Non-playable character

NPCs are Non Playable Characters. They are in every Sim game: The Sims, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. There are two main types of NPC; ones that through relationships and simple cheats will be able to be playable characters without any programming errors and ones that were specifically not meant to be played.

The Sims
There are several NPCs who appear in the game other than those which can be hired to provide services. In The Sims, most NPCs either can't be interacted with at all, or only have a few interactions that are related to their function. (While townies are considered to be a class of NPC, they are outside the scope of this article.)

Most NPCs are listed below:


 * Nancy the Paper Girl: The most commonly seen NPC in the game. She appears at 9 am every morning to deliver the newspaper. If a family has a dog, the dog may scare away the paper girl, but she will deliver the paper first.


 * Postal Woman: She appears every 3 days to deliver the bills, which she places in the mailbox.


 * Repo-man: If a family doesn't have enough money to pay their bills, the repo man will show up and use his repossessing gun to absorb some of the objects in their house to cover the bills.


 * Social Worker: If the player doesn't see that babies are taken care of, the social worker will appear to take them away.


 * Burglar: Whenever every Sim on the lot is asleep, the burglar may sneak in and steal their possessions. Players can either have a Sim call the police, or buy an alarm. With the alarm installed, the police will arrive instantly. If the police are called over the the phone, it may take too long for them to arrive, and the burglar may escape.


 * Entertainer: The Entertainer is introduced in House Party. If you buy the large cake under Miscellaneous and click on the command, 'Buy Male/Female Entertainer', the entertainer will emerge from within and start entertaining the guests. Be careful, though, because the entertainer might stir some jealousy from other people at the party.


 * Mime: Introduced in House Party, the Mime will show up at a party if it is going very badly. While he will try to raise the mood a bit, he isn't very good at it. The Mime has been known to steal objects around the house. He will leave only when the party gets better.


 * Party Crasher: Also introduced in House Party, party crashers will arrive during mediocre to fairly good parties, and have been known to destroy objects, though they do not always do so.


 * Drew Carey A real life celebrity who shows up as a reward for a great party.


 * Santa Claus: If you have a Christmas tree up, and you place a plate of cookies on a table near the fireplace just before midnight, Santa Claus will show up while your Sims are sleeping. He'll leave a "gift" for each of Sim in the family, plus an extra special present, which could be any item.


 * Obsessed fan: Introduced in Superstar, your Sims can attract unwanted attention if they achieve 3 stars of fame or more. The obsessed fans will stalk your Sims wherever they go, at home or at work. They leave 'special presents' for your Sims - black roses. They also paw through your dustbins.


 * Grim Reaper: Introduced in Livin' Large. Grim shows up whenever a Sim dies. What happens next depends on his mood. If Death is in a bad mood, he will take the corpse with no way to prevent it; if Death is in a good mood, the player can direct another Sim to challenge Grim. If he accepts, he will play rock, paper, scissors with that Sim, or will put a die under three cups and mix them up. The Sim will have to try to pick the cup which holds the die. If the Sim wins the game, or picks the right cup, the deceased is brought back to life for a second chance, but if the Sim loses/picks the wrong cup, Death will either take the corpse or, be nice and create a zombie.


 * Animal Control Evan: Introduced in Unleashed, he is the neighborhood's animal control officer. When Animal Control is called, he will come to remove El Bandito or Henri LeStanc. He cannot be called unless one of the two is on the lot.


 * Marilyn Monroe, Christina Aguilera and Avril Lavigne are introduced in Superstar. They will appear at random on lots in Studio Town.

The Sims 2
The Sims 2 NPCs are much more colorful. For starters, basic NPCs can be interacted with (talked to, befriended, married, etc.) and each has a different face, hair color and name. They can be male or female, and they generslly make more logical decisions, though there are exceptions. When an NPC becomes playable, a new NPC will be generated to take the old NPC's place. There are two types of NPCs. One can be made playable or selectable (using testingcheatsenabled), and can be interacted with. The other one cannot be interacted with, or made playable or selectable.

