Animal Crossing is known as a wholesome franchise suitable for players of all ages. However, the games didn’t always have the same kind of welcoming vibes that the new releases included. Compared to the most recent games, such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the old Animal Crossing titles featured villagers who were far less wholesome, to the point that some would even threaten or insult the player.

Like many games, Animal Crossing has made changes from one release to the next, and the attitude of the villagers towards the player has been part of those changes. In early games, villagers could be rather mean to the player, insulting them by calling them stupid or making fun of their appearance. Because of this, some villagers from the older games haven’t aged all that well, and their personalities aren’t the type that are found in modern E-Rated titles.

10

Old Tom Nook Is Misunderstood

Tom Nook deserves at least an honorable mention, if only because it’s the player impressions of him that have aged poorly. He sells the player their residence and has upgrades for their house available for purchase, loaning out a chunk of money. He often came off as greedy, especially since he’d make the players work for him while paying off their loan.

However, he’s much nicer about the money owed to him now. In old games, Tom Nook had a more aggressive attitude, admitting that he was okay with people being afraid of him if it meant they paid their bills on time. He would even go as far as giving out threats about his payments, albeit as a joke. Later in the series, he reveals that he donates ninety percent of his earnings to an orphanage, which might make him the most misunderstood character over the years.

9

Ankha Show The Old Snooty Personality Rudeness

Ankha is a villager with a snooty personality, which means she tends to be on the rude side, and she loves gossiping, but she doesn’t get along with every type of villager, and her speaking with a jock personality usually doesn’t end well. However, snooty villagers in past games made actual mean comments, and that’s not the case anymore in new games. She used to pick at the player’s style, saying that the 99-cent store is the type of place the player should hang out at.

Because snooty villagers aren’t as mean or rude anymore, players don’t get to see the development that characters like Ankha showed. Over time, she warmed up to people and grew nicer, but she retained her arrogance and sass even then. However, she aged poorly in that her character doesn’t see the same level of growth anymore since villagers have been toned back regarding how harsh their comments are towards the player.

8

Wolfgang Would Insult The Players And Call Them Stupid

As a villager with a cranky personality, it’s not surprising that Wolfgang would be in a bad mood, especially before the player builds a friendship with him. Naturally, cranky villagers in the older Animal Crossing games used to be more insulting towards the player compared to their modern counterparts, and Wolfgang was no exception. Although Wolfgang came off as abrasive in those older games, he didn’t have malicious intentions. He was just a rude person.

Aside from yelling in the forest when he was alone to strengthen his vocal cords, Wolfgang would hurl some creative insults at the player, most of which would never be found in modern E-Rated games. One of his popular old lines is, “That is 100% pure, fresh-squeezed, organic STUPIDITY!” Lines like that don’t exactly fit with the incredibly wholesome vibe that Animal Crossing has shifted to in recent releases.

7

Blaire Meant Those Insults, But Not For Them To Be Heard

Like Ankha, Blaire is a villager with a snooty personality, meaning that she’s arrogant and rude, but she warms up to the player once they build a friendship. In games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, this simply means that the player can expect the villager to be a bit rude or dismissive at times. However, in older games, villagers who had a snooty personality could be downright cruel with some of the insults they’d say to the player.

Looking back as an adult, some of Blaire’s lines could be seen as funny or simply unique since the new variations of villagers all feel so nice. But as a child, playing Animal Crossing and having villagers hurl insults could be rather upsetting, and reasonably so. Especially when Blaire has lines like “What a sad name! Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean it! Or, at least, I didn’t mean for you to hear it” or when she questions the gift that the player gave her, clearly not appreciating it.

6

Phyllis Hates Working The Post Office Night Shift

Phyllis is the older sister of Pelly. While Pelly works as the day shift clerk at the post office, Phyllis takes the night shift. Compared to Pelly, Phyllis is more irritable, and she doesn’t seem to like social interactions in general, which can make her come off as being mean. Because of her generally negative attitude, grumpiness, and dislike of working, she treats players like they’re a burden when they need her to do her job or have to interact with her for any reason.

