In a game like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, where your friendly island neighbors come in by the dozens, it would be impossible to not have favorites. But with over 400 villagers to choose from, most people would think there’d be an even enough spread of them to keep any single animal from conquering the lists. And they’d be dead wrong.
15. Stitches
Starting off this list is one of the most beloved of his category, Stitches. He’s a lazy bear cub with a kidcore theme. This sticky little bug-lover definitely has more than meets the eye with him. He’s surprisingly popular!
Stuffed Animal/Child Theme
Stitches is the only villager designed to appear as a stuffed toy. While most are either intended to look like real animals or even robots, Stitches (as stated by his name) is made to look like a teddy bear, complete with seamlines, stitches, and a patchwork of differently-colored fabrics that make up the different parts of his body.
This is in-line with his house theme, which is designed to look like a child’s bedroom. This makes him perfect for a kid-themed or otherwise brightly-colored island!
He’s Super Cute
While this might come off as a given, any player that’s seen the likes of Barold or Al will know not to take a villager’s cuteness for granted. And with his cuddly teddy bear appearance, Stitches has cuteness in abundance! Other players definitely agree since they often trade for Stitches online for as much as 2 million bells (in-game currency) or more!
He Gives You Art
One of the many perks of having a lazy personality type villager is that they have a tendency to send the player art pieces at random intervals through the mail. While smug and jock type villagers also do this, lazy types and jock types will occasionally give you genuine pieces- something extremely useful to the player, since genuine pieces are annoyingly difficult to come by, whereas smug villagers will only ever send fakes. Anyone interested in completing the art gallery in their museum will love these villagers!
14. Quinn
Next on our list is Quinn, a lovely purple eagle. She's amongst the 16 new villagers that came from the 2.0 update, which naturally gave her plenty of attention. Unsurprisingly, her cool style and novelty aren't the only things she has to offer.
A Rare Personality
Quinn is a sisterly type villager, one of the two newest personality types introduced by Nintendo in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. As such, this and the other category, the smug type, have the least villagers even after Nintendo repurposed other villagers to give them this new personality for its launch. Since different personality types have different dialogue and will give you different reaction options, it's very important and helpful to have one of each type on your island at least once.
Free Medicine
Ever gotten stung by wasps, only to realize you don't have enough bells to even buy medicine? Well, worry no more! As part of her sisterly nature, Quinn will provide you with free medicine if you speak to her after being stung.
Aesthetic
Whether you're creating a modern city build, a goth haven, or a haunted spook-themed island, Quinn's simple modern black and purple home will fit right in. This versatile style is good even for islands without themes.
Late Nights
All of the villagers have sleep schedules that differ according to personality. Sisterly villagers wake up the latest and stay up the second latest. This is good for anyone whose schedule only allows them to play very late (or early) since it means there’s at least one villager awake to keep them company.
13. Audie
Audie is a peppy wolf villager with a tropical style. She’s a new villager whose only appearance in the franchise so far is New Horizons. It’s commonly believed that she was named after an elderly woman who went viral online for playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Cute
As stated before, cuteness isn't actually as abundant in the Animal Crossing franchise as expected. It's important to recognize it when and where it's available. Audie is a perfect example of a cute wolf villager players want on their islands!
High Seller
Because she's both fairly new and adorable, many people are willing to buy or trade for her at high prices. So for those more interested in the New Horizons markets than in a new neighbor, she's an ideal guest for your island. It might be a short stay, but it’ll certainly be profitable!
Her Aesthetic
Considering Animal Crossing: New Horizons does indeed take place on an island, it makes sense that some players decide to make their island a tropical-themed resort for them and their villagers. Audie makes a perfect neighbor in that case, with both her clothes and her house being tropical vacation-themed. Even her fur is a lovely shade of sunset orange, to fit the tropical sunset!
