Clay Animal Crossing Guide

When I started playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, one of the earliest villagers on my island of Malapascua that Tom Nook invited was Clay, a peculiar-looking hamster. On the day of his arrival, I spotted his house and thought that it looked ancient. When I went inside, I met him.

At first, I thought Clay was based on a Mexican wrestler, also known as a luchador (if you watched Nacho Libre, you would understand what I am talking about). He wore a weird mask that resembled a luchador mask. Initially, I did not like him because of his bizarre design (I am not a wrestling fan).

However, I eventually learned to love him; deep inside, he was a relatable friend you could hang around with. After getting to know him, I tried looking up info about him. I learned that he is not designed to be a luchador. Instead, his theme is centered around the Dogū, a small ceramic figurine found in Japan.

If you are a giant Japanese history nerd, you would know that they are artifacts from an ancient period. After figuring out his intricate backstory, I became interested in knowing more about Clay. If you want him living on your island and you want to know more about him, this guide is perfect for you.

Bottom Line Up Front

Here are essential details about Clay in Animal Crossing: New Horizons that you need to know.

• Name: Clay
• Gender: Male
• Species: Hamster
• Personality: Lazy
• Birthday: October 19 (Libra)
• Catchphrase: “thump”
• Favorite saying: “Life is just a bowl of cherries.”
• Favorite clothing style: Elegant and Simple
• Favorite colors: Beige and Brown

Who is Clay in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

Clay is a male hamster villager with a lazy personality. The game where he debuted is the prequel to New Horizons, i.e., Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the Nintendo 3DS. He also appeared in Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, although, unlike most other villagers, he is not in Pocket Camp.

His birthday is on October 19, which makes his zodiac sign Libra. According to the details about him in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, he is the eldest of seven siblings and skilled in writing backward (which is quite impressive for a lazy hamster). He wants to be an archaeologist in the future.

His Halloween fear is the Mummy Mask, and he prefers coffee made from Mocha beans. He does not want any milk or sugar in his coffee, and it makes me believe that he does not have a sweet tooth. His design is themed around the Dogū, an ancient, small Japanese ceramic figurine.

They are typically made of clay, hence Clay’s name, and are modeled after females since they have wide hips and small waists. While their purpose is a mystery, some historians theorize that they were made as effigies for people to transfer their illnesses to.

They have influence in Japanese pop culture; for example, the Pokémon Baltoy, Claydol, Elgyem, and Beheeyem resemble the Dogū a lot. His favorite saying in the games is, “life is just a bowl of cherries.” His saying is also the title of a popular song in 1931 by Ray Henderson and Lew Brown.

His initial catchphrase is “thump,” and he acts like other lazy villagers; you will sometimes see him outside running around or reading books. You may occasionally see him with a lollipop, paper bag, soda can, or ramune-soda popsicle. When it is raining, he will bring out a maple-leaf umbrella.

What does Clay Look like in Animal Crossing?

Clay is a hamster with dark brown fur. His eyes appear to be squinting as they are narrow and dark. However, when he is surprised, his white pupils will show up. He initially wears an orange, poncho-style sweater. His stomach, hands, and feet are a shade lighter than the rest of his body.

Clay’s head is somewhat confusing; it appears to be as if he is wearing a full-face mask with holes for his eyes. This “mask” has specific details on them, like the eyebrows, mouth, and more. However, it is his actual head and not a mask. Yes, Clay actually has orange eyebrows and an orange mouth.

If you closely look when you speak to him, his orange mouth will move (my initial thoughts about him were wrong). What looked like the mask’s holes for his eyes are actually orange markings on his face. The inside of these markings is light brown with a similar shade to his hands, feet, and stomach.

Below each of his eyes and the orange marking are three red circles going horizontally. He has a black nose, and his mouth is shaped like that of a cat’s cheeky smile. His eyebrows are small yet thick, and the inside of his ears is cyan.

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, he initially wore an orange, uncommon shirt instead of a poncho-style sweater. Also, he carries with him a camo umbrella instead of a maple-leaf umbrella.

What is Clay’s Personality in Animal Crossing?

Clay is a lazy villager like Punchy and Filbert. You can read more about them in this article I wrote a while back. Essentially, he is a relaxed and chill individual with a passion for reading books about gardening, bugs, fish, or fossils. He is probably too lazy to open his eyes fully, which is why his eyes are squinting.

