In your opinion, what makes a villager popular, and what defines them being popular to you?

[CylieDanny]

For me, its themes.

Since people doing certain themes, look up villagers for that theme and uses them. So when you visit certain themes you always see the same villagers. Most of the time at least.

In my opinion the most popular villager is Molly, because shes cute, and you see her often in a large number of things. But I also feel like what makes a villager popular are the ones that you hear people talk about the most

Which is why I concider some villagers people called *underated* to actually be popular like Joey, whos talked about alot among duck fans and quite talked about in Underated comunities. But people still concider him to be underated while many people want him.

Marshal is popular for his apearence, but not talked about half as much as others. If anything he appears in alot of dislike communitiess. Same goes for Raymond. So does that still make them popular? Maybe in the dislike comunity. Sad.

But in my opinion alot of the underated villagers are pretty popular compared to the ones that were concidered to be most popular. The midlined ones are also quite popular, like Poppy.

So, what are your own personal thoughts?

 

[Croconaw]

I’m my opinion, it’s appearance. Villagers with the same personality and subtype are the same villagers with different skins. There’s nothing to judge except for the skins.

 

[VanitasFan26]

I really don't understand the appeal of "popular villagers" like I know when I saw Raymond I have to be like "What is all the hype about its just another smug villager who talks the same way" then I found out that back in New Leaf Marshal at the time was the most popular villager and he was also a smug villager.

I come to realize that most people seem to think whenever a smug villager looks cool and they have a unique look that makes them stand out then thats probably how people view them as "popular". At the end of the day it just depends on personal perferance or whatever you think which villager deserves to be popular.

Then again there were other villagers that were popular like Audie, Sherb, Dom, Judy, Sasha, and Shino. I think its becuase whenever there are new villagers added to AC series you have a lot of people wanting to get these villagers so badly. Its all for how they look and not really much caring about the dialgoue since they all speak the same way as any other villager. No offense to anyone out there who likes these villagers but to me I just don't get the appeal so much.

 

[-Mars-]

The most popular villagers are the ones that have designs that strike out the most to fans and unrated villagers are under looked because a lot of people don't even know these villagers even exist because people only talk about the something 50ish top tier villagers out of all the over 400 villagers to chose from

also it drives me up the walls when people try and say they really like one specific villager because of their personality and they dislike other specific villagers of the same personality because those villagers are ugly all because their personality makes them ugly? No appearance is everything, all villagers of the same personality talk exactly the same and subtypes are barely different. If you like Marshal because he's smug then you should like the smug personality in general? But Rodney is ugly because of his Smug personality? No it's because you like Marshal's appearance not his personality ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[CylieDanny]

The most popular villagers are the ones that have designs that strike out the most to fans and unrated villagers are under looked because a lot of people don't even know these villagers even exist because people only talk about the something 50ish top tier villagers out of all the over 400 villagers to chose from

also it drives me up the walls when people try and say they really like one specific villager because of their personality and they dislike other specific villagers of the same personality because those villagers are ugly all because their personality makes them ugly? No appearance is everything, all villagers of the same personality talk exactly the same and subtypes are barely different. If you like Marshal because he's smug then you should like the smug personality in general? But Rodney is ugly because of his Smug personality? No it's because you like Marshal's appearance not his personality ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yep, I I completly agree with how if you like Marshal as a smug. You should like Rodney because their the same with different skin

 

[FaeLeaf]

also it drives me up the walls when people try and say they really like one specific villager because of their personality and they dislike other specific villagers of the same personality because those villagers are ugly all because their personality makes them ugly? No appearance is everything, all villagers of the same personality talk exactly the same and subtypes are barely different. If you like Marshal because he's smug then you should like the smug personality in general? But Rodney is ugly because of his Smug personality? No it's because you like Marshal's appearance not his personality ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

SAME! I don't understand posts asking, "What is [villager] like?" and people will respond talking about how nice or funny or any other trait they are. Like, there are literally eight possible ways a villager can be. Every jock is exactly the same just wrapped up in a different package.

