Iconic villagers?

[Buster Bunny]

For example those villagers who have a iconic trait which stand up more than others.

 

[Fruitcup]

Bob seems to be many's favorite so he must have something special that makes him stick out.. I guess being a bright purple cat is very cool.

 

[AppleBitterCrumble]

O'Hare for being one of the few villagers to wear an accessory

 

[Flare]

In terms of merchandise...
I'd say Rosie and Stitches. They have had many different materials made based of from them.
Even thought Rosie was the Animal Crossing Mascot!
Anyway... it seems that there really isn't much...
Julian is unique for being a "Unicorn", which of course, pleases many fans.
Other than that... I'm not sure.

 

[watercolorwish]

yeah rosie stitches and peanut have definitely been the poster children for ac games. for future games im just guessing that they're gonna use more recently popular villagers. like fauna, marshal, and skye might be recurring ones.