Tortimer is the tortoise who served as mayor in earlier Animal Crossing games. He is a recurring authority figure whose role changes slightly between installments, but his most recognizable position is leading the player’s town before New Leaf shifted the mayor’s job to the player character.
In Animal Crossing: Wild World and Animal Crossing: City Folk, Tortimer appears as the town mayor and presents himself as the village’s longtime civic leader. In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, the player becomes mayor instead, while Tortimer retires from that role and runs Tortimer Island, a tropical destination filled with multiplayer activities and timed minigames.
A common mix-up is calling Tortimer a turtle in every context; the games generally describe him as a tortoise. He is also distinct from Kapp’n, the turtle-like boatman who transports players to islands, and from Isabelle, who serves as the mayor’s assistant in New Leaf. Tortimer’s island remains one of the series’ best-known examples of a retired character receiving a new gameplay function.