12. Marlo
Marlo is a cranky hamster villager. He's part of the newest batch of villagers from the 2.0 update. Unsurprisingly, the novelty makes him quite popular, despite looking like someone’s stuffy old neighbor.
A Gentlemanly Aesthetic
Both Marlo and his home have a classic theme, which can appeal to those who want a city or even a vintage aesthetic for their islands. With his tiny glasses and suit, he makes a great companion for Raymond. Or even for a sophisticated Resident Representative!
Sells Well
While all of the villagers on this list sell well, as a 2.0 update villager, Marlo sells exceptionally high. It's always worth mentioning when someone can get their bells' worth from an investment. He goes for an average of 2.5 million bells, which is better than most villagers.
Free Medicine
Like the sisterly villagers, cranky types will provide the player with free medicine if spoken to after the player is stung. This provides the player with another free source of medicine to save some money or at least a walk to the store for it. Since sometimes it’s hard to find a specific villager on your island, having multiple available to give you medicine is a good strategy.
Night Owl
As stated before, villagers have different sleep schedules according to their personalities. As a cranky villager, Marlo sleeps at 3:30 AM, the latest out of all the personality types. This can be good for those who like to go wasp-hunting at odd hours of the night.
11. Roswell
Like Quinn and Marlo, Roswell is yet another new villager. He's a lazy alligator, and one of those villagers that makes you appreciate your cute villagers more. Sorry, Roswell!
He's New
Fortunately, his novelty as a new villager is enough for people to be willing to trade for or purchase him for their islands, if only for now. He still sells rather high, with a common price being about 3 million bells. While it’s unknown how long this popularity will continue, it might be worth considering for those who want to earn bells quickly. Try trading him while it lasts!
The Aesthetic
While neither he nor his home is all that cute, aesthetically speaking, he certainly is useful. His house takes on the appearance of a junkyard or abandoned city lot of some kind, which can be helpful to players who intend to make a city island. Being a mute-toned alligator, Roswell could also fit in a swamp-themed island, though players who want total congruence might want to remodel his home to suit their needs.
Free Art
As a lazy villager, Roswell will gift the player with free art at random intervals. Unlike smug villagers, these pieces have a chance of being genuine artworks, which gives the player a second avenue for gathering these collectibles besides constantly hunting down or badgering Redd in the hopes of finding genuine art. Since it might be difficult to obtain other lazy villagers from high demand, Roswell could be a good option for some, especially if they don’t mind his looks.
10. Ankha
Probably one of the most unique looks of all the villagers comes from Ankha. She’s a snooty cat villager. Cats are the most popular villager species, so this combined with her unique theme definitely contributes to her popularity.
A Unique Aesthetic
Ankha is the only villager with her theme. She and her house are based on ancient Egyptian imagery, such as sphinxes, pyramids, and Pharaohs. Even her name, an adaptation of the Egyptian word "ankh", is Egyptian-themed. This can make a great addition to someone's island, whether they want a haunted mummy house or an archeological dig, the only limit is the player's creativity.
Super Cute
As with many- but not all- on this list, Ankha is a very adorable villager. As Roswell may have reminded you, that's not always the case in a roster of 400+ villagers available to you. So for those interested especially in cute cats, she’s a fantastic option.
Bells!
As stated before, the villagers on this list are all metaphorical gold mines. Ankha herself was previously in the top three of villagers who sold for the most on average. Any tradesman worth their bells would know she's a sure and solid investment to make.
9. Marshal
Next is Marshal, a smug squirrel villager. It's already a given that he's incredibly adorable, which is one of the main reasons he's on this list. However, that’s not all he has going for him.
Rare Personality
Aside from his cuteness is his personality. As a smug villager, he's part of a newer personality category, which offers a new set of unique dialogue options. Smug is also one of the categories that have the least villagers other than the sisterly type, which makes him much more valuable.
Modern Home
While it's now possible to remodel villager homes if you own the Paradise Planning DLC, not everyone can or wants to purchase it. So Marshal's house having a modern and simple style is very appealing for many people, especially those who want to make city or small town islands.
