"Yes! I finished paying off my home loan!"

— Player,Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Artwork of various players fromAnimal Crossing: New Horizons.

Theplayer, also known as thevillager orboy/girl, is a term used for the playable human character in theAnimal Crossing series. The player may be either a boy or a girl; the differences in all games are largely cosmetic and with slight variations to some dialogue whenever the conversation becomes gender-specific. However, in the English language text ofAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, gender is instead referred to as 'style', and all villagers will refer to the player with gender neutral pronouns.

Overview[edit]

Artwork of a female player fromAnimal Crossing (left) andNew Horizons (right).

Just like the animalvillagers, the design of the player characters has changed noticeably across the course of the series. Generally, the line between male and female players has become less concrete with each new installment, and the characters themselves have become more customizable.

InDoubutsu no Mori and its GameCube ports, players are short and stubby with large heads and relatively slim limbs. The female and male player models are distinguished through theirhats andclothing. The female character's hat is a cone-shaped "princess cap", while the male character's resembles a spiked Viking helmet. Designs that are worn will always use the same pattern, but vary between a dress for female characters and a shirt for male characters, with the pattern also applying to the hat. The player's face and default clothing are determined by questions answered upon starting the game. While light-skinned by default, the player can receive atan by sunbathing during summer.

InAnimal Crossing: Wild World, headwear was made into its own category of clothing that can be swapped out or removed, allowing the characters' hair and ears to be seen for the first time. Facial accessories can also be worn.Harriet allows the player to gethaircuts, changing the hair's style and color, and she will allow hairstyles from the other gender to be selected if one has had all hairstyles of one's gender from her.

InAnimal Crossing: City Folk, the player can have theirshoes shined byKicks, which will change their color. The other gender's shoes can be worn after having Kicks shine one's shoes 16 times. Also, theMii mask can be worn to give a character a Mii's head.

The player characters were redesigned to be taller and slimmer inAnimal Crossing: New Leaf (a change which remained in all future installments), and the clothing system was overhauled. Tops, bottoms, and dresses are now individual categories of clothing — boys can now wear skirts and dresses, and girls can now wear pants and shorts. Shoes and socks are now separate articles of clothing as well, so the player can mix and match styles, or go barefoot. Gender now primarily determines which dialogue is displayed, as well as the color of the player'sTown Pass Card. Face and hair styles are still locked by gender, though the other gender's hairstyles can still be unlocked from Harriet.

InAnimal Crossing: Happy Home Designer,Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, andAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, the player can freely select their face style, hairstyle, and skintone, and change it at any time. This also means that tanning is no longer a feature pastAnimal Crossing: New Leaf.

InAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, players are referred to by gender as little as possible, depending on the language, and are referred to with gender-neutral pronouns in the English version. Accordingly, no clothing or other visible aspects of the player's appearance are locked by gender. Although it has no impact on their appearance, one of two "styles" is selected for the cases where a language must use gendered terms (and, though this was not normally visible,it affected the underclothes that the base model wore in earlier revisions; as of June 2020, the underclothes appear to be shared by both "styles"^[1]).Bags are introduced as a new form of clothing, and wardrobes now allow for changing all clothing items at once.

Though players are not the only humans in theAnimal Crossing series, asMom andDad occasionally sendletters to them, they are only the humans present in gameplay. In spite of Mom referring to childhood events and the home that the player once lived in, and occasionally sending presents in the mail, there is no indication of any real backstory to the human character(s).

BeforeAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, only one player from each town could be active at any given time, although inAnimal Crossing: Wild World,Animal Crossing: City Folk, andAnimal Crossing: New Leaf, visiting players (over Wi-Fi) from other games are allowed in town at the same time.

Players rarely talk aside from answering questions, remarking about an accomplishment, and talking inHH Showcase.

Appearances[edit]

In the main series prior toAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, the player's face is determined by a series of questions that the introductory character asks, and it cannot be changed afterwards.

InAnimal Crossing[edit]

InAnimal Crossing, the player's face style is determined through the answers given to the first three questionsRover asks at the beginning of the game while riding thetrain totown. The fourth answer will determine if the player's answers will be taken into account for generating their appearance. If "Oh yeah!" is chosen as the answer to that question, the player's prior answers are ignored and their face will be randomized.

