The 10 Most Cranky Villagers in Animal Crossing [2024]

Cranky villagers are an interesting bunch. They complain, often sound bitter, and get annoyed at the young’uns doing whatever is trendy nowadays.

But behind that irritable nature lies a caring heart that shows concern. And boy, do they love to give advice!

If you’re wondering which are the best Cranky villagers to invite to your island out of the 57 we have in New Horizons, read on to know our choice of most Cranky villagers in Animal Crossing ever.

We promise you won’t get grumpy yourself!

10. Buzz

Catchphrase: Captain

Favorite saying: “Pride’ll put you in a pickle.”

For an eagle villager, Buzz always looks like someone took the wind out of his, err, wings.

With his grumpy-looking eyes, he’ll call you a captain but berate you for random things, as expected of a Cranky.

What makes Buzz stand out from other eagle and Cranky villagers is his overall character theme. His English name seems to come from the word buzzard, which is a different kind of bird.

Meanwhile, his character design makes him look like a golden eagle. In Japanese, his catchphrase is a hawk sound.

Buzzard, golden eagle, or hawk? He’s a mixture of three birds – no wonder he gets cranky!

9. Boris

Catchphrase: Schnort

Favorite saying: “Life’s short. Eat chocolate.”

Boris is one grouchy boar, as evidenced by his official poster in the game and his usual facial expression.

His overall looks almost borders on intimidating, with his huge noticeable fangs and angry eyes.

However, his personal quote shows a sweet side of him.

He encourages everyone to take it easy and enjoy some chocolate. He might look upset, but maybe that’s just him wanting you to take a break!

If an angry boar with a sweet tooth is the perfect image of a Cranky villager for you, then Boris is your pig.

Don’t forget to give him some Souvenir Chocolates!

8. Rocco

Catchphrase: Hippie

Favorite saying: “The only thing to fear is fear itself… and wasps!”

Rooco might seem like he’s judging you and always disapproving of your every move.

With his brows always looking furrowed, you might think he’s got a huge problem with you and life in general.

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. With Rocco, when life hands him wasps, he knows he’s gotta tell everyone to steer clear from them.

Maybe he looks upset because he knows what a menace those evil flying monsters are on the island!

Thanks for looking out for us, Rocco.

7. Rolf

Catchphrase: Grrrolf

Favorite saying: “Don’t skip lunch. Ever.”

Rolf is a tetchy tiger villager who knows the importance of lunch. He might look irritable, but only because he knows a lot of people skip their mid-day meals.

He also has the Fitness hobby in New Horizons, so you can often see him wearing his exercise outfit and Sporty Shades, lifting his dumbbells numerous times a week.

Really, he’s just a sporty Cranky villager who wants the best for your health. Players of Animal Crossing, heed this tiger’s words!

6. Ricky

Catchphrase: Nutcase

Favorite saying: “You gotta break a few shells to get to the nut.”

Don’t test this testy squirrel! He might be small in size, but his concentrated Cranky villager energy seems intense.

Ricky looks like someone who won’t hesitate to do anything to reach his goal. After all, you gotta do what you gotta do, and what’s a few shells to ol’ Ricky, right?

5. Croque

Catchphrase: As if

Favorite saying: “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

In 5th place, we have Croque the Cranky frog! This daruma doll-inspired frog villager has a unique name and character design.

Aside from the daruma doll references, like his red skin, white face, and mustache that looks like paint strokes on the daruma, his name is from “croak” but spelled differently.

Happy croque-ing, monsieur!

4. Hopper

Catchphrase: Slushie

Favorite saying: “Always have a comeback.”

Hopper is one angry-looking penguin who just wants to chill. He has red eyes, huge and wild yellow eyebrows, and intense glare.

His character design is based on rockhopper penguins, and his house is a winter wonderland hotspring.

He is also one of the villagers shown in the Animal Crossing movie, Gekijoban Doubutsu no Mori. In it, he can be seen fishing but gets distracted by loud noises.

3. Dobie

Catchphrase: Ohmmm

Favorite saying: “Old longings never truly fade.”

Grandpa Dobie gets the 3rd spot in our list!

If you want a crotchety grandpa who will lovingly give his grandfatherly advice to you about not falling down the stairs or complimenting you by comparing you to a mortgage payment, Dobie is the Cranky for you.

His grandpa character design is pretty unique and makes him a standout Cranky villager. Get warm and cozy in 3rd place, Dobie!

2. Marlo

Catchphrase: Gabeesh

Favorite saying: “You gotta walk the walk if you’re gonna talk the talk.”

If you want a mob boss as your island’s Cranky villager, you better recruit Marlo fast!

Added during the 2.0 Update, Marlo is a Cranky hamster villager who is based on a crime boss character, particularly Marlon Brando, who was the actor for Don Vito Corleone in the Godfather movie.

He might not look as ill-tempered as the other Crankies, but his is a type of quiet ill-temperateness. You don’t want to upset a mafia boss! Marlo, sir, the 2nd spot goes to you.

1. Octavian

Catchphrase: Sucker

Favorite saying: “Don’t be a sucker!”

And for the ultimate Cranky, we have Octavian at the top of our list! He gets the number one spot solely based on his face and expression.

He has the crankiest, grumpiest, most upset look among the 57 Cranky villagers we reviewed in New Horizons.

I hope this eases your anger, Octavian. Enjoy being number one, octo guy!

If you’re feeling a bit grumpy yourself, cheer yourself up by reading our other Animal Crossing listicles, like the cutest cats in the game and the 10 jockiest jocks in New Horizons.

Happy reading!