Tom Nook Costume From Animal Crossing

Q: What are Tom Nook's most famous quotes?

Two quotes define him. The first: 'I'll be there with Bells on! Ho ho!' It is a pun. Bells are the in-game currency. He thinks this is funny, and he is right. The second: 'How can I help you? I am all ears!' Also a pun. He has literal ears. Both quotes are relentlessly cheerful, which is the whole character.

Q: Is Tom Nook a raccoon or a tanuki?

He is a tanuki in the Japanese version, which is significant because tanuki are figures from Japanese folklore associated with prosperity and good fortune, often placed outside businesses. Western releases call him a raccoon. His Japanese name Tanukichi combines tanuki with kechi, meaning stingy, which the game acknowledges and he actively disputes.

Tom Nook Halloween Costume Items

Tom Nook from Animal Crossing Halloween costume infographic showing khaki shorts, teal Hawaiian shirt, Tom Nook mask, Bell Bag, furry tail, and Tom Nook action figure

Tom Nook Costume Items

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Tom Nook Animal Crossing New Horizons Nintendo

1 Khaki Chino ShortsClean khaki, mid-thigh or slightly above. Tom Nook wears khaki shorts in his New Horizons design and they are a supporting piece that sets up the lower half while the shirt and mask do the heavier recognition work. Check your closet before buying.
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2 Tom Nook Shirt (essential)The white and teal Hawaiian-style shirt from his New Horizons design. This specific shirt is what places the New Horizons version of Tom Nook rather than any of his other outfits from earlier games. If the shirt reads as a generic tropical shirt rather than Tom Nook’s specific pattern, the costume loses half its visual read before you even put the mask on.
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3 Tom Nook Mask (essential)This is the item the entire costume depends on. Tom Nook is an anthropomorphic tanuki and without the mask the rest of the build reads as a person in a beach outfit. The mask needs to be positioned comfortably and checked in a mirror before you leave. A mask that sits crooked or looks like it is falling off makes the most important item in the costume its biggest liability.
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4 Animal Crossing Bell BagBells are the currency in Animal Crossing, and Tom Nook is the person most associated with them in the game. The Bell Bag is a prop that people who know the series will recognize immediately. It also gives you something to hand to people and say “you owe me this many bells,” which is a reasonable way to introduce the costume at a party.
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5 Furry TailClips or ties at the back waistband. Tom Nook is a tanuki and the tail reinforces the animal character from behind, which matters at a crowded party where the mask is not always visible. Easy to attach and easy to remove if it becomes inconvenient during the night.
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6 Tom Nook Action FigureOptional, but genuinely useful. Carrying a small Tom Nook figure while dressed as Tom Nook is the kind of detail that rewards people who notice it. It also gives you something to hold, which is useful at a party where you are not holding a drink.
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How to Style the Tom Nook Halloween Costume

The mask is what people read first, and it needs to sit level and stay there. A sliding or tilted mask will spend the whole night being adjusted, and every adjustment draws attention to the fact that it is not fitting properly rather than to the character it represents. The shirt needs to be recognizably the New Horizons teal Hawaiian design rather than a generic tropical shirt, because Tom Nook has had several distinct outfits across the series and a shirt that reads as generic loses the New Horizons specificity that most people will be matching against. The tail covers the angles where the mask is not visible and keeps the animal read consistent from across the room.

Tom Nook greets you when you arrive on the island, explains that you have purchased a getaway package, and presents you with a mortgage before you have seen your tent. When you pay off the first loan, he congratulates you and immediately offers you a larger one. He has daily announcements. He makes puns about bells. In Happy Home Designer, he mentions that he donates 90% of his proceeds to an orphanage three towns over and that they named a wing after him. He says this as though it answers the question of whether he is a corrupt businessman. It does not fully answer the question, but it is a very good answer.

Test the mask before the party, not at it

Animal crossing masks vary significantly in how they fit across different head sizes and mask constructions. Some sit perfectly; some need an elastic adjustment or a piece of foam tape at the bridge to stay level. A mask that felt fine for five minutes at your kitchen table may shift after an hour of talking, eating, and moving through a crowd. Wear it around the house for twenty minutes before Halloween and find out which category yours is in while you still have time to do something about it.

Use the Bell Bag and action figure as conversation tools

This costume has a specific social use built into it. If someone recognizes Tom Nook, you can hand them the Bell Bag and tell them they owe you. If someone does not recognize the costume, the action figure is a faster explanation than anything you can say: you hold it up, they see the character, the costume makes sense. Props that explain the costume without requiring you to explain it yourself are more useful than props that just look accurate.

Tom Nook Group Halloween Costume Ideas

Couples Idea

Tom Nook & Rover (Animal Crossing)

Strong pairing from the same series, with both characters being among the most recognizable faces in Animal Crossing. Rover is the cat who used to greet you on the train at the start of earlier games, and like Tom Nook, he is one of the characters most associated with the feeling of arriving in a new town for the first time. The two costumes together will read clearly to anyone who has played the series. Anyone who has not will see two people in animal character costumes, which is a reasonable Halloween read on its own.

