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Ankha Gallery

I shouldn't say this, but you should limit your wardrobe to outfits you can actually pull off, know what I mean?
― Ankha, Animal Crossing


Ankha (ナイル, Nairu?, Nile) is a snooty cat villager in the Animal Crossing series, appearing in every game except Animal Forest and Wild World. In Animal Forest+, Animal Crossing, and in Animal Forest e+, she is an islander. Her name is based on the ankh, which is the Egyptian hieroglyphic character that reads "life". Her Japanese name is "Nile", which refers to the African river that many Egyptians settled on.

In New Leaf, her picture quote is a reference to the play "The Merchant of Venice" as Bassanio says the same about the lead casket. As an islander in Animal Crossing, Ankha loves cherries and is allergic to apples. Ankha also appears on the cover of K.K. Break. She has the nature hobby.

Quick Answers

What is the significance of Ankha's name in Animal Crossing? toggle section
Ankha, a character in Animal Crossing, has a name and design that reflect Ancient Egyptian culture. Her bright yellow and navy blue fur echo colors commonly found in Egyptian art. Her in-game house features Egyptian-themed items such as a pyramid, sphinx, and mummy's casket. The name Ankha is reminiscent of 'Ankh', an Egyptian symbol signifying life.
Provided by: Fandom
What is Ankha's personality type in the Animal Crossing series? toggle section
In the Animal Crossing series, Ankha exhibits a snooty personality. She is fond of makeup and gossip, and initially comes off as arrogant and self-centered. She frequently comments on the style and appearance of other female villagers. Ankha tends to clash with lazy villagers who disregard their appearance, and jock villagers who critique her physical appearance. However, she finds common ground with cranky villagers due to their shared rude personalities.
Provided by: Fandom
In which Animal Crossing games does Ankha not appear? toggle section
The character Ankha is featured in various Animal Crossing games such as 'Animal Crossing', 'City Folk', 'New Leaf', 'New Horizons', 'Happy Home Designer', and 'Pocket Camp'. The specific games where she is absent are not detailed in the available information.
Provided by: Fandom
What is the design inspiration for Ankha in Animal Crossing? toggle section
Ankha, an Animal Crossing character, is designed with a clear Egyptian influence. Her yellow and navy blue fur, along with bands on her arms and legs, echo Egyptian royal attire. This theme extends to her in-game house, which includes a pyramid, sphinx, tiki torches, a mummy's casket, and a broken post.
Provided by: Fandom
What is unique about Ankha's house in Animal Crossing? toggle section
Ankha's house in Animal Crossing is distinctively Egyptian-themed. Initially, it contains only the Master Sword. As the game progresses, her house evolves to include an ancient wall, matching flooring, a pyramid, sphinx, tiki torches, a mummy's casket, a broken post, a corn plant, and a retro stereo playing Marine Song 2001. In New Leaf, Ankha adds a throne and doubles some items. New Horizons introduces a yellow exterior, purple metal-accent door, tan stone roof, and a golden-themed interior featuring a pyramid, three golden caskets, a golden toilet, golden dishes, gold bars, and a Libra scale. The music player plays K.K. Bazaar.
Provided by: Fandom

Appearance[]

Ankha GC

Ankha in Animal Crossing

Ankha has bright yellow fur with navy blue accents. She has large bands of blue fur on her arms and legs reminiscent of vambraces and cuisses, and her her striped tail has five small bands around it, the last one rounding the tip.

Ankha has blue hair in a bob cut, aside from two yellow stripes that wrap horizontally around her head. Her ears are similarly blue with yellow interiors. This emulates the Egyptian headdresses pharaohs wore, complemented by a cobra emblem worn on her forehead (with exception to City Folk, where Ankha's wears a scarab charm in place of a cobra). The Egyptian-like eyeliner she wears are the same blue color, but her pupils are slightly darker and her eyeshadow is a deeper shade of yellow. The paw pads on her feet are the same mustard yellow. Ankha is also constantly frowning, as she never smiles at all in her appearances. There's also no difference between her smile and her frown.

Ankha's attire varies between installments. She initially wears a red aloha shirt in Animal Forest+ and Animal Forest e+; the Egyptian outfit in City Folk; the mummy shirt in New Leaf and Pocket Camp; and the palatial tank dress in New Horizons.

There are no explicit or confirmed cat breeds that were used as inspiration for Ankha's design. Some believe that the Abyssinian or the Egyptian Mau have similar appearances, but again, it is all simply fandom speculation.

Personality

Below is a brief description of the snooty personality. For more information, click here.

Ankha has a snooty personality, which means she loves makeup and gossiping. As a snooty villager, Ankha will first appear rude and arrogant towards the player, often talking about herself and her own experiences. She also speaks about the style and appearance of other villagers, usually other female villagers such as normal, peppy, and other snooty villagers. She will soon warm up to the player, confiding in them about their own feelings but still keeping subtly rude. Ankha will not get along with lazy villagers due to them not caring about their appearance or the lazy villagers hating what she eats, and she won't get along with jock villagers because they will question her on her physical appearance and they won't worry about fashion. However, she will get along with cranky villagers due to their similar rude personalities, and usually normal villagers as well.

