It's been nearly a year since Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched on the Nintendo Switch. In all that time, a lot of fans have already decided which villagers reign supreme and which deserve to be left on a deserted island. It's always a matter of personal preference, but there's some general thoughts by the fandom of whom ranks among the best and among the worst.
Updated August 2, 2021 by Mina Smith: Although Animal Crossing: New Horizons has yet to add any new villagers since this writing, there have been some changes in the original tier list as players met other villagers and had to chase others from their islands. This article has been updated with the new tier list, some more pictures of all the villager tiers, and some additional information on S Tier villagers. Hopefully, this will help new players to choose their own favorites and collect all the villagers that they want for their own islands.
Although Animal Crossing: New Horizons only added eight new villagers to the series (fourteen if the new Sanrio villagers are counted), the series is now just shy of four hundred different villagers for players to befriend and attach themselves to. With so many available across all the different games, it's only natural that some villagers stand out more than others, but we are focusing on those that received an English release.
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When it comes to Animal Crossing, it's important to remember that there are no "bad" villagers. A villager that one person doesn't connect with in any way could be another player's best friend in their town. Having said that, there are definitely some villagers who taking a little more time to warm up to than others.
- Ankha – The snooty, ancient Egyptian-themed cat villager.
- Bob – The purple, lazy cat villager with half-closed eyes.
- Lucky – Lucky is the opposite of lucky; this poor dog villager is always wrapped from head to toe in bandages.
- Marshal – This smug squirrel has stolen everyone's hearts with his always blushing cheeks.
- Merengue – Merengue is a normal rhino villager that looks like a strawberry short cake.
- Raymond – This smug cat is all business, and his serious, business cat look has won over the whole internet. He is probably the most popular villager in all of ACNH.
- Sherb – A blue ram whose main hobby is sleeping, and is one of the laziest villagers.
- Stitches – One of only six villagers that is not actually an animal, Stitches is the lazy stuffed bear everyone wants.
- Tia – Tia is the normal elephant villager that looks like a teapot.
- Zucker – An octopus villager that looks like an octopus takoyaki ball, which is a popular snack in Japan.
The S Tier villager list could basically be considered Animal Crossing royalty. Some of these elite members have ruled the popularity charts since the Animal Crossing series' debut, but Animal Crossing: New Horizons newcomers like Raymond and Sherb have instantly earned their spots in many player's hearts.
It's a little hard to pinpoint exactly what will lead to a villager becoming part of the S Tier, but a stand-out quality is that they feel unique. Most bring a specific theme like Ankha with her Egyptian style, making her extremely recognizable among the other cats. Others have clever designs like the food-based Zucker and Merengue.
Villagers like Bob and Marshal, however, won over fans with an almost indescribable cuteness that, for a while, took social media by storm. To this day, these villagers are still highly sought after by players in online Animal Crossing circles. Any players considering giving one of them up might want to give their decision a second thought.
Villagers: Apollo, Audie, Benjamin, Blanche, Boone, Camofrog, Cherry, Coco, Chrissy, Diana, Dobie, Dom, Drago, Erik, Epona, Fauna, Felyne, Francine, Frita, Ganon, Gaston, Genji, Hopper, Judy, Julia, Julian, Ketchup, Lily, Lobo, Margie, Marina, Marty, Mira, Molly, Pekoe, Phoebe, Poppy, Raddle, Ribbot, Roald, Rosie, Shep, Sly, Snake, Sprinkle, Sprocket, Tucker, Walt, Whitney, Wolf Link, Wolfgang, Woolio, Etoile
These villagers may not be as hard to find as the ones in the S Tier, but that doesn't mean players aren't willing to spend tens of nook mile tickets (or real cash) in order to have them as neighbors. Many of these villagers push the threshold of being in the S Tier category, but for whatever reason, they're missing that unidentifiable "it" factor.
What a lot of these characters do have (on top of their cuteness) is a story. Audie, Animal Crossing: New Horizons' newest wolf villager, was supposedly made in reference to Audrey Buchanan, an 88 year old woman who put over three thousand hours into Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Benjamin, a dog villager, goes by the name Hachi in the Japanese version of Animal Crossing. It's believed that this villager was made in reference to the story of Hachiko, a famous true story in Japan about a dog that loyally waited for its owner at Shibuya Station for several years after he had passed away.
A small handful of the A Tier villagers are Animal Crossing collaboration characters, exclusively linked to amiibo cards. While this does make characters like Marty and Wolf Link especially rare, it does limit the amount of people who could get them to ones who were able to obtain them. Fans are already eagerly awaiting the release of the Sanrio amiibo cards to scan in some of the cuter villagers that they're linked to.
Villagers: Alfonso, Alice, Amelia, Annalisa, Apple, Aurora, Avery, Bea, Beardo, Beau, Becky, Bianca, Bill, Billy, Biskit, Bones, Bud, Bunnie, Celia, Chadder, Chai, Chelsea, Cheri, Chief, Claude, Clay, Colton, Cousteau, Daisy, Deirdre, Dozer, Drift, Ellie, Eugene, Eunice, Fang, Felicity, Filly, Flora, Freya, Gala, Gayle, Goldie, Graham, Hamlet, Hans, Hopkins, Hornsby, Inkwell, Jacques, June, Kabuki, Ken, Kevin, Kid Cat, Kiki, Kyle, Leonardo, Leopold, Lolly, Lopez, Louie, Mac, Maddie, Maple, Marcel, Marcie, Medli, Melba, Merry, Mitzi, Murphy, O’Hare, Octavian, Papi, Pashmina, Phil, Pierce, Pietro, Pigleg, Piper, Portia, Puck, Punchy, Rasher, Renee, Robin, Rod, Rodeo, Rooney, Rory, Roscoe, Ruby, Rudy, Savannah, Shari, Simon, Skye, Spike, Static, Sterling, Sylvana, Tangy, Tank, Tasha, Tipper, Toby, Tom, Tutu, Twiggy, Vesta, Viche, Victoria, Vivian, Vladimir, Wade, Willow, Zell
If cuteness were the only deciding factor for what made an Animal Crossing villager top tier, nearly all of them would be in the S Tier category. It unfortunately takes a bit more than that though, and that's about all these villagers bring to the table. Characters like Daisy and Lolly are cute villagers for sure, but there isn't anything pushing them far above villagers of the same species like Goldie or Kiki.
