The Best & Worst Snooty Villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

OK I got to admit, Snooty villagers in Animal Crossing are probably the worst villager personality in the game. Even more so than the Cranky villagers, Snooty villagers are pompous, incredibly vain, and frankly often fairly rude to the player. Their diva attitudes and shallow interests make Norma Desmond look quaint in comparison, which is saying something considering how oblivious she was to her own attitude. Hell, I didn’t even have one on my island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons until very recently. 

We are not here to talk about an old movie character from a film I doubt anyone reading this has even seen. Instead, we're talking Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Despite Snooty villagers being my least favorite crop of characters in the game, there are a couple of animals that are much more tolerable, dare I say likable, in the game. There are also Snooty villagers that are the bane of my existence as well, so why not highlight them all in one list? Here are the best and worst Snooty villagers in Animal Crossing.

Worst Snooty Villager: Francine

Normally rabbits in Animal Crossing are well designed or have some sort of flair to them that makes them stand out. Francine, on the other hand, is not in that category for me. Her attitude of course fits in well with the snooty stereotype, but what adds to it is how she always finds a way to make a back-handed compliment or wry remark to your face. It’s basically dealing with someone who's friendly but a bitch at the same time.

Francine also annoys me mostly because of her design. A blue bunny with polka dots littering her fur patterns, she is kind of garish in a lot of ways, but the biggest sin is the fact that her design is not even unique. Another rabbit villager by the name of Chrissy is basically Francine’s doppelganger, except she is pink with polka dots and has a peppy personality. 

Now, the game squares this away by claiming that Chrissy and Francine are sisters. I’m not usually one to dismiss in-game lore or anything like that, but it honestly feels like a cop out just to add two more villagers with a palette swap. Treating villagers like RPG bad guys is never a good thing in my eyes though. Ultimately, Francine is just weak all around to me.

Best Snooty Villager: Velma

When she's not catching ghosts with the Scooby gang, Velma lives her life as a young, snooty goat in Animal Crossing. I have to admit, part of the reason why I like Velma is mostly because of her name. Realistically, how many people do you really know named Velma in the real world? Plus let’s face it, her likeness is (somewhat) of an homage to the bespectacled mystery solver. 

OK, OK, that's a weak excuse to add another villager in the positive category. I am stretching a bit to even pick the best snooty villagers somewhat. Still, I genuinely do like Velma. Out of most of the snooty villagers, she is much less self-absorbed and kind of tame compared to the rest of her kin. 

This helps Velma stand out for sure, but let’s be honest; people love Animal Crossing villagers because of their name and design. A nerdy-looking pink goat with an unusual yet recognizable name from pop culture is just too lovable to pass up. She may be snooty, but she is at least toned down enough to let her design shine through more. 

Worst Snooty Villager: Soleil

Ugh.. more hamsters.

OK let’s do this quick. Soleil gives off a tanned blonde valley girl vibe to me without any form of charm or prettiness. Soleil is one of two snooty villagers on this list that can fit that description really, and both of them look horrific to me. 

Personality-wise Soleil is not exactly pleasant to be around either. Her design portrays this too; the leering eyes and angry expression across her drawn lips always gives the impression of an angry hamster. Her attitude just reinforces this wholly. Her shtick tends to fall on fashion, specifically focusing on the tastes of other villagers.

It actually is kind of annoying, how gossipy Soleil is. She kind of just berates everyone for having poor clothing taste, even if she does begin to warm up to you. Even by the standards of the fairly shallow personalities we have, that makes Soleil stand out as being pretty terrible. 

Best Snooty Villager: Judy

Judy is one of the new villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and like all of the new villagers in the game she has a good design. The pastel colors of her fur and the star-studded eyes certainly help her stand out amongst the other animals in the game. Cubs in Animal Crossing tend to have pretty good designs overall, but Judy is certainly one of the most eye-catching, so to speak. 

Despite being snooty though, Judy is much less annoying than other villagers on this list. She is more of a trendy chic type of character, a classy gal who likes high-end things. This is one of the character traits snooty villagers have, but it is often drowned out by their rude attitudes towards the player.

Judy is a bit more classy. Yeah, she is still a bit rude, but is definitely toned down compared to other snooty villagers. This is actually an observation that some players have with New Horizons, the personalities are less extreme and more ‘nice’ this time around. Maybe that is the case, but if that makes hated personalities more tolerable, then I’m all for it. Hell, it makes Judy more tolerable, enough to get on my list for the best snooty villagers. 

Worst Snooty Villager: Pancetti 

OK let’s do this quick. Pancetti gives off a tanned blonde valley girl vibe to me without any form of charm or prettiness. Pancetti is one of two snooty villagers on this list that can fit that description… Wait a minute. Didn’t I write this already?

The fact that Pancetti is, in my view, a worse villager than Soleil says a lot, considering I hate Hamster villagers. I can pretty much cut and paste what I wrote for Soleil here for Pancetti, but they do try something to make her more “unique” I guess. For whatever reason, Pancetti is made to invoke a southern stereotype vibe. 

