A selection of villager species, including two cats, a cub, a squirrel, a bear, a horse, a dog, an elephant, and a wolf.
Species refers to the biological classification of characters which appear in the Animal Crossing series. It is not a term directly used in-game, though it is referenced by several characters throughout the franchise. This page only addresses the species of sapient characters such as villagers and the player, not those of bugs, fish, fossils, and other beings that can be captured or appear in furniture. Gyroids are a notable exception to this rule, given at least eight gyroids, all answering to one name--Lloid--appear to be sentient. They are all male and all share a birthday of August 28. There are 36 villager species, including the player.
In total, there are six types of species: animals, gyroids, humans, mystical beings, snowmen, and spirits. While bigotry does not appear to be prevalent between species, some animal villagers will occasionally make disparaging remarks about the player being human. It is also clear that villagers treat "collectible" species such as bugs, fish, and gyroids as inferior, as exemplified by their use as furniture items in homes and the museum.
Animal species are easily the most prevalent series in the game and humans appear to be the rarest.
Animal Species[]
Villager Species[]
The following is a list of species of the villagers. See their respective pages for more information:
Alligators & Crocodiles[]
Drago, a dragon classified as an alligator.
Alligators have been referenced as "crocodiles" and since there are no villagers classified as crocodiles, it is assumed these two species are merged for the purposes of species in the games. Like horses, the alligator classification includes at least one sub species villager, Drago, who appears to be a dragon rather than an alligator or crocodile. There are 9 of these types of villagers.
Bears & Cubs[]
Beardo, a smug bear villager.
There is a default bear species, but there are also cubs, which appear to be smaller versions of bears. Bears are the only species wherein smaller variants are considered their own unique species, e.g. Katie, a kitten, is still considered a cat. There are 16 bears, and 18 cubs.
Birds & Subspecies[]
Queenie, an ostrich villager; not a bird villager.
There is a default bird species, however, several birds are grouped into different species entirely: chicken, dodo, duck, eagle, ostrich, owl, peacock, pelican, penguin, pigeon, seagull, and turkey. Birds and owls are the only species in this group which seem to vary in sapience, exemplified by the difference between Twiggy and the Yellow Bird and Blathers and the White Owl. There are 89 total "bird" villagers.
Bulls & Cows[]
Bulls (male) and cows (female) are the only group of species to have a different species for each gender. There are 17 combined.
Deer & Reindeer[]
Jingle, a reindeer; not a deer.
Deer, such as Beau, and the only known reindeer, Jingle, differentiate themselves despite bearing noticeable similarities, not unlike bears and cubs.
Dog Breeds[]
Dogs are the only animal species with significant visual differences based on their breed. In addition to the default "dog" breed, there are also akitas, bulldogs, chihuahuas, Jack Russell terriers, poodles, shih tzus, and spaniels.
Frogs & Octopuses[]
Like the difference between Blathers and the White Owl, there appears to be a variance in sapience between frogs and octopuses given non-sapient frogs and octopuses can be caught as fish.
Horses[]
Julian, a unicorn classified as a horse.
Like alligators, the horse classification includes villager species who appear to be unique from horses. Examples include Julian, who appears to be a unicorn; Papi, who appears to be an okapi; and Savannah, who appears to be a zebra. Or it is possible she could be a zorse, which also happens to be a real-world animal that is the result of breeding both a zebra and a horse.
Ostriches & Sub-Subspecies[]
Ostriches, considered a subspecies of birds, have subspecies within them, making them the only group with sub-sub species. This group contains Flora, a flamingo; Julia, a peacock; Phoebe, a phoenix; Queenie, an emu; Phil, a green pheasant; Cranston, a crested ibis; Blanche, a swan; and Gladys, a crane.
Sprocket, a robotic ostrich.
Robots[]
Five villagers, Ribbot, Del, Sprocket, Nindori, and Cephalobot are obviously robots, but are classified with the rest of the villagers which look similar to them, frog, alligator, ostrich, and octopus respectively. Each robot makes a metallic noise while walking. In addition, the cat and dog villagers Meow and Bow appear to be electronic in nature, being based on real-world electronic devices.
Non-Living Villagers[]
In addition to the aforementioned robots, some villagers appear to be based upon or composed of non-living material. These include materials such clay and porcelain (Tia, Clay, and Coco), fabric and rubber (Stitches and Hopkins respectively), and food (Ketchup, Tangy, Chadder, Zucker, Frita, Curlos, Mint, Carrot (villager), and Merengue). It is unknown whether Lucky is undead or just chronically injured.
Special Character Species[]
The following is a list of species of the special characters. See their respective pages for more information:
Gyroids[]
Lloid, a sentient gyroid.
- Main article: Gyroids
Like owls, birds, and octopuses; gyroids seems to vary in sapience. The vast majority of gyroids appear to have no awareness or ability to speak. However, some gyroids, such as Lloid, seem to be capable of speaking and performing tasks.
Coco, a villager, is classified as a rabbit, but has the appearance of a gyroid.
Humans[]
A large group of human players.
The player (as well as, presumably, their parents) are the only known humans in Animal Crossing series, though humans do appear on the television. Humans' appearance can vary widely with notable differences in skin color, hair color, and face styles. Cosmeticians such as Harriet can help humans edit their appearance. Mii Masks are cartoonish versions of the human appearance, and Miis, therefore, are not considered a distinct species from humans.
Mystical Beings[]
Farley, a gnome, magic human, or some other anomaly.
Two characters in Animal Crossing, Farley and Serena, either claim to be mystical or appear that way. Whereas Serena states that she is a fountain goddess despite her appearance as a dog, Farley simply has no origin and may, therefore, be human, though it is clear he has the ability to use magic via his interactions at the Wishing Well.
There are also a few normal villagers and special characters based on mystical beings: Phoebe, an ostrich villager with the appearance of a phoenix; Drago, an alligator villager with the appearance of a dragon; Julian, a horse villager with the appearance of a unicorn; and Kapp'n, whose family are all Kappa.
Also of note is that in Japan, Tom Nook is classified as a Tanuki, a real animal surrounded by supernatural folklore. There is even a traditional mythical tanuki statue in New Leaf and New Horizons (like Tom Nook himself, relabeled as a normal raccoon in Western regions)
Snowmen[]
- Main article: Snowmen
Snowmen can be created during the winter season by the player rolling snowballs on top of each other. There are four known variants of snowmen: Snowtyke, Snowboy, Snowmam, and Snowman. They refer to one another as family members, suggesting a consciousness equivalent to sentience, and, perhaps, reincarnation.
Note: only Snowboy can be made in games other then New Leaf
Spirits[]
Wisp, a spirit
Spirits, sometimes referred to as a "specter", appear to be some form of the undead, potentially of the other species. Jack and Wisp are the only known sentient spirits, though Jack's species is sometimes listed as "pumpkin", which is also what he sometimes will call the player. Insentient spirits can be collected as items in-game, marking a difference in sentience between spirits similar to that of gyroids. Wisp and other spirits are only able to appear at night in the outdoors, but Wisp can be summoned via a genie lamp indoors.