In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, players have the chance to meet a ton of different villagers, and there are a number of things to consider when trying to decide which of these critters a fan wants living on their island. One specific consideration that may be on some players' minds is which Animal Crossing: New Horizons villagers are the rarest, and this guide looks to shine some light on this matter.

Updated July 10, 2021 by Mina Smith: Animal Crossing: New Horizons continues to give players new updates and new content. With that in mind, it is important to keep guides and information about the game as up-to-date as possible. Although Nintendo has yet to add new villagers since ACNH's launch, this article still needed a few details updated or corrected. New pictures, information on non-animal villagers, and some other tidbits have been updated to make this guide as complete and error-free as possible.

To put things simply, players have an equal chance of encountering all of the different villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which means that no individual villager is any rarer than any other one. That said, not every species is represented equally across ACNH's villagers, which means that players are less likely to come across certain types of animals during their time with the game.

RELATED: How Many Villagers Can Live on Your Island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

Thus, it is possible to talk about the rarest species of villager in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and here is a list that ranks all animal types by rarity:

1. Octopus (3)
2. Cow (4)
3. Bull (6)
4. Rhino (6)
5. Non-Animal Villagers (6)
6. Alligator (7)
7. Anteater (7)
8. Hippo (7)
9. Lion (7)
10. Tiger (7)
11. Hamster (8)
12. Kangaroo (8)
13. Monkey (8)
14. Chicken (9)
15. Eagle (9)
16. Goat (9)
17. Gorilla (9)
18. Koala (9)
19. Deer (10)
20. Ostrich (10)
21. Elephant (11)
22. Wolf (11)
23. Bird (13)
24. Penguin (13)
25. Sheep (13)
26. Horse (15)
27. Mice (15)
28. Pig (15)
29. Bear (16)
30. Cub (16)
31. Dog (16)
32. Duck (17)
33. Frog (18)
34. Squirrel (18)
35. Rabbit (20)
36. Cat (23)

As is made clear by this list, octopuses are the rarest species in Animal Crossing: New Horizons with only three representatives: Marina, Octavian, and Zucker. Again, players will come across these individual villagers at the same frequency as every other villager in the game, it is simply less likely that they will encounter an octopus on their islands in ACNH than, for example, a cat that has much greater representation.

All of this said, there is one caveat worth mentioning, and that is that every players begins ACNH with a female villager that has an Uchi personality and male villager that has a Jock personality. This means that Animal Crossing: New Horizons fans will have villagers of these two types living on their islands more often than every other type of villager, making them slightly more common.

Since it is not technically possible to crown a villager as the rarest, fans may need to think about other factors when trying to determine the best villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Fortunately, ACNH allows players quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to rotating the inhabitants of their islands, and thus fans need not be too concerned if they have a villager that they do not find particularly desirable.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now for Nintendo Switch.

MORE: Every Special Villager in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and What They Do

Source: iMore