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Writer's pictureVictoria Brown

Top 3 Animal Crossing Villagers in New Horizons (Opinion)


First, you should probably know a bit of the game. In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the player controls a character who moves to a deserted island after purchasing a “getaway package” from tanuki businessman Tom Nook, the goal being to accomplish assigned tasks and develop their island as they choose. They can gather and craft items, customize the island, and build it into a community of charming anthropomorphic animals.


New Horizons began its development in 2012. The game director, Aya Kyogoku, retained old content from previous games to keep fans happy and also ensured that the game was simple enough to appeal to newcomers. With art and graphics, the developers used the concept of "trigger of play" and the "imagination gap", where the former kept the gameplay simplistic and easy to pick up while the latter kept the art style simple for the player to imagine the rest. The game was announced at E3 2019 via a Nintendo Direct, and after an extended development period, released worldwide March 20, 2020.


New Horizons received wide acclaim from critics, who praised its gameplay and customization options—even going as far as calling it the best game in the Animal Crossing series. The game was nominated for over a dozen awards and was a contender for Game of the Year. It was a major commercial success, selling over 40 million copies worldwide and breaking the console game record for most digital units sold in a single month. New Horizons is, as of now, the best-selling game in the Animal Crossing series, the second best-selling game on the Nintendo Switch, the best-selling game of all time in Japan, and the 16th best-selling video game in history.


1. Raymond



Raymond is a smug cat villager introduced in New Horizons, and later Pocket Camp. His English name means "Advice" or "Council giver", referencing his business attire and home interior. His Japanese phrase can describe someone as strict or serious and his Dutch phrase means neat/tidy, both of which reference his need to be precise stated on his Pocket Camp profile. He has the nature hobby.


Smug villagers are very polite, kind, and gentleman-like. They get along well with most villagers, their personality appearing to be a mix of the other personality types. Smug villagers will also stroke their egos from time to time, going on about how cool they are.

Generally, Raymond will get along with lazy, normal, snooty, and peppy villagers, and may conflict with cranky villagers.


In New Horizons, Raymond's preferred styles are Cool/Elegant, and his preferred colours are Black/Gray. He quickly became one of the most popular villagers introduced in New Horizons, to the point that fans became infamous by hunting day and night for him, as well as trading him for high amounts of Bells, Nook Miles Tickets, or even real-life money. The latter was discouraged by Nintendo.


2. Coco


Coco is a normal rabbit villager from the Animal Crossing series. Her English name probably comes from the coconut, a fruit often depicted with three holes. A reference to chocolate (i.e. cocoa), based on the tradition of chocolate bunnies, is also possible. Coco's catchphrase may relate to the "boing" sound most gyroids make. It may also reference how rabbits are known for hopping. Coco's Japanese name Yayoi (やよい) is a reference to the Yayoi period (300BC-AD300) in Japan, an era near the end of which Haniwa statues, the inspiration for gyroids, were first created.


So far, she is the only rabbit with a normal personality in the Animal Crossing series. Coco is the only villager whose face does not change with expressions, though her eyes and mouth change shape and sizes. Her lack of expression is reflected in her Wild World picture quote. She is one of the few villagers that is technically not an animal, along with Sprocket, Del, Ribbot, Hopkins, Stitches, and Cephalobot. She has the education hobby.


Coco has a normal personality, and frequently acts kind towards the player. Normal villagers generally get along well with lazy, peppy, smug, snooty, and other normal villagers. Coco may conflict with cranky and sisterly villagers. As a normal villager, Coco will usually wake up at 6:00 am and is easier to befriend than most. Both normal and peppy villagers reference an unseen friend known as Moppina.


3. Bob



Bob is a lazy cat villager who has appeared in every game of the Animal Crossing series. His name is most likely based off the bobcat. His initial phrase, "pthhhpth", may be a reference to the sound a cat makes when coughing up a hairball (this is further supported by the information on the e-Card which indicates he tends to spit often while speaking). His picture phrase in New Leaf is a feline spin on the memetic phrase, "You only live once." He has the play hobby.


Bob was long speculated to be the first villager designed due to appearing in every game, his simplicity, name, January 1st birthday, and having the first villager e-Card and amiibo card. This was later confirmed in a conference by series director Hisashi Nogami.

As a lazy villager, Bob will be friendly and easy to get along with due to his laid-back lifestyle. Like all lazy villagers, he has a love of food and relaxing. He will enjoy partaking in the usual hobbies, usually for relaxing reasons or for food, like when fishing. Bob will get along well with other villagers, but may offend or confuse jock villagers, who have a lifestyle of exercise and fitness, which conflicts with the lazy lifestyle of relaxing and food. He will get along with other lazy villagers with whom he will talk about food, comics, or superheroes. He will also get along well with normal, peppy, smug, sisterly villagers, and occasionally cranky villagers, but may from time to time annoy snooty villagers, who disagree with the lazy lifestyle.


All three of the villagers I have listed are very friendly villagers, and are also part of the friendlier sides. Having two of three of these villagers on my own island, I can confirm they are very worth searching for on stranded islands. They make the island more fun, they’re very chill to talk to, and they get along with everyone else who you could possibly have.

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