Villager


 * This page covers Villagers from the series. For other uses, see Villager (disambiguation).

The Villager (, Villager) is a representation of the player character from the series.

Origin
In the series, the player acts as the sole human in a town filled with friendly anthropomorphic animals. The player does not have a universal design; at the beginning of the game, the player indicates their name and gender, and then determines their physical features (through a survey in earlier games, and a direct menu in later ones). Other aspects of the player's appearance, such as hairstyle and clothing, can be further modified as the game progresses. Upon indicating the name and layout of the town they live in, the player moves in with the assistance of a local tanuki shopkeeper, Tom Nook.

While the role of the villager varies somewhat within the series, the most consistent depiction is that the villager lives their everyday life in this town, alongside various animals that act as neighbors, merchants, and local authorities. Unlike most games, there is no universal plot to the series. Taking place in real time, the player can decide for themselves what to do each day: common activities include fishing, bug-catching, digging for buried objects, shopping, running errands, and interior decorating.

In the Nintendo 3DS installment Animal Crossing: New Leaf, the role of the villager is expanded to that of the town mayor, giving them greater control in managing and customizing their town. As the mayor, the player can work with the town secretary, Isabelle, to enact ordinances that affect how the town runs, and construct public works projects to further personalize its appearance. Similarly, the Nintendo Switch installment Animal Crossing: New Horizons instead features the player as the first inhabitant of a deserted island, who can work with Tom Nook and Isabelle to landscape and build a tropical getaway.

The villagers featured in Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate are based off of several default player designs in Animal Crossing: Wild World and Animal Crossing: City Folk. The default villager is male, and based upon the boy that appears on the box art for City Folk; female options are also available, with the default female villager being based on artwork from Wild World.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee
The Villager is mentioned in both K.K. Slider's and Tom Nook's trophy descriptions.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Villager appears as a background character in Smashville. The Villager was considered as a character in the planning stages of Brawl, but dropped because "he wasn't suited for battle".

Trophy
A Villager also appears as a trophy in Brawl, in which he is called "Animal Crossing Boy".

As a playable character
The male Villager was confirmed as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4 in the first trailer shown for the game at E3 2013. It would later be confirmed on May 16th, 2014, that, like the Wii Fit Trainer, players will have access to both male and female variations of the Villager. The default Villager's design is based on the male Villager on the boxart of Animal Crossing: City Folk, albeit with tweaked proportions. His moveset consists of attacking with various miscellaneous objects from the Animal Crossing series, and he is capable of picking up any item or projectile to use it again later.

Currently, Villager ranks 25th out of 55 on the tier list, placing within the C tier. Villager has a highly effective zoning game thanks to his forward and back aerial slingshot projectiles, and his Lloid Rocket. He himself can also counter opposing projectiles with his Pocket special, allowing him to catch and store away projectiles, which he can then send back to the opponent with amplified damage. Timber can also be used for a potentially devastating edge-guarding move. Despite his weight class, Villager sports some rather powerful attacks, such as his up and down aerials and forward smash. Yet, Villager's weaknesses lay in his slow grab, and lack of reliable KO set-ups despite the aforementioned power of some moves. Regardless, Villager is seen as a very capable character for tournament play, earning him strong results.

As a playable character
Villager returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The male and female variations of the Villager also return from Super Smash Bros. 4. Unlike the previous game, Villager is an unlockable character instead of a starter character. Villager can potentially be the first character unlocked in the game, as the first character in ’s Classic Mode character unlock tree.

Trivia

 * Villager and Isabelle are the only playable characters in the Super Smash Bros. series whose Japanese names are written entirely in hiragana, as opposed to katakana or kanji.
 * In some languages, Villager has two different names to refer to the male and female versions. Wii Fit Trainer, Inkling, Pokémon Trainer, Byleth, and the Mii Fighters also share this trait.
 * As with the other fighters with male and female variants, the default male and female Villagers have been established as separate characters, as both can be seen separately in the trailer for Animal Crossing: New Horizons and in 's trailer.
 * Although based on the player appearance in earlier Animal Crossing games, primarily Animal Crossing: City Folk, Villager is twice referred to as a mayor, a role the player character has under a different design in Animal Crossing: New Leaf; the Boxing Ring stage lists Villager's character title as "Mayor of Smashville", while Isabelle states "the mayor [is] busy with the campsite and Smash" in her reveal trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Additionally, the first trailer for Super Smash Bros. 4 features Villager in a town designed after Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and Palutena claims in the Palutena's Guidance for Isabelle that the two are from the same town.