Controversial opinion: There's no such thing as a "bad" villager

[FRANS_PLAYER]

I often see people trying to argue that the "ugly" villagers are bad ones and then others trying to argue that the popular villagers are bad ones. Honestly, I don't believe there's such a thing as a "bad" Animal Crossing villager. Why? Let me explain.
You can have had "bad" experiences with a villager, but that doesn't make them actual bad villagers. They could have given you a trash can or their old bidet, but the dialogue is preprogrammed and the gift selection random. When they say "this reminded me of you" they could be handing you a toilet or a new pretty dress! Their questionable gift-giving doesn't really make them bad. If you think they're "bad" because they're ugly, then you're just being kind of judgy at that point. If you think they're bad and hit them with a net so they get mad at you, you're the meanie in that situation. Every villager is special in their own way, and though there are some I will admit I don't like, I'm not going to call them a "bad" villager, I just don't really want them on my island.

 

[Believe]

I don't think anyone actually believes there are inherently bad villagers lol... it's fun to have preferences and talk about your faves

 

[visibleghost]

i agree with some points, i know that when it comes to it it doesn’t matter if you’re mean to villagers because they’re not real, but god damn if i don’t get sad when people treat villagers badly because they’re not pretty enough.

i have villagers i wouldn’t want on my island and to be honest it is based on appearance a lot. however i still connect to the ugly villagers i have and don’t hate them or hit them with nets.

it kind of feels bad when i see people hating on specific villagers that i don’t think are too bad (sorry, it doesn’t extend to the ugliest villager moose) even though i know i hate villagers as well. but it’s so sad when jambette or any other frog gets hate because they’re just cute little fellas.....

 

[airpeaches]

I completely agree! Liking or disliking a villager is entirely a matter of personal preference, but all villagers are good! No villager can be bad, maybe they just aren't what you, as a player, prefers. I can never understand people being mean about other people's villager preferences or just calling a different villager 'bad.' All villagers are good villagers! We all have favorites and ones we may not like, but that's okay too.

And as you said, even if you look at villagers objectively they're all coded a certain way and none of them are coded to be 'bad,' sometimes you just end up with wacky interactions!

 

[Chris]

There are only two types of villager: Goose and everyone else. All praise Goose.

 

[Soigne]

you're wrong because barold stole my mailbox and told me i'm ugly

 

[Bloobloop]

i don’t think that most people believe the uglier/less popular villagers are actually bad LOL i always interpreted it as a joking thing like “wow barold won’t ask to leave what a jerk”. it’s just players choosing to add more character and story to the villagers by fleshing out their personalities more through imagination. i doubt anyone actually thinks the villagers in animal crossing, a game rated e for everyone, can be capable of malicious intent haha

 

[Toasties]

I didn't realize this was a thing? I respect if people dislike certain villagers because of how they look, it's meh because it doesn't personally affect me. I've actually grown more appreciation to villagers that are considered ugly when collecting amiibo cards. I do a lot of villager trades and it warms my heart to see when people request a villager that isn't in the top tier. For the short time I have them on my island it actually makes me want to keep them.

Sadly I do have my dreamies that I couldn't part with and only have room for 1 or 2 different villagers at a time.

 

[Hobowire]

i don't mind as long as they pay their rent.

 

[Le Ham]

Spoiler: long & unwarranted comment but still relevant maybe

I don't think it's controversial. It's kinda like how people think disliking Raymond is controversial, and then actually it's the opposite lol. Definitely there are the people with the all-top-tier-villagers thing, though not all of them do it because they're popular... then you also have the people who be like "I have all low-tier villagers on purpose bc they're underrated " and like... I'm a victim of these mindsets too, but why are we taking this so seriously lol

Generally, it feels like talking about how x villager is underrated... is overrated, so I try to be a lil covert and joking around with my Rodney stanning for example, and when I talk about like Ursala or Billy on "Recommend villagers for me" threads. I think as long as we can stop the idea of "it ranks high on polls/tier lists, therefore it's weird to not like it" from spreading, villager discussion might be a little less... like that, lol

Maybe it's good practice for understanding how it's okay that people have different tastes from you in the real world, I guess? And the younger folk among us learning to not base our entire life on other people's opinions? (Oops, that's a struggle I'm working through w/ myself rn too haaaah)

--
edit after rereading the op and recognizing my earlier comments were offtopic LOL: I kinda understand people calling villagers "bad" and actively disliking them for existing after the RNG decided they would give you a bidet. There are like two things you typically use to judge villagers and whether you like them or not, 1) appearance, 2) experience with them/nostalgia. You can count out experience if you really want to, but imo that's part of the fun, lol. That's how you develop personal favorites other than the S/A tier top 20. That's how I ended up liking Rodney or Tabby, or discovering gems like Wendy.