As an adult, Phyllis can be the most relatable character in Animal Crossing, especially for players who play as a form of escape or relaxation after a shift at their own jobs. However, as a child, going to speak with an NPC and receiving comments like a sarcastic “Oh great, a customer“ or finding her outside of work and hearing “Don’t tell me you want to sit next to me” can be upsetting. It’s no wonder she ended up being fired before New Horizons, no longer making an appearance in the game.

5

Cheri Was Both Sweet And Sour

Cheri is a villager with a peppy personality, so she tends to come off as upbeat and sweet, unlike the snooty personality of some villagers, until the player gets to know them. However, behind her kind exterior hid a bit of a ruthless character. The lines that Cheri might say in older games are not among phrases that players would come across in a title that’s meant to be appropriate for all ages.

Of course, in life, it’s possible to encounter somebody who’s kind and cheerful on the surface but that says hurtful things. It might be the unexpected insults from Cheri that made them cut a bit deeper, since she doesn’t seem like the type of person to be mean when first meeting her. But then, she pulls out lines like “You look so weird! And not weird in a hip way, either. More like, ‘weird’ as in ‘makes me wanna barf.'”

4

Rosie Can Be Downright Mean Or Sugary Sweet

Like Cheri, Rosie is a villager with a peppy personality. Also, like Cheri, Rosie can appear to be sweet and cheerful but then pull out an insult that’s meaner than even what cranky villagers hurl at the players. The result is the same with many of these old villager variations. Looking back at it as an adult, it’s surprising that the lines they said were allowed into the final cut. But coming across the more hurtful dialogue as an adult can be almost funny to see, whereas a child could have their feelings hurt by it unexpectedly instead.

Rosie had some surprisingly brutal quotes in the past, and a lot of them were unexpected, considering that she tended to be rather nice most of the time. One of the most memorable Rosie quotes from the past is, “I’m gonna have to come up with something nice to say about you that’s believable.” Whether she’s the player’s friend or not, that’s a pretty harsh thing to say to somebody’s face.

3

Baabara Used To Be Full Of Insults

As a sheep, she might look cute, but Baabara has a snooty personality and no shortage of insults to hurl at the player. Although it’s not the only version of Baabara that would be mean, the version players came across while playing Animal Crossing on GameCube was particularly brutal. Some lines that she said would definitely not be allowed in a modern game that anticipated having a younger audience.

It’s fun to look back at her lines now, but some of them wouldn’t feel great to come across as a child. Especially when she says things like, “You have nothing to lose, except your, uh, lonely loser status” or “What I mean to say is, leave me alone. I was just trying to be polite. I’m not very good at it, I’m afraid.” Oh, and there’s also that line where she mocks the player and calls them a baby.

2

Queenie Called Players “Freak Mental Cases”

While the line “I always thought you were some freak mental case because you run around town all the time” could be said by other villagers who have a snooty personality, like Queenie, she had other insulting lines to say to both players and fellow villagers. She’s also unique purely for being one of the few ostrich characters to appear in the series, regardless of her personality. Like other of AC‘s most snooty villagers, some comments from her were quite cruel.

Part of Queenie’s mean attitude comes from her impatience, which shows in lines like, “If you’re done making your wishes, then get moving! You’re holding up the line!” She also insinuates that the player must not have a lot of money based on what they’re wearing. However, she did have some nice lines that she’d say after warming up to the player. However, her blanketed, insensitive statement commenting on the player’s mental health is one of the harshest things in the game.

1

Resetti Is The Meanest Villager In Animal Crossing

Resetti is a mole character who’s incredibly grumpy, but he served a larger purpose in old games when auto-saving wasn’t as common or frequent. When a player would reset the game without saving first, Resetti would come and lecture them, which was basically yelling at them for resetting that way. He would even tell the player to repeat after him say that they’re dumb, and ask what’s wrong with them.

Looking back, there are better ways to remind players to save their game other than having a character berate and threaten them. Now, Resetti admits that his job in previous games was to basically be angry, and that he sometimes yells at rocks to remember what his old job felt like. However, the Reset Surveillance Center is closed, and Resetti no longer has a job that requires him to keep yelling at players.

Animal Crossing has a reputation for being wholesome, and that was something that ended up being needed by New Horizons during the time of lockdowns. However, this series hasn’t always been as full of kind villagers as it now appears to be. Instead, the villagers with certain personalities, like snooty or cranky, could be rather cruel to the player in Animal Crossing.