Townies
Townies form the largest class of NPC. Townies wander around the neighborhood or visit to Sims' houses. There are many types of Townies in The Sims 2:
 * Townies: Townies are Sims who do not live in the neighborhood, but live close enough so that they can come into town. They are full-fledged Sims with jobs, skills and personalities. They can be found almost anywhere, on both residential and community lots.
 * Dormies: Dormies are Young Adult Sims who live in college sub-neighborhoods. In addition to acting as Townies within their college sub-neighborhood, they occupy the empty rooms in the dormitories where playable Sims live.
 * Secret Society Members: They are Dormies who are members of the Secret Society.
 * Downtownies: Downtownies are similar to Townies, but they can only be found in Downtown. They also have more skills and better jobs than regular Townies.
 * Strays: Strays are wandering dogs or cats who behave just like common Townies, only as pets. They don't belong to anyone.
 * Garden Club Members: In most respects, Garden Club Members are ordinary Townies. However, they sell the Plantophic-C potion, which cures PlantSimism. Also, when a Sim applies for Garden Club membership, they will come to inspect their garden and approve (or reject) the application.
 * Locals: Locals are special Townies who only live in specific vacation destinations. There are 3 types of locals: Mountain, Beach, and Far East. Locals already know their own local gestures, dance, and so on. When invited to a house, they can be houseguests for 3 days.
 * Tourists: Tourists are like locals, in that they can only be found in vacation destinations. Unlike locals, they don't have specific locations, so the same tourists can be found in different vacation destinations. Sometimes, they have already learned some gestures or dances. When invited to a house, they can be houseguests for 3 days.
 * Social Class Townies: These Townies aren't the same as regular Townies. They have their own gestures and favorite stories. Their presence indicates how high your Residential Lot has or your Apartment. Only Social Class Townies occupy the vacant apartment slots. Regular Townies never share their behavior.
 * Roomies: Also known as Roommates, Roomies are a bit different than other Townies. They are Sims' roommates, so they can be selectable, but not playable. Their Sim icon (in the Sim selection area on the left of the screen) will always be on the same branch as pets' icons. Even if they are guests or visitors on a community lot, their icon will still be on that branch, so they will not be controllable even if they are selected. When they are no longer listed as Roomies, they become controllable.

Service NPCs
Service NPCs are NPCs that help Sims around the house.
 * Maids: Maids clean the house and do most of the housekeeping. They come every day.
 * Gardeners: Gardeners clean Sims' gardens, pull weeds, water flowers, trim shrubs, and rake falling leaves. They come every 3 days.
 * Nannies: Nannies take care of babies, toddlers, and children. The player can have them track the calling Sim's work schedule. It's important to hire a nanny if there's no teen or older Sim in your house, as the Social Worker will take children who are left unattended. Nannies are also needed when you going to a community lot or going on vacation would leave children home alone.
 * Bartenders: Sims can hire a bartender if they have a bar in their home. They are paid by the hour.
 * Exterminators: Whenever a Sim's house is infested with cockroaches, they can call exterminator to get rid of them.
 * Repairmen: Sims can call a repairman to fix broken objects. They'll fix everything from clogged toilets to broken electronics. They even tune pianos.
 * Gypsy Matchmakers''']]: Gypsy Matchmakers sell potions to Sims. Sims can buy love potions, the ReNuYu Porta-Chug, or potions to cure Vampirism, Lycanthropy, PlantSimism, or Witchiness. Sims can also ask the Matchmaker for a blind date.
 * Obedience Trainers: Obedience Trainers train adult pets and sell Lycanthropic-B potions.
 * Butlers: Butlers take over almost all of the Service NPCs work. So, Sims no longer need to hire every single Service NPC for housekeeping. Butlers are very costly, so players should mind a family's budget before having them hire one. Butlers don't take care of some problems, such as cockroaches, fires, or burglars. Instead, they call the appropriate NPCs.
 * Landlords]]': Landlords are assumed to be the owners of the apartment lots. Sims can pay the weekly rent directly to the landlords or by using the mailbox. Sims can lower their rent by making friends with them. They will garden and clean the common area in an apartment lot.

Emergency NPCs
Emergency NPCs arrive immediately after Sims call them on the phone, or when summoned by an alarm.
 * Police: Police can apprehend a burglar, but are not always able to. They also appear when a Teen is caught sneaking out or a party lasts until midnight. Sims also need to call the police when their Teens or pets run away. When Sims adopt a pet, a police office will bring the pet. In University, a police officer wearing a llama blazer will "arrest" Sims who are to be inducted into the Secret Society.
 * Firefighters: Firefighters are always able to put out fires, though when a fire is very large, they sometimes call for help from other firefighters.