First question	Second question	Third question	Fourth question	Appearance
Hey, mind if I sit here? I promise I won't fall asleep, tumble onto you and start drooling on your shirt!	So, tell me, why are you going to <town>?	So where are you going to be living?	You have money, right?	Male	Female
Please!	I'm moving.	Don't know yet.	Just a little...
		Leave me alone!
	What's it to ya?	Don't know yet.
		Leave me alone!
No way!	I'm moving.	Don't know yet.
		Leave me alone!
	What's it to ya?	Don't know yet.
		Leave me alone!

InWild World[edit]

InAnimal Crossing: Wild World, the player's face style is determined through the answers given to the questionsKapp'n asks at the beginning of the game while in thetaxi.

First question	Second question	Third question	Appearance
First resident: Speakin' o' fishies, they could swim in this road... This rain be merciless! All others: Long way to go, an' it's rainin' a fair nor'easter...	So tell me, <Player>... Why are ye settin' sail fer <town>?	Do ye have enough to get settled?	Male	Female
First resident: I know! All others: Yeah, it stinks.	I'm moving.	Yup!
		Kinda...
	Butt out!	Yup!
		Kinda...
First resident: It's calming. All others: I'm fine...	I'm moving.	Yup!
		Kinda...
	Butt out!	Yup!
		Kinda...

InCity Folk[edit]

InAnimal Crossing: City Folk, the player's face style is determined through the answers given to the questionsRover asks at the beginning of the game while riding thebus. All the player appearances are the same as inWild World, though the order of answers given to determine certain appearances has changed.

First question	Second question	Third question	Appearance
			Male	Female
SO excited!(first player to move in) Oh, yeah!(subsequent players)	I'll find one!	Some...
		Not much...
	Not at all.	It's covered.
		I'll get by.
Not really.	You're right.	Yeah...
		It's a secret!
	Leave me alone!	Yeah...
		Don't worry.

InNew Leaf[edit]

InAnimal Crossing: New Leaf,Rover asks the player questions while they are boarding the train. Depending on the questions answered, the player can get various facial styles including hair style, randomly-colored eyes, and the starting outfit. The starting shirt will be different depending on when players make their villager; if they have created in from spring to summer, they are wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and from fall to winter, they are wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

Additionally,New Leaf introduces four brand new faces for each gender, but one of themale faces resembles afemale-exclusive face in previous games.

First question	Second question	Third question	Appearance
So, (Player's name), do you get to go to (name of town), very often?	So why are you going there anyway?	Oh, so you're probably going to move there, aren't you?	Male	Female
I've never been there.	I'm moving.	I'll get a place there.
		I'm sure I'll be fine.
	Can't say!	You guessed it!
		How'd you know?
I don't remember.	I'm moving.	Yes, probably.
		No, that's not it at all.
	I don't know.	Yeah, I think I will.
		I'll let fate decide...
It's a secret!	Duh, it's a SECRET!	You got it!
		Pretty sharp.
	I'm moving there.	No, I'm serious, yo.
		Yup!

InNew Horizons[edit]

The player customizes theirskin tone, among other traits.

The player's face and starting hairstyle are no longer determined by a series of questions; instead, the player can fully customize their appearance using a character-creation interface at any time by interacting with a mirror or vanity. Additional hair styles and colors can be bought usingNook Miles. Bags can now be worn by the player. In addition, more than one accessory can be worn at once, depending on where on the face it is worn; for example, the player can wear glasses and a doctor's mask at the same time, which was not possible in previous titles.

Other appearances[edit]

InWarioWare: Smooth Moves[edit]

InWarioWare: Smooth Moves, the microgameAnimal Crossing: Wild World involves the player taking control of a character, the gender corresponding to that of the player's Mii. The player must pull the Wii Remote up at the correct time to catch a fish.

In theSuper Smash Bros series[edit]

Main article:Villager (Super Smash Bros. series)

InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]

InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl, a number of human characters appear in the background ofSmashville. Both the male and the female players are available as stickers, while the male character is also available as a trophy named "Animal Crossing Boy."

InSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U[edit]

Artwork of a male Villager inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.

