The best part of any Animal Crossing game is interacting with Villagers and discovering their personalities, hobbies, and more. As of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, there are eight Villager personalities, which leads to a lack of diversity among residents. These are gender-locked with males having lazy, jock, cranky, and smug, while females have normal, peppy, snooty, and big sister. Aside from removing the gender-locked nature of personalities and allowing any Villager to be any personality, Nintendo needs to expand on these options going forward. The next Animal Crossing game can add several new features and improvements, including more personalities when it inevitably launches on Nintendo Switch 2.
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Adding more personalities to Animal Crossing would expand the dialogue in the game and add more immersion. Animal Crossing is all about immersion and simulating social experiences, so adding more types of Villagers is a no-brainer.
Here are the five personality types we’d like to see added in the next Animal Crossing game.
Geek
This is an obvious personality archetype missing from Animal Crossing considering it’s a video game. While the most apparent definition would make these Villagers video game geeks, there is a lot of interpretation for how Nintendo could handle this. Geeks could be gamers, music fans, science enthusiasts, film lovers, and more. The type of Geek would largely depend on the Villager and give players more freedom on who they want in their town.
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These Villagers could be extremely passionate about something, such as video games or bugs, and would be a perfect addition if Nintendo added arcades as an activity. Not only that, but Geeks could collect items and furniture that revolve around their obsession. They would gush about their passions to the players and encourage them to try it as well. Geeks would add a big personality type that could provide lots of interesting dialogue, especially if Nintendo includes real facts.
Temperamental
Temperamental Villagers would have a unique personality that acts differently based on their mood. Maybe you approach a Temperamental Villager before they’ve had their coffee or they’re hangry and they explode at you. But later, once they have settled their craving, the Villager is nice as can be. This would lead to extremely varied conversations and funny dialogue, leaving the player never knowing what to expect.
In addition to these wildly different dialogue possibilities, players could gift these Villagers items to change their mood. Need coffee? Hand some over and watch that Villager become happy. Temperamental Villages should have big ups and downs, sending the player angry mail but then apologizing with a nice gift later when they’ve calmed down. It may be a fine line to walk in getting this personality right, but Animal Crossing would thrive with Temperamental Villagers.
Shady
Shady Villagers would act like Red in Animal Crossing, but probably on a lower scale. Instead of selling fake art to the player, they could inform the player of a huge sale at the shop, only for this not to be the case. Shady Villagers could also spread gossip around town, possibly pitting Villagers against one another. Perhaps they even prank the player with pitfall traps or beehives.
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The Shady Villager would likely be a nuisance, but the drama they bring to town would keep players on their toes and make every day interesting. On the positive side, the Shady Villager could apologize to the player by offering them a gift or information as a way of making it up to them. This brings a gimmick that may initially hurt the player but is made worth it at the end while having fun along the way.
Anxious
Bernadetta in Fire Emblem: Three Houses proved how much Nintendo fans love a good anxious recluse. Animal Crossing is the perfect series to introduce this type of Villager. Anxious personalities could vary in how they handle their anxiety, whether they stay indoors with the door locked, run at the sight of people, or completely fumble conversations. Nintendo could even add an eagle or an armored teddy bear Villager named Bernadetta as an Easter egg.
While the Anxious Villagers could bring a good laugh to players in Animal Crossing, they also could provide a new way to interact with Villagers. Helping a Villager overcome or manage their anxiety would be a fantastically cozy addition. Players could hype up these anxiety-riddled Villagers or give them special gifts to make them come out of their shells. There are numerous possibilities on how Nintendo could implement an Anxious personality and how players can interact with these Villagers.
Free Spirit
Imagine Harvey having a permanent spot, at least until they leave, in your town. Chill, down to earth, never too troubled. This is the Free Spirit Villager. Or perhaps a Free Spirit can run wild through the town, planting flowers on everything and everyone. This personality would be carefree and do their own thing regardless of what others thought of them. Free Spirits could have a huge range between laidback or wild child.
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Free Spirits would likely gravitate towards a particular focus, such as nature, and hyperfixate on this. It would be hard-pressed to get them to talk about something else, but players could learn a lot. These Villagers would be free with their affection, giving gifts to everyone with no expectations in return, and whether those gifts are wanted or not. A Free Spirit personality would bring a lot of character to the series and provide a thrilling time.