A few of the villagers in this tier are held back by the very themes that made them so unique in the first place. A villager like Kid Cat for instance, stands out for his Power Rangers/Super Sentai inspired design, but because his design includes his helmet, it's permanently stuck on his head. This makes any outfit besides his default look jarring, and any hat he wears over his helmet can look straight up silly. As great as these villagers are, many of them feel specific to fans drawn to their theme.
Villagers: Admiral, Agent S, Agnes, Alli, Annabelle, Anchovy, Annalise, Antonio, Ava, Axel, Aziz, Baabara, Bam, Bangle, Bella, Benedict, Bertha, Bettina, Big Top, Blaire, Bluebear, Bonbon, Boomer, Boots, Boris, Bruce, Bubbles, Buck, Butch, Buzz, Carmen (mouse), Carmen (rabbit), Carrie, Cece, Cesar, Champ, Charlise, Chevre, Chops, Claudia, Cleo, Cole, Cookie, Cranston, Croque, Cube, Curlos, Curt, Deena, Del, Deli, Dizzy, Doc, Dotty, Drake, Ed, Egbert, Elise, Eloise, Elvis, Emerald, Filbert, Flip, Flo, Flurry, Frank, Friga, Frobert, Fuchsia, Gabi, Gladys, Gloria, Gonzo, Goose, Greta, Grizzly, Groucho, Gwen, Henry, Huck, Hugh, Iggly, Jay, Jeremiah, Katt, Keaton, Kidd, Kitty, Knox, Kody, Lionel, Liz, Lucha, Lucy, Lyman, Maggie, Mathilda, Megan, Midge, Miranda, Moe, Monique, Monty, Mott, Muffy, Nan, Nana, Naomi, Nat, Norma, Nosegay, Olive, Olivia, Opal, Ozzie, Paolo, Pate, Patty, Peaches, Peanut, Pecan, Peck, Peewee, Peggy, Penelope, Petunia, Pippy, Pompom, Poncho, Pudge, Purrl, Queenie, Quetzal, Reneigh, Rex, Rhoda, Rio, Rocco, Rolf, Rowan, Sally, Sandy, Sheldon, Soleil, Sparro, Stella, Stu, Sue E., Sven, Sydney, Sylvia, Tad, Tammi, Tammy, Teddy, Tybalt, Ursala, Valise, Weber, Winnie, Yuka
Being listed as a C Tier villager might sound bad, but there's nothing particularly wrong with the majority of these villagers. At the same, time however, there's nothing noteworthy about them either. The majority of these Animal Crossing villagers have little unique about them and either feel like different colored variants of one another or look like a basic version of their real-life counterparts.
Something unfortunate about the C Tier category is that it's the highest that a lot of the original Animal Crossing villagers can get to. Even with how long the list of Animal Crossing villagers is today, a good number of characters never made it past the first game.
Having never gotten a makeover or glow up like characters such Bob, Rosie or Apollo, these villagers are left with nothing but old and flat designs along with house interiors that barely make sense. It would be great to see some of these villagers return one day in an Animal Crossing: New Horizons update with fresh new looks.
Villagers: Ace, Al, Angus, Anicotti, Astrid, Barold, Belle, Bessie, Betty, Biff, Bitty, Boyd, Bree, Broccolo, Broffina, Callie, Canberra, Candi, Caroline, Cashmere, Chester, Chico, Chow, Chuck, Clyde, Coach, Cobb, Cupcake, Curly, Cyrano, Derwin, Diva, Dora, Elina, Elmer, Faith, Flash, Flossie, Freckles, Gigi, Gruff, Hambo, Hamphrey, Hank, Harry, Hazel, Hector, Hippeux, Huggy, Iggy, Ike, Jacob, Jambette, Jane, Jitters, Joey, Kaitlin, Kitt, Klaus, Leigh, Limberg, Lulu, Maelle, Mallary, Marcy, Mint, Moose, Nate, Nibbles, Olaf, Otis, Oxford, Pancetti, Pango, Paula, Penny, Pinky, Plucky, Prince, Puddles, Quillson, Rhonda, Ricky, Rilla, Rizzo, Rocket, Rodney, Rollo, Samson, Scoot, Snooty, Spork, Stinky, T-Bone, Tabby, Tex, Tiara, Tiffany, Timbra, Truffles, Twirp, Velma, Vic, Violet, Wart Jr., Wendy, Yodel, Zoe
To many, these villagers are considered the lowest of the low. Players will go out of their way to avoid having some of these characters in their towns and usually end up falling victim to purposely planted pitfall seeds or bug catching net attacks.
It's easy to turn on these villagers for their somewhat ugly appearances or upside down house designs. However, like with any of the villagers across the Animal Crossing series, there's still a potential chance at a great and long-lasting friendship.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is currently available on the Nintendo Switch.
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