Tom Nook is the Animal Crossing character described on Wikipedia as a tanuki in Japan.
A tanuki is the Japanese raccoon dog, a real canid native to East Asia. In the Japanese versions of Animal Crossing, Tom Nook’s species is identified as tanuki; international localizations commonly describe him as a raccoon. That wording reflects cultural localization rather than a different character or a separate animal design.
Tom Nook first appeared in Dōbutsu no Mori, the Nintendo 64 game released in Japan in 2001, and returned in the GameCube version that became Animal Crossing overseas. He runs the village shop and serves as the player’s main housing and loan contact. In later games, including New Horizons, his role expands into property development, island planning, and Resident Services.
The distractors are different species and roles: Mr. Resetti is a mole, Kapp’n is a kappa-like boat captain, and Redd is a fox who sells art and other goods. Tom Nook’s tanuki identity is therefore both a species clue and a localization detail.