Player

"No more debt for me!! My house is all paid off!!!!"

- A player paying off their mortgage

The player (also called the playable character) is a term used for the controllable avatar in the. The player may be either male or female; the differences in all games are largely cosmetic and with slight variations to some dialogue whenever the conversation becomes gender specific.

The player is the only human character seen in the game (including visiting players). They are the only human children, however, it is assumed Mom and Dad, who send letters occasionally, are also human in appearance. However, in Wild World, Mom says "How are you and your little animal friends?" Players will always have an in-game "Mom" and in spite of Mom referring to childhood events and the home that the player once lived in, there is no indication of any real sense of back story to the human character(s) telling why they went off to live on their own and Mom occasionally sends presents in the mail, with some gifts reflecting on the current season, such as the letter stating that there is something sweet and bitter about cherry blossoms, this letter will only be sent to the player in April.

Only one human from each town may be active at any given time, although in, , and , visiting players from other games could be in town at the same time. Players will start with either a long sleeve or a short sleeve shirt depending on the time of year.

Role
The player is seen as an active member of the town to which they have moved. The way in which they act with their environment changes the town, which represents the open play of the.

There are a number of different ways the player can interact with the town and other characters in the game. These may involve the variety of different hobbies in the game, such as fishing, bug catching, fashion and many more.

Villagers do not necessarily have an active role in altering the town or the player, but can be interacted with to develop friendships and to trade for furniture and tips.

Mayor
In, the player takes on the role of the Town Mayor, a role which was filled by Mayor Tortimer in previous installments. What the player does is essentially the same as in previous games, but now with more customizable options. Being the Mayor involves two key areas; Public Works Projects and the Town Ordinance.

Being the Mayor does not need to be seen as the main aim of the game, but it does allow the player to customize their town further than what was available in with the Town Fund, which allowed the player to add new features to the town. In New Leaf, the player can add features such as benches to any place in the Village, or build new stores in Main Street. The Mayor can also change the laws by changing the Town ordinance to allow for later or earlier opening times for stores, or to make the town cleaner or wealthier.

Appearance
Players share similar physical attributes with the main villagers in all games in the series, such as limbs and height, with the exception of some species.

The physical appearance of the player can be customized in a variety of different ways in each game, with a wide selection of hairstyles, clothes, accessories and facial feature positions. In more modern Animal Crossing games, the appearance of the player can be altered to such an extent that gender specific features can be used on players of the opposite gender.

Clothing and Headgear
There are several unalterable differences. The female character will always wear a dress, while the male character will always wear a shirt with gray shorts.In, all clothing items can be worn by either gender. In, and , the female character's default hat is a cone-shaped "Princess cap," while the male character headgear resembles a spiked "Viking helmet". In  and , they are the only hairstyle or head wear, and they cannot be changed.



In
In, the largely physical differences between the genders may become blurred due to the fact that Harriet will allow the player to get haircuts that are meant for the opposite gender if one has had all hairstyles of their gender. Kicks will also allow the player to wear shoes of the opposite gender after several shoe shines have been bought in the City.

In
In, the player now appears taller with longer limbs. This also reflects the change in the physical appearance of villagers who are also much taller and life like.

The player is also more animated. For example, when slowly approaching an insect, the player no longer walks slowly. They now crouch down when sneaking towards a bug. There are also new emotions which show off the flexibility of the player's model.

Determining Facial Features
In each game, the player's face is determined by a series of questions that the introductory character, Rover asks when the unseen player is currently moving into the town. In Animal Crossing: Wild World , Kapp'n asks the player instead.

The way the face is arranged can be determined when the player responds to the questions asked by each introductory character. However, in Animal Crossing, at the end of the conversation when it comes to the last question, if the player presses "B" while talking to Rover it selects the second response and randomizes the player's face, making any other question answered unusable.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Both a male player and a female player appears in the background of the Smashville stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He can be seen during some matches with other characters in the series, such as Harriet, Blathers and occasionally K.K. Slider.

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS
Both male and female players appear in Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS as playable combatants. The announcement was made during the Electronic Entertainment Expo ("E3") Nintendo Direct presentation.

In the game, the player is called the "Villager" and takes on the appearance of playable characters from Animal Crossing: City Folk.

Villager's actions incorporate many of the features seen in the. These include using a net and a sapling: melee attacks they can use on their opponents. The net can grab an opponent and directly attack them and/or throw them, damaging the opponent. The sapling can grow into a tree which they can cut down with an axe to attack opponents. The villager can also absorb objects by grabbing the object and putting it in their pocket, followed by the pick up sound that is heard in the.

In Mario Kart 8
Both male and female players are called "Villager", and they take on the appearance of playable characters from.

The Villagers can be chosen respectively on the Character Select screen and can let players race them throughout the tracks in Mario Kart 8. That can only be possible if the player owns the 2nd DLC for Mario Kart 8, nicknamed "Animal Crossover", released since April 23rd, 2015.

Gallery
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Other Appearances
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