 

[VanitasFan26]

SAME! I don't understand posts asking, "What is [villager] like?" and people will respond talking about how nice or funny or any other trait they are. Like, there are literally eight possible ways a villager can be. Every jock is exactly the same just wrapped up in a different package.

I see that all the time on the AC subreddit. Its wild over there.

 

[FaeLeaf]

I see that all the time on the AC subreddit. Its wild over there.

Yeah, seriously. I'm always like

when I see people ask about villagers like that.

It literally just comes down to how they look and if you vibe with the personality. Since everyone is super nice now (snooty and cranky really don't mean anything anymore), it almost always does just come down to appearances. Quite shallow, actually. LOL

 

[AccfSally]

100% agree with everything here.

It makes me sad whenever I see a top 10 best villagers and worst villagers list/video, and the top villager (ex: Marshal or Poppy) is the 'best' of their personality. While villagers of that same personality (ex: Chadder or Bertha) considered 'worst'.

 

[CylieDanny]

Yeah, like watching a top ten favorite species, and seeking that the top cat is the same personality as the bottom cat is weird. Or any species.

 

[Rosch]

It all comes down to design.

Egbert and Benedict are both lazy chickens, but Benedict is higher in most tiers simply because Egbert has eyebags. Moe, Bob and Punchy are all Lazy cats yet Moe is forgettable, simply because of his design. So yeah... design.

 

[MiniPocketWorld]

I'm surprised to hear that of Benedict and Egbert.
Egbert is waay cuter impo.

I have noticed non loud colors seem to be a common theme among really popular villagers along with commonly loved animals. Dogs and cats are more loved than ostriches and kangaroos. More people have been around live cats and dogs cuz of them being common pets... Common animal celebrities? In entertainment are cats and dogs.
Most people are more familiar with other animals like deer or squirrels than say hippos or penguins. Maybe people associate memories with them. Deer can be found on hikes or during hunting with friends, squirrels in parks when they were kids, or now with their own kids.

 

[Croconaw]

Appearance is literally everything here. As I’ve said before, these villagers are just the same character with different skins, assuming they share personality and subtype.

Appearance matters a lot, as much as we don’t want it to. In real life, we are in fact treated differently based on appearance. It’s the first impression we get of anything, so we’re not going to give it a chance if we don’t like how it looks. It’s the sad reality.

I don’t want to go away from the topic of the villagers, though, so I’ll stop right there. Appearance and aesthetic are just the first things you notice. If you’re not interested right off the bat, you won’t give it a chance.

 

[CylieDanny]

Appearance is literally everything here. As I’ve said before, these villagers are just the same character with different skins, assuming they share personality and subtype.

Appearance matters a lot, as much as we don’t want it to. In real life, we are in fact treated differently based on appearance. It’s the first impression we get of anything, so we’re not going to give it a chance if we don’t like how it looks. It’s the sad reality.

Just another real life reminder from Animal Crossing indeed

 

[Corrie]

Definitely design. Villagers of the same personality all talk the same. I've found that certain aesthetics are popular too. Pastel/dreamy coloured villagers are pretty popular (Diana, Marshal, Julian), back in NL days anyway. Same with the foresty ones like Fauna and Beau. I'm honestly not sure why Raymond was so popular. He doesn't seem to fit into the popular aesthetic? Maybe him being a cat? I know cats, dogs, squirrels, etc are more popular than species like hippos, chickens, or alligators.

 

[CylieDanny]

Definitely design. Villagers of the same personality all talk the same. I've found that certain aesthetics are popular too. Pastel/dreamy coloured villagers are pretty popular (Diana, Marshal, Julian), back in NL days anyway. Same with the foresty ones like Fauna and Beau. I'm honestly not sure why Raymond was so popular. He doesn't seem to fit into the popular aesthetic? Maybe him being a cat? I know cats, dogs, squirrels, etc are more popular than species like hippos, chickens, or alligators.

Probably because of how close his design fits a smug villager. People like when personalities match the design.