Like other lazy villagers, he is friendly toward you and will get along with peppy, smug, and cranky neighbors. Clay is part of the 63 lazy villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. He wakes up at 8 AM in this game and sleeps at 11 PM. In New Leaf, his waking time is 9 AM instead.

Clay’s House throughout the Animal Crossing Games

Clay’s house in New Leaf and New Horizons are thematically similar, although they have a lot of differences. The interior and exterior follow the “ancient” theme, referring to Clay’s inspiration, i.e., the Dogū. For example, the inside of his house is lit up by fire instead of electronic devices like lightbulbs.

The general color theme of Clay’s house is brown and orange because most of his furniture, including the wallpaper and flooring, is made of clay, stone, mud, or wood. Even though his way of living resembles that of a caveman, he does not mention it during your conversations with him.

Below is a detailed description of the furniture inside Clay’s house.

Clay’s House in Animal Crossing: New Leaf

The walls in Clay’s house are known as the “Garden Wall” in the game, and they resemble bamboo wood stacked vertically. Then, thicker pieces of bamboo wood are overlaid on top of the upright ones to give support against outside forces.

It is similar to the bamboo houses you can find in South or Southeast Asia. Two opposing walls have windows on them, seemingly made of glass. Meanwhile, the floor resembles the sands of a hot western desert with some slight hints of vegetation, hence the flooring’s name in the game, “Western Desert.”

In the middle of the room is a giant bonfire made of neatly piled logs. On the left and right of the bonfire, a “Jomon Pottery” stands tall. They look like large stone grails, and they are references to the ceramic pots made during the Jōmon Period; it is the same period in which the Dogū originates.

On the back part of the room, you will find a hammock with wooden stands, and beside it is a wooden watering trough. I do not know why Clay has a watering trough in his house, considering it is a structure for large animals like cows and horses to drink water from, but I will not judge the man.

On the left of the hammock and the right of the watering trough is a large, wooden tribal mask. They are supported by a stand. Near the left window is a cow’s skull, which is a common prop for Western-centric movies and shows. Near the entrance is an incomplete skeleton of a pterodactyl.

On the outside, his house has dark brown walls with a yellow hay roof. It also has a door canopy made of yellow hay. The door is orange with diamond-shaped patterns and a green doorknob. Finally, a yellow wooden fence surrounds the house.

Clay’s House in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Clay’s house in New Horizons has been given a massive change except for some iconic pieces. The wall now resembles layers of different kinds of soil, and the floor looks like hardened mud with fossil outlines on the surface. The bonfire at the room’s center still remains, though.

At the back of the room, instead of a hammock, there is now a bed made of fresh hay. On the left and right of the bed is a wooden tiki torch. Then, the right side of the room contains a white pond stone; it is probably similar to Clay’s watering trough in the previous game.

Near the door, there are four items. The leftmost item is a clay pot on a stone stool. The pot looks as if it had sticky and thick honey overflowing from it.

The second item is a fossilized ammonite; it is the remaining spiral shell of an extinct, ancient animal. If you are a Pokémon fan, it serves as the inspiration for Omastar.

The third item is a fossilized trilobite. It is also the remains of an extinct animal; it looks slightly like a horseshoe crab. Another Pokémon takes inspiration from it, and it is Kabutops. Finally, the fourth item is a slender ceramic pitcher on a stone tool.

Its exterior appearance has also changed from New Leaf. The walls are made of clay and painted yellow, and it has a cone, brown, thatch roof. Its door is red and wooden, and the window frames are made of wood. A lamp is wedged in a hole near the door.

All about Clay throughout the Games

Clay has only appeared in two games so far since he was introduced in New Leaf. However, the two games are different from each other regarding the info about the villagers. If you are playing New Leaf or New Horizons, and you want to know more about Clay, below are details about him in every game.

All about Clay in Animal Crossing: New Leaf

• Initial attire
  • Initial clothing: Uncommon Shirt
  • Initial umbrella: Camo Umbrella
• Favorites
  • Most favorite clothing style: Historical
  • Least favorite clothing style: Cute
  • Most favorite color: Beige
• Biography
  • Siblings: Eldest of seven kids
  • Skill: Writing backward
  • Goal: Archaeologist
  • Halloween fear: Mummy Mask
• Coffee Preference
  • Type of beans: Mocha
  • Amount of milk: None
  • Amount of sugar: None

