Isabelle's birthday isn't properly celebrated in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but that didn't prevent fans from celebrating her birthday themselves. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the latest installment in the popular life sim franchise, and it released at the beginning of quarantine in March. It has become one of the most popular games of 2020, and it's currently winter in the game. That means a whole new batch of bugs, fish, and sea creatures are available for players to catch, as well as the ability to build Snowboys.
On top of the snowy atmosphere, players can also shake trees to obtain ornaments. These can be used for DIY crafting purposes. Snowflakes can also be caught with a net, and Large Snowflakes can be acquired by building a perfectly proportioned Snowboy. This can be a bit challenging to accomplish, as both the head and body must be precisely sized. As a reward, players can earn recipes for all kinds of festive furniture and other items.
As reported by ComicBook.com, Isabelle, the Shih Tzu who debuted as a secretary in 2013's Animal Crossing: New Leaf, had a birthday on December 20, but Nintendo didn't have an in-game event to properly celebrate her. She's truly a fan favorite, so Animal Crossing players took it upon themselves to make Isabelle feel rightfully celebrated. Below are a handful of tweets that showcase how some players celebrated their favorite Resident Services employee. These tweets include plenty of fan-made illustrations, in-game celebrations, and even some animations. Searching "Isabelle birthday" on Twitter shows just how popular the character is.
Given that villagers have in-game celebrations in the Animal Crossing series, it's genuinely surprising that Nintendo didn't set anything special up for Isabelle when she's so clearly loved. She's playable in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 for a reason. Fans have loved her so much that she's become one of the series' main characters despite only being around for two of the series' main games. Certainly every Isabelle fan must have felt at least slightly disillusioned.
If the Animal Crossing: New Horizons team had no intention of celebrating Isabelle's birthday, then there's scarcely a point in giving her a canonical birthday. Non-villager characters deserve to be celebrated just as much as the villagers do. Without Isabelle facilitating and managing a significant portion of the island experience, everything would simply be a mess. Tom Nook's only care in the world is money, but Isabelle has a sincere interest in making the island great. She needed some kind of acknowledgment, even if it were just a brief, minor party in the Town Hall. It seems a bit unfair for Nintendo to leave it completely unrecognized.
Source: ComicBook.com, hiimizu, candiedlinds, Kenkachev