The Animal Crossing series hosts hundreds of villagers, each with a unique appearance and home, meaning that just about every fan of the franchise has a favorite, but some villagers have been forgotten over the course of the series. Of course, it stands to reason that some villagers are more widely beloved than others, and certain villagers have even gone on to become staples of the series, appearing in every game since Animal Crossing's initial launch, but there are a few that have fallen off everyone's radar.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the latest game in the series, is also the source of what may arguably be the most popular Animal Crossing character if popularity polls are anything to go by: Raymond, the smug cat villager. New Horizons also includes around 400 villagers even while considering the handful of villagers who didn't carry over from previous entries in the franchise. There are quite a few other faces in the game who have made just as much of an impression, though.
Some, on the other hand, are more broadly disliked. Barold and Limberg, for example, are often cited as being among Animal Crossing's most unpopular villagers, due largely to their appearance. Likewise, a few of the personality types featured in the Animal Crossing series tend to rub people the wrong way, such as snooty or cranky villagers. There remains a large handful of characters who are just outright forgotten, however, either because of their lack of significant features or their absence from later games in the series.
Animal Crossing New Leaf: Inkwell
Inkwell was introduced as one of many crossover characters as part of Animal Crossing: New Leaf's "Welcome amiibo" update, appearing in the town's campsite when players made use of a Splatoon amiibo as a Splatoon-Animal Crossing crossover. Although he was relatively popular at the time of release thanks to his stylized, Splatoon-inspired design, he quickly became forgotten after failing to appear in any other game in the series, including New Horizons.
Animal Crossing: Ace
Ace, like quite a few other villagers, hasn't appeared in any recent Animal Crossing games outside of the very start of the series. As a jock bird villager, there are already quite a few other characters like him - such as Jay - which may be why he was replaced in favor of more updated characters as the franchise progressed.
Animal Crossing Wild World: Champ
The jock monkey villager Champ was included in both Wild World and Animal Crossing: City Folk and was even featured in the Animal Crossing-inspired movie Dōbutsu no Mori. Despite this, he was not added back into the franchise when New Leaf and New Horizons came out, leaving him one of the most forgotten characters of the Animal Crossing series.