Nintendo reveals which specific Splatoon and Zelda amiibo unlock the Animal Crossing update’s new villagers

Nintendo has listed which specific Zelda and Splatoon amiibo unlock each of the four new themed villagers coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ major update.

The free update, which will be released on January 15 and brings both the Switch version and the upcoming Switch 2 Edition up to version 3.0, will add a number of new features.

This includes the addition of four new villagers, who are based on the Legend of Zelda and Splatoon series.

The Zelda-themed villagers are Animal Crossing versions of Tulin from Breath of the Wild and Mineru from Tears of the Kingdom.

The Splatoon villagers, meanwhile, are called Cece and Viché – these are sisters unique to Animal Crossing, who like to dress up as Splatoon 3 characters Shiver and Frye.

Nintendo has said that each of the four villagers can be unlocked by scanning a compatible Zelda or Splatoon amiibo, but it’s now been confirmed that specific amiibo unlock specific characters.

As such it’s possible that, for example, if a player only has two Legend of Zelda amiibo, they may both unlock the same character.

The full list of amiibo who unlock each character, as listed on the Japanese Nintendo website, is as follows:

Tulin (The Legend of Zelda)

• Bokoblin (Breath of the Wild)
• Daruk (Breath of the Wild)
• Ganondorf (Tears of the Kingdom)
• Link (Archer) (Breath of the Wild)
• Link (Majora’s Mask)
• Link (Smash Bros)
• Link (Skyward Sword)
• Link (Tears of the Kingdom)
• Revali (Breath of the Wild)
• Toon Link (Smash Bros)
• Toon Link (Wind Waker)
• Tulin (Tears of the Kingdom)
• Young Link (Smash Bros)
• Yunobo (Tears of the Kingdom)
• Zelda (Wind Waker)
• Zelda and Loftbird (Skyward Sword)

Mineru (The Legend of Zelda)

• Ganondorf (Smash Bros)
• Guardian (Breath of the Wild)
• Link (8-Bit) (The Legend of Zelda)
• Link (Link’s Awakening)
• Link (Ocarina of Time)
• Link (Rider) (Breath of the Wild)
• Link (Twilight Princess)
• Mipha (Breath of the Wild)
• Riju (Tears of the Kingdom)
• Sheik (Smash Bros)
• Sidon (Tears of the Kingdom)
• Urbosa (Breath of the Wild)
• Wolf Link (Twilight Princess)
• Zelda (Breath of the Wild)
• Zelda (Smash Bros)
• Zelda (Tears of the Kingdom)

Cece (Splatoon)

• Big Man
• Callie (Alterna)
• Callie (Splatoon)
• Marina (Side Order)
• Marina (Splatoon 2)
• Octoling Boy
• Octoling Boy (Blue)
• Octoling Girl
• Octoling Octopus
• Shiver
• Smallfry

Viché (Splatoon)

• Big Man
• Frye
• Inkling Boy (Blue)
• Inkling Boy (Green)
• Inkling Boy (Purple)
• Inkling Girl (Green)
• Inkling Girl (Orange)
• Inkling Girl (Smash Bros)
• Inkling Girl (Yellow)
• Inkling Squid
• Inkling Squid (Purple)
• Marie (Alterna)
• Marie (Splatoon)
• Pearl (Side Order)
• Pearl (Splatoon 2)

The free update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons will release on January 15, 2026 and will add the following new features:

• A new hotel on the pier, run by Kapp’n’s family. They bring in guests from off the island, and players can decorate guest rooms based on various themes to make sure guests enjoy their stay.
• The ability for players to upgrade their home storage two more times, allowing them to store up to 9,000 items instead of the previous 5,000 items.
• A new dream location called Slumber Island will also be added, allowing players to create and decorate up to three of their own islands and invite players over to them, without having to disrupt their main island.
• New collaborations will also be added to the game, featuring items based on Lego, The Legend of Zelda and Splatoon.
• Playable retro game consoles, which require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.