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Now, a lot of this comes down to opinion, but we found that these five villagers popped up constantly as ones people were excited to have around. And, on the other side, there were five more that people couldn’t stop bullying in an attempt to get them to move out. So, let’s take a look.
Updated December 28, 2021, by Holly Alice: New Horizons has seen monumental success and popularity since its’ release early last year, and in that time the favoritism of some villagers has changed. There has also been the substantial 2.0 update, which added sixteen new villagers to the game - upending the popularity contest once again.
Some classic faces still remain the most popular, but a lot of the newly added and resurrected characters have made a splash in the community, seeing players shell out thousands of Nook Miles Tickets to secure their new favorites.
16 Great: Ione The Space Squirrel
Animal Crossing: New Horizons already has a good roster of space and alien-themed villagers (see: Octavian and Julian), but the big update added a shiny new face - Ione, the blue, celestial-themed squirrel.
She wears an Astro dress and has a glittery tail with stars imprinted on a dark blue background. Plus, she glows in the dark! Her house is suitably galaxy-themed as well. She’s super cute and has a normal personality that can slot nicely into any island. Ione comes highly recommended for anyone who wants a burst of cool color.
15 Needs to Move Out: Tabby the Cat Face of Nightmares
Tabby has appeared in every Animal Crossing title in the series, much to the disappointment of long-time players. It’s hard to see why Nintendo keeps bringing this cat villager back, as Tabby has one of the most disturbing faces in the franchise. Her strange fixed grimace-like expression, bugged-out eyes, and pig-like nose do not make for easy viewing.
She has the rather cute peppy personality type, but unfortunately, it’s not enough to redeem her in the eyes of fans who hate running into her on their islands. This cat has got to go.
14 Great: Fauna The Fall Theme Deer
Fall is a great time in any Animal Crossing game, and the accordingly themed villagers are no different. The best of which is clearly Fauna the deer. She is designed in a soothing autumnal palette of browns and oranges and has a delightful house made of logs with a red brick-themed interior.
Fauna is another Normal-type villager, so won’t cause too many disturbances. She’s super cute, too, with little eyelashes and pink ears to match her rosy cheeks. Fauna is incredibly sought after, and it’s not hard to see why: Fauna is perfect. In every way.
13 Needs To Move Out: Moose The Elvis Wannabe
Right, who designed this? I just want to talk, honest. Sometimes the team behind Animal Crossing villager designs must be having a bad day, as some of them - like Moose here - are just offensive to look at.
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Why is he blue? Why are his eyes glued upwards? Why does he have mutton chops and curly hair? These questions plague us. Moose is a Jock-type, coincidentally the worse personality type as well. His house interior is an absolute mess too with no real theme. Get it together!
12 Great: Shino The Devilish Deer
Shino is another completely new entry to the series that came with the 2.0 update, and what an entrance she made! She was featured in the Happy Home Paradise trailer, and instantly players went wild.
Why the fuss? Well, Shino is a white deer villager (already off to a good start), with cute little fang teeth (adorable), and horns. Big, red, horns! This instantly makes her one of the more interesting villagers to look at, and her quaint Japanese-themed home, topped with a peppy personality that will immediately make you smile make her a smashing addition to the game. All hail Shino!
11 Needs To Move Out: Jambette The Filler-Addicted Frog
Does this need explaining? Look at her! Maybe that was harsh, but come on. The frog villager type already has a lot of ugly ones, even one included on this list - but Jambette takes the cake. Her face is just jarring. I wouldn’t want her on my island, day or night.
Usually, there is a redeeming feature of the less appealing-looking villagers… not in this case. Her house is filled with boring brown furniture, her song is K.K. Étude, and she has the cheek to ask for a beauty school-themed vacation home.
10 Great: Eugene The Greaser Koala
Eugene is a Koala Bear that wears a leather jacket, sunglasses, and says cool one-liners. Literally, is there anything that needs to be said? Or, does that sum it up? Though, sadly, Eugene’s name in Japanese actually translates to Rocky, which we feel is an exponentially better name.
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In any case, being a Smug Koala, Eugene still gets along with most people in any town, but he might stroke his own ego when it comes to how cool he is.
9 Needs To Move Out: Eloise The Deceptive Trash-Talker Elephant
Eloise is quite the deceptively rude elephant, on the surface, she looks like one of the nicest villagers of the bunch. But, as she gets comfortable on your island and starts talking to others, it quickly becomes clear how self-centered and snooty she is.
