Most of Animal Crossing: New Horizons' villagers are cute, but some are so hideous they are borderline beautiful. When Nintendo began designing villagers around 20 years ago, it was clear the company wanted a wide variety of creatures. They range from sweet to cranky and even from cute to ugly. While some less pleasant-looking villagers are bearable, though, others have become famous for their nasty appearances.
This is not to say that these villagers are not beloved by fans. On the contrary, some of the ugliest villagers are actually the most popular villagers in Animal Crossing. For instance, Gonzo the koala's smooshed face has made him cute like a pug and thus a desirable island resident for many Animal Crossing: New Horizons players.
But beyond even Gonzo exist villagers so profane in appearance that they become not cute but iconic. Characters like Wart Jr. fall into this category, as the frog's smug grin, personality, and wart-covered body put him even on Tom Nook's bad side in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The following villagers are amongst the most beautifully hideous of the bunch.
Al’s Character Design Is Flawed In Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Things must have not gone to plan with Al’s design. Where Nintendo went wrong is unclear, but something clearly went wrong. Rather than being the natural color of an ape or even an appealing yellow or green, Al’s color is between the two, making him look like radioactive waste. While this might be appealing for an island made to look like a dump, Al’s sickly green makes him one of the worst villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Al’s design flaws do not stop there. Looking at Al, one might suppose he is a Jock villager because he always wears a red tracksuit and his home is modeled after a gym. Yet, for whatever reason, Al is actually a Lazy villager: the very opposite of a Jock villager. This personality quirk is at complete odds with every design choice made for his character. What becomes horrifying about this fact is that, in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, it is revealed Al is the eldest sibling of seven children, meaning there are more of him out there. But truthfully, the mixture between his hideous color and the asymmetry of his entire design make his so unattractive that he almost becomes a must-have villager.
Barold Is Quite The Sight In Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Barold is definitively one of the worst-ranked villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This is because he shows that Nintendo must have a sense of humor when it comes to designing villagers. There is no other way Barold - who barely resembles a bear cub - would look the way he does. His face is comically hideous in a way that has to make players enjoy the Animal Crossing series just a little bit more.
Barold’s appeal does not stop at his face. He has a history and personality that are strangely difficult to unravel and leave more questions than answers. Players have gone to great lengths to understand him, even wondering if he would likely be one of Animal Crossing’s doomsday prepping villagers. As a Lazy villager, Barold is expected to have the five o’clock shadow he wears on his face. But in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, his home shows that he is quite the hardworking tech guy, as his living space is designed to look like an office he sleeps in. In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, this office space was replaced with a surveillance room that shows he has cameras monitoring the island. Further unsettling is his bunk bed, which can only make players visiting his home feel that he expects them to stay over regardless of whether they want to or not.
Even more strange, Barold may be one of the villagers who fit into K.K. Slider's Animal Crossing backstory. His tiger print tee and large-framed glasses show he is a cub interested in being involved in popular culture. Indeed, he can even be seen on the cover of K.K. Ska, meaning he likely collaborated with the great K.K. Slider in the past. It is the strange pieces of Barold's history like this that make him an ironically perfect villager in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Jitters Is Too In Love With Caffeine In Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Nintendo had good intentions behind Jitter’s design. As a green and yellow bird in love with soccer, Jitters was meant to represent Brazilian culture in the world of Animal Crossing. However, players have become fixated more so on how Nintendo pays homage to Brazil’s coffee culture than soccer culture with Jitters, as the little bird looks like it hasn’t slept in years. His large, sunken eyes look at players so intensely that many may wish he was one of the more forgettable villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Brazil is the foremost exporter of coffee beans in the world, which explains why the the bird looks like he has just drank an entire pot of coffee. Still, it seems Jitters has too large of a supply of caffeine than he seems responsible enough to handle. He looks so restless that even the dark green combover on the top of his head looks greasy and unwashed. “Stinky” may be the name of a cat in Animal Crossing, but it could also probably be applied to the sweaty, sleepless, soccer-playing Jitters.
Jitters may have more of a place in fan’s hearts now that Brewster has joined Animal Crossing: New Horizons, though. After all, there are few who could fully embody the coffee fanatic energy of a regular café visitor as well as Jitters. But perhaps players should be wary about inviting him there too much so that he can cut off the caffeine and get some sleep.
Harry Lives In A Bathroom In Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Harry the hippo is one of the few Animal Crossing characters to have facial hair, and though he is named after his mustache, his is probably the worst out of all of them. The hippo character model is simply not suited for adornments on the face, let alone a bushy, unkempt mustache like Harry’s. Why he chooses to keep it is beyond reason. This is especially true because Harry lives in a bathroom. Yes - he has lived in a bathroom in almost every Animal Crossing game, giving him one of the most interesting villager house interiors in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. With all that time in a living space filled with toiletries, Harry should have shaved that awful piece of facial hair off by now.
However, Harry’s messiness and overall roughness are part of his charm. After all, he is one of the only villagers to go through a personality change, going from Jock in the original Animal Crossing game to Cranky in City Folk. He is a bit all over the place, but so is the world.
Animal Crossing's ugliest villagers are in some ways the series' best. While most players would prefer to hang out with the cutest villagers Animal Crossing: New Horizons has to offer, nasty-looking ones like Al and Barold gladly place people back in reality. Though the game is meant more as an escape, but finding beauty in something as hideous as Harry can be quite rewarding.