 

[zissou]

Like others have said, popularity is based primarily on design. There may be some bias towards certain personality types (smugs, and lazies seem more popular than jocks and sisterlies, for example) but a popular design clearly outweighs personality.

Cuteness seems to be the defining factor in which designs are most popular. Some novelty villagers are popular (Lucky, Coco, Stitches, etc.) while other "unique" villagers are not (Ribbot, Rocket, Knox), which I chalk up to preferences for certain animals and aesthetics.

In general people prefer more "naturally" colored villagers, which perhaps ties into the overwhelming popularity of "foresty" and "cottagecore" towns. However, there's also a boost for cute villagers that fit into a "theme". Diana, Judy, Julian for a "dreamy" theme; Erik, Fauna, Molly for a "forest" theme; Ione, Julian, Petri for a "space" theme; Lucky, Kiki, and Coco for a "witchy" theme, etc.

Everyone should play the game however makes them happiest, but villager tiering and the obsession with collecting "popular" villagers is so strange to me. Of course we'll form attachments to certain villagers based on the experiences we have with them, and of course some designs are more appealing to certain people than others, but... they're all the same. I personally find it fun to meet new villagers randomly. I discovered Naomi on a Nook Mile tour the other day, and I was shocked I'd never heard of her before, because she has such a cool design!

P. S. Raymond was destined to be a hit. He's a smug, blond, anime cat with heterochromia. He was basically invented in a lab to be every village's quirky workaholic love interest.

 

[FaeLeaf]

I also think the newest villagers are destined to be popular. Seems like the ones they resurrected from the Gamecube, like Ace and Azalea, are popular now simply because they're new. But if you'd asked people which villagers they wanted, no one would've said "I wish they'd bring Ace or Azalea back."

As said above, people are also big on what's trendy. If EVERYONE loved Tabby, people would want her. If EVERYONE wanted Chops, people would want him. The popular villagers stay popular a lot longer because they're popular.

 

[CylieDanny]

Like others have said, popularity is based primarily on design. There may be some bias towards certain personality types (smugs, and lazies seem more popular than jocks and sisterlies, for example) but a popular design clearly outweighs personality.

Cuteness seems to be the defining factor in which designs are most popular. Some novelty villagers are popular (Lucky, Coco, Stitches, etc.) while other "unique" villagers are not (Ribbot, Rocket, Knox), which I chalk up to preferences for certain animals and aesthetics.

In general people prefer more "naturally" colored villagers, which perhaps ties into the overwhelming popularity of "foresty" and "cottagecore" towns. However, there's also a boost for cute villagers that fit into a "theme". Diana, Judy, Julian for a "dreamy" theme; Erik, Fauna, Molly for a "forest" theme; Ione, Julian, Petri for a "space" theme; Lucky, Kiki, and Coco for a "witchy" theme, etc.

Everyone should play the game however makes them happiest, but villager tiering and the obsession with collecting "popular" villagers is so strange to me. Of course we'll form attachments to certain villagers based on the experiences we have with them, and of course some designs are more appealing to certain people than others, but... they're all the same. I personally find it fun to meet new villagers randomly. I discovered Naomi on a Nook Mile tour the other day, and I was shocked I'd never heard of her before, because she has such a cool design!

P. S. Raymond was destined to be a hit. He's a smug, blond, anime cat with heterochromia. He was basically invented in a lab to be every village's quirky workaholic love interest.

Blonde anime cat xD Thats a perfect way to describe him.

Post automatically merged: Mar 11, 2023

I also think the newest villagers are destined to be popular. Seems like the ones they resurrected from the Gamecube, like Ace and Azalea, are popular now simply because they're new. But if you'd asked people which villagers they wanted, no one would've said "I wish they'd bring Ace or Azalea back."

As said above, people are also big on what's trendy. If EVERYONE loved Tabby, people would want her. If EVERYONE wanted Chops, people would want him. The popular villagers stay popular a lot longer because they're popular.

Oh I didnt know some were resurrected villagers, but Ive never played any other game aside Amiibo festival.

 

[PacV]

Appearence, just pure appearence…