What's in a well-liked villager?

[TangyHeart]

I've been thinking lately: Why are some villagers so well liked, while others are simply just shunned and left to move into the void? For example, Marshal seems to have a pretty high fan base, same with Stitches, whereas villagers like Elise, for example, are for the most part kicked straight into the void, leaving us to wonder what Nintendo was thinking when they were designing that horrid glasses-wearing monkey. (Okay, I may have a LITTLE bias against Elise, but if it makes you feel any better, the only monkey I can put up with is Porter. Monty especially needs to be burned at the stake.)

SO now that that's aside, I'd like to hear some people's reasons as to what makes a villager hated, tolerable, and loved. (This thread isn't intended to offend anyone. . . Don't yell at me please.)


For example, Tangy. I love that little tangerine cat so much that I wish villagers could move into your house, just so I could be roommates with her. I think it's her peppy personality, and her color scheme. Plus, her decorating skills are goals

 

[Lenndrix]

I think looks are the big thing, but for me I know I can be a little petty... If a villager moves in too close to my house or bridges or sets down in a place that ruins the aesthetics of the area, Ill void that sucker the first chance I get. Also if they give me bad vibes - for instance I found one of my first draft dreamies kept having conversations with my other villagers that would leave them sad or angry while he always left laughing and singing... Sorry dude. Not in my town or the next...

 

[TangyHeart]

Oh no! Yeah, the whole "moving into a terrible spot" problem is one I have, but I can't bring myself to kick Dotty. She's just so cute that I just can't. I have a soft spot for peppy villagers, no regerts

 

[Moonfish]

Personally, I don’t like the monkeys in this game (or in general) because when I was in Jr High it was a popular thing to like monkeys, have monkey merch, wear monkey clothes, etc. It was monkey overload and I got sick of the monkey craze.

Otherwise, I think color schemes have a big impact. Marshal is a nice white with neutral accents, he’s also small (small animals are cuter) and probably because someone fangirl/boyed over him first, which someone witnessed and emulated and it was a trickle down effect. Here we are, 5 years later and he’s still top tier.

I mostly think it has to do with how hard people fan over a villager, though. Merry has a similar scheme to Marshal, but she’s often overlooked for Rosie or Lolly when it comes to cats. It’s too late in the games life to make a change. If someone would’ve fanned over Elise in the beginning she might be higher tier today.

 

[Kalle]

To be honest, I'm not sure. I've looked at two popularity lists, one of which can be found here, which differentiate a little bit. Despite any differences, there are villagers that I genuinely really like that are near or at the bottom tiers of both. A while ago, I created a top villagers list based on my opinion and plenty of my top twenty alone are ranked low or not at all (did not return). Here is that list, along with their last listed tier on this site:

Spoiler: My top twenty

#1 Bob (tier 2)
#2 Apollo (tier 3)
#3 Pinky (tier 4)
#4 Axel (tier 6)
#5 Whitney (tier 1)
#6 Marshal (tier 1)
#7 Mitzi (tier 2)
#8 Rowan (tier 6)
#9 Vesta (tier 3)
#10 Beau (tier 1)
#11 Rosie (tier 1)
#12 Amelia (tier 5)
#13 Patty (tier 6)
#14 Gonzo (tier 6)
#15 Betty (unlisted)
#16 Phoebe (tier 2)
#17 Chevre (tier 4)
#18 Daisy (tier 3)
#19 Alfonso (tier 6)
#20 Melba (tier 4)

For me, many of these villagers rank where they do for many different types of reasons. Bob, Apollo, Pinky, and Vesta are four villagers I've had (the entire time or at one point) in every single town I've ever made. They're what I like to call mainstays. Others just grew on me, some of which I didn't even initially like (Alfonso and Gonzo). Then there are some I just visually like and I wanted them in my New Leaf town?with the help of amiibo cards, of course. Those villagers are Whitney, Marshal, Beau, and Phoebe.

Interestingly, all of the villagers that I chose to invite based on appearance are listed first or second tier. Almost all of the other villagers I ranked are from multiple towns, or a particularly favorite town, or even in my very first town on the GC. In other words, it comes down to some "cute" factor as well as nostalgia. The only anomaly on my list is Gonzo: tier 6 and yet I invited him in New Leaf. I was sad when he moved.

