With Animal Crossing: New Horizons coming out so soon, we’re all excited to see what the game brings us. New gameplay features have been introduced through the game’s trailers and we’ve even gotten to see some of the villagers from past games that will be potentially living on the island with our characters.
The trailers have already confirmed that the entire Nook family will be on the island and so will villagers like Fuchsia, Stitches, and Wolfgang, but we still don’t know about a lot of our other favorite characters from the Animal Crossing franchise. There are some that we’d love to see come to the island, while there are others we hope stay at home. To see 5 characters we want to see in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and 5 we don’t, keep reading!
However, the game hasn’t been out for a full year yet, which means many of the seasonal and special events have yet to be introduced fully. This gives space for a bunch of additional characters to make their appearance, as well as a possibility for some less wanted characters to make their dreaded comeback. Here’s three additional special villagers we need and don’t need for New Horizons.
16 Come To The Island: Jingle
Christmas is still months away, but based on past games there’s a ton of speculation that can be done. Jingle is a character that has appeared consistently during December, usually on the 24th of December. However, in New Leaf, he actually tasked the player with giving out gifts dressed as Santa in exchange for rewards.
It would be cool to see Jingle return, and potentially even provide the player with different pieces of the holiday-themed Jingle collection that was already seen in previous Animal Crossing games.
15 Stay Home: Phineas
Phineas is a pretty versatile character, who has served two different kinds of roles, both of which aren’t there for any specific purpose. In City Folk, he was known to hand out cute balloons and other accessories the player could equip in hand, pinwheels or even bubble wands.
However, in New Leaf he appears as a scout type character, who will provide the player with badges based on various quests that they’ve completed. Given that the game has since introduced Nook Miles+ as a feature, Phineas would be pretty useless in the game now, unless he was given a brand new role.
14 Come To The Island: Jack
Another greatly anticipated seasonal event is Halloween, which traditionally has been represented by Jack, a specter character with a pumpkin as his head. Jack is a key part of the game, since through him the player can get all the cool Halloween furniture known as the Spooky series.
Jack’s return to the game would also confirm the return of candy and trick or treating. Players could potentially exchange candy to him for a piece of furniture, but if they happen to be without any, Jack could pull a trick on them, such as steal an item from their inventory.
13 Stay Home: Leila
Although new shops are always a welcome addition to fans who just want more items and more furniture, one thing that nobody wants is unfair pricing. Leila is a seller from the island in New Leaf, whose shop was infamous for having an unfair buy price.
Since the player already has to struggle with turnips, Nook’s Cranny pricing and Redd’s rare appearances, having someone like Leila would probably just be a burden or a useless feature for players. Who needs a shopkeeper who buys every object at only 5% of its price? Hopefully, she stays gone.
12 Come To The Island: Brewster
Most likely scheduled to make an appearance in September as the weather cools down, Brewster is one character that’s definitely been confirmed for the game. Data mining has also proved that he’s very much going to be added into the game in the coming months, along with his coffee shop.
Brewster’s coffee shop The Roost has allowed the player to work in it in the past, and would bring back the importance of knowing the favorite coffee types of the villagers living on the island. However, if Brewster is to return, coffee should play a more important role than it has in the past, just like eating fruit has an actual function now.
11 Stay Home: Lyle
A character well-known for being very much situational, Lyle is unlikely to make an appearance simply because the game mechanics have changed a bit in New Horizons. In past games, Lyle has been an insurance clerk and Happy Home Academy judge who can help the player have their purchases refunded if they get tricked by Redd.
The only way Lyle could potentially make a comeback is if the Happy Home Academy became more important and apparent in the game. Right now, the HHA is just a feature in the background which rates the player’s home on a weekly basis.
10 Come To The Island: Isabelle
Isabelle made her debut in New Leaf as the assistant to the mayor. She’s a peppy yellow dog who is always ready to help the mayor build public works projects, change the town tune, and celebrate special holidays. Isabelle was added as a new character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, so we know that Nintendo must know how much we love this yellow dog.
Although we don’t know what exactly the details of the island in New Horizons are going to be, we hope that there’s a way for Isabelle to join us there. She worked hard in New Leaf! She deserves a tropical vacation.
9 Stay Home: Cornimer
Cornimer is a character that appeared in Wild World during the Acorn Festival. If you had a New 3DS or New 3DS XL item in New Leaf, you could access the Puzzle League minigame and one of your opponents would be Cornimer, but that was the only time he showed up in that game - probably because he was clearly just Tortimer in a mask and Tortimer is now living on his private island.
