Animal Crossing: New Horizons has conditioned gamers as a whole to reevaluate what scorpions and tarantulas mean to them. Out in nature, they are necessary predators, an integral part of their ecosystem who play by one very important rule: don’t mess with me, and I won’t mess with you.
In New Horizons, all that gets thrown out of the window. If you see a scorpion or tarantula in Animal Crossing, it’s either kill or be killed... Or catch or faint, as it is. When New Horizons first came out, players blew up social media channels with videos of their poor avatars collapsing after being cornered by scorpions.
Other players — sometimes even the same ones that experienced a humiliating defeat at the ends of a stinger or spider bite — turned a profit by willingly subjecting themselves to tarantula infested islands. So you get knocked out; big deal. Those home upgrades won’t pay for themselves!
Although there are no actual consequences to getting bit, passing out and waking up in front of your home can be extremely annoying, especially if another tarantula is waiting outside your door to repeat the experience. Even villagers have a healthy fear of these creatures. Speaking to a resident with a scorpion or tarantula on your tail will result in the villager wishing you good luck if they like you, and callously leaving you to your fate without even pretending they feel bad if they don’t. Forget helping, every villager — regardless of personality or whether they have a net out — washes their hands of you the second a scorpion starts chasing.
That doesn’t stop them from being relieved when you catch an aggressive scorpion or tarantula, though. Twitter user @Littl3MissV noticed that all villagers on-screen will breathe a sigh of relief if the player catches a scorpion or tarantula in their vicinity. It’s an interesting reaction to have considering they only attack the player, but wouldn’t you have the same reaction if someone removed a big ol’ spider creeping closer and closer to you?