You may have seen so many cute dog characters in Nintendo world. Most of these characters were from a social video game series named Animal Crossing. From K.K. Slider to Isabelle to Shih Tzu and Jack Russell Terrier, each of these dog characters has had a deep impact in Nintendo’s gaming universe. However, amidst so many of these, there is one such dog character known as Pappy Van Poodle which went missing, rather “unnoticed and forgotten” by we gamers.
Pappy Van Poodle is a dog character that made its first appearance in Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball on the 3DS Nintendo gaming platform. Pappy shows up only when the gamer does not deal with Rusty Slugger. Pappy is Rusty’s old mentor and friend, and he has been identified to be somebody who always helps Rusty (the shop owner of Sport Shack) during tough times.
Sadly, it seems nobody could have recalled his identity until a YouTuber posted a video regarding this mysterious character talking about when and how he found Pappy Van Poodle in the Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball game. The Youtuber Nick Robinson found this pup and took him to the limelight that he well-deserved. Since then, most of us know about Pappy Van Poodle. Many Nintendo players and fanatics are considering this character to be more than just an obscure part of the game in Nintendo’s gaming world.
Today, I am going to talk a lot about Pappy Van Poodle, telling about its history, discovery, and more. Let’s jump in!
History Of Pappy Van Poodle Character
Pappy Van Poodle only ever appeared in Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball. In this game, Pappy served as the mentor cum friend to Rusty. He gave advice to Rusty and his sole objective was to guide and help out Rusty. If you purchase all the games for the full value (that is $4.00) and still do not provide Rusty with the essentials he needs, then Pappy will show up at the end of the game and give Rusty all the requisites that you should have supplied him during the haggling. Throughout the game, Pappy Van Poodle was mentioned a couple of times by Rusty. But, Pappy never shows up until and unless any specific situation, as the one mentioned above, appears. In one later scene, Pappy finds a pup of Rusty sleeping in an alleyway, so he hands it over to Rusty.
If you decide to pay the complete price to Rusty every time without a bargain, Pappy Van Poodle alongside a child of Rusty will appear on-screen to notify you that you can haggle with him in spite of playing the full value. It is his shop to sell the minigames to you. Surely, only a few gamers could manage to encounter Pappy Van Poodle before in the game, after comparing the fact that paying more money than needed is obviously an illogical deal.
Any gamer who decided to pay Rusty’s initially demanded price was complemented by 6 more cutscenes that featured Pappy Van Poodle- an old, jolly, overweight dog (quite probably a poodle, though he did not resemble one). In a cutscene, Rusty illustrated Pappy’s character as a mentor, neighbor, and a businessman to him. Both he and Pappy have known one another for apparently twenty years. That sounds somewhat like 140 dog years, isn’t it?
In another cutscene, Pappy Van Poodle illustrates himself as somebody like a father to Rusty and an unofficial mascot of the Rusty’s Sluggers baseball team. He says that once he cheered so hard for Rusty’s team that he threw his back out. At some point, he gives Rusty flowers to express their bond and his strong sense of compassion towards Rusty. Though Pappy still remains a quite mysterious character, one thing I am pretty sure of: Pappy is a good dog.
Mini-games began at the cost of 4.00 USD (in real money). However, Rusty was pretty bad at negotiating and so, he would give away the games at a far lower price. Obviously, you would also like to pay the least for the mini-games when you are getting an opportunity. That is just a fiscally wise decision. In fact, even if you decide to pay the full amount, one of Rusty’s children will show up on the screen, reminding you that you may bargain with Rusty before paying. However, this a rare case where being fiscally responsible might be a setback for you: you will miss out the chance to meet Pappy Van Poodle.
Pappy Van Poodle’s Personality
For about 90 years and more, Pappy Van Poodle appeared to be the mentor cum friend of Rusty. Pappy is described to be the greatest supporter and fan of the baseball team of Rusty Slugger. Rusty mentions him (Pappy Van Poodle) to be mascot of the beam, though unofficially. On the other hand, Pappy describes Rusty as somebody who seems to be a son-like figure to him. Pappy often gives him flowers to express his(Pappy’s) goodwill. Pappy Van Poodle is an easy-going, old dog and a close friend of Rusty.
Discovery Of Pappy Van Poodle & How To See The Character In Japanese Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball Version?
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Discovery
Pappy Van Poodle was widely unknown online because of the unlikely procedure required to get a sight of this character in the game. Initially, he was referenced on Pozukago, a Japanese blog, in 2013 on the sixth day after the release of the Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball in Japan. Later, his name appeared often recurrently in different documentations on the internet. However, that was all until a YouTuber named Nick Robinson published one video encircling Pappy Van Poddle talking about how he accidentally caught hold of this lovable dog character.
