Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been a hit since it was released on March 20, 2020. It is the fifth main title in the Animal Crossing series and takes place on a deserted island where the player can design their village as they see fit.
What the player can’t control (unless they have amiibo cards) are the villagers who appear in the game. The villagers of Animal Crossing come in eight different personality types, and they each have a unique catchphrase and home decor. After five games, players still have a few questions.
10 Why Doesn’t Anyone Wear Pants?
It’s easy to say that the world of Animal Crossing is a pantsless realm like so many children’s games and franchises. But Tom Nook and Isabelle both wear pants, implying that the villagers are, in fact, pantsless – and that K.K. Slider is naked.
The exception seems to be the anteater villager Olaf, who is always wearing a pair of black dress pants. He takes pants-wearing to such an extreme that it might as well be part of his skin.
9 Why Don’t They Pull Their Own Weight?
After Resident Services levels up from a tent to a building, the player can commission new bridges and inclines for the island. To build a bridge or incline, the player first marks off a plot of land, then offers donations to the droid standing at the edge of the construction zone. Unfortunately, the donations will consist solely of the player’s earnings as the villagers don’t pitch in, despite reaping the rewards.
Players can also unlock the Island Designer app, which gives them the ability to terraform the island. This, too, appears to be the player’s responsibility. None of the villagers will ever help pave the roads. They will water a few plants, but that’s about it.
8 What Happened to Lucky?
With 397 potential neighbors, some Animal Crossing characters inevitably stand out more than others. One villager, the lazy dog Lucky, is particularly striking. He looks like he’s covered in bandages, with only his ears and one glowing eye visible.
Lucky’s morbid appearance raises a few questions: what happened to him? Why is he in a full-body cast? And why does his house look like a graveyard? All signs point to him being undead, but this has never been confirmed. For now, Lucky’s backstory remains a secret.
7 Why Are There Bear Cubs (And Only Bear Cubs)?
There are many species of animal friends who can move to the island. Tigers, lions, wolves, and bears are all potential neighbors, as well as smaller prey animals, like squirrels and rabbits.
But while the squirrel and rabbit villagers are already adorable in their adult forms, bears have a more mature appearance than the much cuter cubs. Moreover, all cubs in the game are bear cubs, even though lions, tigers, and wolves are also called cubs when they are young.
6 Why Is There Sexual Dimorphism In Cattle But Not Fowl?
Most species of villagers are co-ed, with a few exceptions: bull villagers are all male and can only have jock, smug, lazy, or cranky personalities; likewise, cow villagers are all female and can be normal, snooty, peppy, or sisterly.
It’s a mystery why the cattle in the game have gendered counterparts while chickens don’t. There are only male and female chickens rather than hens and roosters.
5 How Does Marina Breathe On Land?
The rarest villager species is the octopus, with only four members, including fan-favorite Marina. Octopuses live alongside their land-dwelling friends, and how they can breathe without lungs is never explained.
Octopuses can survive out of water for only 20 minutes, yet Marina seems to do just fine living above ground in her pink house. To date, the octopus is the only species of villager whose real-life counterpart lives exclusively underwater.
4 How Do The Villagers Ignore Their Natural Instincts?
Predator and prey live in harmony on the island, another mystery in paradise. Sheep can live alongside wolves, and a deer villager can live next door to an alligator.
As many pet owners can tell you, never leave an animal with a high prey drive unsupervised with an animal it would eat in the wild. No matter how well they get along, sometimes natural instincts can’t be suppressed. How do the villagers of Animal Crossing co-exist so peacefully?
3 What’s The Deal With The Normal Critters On The Island?
There are non-anthropomorphic animals on the island, including eighty bug species and fish species for the player to collect. There is also the bird perched on the village bulletin board outside Resident Services: a yellow bird during the day, and a snowy owl in the evening.
It’s hard to reconcile the walking, talking animal neighbors with their friends in the wild. How do Blathers and Celeste feel about that snowy owl, and vice-versa?
2 How Do They All Live Off People Food?
The player can often see their neighbors performing various activities around the island, such as fishing, chasing after bugs, and practicing yoga in the square. At home, they often entertain themselves with a magazine.
Occasionally, the villagers will pull out a snack, like a donut or a lollipop. It’s almost never healthy and could even be dangerous to the animal in the wild. It’s a little concerning from a public health standpoint.
1 Where Did They Get Their Wands?
The player isn’t the only character who can change outfits. When it rains, villagers will magically switch out of their default outfit to a raincoat. Instead of changing piece by piece, the villager spins and transforms right before the player’s eyes.
While the player has to wait until they have a magic wand recipe and then gather the materials for crafting, villagers seem able to transform from the beginning of the game. Some wands require rare materials. How on earth did the villagers get theirs?
NEXT: Animal Crossing New Horizons: 10 Best Codes For Island Improvement