On June 11, 2013, Nintendo revealed their newSuper Smash Bros. video game for theNintendo 3DS andWii U atE3 2013, featuring the "Villager" (むらびと,Murabito) as a new playable character.^[2] The Villager is a boy with brown hair, wearing a red shirt with a light-blue number "1" printed on the front. The Villager's in-game moves include the ability to attack other players using a net, trapping them in pitfalls, and chopping down trees to cause damage. He is based on the default appearance for male characters, particularly fromAnimal Crossing: City Folk. Other seven skins are available, each with a different appearance, and alternating genders between male and female for a total of four skins representing each gender.

InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

Artwork of a female Villager inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.

The Villager returned as a playable fighter inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, largely unchanged from their appearance inSuper Smash Bros. for 3DS/Wii U. Notably, the Villager's 7th and 8th skins were given darker skin tones compared to the previous game. The Villager's uniqueClassic Mode path, titled "Mistake to Underestimate", has them fighting against other characters that may seem similarly unsuited for battle. The Villager also appears briefly in a cutscene in the game'sAdventure Mode, and is one of the earliest characters available to unlock in that mode.

InMario Kart 8[edit]

Artwork of the Villager inMario Kart 8.

A male and female Villager, based on their default appearances fromNew Leaf, have made a guest appearance in theWii U gameMario Kart 8 as part of theAnimal Crossing × Mario Kart 8 DLC pack (along withIsabelle andMario series characterDry Bowser). They are not voiced, instead makingemotions and the sound effects associated with them depending on the situation.

Both villagers are classified as middleweights, indicating average stats. Both villager types weigh slightly less thanMario andLuigi, but the male villager weighs more and has higher speed than the female villager, while the female villager has better acceleration, handling, traction, and off-road stats.

The male Villager wears theteam NTDO tee,tan dogtooth pants, andbasketball shoes. The female Villager wears thered riding dress,black stockings, andshearling boots.

Villager also returns as a playable character inMario Kart 8 Deluxe, though they are now available from the start, and were initially separate characters on the character select screen. In version 3.0.0, due to the addition of more characters, both Villagers were merged into a single character slot again.

Gallery[edit]

For more images, view this subject's gallery.

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  Animal Crossing

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  Animal Crossing: Wild World

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  Animal Crossing: City Folk

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  Animal Crossing: City Folk

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  Animal Crossing: New Leaf

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  Animal Crossing: New Leaf

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  Super Smash Bros. 4

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  Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

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  Animal Crossing: New Horizons

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  Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Names in other languages[edit]

Villager (Mario Kart 8)[edit]

	むらびと Murabito	Villager
	마을 주민 Ma'eul Jumin	Villager
	居民 (Dòngwù Sēnlín) Jū Mín	Resident
	島民 Dǎo Mín	Islander
	Житель(if male) Жительница(if female) Zhitel (if male) Zhitelnitsa (if female)	Inhabitant
	Dorpsbewoner	Villager
	[[:de:charaktere/Bewohner(if male) Bewohnerin(if female)|Bewohner(if male) Bewohnerin(if female)]]	Inhabitant
	[[:es:Aldeano(if male) Aldeana(if female)|Aldeano(if male) Aldeana(if female)]]	Villager
	Villageois(if male) Villageoise(if female)	Villager
	Habitant(if male) Habitante(if female)	Inhabitant
	Abitante	Inhabitant
	Habitante	Inhabitant

References[edit]

Special characters

Townspeople Player Beppe Blathers Booker Brewster Carlo Celeste Copper Cyrus Digby Dr. Shrunk Frillard Giovanni Gracie Grams Harriet Harvey Isabelle Kapp'n Katrina Kicks Label Leif Leila Leilani Lloid Lottie Luna Lyle Mabel Niko Orville Pelly Pete Phyllis Porter Reese Sable Timmy & Tommy Tom Nook Tortimer Wardell Wilbur Visitors Blanca Chip C.J. Cornimer Daisy Mae DJ KK Don Resetti Farley Flick Franklin Gullivarrr Gulliver Jack Jingle Joan Kaitlin Katie K.K. Slider Mr. Resetti Nat Pascal Pavé Phineas Redd Rover Serena Saharah Snowboy Snowmam Snowman Snowtyke Wendell Wisp Zipper Mom and Dad •xsq •Somebody •Implied characters •Category