Tom Nook Rover

Duo Idea

Tom Nook & Harvey (Animal Crossing)

Strong duo from the same series, and both characters share a businesslike energy that makes the pairing feel intentional rather than random. Harvey runs Harv’s Island in New Horizons, a kind of pop-up market and collaboration space, so the two characters as a pair read as Animal Crossing’s two most notable entrepreneurs. Anyone who plays the series will place them both. The visual contrast between the two costumes gives the duo enough variety to read as a pair rather than two similar characters standing next to each other.

Tom Nook Harvey

Group Idea: Animal Crossing Full Squad

Tom Nook, Harvey, Gulliver, T-Bone, Rover

Strong group for a gaming crowd, and Animal Crossing has a large enough fanbase that the characters will land at most events with people under 40. All five characters have dedicated CostumeRealm pages, which makes this one of the more practical group builds on the site since nobody has to figure out their costume from scratch. The range of animal designs across the five characters gives the group visual variety, and the Animal Crossing aesthetic is consistent enough that the group reads as a unit rather than a random collection of animal costumes.

Tom Nook Harvey Gulliver T-Bone Rover

Group Idea: Lovable Cartoon Businessmen

Tom Nook, Felonius Gru, Vector, Bill Lumbergh

Might work, but the concept requires the crowd to do more connective work than most group costumes. Gru and Vector are from the same film. Bill Lumbergh is from Office Space. Tom Nook is from a Nintendo game. What connects them is the vague idea of a businessman who may or may not be running something slightly questionable, and that is a thin enough thread that at a crowded party it mostly reads as four people in separate costumes who ended up near each other. At a party where everyone knows all four references, it is a genuinely funny concept. Know your crowd before committing to this one.

Tom Nook Felonius Gru Vector Bill Lumbergh

Tom Nook Halloween Costume DIY Tips

Building the Look

This is one of the more affordable builds on the site. Most of the cost comes from the mask and shirt, and everything else is either thriftable or already in your wardrobe. The action figure is the only item I would call genuinely optional rather than just deprioritized.

Tom Nook mask: buy this. It is the costume. Do not attempt to make one the night before.
Tom Nook shirt: buy the character-specific version rather than a generic tropical shirt. The teal pattern is what places the New Horizons design.
Khaki shorts: you probably own these. Any clean khaki short works.
Furry tail: inexpensive and worth buying. Easy to attach and does a lot of work from behind.
Bell Bag: cheap and doubles as an in-character prop. The in-game connection to Tom Nook is direct enough that anyone who plays Animal Crossing will recognize it immediately.
Action figure: optional. More useful as a conversation tool than as a visual costume element.

Playing Tom Nook at the Party

Tom Nook is endlessly helpful and enthusiastic. He also has a way of framing financial obligations as good news. The character at a party is someone who greets everyone warmly and then explains that they owe him something.

When someone arrives: “Welcome! I have a wonderful getaway package for you. There is just the matter of a small loan.”
His catchphrase is “I’ll be there with Bells on!” Bells are the game’s currency. Use it. It is funnier if you say it to everyone.
If anyone pays for a drink near you, that is your moment: “Excellent. That covers about 200 Bells of your outstanding debt. Only 98,000 to go.”
He also says “How can I help you? I am all ears!” He has ears. He knows.
If anyone questions whether he is corrupt: mention the orphanage. Mention the wing named after him. Let that settle.

Tom Nook Halloween Costume: FAQ

How do I dress like Tom Nook for Halloween 2026?

The Tom Nook mask and teal Hawaiian-style shirt are the two items the costume depends on. Add khaki shorts, a furry raccoon tail, an Animal Crossing Bell Bag as a prop, and carry the Tom Nook action figure if you want something to hold at the party. The mask is non-negotiable.

Is the Tom Nook Halloween costume still a good choice for Halloween 2026?

Yes, and broadly. Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold over 43 million copies on Nintendo Switch, making Tom Nook one of the most recognized Nintendo characters of the last decade. At any party with people under 40 who play games, recognition will be immediate. At a general party with no gaming crowd, older adults may not place him, but most people will.

What are Tom Nook’s most famous quotes?

Two define him. The first: “I’ll be there with Bells on! Ho ho!” It is a pun. Bells are the in-game currency. He thinks this is funny, and he is correct. The second: “How can I help you? I am all ears!” Also a pun. He has literal ears. Both quotes are relentlessly cheerful, which is the whole character.

Is Tom Nook a raccoon or a tanuki?

He is a tanuki in the Japanese version, which connects to Japanese folklore where tanuki figures are placed outside businesses to bring prosperity and good fortune. Western releases call him a raccoon. His Japanese name Tanukichi blends tanuki with kechi, meaning stingy, which the games acknowledge and he actively disputes (Wikipedia).

Do I need the mask for the Tom Nook Halloween costume?

Yes. Without the mask, the teal shirt and khaki shorts read as a beach outfit rather than a character. The mask is the one item in this build that cannot be substituted or improvised. Everything else is optional by comparison.

What does Tom Nook do in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

He sells you an island getaway package, gives you a tent to live in, and immediately presents you with a home loan. He runs Nook Inc., manages Resident Services, and provides an escalating series of larger mortgages every time you pay off the previous one. He seems to find this arrangement entirely fair.

Who are Timmy and Tommy?

Timmy and Tommy are Tom Nook’s nephews who run Nook’s Cranny in New Horizons. In earlier games they worked on the second floor of Nookington’s, the final expansion of Tom Nook’s shop. Tom Nook has mentioned he never married, which makes the nephew relationship the entirety of his family situation.