There are almost four hundred villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons that are available to become residents of your deserted island getaway and help make it just a bit less deserted. It's only natural that out of so many villagers, some would be more highly sought-after than others, usually because of their well-thought-out or unique designs.

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There are over 70 normal villagers as of New Horizons, so there's a lot to choose from when you're planning out the perfect roster for your island. With so many in this category, not all of them will be hitters, so let's take a look at which are the best of the bunch.

Updated May 10, 2023 by Rebecca Phillips: Normal villagers have always been a fan favorite in Animal Crossing, and the same is true for New Horizons. Most of these villagers have adorable designs to match their sweet and friendly personalities. To spread a little more love to these villagers, we've added a few more to this list.

20 Kiki

Kiki in her house in Animal Crossing New Horizons

Kiki is one of several cat villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but she's the only black cat villager, which gives her a unique quality. Her name is almost certainly a reference to the Studio Ghibli movie, Kiki's Delivery Service, where the main character, Kiki, has a companion who is a black cat.

While you might expect a black cat to lean into Halloween aesthetics, Kiki prefers to style her home in a more cozy way. She uses lots of Ironwood furniture, and you'll first find her sporting a green sweater, perfect for nights warming up by the fire.

19 Sylvana

Sylvana in her house in Animal Crossing New Horizons

Though she may not be as popular as some of the other Normal villagers available in New Horizons, Sylvana is a sweet character who you'll love to have around on your island. Her design is simple, featuring a brown and white fur pattern, and she has big, adorable eyes. To top it off, her inner ears are colored a pleasant pink-purple.

What really makes Sylvana shine, though, is the interior of her house. It has a cherry blossom theme all around, with the wallpaper and flooring making it seem as though you're inside a cherry blossom tree forest. You'll be happy to join her for a picnic in her house any time.

18 Étoile

A close-up of Etoile in her Animal Crossing New Horizons house

Étoile is a Sanrio amiibo villager who was added to New Horizons in an update in 2021. Just like her first appearance in New Leaf, Étoile quickly became a coveted villager thanks to her distinct design. Her pastel purple coat has multicolor dots, almost emulating the effect of fairy lights, and she has a sweet face with blushy cheeks.

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Both Étoile's design and her house interior are inspired by Sanrio's Kiki & Lala characters, following a star-themed aesthetic that even extends to her name, which means 'star' in French. Her fantastic overall design makes her worthy of her amiibo-exclusive status.

17 Ione

Ione in her house in Animal Crossing New Horizons

Ione was introduced in the 2.0 update alongside a host of other villagers, and she certainly makes her mark upon the Normal personality. With a light and dark blue color scheme and a tail scattered with dots that glow and shimmer like stars, Ione very clearly represents a spacial theme.

This continues in her house, where the wallpaper looks just like a night sky. She also seems to be a fan of video games herself, as she has both a Nintendo Switch on her TV stand and a full PC setup, complete with rainbow-colored accessories.

16 Poppy

Poppy in her house in Animal Crossing New Horizons

Poppy is the epitome of fall. She has gorgeous red fur that contrasts the light blue of her inner ears, and you'll first see her donning a green Alpinist dress. You can easily imagine her living in a log cabin in the mountains, sweeping fallen leaves from her yard — and that's almost exactly what her house interior looks like.

Her flooring imitates that of a forest during the fall, covered in red, yellow, and brown leaves. She's decorated with log furniture to continue the natural look, and finishes off with small accessories like a picnic hamper and tiny library to help the whole place feel like home.

15 Aurora

Aurora in her house in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Penguin villagers are absolutely adorable, so it's no wonder that Aurora has become one of the fan favorites in Animal Crossing. Born on January 27, she's an Aquarius, and she's actually been a villager in just about every single game of the series, making her pretty iconic.

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She also has a funny catchphrase, where she stutters "b-b-baby," as though cold, and it also happens to fit the general theme of her home — which is all frozen and filled with winter-themed furniture.

14 Chevre

A player with Chevre in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Chevre is a white goat villager with cute little freckles and twinkling, adorable big eyes. Goats are not the most popular species in the game, but Chevre, whose name is actually the French word for "goat," is undeniably cute. Her catchphrase is "la baa," which can both sound like the call of a goat, and also means "over there" in French.

Chevre is born on March 6, which makes her a Pisces. Her home follows a color theme of all white, minus the dark patterned flooring, and an adorable detail is the photo of another villager, Nan, on the wall, leading many fans to believe they are close friends.

13 Maple

Maple sitting on a cushion and reading a book in Animal Crossing New Horizons.

Maple is an uncontested favorite among fans of the game, and the proof for that is in her mere trading price on Nookazon's exchange site, clocking in at almost two million bells. She's a simply designed light brown cub villager with cute eyes and pink cheeks, and for her default outfit, she wears a winter-themed sweater.

Maple's birthday is June 15, so she's a Gemini. Her catchphrase "honey" is closely related to her name and her entire concept, which seems to revolve around maple syrup and sweet things that bears have traditionally been known to like. She has a very basic cabin-like home, with cute green and yellow details.

12 Pekoe

Pekoe next to a fire on a mystery island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Many might recognize cub villager Pekoe by her appearance, as she's the one on the cover of Imperial K. K. Her entire style is very traditional Chinese, which also shows in her home since it has a near-complete set of the Imperial furniture collection in red. Her design is cream white with dark hair, and her ears are similar to two Chinese style buns.

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What makes her popular and rare is her expressive design. Her eyes are very defined and cute, which is why many fans find her unique. Her birthday is on the May 18, making her a Taurus.

