The Best & Worst Normal Villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Ahh the normal villager. The vanilla to our rocky road, the gray to our red and blue, the toast to our... well you get the picture. Normal villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons are often the most inoffensive personalities in the game, making perfect, if somewhat bland, inhabitants in your town. 

Of course, Animal Crossing: New Horizons doesn’t rock the boat too heavily here. So the question is, which are the best, and which are the worst? Well, look no further as we go through the best and worst normal villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Worst Normal Villager: Marcie 

Marcie is named after a marsupial. Do you get it??

Most of the names of the villagers are direct references or in-jokes of some kind, but honestly, the most interesting thing about Marcie is her namesake. Everything else is pretty brand. Oh, she’s a pink kangaroo. And...that's really it. 

What always got me with Marcie is the face; I find it overly designed and kind of ugly to be honest. It’s the hair again; the reddish tuft at the top doesn't really fit her, and the rouge and lipstick are way too much detail on what is an already uniquely colored kangaroo. Throw on top the weird-looking eyes, it just doesn’t help her visually that much.

Best Normal Villager: Midge

Midge is another pink-colored villager, this time though it's much more eye-catching because she is a bird. Bird villagers are often OK but nothing special in Animal Crossing, but Midge is one of the better designs we get.

What sells it is the spiral pattern on her cheeks, which compliment the white and dark pink color tones of her body. It is simple, helps her stand out, and not over the top. Midge is good and represents the normal in a normal villager.

Personality wise... Midge has little going for her. Honestly, all of the normal villagers have trouble standing out compared to other personalities. In fact, this whole list is filled with milquetoast characters in the personality department. One thing I notice is she is quick to get upset at times, but outside of that, Midge is as chipper as they come and would make a fine addition to anyone’s village.

Worst Normal Villager: Rhonda

Rhonda is the white rhino of the Animal Crossing world, and sadly is not that impressive to me. It again boils down to the face; something about the weird hair patterns and unnecessary makeup on her face is an instant turn off. 

Rhonda’s biggest issue is how she is so generic, even by other villager designs. One thing that always helps the more popular villagers in Animal Crossing is something that makes them stand out. Sometimes, it’s a boon to their popularity, but Rhonda simply has none of that going for her. 

If anything, Rhonda is as ‘normal’ as you get for a normal villager. Just a kindhearted character without much to go on from there. Being normal in the normal personality is just a kiss of death; there is little to redeem and talk about. Rhonda just happens to be the best example of that.

Best Normal Villager: Marina

Ahh Marina, the cute, cuddly pink Octopus who was introduced as an islander in the Japan Exclusive expansion to the first Animal Crossing. There are only three octopuses in the entire game, and all three stand out as being exceptional villagers.

Marina is by far the most popular octopus, a character that is well regarded because of the combination of her rare species, color scheme, and general bubbly personality. Like most normal villagers, Marina is kind of bland, but her design ultimately picks up the slack and helps her stand out amongst other normal villagers.

It also helps that she is the only female octopus in the game. When you are rare, likable, and have an eye-catching design, you can’t be a bad villager right?

Worst Normal Villager: Peaches

What is it with all of these pink villagers? I swear I am not picking on them or singling them out. After all, many female characters in Animal Crossing are pink. Too bad most of them have weaker designs like Peaches here.

Where do I start on this? Well, the pink horse motif is a bit off, but not offensive. Her hair is a light brown color but is not too bad as a mane. I feel like there is something missing, something I can’t quite eyeball really that is wrong with her…

Oh yeah, she's dead.

I mean, how can she not be when in the cartoon logic of most worlds her distinct lack of eyes is a problem. Hell, she has nothing but crosses there, meaning she is either blind because her eyes are closed all the time, or she is a zombie reanimated by dark forces. Peaches eyes’ are so off-putting, I half expect someone to prop sunglasses on them and pretend she is alive for a weekend while throwing a party. 

Boy I feel old now…

Best Normal Villager: Caroline

Another original islander turned villager, Caroline stands out simply because of the bold color scheme. Squirrels are some of the best designed animals in the game, and the variety of colors they come in are often unique compared to the rest of the cast.

In this case, the bright yellow and orange scheme is eye-catching without being over the top. The hair on her compliments the color design instead of working against it, and the hints of green, blue and white are not over the top either. Caroline is simply a strong standout design, which is what normal villagers need since there is little to go on in terms of personality.

Fun fact, did you know Caroline was originally named Bliss in the first Animal Crossing? Why her name changed is anyone's guess, but it’s just one of those weird little trivia things that helps her stand out more. 

Worst Normal Villager: Jambette

Damn, those lips are huge. 

Like, take-over-the-face huge. It’s the only thing I see, giant pink puckers as the frog goes in for a kiss. Jambette is dominated by her lips and her lipstick. It’s literally her only character trait. More power to you, I guess, if that is your sort of thing.

 For me though, lipstick on animals in Animal Crossing rarely works. I guess it’s just a distracting feature to me. Animals with lipstick often stick out in a negative way, and Jambette is the poster child of that. 

Best Normal Villager: Savannah

Savannah is a zebra. What more do I have to say?

You got a unique design for a horse villager, based on one of the more unique real-life animals out there in the world, and it is not overly done. Savannah is a great representation of unique villagers in this way, taking animals we would recognize and putting them into the game as one of the animal types.

Outside of being a zebra, Savannah is... typical of most normal villagers. Yeah, she doesn’t have much of a personality, like pretty much everyone on this list, though I do notice her participating in fishing and bug catching a lot more than other normal villagers. I could just be projecting though, but it is something else to talk about other than her being a zebra, right?

Worst Normal Villager: Coco

I am going to get flak for this one…

Coco is super popular, very unique, and well regarded by Animal Crossing fans. For me though, she is the most overrated, terrifying monstrosity in the entire franchise. 

I’ll be honest, as a kid I thought she was a gyroid ghost trying to kill me. Of course, when I got older I learned that the gyroids, along with Coco, are references to Haniwa clay figures from the Yayoi period of Japan. That ancient period is a great deep cut for a character like Coco, which I do appreciate.

So I understand why Coco is so beloved; she's unique, has a pretty kind personality, and amongst rabbits sticks out for people. For me though, I just can't stand to look at Coco. It’s too... well dead. Even more dead than the obviously dead Peaches. This time though it’s a direct reference to death. It’s a bit unsettling for me, and makes her one of my most hated designs in the whole game. 

Best Normal Villager: Goldie

This is a personal pick and I'm super biased, but Goldie to me is the best dog villager in the game. Yes, it is due to her being a golden retriever, mostly because growing up, I had a pet golden retriever whom I loved and adored until the day he died. 

So right there is a nostalgic familial connection. How is this for more nostalgia; Goldie was one of my first villagers in the original Animal Crossing as well. She was the kindest of the three female villagers to me, and is as much of an icon you get for Animal Crossing.

Hell, fans consider her, along with the likes of Rosie, Tom, and other key villagers to be the mascots of the whole franchise beyond the unique villagers. I fully agree with this in regards to Goldie. Her golden-colored hair and kindly personality are a happy memory to me personally, and clearly make her one of the major standout villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Normal villagers may not be the flashiest of personality types, but they certainly have a lot of strong and not so strong designs amongst them. After you lynch me for not liking Coco, why not tell us who your favorite and least favorite normal villagers are in the comments below. Until then, see you next time!