I mean, it’s obvious in her design a little bit, but it doesn’t really help when her only personality trait is being a wannabe debutante. With a more belittling attitude towards the player, she kind of comes across as big-headed… big shock I guess, considering her personality. I don’t know, pig designs sometimes work, but Pancetti is one of those where even lipstick on her will save her on being good. 

Best Snooty Villager: Portia

Dogs in Animal Crossing run the gamut of characters and mostly have good designs; yet my favorite feature of dog villagers is how they can represent distinct breeds at a glance. Many of them are iconic and unique, and with Portia that does go a long way. She is the only dalmatian villager in the whole series. 

Like every other snooty villager I like, Portia is toned down in terms of her personality. She is sometimes rude, but it’s more accidental over deliberate whenever she talks to the player. She definitely falls into the “classy” territory more in that regard, with her interests being mostly the furniture in her house and the clothes she personally wears.

Portia is a good doggo ultimately. That’s all that really matters in the end if you think about it.

Worst Snooty Villager: Eloise

I honestly hate Eloise. A lot. Like, irrationally hate her.

I think it stems from her being one of my original villagers in the first Animal Crossing years ago, where she was as vindictive and bitchy behind her saccharine smile. Eloise is like a cactus: She seems inoffensive and OK to look at, but is super prickly when you get to know her.

Yeah, her problem is not even a design one, although a bright yellow elephant is kind of jarring and odd to me. It really is all her personality. Days listening to her berate me for my fashion sense, my hair, my bug catching. Even after getting closer to her she didn’t let up; instead she became a selfish villager, gossiping on our neighbors like a nosy spinster. 

Eloise would likely be the one villager I would personally never want to meet again in Animal Crossing. Her attitude was so horrendous that any time I see her, even if she's visiting my campsite, I do everything in my power to make her move along and be someone else's problem. It’s scary how irrational someone can get over a video game character's attitude in a 20-year-old game.

It’s therapeutic to make fun of her here though.

Best Snooty Villager: Ankha

Another of the original islander villagers, Ankha is a knockout due to her design first and foremost. Like Velma, It is all about looks here, and for Ankha, the Egyptian pharaoh theme is a great standout and the perfect fit for a cat villager. It makes her unique, sure, but it in a way that lets her stand out compared to other cats even.

So why do I like Ankha? Well, this is one of the few instances where the design actually compliments the personality in a positive way. Ankha fits the snooty archetype because she is visually like a pharaoh; powerful, vain, and one of the most important people in the room. Ankha is rude and shallow like most snooty villagers, but at least this time the visual design excuses the behavior. 

That design really pays off, since Ankha is one of the most popular villagers in the game by fans. This is actually impressive considering Ankha was not in the series consistently, but fan art and general demand due to her visuals has made her one of the more memorable characters in the game, so much so that she is also one of the more popular and expensive villagers to bargain for with Nook Mile tickets. Not bad for a snooty villager I guess. 

Worst Snooty Villager: Maelle

*sigh* oh man….and I thought Eloise was bad. 

Maelle is… ugh, so bad in a lot of ways. Ducks are very hit and miss villagers. Some are pretty good in terms of designs, others… not so much. Maelle fits in the latter category for me, and it really just boils down to how unintentionally ugly she looks.

It really is the hair for me. Nothing says “snooty” like a vain-looking unnatural brown wig on top of a duck. That’s just the tip of the problem for me, Maelle’s eyes betray a kind of highbrow look to her, as if she is always being condescending to the player every time she looks at them. 

Maelle got her start as another islander villager, but unlike Ankha she always came across as condescending and conceited without much personality. She definitely falls into the “high-class” tropes of the personality more, but while I normally like that, she doesn’t lose her rude edge at all. Maelle is honestly the worst traits of a snooty villager rolled into one character. Eloise may be one of my most hated villagers, but Maelle is arguably the worst snooty villager in the entire game. 

Best Snooty Villager: Freya

Wolf villagers run the gamut of designs, and most of them are incredibly strong and unique. My personal favorite is ironically the snooty villager Freya, which is honestly surprising considering how much I hate snooty villagers. Freya is a pink-colored wolf with a very strong personality, one that is given some weight with her characterization.

OK, characterization is a bit strong considering all of the personalities tend to be shallow, but Freya is sometimes rude or condescending to the player, a stark contrast to most snooty villagers I like. She is also not as “upper-class” as the other villagers, though the blue mascara across her eyes implies a bit of fashion consciousness in her. Honestly though, the reason I enjoy her despite the attitude is how tomboyish she kind of acts. 

Yeah, it’s kind of atypical for snooty villagers. Freya kind of enjoys bug hunting and fishing just as much as fashion and gossip, but it helps her stand out and rounds out the often shallow bits of the snooty personality even more. That little extra makes Freya pretty... good as far as snooty villagers go.

Yeah, I can’t believe I wrote that.

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Well, that was painful, but there were at least some good, and mostly bad, Animal Crossing: New Horizons villagers to talk about this time around. The question is, does my list match yours? Do you even care about snooty villagers? Likely no, but if you do, please leave a comment below.