When it comes to finding inspiration for a majority of villager designs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it seems the developers simply turned to nature when creating their darling NPCs. Although some are much more creative, like Merengue the rhino's strawberry-dessert theme, many have similar markings and colorings of real animals. Here's a handful of the best villagers and their real-life counterparts.
Of course, not all fan-favorites are going to have a realistic doppelganger. Lazy octopus Zucker in Animal Crossing, for example, is based on the Japanese snack takoyaki. It's unlikely there's an actual octopus with green freckles that resemble seasoning and a brown sauce-like "hair" floating around in the ocean. Similarly, sweet Sherb's light blue fur doesn't naturally show up on goats.
Yet there's enough classic characters with near identical resemblances to authentic creatures worth highlighting. With almost 400 villagers in New Horizons, the list can be pretty extensive, so here are six of some of the more popular and adored Animal Crossing villagers next to the wildlife that inspired their creation.
Eagle villager Apollo is specifically a bald eagle - the national bird of the United States - which is probably why his July 4th birthday falls on America's Independence Day. This cranky Animal Crossing villager's name is likely a reference to Apollo 11 - the American spaceflight that first landed on the moon. Apollo 11's mission emblem also features a bald eagle.
Adorable normal-type Molly is a brown Mallard duck and has very similar markings to the real deal. Like young or female Mallards, Molly has light yellow and brown colorations whereas adult males tend to have the glossy, green iridescent feathers on their heads. Molly's rounded design in New Horizons is more similar to a fluffy Mallard duckling than a mature adult.
Popular smug villager Marshal's name and appearance may bring up connotations of marshmallows, but he could also just be based on actual white squirrels. These squirrels like the one pictured above aren't albino; instead they have a rare, mutated gene responsible for their snowflake appearance. This is appropriate as Marshal is a special little snowflake to many Animal Crossing players.
Hopper's name and design are derived from Rockhopper penguins, as seen with his red eyes and yellow-crested spiky feathers that make the only cranky-type penguin look perpetually angry. Despite his personality type and appearance, Hopper is a cherished New Horizons villager that's been present in every one of Animal Crossing's main series games.
Smug "deer" villager Zell's name comes from "gazelle," an antelope species found mostly in Africa's deserts, grasslands, and savannas. However, Zell's physical characteristics are specifically influenced by blackbucks or Indian antelopes found in India and surrounding regions. Unlike gazelles, which tend to be tan, blackbuck males are white and either dark brown or black in color and have long, corkscrew-like horns, just like Zell's.
It's unsure if Animal Crossing's developers had an actual octopus in mind when designing hot-pink Marina as the mere thought sounds like something out of a children's novel. Yet a deep-sea dwelling species known as Graneledone boreopacifica does in fact come in this hue among other colors. The real-life octopus looks almost as sweet as the normal-type villager, though much less likely to move into one's Animal Crossing: New Horizons island.
