Don't Worry, Rover Is Coming to 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons'

"I promise, I'm not crazy!" is what Animal Crossing villager Rover promises as he sits himself down across from you in the opening moments of the game.

But that doesn't mean the cat villager doesn't have some crazy things to say. With his blue fur and deep red pupils, Rover has become a meme in the Animal Crossing fandom.

Fans of the Animal Crossing franchise will recognize him from the original game for the GameCube. Rover is the first animal you meet in the game, who comes over to sit across from you on your train ride into town.

Rover's purpose in most of the games is to help the player set the correct date and time as well as their gender, name, and appearance. This is also when the player sets their character name and the name of their town.

Once the player's information is set up, Rover says he will then call his friend, Tom Nook, to set the player up with a place to stay in the new town they're traveling to.

This can only be done once during the game, and can't be changed unless the player resets the file.

Rover rarely makes an appearance again in the game, except for the occasional visit to The Roost, where he will make small talk with the player.

But this roaming cat's few moments across from you in the game have been a running joke for fans of the franchise. 

Maybe it's the wide eyes, the way he sits across from you on the train, or the fact that his text is the only text you can manipulate within the first few minutes of the game, but setting up your character and town can lead to some pretty funny conversations with Rover.

Basically, there are countless opportunities to make "your mom" jokes or proclaim your journey to hell within the first few minutes of this otherwise wholesome franchise. 

When Animal Crossing: New Horizons was announced for the Nintendo Switch, fans were dying to know if Rover would be their seatmate on the plane ride over to their new island. But when it was revealed he wasn't anywhere in the game's coding, the fate of their favorite traveling cat was in limbo.

Luckily, the new update hitting the game on April 23 reveals Rover is making it to your deserted island — he was just lost in the airport for a little while.

The announcement of the update, which dropped on April 21, gave hardcore fans the confirmation they needed of Rover's addition to the game. In the preview for the May Day event, held from May 1 to May 7, our familiar friend can be seen in the background of one of the May Day island tours. The iconic character's back was all fans needed to know Rover hadn't been eliminated from the game after all.

It's currently unclear whether Rover will act as a villager you can invite to your island, like the villagers you find on your mystery island tours are, or if he serves another purpose only for the event. Since Timmy and Tommy set up the player's name and appearance (which can now be changed during gameplay if the player has a mirror), whatever Rover's role in the game is will be new for the villager.