Kapp'n

Kapp'n (カッペイ, Kappei / うんてんしゅ, Chauffer) is a green turtle (kappa in the Japanese versions) that features in the as a driver of various forms of transport. He has been known to row boats, drive taxis and also drive buses.

Kapp'n himself is a sailor by nature, referring frequently to his life on the sea and speaking in stereotypical pirate tones. He has also expressed a fondness for women and singing old sea shanties.

In Animal Crossing
In, he is the ferry operator who sails visitors and the player to the island (commonly known as Animal Island) through the Game Boy Advance cable. During the voyage to the island he sings a sea shanty, usually about his life on the sea and women.

In Animal Crossing: Wild World
In, he drives the black taxi to the town and acts as the introducing character responsible for the gender and appearance of the playable character, as well as the name of the town. This is a role he takes on from Rover. He can sometimes be seen in the The Roost drinking coffee. He will talk about his life at sea upon talking to him and will sometimes seem a bit grumpy.

In Animal Crossing: City Folk
In, he first appears driving the bus to the town, while Rover talks to the playable character determining the gender, and appearance of the character, as well as the name of the town. He will then appear again driving the bus to the city when going to the Bus Stop. During the journey to the city, he will talk about women, the city and modern day youngsters to male players. If the player is female, he will subtly flirt with them, calling them 'cute', 'pretty' and that a 'manly bus-driver is available'. If the player does not respond, he will begin to whistle his sea shanty.

He also appears in The Roost, as he did in, where he will talk about his life in more detail. He will appear there at 15:00 (3:00pm) to around 18:00 (6:00pm)

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf
In Kapp'n now drives a motorized boat, and will give you a ride to the island, while singing a little tune along the way.Hearing the song can be avoided by repeatly hitting the button 'A' or 'B'.Doing this will make him stop singing give you a remark and automatically stop you at the island. He now has a wife, named Leilani, a daughter named Leila, and his mother, Grams living over at the shack, with a portside in the front entrance.

Kapp'n is seen at the beginning of driving Ai to Animal Village in his black taxi, like the one in. He appears later on in the film during the festival, as a member of the audience listening to K. K. Slider singing.

Trivia

 * While rowing to the Island in ,,  and , Kapp'n sings one of a few random songs. A line to one of his songs is that he sings better than Mario.
 * One of his sea shanties is about cucumbers. In Japanese folklore, cucumbers were thrown into rivers with the names of children and/or families on. This would spare a family when bathing in a river with a Kappa in it. Children, and sometimes adults, are believed to be one of their favorite foods - cucumbers being their favorite. They would also help humans and not break an oath. This may relate to how friendly he is towards humans in the.
 * In the middle of his songs, Kapp'n says something to the player, one time which he claims he hates squirrels.
 * Though Kapp'n says, or rather sings, that he loves cucumbers, at the end of his songs, sometimes, he sings that zucchinis give him the spooks, "Zucchini spooks."
 * If in City Folk the player leaves the game idle long enough, Kapp'n will begin to whistle Totakeke's Song, which also appears as K.K. Song.
 * He will also whistle it in New Leaf, if you idle while on the way to a Tortimer Club island.
 * While riding on the bus, in City Folk, Kapp'n is interested in celebrity gossip, and will question the player for juicy secrets, shortly before arriving at the City.
 * In Wild World there is a small figurine in his taxi of him and his boat from Animal Crossing.
 * In, taking a certain amount of time, (usually longer than needed.) the figurine falls off when your just about to leave the taxi. The reason is unknown and most likely random.
 * On the bus in City Folk, there is a poster with Lyle on it.
 * He is seen on the Animal Crossing: New Leaf Japanese Box-art in his boat near the Islands.
 * According to one of his songs in New Leaf, he stores a life raft in his shell in case of an accident.
 * In Animal Crossing City Folk, Kapp'n will sometimes ask the player (if female) if they will sail away to an island with him. In Animal Crossing New Leaf, he and his family live on the paradise island. This might be implying that he followed his dream along with his family.'
 * He has noted that the shell on top of his head is cracked.

Name
The word 'Kappa', from which Kapp'n derives, is the name for a river imp in Japanese folklore. They are mischevous in nature, and reptilian in appearance. His name could also be the sailor pronounciation of 'captain', where letters are missed out in certain words which is how sailors in the past were believed to have talked, saying things like 'yar!', 'sprat', 'garr' and will sometimes refer to the player as fish or sea creatures, such as 'scallop', 'Sea Bass', 'Sea Cucumber', and 'urchin'. He also wears a cap on his head, which may be of some relevance to his name.