Part of the charm ofAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsis getting to meet a variety of different species of villagers who can inhabit players' islands, and the series has continued to introduce new types over the course of the series.Animal Crossing: Wild Worldintroduced Monkeys as a species of villager, andAnimal Crossing: New Leafadded Hamsters and Deer as potential villager species as well.Animal Crossing: New Horizonsdid not introduce any new villager species, but its successor could go all out with a variety of different animals to draw inspiration from.
There are currently413 villagers inAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, excluding special characters like Tom Nook and Isabelle, and they are divided between a total of 35 different species categories. These species range from cute to fierce and each villager within a category has their dedicated fans, but it’s clear some species are more popular than others. The nextAnimal Crossingtitle has the chance to create even more beloved characters by including species that have yet to be represented, designing unique and appealing critters that players will want to call their village home.
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Animal Crossing Needs More Reptile Villagers
Reptiles are a criminally underrepresented type of villager in theAnimal Crossingseries, with Alligators being the only species to fall into that category. While there are some special characters likeAnimal Crossing: New Horizons' Flick the Chameleonand Kapp’n the Turtle who are reptiles, there needs to be more reptilian villager species available to move into players' towns. Lizards like skinks or iguanas would be perfect candidates as they would be unique enough from characters like Flick and Nat to stand on their own while also giving reptile fans some much-needed love.
The Next Animal Crossing Game Could Do a Lot with Sea Creature Villagers
While theAnimal Crossingseries has always walked a fine line between sentient villagers and catchable critters when it comes to sea life, the existence ofOctopus and Frog villagers inAnimal Crossingshows that there is potential for other species that can be fished to also appear as villagers. As such, there needs to be more sea creature villagers, and sharks would be a great candidate as they could turn these fearsome creatures into lovable neighbors. Dolphins are another great choice for a new villager species due to their high levels of intelligence and lack of representation in theAnimal Crossingseries thus far.
Winged Villagers Need to Include More Than Just Birds
There are quite a few species of winged critters that appear as villagers inAnimal Crossingtitles, including generic Birds, as well as Chickens, Ducks, Eagles, Penguins, and even Ostriches. While this seems like a pretty diverse group, all of these creatures are essentially different types of birds, leaving a large hole for winged mammals to fill. Bats would be a great villager species since these underappreciated animals could add some diversity to the winged villagers represented in the series. Other mammalian gliders like flying squirrels and sugar gliders would also be great non-avian winged creatures to appear as villagers in afutureAnimal Crossinggame.
Nintendo Could Go Out of this World with Future Villager Species
While theAnimal Crossingseries' name implies that its characters are all animals, there are some villagers that appear as in-organic robots such as Ribbot, Del, and Sprocket. With this precedent set, the nextAnimal Crossingtitle could introduce non-animal aliens as a villager species and finally give players some closure on one of theAnimal Crossingseries' creepiest mysteries. While the nightly alien broadcast Easter Egg is somewhat unsettling, adding alien villagers could help establish these beings as friendly individuals who want to participate in the society players are creating within their towns and get to know the greater community ofAnimal Crossing’s world.
Animal Crossing: New Horizonsis available now for Nintendo Switch.
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