All about Clay in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

• Initial attire
  • Initial clothing: Poncho-style Sweater (Orange Variation)
  • Initial umbrella: Maple-leaf Umbrella
  • Initial phone design: Green
  • Final phone design: Cool – Fabric 5
• Favorites
  • Most favorite clothing styles: Elegant and Simple
  • Most favorite colors: Beige and Brown
• Hobby: Nature
• Carried items
  • Carried bag: Paper
  • Book: Gardening, Bug, fish, or Fossil
  • Food: Lollipop
  • Drink: Soda Can
  • Popsicle Flavor: Ramune-soda

All about Clay in Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Happy Home Paradise

Animal Crossing: New Horizon’s DLC, i.e., the Happy Home Paradise, introduces the concept of designing houses for clients (who are different villagers) without limitations of material sufficiency. In this mode, Clay can be your client, and he has specific requests for you as to how he wants his house to be.

• Thought bubble: I want air conditioning, and scary stuff is “chilling,” so…
• Client’s vision: Clay’s House of Chills
• Required items: Simple Well, Decayed Tree, Creepy Skeleton
• Favorite song: K. K. Dirge

To make Clay satisfied with your interior design, you need to place his required items, i.e., a simple well, a decayed tree, and a creepy skeleton. If you succeed in making him happy about his dream house, you can unlock furniture.

They will be available for you to purchase in the Nook Shopping Catalogue. Below is a table for all the things you can unlock for designing Clay’s house.

Clay’s Unlocked Furniture

Clay’s Unlocked Interior Designs

Clay’s Unlocked Clothing

The variations of these clothes are also unlocked in the Nook Shopping Catalogue.

All about Clay in other Games

Because Clay debuted in New Leaf, he is not in the Animal Crossing movie. He is in Happy Home Designer and Amiibo Festival, although we do not talk about the latter (it is like the Avatar: The Last Airbender movie for the series’ fans).

Surprisingly, he is not in Pocket Camp. However, he may still appear in future updates as Nintendo is still updating the mobile game. Below are details about Clay in Happy Home Designer.

All about Clay in Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer

Happy Home Designer is the original thought behind New Horizons’ DLC. In this game, you also have clients, and Clay can be one of them. He still wants a house with a spooky and scary aesthetic, but this time, the required items are different. Below are the essentials about Clay in Happy Home Designer.

• Thought bubble: There’s only one way to test my mettle, and that’s to live in a haunted house!
• Client’s vision: A spooky haunted house.
• Required items: Creepy Bat Stone, Creepy Stone
• Favorite song: K. K. Dirge

Like in Happy Home Paradise, you need to put the creepy bat stone and creepy stone in the interior design. Below is a table with all of Clay’s unlocked furniture after satisfying him with your design.

Clay’s Unlocked Furniture

Clay’s Unlocked Housing Designs

Clay’s Unlocked Clothing

Clay’s Unlocked Nature Items

Ideal Gifts to Give to Clay

Clay is a chill guy that I can relate to, and because of it, I think he deserves many gifts. His laziness and love for snacking resonate with me a lot. If you have Clay on your island, or if you are planning on letting him be your neighbor, you should give him gifts to befriend him.

However, if you have no idea what he loves to have as a gift, this section will help you. The clothes and furniture below are my suggestions on what you can give to him that will not make him sad. It includes his debut game, New Leaf, and the most recent release, New Horizons.

Ideal Gifts for Clay in Animal Crossing: New Leaf

In New Leaf, Clay likes historical clothing, which fits nicely with his overall theme of being inspired by the Dogū. Additionally, he likes beige, so beige furniture would also make him happy. Be wary of giving him cute clothes because Clay does not like them.

Below is a list of beige and historical furniture that you can give. Again, this list contains my suggestions. If you can find another piece of beige and historical furniture that is not on this list, you can still give it to him.

You can buy everything in this list at Timmy and Tommy’s Store.

Below is a list of beige clothes or clothes with a historical theme that you can give to Clay as gifts. I would advise you not to give him shoes, socks, or bottoms because villagers cannot wear them.

You can buy everything on this list at the Able Sisters.

Ideal Gifts for Clay in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

In New Horizons, Clay has added brown as another favorite color of his alongside beige. Also, his taste in clothes has changed since there are no clothes with a historical theme in this game. Instead, he loves simple and elegant clothes.

Below is a list of ideal furniture that is both beige and brown that you can give to Clay. Included in this table are their type, price, and where you can buy them from.

You can buy everything on this list at Nook’s Cranny.

Meanwhile, the list below is a list of clothes that Clay will love. They are either elegant, simple, beige, or brown (or all of them, if possible). Unlike the previous game, they do not have a style that they hate. The items’ styles, colors, prices, and more in this list are also listed here.

