Animal Crossing: New Horizons Personality Guide

One of the best aspects of the Animal Crossing series is the animals that populate your towns. Each game has a crop of animal types with varying personalities that can inhabit or visit your village. Some characters have become fan favorites, other must-haves for players to take up residence. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is no different, of course.

In total, there are 391 possible villagers who can move into your island home, all sharing eight distinct personalities. Instead of listing every single villager or animal type here, it would be better to look at the personalities of these villagers so players know what they are getting into when inviting new animals to their island.

There are a total of eight different personalities villagers can have in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, four for males and four for females. The main list is as follows:

Each personality determines the responses and moods each villager has for the player, as well as general behavior against each other. Some personalities ultimately mesh better, which can determine things like villager mood and willingness to give the player tasks, rewards, or general attitude. Each personality also has a “counterpart” for each gender; Cranky and Sisterly personalities, for example, are considered counterparts because of their similar interests, attitudes, or hobbies. The other counterparts include Jock and Peppy, Lazy and Normal, and Smug and Snooty.

Let’s look at each personality in some detail.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Personality Guide - Cranky Villagers

Cranky villagers are arguably the hardest personality to befriend. Making up 61 possible villagers in New Horizons, this large group of villagers are easily recognizable with their deeper voices, frowning faces, and cold personalities.

As the name suggests, the Cranky personality is perpetually rude and stubborn towards the player, though over time they can open up and become close confidants to the player. Cranky villagers are also often out of touch to current trends, rarely gossip, and have odd sleeping patterns; typically going to bed around 5 a.m. and waking up around 10 a.m. Finally, Cranky villagers also spend a lot of time indoors—more than any other personality—which again plays into their solitary nature.

Cranky villagers get along well with other Cranky personalities, but also tolerate Normal and Lazy villagers, though they can still offend or anger them at times. Their most hated personality tends to be Peppy villagers, who represent the opposite of Cranky villagers due to their extroverted natures and obsession on current trends.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Personality Guide - Jock Villagers

Jocks make up 55 total villagers, making them one of the largest groups of male villagers found in New Horizons. Including Jock villagers from previous games not in New Horizons, they are the most common villager type in the series. Players will always start their island with one Jock villager.

Jock personalities are energetic but self-absorbed, constantly talking about working out, sports, fitness and their physical appearance. Often found exercising, stretching or lifting weights, Jock personalities sometimes gossip about other villagers but are usually more focused on their own hobbies and activities. Jock personalities also tend to get easily confused, playing into the stereotype of the dumb athlete. As you get more friendly with Jock villagers, they take on a “big brother” role, giving pep talks and advice to the player.

Jock villagers get along well with Peppy villagers the best, because they closely match their energetic personalities. Normal, Sisterly, and Smug villagers also get along with Jocks. Jocks tend to hate Lazy villagers because of their more aloof nature and have personality clashes with Snooty and Cranky villagers.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Personality Guide - Lazy Villagers

Lazy characters are the epitome of laid-back. Lazy villagers are often aloof and pursue a ton of different activities while in your town, such as fishing, bug catching, and just general amusement. The Lazy personality also tends to shun chores or other work.

Because of their easy-going personality, Lazy villagers are amongst the easiest personalities to befriend, which comes with major benefits such as constant gifts, hosting the player’s own birthday, and rarely moving out of your island unless you force them to. They act as best friends and are almost always nice to the player, making lazy villagers the friendliest male personality. They also get along with the other personalities well, only coming into some conflict with Jock and Snooty villagers.

In total, there are 60 Lazy villagers in New Horizons, making them the second largest group of villagers in the game. 

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Personality Guide - Normal Villagers

The Normal personality is the female equivalent to the Lazy personality. Normal villagers are sweet, kind, considerate, and a bit naïve, but quick to be friendly to anyone. There is a total of 59 Normal villagers in New Horizons, and in the entire series, they are the most common female personality.

Normal villagers often see themselves as the only “sane” person in the town, because of the more extreme personalities found in the game. Their kind demeanor makes them easy to befriend, with Normal villagers taking on a motherly role for the player. They also have a unique sleep schedule, often going to bed around 1 a.m. and waking up at 5 a.m. each day.

