Game guide:Which NPCs are safe to play as?

You may know some of the townies and non-playable characters (NPCs) available in the Sims 2, but playing with some of them is considered to be dangerous and a threat to the game (your neighborhood itself and the game as a whole, including installation files), though, some are just considered to be annoying and others are actually safe to play and add to households.

The Dangers Of Certain NPCs
Dangerous NPCs are objects or characters that, if played with & have anything changed about them, may threaten the safety of your entire game. They should never be played with and/or added to a household. The following list consists of NPCs that are considered to be dangerous. Each NPC is listed below with the reason to why they are NOT safe & are dangerous when interacted with in any other way than what the game intends to. You may also want to consult the article on avoiding neighborhood corruption first for more details about how interactions with certain NPCs will affect your neighborhood & your Sims 2 game installation files. Interacting with these NPCs:
 * 1. By using the options allowed by the game in normal game play without cheating, AND
 * 2. By setting your objects.package files to read-only status,

Are considered safer & should not affect the integrity of your game.

A general rule of thumb to know whether a NPC is dangerous or not, is by not playing with those without a "proper name" i.e., Wise Old Man is not a proper name, whereas Brandi LeTourneau is a proper name.

NPCs Who Are Considered Dangerous
NPCs that are not safe to play as and/or to add to your household because they are objects in your game's object.package file:


 * Bigfoot Bigfoot (NPC)
 * This does not apply to the bigfoot character found on the secret mountain vacation lot, as they are cloned from this object template. The clone is an active Sim with playable character data.


 * Bird
 * Father Time
 * Food Table Judge
 * Genie
 * Good Witch Cat
 * Grim Reaper
 * Hula Zombie
 * Ideal Plantsim
 * Mrs. Crumplebottom
 * Penguin
 * Pollination Technician
 * Not to be confused with Pollination Technician from Strangetown. Pollination Technician #9 Smith is an active Sim with playable character data.


 * Remote Control Car
 * Robot
 * This does not apply to the Servo robot created from the Robot Crafting Station. When activated, the Servo will act like a regular Sim with playable character data.


 * Rod Humble
 * Santa Claus
 * Skunk
 * Skunk Skin
 * Spectral Assistant
 * TemplateDog
 * Therapist (Shrink)
 * Toddler New Year
 * Witch Doctor (Shaman)

NPCs that are not safe to play as and/or to add to your household because they have incomplete user data:


 * Big Boss
 * Break Dancers
 * Carpool Drivers
 * Such as for a Taxi, Limousine, School Bus, Carpool, Ambulance, Pilot, etc.


 * Food Stand Chefs
 * Human Statues
 * Repo-men
 * Social Bunnies
 * Social Workers
 * In the event she's spawned through the Gypsy as a blind date, delete her with move-objects just in case. Do not interact with the Social Worker.


 * Villain (Unsavory Charlatan)

NPCs that are believed not safe to play as and/or add to your household:


 * Ghost Captain
 * Ninja
 * Bellhop
 * Tour Guide
 * Fire Dancer
 * Wise Old Man

NPCs Who Are Considered Safe
NPCs that possess annoying hard-coded behavior but are safe to play as and/or add to your household. These glitches may be fixed using Cyjon's Debugger.


 * Burglar
 * Safe, but may continue with sneaking behavior.


 * Evil Mascot (Cow)
 * Cheerleader
 * Mr. Big/The Diva
 * Safe, but will continue to primp frequently.


 * Grand Vampire/Vampiress
 * Gypsy Matchmaker
 * Safe but will continue with spit-polish behavior.


 * Headmaster
 * Safe, but their plumb-bobs may be in the wrong place.


 * Mascot (Llama)
 * Nanny


 * Safe but will continue with insane behavior.
 * Professor
 * Believed safe but Drama Professor will continue with flirt behavior.


 * Repairman
 * Safe, but their plumb-bobs may be in the wrong place.


 * Slob
 * Safe, but will continue to burp and fart frequently.


 * Streaker

NPCs that are safe to play as and/or add to your household:


 * Barista
 * Bartender
 * Bigfoot
 * This is for the Bigfoot character seen from your forest vacation's secret lot. Not to be confused with Bigfoot Bigfoot (NPC), which is an object as listed above.


 * Butler
 * Cash Register Clerk
 * Chef/Cook
 * Not to be confused with a Food Stand Chef, who is an NPC object.


 * Chinese Delivery Person
 * Coach
 * Delivery Person
 * Dining Podium Host
 * DJ
 * Exterminator
 * Firefighter
 * Gardener
 * Hair Stylist
 * High Witches/Warlocks
 * Hobby Instructor
 * Housekeeper
 * Landlord
 * Maid
 * Mail Carrier
 * Masseuse
 * Newspaper Delivery Person
 * Obedience/Pet Trainer
 * Pizza Delivery Person
 * Police Officer
 * Server/Waiter
 * Tourists
 * Vacation Destinations Locals
 * Those are townies you would normally see/meet during a vacation in a Vacation Destination and will be dressed according to the theme of the vacation. They will be wearing clothes that represent the area.

Note:
These three lists are still incomplete and more will be added to them in the future.