Free Art
While it's been previously established that smug villagers only give out fake art, some people might not mind. Whether it's for their own collection or something else, some players are just as happy with fake art as they are with genuine art, which makes Marshal and other smug villagers a great resource for free art.
8. Petri
Petri is a snooty mouse villager. Like many on this list, she's part of the newest group of villagers released in the 2.0 update. While this certainly contributed to her popularity, there are some other perks to her.
Cute
Beginning with the most obvious one, Petri is quite cute. This is a bonus for anyone who wants to select only the cutest villagers for their island. While some might not find the mismatched ears very cute, her tiny stature and giant glasses more than make up for it anyway.
Unique Aesthetic
While many villagers come with a ‘sophisticated’ look, Petri is the only villager with a doctor/scientist aesthetic. Aside from her adorable white coat and giant glasses, her house is also decorated to look like a doctor’s office or scientist’s laboratory, complete with a suspicious giant science pod in one corner. If you purchase the Paradise Planning DLC and make a vacation home for Petri, she will automatically be selected as the doctor for the hospital after it’s completed.
New Villager
As a new villager, not only is she highly desirable on the market, but she garners a fair amount of notoriety for people with her on her island. The same could be said with any of the new 2.0 villagers, but most especially for the cuter ones, some of which will be encountered further on this list. Players that like sharing pictures and videos of their island online might find a boost in engagement with Petri in their posts.
7. Faith
Yet another new villager, though this one is unique in the sense that she’s actually a returning villager. Faith is a sisterly villager that first appeared in Animal Crossing: New Horizons with the 16 new villagers released during the 2.0 update.
Nostalgia
As previously stated, Faith is a returning villager. She first appeared in the franchise as a normal villager in the original Animal Crossing game known as Animal Forest which was only released in Japan, before disappearing from the franchise two games later, after Animal Forest e+.
She reappeared in Pocket Camp and New Horizons with her new sisterly personality. While many New Horizons players have either never played an Animal Crossing game before the latest installment or have only played a few of the previous ones, those who know and love Faith will be pleased to have her again on their island.
Aesthetic
Nostalgia isn’t the only thing to recommend Faith. She also comes with a lovely beach aesthetic in both her clothes and home, which is perfect for anyone with a tropical island or even just a tropical section on their island. She comes complete with an adorable and fitting catchphrase, “aloha”!
Free Medicine
As a sisterly villager, Faith will give the player free medicine upon being stung by wasps. While it’s noted that speaking to any villager after a wasp sting grants the player the chance of gaining a DIY recipe for medicine, it is still useful to have someone provide medicine for you, especially if you intend to use the material (a single wasp hive) for other DIY projects. Therefore, it’s still helpful to have a lovely sisterly villager like Faith around.
Night Owl
Sisterly villagers like Faith wake up the latest out of all the villagers (yes, even the lazies!) and go to sleep the second-latest, bested only by the cranky villagers. Though 9:30 AM isn’t that late to wake up, going to bed at 3:00 AM is certainly very late to go to sleep. However, this can be useful for anyone who plays at very late or early hours, whether it’s for some company or for free medicine since Nook’s Cranny closes at 10:00 PM.
6. Judy
Judy is a snooty bear cub villager. With her incredibly cute appearance and small stature (as bear cubs are very short), it is unsurprising that she’s among the top 6 of 400+ villagers available to players in New Horizons.
Cute
Unsurprisingly, this is one of her highest selling points. Cuteness is one of the main reasons for many villagers’ popularity, and this is especially the case with Judy. She is often seen at the top of many players’ favorites lists, despite having a snooty personality. This is definitely due to her cuteness.
Unique Appearance
Part of the appeal of Judy’s cute appearance is its uniqueness. No other villagers have big sparkly eyes like Judy’s. Her fur color, an ombre/tie-dye style mix of pastel pink, blue, and purple is unlike any other villager in any of the franchise’s installments.