Rocco was my buddy in WW, but when I got him to move into my NL town I forgot to plot reset and there he was, planted in the middle of my dirt path. RIP the bushes, RIP the flowers, RIP functional paths. Gotta say, my bond with him soured a little over that. No that doesn't make him objectively bad or different from any other villager, but it did lower his appeal for me even though that was 0% his fault. It is fun to attribute those things to those villagers though, since AC is trying to simulate life.

 

[Fendi]

In theory, all these "bad" and "ugly" archetypes that people keep building up are concepts that people feel exist, but are just completely made-up. It's fine to have preferences, but I think it's difficult for others to understand that there is no correct way to interpret how villagers are. Everything regarding villagers is subjective, and often the discussion always talks about the two extremes who either paint the popular villagers as "overrated" or the unpopular villagers as "underrated".

Regarding the villagers I have, I like them because of my own personal reasons, not because others have a say in whether I should feel more or less about them. But given that the game obviously has a pretty young demographic, it's common for others to feel the "need" to fit in by feeling a certain way towards villagers based off of how others tell them they should feel. Bottom line, make your own judgements, and don't let others dictate how you should feel about villagers. ✌

 

[FishHead]

It's all up to our personal preferences, so yes you're right while viewing from an objective standpoint.

 

[Megaroni]

I personally do believe villagers can be "bad." My island is mostly made up of peppy/normal villagers so when a snooty/cranky villager spawns they can interact really badly with everyone else on my island. I've only had 2 snooty/cranky villagers on my island and my entire experience with them was awful. Every time I'd see them interact with one of my favorite villagers it would end in them getting upset. I honestly base whether I like a villager or not based on how my favorites think of them. I've had villagers I hated that I now love cause my favorites became best friends with them

 

[Khaelis]

No, pretty sure Limberg is pure evil.

 

[xSuperMario64x]

Idk Biff is a pretty horrible villager lmao

 

[GEEBRASS]

Well put! There are certainly plenty of villagers I'd rather not have on my island, I know that even if I were stuck with them I'd grow to like them. People being mean to their villagers is so weird to me.

 

[That Marshal Fangirl]

you're wrong because barold stole my mailbox and told me i'm ugly

Diva ruined my crops and burned my house down.

 

[Barney]

T

I personally do believe villagers can be "bad." My island is mostly made up of peppy/normal villagers so when a snooty/cranky villager spawns they can interact really badly with everyone else on my island. I've only had 2 snooty/cranky villagers on my island and my entire experience with them was awful. Every time I'd see them interact with one of my favorite villagers it would end in them getting upset. I honestly base whether I like a villager or not based on how my favorites think of them. I've had villagers I hated that I now love cause my favorites became best friends with them

That's weird, and not something I'd given any thought until reading your post, but my crankies and my snooty haven't ended up in a disagreement with anyone on my island yet.

My sisterly villager, my jock, my smug and my two normals have upset each other at various times, though.

I wonder what triggers this!?

 

[Xara]

i don’t think any villagers are necessarily bad - there’s definitely villagers i don’t like for whatever reason but they’re not bad, i just don’t really care for them. each villager has at least one person who likes them and people can like whoever they want, popular or not. i’ll never shame someone for liking a villager even if i don’t share the same opinion ;u;

 

[moon_child]

I’m not into the whole being super mean towards villagers we don’t like (I can’t hit them no matter how much I dislike them) but I know we all have our preferences so it’s really just a matter of taste. If a villager we don’t like gives us genuine art, we’d still probably kick them out when we have the chance. But a villager we like will most likely stay even if they give us a toilet or a trash bin, you know. It’s just the way of the world. We love who we love, ain’t nothing more to it.