You can buy everything on this list at the Able Sisters.

Fun Facts about Clay in Animal Crossing

Clay is an interesting villager in Animal Crossing because of his unique design and theme. After all, he is the only villager inspired by the Dogū. Even among other villagers, Clay manages to stand out. Below are some fun facts about Clay in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

• Out of the nine hamster villagers and 63 lazy villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Clay is the only lazy hamster, making him one of the unique NPCs.
• Out of the nine hamster villagers, Clay is the only one who was born in October.
• Despite being the only hamster born in October, Clay is not the only hamster with the Libra zodiac sign; Apple, a peppy villager, was born on September 24. Thus, she is a Libra.
• Clay debuted in Animal Crossing: New Leaf because it is the game that introduced hamster villagers. Only one hamster did not debut in New Leaf because they debuted in New Horizons, and he is Marlo, a cranky hamster.
• Clay is part of the six hamster villagers who are male, which constitutes 66% of the hamster population.
• Out of the entire population of lazy villagers, Clay is part of the eight lazy ones who were born in October. The others are Al the Gorilla, Benedict and Egbert the Chickens, Big Top the Elephant, Elmer the Horse, Rodeo the Bull, and Wade the Penguin. Statistically, they compose 12.7% of the lazy population.
• Despite having eight lazy villagers born in October, Rodeo and Wade do not have the Libra zodiac sign. However, Cranston the Ostrich is a Libra because he was born on September 23. Statistically, they compose 11% of the lazy population.
• Clay is the only hamster who likes brown and beige. However, Marlo likes brown, and Hamphrey likes beige; both are cranky villagers.
• Clay is the only hamster who prefers elegant and simple styles. However, the normal hamster Flurry prefers an elegant style. Four other hamsters prefer the simple style, namely: peppy Apple, smug Graham, jock Hamlet, and cranky Hamphrey.
• Clay is not the only lazy villager who loves beige and brown; others include Bones the Dog, Boomer the Penguin, Cranston the Ostrich, Egbert the Chicken, and Stu the Bull.
• Similarly, Clay is not the only lazy villager who prefers elegant and simple styles; others include Derwin the Duck, Doc the Rabbit, Paolo the Elephant, and Raddle the Frog.
• Clay is part of the 12 lazy villagers who love beige and part of the ten lazy villagers who love brown.
• Clay is part of the eight lazy villagers who prefer an elegant style and part of the 58 lazy villagers who prefer a simple style.

Frequently Answered Questions

Conclusion: Is Clay a Good Villager in Animal Crossing?

Clay is a great villager to have if you like lazy villagers or hamsters. Hamsters are hard to come by because there are only nine of them. Thus, Clay would be a great addition if you want the rare ones. Some players even dedicate their islands to one species, and hamsters are perfect candidates for it.

I love lazy villagers because I can resonate with them a lot. I love to relax with them and idly talk about superficial stuff because it makes me take my mind off the busy side of life. Initially, I hated Clay because of his weird design. Tom Nook invited him to my island without my permission, and I was furious.

However, he slowly grew on me, and I eventually adored him alongside Filbert, another lazy villager that I had. Sadly, he is not in Pocket Camp, so if you are a fan of the mobile game and a fan of Clay, you will be disappointed.

If you have Clay as a client in Happy Home Paradise, you can unlock many cool pieces of furniture that are sometimes hard to come by. For example, you can unlock and purchase the Torrii, a traditional Japanese gate you can find at the entrances of Shinto shrines.

Overall, I think Clay is a great lazy villager. You may find him weird at first, like me, but he will make you laugh and have fun if he is on your island.

Looking for more interesting readings? Check out:

• Animal Crossing Snooty Villagers Guide
• Animal Crossing Normal Villagers Guide
• Animal Crossing Peppy Villagers

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Arthur Monteclar

Arthur is a writer for Creature Crossings and a huge fan of Animal Crossing. Although the first Animal Crossing game he ever played was New Horizons on the Nintendo Switch, he has spent too much time playing it. He believes that the game’s therapeutic and calming nature is what people need amidst all the chaos in the world. Arthur has been in the writing business for years now, and he loves writing about his hobbies, one of which is video games. He is also a software programmer, so he understands the craft and effort invested in the gaming medium. He is also fond of manga and anime, being an avid follower of One Piece and Kaguya-Sama, to name a few.

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