Help me pick villagers (it’s legitimately making me stressed lol)

[sunshower]

Hi y’all! Recently, I’ve found myself looking forward to playing new horizons less, and I think it’s because of my stress over my villagers. I’ve realized I really end up enjoying my villagers more if I find them randomly and have pretty much no interest in them at first. For example, Dizzy and Flora were some of my first villagers. I didn’t think much of them at first, but now, I can’t imagine my town without them. However, my rng got on a bit of a hot streak, and now I have a lot of typically “popular” villagers. I ended up with coco, marshal, zucker, Beau, and sherb, and now I’m stressing. Part of me feels like I need to keep the popular villagers for the clout, another part of feels like I need to get rid of all the popular villagers, even the ones I really like (Marshal, coco, Sherb), and my town is now very unbalanced personality wise. I have 4 lazy villagers and 2 smugs, while having no jock or cranky. Basically, I guess I’m just kind of venting and looking for any advice on which villagers I should move out. I’m planning on letting Beau go, but I really can’t decide on Coco or Sherb. Especially with Sherb, I can’t decide if I should let him go or Moe go. I really like both of them, but I need space for someone cranky. Idk I’m strugglin

EDIT: here’s some of the things I’ve been thinking about when trying to decide who to let move
Moe-I really love him, he was on of my first 10 villagers, and I liked his design before getting him as a villager in NH. However, he’s almost identical to Dizzy. They’re both lazy with the play hobby, they have the same music in their houses, and if Dizzy hadn’t been one of my villagers to get the default house interior, their houses was look almost the exact same bc they like the same furniture
Sherb: is really cute, was my favorite of the new villagers before I found him, but I wasn’t looking for a lazy villager when I found him, he has the nature hobby, but I hate hypno kk and I have another goat villager
Coco: I really like her, she was one of my favorite villager designs when I played city folk and new leaf but I never had her, I don’t have any other bunnies, but there’s so many good normal villagers

 

[Arithmophobia17]

on the topic of sherb or moe... i'm honestly really biased since sherb is my bday buddy but i'd keep him lol

 

[Aisland]

I know this is the typical answer, but don’t keep a villager just because they are rare. It’s fine to not like a certain villager, so you shouldn’t beat yourself up about wanting them to move out.

 

[Laureline]

I’d let sherb go, three lazys is a lot. Plus he’s a popular villager and you said you’d like to experience a balance. I’m planning on letting my sherb go for that reason and I just prefer Beau as a lazy.

 

[DawnAri]

maybe first of all: only keep villagers YOU like, it doesn't matter if they are popular or not
if you really like Marshall, Coco, Sherb etc just keep them, at least for now
I do understand the excitement of new villagers, so I would move out 2 of your lazy villagers
my preference goes to keeping Sherb but if you want villagers that you don't see everywhere all the time I'd say keep Moe

 

[moonbox]

Just wanted to say I completely understand liking your random villagers instead of the ones you sought after... It's like once that high of getting them is over, you feel like they're "too perfect" and nothing will ever really satisfy you. I've had to rethink a lot of what my dreamies meant to me and my town because I noticed I was getting way too particular to the point where I wasn't enjoying it.

 

[edsett]

You shouldn’t let popularity or unpopularity influence whether you like a villager. Just like who you like!
That being said, you do have a lot of lazies. Coco is your only normal so I’d keep her. Now between Sherb and Moe is up to you. I’d keep because he’s adorable but maybe Moe matches your island theme more or maybe you like house better or something. Just don’t feel like you have to get rid of popular villagers just because they’re popular.

 

[sunshower]

I l

on the topic of sherb or moe... i'm honestly really biased since sherb is my bday buddy but i'd keep him lol

i love using birthday logic to pick villagers. I’ve always wanted Carmen for that same reason lol! I have a January birthday, so Moe and Sherb both have birthdays close to mine!

 

[Sloom]

I actually have your exact problem! I spent a long time stressing over villagers (still do occasionally, the final list still isn't completely 100% final) and I'm also missing a jock and cranky

my advice would be not to worry whatsoever about the popularity of them, it lichrally doesn't matter man.
also, sherb is probably my favourite character from any piece of media ever now because I just love him so wholeheartedly and would love to write many essays to you about why I love him so much so I'm biased but I'm definitely in Sherb crew for this one

I mean you could keep them all if you'd like, I saw someone the other day who said they have 5 normals and are expecting more to come. it's totally up to you and you could even give somebody a timeout and find them again later. a villager being unpopular is actually a plus because you'll find them for cheap or completely free in many places if you want to have them back (of course having their amiibo is even better, but I'm assuming you don't since you found these guys randomly).

