendo has been doing with Rosalina & all that. "First time you can play as Zelda!!!", etc, and this is totally awesome.
 
Isabelle is life. Isabelle is a must for all human. Isabelle is the bone of my body.

This world needs their great savior Isabelle lol.
 
Lol... I didn't know who this was until I entered the thread. In Spanish her name is "Canelita" (which would roughly translate as "lil Cinammon"). Smooth.
 
She's definitely going to be a new animal crossing regular. It's kind of funny how she wasn't cross-promoted in anything else for so long after the game originally came out, and then suddenly got an assist trophy in smash, a mario kart dlc slot, and screen time along the headliners in that 3ds commercial from before. Nintendo must've realized how much all those new leaf players liked her (or there were other sightings I missed in the intervening time and my thoughts on this aren't worth a damn).



Hopefully they expand upon the mayor mechanics regardless of whether or not she's secretary. If she ISN'T secretary any longer, I hope she gets a different job.
 
I'm a fan, I have two pieces of merch shown in the OP (summer style nendoroid and winter clothes plush). Nintendo knows their mascots.
 
She's incredible.

I only feel bad for her when I haven't played Animal Crossing in a while.

This is actually one of the reasons why I haven't gone back to animal crossing lately... I dread how my town looks and the disapproval of my assistant mayor... How the hell am I still mayor of a town I haven't visited in almost a year anyways? Do they not recall bad mayors!?
 
Isabelle is appearing in a lot of high-profile stuff. Monster Hunter 4, Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros., the New 3DS campaign. And the merchandise was all over the place well before then. It just kind of hit me, thinking it all over: Nintendo's really positioning her as a staple character. Not just for Animal Crossing, but as an all-purpose brand ambassador.
 
She makes a good assistant mayor. Much better than her last job running a wildlife park, which got shut down - it was a shit zoo.
 
Kawaii characters sell, who knew?

Considering their heavy marketing push for her she's pretty much guaranteed to return in the next animal crossing; she may even become a series mainstay.
 
The 3DS Animal Crossing game catapulted her into stardom; she's a very recognizable character to a lot of people.
 
She's great. My sister likes her too(says she reminds her of our old dog.)

This is actually one of the reasons why I haven't gone back to animal crossing lately... I dread how my town looks and the disapproval of my assistant mayor... How the hell am I still mayor of a town I haven't visited in almost a year anyways? Do they not recall bad mayors!?

I went back recently after like a year and it's not so bad. My villagers keep on selling me fake paintings though. I think they hate me.
 
Guys, switch to the Beautiful Town ordinance (or whatever it's called) before you go on hiatus with New Leaf. That way when you come back, your town will be relatively devoid of weeds. The ordinance keeps your town well-maintained in your absence. :-)
 
Guys, switch to the Beautiful Town ordinance (or whatever it's called) before you go on hiatus with New Leaf. That way when you come back, your town will be relatively devoid of weeds. The ordinance keeps your town well-maintained in your absence. :-)

Yeah i think I did that before I left as there were no weeds. Still some mushrooms from last November though.
 
You really need someone more recognisable and static than the Villager to represent Animal Crossing and stand with the other mascots. I think her popularity makes her a prime candidate for this.
 
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