As this character was so unlikely to be searched, or was out of the gamers’ collective consciousness to ever recall him, the name “Pappy Van Poodle” had zero search result before Nick Robinson uploaded that video on YouTube.
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Japanese Version
If you do not know already, then let me tell you that there is this Japanese version of Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball. It was launched a year prior to launching the American version in 2013. The Japanese version had a different backstory and different name for Pappy Van Poodle. In this version, this cute dog character appeared in an outfit that is different from the one that appeared in the American version. Plus, in the Japanese version of Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball, Pappy Van Poodle is named Inuzō Toipū.
How Did Pappy Van Poodle Go Missing?
If you had searched for the phrase “Pappy Van Poodle” on Google before 2019, I am sure you would have got zero result. This is evident that no one previously thought of learning/knowing anything about this mysterious Nintendo character. Since the game’s launch in 2014 until 2019, the Nintendo fanatics had no idea about the existence of any such character in the game. The character went unseen and no one ever found to post anything about Pappy online. As it turns out to be, this lovable character went missing from our views for five long years.
However, things took a 360° turn after a YouTuber named Nick Robinson created a video discussing his discovery of Pappy Van Poodle. He mentioned all the details regarding this adorable character telling when or how he showed up in the game.
Nick discovered Rusty after he re-downloaded the Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball on his 2DS XL Nintendo player. He then had free access to play all the mini-games. But, Nick was curious to know what would happen on paying the total cost rather than haggling with Rusty, and that is when Nick came across Pappy Van Poodle. Later, Nick posted an entire video on YouTube regarding how he found the character and brought Pappy the stardom he deserved.
Some people say that Nick is not the first person to talk or bring out the topic of Pappy Van Poodle to us. If that’s the case, then the question is why Google did not show any result for this “Pappy Van Poodle” term when searched online before Nick’s video came into existence? Think about it.
How This Character Is Rising To Fame? Is There A Comeback Possibility For This Character?
Since YouTuber Nick Robinson released his video of Pappy Van Poodle, the internet started to pile up with more and more contents related to Pappy. An explosion of varied discussions and topics regarding Pappy Van Poodle started to appear on Quora, Reddit, and many other forums. Countless similar other YouTube videos of Pappy got posted by many. Moreover, there has been an online petition that appealed to add this mysterious character, Pappy, to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Bandai Namco developed a crossover action game in association with Nintendo, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that gives gamers the option to buy Challenger Packs, allowing them to bring in more new characters into the game. A petition has been recently posted on Change.org which has appealed to Nintendo to develop a new Challenger Pack which will include even the most unnoticed character ever of the game, Pappy Van Poodle.
It is sort of astonishing how a single video of Pappy Van Poodle on YouTube created a hype among people. It just took one YouTuber named Nick Robinson to bring this dog character to the stage of fame, and now the entire gaming world knows about this mysterious Nintendo character. In fact, the fans began signing an online appeal to convince Nintendo to include Pappy Van Poodle in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
So, yes, it seems that there is a comeback possibility for this character. That’s what I can guess now. What do you think; is there anybody who would really love to see this adorable character being included in the Falcon Punch’s flames or getting a chance with Link’s arrows? Nevertheless, I personally think that this old Pappy poodle deserves a greater stage to enlighten its fame than staying limited to his six-scene cameo in Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball. Maybe Nintendo could arrive with an adventure game entirely surrounding this cute dog?
FAQs
1. Who is Pappy Van poodle?
Pappy Van Poodle is a dog character from Nintendo 3DS’ Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball video game. Pappy shows up in the game only when the gamer doesn’t haggle with Rusty Slugger (the primary character of the game). Pappy is described as Rusty’s old mentor cum friend who is very close to him and helps Rusty during hard times.
2. Who made Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball?
Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball is designed by Ryosuke Suzuki and Tadashi Matsushita, and programmed by Shinji Kitihara and Kazuki Yoshihara.
3. Who is the Nintendo character with no search results?
It is the dog character, Pappy Van Poodle, that went unnoticed and missing from internet contents for about 5 years.
4. Who is a Rusty Slugger?
Rusty Slugger is one of the significant characters in Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball. Rusty is the owner of Rusty’s Sluggers Sport Shack (his baseball store). Since baseball accessories weren’t being purchased as kids were more interested in video games, Rusty started selling video games of baseball.
5. Can you still get Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball?
Though this baseball video game will purposely restrict the gamers from buying it with a full value, still it can be bought after a couple of warnings.
Conclusion
The fact that such a lovable character like Pappy Van Poodle was literally lost from our gaming consciousness for five years now is really startling. Plus, it gives birth to questions like: what other such characters are still kept hidden in Nintendo Easter eggs? Is there any sort of cat-like gaming character already there waiting in line for its turn to show up, just like Pappy Van Poodle in our Nintendo Switch screens?
