Part of the charm of Animal Crossing: New Horizons is 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 World introduced Monkeys as a species of villager, and Animal Crossing: New Leaf added Hamsters and Deer as potential villager species as well. Animal Crossing: New Horizons did 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 currently 413 villagers in Animal 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 next Animal Crossing title 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.
Animal Crossing Needs More Reptile Villagers
Reptiles are a criminally underrepresented type of villager in the Animal Crossing series, with Alligators being the only species to fall into that category. While there are some special characters like Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Flick the Chameleon and 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 the Animal Crossing series has always walked a fine line between sentient villagers and catchable critters when it comes to sea life, the existence of Octopus and Frog villagers in Animal Crossing shows 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 the Animal Crossing series thus far.
Winged Villagers Need to Include More Than Just Birds
There are quite a few species of winged critters that appear as villagers in Animal Crossing titles, 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 a future Animal Crossing game.
Nintendo Could Go Out of this World with Future Villager Species
While the Animal Crossing series' 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 next Animal Crossing title could introduce non-animal aliens as a villager species and finally give players some closure on one of the Animal Crossing series' 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 of Animal Crossing's world.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now for Nintendo Switch.
