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 human character in the that is controlled by the real person playing the game. 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.

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.

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, 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 City Folk
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 New Leaf
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. The player doesn't speak much, but they do speak after finishing working at Tom Nook's store, catching fish or insects, getting stung by bees or mosquitos or after drinking Brewster's coffee. However, often, during conversation with a villager, the player will get to choose a response to respond to something that a villager says and the villagers react. All the player's speech is in Bebebese instead of Animalese. However, if the player speaks to another player in the Happy Home Showcase, that player will speak in Animalese.

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
A male player appears in Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS as a playable combatant. 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 a playable character in Animal Crossing: City Folk.

Villager's actions incorporate many of the features seen in the Animal Crossing series. These include using a net and a sapling melee attacks on other famous Nintendo characters. He can also spawn trees which he cuts down with an axe to crush opponents. The player can also absorb projects, by grabbing them and putting them in his pocket, followed by the pick up sound that is heard in the series.