The Aesthetic
Judy isn’t the only thing that’s cute and pastel. Her home matches her scheme very well, looking much like a room that came out of a child’s dream. This makes it a great fit for islands with fairy core, princess, dreamlike, or otherwise sparkly and pastel themes. Judy herself fits those themes as well, from her snooty personality giving her a love for make-up to her appearance making her look as if she’s stepped out of a fairytale or coloring book.
5. Sasha
Yet another new villager from the 2.0 release, Sasha is a lazy rabbit villager. While this may come as a surprise for some readers (as it definitely did for some players upon the amiibo releases), Sasha is actually a male villager.
Unbelievably Adorable
As previously stated, Sasha is a male villager, which came as quite a shock for many of the English-speaking community of New Horizons. This is in part because of his name but mostly because of his appearance since Sasha is short for Alexander in Russian but is often used as a girl’s name in North America. He’s so cute that many assumed he was a peppy or normal female villager. This makes him very appealing to many players, especially the ones who love cute villagers the most. Male villagers this cute are very hard to come by, so those who want to expand their neighborhood should consider Sasha!
Free Art
As a lazy villager, Sasha gives the player free art at random intervals that have the chance of being genuine pieces. This makes him valuable since without the collective at Harv’s island, Redd can be hard to find. He also doesn’t always have genuine art for sale, even after players gather enough money to bring him to Harv’s island. This makes lazy villagers like Sasha very helpful for finding art for the player’s island museum.
A Good Home Design
Sasha’s home turns out to be just as cute as he is. The interior design holds a similar aesthetic to Judy’s, with pale shades and the same polka-dotted floor. His room focuses more on stuffed animals than stars and wooden blocks, which is Judy’s focus. This similarly soft scheme is a great option for players with islands with themes involving pastels and stuffed toys.
4. Tiansheng
Part of the new group of villagers released to New Horizons in the 2.0 update, Tiansheng is a jock monkey villager modeled after the legendary Sun Wukong from the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West. His name comes from Sun Wukong’s self-given title, “Qí Tiān Dà Shèng”, meaning “The Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal”. His connection to Sun Wukong is further displayed in his catchphrase, “wuwu”.
Home Design
Tiansheng’s home is designed to look like a restaurant kitchen on the inside. This makes his house a great option for someone who wants a restaurant on their island but doesn’t want to put one in their home. And while some might prefer to use the Paradise Planning DLC to remodel another villager’s home instead, some players might not want to do that. Others still might not have access to the Paradise Planning DLC and are incapable of remodeling villager homes because of that.
Free Art
As briefly mentioned before, lazy villagers aren’t the only ones who give the player free art. While smug villagers will also give you art, their gifts are always fake. Jocks and lazies are the ones who run the chance of gifting you genuine art pieces. With these gifts coming at random times, it can be helpful to have more villagers that will give these kinds of gifts. This makes Tiansheng a useful villager, even if a player already has a lazy or two on their island.
Unique Appearance
Tiansheng’s Sun Wukong inspiration is very clear in his appearance. His crown design is reminiscent of the crown Sun Wukong also wore in the novel. His design and background inspiration makes him great for an island involving traditional Chinese themes or even a fable-themed island.
3. Ione
As you probably know by now, Ione is part of the newest batch of villagers released by Nintendo just last fall. She’s a normal personality type squirrel villager with an adorable look.
A Glow
Something you might not know (unless you’ve had the luck of seeing her at night) is that Ione glows in the dark. That alone would’ve been enough to put her on this list. She’s the first villager to do so, and with her theme, this only makes her better.
Unique Theme
Ione is apparently a trend-setter. She’s not just the first to glow in the dark; she’s also the first villager with a space/star-related theme. Those who love space or have an astrology-themed island will love her.
