Introduction
I've basically been drawing Nile (Ankha) since high-school when I first picked up Animal Crossing: New Leaf on 3DS back in 2013. I call her Nile because the way I draw her has now become unrecognizable to some while being VERY recognizable to the well-educated and cultured. I don't think it's right to call her an OC so I just call her by her Japanese name ナイル ("Nairu").
That and Nile is objectively a better and cuter name than Ankha, c'mon now.
Prior to her surge in popularity, Ankha had very little fan art, but the few pieces that existed showcased the its power in reinterpreting a character. Personally, I wouldn't have realized that she was intended to have a bob-cut hairstyle had fanart not been made of her. Her 3D model prior to New Horizons always struck me as funny but endearing, giving her a unique charm that helped her stand out as her own. She's definitely among the more eccentric villagers in design, which feels fitting considering she was one of the few island-exclusive villagers in the original Animal Crossing on GameCube.
Back in the day, as far back as late 2017, everyone used to always say drawing the same thing over and over is a good thing. That's changed a LOT recently, especially if you lurk around art-related TikTok/YouTube Shorts. As someone who did in fact draw the same thing (Nile) repeatedly, I'll personally say: it's fine to do so long as you have a wide pool of characters/things to draw. Before Ingrid, she was basically the most fun thing I could think of drawing on the whim so naturally I developed my own way of drawing her over the years, which has lead to how I draw her today. I've drawn her so much over the years that I do my best to restrict myself to make one full-drawing of her every year (which I failed on multiple occasions).
After the dust settled from her boom in popularity, everyone thinks I'm cringe for drawing her all the time. Little do they know I'm actually a chad who has been drawing her for ages. Nobody knows I've achieved wise-one status for doing so for so long >:)