With over 300 villagers to pick from in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, players aren’t likely to grow tired of finding new ones any time soon. Each villager belongs to one of 35 unique species, as well as one of the eight personality types, which makes for a ton of variety when it comes to choosing that perfect villager for an island.
Still, there are many animals that to this day haven’t been represented at all or very little in the franchise. While some of the special characters certainly take on the appearance of lesser-represented species, players are often trying to imagine what a whole different species of villagers would look like. Here are 10 animals that would make great additions to the franchise.
10 Swans & Hens
There are already a pretty decent selections of birds, ostriches and chickens in the game, but the world of flying critters is so wide and vast that there’s still more to be discovered and tried within the game.
Take hens and swans for instance. These species could have a longer neck than ostriches, and could showcase all sorts of cool design variants like the black swan or even a better version of a phoenix than what fans already have with Phoebe, the ostrich villager.
9 Giraffes
There are already plenty of horses in the game, as well as Gracie, an actual giraffe. Moreover, Animal Crossing has also introduced Sahara, a camel, which has a very unique design that could be used as inspiration when making a brand new species.
Giraffes could be a cool addition to the game. They could be a sort of mixture of Sahara’s design and the design of horses, with a much longer and slimmer neck than regular horse villagers. Again, there are so many cool design opportunities to explore with this one as well.
8 Dinosaurs
Although lizard-like creatures have been explored a bit with alligators and frogs, the game’s simply begging for something more mythical and unique. Don’t forget about the fossils that Blathers collects in his museum and how that would complicate the matter for dinosaur villagers.
There are so many unique dinosaur species with cool appearances that they could easily spice up the game. A cute, pink T-rex villager for instance would be the cherry on top for most players looking for something special for their island.
7 Foxes
There’s one fox in the game that all players have become familiar with in the last few months, and that’s Redd, the bitter rival of Tom Nook. Sly and calculative, Redd has a very specific appearance that probably wouldn’t translate easily to a whole species of villagers.
The closest to foxes after that are wolves, which kind of shows that there’s a desperate need for something in between Redd’s design and that of regular wolves. Foxes would open up more designs for mythical creatures such as the nine-tailed fox as well, which no doubt would beat Raymond as the most wanted villager of all time.
6 Seahorses
Poor sea creatures! They’re so insanely under-represented in the Animal Crossing universe. Only a few octopus villagers are actually available in the game, making them immensely rare and that much more valuable when found on mystery islands.
This is why the game desperately needs more sea creatures, and one of the best ones to replicate would be the seahorse. Sure, it’s awkward that the player can fish for some in the ocean, but just imagine how adorable a seahorse villager would look, especially in pastel colors.
5 Geckos
There’s no way around it: the game is crying for more reptile creatures. One of the most popular pets is the gecko and most of its variants, which is why it would be a welcome addition to the already scarce pool of reptile villagers.
Geckos are also a great choice due to how many color variants and design ideas the developers could come up with. Known for being colorful, sky’s the limit when it comes to these adorable reptiles.
4 Turtles
Another reptile creature that could potentially do really well is the turtle. Turtles have a lot of stereotypes associated with them, such as being lazy or slow-moving, which could make for some really cool villager ideas.
Moreover, since turtles would be defined by their shells, there are endless opportunities for creative designs on them. The shell could be made to look like something completely different to give the villager a defined appearance.
3 Bats
A potential villager species fans have explored quite a bit is bats. These creatures are known to be not only great pets but also surprisingly cute despite being associated with vampires and all things Halloween.
Bats would definitely look cool in the game due to their furry appearance but also their wings, as shown as CGStephann in his concept art. A few villagers could definitely have a horror and vampire theme, while others could totally break this stereotype by being very cute and innocent-looking, and it would still look good in the game.
2 Snakes
Design-wise, snakes are probably the hardest to put into the game. They have no legs or arms, which would make it difficult for them to give the player items or move around like normal villagers. That being said, it might just be the reason why they would be successful.
Snakes have so much potential when it comes to design, as showcased by talented artist and Reddit user the_white_Eye. One villager could be a cobra with similar vibes to Ankha, and another could be based on the basilisk, a mythical snake-like creature.
1 Ferrets
Adorable, furry and unconventional pets, ferrets have taken the real world by storm with their cuteness. There’s nothing quite like them in Animal Crossing, where hamsters, squirrels and mice are pretty much the only rodents available.
Imagine how great ferrets would be as villagers. They could be tall rodents due to the length of their body, breaking the stereotype of small and short rodent villagers. These concept drawings by HeckoGeckoDoodle in particular are just perfection.
NEXT: Animal Crossing: The 10 Coolest Bear Villagers To Get On Your Island, Ranked
