Who and what is Gulliver?
Gulliver is an albatross and novice explorer who continuously finds himself facing peril brought about by humans and their reckless use of a certain y-shaped novelty. He was supposedly named after Lemuel Gulliver, a captain and main character of "Gulliver's Travels" first published in 1735. In Animal Crossing for the Wii, Gulliver seemingly concluded his days sailing the sea and has set out to explore space. He does this in his spaceship which can be viewed from above here or from below here. Occasionally he may pass over your town on his way home which allows you a brief opportunity to shoot his spaceship down. But why would you do such a thing?! Gulliver has, in his possession, souvenirs from his travels around the globe and even outer space. These are arguably some of the rarest items in the game due to Gulliver's infrequent and often times unseen appearances. That is where this guide comes in. It is merely meant to educate you about the characteristics of Gulliver's appearance in his spaceship over your town; so let's get started.

What days can I see Gulliver's spaceship?
Gulliver may fly over your town on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday from 6:00am on that particular day until 6am that following morning. Gulliver's frequency is believed to be the same as Wisp the ghost meaning that it is much less than Saharah, Wendell, and Pascal's appearance rate. Just like the other special visitors, it is believed that Gulliver can frequent your town two weeks in a row though you will never see him two times in one week. He can appear while it is snowing, raining, or thunder-storming in your town.

What times will I see Gulliver's spaceship?
Just like ballon-presents, Gulliver's spaceship has a certain time that he will pass over your town. Let's say you predict where his spaceship enters your town and stand there. You will first begin to hear Gulliver's spaceship from off-screen at either XX:02 or XX:07. What this means is that Gulliver's spaceship can fly over at two or seven minutes after any hour.

On which hour will he fly over?
There is no set hour that Gulliver will fly over during a day he is due to arrive. We believe it is percentage linked which means that there is certain percent chance he will fly over every time you are playing, outside, and the clock hits XX:02 and XX:07. The chance is relatively high so if you don't see him at the first scheduled XX:02 and XX:07 then come back an hour later and keep checking.

How will I know Gulliver's spaceship is passing over my town?
This is one of the trickier aspects of Gulliver; it is often times difficult to detect him when he is flying over. Most notably you will hear the sound that Gulliver's ship makes which can be heard from about an acre (sixteen squares) away. It is from this noise that you will have to determine which direction and where the spaceship is flying over so make sure you have an appropriate volume set on your TV. The ship can be seen in the distance from about an acre (sixteen squares) away and up close it will often times block out a part of your screen. If the spaceship is above your character then you may see the shadow it casts on the below terrain.

How fast does the spaceship move?
Gulliver's spaceship moves much fast then the balloon-presents floating over your town. Your character runs at about twice the speed Gulliver's ship flies so besides obstacles like the river and cliffs in your town, you shouldn't have much trouble catching up to it.

How long do I have to shoot Gulliver's spaceship with my sling-shot?
It takes about forty seconds for the ship to make a pass over your town. Gulliver will always fly over your town twice on the day he is scheduled to and he will have ended his flight by XX:03.20 or XX:08.20 meaning the total time you will have to shoot him is about one minute and twenty seconds.

Wait, Gulliver passes over my town twice?
Yes, the second pass over will begin about three seconds after the spaceship disappears off-screen from the side of your town and you can't hear it anymore. Gulliver will head in the opposite direction that he flew over the first time and he may choose a new path to fly over on so don't expect he'll turn right around and come back the same way.

Is there any way to know that Gulliver is due to arrive?
You can deduce that it is a day when Gulliver will fly over your town by determining that all the other visitors are not in town. Special visitors (Wendell, Pascal, Wisp, Saharah, Gulliver, Pete, Blanca) tend to have a one-a-day rule. While no character in the game will alert you that Gulliver may fly over that day, you can determine that he is due to arrive by ruling other visitors out. In a day when Gulliver is due to appear you will not see any of the above listed visitors. If you see Katie or Kaitlyn then you should have to remove them from your town before you can see Gulliver.

How do I rule out other visitors as not being present that day?
While your gates are closed, talk to Booker in the gatehouse and he will inform you if Wendell, Saharah, Blanca, Katie or Kaitlyn are in town. Pascal will be on one of the bridges in your town and Wisp's lamp will be lying around town if the ghost is due to to make an appearance later that night. Finally, and most importantly is Pete. Pete will show up on any weekday that the above special visitors are not in town and Gulliver is not due to arrive. He can be found wandering around your town from 9-9:30am and 5-5:30pm. If none of the above visitors show up then you are about to see Gulliver fly over.

