A recent poll has revealed what Animal Crossing: New Horizons villagers are Japanese players' favorites. The poll also asked for favorite furniture sets, holidays, and how long they've been involved in the series. The poll had 4,000 unique participants.
New Horizons boasts a whopping 397 villagers, meaning that each player's island is likely to have its own set of inhabitants. However, some villagers are much more beloved than others. These coveted "Dreamies," as they're known in the community, have resulted in a cutthroat market. Players are willing to spend millions of in-game Bells to obtain these villagers for their island. Some are even willing to pay real money. Of course, not everybody's favorite villager will be overwhelmingly popular, but popular villagers are more likely to be someone's favorite.
As reported by the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu (via NintendoEverything), the most popular villager in Japan is Dom, a Jock sheep. The rest of the Famitsu poll is filled with the usual suspects: the smug Marshal and Raymond, snooty Judy, a pair of cranky wolves (Fang and Lobo), and the lazy duo of Stitches and Beau. The full results are:
- Dom (652 votes)
- Marshal (480 votes)
- Raymond (440) votes
- Fang (236 votes)
- Judy (228 votes)
- Stitches (220) votes
- Flurry (196 votes)
- Lolly (188 votes)
- Beau (176 votes)
- Lobo (164 votes)
All of these villagers have their own fanbases outside of Japan. Raymond in particular has become a bit of a meme in North America due to his tremendous popularity.
Other questions posed by Famitsu include favorite season and furniture type. Ironwood won the latter category by a hefty 879 votes. As for season or holiday, the most popular was Halloween. Players were also polled on their time with the franchise. Most revealed they'd played a previous Animal Crossing title before New Horizons. The most common amount of time played per day was between one and three hours.
It's interesting to see the difference between popular characters in Eastern vs Western regions. While there is obviously plenty of overlap, several favorites in North America make no appearance on the Famitsu poll. North America doesn't have its own official poll, but Animal Crossing Portal does host an unofficial tier list. Villagers like Zucker, Sherb, Roald, Ankha, and Fauna rate highly in the West, yet go unmentioned in Japan.
Obviously, there is a bit of cultural difference at play. The main factor, however, is personal preference. As previously stated, there are nearly 400 villagers available in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Newer and rarer villagers are bound to be more desirable. In the end, a player's personal favorite is just another friend to make while creating their own island paradise.
Source: Famitsu (via NintendoEverything), Animal Crossing Portal