Other Service NPCs
Other than hired Service NPCs, there are also some Service NPCs who come on some occasions.
 * Social Workers: A Social Worker come when any babies, toddlers, or children are left unattended for a period, have critical needs, or become too cold or too hot, and will take them away. They also come when a family adopta a child.
 * Repo Men: If bills are left unpaid for 3 days, a Repo Man will come to take away some of a family's objects to cover the bill.
 * Mail Carriers: Every Tuesday and Thursday, a mail carrier will come to a Sim's house to deliver bills. (In college sub-neighborhoods, the mail carrier comes every 3 days.) Mail carriers also come to take paid bills.
 * Newspaper Boys/Girls: Often called "Newsie". They deliver the newspaper every morning, and also deliver hobby magazines. They are always teenagers.
 * Carpool Drivers: Carpool Drivers are the ones who drive the carpool and school bus, fly the helicopter, etc.
 * Pizza Deliverers: They deliver pizza when a Sim orders one.
 * Chinese Food Deliverers: Just like pizza deliverers, only they deliver Chinese Food.
 * Delivery Men: They deliver most of the things, other than bills, newspaper, pizza, and Chinese food. They deliver groceries, novels (when your Sim finishes one), photo albums, and photo snapshots.

Community Service NPCs
Community Service NPCs are Service NPCs who serve your Sims in Community Lots.
 * Cashier: Cashiers are always teens. Whenever there's a cashing register in community lot, they will occupy it. Although they look like very skilled in cashiering, they actually don't have golden cashiering talent badge.
 * Cafeteria Chef: They work in cafeteria in a dorm or in any Community Lot in College Sub-Neighborhood.
 * Barista: They are the one who serve your Sims when your Sims order coffee in Community Lots. They are similar to Bartenders.
 * Hosts: In every restaurant, hosts serve your Sims in the podium and seat them to any available table or bar.
 * Servers: Servers are waiters or waitresses in restaurant. They wait on your Sims, bring your food, and clean tables and dirty floor.
 * Cook: Cooks prepare the dish in restaurant. Unlike other Service NPCs, they cannot be interacted with.
 * DJs: If there's a DJ booth in Community Lot, DJs will use them. You can also work part-time as DJ and earn hourly pay.
 * Makeovers: When there's a vacant salon chair in an unowned Community Lot, a makeover will take over the salon chair to give your Sims makeover.
 * Local Chefs*: Local Chefs cook food for your Sims whenever there is a set of Food Stand in community lot. There are four kinds of Local Chefs. They are Mountain Local Chef, Far East Local Chef, Tropical Local Chef, and Diner Local Chef. Each Local Chef prepares different food.
 * Human Statues*: When Poised Podium by Performance Arts is placed in community lot, a Human Statue will appear there. Your Sims can watch them or give them tips.
 * Break Dancers*: If there's a breakdance mat in a community lot, there will be a Break Dancer. You can watch them break dancing or study break dance from them. They are similar to Fire Dancers.

Wandering NPCs
These NPCs usually wander around the town, or even walk by your house.
 * Professors: Your Sim can meet professors in College Sub-Neighborhood. They sometimes appear in Secret Hobby Lot. You can ask them for tutor to increase class performance. You will always meet Professors at the first time you go to class.
 * Coaches: Coaches are very disturbing. They sometimes appear in a lot, whether it's College Community Lot, Dorm, or even your College House. They will yell at your Sims and force them to work out.
 * Mascots: There are 2 Mascots, Good and Bad. The Good Mascots dress in Llama costume, while the Bad Mascots dress in Cow costume. They will appear in any lot in College Sub-Neighborhood. The Good Mascots will autonomously school cheer in front of any Sims. The Bad Mascots will always do pranks, irritate, and annoy your Sims, and even do some flirting. When the 2 mascots see each others, they will fight. The Good Mascot will always win because they have maxed Body skills, while the Bad one doesn't.
 * Cheerleaders: Cheerleaders are much similar to Good Mascots. They appear in any College Sub-Neighborhood lot. They will autonomously school cheer in front of Sims. They usually fight against the Bad Mascots too, but they will always win since Cheerleaders have maxed body skill.
 * Streakers: Like the name, Streakers streak in any lot in College Sub-Neighborhood. Other Sims will react shocked when they see the nude Streakers.
 * Mrs. Crumplebottom*: This cranky, strict old woman is wandering in every community lot in Downtown. Mrs. Crumplebottom hates to see when two Sims are doing romantic social in the public. When she sees any, she will beat them with her purse. She will ruin any dream date to a bad one. She will also lecture any Sims who are wearing undies, swimming suit, or naked.
 * Deteable Slobs: These slobs are very mean and sloppy. They can only be found in Downtown or Secret Hobby Lots. Slobs are pretty easy to recognize since they wear very dirty clothes.
 * Mr. Big &amp; The Diva: Mr. Big and The Diva have different generated names for each game, but they always have the same appearance. Mr. Big wears red lounge suit and has neat hairstyle, while The Diva wears black dress with red scarf, and has long hair. They are Downtownies and very rich, but also mean. If they move in the family, they will add §70000 to the family funds.
 * Grand Vampires: They are the leader of vampires in the Downtown, and they can only be found in Downtown at night. Grand Vampires have bluish skin tone, red eyes, and fangs. They have pleasure aspiration. Grand Vampires always have prefix "Count" in their name for male and "Contessa" for female. If you make friends with them, they will bite your Sims and turn them into a vampire.
 * Pack Leaders: Pack Leader appears as a large dogs with black fur and glowing yellow eyes. If you make friends with them, they will nibble your Sim and your Sim will become a werewolf. They mostly appear at night. You can greet them to your house, but they usually break your house and make messes. They also can't be taught any commands or be given commands, so it's rather annoying. Pack Leaders have their own names.
 * Stinky Skunk*: Stinky Skunk wanders around your home. Your Sims may pet, watch, or chase him off, though the former two actions will make your Sims sprayed. If sprayed, your Sims will get negative memory, have empty hygiene need, and will be the talk of gossip. Pets can also be sprayed.
 * Penguin*: Penguins may appear in your house if it's snowing, there's a snowman in the lot (Whether finished, unfinished, or broken), or a fish is mounted on the wall. He will talk to the snowman for hours and leave. Your Sims can pet him or shoo him. If he's unhappy, he will leave the house or may eventually pee himself.
 * High Witches: There are two High Witches, Good and Evil. If you make friends with them, you can ask them to turn you into a witch. They appear in every community lot, including the College Sub-Neighborhood. Good Witch will cast Beautificus Locus and summon Good Spectral Cat when arriving in a lot, while Evil Witch will cast Corruptus Locus and summon Evil Spectral Cat. When both Witches appear at the same time, they will usually fight each other.