I can also vouch as someone who has had an island missing a jock and cranky (and I'm going to again soon once I've learned their reactions) that it's not too bad, I'm not really used to life with crankies and jocks but their dialogue ain't all that to me. if you can live without them it might be worth considering not having them at all. depends on whether you prioritise prettier villagers or more varied dialogue lol

 

[Jules]

I see what you mean - the bias is always there to keep the "popular" villagers. Personally, I find the ones that make me the happiest are the ones I have the strongest attachments to. That generally means I had them in past games and loved them - like Tabby (who everyone considers scary looking but I love her lol) or Kiki. But I also LOVE Diana and she's in Tier 1 of popularity. It really depends. Like you said, I got Diana randomly in New Leaf and probably would've felt differently about her if I saw her first online, sought her out, and paid a high price for her. There's a lot of expectations in that. So in short, I would villager hunt if you have genuine attachments to those villagers or don't have to pay a lot of money for them. Otherwise, it's best to take it easy and take the game as it comes, and make friends that way.

By the way - I had Moe in Wild World and loved him. I would keep Moe.

 

[sunshower]

Just wanted to say I completely understand liking your random villagers instead of the ones you sought after... It's like once that high of getting them is over, you feel like they're "too perfect" and nothing will ever really satisfy you. I've had to rethink a lot of what my dreamies meant to me and my town because I noticed I was getting way too particular to the point where I wasn't enjoying it.

!
Exactlyyyyy, I never thought I’d even consider coco moving, but now I just feel a little disconnected?

 

[ladymidnight]

-

 

[moonbox]

!
Exactlyyyyy, I never thought I’d even consider coco moving, but now I just feel a little disconnected?

Sometimes I look at other people's villagers they have together and I'm like "wow... such variety, they look interesting" and now I'm doubting my selection-- I realize this is just an extension of my anxiety and I should just relax a bit. this sounds corny but do what feels right.

 

[sunshower]

I see what you mean - the bias is always there to keep the "popular" villagers. Personally, I find the ones that make me the happiest are the ones I have the strongest attachments to. That generally means I had them in past games and loved them - like Tabby (who everyone considers scary looking but I love her lol) or Kiki. But I also LOVE Diana and she's in Tier 1 of popularity. It really depends. Like you said, I got Diana randomly in New Leaf and probably would've felt differently about her if I saw her first online, sought her out, and paid a high price for her. There's a lot of expectations in that. So in short, I would villager hunt if you have genuine attachments to those villagers or don't have to pay a lot of money for them. Otherwise, it's best to take it easy and take the game as it comes, and make friends that way.

By the way - I had Moe in Wild World and loved him. I would keep Moe.

I love Tabby! She was one of my first ever villagers!

 

[cheezu]

I have 3 lazies currently, too - Sherb, Zucker and Erik.
Initially, I wanted to keep all 3 but I felt Sherb and Erik are carbon copies of each other in terms of interests/dialogue.
I made the decision to let Erik go when he asks just because of his DIY house interior.
I found Sherb on a hybrid island and was not even looking for him but he instantly became one of my favorites.
Zucker is a must for me since he's my all-time fave so I could never let him go.
I guess if I never stumbled upon Sherb, I wouldn't have really liked him as much as I do (I don't really like any of the other new villagers - well, I think Dom and Cyd are pretty cool but I wouldn't go out of my way looking for them).

 

[kojuuro]

4 lazy villagers are a lot! I agree with what others have said too about not being too concerned about popularity. In the end it's your island. If you like/don't like a particular villager you can always let them stay/leave. I personally hate hypno k.k. too and was the biggest reason why I skipped Sherb when I saw him I had a friend who had him and I immediately ran out cause I hate it so much. I don't know how much villagers homes influence you to keep them, but it's something I consider since I like visiting them in their homes.

 

[milkie]

i feel your agony. but i would say maybe try just living with moe first. sherb is someone that everyone is finding in their island hunts so there will always be a sherb somewhere. if u find that u start missing him then replace moe with him.

but yeah i know what u mean lately ive been torn bc ive grown attached to a lot of my starter villagers especially miss tabby who was my starter peppy i had this final list set out but ive gotten to attached to her i can't imagine my island without her now

BUT YEAH popular villagers will always be around !!! so just experiment get someone to hold sherb and give it a week!!!

 

[Flygon]

I think what might be helpful is asking what you're specifically stressed about. Are you worried you would regret letting go of a villager? What's the worst-case scenario for that situation? Hopefully you find making the "wrong" choice isn't as stressful as you first imagined.

I'd say let any of them go. Sherb is probably the hardest to get back if you regret giving him up, but even then it's not impossible.

 

[sunshower]

I think what might be helpful is asking what you're specifically stressed about. Are you worried you would regret letting go of a villager? What's the worst-case scenario for that situation? Hopefully you find making the "wrong" choice isn't as stressful as you first imagined.

I'd say let any of them go. Sherb is probably the hardest to get back if you regret giving him up, but even then it's not impossible.

Yes! I’m worried about missing them. I recently let Yuka go and I regret it, and it’s kind of bumming me out when I play the game. I don’t want that feeling amplified.

 

[Chris]

Having villagers you love is more important than having popular ones. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of your villager roster. You're the one who has to look at their little faces everyday.

Also, easiest way to fix the imbalance is to say goodbye to two of your lazy villagers.