House[]

In Animal Crossing, Ankha's house starts with only one item, which is the Master Sword.

In City Folk, Ankha's house has the ancient wall and matching flooring. She has a pyramid, a sphinx, two tiki torches, a mummy's casket, a broken post, a corn plant, and a retro stereo. On her stereo she plays Marine Song 2001.

In New Leaf, Ankha's house remains mostly unchanged but this time she has a throne and two of some things in her previous house.

In New Horizons, her house has a yellow exterior with a purple metal-accent door and tan stone roof. For the interior, Ankha has a pyramid, three golden caskets, a golden toilet, golden dishes, gold bars, and a Libra scale. When she gets a music player, it will play K.K. Bazaar.

CF Ankha House
City Folk (interior)
NL Ankha House NL Ankha House Ext
New Leaf (interior) New Leaf (exterior)
NH Ankha House NH Ankha House Ext
New Horizons (interior) New Horizons (exterior)

Pocket Camp[]

Ankha was added to Pocket Camp in the January 31, 2022 update.

Ankha's preferred theme is historical, and she primarily gives wood as a reward. Her profile reads:

❝ Ankha is a cat veiled in mystery... She may look young, but some have said she might actually be 3,000 years old! If that's true, she's holding up really well.❞

Campsite Invitation Requirements[]

Friendship Level: 0

Friendship Rewards[]

  • At level 7 friendship, she will reward the player with a mummy shirt and sparkle stones (x1).
  • At level 9, she will reward the player with sparkle stones (x1).
  • At level 15, she will request the player to craft a pyramid.
  • At level 20, she will reward the player with a pic of Ankha and sparkle stones (x1).
  • At level 25, she will reward the player with sparkle stones (x1).
  • At level 30, she will reward the player with sparkle stones (x1).
  • At level 35, she will reward the player with sparkle stones (x1).
  • At level 40, she will reward the player with sparkle stones (x1).
  • At level 45, she will reward the player with sparkle stones (x1).
  • At level 50, she will reward the player with sparkle stones (x1).
  • At level 55, she will reward the player with sparkle stones (x1).
  • At level 60, she will reward the player with sparkle stones (x1).
  • At level 65, she will reward the player with sparkle stones (x1).
  • At level 70, she will reward the player with sparkle stones (x1).

e-Card[]

e-Card [1]
Letter
Ac A014 Screen Shot
Back
Ac A014 bk
#014 Ankha
Gender Female
Type Cat
Star sign Virgo
Clothes Red Aloha shirt
Petphrase Me meow
Password rQ9dnN7Clqv2T%
3oNLI7AQoOhixO
Profile Ankha's face shines with beauty and the sparkle of youth, but she claims was a cat in Cleopatra's court. That would make her 3,000 years old! How many years do nine lives make?
Ac A014
CatSpeciesIconSilhouette
013 Punchy #014 Ankha 015 Paolo
ElephantSpeciesIconSilhouette

amiibo Card[]

amiibo Card[2]
Back
Amiibo card back
#188 Ankha
Type Cat
Star sign Virgo
Birthday 9/22
Roll value 3
Hand sign Rock
Request An ancient tomb
Amiibo 188 Ankha
BullSpeciesIconSilhouette
187 Vic #188 Ankha 189 Drift
FrogSpeciesIconSilhouette

Quotes[]

Picture[]

All that glitters is not gold.
― All games


Trivia[]

