Summary
TheAnimal Crossingseries is known for its massive cast of characters that includes both useful NPCs and villagers that can inhabit the player’s town or island. While these two categories of villagers are usually kept separate, with major NPCs like Tom Nook, Blathers, and Isabelle typically relegated to the buildings of the services they’re associated with, recent entries likeAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsblurred the lines between residents and service NPCs via features like The Roost. However, there is one villager from the series that some fans believe was once an NPC who quit his job.
With nearly500 villagers across all entries in theAnimal Crossingseries, there are clear distinctions between the stand-out fan favorites and those who are forgotten about after disappearing from an entry. OneAnimal Crossingvillager who only appears in two entries may not be one of the more memorable characters in the series, but he has developed an interesting conspiracy theory surrounding his true identity. The villager in question is the monkey Champ, whom some fans believe might be an alter ego for the monkey train conductor Porter, who is notably missing from certain entries.
Animal Crossing Fans Think Porter and Champ Might be the Same Character
While thinking these two monkey characters are the same might seem like a bit of a stretch, even for a fan theory, there is a lot of compelling evidence that supports this idea. Porter first debuted in theoriginalAnimal Crossingfor GameCubeas the NPC in charge of running the train that allowed players to visit the towns of others if they had a second memory card withAnimal Crossingsave data inserted into the console. However, after this appearance, Porter would be missing from the series for the next two entries before returning to his position as a train conductor inAnimal Crossing: New Leaf
The entry after the GameCube title,Animal Crossing: Wild World, introduced the villager Champ, a monkey with a jock personality that bears a striking resemblance to Porter, who happens to be missing from this game. Both Porter and Champ are brown monkeys with nearly identical facial features, like plain black dots for eyes and a similar mouth shape. The similarities between these two characters are so strong that many fans have theorized that Porter quit or was fired from his job as a train conductor, adopting a new identity and becoming a potential resident of players' towns.
Although Porter existed in the originalAnimal Crossing,Wild Worldwas the game that first introduced monkeys as a possible villager species. This coincidence further adds credence to the possibility that Champ and Porter are the same character.
If the visual similarities between Champ andPorter inAnimal Crossingweren’t enough evidence to support this theory, there is even more available within other elements of Champ’s character design. Among the furniture players can find in Champ’s house is a train set, perhaps alluding to his former days as Porter the train conductor. Additionally, Champ’s catchphrase is “choo CHOO,” another train reference that reinforces the theory that he and Porter are the same character.
The final detail that solidifies the validity of this theory is that the only two games where Champ appears as a villager,Animal Crossing: Wild WorldandAnimal Crossing: City Folk, just happen to be the same games where Porter is missing. It could be that “Porter” is not necessarily the character’s name, but rather his title since he fulfilled a porter’s role as a train attendant. Perhaps Champ is his real name, and during the two games wherein he was relieved of his duties as a porter, he decided to settle down in the player’s town.