11 Molly

Molly at a birthday party in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Molly's a pretty expensive villager on Nookazon, going for around two million bells. No doubt her popularity and her rarity come from the fact that she has a very simple yet adorable natural design, similar to that of Maple. She's a light brown duck villager, with pink cheeks.

In true duck fashion, she starts off with the catchphrase "quackidee," which is just irresistibly cute. She also wears a light green girly dress that further plays into her sweet image. Molly's home is very simple, with mostly a mix of wooden furniture from different sets and a violin.

10 Midge

A player standing next to Midge in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Midge is an adorable bird villager who has appeared in every game except for Wild World, and it's easy to see how she's managed to make it into so many entries as she's just so irresistibly cute. Her head, arms and underbelly are accented with hot pink, while the rest of her minus the beak and flippers are a calming cream.

Her color palette combines with adorable little swirls on her cheeks, as if she needed to be even cuter. Her Japanese name is also actually a reference to her little cheek accents, as it means 'spiral', so they get bonus points for being more than just cute!

9 Fauna

Fauna in her house in Animal Crossing New Horizons

If you're looking for a cute and polite deer to invite onto your island paradise, look no further than Fauna. This cutie has been pretty popular with fans for a long time now, ever since the launch of New Leaf, so it's no surprise to see many wanting to have her back. Everything about her design, from her wide eyes to the adorable blush that accents her cheeks, makes her nigh impossible to resist.

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Her house in New Horizons continues the cozy theme her design is going for, with brick walls, wooden furniture, and a general homey vibe that makes you feel welcome as soon as you step through the door.

8 Gayle

A player with Gayle in the museum in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

When most players think of alligator villagers, the word cute is usually far from the first thing that pops into their head — but then, there's Gayle. Gayle is just about as adorable as villagers come, being painted primarily in baby-pink and then accented with splashes of darker pink throughout. She even has a heart smack-dab in the middle of her face, and what could be cuter than that?

Since she's Normal, she's every bit as sweet inside as her appearance leads you to believe, and would make a fine neighbor for any pink aficionado.

7 Skye

Skye speaking to a player in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Skye is the only wolf to possess the Normal personality, and she is an absolute angel. Her baby-blue fur is accented with patches of white throughout that look like fluffy little clouds, which is definitely one of the most creative and cute designs we've seen so far.

With her appearance, we wouldn't be surprised to see her fittingly sitting under a tree, staring up at the sky and enjoying a bit of cloud-watching. She's so friendly that she'll likely invite you to join her!

6 Goldie

Goldie in her pyjamas in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Goldie is an adorable dog villager who's based off of Golden Retrievers, though her Japanese name actually has another meaning, being Caramel to reflect her sweet personality as well as her coloration. She's a classic resident, meaning that she has appeared in every single game to date, and thus fans of her have been spending time with Goldie for nearly two decades now.

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True to her breed, she is incredibly friendly and loyal, and will never fail to put a smile on your face should you get the opportunity to invite her to stay on your island.

5 Lolly

Lolly speaking to a player in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

If only one word could be used to describe the Normal cat Lolly, it would have to be sweet. It's hard enough not to fall for her design alone, and it isn't aided by the fact that her personality is equally adorable. The dark-gray stripes that accent her face, tail, and legs keep her light-gray design from seeming too plain, as do her upside-down comma eyes that are like the icing on the cake.

Both her English name, Lolly, and her Japanese name, Ramune, are a reference to sweet treats, as if she needed to get any sweeter.

4 Tia

Tia speaking to a player in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Tia is an adorable elephant who was designed to give the appearance of a teapot. It works perfectly — all she's missing is a handle coming out of the back of her head, though we understand that would probably shift her more into creepy territory.

Tia is incredibly sweet, both in terms of her personality and appearance. The little yellow and blue accents that are scattered about her design keep her from seeming too basic, and she's the only villager who starts off in a maid outfit, which is a super-cute plus.

3 Coco

Coco sitting on the grass outsite in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Coco may appear to be the creepiest out of all the Normal villagers, but it's actually her creepy factor that helps make her so cute to the players who do like her. Her design is based on the Gyroids, as her fur is a similar color and texture, and she has the same black eyes.

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Plus, she just looks super cute in her reading glasses, and is the only villager who shoves whole pieces of food into her black-hole mouth rather than just taking bites, which is creepily endearing.

2 Merengue

Merengue reading a book outside in Animal Crossing New Horizons.

Merengue is one of a select few villagers to be based on food, and arguably the cutest execution of her concept. She's certainly the cutest rhino, and we can't help but want to just eat up the strawberry and creme that decorate her face — even though we know we can't.

Her name comes from meringue, which is a type of dessert made from egg whites and sugar, and her phrase "shortcake" references the fact that her appearance is quite similar to a strawberry shortcake. She acts every bit as sweet as she looks, too, so you certainly won't regret taking her.

1 Marina

Marina listening to the radio in her pyjamas in Animal Crossing New Horizons.

Long-time fans of the series won't be surprised at all to see Marina claiming the top spot as the most sought-after Normal villager in the game, as she's been overwhelmingly popular ever since she debuted in New Leaf — though she did appear as an islander in Animal Forest e+, she could not actually move into your town. Part of her popularity has to do with how kind and adorable she is, sporting a bubblegum pink look with baby-yellow cheeks.

It also has to do with the fact that Marina is one of only four octopus villagers to exist in New Horizons, and the only one that's so pastel and cute. She can be found singing a lot of the time, and generally will only serve to brighten your island experience.

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