Ugh, the lions.... im personally not a fan of most of them, but ill try and rank my favorites....
BEST: Lionel and Elvis. Lionel is a fanceh lion that perfectly suits his fancy personality. Hes one of the good looking lions . Elvis just looks so cool. He matches his personality and has an awesome interior! Probs one of my favorite crankies
WORST: Bud. Idk why, but he does not match the vacationer design that much at all.... imo, his smile is creepy and other villagers, like O Hare, do it better...
Never paid much attention to the lions... many look like eccentric (not to say creepy) old men.
Lionel was my first campsite smug, and although I was disappointed at first, he really grew on me and made me laugh. His old man bachelor pad and whirlpool and his attempt to be sophisticated was funny. So he's the best.
Elvis looks pretty awesome, as well. I hadn't really noticed him before, but looks wise, I think he's the best lion.
Leopold might be worst because he reminds me too much of an ex.
I'd probably have to say Mott is my favorite Lion, though he has competition. I'm saying Mott though because I once had him in a New Leaf town and one day he asked to move out, which I accepted because I wanted someone else to be a resident for that town. However, as the days ticked down before he left, I came to really appreciate his design and kind of regretted my decision to let him leave a bit. He moved out, but I decided that one day I'd reclaim him in another town, so I bought another cartridge to make a new town where he could be a resident and got him back like a year later. He's one of the stars of the hybrid circus and magic show town to this day. That desire to reclaim him after all that time just pushes him past the others, there's more affection there.
My close second is Lionel because of his old military man design, his Smug personality, and his awesome house in New Leaf. I also really like Leopold, he's the third favorite. Bud and Elvis are cool too. Overall, the Lions are a good species as far as I'm concerned.
My least favorite Lion is Rory. Rex is a bit plain, so he was a contender for worst, but I just don't really like Rory's design. I can sort of maybe see the Chinese Guardian Lion inspiration that they mention on the Animal Crossing wiki, but I just find the mustache a bit goofy and unappealing. I'd like him better without the mustache and he'd probably be better than Rex in that scenario because the rest of Rory's design isn't half bad with those little fangs, but alas, that isn't the case.
honestly, i’m not really a fan of the lions at all but if i had to choose a best, it’d probably be mott or leopold. as for worst, i’ll go with bud or rory since lowkey,, they both annoy me a bit.
I often forget about the lion villagers until I see them when island hopping, they're not an awful species but they just seem a bit meh and uninteresting. Leopold is probably my favourite, he was random move in on my island early on in the game and I thought I wouldn't like him, mainly for the green mane, but he actually turned out to be an alright villager, not one I wanted permanently but I was happy enough with him for the short time he spent on the island. I also voted for Rex as I've seen him a few times on mystery islands and he seems quite cute but again not really a villager I'd actually be interested in having.
I'm indifferent to all the other lions but my least favourite is probably Rory as I don't really like his design, followed closely by Bud and Mott who I often see island hopping, they don't really look great to me and Mott has an unfortunate sickly yellow/green colouring.
He is a KING. His royal theme is fitting and being a cranky fits well with his kingly theme. He also has some scars to showcase how cool he is. My favourite out of all lions.
Worst: Leopold
I'm sorry but that green mane really turns me off. Reminds me of Pokémon shiny colours always being nasty shades of green. Design wise its just weird.
I voted for Rex and Rory. I had Rex as my original peppy (invited from a mystery island). Although he has moved on, I have thought about bringing him back to one of my islands. He is really sweet.
the thing about the lions is that I’m the game they just look so cuddly. It is not something you really notice at first glance, or from the pictures on nookipedia, but they just are very plush and huggable in the game.
Rory is surprisingly cute, I like way too many of the jock villagers and cannot bring myself to let either of my starting jocks move so it is hard to really not overload my island with loveable little workout fanatics.
i had Lionel as my first camper and though he is not a favorite (he is one of the smugs who came across as too flirty to me, plus I am not a fan of facial hair on villagers) even he is actually pretty cute. I enjoyed replacing his original outfit with sweaters and fleeces to make him more cozy.
I am considering trying out Leopold as a smug, because i am struggling to find a non hamster smug that i really love.
least favorite I suppose would be mott. I am not a fan of the ‘goatee’ facial hair which looks like a soul patch type thing that i find off putting. his coloring is also not my favorite. But I do not have a strong dislike of him.
bud, despite having the same general facial hair look, was better looking than expected while island hoping, and I find his coloring pretty appealing.
So yeah, the lions...overall pretty alright cuddly boys
Elvis is kinda the only one I care for, the dude looks like a nobleman who’s been through a few wars in his youth. His house is pretty snazzy as well from what I see in pictures.
For a while, I only liked Elvis, but as of NH, I started to also like Lionel a lot. Not only because his design kinda reminds me of comedian I like, but also because he's not as bad as I always thought he would be.
The ones I don't like and care so much are Leopold and Mott.
My favorite is definitely Elvis! We are both angry looking leos that were born on July 23rd with some kind of royal theme. My twin if there ever was one haha.
Really would like to have him living on my island at some point, probably around our birthday, just to see how the parties are handled.
I think my favorite lions are Elvis, Rex, and Lionel. Rex is such a sweet looking lion and reminds me of a little nursery lion doll. Elvis, because he has a nice natural color and I love his scars! I bet he has some pretty cool stories about them! And I like Lionel because of how much he looks like a refined aristocrat. I had him in my New Leaf town and he was a nice guy to have around.
My least favorite is Leopold. I don't like his green mane and he looks like a neckbeard. No thanks.
. Elvis just looks so cool. He matches his personality and has an awesome interior! Probs one of my favorite crankies 
