Animal Crossing: New Horizons — What to do when your villagers fight

No matter how well a community gets along, eventually there are going to be disagreements, and even full-on fights. Your island paradise in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is no exception. Even with a population of only ten villagers, your animal friends will eventually argue. While some of these arguments can be avoided by carefully selecting villagers who have compatible personality types, you might end up really liking villagers who just won't get along with each other. Fortunately, if they do fight, you can resolve the conflict, keep your villagers happy, and thus keep the villagers you want on your island.

Why are my villagers fighting?

It may not always be clear exactly why your villagers are fighting. If you happen to catch them before the fight has begun, you can see what upset them. However, if you find them already angry, their explanations are vague. Usually, their disagreements come down to having conflicting personality types. A snooty villager, like Friga for example, will will look down upon a lazy villager like Deli. She might even make fun of him if given the chance. A cranky villager like Monty, will be bruque or even outright rude when dealing with a normal villager like Melba who won't take kindly to his rudeness.

What personality types are compatible?

Some personality types are just more compatible, and villagers with the same personality type get along great. If you want to avoid conflicts in the first place, you can aim to keep only compatible villagers on your island.

This is great if you prefer normal, peppy, and uchi villagers who only struggle to get along with cranky and snooty villagers, but if you happen to have a certain cranky monkey you adore - conflict will be impossible to avoid.

How do I resolve the conflict?

While it's possible to split up incompatible villagers if you see them talking, sometimes you won't realize a conflict is brewing until it's too late. Fortunately, it can be pretty easy to calm down your upset villagers, by following these easy steps:

1. Approach your angry villager.

2. Press A to talk to your villager.

3. Repeat until the villager asks if you understand their position.
   • Hint: this can take longer for some, but don't get discouraged if they keep repeating the same dialogue over and over. Eventually, they will ask you to weigh in.

4. Press A to select whichever option expresses understanding.

And just like that, your villager will calm down. If your other villager is still upset, you can repeat the process to calm them down as well.

• Hint: If both villagers are upset, prioritize the more challenging personality type. For example, Monty is a cranky villager, while Melba is a normal villager. I spoke to Monty first because cranky villagers are harder to keep happy. I accidentally clicked on Melba while this was going on and she had already calmed down on her own before I finished with Monty.

What happens if I don't resolve the conflict?

While your villagers will eventually calm down on their own, keeping your villagers happy keeps them from moving away to another island. If you're particularly fond of your villagers, you should try to prevent and resolve any conflicts as soon as you can.

Questions?

Do you have any questions about conflict resolution among your villagers? What's the silliest thing your villagers have fought over? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to check out our other Animal Crossing: New Horizons guides for all your Nook approved goodness!