Also, on a side note: I agree with you on the monkeys, though I do like Champ (except he's apparently Porter?).

 

[John Wick]

The only thing left to like about a villager since their personalities are basically gone in NL, are their design and house exterior.

I don't like any of them anymore, really.

Just Felyne.
I don't know why, maybe because out of all my villagers I've been a slave to for a year, couldn't even be bothered to write to me on my birthday yesterday, but Felyne did.

He threw me the party.

 

[Loriii]

I usually just go by the looks and popularity to some extent? There are times that I've already been liking them before I even knew that they're popular. Having a nice house is just an icing on the cake, but not required.

 

[pinkbunny]

Its for more mostly looks and how cute the villager is imo, some species are just not popular for the way they look I guess. I do care about how their houses look but I can always send them furniture so I don't mind as much. I'm also not really a fan of any of the jock villagers besides Genji.

 

[Dorian]

I ignore popularity lists entirely. For me, what makes a villager lovable is just a feeling I get while spending time with them. I can't tell you how many times I have created a town and 'nightmare' creatures (speaking for others, not myself) like Del or Knox are waiting for me when I step off the train. And within spending five minutes with them, I know they will never move because I have fallen irrevocably in love with them. Paula, Tabby, Hazel: so many of these so-called 'unpopular' villagers are my absolute favorite friends in the game. What is it I love? I don't know. What is it that makes any of us love the villagers we love? Just preference, just a feeling. I'm glad there are so many unpopular villagers that still get much love from so many of us.

 

[John Wick]

The perfect villager = one without a mouth. ^_^

 

[Vulpixy]

For me, I like villagers based on their appearance first and familiarity second. I prefer those with soft pastel colors and natural/cute looks. I'd say for each personality type these are my top picks:

Spoiler: Male Personalities

Cranky
Apollo
Bruce
Tom
Wolfgang

Jock
Jay
Kody
Rudy
Tad

Lazy
Beau
Bob
Filbert
Punchy

Smug
Keaton
Leopold
Marshal
Zell

Spoiler: Female Personalities

Normal
Chevre
Dora
Fauna
Goldie

Peppy
Bunnie
Felicity
Flora
Rosie

Snooty
Blaire
Monique
Olivia
Whitney

̶U̶g̶l̶y̶ Uchi
Cherry
Pashmina
Paula

 

[AndroGhostX]

I don't choose a villager just because they are popular. I go off of looks, if I don't like the look of a villager then I won't allow them into my town. If I happen to like a popular villager, well then I do xD Just my taste, but I haven't actually had any high tier villagers as permanent residences because they don't go with my town themes which is a shame to me. I think the only two popular ones in my town are Static and Stitches in a town full of low tier villagers who I love. Ankha is probably the only soon-to-be resident of my town who is really popular, aside from Coco, because she fits my theme. People do have their different tastes, which is why some unpopular villagers aren't 100% hated. Which is why I can't say I wonder what was going through Nintendo developers minds when desiging some of these villagers.

 

[Flare]

I meet villagers because they were starters or they moved in randomly, that and when I meet them in Pocket Camp now. When I like a villager to a certain extent that's when I would want to have them as a permanent resident.

These are my favorite villagers.

Spoiler: Male

• Stitches
• Bruce
• Lopez
• Punchy
• Rod
• Jay
• Ozzie
• Chief
• Pietro
• Apollo
• Julian
• Marshal

Spoiler: Female

• Ketchup
• Julia
• Phoebe
• Chrissy
• Francine
• Baabara
• Agnes
• Bree
• Molly
• Tia
• Merengue
• Mira
• Poppy
• Lily

Looks are probably the cause of people choosing villagers, that or because they fit a town theme one would be going after. Like for example, people pick O'Hare if they want a Beach themed town or they would pick Ketchup if going for a food themed town.

 

[WarpDogsVG]

It's a combo of their animal type and looks. There are so few personality types that I don't find that to be as big of a deal

But beyond that, I think I ascribe a lot of importance to weird, intangible things. Like, if Chestnut gives me this really easy-to-do task and rewards me with a cool item then I will forever like her as a villager, even though the task and gift were essentially random

 

[xSuperMario64x]

I usually like villagers because:
1.) I like the way they look (for instance, I like Rolf cause I love tigers),
2.) I had them in my town and just became really attached to them (like Cole, he wasn't one of my dream villagers before but he randomly moved in my town one day and now he's one of my favs),
3.) a combination of the two above, and
4.) nostalgic reasons (Monique is one of my dream villagers because she was the first cat to ever move into my first town on AC:GCN and I have a very sentimental connection to her ^^).