So I won't see Gulliver's spaceship fly over while other special visitors are in town?
That's not true. There have been sightings of Gulliver's spaceship flying over town while other special visitors were in visiting. You cannot completely rule out a day with Wendell, Pascal, Wisp, Saharah, or Blanca visiting. There is always a chance that Gulliver was scheduled to fly over on the same day. Pete's appearance, however, is an absolute indicator that no spaceship will be seen flying over that day.

Where will I see Gulliver's spaceship?
Gulliver's spaceship flies on a straight path from one side of your town to the other along the same paths balloons-presents take when floating across your town. There are three of these paths and they are the top row of the second, third, and fourth acres (or the seventeenth, thirty-third, and forty-ninth squares from the top of town respectively). This is a town map with the ballon paths traced in magenta.

Three paths? How will I know which path he will take?
Gulliver's paths choice is seemingly random. Out of the three paths he may choose any of them to make his pass across your town on.

So where should I stand then if I'm anticipating Gulliver?
While every town layout is different I would advise standing near the middle balloon route. Apart from being ready if the ship flies over the middle path, this will allow you to hopefully see the spaceship as it flies over on the northern balloon route and hear the spaceship fly over on the southern balloon route.

Any tips on actually shooting the spaceship?
The spaceship shadow will come in handy when aiming. You're going to need to run up ahead of the ship and get in its path. When the shadow draws near and is about a square away then fire. Obviously you will have better chances with a golden or silver slingshot (three projectiles and two projectiles respectively), but it is certainly do-able with a regular slingshot.

Can another character in my town see him pass over as well?
Only if Gulliver didn't pass over town while a previous character was playing. Whether they saw or heard Gulliver does not make a difference. So, one character per Gulliver visit can see and shoot him.

I saw Gulliver and missed him, is there anything I can do?
Gulliver only makes his pass-overs once so unless you want to reset and lose your progress, you will have to wait until another day when he is scheduled to show up. If you do choose to reset then know that Gulliver will fly over while Resetti is lecturing you if it is either XX:02 or XX:07. You do not need to go into a building after talking to Resetti like in AC:WW to see Gulliver.

Any other tips or information about Gulliver's spaceship?
Seeing Gulliver's spaceship, for some, will bring about nervous clumsyness. I myself have stumbled around without thinking trying to catch Gulliver's ship and ended up missing him because of it. If you need to take a moment and think about your plan of action (What obstacles are in the way? Which way is he coming from? Which path should I follow?) just press the home button. This will completely freeze Gulliver's flight and allow you to think before you act. Keep in mind that this does not freeze the in-game clock and I'm not sure how it will have an effect on his appearance if your are on the home menu when XX:02 or XX:07 is hit.

I managed to hit Gulliver, now what?
Congratulations! The hard part is done and now you can sit back and relax. Well, almost... After you see Gulliver's spaceship begin to smoke and trail off screen there will be a silver cog called a "spaceship part" lying in your town. There will only be one though, meaning only one person can get a reward from Gulliver per visit.

Where do I find the spaceship part?
All reports say the spaceship part falls along the general path the spaceship flew across town before you hit it. Generally, it isn't too difficult to find although there have been reports of the cog falling behind a tree. In this case I'd recommend using the d-pad to look up into the sky, allowing you to see behind nearby trees.

I have the part, now what?
Well, there's nothing else you can do today with Gulliver. The little guy probably plunged his ship into the ocean by now trying to steer it out of harms way.

WHAT?! Is he okay?
Gulliver has a knack for surviving the oceans rough waters. He must be quite buoyant because the waves carry him right up onto your town's shore on the following morning at 6am. He and his wrecked spaceship will remain there for 24 hours so you should plan ahead and find a few minutes to scan your shores for his unconscious body.

I found him lying on the shore, but he won't wake up.
Gulliver has trouble slipping back into consciousness so sometimes you'll need to pester him for quite some time before he wakes up.

I gave him the spaceship part and in turn he gave me something. What all can I get from Gulliver?
Gulliver can reward you with any of these items once you give him the spaceship part:
Maoi Statue
Tribal Mask
Arc de Triomphe
Merlion
Pagoda
Plate Armor
Mermaid Statue
Mouth of Truth
Manneken Pis
Tower of Pisa
Compass
Matryoshka
Chocolates
Metroid
The gift he gives you is randomly determined so if you dislike what you get, you can reset your game and give him the spaceship part again in hopes of getting a new reward. The odds of getting any one of the above items appear to be the same.


Thank you to katysu for your various information sources, Liquefy being one of the largest.

nicely done...just one minor nitpick...his ship has changed names again...it was Porpoise 5000 in WW, its now back to the Crusty Barnacle in CF...or maybe it was Crusty Space Barnacle...can't remember exactly...but I know its something like that...and not Porpoise 5000 again...I talked with him Tuesday...like 12hrs ago...so, its pretty fresh in my head.