Special NPCs
Special NPCs come when a special or rare occasion occurs.
 * The Grim Reaper*: The Grim Reaper only appears when there's a dead Sim on a lot. Most of the time, you can plead with The Grim Reaper to bring the dead Sim back to life, unless they died of old age, drowning, or have been eaten by Cowplant. When a Sim dies of old age happily, The Grim Reaper will appear with 2 Hula Zombies accompanying him.
 * Hula Zombies*: Hula Zombies appear only when a Sim dies of old age. They will dance hula while The Grim Reaper escorts the dead Sim. Their face resembles Bella Goth a lot.
 * Social Bunnies*: If there's a Sim with critical social need, a Social Bunny will hop and appear in front of the lonely Sim. Only the Sim with low social need can see them. Sims can interact with them, friendly or mean. Either way, Social Bunny will fill up the social need by any interaction. When the need is halfway to full, they will hop to disappear. There are 3 colors of Social Bunnies: pink, blue, and yellow.
 * Headmasters: Headmaster appear when your Sims invite them to send your children or teens to private school. They will arrive for dinner at 5 PM. You need to schmooze and impress him in order to send your children to private school.
 * Burglars: Like the name, burglars steal something from your home. On really rare occasion, burglar appears at midnight and steal something in your house. You can't apprehend burglar yourself. You can buy alarm or call the police to apprehend the burglar. Sometimes, the police himself loses fight and the burglar will get away with your stuff. But, if the police wins, you will get a reward for catching the burglar.
 * Therapist: Often called Sim Shrink. When there's a Sim with critically low aspiration, Therapist will appear. Only the Sim with aspiration failure can see him. He will help your Sim to push your aspiration a bit higher. After that, he'll be gone.
 * Reporters: Reporters come to your Owned Business Lots, browsing your shop, and score it. If you can impress the reporters, they will give you Best Business Award. Reporters don't have fixed uniform, so it's hard to tell who is the actual reporters.
 * Hobby Instructor: Each hobby has its own instructor. Hobby instructors can be met when your Sims gained 5 hobby enthusiasm in a specific hobby, gained maximum hobby enthusiasm, or in the hobby club. You can ask them to instruct hobby in the Secret Hobby Lot.
 * Rod Humble*: Whenever a new family or household moves in (merging family does not count), or the first time the family is played, Rod Humble will appear, deliver a new computer with The Sims 3 game in it, and leave. He will not appear if you are currently living in College Sub-Neighborhood.
 * Spectral Assistants* Both Good and Evil Witches can summon Spectral Assistant, each with different purposes. Good Witches can summon one by using Apello Servantus spell. The Spectral Assistant will help clean the house and garden like maid and gardener. Evil Witches can summon another by using Servantus Attackum. The Spectral Assistant will attack the intended Sim.
 * Spectral Cats: Also known as Feline Familiar. Spectral Cat can be summoned by using Apello Cattus Amicus spell by Witches. The Spectral Cats' alignment depends on the alignment of the caster. Each witch can only summon one spectral cat, and the cat will always be the same if summoned again. Spectral Cats will behave like common cats, with some exception. Such as, they don't have bladder need, can't get a job, don't age, and can't have litter.
 * Santa Klaus*: Often being mistaken as Santa Claus. He will appear if you make fire in fireplace and there's a Santa Cookies in the same room with the fireplace. He will automatically become best friends if your Sims interact with him.
 * Father Time*: When throwing a New Year Bash, Father Time will appear on the sidewalk around 11 PM. He will occasionally make ruckus and other Sims will react to it. At midnight, he will turn into Toddler New Year.
 * Toddler New Year*: The Father Time will eventually turn into Toddler New Year at midnight. Toddler New Year will autonomously smustle dance and fade away.