Although Cornimer was a fun character and addition to the Acorn Festival, he’s definitely a character that we can leave behind. The fact that he only appeared in small pieces of New Leaf might be a sign that Nintendo is ready to let him retire.
8 Come To The Island: Kapp’n
Kapp’n is a character that has appeared in all the Animal Crossing games in some form. This character is always transporting the player somewhere, whether it be to their new home or to Tortimer Island.
In New Leaf, we even got to meet Kapp’n’s adorable family when we visited Tortimer Island. Kapp’n’s wife, daughter, and mother live on Tortimer Island and run the shop as well as the tours. But, maybe it’s time for them to move on and take a trip to a new island.
7 Stay Home: Dr. Shrunk
Dr. Shrunk is an axolotl that runs Club LOL. He made his first appearance in Wild World and has appeared in each game since then. In New Leaf, he opens his club on Main Street in the player’s village and tells a joke to the mayor each day that they bring him a piece of fruit, allowing the player to learn a brand new emotion.
Most of Dr. Shrunk’s jokes are self-deprecating and imply that his home life with his wife and family are strained because of the amount of time he spends trying to make it as a big-time comedian. Although this character is a staple in the series and it’s fun to learn new emotions, it’s time for Dr. Shrunk to give it up and spend some time with his family.
6 Come To The Island: Katie
Katie is a young, yellow kitten that began appearing in the Animal Crossing franchise in Wild World. In New Leaf, she can randomly appear in a player’s town and ask them for help traveling somewhere new. If the player takes Katie to a friend’s town, she will send the player a gift in the mail the next day.
Considering Katie’s character is all about traveling around from town to town, with or without her mom, she’s definitely a character that we hope shows up in New Horizons. After all the traveling she’s done, Katie deserves to see an island.
5 Stay Home: Gyroids
Gyroids are technically not a character, but they are a huge part of the series. Gyroids are a furniture item that have appeared in all the games and can be dug up after it rains in a player’s town.
Although gyroids can be good for making money and can even have some really interesting designs to collect if you want to keep them in your house, they’re definitely a part of the game that we can leave behind. How frustrating is it to think you’ve found the last fossil of the day, only to dig up a Mini Howloid?
4 Come To The Island: Leif
Leif is a sloth that was introduced in Animal Crossing: New Leaf and runs the plant shop on Main Street, eventually moving in to Timmy and Tommy’s shop as it upgrades. Leif sells a variety of items including flower seeds and trees, helping the player to add some greenery and beauty to their town and eventually achieve Perfect Town status.
Considering Animal Crossing: New Horizons showed off a ton of new plant-related features like digging up entire trees and replanting them elsewhere, we really hope that Leif makes it to the island with us and is added to the game.
3 Stay Home: Gracie
Gracie is a quirky giraffe that was introduced in the very first Animal Crossing game. She comes to visit the player’s town in Animal Crossing: New Leaf and does a “Gracie’s Fashion Check.” Gracie gives the player a theme and forces them to dress to match that theme through their clothing.
After doing four successful Fashion Checks, Gracie will open a high-end designer boutique in the top floor of T&T Emporium. Her store is nice, but the items are incredibly expensive and change out seasonally as opposed to daily, which can be annoying if you want a certain set that won’t be available for months.
2 Come To The Island: K.K. Slider
K.K. Slider is a dog that has appeared in all the Animal Crossing games in some form. He’s a musician that performs a huge catalog of different songs, all of which have his initials in the title. In New Leaf, he plays on the stage at Club LOL every Saturday night and the player can request one song from his catalog per weekend.
Considering the fact that K.K. Slider has appeared in every Animal Crossing game so far and has even made cameo appearances in other Nintendo games like Mario Kart 8, we hope that he’ll come to the island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, too.
1 Stay Home: Redd
Redd is a sneaky fox that made his first appearance way back in the very first Animal Crossing game. He runs different businesses in each game and either charges the player to enter, sells counterfeit items, or only allows shoppers in by invitation.
In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, he sells four different pieces of art, three of which are fake while one is real and can be donated to the museum. Although Redd’s businesses may be unique and his shady business practices add a layer of fun to the games, he’s definitely a character we could do without seeing on the island.
NEXT: Animal Crossing: The 10 Funniest Villager Quotes Ever, Ranked