Which makes sense considering she has the “snooty” personality type. Eloise gossips sure, but for some reason, it seems like the dev team gave her twice as many insulting lines as most other snooty characters. She picks on other villagers and most won’t stand for that, which is why they absolutely “relocated” her house very quickly.
8 Great: Coco The Clay “Rabbit”
It doesn’t matter what anyone says, Coco is awesome. Coco is obviously inspired by the Gyroids that have popped up throughout the series. Here’s the thing though, Gyroids, and by extension Coco, is based on the Japanese tradition of Haniwa.
Haniwa are clay statues that usually have the ashes of the deceased mixed in and are buried with them as well. So, players can infer that Coco is probably an empty vessel that is possessed by a deceased spirit, which is just so cool! She’s a ghost, but she’s the nicest ghost we’ve ever talked to, and a perfect fit for the fan-made Organization XIII costume.
7 Needs To Move Out: Rodney The Horrible Hamster
Rodney is the ugliest out of all the hamsters, and that’s saying something. Sorry, but judging based on appearance is a sort of standard in Animal Crossing, so we apologize in advance. Rodney has squished proportions just like the other hamsters, but he’s the only one with features that contrast the squished-aspect like his tall eyes and his wide mouth.
Rodney also has a tuft of hair basically on his forehead instead of on the top of his head, which is horrifying to even think about. He’s just not a great pick compared to all the other potentials.
6 Great: Lucky the Mummy Dog
Despite his kind of spooky appearance and graveyard-styled house, Lucky is actually a very adorable villager who quickly wins over the hearts of players that he meets. He has been in every Animal Crossing title to date, living up to his name, as he is one of the lucky few villagers who have done so.
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Lucky the dog is a lazy personality type, which makes him very endearing when you see him ready for bed in his cute nightcap and PJs, or when he tells you about the bugs on the floor that talk to him.
5 Needs to Move Out: Jitters the Wired Bird
Jitters first debuted in Animal Crossing: Wild World and has appeared in every title since. His rather strange appearance with wide staring eyes and dark bags around them makes him live up to his name as he really does look rather jittery.
His catchphrase of “bzzert” also ties in with this, as if this guy has the jitters from drinking too much coffee. Despite his odd appearance, Jitters is actually a jock personality type and this means he’s really into keeping fit and sports.
4 Great: Zucker The Twice As Edible Octopus
Throughout the long, long list of Animal Crossing villagers, there are a good amount of “gimmick” characters. These are Villagers that are specifically themed after a certain item or trait. Meringue is one, Stitches is another, and Zucker is our favorite. Zucker is an octopus that looks like a ball of Takoyaki.
That’s like if there was a pig villager whose head looked like a strip of bacon. So, does that mean Zucker is advertising himself as edible or does he just naturally have green freckles and sauce on top of his head? Even better is the fact that his home is almost always based on food stalls or sushi restaurants.
3 Needs to Move Out: Wart Jr. the King of Ugly Frogs
Wart Jr. has plagued Animal Crossing players since the very beginning of the franchise, appearing in all titles to date other than Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. Living up to his name, Wart Jr. is covered in warts and is a horrible brown color, making him arguably the ugliest villager available in the game.
He’s also a cranky personality type, making him appear grumpy a lot of the time, especially as his catchphrase is “grr-ribbit.” If you get stuck with this guy, your best bet is to boot him by inviting someone, anyone else, via an amiibo card.
2 Great: Raymond the Cat and Breaker of the Internet
Raymond was introduced with the release of New Horizons and he quickly took the fandom by storm, becoming one of the main talking points of the game all over the internet. Many players are willing to shell out millions of bells, hundreds of Nook tickets, and, in some cases, even real money to obtain this coveted cat villager.
Raymond is a smug villager, but that doesn’t detract from his popularity, as fans love his hipster style and penchant for maid outfits. Even if you don’t want to keep him, Raymond is a great villager to have move in just so you can swap him for some Nook Miles tickets.
1 Needs To Move Out: Pietro The Horrifying Clown Sheep
And lastly, there’s Pietro, the sheep clown villager. For those unaware, Japan loves clowns. They don’t have nearly the same long-lasting hatred that the West has with them, and quite frankly they don’t get why we’re off-put by these makeup-wearing jokesters.
In Japan, there isn’t even a word that translates to clown, instead, they call them Pierro’s after the French performer Pierrot. Now that the history lessons are over let’s get to the core of the problem, Pietro is a clown, which is enough to scare most players. You certainly don’t want to see him creeping around your island at night.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released on March 20, 2020, and is available for Nintendo Switch.
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