Because of their jack-of-all-trades personality, Normal villagers tend to get along with almost every other personality type. They especially enjoy the company of Peppy villagers, and rarely come into conflict with Cranky and Snooty personalities, though it can still happen. Overall, the Normal personality is one of the most accessible and agreeable in New Horizons.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Personality Guide - Peppy Villagers

Peppy villagers are the definition of overly friendly. Often high energy and extremely excitable, Peppy villagers are the female equivalent to Jock villagers in terms of their go-to nature. The only difference is their interests rely more on gossip, current trends, fashion and cooking. There are a total of 49 Peppy villagers in New Horizons.

Those with the Peppy personality tend to be extremely chipper and hyperactive, something Peppy villagers in the past attributed to eating too much candy. Their speech patterns sometimes follow the “valley girl” stereotype, though one curious trait of Peppy villagers is their use of French phrases at times when they talk to the player along with the constant stream of “OHMYGOSH” and “like, that is so cool.” Peppy villagers also have a ton of hobbies and interests and can be seen in game doing a variety of activities, more than any other personality.

Peppy villagers tend to get along well with the other personalities, but often can’t stand Cranky and Snooty villagers, who often create gossip or make fun of Peppy personalities. Peppy villagers tend to get along best with Normal villagers and Jock villagers, which are their male counterparts, but find common ground with the other personalities thanks to their numerous interests and hobbies.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Personality Guide - Sisterly Villagers

Sisterly villagers, also known as Uchi villagers by most fans, is the female counterpart to the Cranky personality. Often incredibly blunt when speaking to the player, Sisterly personalities are not as rough as their male counterparts, but still difficult villagers to get along with. In total, there are only 24 sisterly villagers, the lowest number for any personality in New Horizons. Sisterly villagers are also one of the two starting villager types in New Horizons along with the Jock.

Sisterly villagers are often stubborn at first. Many of them also have a stereotypical tomboy attitude, as Sisterly villagers love talking about hobbies such as fighting, partying, and even taunting the player at times. Despite all this, sisterly villagers tend to act like “big sisters” to the player, especially when they become friendly. They offer advice and tend to be protective of the player. Little things like giving the player a medicine DYI when stung by a wasp, for example, showcases this well.

Sisterly villagers get along well with Jock personalities the best, mostly because of their mutual love for physical activity. Normal villagers tend to admire the strong characteristics of a Sisterly villager, and even Peppy and Smug villagers tend to get along with them too, though conflicts can occur. Smug, Cranky, and Snooty villagers are less compatible, but if their interests match, Sisterly villagers become close friends with these personalities.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Personality Guide - Smug Villagers

The final male villager personality, Smug villagers are unique due to their kind but holier-than-thou attitude towards the player. This makes them a walking contradiction, but arguably the most complex personality in the game. There are only 33 Smug villagers in New Horizons, making them the lowest numbered male personality in the game.

Smug villagers are often kind-hearted and considerate to those around them, even flirtatious at times to the player. Underneath that is a personality that can be incredibly vain and arrogant. The Smug personality tends to be incredibly boastful to the player, and Smug characters always feel they are right, even if proven wrong by the player. Smug villagers also love gossip and rumor-spreading as well, which sometimes clashes with their typically kind words for other villagers.

Smug villagers often come into conflict with Cranky and Sisterly personalities, mostly because of their vanity and rumor mongering. Smug villagers get along well with other Smug villagers, as well as Snooty villagers. The other personalities are indifferent to Smug villagers, though get along well enough to not always come into conflict.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Personality Guide - Snooty Villagers

Arguably the most hated personality in the Animal Crossing series, Snooty personalities are snobbish and off-putting, constantly belittling the player and other personality types, despite their well-spoken speech patterns. There are a total of 55 Snooty villagers in New Horizons, the second highest number for female personalities.

The big issue with Snooty villagers is their big-headedness. Snooty personalities tend to think of themselves as high class, caring heavily about their looks, make up, and other materialistic things. Snooty villagers also have a penchant for buying rare or exotic items. Snooty villagers tend to be incredibly rude to the player, though as they do become friendly, they become more talkative and often give tips to the player about their fashion, though snide comments still shine through at times.

Snooty villagers are difficult to get along with, much like Cranky villagers. However, both personalities clash against each other quite easily. Smug villagers, their male counterparts, are the only real personality that compliments Snooty villagers. Others, such as the Normal and Peppy personalities, can get along with Snooty villagers, though they can still be angered easily if not careful.

So those are the eight different personalities you can find in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Each personality has good and bad points, stereotyped phrases, and their own personality clashes. Taken all together, each personality adds a bit of spice to your island living, and Animal Crossing would not be the same with these characteristics across your village. The question now is which personality do you want to see on your island? That, of course, is something for the player to decide.