...also, how can you guarantee he'll do a second pass? I swear I've heard him before, but not seen him and never heard a return visit even though I ran up and down trying to see if he'd come back...the second pass is the most difficult thing to test I'm guessing...otherwise, nicely done guide...

oh, I think his choice of route may depend on where you're actually standing when he's suppose to pass over...probably another percentage thing...I've never personally seen him fly over the southern most route in my town...but that's because I usually stand where I can watch the middle and northern routes at the same time.

Thanks for the correction AdmiralBurbia. If you knew the exact name I would have added that info. I'll have to pay attention to his dialog next time. Both times I've seen him, he didn't mention the name of his ship.

You're right, it's tricky to be certain he always makes two passes. Sometimes I only see his ship on the second pass though. I know this because I know how long one pass takes. Once I know the first pass is over (after have been waiting for him) I frequently see him for the second pass only. It would be strange for the developers to make him so inconsistent as to not make a passover twice every time. I'm really just assuming here because most of my testing I would only see him pass over once. The times that he passed over varied though showing that I'd catch him during his second flight just as much as his first. I'd recommend you set a timer in the future so you know exactly how much time is passing and you can determine exactly when he starts his flight. At XX:02.40 or XX:07.40 he should have begun his second flight.  If you catch this flight then you will not see him fly over again.

I tried to test whether where you stand influences where he flies over. I didn't get as much testing as I would need to make a solid statement, but from 8 times waiting on each of the balloon paths, I found that only one of the times he would fly over on that balloon path. The developers may have gone for the "random" approach over an influenced choice of flight path because rarely are players on a path for very long. By time the ship gets to the point you were at when you were on that balloon route you may be acres away. A random choice of path appears slightly more fair to the many different ways people play and run about town. I'd like to test this further though.

excelant guide, well done!

Nice guide! I haven't seen Gulliver yet, so this will be a big help for me when I do. Thanks!

Really well done!  This should be stickied!

I usually stand just south of the middle route, and everytime I've seen him on the middle route except twice he was on the north route...but I was standing more north than usual when I saw him on the north route...it is really hard to test this though because the exact routes are a bit difficult to track over the rivers and such.

Also, I was wondering....do we know yet if its possible to get Gulliver to fly over while you have wifi visitors? Since they could help out quite a bit in testing certain aspects...like the above...I'm guessing that you can't have wifi visitors while he's flying over...but I haven't tested this, so I don't know for sure.

Gulliver, like balloon-presents, will not fly over while you have visitors over nor while your gates are open. This may be part of the reason that many people have not seen him.

Don't you mean Moai Statue? Is that a typo?
Well either way, stickify!

What an awesome guide, GAMEsiphon! I didn't know much about Gulliver and this actually taught me a lot. Hopefully I'll run into him sometime now. Also, like everyone else is saying, this should be stickied.

Thank you for noticing my typo catlover341. Unfortunately there's not too much I can do about it. I thought I checked all those item spellings over, but I guess not.

I'm glad the reception is good. I just hope this leads to more Gulliver sightings and hopefully more playings will be able to shoot him down too.

Very nice. Mind if I give it a sticky?

Wow, this is so useful! Thanks!

Yay, it's stickied!
Wonderful guide, thanks Titan!
Great job on this, you needed it!

Congrats on the sticky!

got stickied! congradulations

Is he really an Albatross?!
I thought he was a Pelican. A long-lost relative of Pelly, Phyliss and Pete. But for some reason, they gave him some random name starting with G instead of P.

Gulliver is for sure not a Pelican, but it is debatable whether he is a gull or an albatross which are two very similar looking birds. Gulliver has black tipped wings just like many gulls and albatross. A point of interest is his beak which doesn't taper as much as if he were a gull. Albatross have a rounded beak like Gulliver and with an extremely similar marking on all birds within the family while gulls have a slightly different nose marking and many are completely without.

my vote is albatross due to the beak shape and its black tip
but even so gulliver possess both gull and albatros qualities

My vote is for Gulliver.
But he is very simular to a Albatross... Hrm...

It's true that Gulliver was named both because he is very reminiscent of a gull and because he travels just like the explorer in the novel Gulliver's Travels. However, this is not evidence toward Gulliver being a gull. Remember that the Japanese character Johnny came about first. The TreeHouse got a hold of Animal Crossing and found the name Gulliver more suiting. This does not necessarily reflect what the designers envisioned the character Gulliver to be.

Intriguing. *taps fingers together*

Sometimes they make these animals hard to decipher exactly what they are. *coughDr.Shrunkcoughcough*

axalotl, a typer of salamander, commenly known as a walking fish

I know this is off topic but what is docter shrunk  my guess is an axolotl also i caught gullver 6 times yay