Animal Crossing Fan Spots Spooky Ankha Pumpkin in a Retirement Home (2024)

Highlights

Ankha, a cat villager in Animal Crossing, has a unique design inspired by Cleopatra and is loved by fans for her interesting interactions.
A fan found a pumpkin with Ankha's face in a retirement home, but it was based on a viral meme that some fans found inappropriate and ruined her character for them.
Despite the controversy, Animal Crossing fans continue to create amazing fan art and find interesting ways to decorate their islands, while rumors of a new Animal Crossing game circulate.

An Animal Crossing fan spotted a spooky Ankha-inspired pumpkin in a retirement home. Ankha is a cat villager in the Animal Crossing franchise with a unique design that's likened to Cleopatra. Her name also stems from the hieroglyphic "ankh," which means "life."

Ankha has been part of every Animal Crossing game, except for Animal Forest and Animal Crossing: Wild World. Despite being described as a snooty villager who is rude when players first meet her, Ankha is still a well-loved character among fans of the franchise because of her eye-catching design and the interesting interactions with her.

Many Animal Crossing players have created artworks inspired by their favorite villagers, including Ankha. A few days before Halloween, Reddit user Amonisis spotted a pumpkin with Ankha's face in a retirement home, complete with her blue and yellow cat ears. However, many Animal Crossing fans in the comments were more horrified than impressed because the pumpkin was based on a viral Ankha meme.

Known to many as "Zone Ankha," it was an inappropriate animation originally released by ZONE-sama in 2021, wherein a mature version of Ankha is seen dancing while looking down on a villager. It eventually became viral on TikTok and Twitter after netizens made videos of dancing Ankha with the song "Camel By Camel" playing in the background. Many Animal Crossing fans under Amonisis' post referenced this song and noted that the viral meme ruined the character for them. Meanwhile, one commenter genuinely thought that the Ankha pumpkin was nicely made and OP also gave kudos to whoever painted it.

Fortunately, not all Animal Crossing fan art is as spooky or inappropriate as the Ankha pumpkin. Many creative players have either used the games' customization features to recreate certain characters and spaces, or used different mediums to turn characters from popular franchises into Animal Crossing villagers. Likewise, one Animal Crossing: New Horizons player recreated iconic horror scenes in the game to celebrate the Halloween season.

It's been over three years since Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out, but many players still find interesting ways to decorate their islands, participate in seasonal events, and engage with their friends in-game. Meanwhile, rumors have started spreading that a new Animal Crossing game will be announced soon. Although Nintendo hasn't confirmed its plans yet, some players have already created their wishlists for the next title's features, such as a more robust trading system with Animal Crossing NPCs.

Animal Crossing Fan Spots Spooky Ankha Pumpkin in a Retirement Home (1)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the fifth major game in the Animal Crossing series. This slice-of-life simulation game tasks the player with developing an abandoned island into a small town for its resident villagers. The game was released at the start of worldwide lockdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which catapulted it into massive success. It's currently the best selling game of all time in Japan.

Franchise: Animal Crossing
Platform(s): Switch
Released: March 20, 2020
Developer(s): Nintendo EPD
Publisher(s): Nintendo
Genre(s): Simulation
Multiplayer: Online Multiplayer , Local Multiplayer
ESRB: E for Everyone: Comic Mischief
Expansions: Animal Crossing: New Horizons — Happy Home Paradise
How Long To Beat: 61 Hours