 

[river]

For me I think it would be a mix of the first impression I get from them (How cute they are, where their house plotted, how their personality comes off) and the experience of having them around town.

For example, one of my all time favorites is Antonio. When I first started playing Animal Crossing when I was a kid he was in my town and was the first villager I ever developed an attachment to. I can still find screenshots of him in my old DS because I used to screenshot almost everything he said!

When I started playing again after almost 5 or 6 years of hiatus I had forgotten about him, but then I saw him on someone else's town and all those feelings came back!

Most villagers in my town, although not entirely unpopular like Kiki, Wolfgang, Erik and Olivia, were random move-ins, and I never really stopped to think about their popularity until I joined TBT a couple of months ago. But they became such an important part of the "identity" of my town that I ended up growing really attached to them and I would be really devastated if they ever move out.

 

[tiffanistarr]

I think it's sad that villagers are deemed popular by how "cute" they are and if they are "ugly" then they are automatically lowered on the popularity list. Obviously some are more visually pleasing than others, but when all their personalities are virtually the same a popularity list seems a bit like reaching to me.

Cute is subjective and it's all up to the individual person that's why I think it's ridiculous people go by these lists and they want to have "tier 1" villagers because it's a status thing. When I first saw Tangy in the GameCube version, I thought she was ugly and I didn't understand why a tangerine grew extremities and became a cat lol

I have three of the popular villagers in my main town, I have Fauna, Stitches, and Tia. Fauna was there when I moved in and I didn't know how popular she was until I started browsing forums. I kinda understand because she's adorable but she is no different than Nana, they say the same things!

Most of my villagers in my main town are not popular I guess. In fact when I first started getting into ACNL communities I was always curious of how some of my villagers missed the mark on being popular. Bones??? You can't get more adorable than Bones he's great! However, I think it all comes down to preference.

I also have some villagers that people just think are so ugly and annoying but are just as awesome and sweet as their "cute" superiors. Coach? Always on the bottom of those tier lists but he's freaking awesome!! Marcel? HE'S A CLOWN DOG THAT'S AMAZING, Ricky? He's cute too!

I also find that if you quit caring about a popular list you'll fall in love with most villagers. When Coach moved in I was like ehh I don't want him here he's a yellow bull and I don't like the jock personality, but after a few days I just completely fell in love with him! When he asks to move I'm quick to make him stay.

In my second town I call it the Dreamie Wasteland there was 6 "popular" villagers that moved in which were: Marshal, Maple, Rosie, Beau, Blaire and Fang. The only one I was excited about was Fang because he was in my very first GameCube town so I was happy to see him again! I noticed that these were "very popular" and I thought "hey let's see what they are all about and maybe they are popular for good reason" - nope they aren't. Marshal is just as annoying as every other smug villager. Blaire is just as snooty and silly as Portia and Fang is just as cranky and almost no different than Lobo.

Moral of my story is:

Don't go off these popular and tier lists - If you're preferences lead you to those top tier villagers then great that's fine but don't just go off of it because that's what's popular - think for yourself and give some of those "ugly and nightmaries" a chance because they might surprise you!

 

[AndroGhostX]

I think it's sad that villagers are deemed popular by how "cute" they are and if they are "ugly" then they are automatically lowered on the popularity list. Obviously some are more visually pleasing than others, but when all their personalities are virtually the same a popularity list seems a bit like reaching to me.

Cute is subjective and it's all up to the individual person that's why I think it's ridiculous people go by these lists and they want to have "tier 1" villagers because it's a status thing. When I first saw Tangy in the GameCube version, I thought she was ugly and I didn't understand why a tangerine grew extremities and became a cat lol

I have three of the popular villagers in my main town, I have Fauna, Stitches, and Tia. Fauna was there when I moved in and I didn't know how popular she was until I started browsing forums. I kinda understand because she's adorable but she is no different than Nana, they say the same things!

