Last March, Nintendo released Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which quickly garnered massive popularity making the game the fastest-selling Switch title to date. Of course, the success of the game isn't surprising at all given that the franchise has been popular since the early 2000s, given its relaxed, charming gameplay and its cast of unique non-playable characters. However, with 400 villagers available in the game, several unique villagers have since captured the hearts of Animal Crossing players, but it appears that almost everybody loves Raymond.
To those unfamiliar, Raymond is a smug cat villager who was first introduced in 2017's mobile game, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. Despite being a newcomer to the franchise, Raymond has become the most sought-after villager in New Horizons and is also currently one of the most expensive villagers alongside Ankha and Marshal. But why is Raymond so popular? It is difficult to pinpoint the specific reason why he suddenly rose to stardom, but here is a breakdown as to why a lot of people are hunting down Raymond to become a villager in their respective islands.
Raymond's Popularity in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
In 2017, Nintendo released the first-ever Animal Crossing game for mobile devices, which introduced the famous console game to a wider audience, including those who haven't even played a single Animal Crossing game. Of course, given that almost every single person has a smartphone these days, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp definitely boosted the popularity of the franchise to people from all walks of life, which resulted in many to fall in love with the smug cat villager Raymond.
When Animal Crossing: New Horizons was confirmed last year, veterans of the franchise and new fans who fell in love with the series via the mobile game became excited about the next full-fledged Animal Crossing game. When New Horizons was released last March, a good majority of these new fans, some of which are part of Raymond's massive fanbase, immediately picked up a Nintendo Switch and began to look for ways to get Raymond to live in their deserted islands. This massive demand for Raymond quickly jacked up his value and the character can be traded at the site Nookazon for a million bells, making him one of the most expensive villagers in the entire game.
Raymond's Unique Character Design and Personality
Upon meeting Raymond for the first time, players will immediately notice that he has heterochromia, which is a condition that causes a person's eye to be different colors. While this may not be a big deal for many, it certainly helped Raymond stand out from the rest of the villagers, given that he is the only one to have the condition as far as we can tell. Of course, Raymond's eyes are not the only thing that is different about him. He also has the smug personality type, which for some reason, has been extremely popular among Animal Crossing fans. The smug personality was first introduced in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and during the height of that game, the villager Marshal, who is also smug, became as popular as Raymond is today.
To those unfamiliar with the smug personality type, villagers under this category will often act in a polite and gentleman-like manner. They will also easily get along with most villagers, and they can mix between almost all personality types. However, smug villagers may also appear conceited and they will stroke their egos at every chance they get, and conversations with them reveal just how cool they think they are. At the moment, it is difficult to pinpoint why many fans are drawn to this specific AC:NH personality type, but one valid reason is probably that there are only 35 smug villagers in the game, making it the second-most rare personality behind the sisterly type.
In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, most villagers would dress in colorful and quirky clothes, which makes them more of a caricature than an animal that acts human. However, Raymond wears a business-themed outfit, complete with a gray vest and a blue tie, which combined with his large glasses, makes him appear more human than the rest. Nonetheless, no matter what the reason is, whether it's his eyes, his looks, or his sophisticated personality, it appears that Raymond's dominance in capturing the affection of Animal Crossing: New Horizons will not be wavering anytime soon.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out now exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.