I don't really know why or how, but I have become a squirrel stan since getting NH. I'm a huge cat person irl so you might expect my island to have several cats on it, but instead my island is overrun with squirrels, and I can't stop collecting them XD It started with Marshal and Caroline, who were the two squirrels I wanted most, but then I decided to get Filbert, then Static, then Peanut, then Mint .... Honestly, an all squirrel island doesn't sound too bad lol.
It's funny because I used to not like squirrels very much in previous games. I guess something just snapped in my brain once I got NH And oddly I'm not particularly into any of the cat villagers. I like some of them but none are dreamies.
Anyone else end up really liking a species you didn't expect to??
I’ve fallen for the deer SO much. Before NH, my favorite species was tied between the wolf and eagle, but something about the deer just clicked with me. Thats the main reason I’m going mono-deer (well, that and it fits my lore)!
Frogs were the biggest surprise for me. I loved Puddles from NL, but had no idea how many frogs I liked until I talked about them with @LittleMissPanda and when I started looking at the tier list threads. I was also surprised by how many squirrels and rabbits I like too. For me, the bigger surprise than finding that I like so many of the frogs was finding that I liked one of two villagers from a species that I thought had odd designs like Bangle and maybe Bianca; the big cats (mostly the lions) always looked weird to me (the faces and size of their heads). I used to not like hippos or rhinos but now there are at least three I like in both.
Chickens! A very unpopular species among the community. I thought I only liked Egbert and only for nostalgic reasons as I had him in my Gamecube town, but to hype myself up for New Horizons I decided to take an actual look at and learn all the different villagers and I found that I actually like most of the chickens: Egbert, Plucky, Ava, Goose.. I even find myself liking Ken, Benedict, and Broffina a little bit.
On the other hand, there's a species I thought I liked way more than I did: Ducks. When I looked at every duck in the game I realized that I really only like Bill and maybe Molly a little bit, but I honestly dislike ALL of the other ones.
anteaters!! i've never had one as a villager but after seeing their desings (esp olaf and analisa) i decided that i'll get one someday! also squirrels bc their tail to body ratio is ADORABLE how are they so smol ;w;
tbh i was more of a bear cub kinda gal bc poncho and tammy are sooooooo tiny but there's so many other good species designs out there too!! also like,, i like the cat villagers for who they are but in nl they're so thin ((( feed the kitties!! why are they so lanky there should be at least one really fat cat villager that would be so cute omg
Not randomly, but I've always been a huge fan of the general design of certain species (deer, squirrel, cat) and hated others (gorilla, cub, bear, sheep). I guess maybe it is random though on second thought because I can't distinguish a reason why I would prefer those types of animals.
Wolves because some of them l can picture them as a dog. I also love their designs. I have all the wolf villagers including W.Link. That's how much l like them! I also love horse villagers and dog villagers, just wished there was more better design of dog villagers.
Started off with just Hazel (My NL love), Pecan (My GC love), and Poppy, then I wanted Sally and Cally, so I was like "ehhh, why not..." and got Agent S, Sheldon, Filbert, Static, and Marshal. Ended up loving them all, but I can't go wrong with any of the squirrels IMO.
Other animals I started to love in NH are Koalas (specifically Canberra and Eugene) and Chickens (Goose, Ken, Knox, Becky, Plucky, and even Broffina.)
It’s frogs for me. I don’t like playing single species towns/islands but after having Jambette on my island and seeing other frogs in NH i really wish i had more frogs I’m kinda squeamish about frogs in real life though. I also have dreamed of a whole chicken island. I generally like the birds so I’m happy I was able to achieve a multi species bird town in new leaf.
I just plain love the ostriches! I love all of them and they have almost all the personalities except cranky. They are all so different and they have a bunch of sub-species like peacock, crane, emu and the super cool robot and Phoenix! Search them up and they are all so nice! I just really wished there were more boy ostriches, as there is only 3 out of 10, and Phil looks a bit questionable but he is ok. Actually writing this has made me feel convinced to make a full ostrich town hehe, but the fact that there isn’t all the personalities was the only thing stopping me from making a full ostrich town.
I’ve never had an Ostrich villager prior to New Horizons, but I have a newfound appreciation for them now. I adore Blanche, Flora, and Cranston. They all have unique designs (with gorgeous interiors/exteriors to boot). Most are based off a specific bird too!
The hamsters are a species that I really favor. It was definitely a surprise, especially since I don’t favor squirrels, a similarly tiny species. I think it is their cute little chubby bodies make them see so cuddly and makes everything they do seem more sweet. Even Hamlet, the one hamster I wasn’t really interested in at first, has grown on me.
More recently, (and therefore more surprising) i discovered I like the pig villagers. I had long thought of Agnes as a favorite (finally moved her in via amiibo recently, after months of waffling on using my cards). my husband had pancetti on his island at one point as a random move in and I ended up really liking her. I recently found Maggie on an island hopping excursion and so far I love her to bits. So I have a 2 pig island at the moment (maybe long term?) and am giving all the pig villagers another look, because I seem more inclined to like them now.
I really love the dog species but this one isn’t that surprising to me bc I love dogs irl as well. If I’m not too careful, I might end up with an all dog island
but surprisingly, I’ve grown to really like the squirrel villagers! They honestly were never my favorite, but after having Marshal & Hazel I’ve grown very fond of them I love their tails swaying when they walk and they’re so smolnow I want Sylvana, Poppy, Pecan, Static, Tasha too
I like them less in NH because of the sweaters instead of scarves, but am SUPER in love with sheep in past titles.... Baabara (scares me) and Curlos (nice design but reminds me of an ex) are the only ones I REALLY don't like, and most of them are personally B tier or higher for me! I've also always had a soft spot for octopus villagers haha, they're just so unique!
I really like the rabbit species in Animal Crossing but I also do in general. As for species that I've grown fond with here, it's probably the bear or the cubs. I love having Stitches and Beardo in my town, I never thought they would've grown on me before but guess if I had to choose what species I'd like, they would probably be one of them.
Keeping only one of each species on my island keeps me from really liking one whole species over the other.... i will say though, I think the eagles don’t get the praise they deserve when they all have such great designs. The main one I don’t like is Amelia, she a little weird.
but frank, Avery, Keaton, buzz, Celia are all such lowkey villagers with great designs! Avery lives on my island - and Apollo is obviously already popular, a fine design. But he’s a little overdone and boring for my taste.
I fell in love with the anteaters the first time I interacted with them in the game. I love the way their snoots wiggle when they talk and their tails bounce when they walk. I've now had four of them in my towns: Annalisa, Anabelle, Antonio and Pango. Annalisa is a permanent resident in Sakura and Pango is a permanent resident in Nocturne. Even though I did let Anabelle and Antonio move out because I like to cycle through villagers, I still enjoyed them very much.
Even though we don't have any on our island, we like the monkeys and gorillas :v a lot of that comes from liking monkeys in general, but also because they seem to be disliked and you know someone has to love them
we also like frogs due to accidentally getting three we grew attached to on our island
dogs too due to having Lucky on our island, which is funny because most of us are scared of dogs irl
And oddly I'm not particularly into any of the cat villagers. I like some of them but none are dreamies. 
I also love horse villagers and dog villagers, just wished there was more better design of dog villagers.
I’m kinda squeamish about frogs in real life though. I also have dreamed of a whole chicken island. I generally like the birds so I’m happy I was able to achieve a multi species bird town in new leaf.
I love their tails swaying when they walk and they’re so smol
