Every New Villager Coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons in 2026

Animal Crossing fans have been eagerly waiting for news about the next installment in the franchise. New Horizons was a huge hit when it released in 2020, and many expected Nintendo to announce a follow-up alongside the Switch 2. Instead of finally revealing a brand-new game, Nintendo surprised Animal Crossing players with something else entirely. Animal Crossing: New Horizons will get a massive free update and a new Switch 2 version in early 2026. It’s not the new game we were hoping for, but it is bringing a pretty sizeable amount of new content to keep players occupied in the meantime.

The Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 update will arrive on January 15th, 2026, along with the new Switch 2 edition. This latest content update for the game will add a ton of new activities for players to enjoy, including a new hotel where you’ll decorate rooms to suit each guest. But perhaps most importantly, the update adds new Dream Islands for players to decorate. In total, we’ll get 3 new islands to customize to our hearts’ content, allowing for the flexibility that Animal Crossing players have been asking for. And we can recruit our favorite Villagers to those new islands, including some exciting newcomers that will be added to Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the first time. Here’s every new Villager confirmed for the big New Horizons update.

Mineru (Legend of Zelda)

One of the exciting additions coming to New Horizons with the free update is a Legend of Zelda collab. This will include all kinds of fun cosmetics from Hyrule, but we’re also getting new villagers, as well. Mineru, first introduced in Tears of the Kingdom, is one of those new additions. She hasn’t previously been a Villager in an Animal Crossing game, so this is her debut in the series.

After the January update to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, players will be able to recruit Mineru to their island by scanning her amiibo. Then, you’ll be able to interact with one of Hyrule’s only remaining Zonai. It’s expected that she will have the Snooty personality trait.

Tulin (Legend of Zelda)

Another Legend of Zelda character coming to New Horizons is Tulin, one of the Sages from Tears of the Kingdom. He also appeared briefly in Breath of the Wild as a child, and it looks like his in-game model for Animal Crossing is based on this version of the character.

Like Mineru, getting Tulin in Animal Crossing: New Horizons will require scanning an amiibo. Then, Tulin will be added to your island. He will likely have the Jock personality trait, and this is his first time being in an Animal Crossing game.

Cece (Splatoon)

New Horizons will also add collab content from Splatoon with the 3.0 update on January 15th. That means we’re getting some Villagers from that game, including Cece. This is a squirrel version of the character Callie from Splatoon, who first appeared back in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

To get Cece, players will need to scan the Splatoon Callie amiibo. Then, this squirrel cosplayer based on the character will be available on your New Horizons island. If she adopts the same personality from previous appearances, she should be a Peppy character.

Viche (Splatoon)

Like Cece, Viche is an animal version of a Splatoon character. She is based on Marie from Splatoon, and first appeared in Animal Crossing: New Leaf alongside Cece. Like Cece, Viche is also a squirrel character.

To get Viche in New Horizons, you’ll need to scan Marie’s amiibo. Then, Viche will be able to move to your island. In New Leaf, Marie had the Normal personality type, and will likely bring that back when she arrives in New Horizons.

For now, these 4 collab characters are the only confirmed new additions with the update. However, with all those guests headed to Kapp’n’s hotel, more new arrivals are certainly a possibility!

Are you getting back into New Horizons in anticipation of the new update? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

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