Other NPCs
Some NPCs only appear as thumbnail and cannot even be met or appear in the game. NPCs in this category is not included in any category above. The NPC with asterisk (*) is NPC who cannot be made selectable or playable.
 * Pollination Technician*: If your adult, male Sim who is 5 days away from elder is abducted by aliens, he will get home impregnated by Pollination Technician and give birth an alien baby. He will appear in the family tree. The Pollination Technician itself is not a real Sim. It's actually a set of genetic which is given to male Sim who impregnate an alien Baby.
 * ideal plantsim*: When your PlantSim spawns a sporebaby, the baby will inherit genetics from the father/mother and ideal plantsim. Like Pollination Technician, ideal plantsim is actually a set of genetic, not an actual Sim.
 * Weather*: Weather is a the weatherman of the forecasting channel in the TV. He predicts the incoming weather that could probably happen. Sometimes the Weather tells some funny jokes, but sometimes is rather resentful.
 * Genie Midlock*: Though Genie can be met in the game, he is hardly any Sim. He grants 3 wishes to your Sim if you have the Dusty Old Lamp whether it succeeds or fails, and leaves. A Gypsy Matchmaker will deliver a Dusty Old Lamp if you're lucky.

Playable NPCs
These NPCs can become playable through many different ways. For a full list of ways to make them playable see Turning a Townie into a Playable Sim.

Service NPCs

The Maid, Repairman, and Babysitter are all service NPCs. Also, a Magician was going to be an NPC, but EA canceled it because of glitches when a Sim had a child with her. In very few cases she will appear.

Emergency NPCs
 * The Police: When a burglar appears on the playable lot and an alarm is installed, they will arrive soon after and fight the burglar, but without an alarm they can be called. However, calling the police when there's no burglar, they will fine the Sim §500.
 * The Fire Department: Sims with a low cooking skill that attempt to cook anything involving an oven or a microwave, sometimes a fire will result. A fire can also be started by lighting a fireplace with flammable objects nearby, or a birthday cake can spontaneously combust. The fire alarm should alert the fire department whenever there is a fire, but they can also be phoned. Prank calling them when there is no fire, will get Sims a §500 fine.

Other NPCs
 * Carpool/Taxi Driver: Typically either a bald man with facial hair in a suit, or a woman with messy hair and a blue jacket, that drives the carpool and/or taxi
 * The Burglar: A burglar appears at night when Sims are sleeping or out on the town. Befriending burglars does not stop them burgling friends. Burglars will be in the Criminal career track, playable sims can also become burglars. The most common burglar in Sunset Valley is Robbie Bland
 * Paper Deliverer: Appears every morning to deliver the papers. Can either be male or female, but is always a child. Also delivers a random book, on Mondays along with the newspaper if a member of the household is a member of the book club.
 * Science Geek
 * Mummy
 * Consignment Specialist: A random Sim (sometimes an NPC or a Townie) in The Sims 3: Ambitions who works at the Consignment store. Since the consignment specialist is a randomly picked Sim, even sims in the neighborhood could work there. If the Consignment Specialist is moved in via Edit Town, he/she loses the job.
 * Mailmen/women: They are the people that deliver the bills in the mail. They are not random sims, they are always premade sims. They also deliver mail.
 * The Pizza Man/Women: Delivers pizza. Often a man called Jack Scott on many neighborhoods such as Twinbrook.
 * Tattoo Artist: A Tattoo Artist is an NPC from The Sims 3: Ambitions. Sims can go to a fashion shop to get tattoos (if there are tattoo artists working there), or to have them removed. Most of time a tattoo artist will be a person that doesn't live in the neighborhood, probably a townie. Tattoo artists always have lots of tattoos on their body.