Most of my villagers in my main town are not popular I guess. In fact when I first started getting into ACNL communities I was always curious of how some of my villagers missed the mark on being popular. Bones??? You can't get more adorable than Bones he's great! However, I think it all comes down to preference.

I also have some villagers that people just think are so ugly and annoying but are just as awesome and sweet as their "cute" superiors. Coach? Always on the bottom of those tier lists but he's freaking awesome!! Marcel? HE'S A CLOWN DOG THAT'S AMAZING, Ricky? He's cute too!

I also find that if you quit caring about a popular list you'll fall in love with most villagers. When Coach moved in I was like ehh I don't want him here he's a yellow bull and I don't like the jock personality, but after a few days I just completely fell in love with him! When he asks to move I'm quick to make him stay.

In my second town I call it the Dreamie Wasteland there was 6 "popular" villagers that moved in which were: Marshal, Maple, Rosie, Beau, Blaire and Fang. The only one I was excited about was Fang because he was in my very first GameCube town so I was happy to see him again! I noticed that these were "very popular" and I thought "hey let's see what they are all about and maybe they are popular for good reason" - nope they aren't. Marshal is just as annoying as every other smug villager. Blaire is just as snooty and silly as Portia and Fang is just as cranky and almost no different than Lobo.

Moral of my story is:

Don't go off these popular and tier lists - If you're preferences lead you to those top tier villagers then great that's fine but don't just go off of it because that's what's popular - think for yourself and give some of those "ugly and nightmaries" a chance because they might surprise you!

I find it funny how a lot of the villagers who are popular, have generic looks whereas unique looking villagers are less popular! There are some generic looking villagers, like Axel, who I do like though. But I think that it is the unique look that also makes them attractive, for instance, Coach or Marcel! Except for Diana or pastel/pink villagers in my case, Diana is hard on the eyes for me and that is coming from a healthy young adult xD

One complaint I do have is the Uchi villagers. None of them are really that appealing, I think this is a popular opinion but correct me if I am wrong. It's unfortunate that I won't be having a Uchi in my first town because the ones that I can stand, get old and boring to stare at. While I normally am opposed to pink villagers, I have Cherry in my other town. She is a balance for the other villagers because she is different from them, so for that reason I can adore and I can stand her as she gives me something different to look at than the majority of cranky and lazy types that live in the town. But originally I had Katt in my first town, and while I still like her looks, she can get old quickly.

 

[tiffanistarr]

One complaint I do have is the Uchi villagers. None of them are really that appealing, I think this is a popular opinion but correct me if I am wrong. It's unfortunate that I won't be having a Uchi in my first town because the ones that I can stand, get old and boring to stare at. While I normally am opposed to pink villagers, I have Cherry in my other town. She is a balance for the other villagers because she is different from them, so for that reason I can adore and I can stand her as she gives me something different to look at than the majority of cranky and lazy types that live in the town. But originally I had Katt in my first town, and while I still like her looks, she can get old quickly.

YESSSS!

I've only had one Uchi villager and that is Shari and she has quickly become one of my favorites but I agree I think we need more variety when it comes to Uchi villagers. I think Shari is adorable though and when she does her little dance it's just the cutest thing!! Cherry is one that I've thought about getting as well. I met Katt in a town and I adored her as well! Sometimes I wonder if they didn't make the most appealing Uchi villagers because Uchi was a new personality and they didn't know how well received they would be? idk about that though, just my over thinking lol.

Have you thought about Pashmina or Deirdre? Frita might also be a fun Uchi to have around but maybe too bright, her yellow is very "loud" lol I hope they add more Uchi's in the next game because they have such great dialogue and they aren't as boring as other personalities imo.

 

[BrinaLouWho]

Well for me it's a mix between looks, dialogue, and nostalgia. I personally cannot stand jocks. I hate 99% of their dialogue, except Teddy which is great bc I also think he looks cute. Some cranky, peppy, and normal dialogue gets on my nerves too. My favorite villager ever, Clyde the horse, I only like because he was in my first city folk game ever when I was a kid and I thought he was my boyfriend lol. However if it weren't for that I wouldn't want him in my town as I don't really like horse villagers all too much. For me the perfect villager is neutral colored, unique looking, but not so unique that they are out of place, and that has decent dialogue. For me the villagers that match that are Hans and Gloria, both who I have and love. Having the same villagers as everyone else gets really boring.