Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the latest installment in the social simulation series, brought back a ton of memorable characters with its Nintendo Switch release on Friday. Early on in the game, players interact with Tom Nook, Blathers, Gulliver, Timmy, Tommy, and more. Thankfully, the franchise’s fan-favorite dog, Isabelle, comes along later.
Animal Crossing gurus know that Isabelle is the sassy, strong, and savvy desk secretary at Resident Services. Since the release of Animal Crossing: New Leaf in 2012, she’s become the face of the franchise — and the subject of some great memes. In honor of her appearance in New Horizons, let’s take a look at some of the funniest memes that truly capture Isabelle’s essence.
10 Who Needs Sleep?
Isabelle has a lot of energy, which is a must in her role at Resident Services. In New Leaf, she’s responsible for giving players advice, setting the clocks, making morning announcements, and helping out the town mayor (you) with anything and everything. But, her energy levels are a little terrifying when she reveals that she runs on an hour of sleep.
We have no idea how she does it, but we want whatever’s in her coffee mug. Maybe that face is a cry for help… Is Isabelle okay? She needs a vacation on a deserted island.
9 Cash Me Outside
Isabelle may seem sweet, innocent, and non-confrontational in New Leaf, but we all know by now that she’s no longer afraid to stand up for her residents in any way necessary. She gained some serious street cred after her stint in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (we’ll talk about that later).
We’re not sure what her future holds in New Horizons, but we wouldn’t be surprised if she did jump out of the screen for a fight. We also wouldn’t really mind it, either…
8 Special Announcement
Part of being a good mayor is keeping your villagers’ secrets as requested… or not. Poor Daisy, another Animal Crossing dog, confided in the mayor of her town about her flea problem, but the mayor put her on blast. Naturally, in this meme, Isabelle took things a step further and announced the secret to everyone.
This is one of the more popular memes featuring Animal Crossing’s de facto mascot, and it really highlights Isabelle’s savagery.
7 Super Smash Isabelle
Back in September 2018, a Nintendo Direct announcement revealed that Isabelle would be joining the playable character roster in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This iconic meme is a screengrab from the video announcement, in which Isabelle is seen overwhelmed by the workload in her office. She gets a letter from Pete the mailman, and is shocked to see that she was invited to join Smash.
Thus, a new and powerful, takes-nothing-from-anyone Isabelle was born. We could say that she… turned over a new leaf. Ba dum tss.
6 She Fears Nothing
Okay, so we’re pretty sure Isabelle didn’t actually say this, but we wouldn’t be surprised if she did. Just look at that smile, those wide eyes… that’s the face of someone who has seen it all and has no fear. Or it’s the face of someone who’s running on an hour of sleep.
Either way, how many secretaries do you know that participate in a fight club on the side? Isabelle is ready for anything and that’s why she’s the ultimate Animal Crossing character.
5 Weapon Of Choice
Animal Crossing fans know that the fishing rod is a versatile tool that opens up a ton of opportunities for money-making and museum-building. In fact, in New Horizons, it’s the very first tool that villagers craft when they start their island life. A big part of the game is collecting wildlife, and we have a lot of fun searching for rare fish.
Isabelle takes that trusty fishing rod and turns it into a weapon of destruction in Smash. She can grab and throw enemies from far away, collect items, and more. Unfortunately for Luigi here, he was Isabelle’s catch of the day.
4 Besties 4 Life
Over the summer, it was announced that New Horizons and Doom Eternal would be released on the same day in 2020. One Twitter user, @MrAgentStrange, posted a drawing of Doomguy teaching Isabelle how to use a Super Shotgun, according to Polygon.
Fans of the two games then quickly started sharing their artwork depicting Isabelle and Doomguy hanging out together, and thus, a best friendship was born. Some popular fan art depicts Doomguy and Isabelle buying each other’s games to show their support, and honestly, we’re so here for it. We’d love to see Isabelle kick some Kahn Maykr booty.
3 Aggressive But Effective
New Leaf introduced the ability for the mayor to tattle on villagers for being a little too rude or cheeky. The complaint goes straight to Isabelle, who says she’ll handle it. We’re never really sure what “handling it” entails, but this meme is what we imagine goes on behind the scenes.
Isabelle is definitely a woman of her word, so she probably did really wash Rosie’s mouth out with soap. Poor Rosie never saw it coming.
2 Isabelle Shops High End
Cosplaying as Isabelle for gaming conventions seems like a great idea for any Animal Crossing player, but achieving her looks can cost a pretty penny. The internet did what it does best and discovered that this Shih-Tzu shops high-end.
The outfit pictured above costs $5,240 total, on top of the cost of Isabelle’s other Gucci sweaters. How much does she really make as a secretary?
1 What Year Is It?!
All in all, Isabelle does have a sassy side, but she’s still sweet, loyal, and trusting at heart — that’s just how dogs are. She’s ready to do whatever it takes to make her mayor and her town happy, even if that means pushing the clock forward by 30 years. Thanks for all your help, Isabelle!
NEXT: Animal Crossing New Horizon: 10 Hilarious Tom Nook Memes That Are Too Funny