  • Her design is based upon multiple aspects of Ancient Egyptian culture and mythology.
    • Her yellow and blue color palette represents gold and lapis lazuli or cobalt glass, patterns of which were inlaid to sarcophagi of the royal and wealthy, especially to depict the objects stated below.
    • Her bob cut hair and ears resemble nemes (𓌰𓈖𓅓𓋴𓍱 nms), striped linen headcloths worn by pharaohs. Ankha also wears an uraeus (𓆗 jꜥrt "iaret") meaning "rearing cobra", a type of ornament on some nemes that formed half of a pschent (𓋖 pꜣ-sḫmtj). In the case of City Folk, she wore a scarab (𓆣 ḫprr "kheprer"). Scarabs were popular amulets and impression seals, most likely of religious significance regarding the god Khepri (𓆣𓂋𓇋𓁛 ḫprj). Bob cuts are also a hairstyle associated with Ancient Egyptian women.
    • Her striped tail resembles the crook and flail (𓋾 ḥqꜣ "heka", 𓌅 "nekhakha"), specifically the shepherd's crook, which stood for kingship and rulage.
    • Her eyeliner emulates hieroglyphs that depict eyes, such as the Eye of Horus (𓂀 wḏꜣt). The Egyptians were also one of the earliest inventors of mascara, creating a stibnite-based form of kohl over 5,000 years ago.
    • Cats were represented in social and religious practices of ancient Egypt for over three millennia. Several worshipped deities, such as Mafdet (𓌴𓁹𓆑𓂧𓏏𓌞𓅆), Bastet (𓎰𓏏𓏏), and Sekhmet (𓌂𓐍𓏏𓁐), could take form or had the heads of cats. Egyptians are commonly attributed to domesticating the African wildcat, but this may have been achieved earlier in the beginning of the Holocene.
    • Her archetype and regional namesakes (see below) reference the most recognized female pharaoh in modern times; Cleopatra Ⅶ Philopator (69-30 BCE), a Ptolemaic queen who was the final ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, and wife to the Roman politicians Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE) and Marcus Antonius (83-30 BCE).
    • Her birthday lies on September 22nd, making her a Virgo. Due to debuting in Animal Forest+, her first celebrated birthday (September 22nd, 2001) coincided with that year's September equinox.* In Egyptian culture, the time when the Sun was in the constellation Virgo marked the beginning of the wheat harvest.
    • Her nature hobby may be in reference to Egyptians settling around rivers and oases, and her birthday's aforementioned alignments with the fall harvests.
    • Her goal of becoming an astronaut may be in reference to the prevalence astronomy had in Egyptian mythology, religious practices, and datekeeping.
  • Different meanings can be found in Ankha's international names, also relating to Egyptology.
    • Her English, Dutch, and Russian names, Ankha (RUS: Анка), refers to the ankh (𓋹 ꜥnḫ, nicknamed the "Key of Life"), an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol depicting straps of a sandal with the symbolic meaning of "life". The ankh was also used as a written honorific for pharaohs, most famously for the 18th dynasty pharaoh Tutankhamun (𓇋𓏠𓈖𓅲𓏏𓋹 twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn, "Living Image of Amun"; 1341-1323 BCE)
      • Technically, the proper Coptic pronunciation of her English name is /'ɐn-,χɐ/.
    • Her Japanese name, ナイル (Nairu?) is a transliteration of the Nile (𓎛𓂝𓊪𓏭𓈘 ḥꜥpj), a historic river in northeast Africa the Egyptian civilizations centered around, deified as Hapi, and is traditionally considered the longest river on Earth. The name Nile itself comes from the Ancient Greek Νεῖλος, meaning "river valley".
    • Her Italian, German, Spanish, and Korean names are diminutives of each language's cognate of the Ancient Greek name Κλεοπάτρα (Kleopátrā). Κλεοπάτρᾱ is the feminine form of Κλεόπᾰτρος (Kleópatros, "glory to the father"), deriving from κλέος (kléos, "glory") and πᾰτήρ (patḗr, "father").
      • ITA: Cleopatra --> Cleo
      • DEU: Kleopatra --> Kleo
      • SPA: Cleopatra --> Patri
      • KOR: 클레오파트라 Keulle'opateura --> 클레오 Keulle'o
    • Her French name, Neferti, is in reference to one of two historical figures:
      • Most likely is Neferneferuaten Nefertiti (𓄤𓆑𓂋𓏏𓇍𓇋𓏭𓂻𓍘𓇋 nfrt-jj.tj "The Beautiful One has Come"; cir. 1370–1330 BCE), Great Royal Wife to Pharaoh Akhenaten and step-mother of Tutankhaman, who is depicted by the Mystic statue.
      • Less likely is Neferti (𓄤𓆑𓂋𓏏𓏭𓏛𓀀 nfrti), the 12th dynasty author of the Prophecy of Neferti, one of the few surviving literary texts from the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt.
    • Her Chinese name, Yànhòu (艷后 or 艳后), literally means "the Queen". Both writings of her name are in traditional Mandarin Chinese.
      • 艷 and 艳 are both traditional variants of the simplified 豔 yàn, and means "bright and gorgeous" in terms of colors.
      • 后 is variant traditional form of 後 hòu commonly used in simplified writings. Used as a suffix to denote "queen" or "empress" in modern usage, the Han character originally referred to a ruler (often male) and could be used without prefix.
  • Ankha has had a different starting outfit in every English game release.
  • She and Boris both have Egyptian-themed houses in New Horizons.
  • Ankha's pose on her amiibo card emulates the crossed hold of the crook and flail, the position mummified were placed in inside their sarcophagus, sometimes also being depicted on the exterior.
  • In November of 2020, data for Ankha was added in Pocket Camp, prior to her inclusion to the game in January 31, 2022.
  • In New Leaf, Ankha's preferred style is Historical, and her preferred color is Yellow. She dislikes the style Rock.
  • In New Horizons, Ankha's preferred styles are Gorgeous/Simple, and her preferred colors are Brown/Colorful.

In other languages[]

Ankha
Language Name Translation
Japan Japanese ナイル Nairu Nile
France French Neferti from Nefertiti
Spain Spanish Patri -
Germany German Kleo from Cleopatra
Italy Italian Cleo from Cleopatra
The Netherlands Dutch Ankha -
Russia Russian Анка Anka -
China Chinese 艷后/艳后 Yànhòu -
South Korea Korean 클레오 Keulle'o -


References[]

  1. Species navigation icons from Nookipedia by Sunmarsh, CC BY-SA 3.0
  2. Species navigation icons from Nookipedia by Sunmarsh, CC BY-SA 3.0
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