The 10 Best Villagers In Animal Crossing: New Leaf

7 – Hopper

Personality: Cranky

Catchphrase: “slushie”

Why he’s great: You might think that a villager with a “cranky” personality isn’t one that should make the Top 10 list. But Hopper and the other grouchy animals are some of the loveliest neighbors in the game, and also the most hilarious. Hopper is an extraordinarily grumpy penguin, which (weirdly) arrives wearing the same shirt Drago does, making me wonder if he’s a dragon, too. He likes cabin furniture, but also moves in with a laptop and a jukebox that plays rock and roll music, and an actual bird in a cage. Yikes. This penguin needs some friends, fast.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to get close to Hopper, because he’s always yelling about something. The jock villagers are too crazy, the lazy villagers are too lazy, the normal villagers are too cute, get off my lawn, etc. His frustration at the day to day workings of the most peaceful town imaginable would be upsetting if he got any angrier, but Hopper toes the line at being a total jerk. And Hopper was always nice to me. Perhaps he found a kindred spirit in his human neighbor–another young adult, struggling to figure life out, with a house full of junk and loud music. We also seem to share a mutual love of slushies. Who doesn’t like slushies?

Next: 6 - Not a kid, but not really a squid