Adorable
This might seem like a given, but if you’ve ever seen Barold or Al, you’d know that not every villager is fortunate in this department. Cuteness in a game like Animal Crossing can sometimes be taken for granted, but those two are sure to remind you to be grateful when you have an adorable Ione on your island!
Early Bird
As a normal villager, Ione wakes up the earliest out of any other type of villager. Normal villagers wake up at 6 AM and go to bed at 12 AM, which is only later than the lazy villagers. This makes her a great villager for players who wake up early and would like company until the shops open.
2. Raymond
Previously the number one most popular villager, Raymond is a smug gray cat that was introduced during New Horizons' initial release.
Rarity
As established, Raymond is a smug cat villager. This alone is appealing to many players since the smug personality type is the newest and least common male personality, which can be refreshing for those who have played Animal Crossing games before. But above his personality, Raymond was also considered difficult to obtain.
Because New Horizons was his first appearance in the franchise, no amiibo cards were produced for him yet. This meant that the only way for a player to obtain him was to either come across him at their island’s campsite or to speak to him as he was moving out of another player’s island, leading to a rise in his popularity.
Home Design
Raymond’s home is designed to look like the inside of an office. This is a surprisingly versatile style that can be used for all kinds of islands, from modern city-themed ones to those without a theme. If players want Raymond on their island but don’t like his house design, they can always remodel it to suit their desires so long as they have the Paradise Planning DLC.
A Good Investment
Though it’s perhaps to be expected, being one of the most popular Animal Crossing villagers ever means many people are willing to offer a lot of money just to have him on their islands. Some have even gone as far as to offer real-world currency for access to him.
On average, Raymond will regularly sell for about 10 million bells, though he’s certainly gone for much higher. This makes Raymond a great investment for those trying to make lots of money at once.
Unique Eyes
Raymond is the only villager as of the creation of this article with heterochromia, otherwise known as having two different eye colors. Raymond has one brown eye and one green eye.
This unique trait makes him stand out to many people within the player base, increasing interest in him. Players looking for characters with individuality would want to consider him for their islands.
Free (Fake) Art
As a smug villager, Raymond will occasionally give the player art through the mailbox. However, smug villagers only ever give fake art, which means it cannot be donated or even sold.
Fake art can only be used for decoration. This can seem like a negative for some, but others might not find a problem with it if they only intend to use the art pieces for display around their islands.
1. Shino
Knocking the king himself off the pedestal is none other than Shino! Our newest peppy addition is a deer whose adorable face took the Animal Crossing community by storm from her very first two-second appearance in the 2.0 trailer last fall. Almost a full year later, she still sells for an average of 10.5 million bells (the in-game currency) on Nookazon, the fan-run trading site for any and all tradeable items (including villagers).
Two Themes
Shino pulls double-duty with being suitable for two popular themes for New Horizons islands: spooky and traditionally Japanese, something most villagers don’t do. Her birthday is also on Halloween, which hammers home her ‘demon deer’ spook factor! Whether it’s for one theme or another, Shino is a perfect fit for many islands!
The Horns
It’s a happy coincidence that this newest batch came with a lot of firsts: the first glow-in-the-dark villager, and the first female deer villager with horns- devil horns, at that. Shino’s long, bright red horns are unique and arguably very cute.
Since she’s also the only female deer villager with horns, even those who don’t know most of the villagers paid fast attention to her cameo in the trailer. Like Sasha, there was even a bit of a debate online as to her gender because of how unusual it was for her to have horns, but anyone who paid attention to the release pattern or the international names already knew that Shino is indeed a female deer. Yoshino, her original name in the Japanese version, is a primarily female name.
A Striking Appearance
Her mix of bright red horns and traditional Japanese eye makeup gives her a unique and iconic look. Anyone who likes unique appearances or specific themes would be more than happy to have her on their island! It’s little wonder that she gained more notoriety than even Raymond in that respect, as compared to his heterochromia, her horns and makeup are harder to miss.
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