the.com/villager
the extras in someone else's hero's journey, and the heroes of their own.
means a person who lives in a small rural settlement, or, in games, an npc whose entire personality is one shrug and one errand.
from from old french vilage, from latin villa, meaning country house or farm — a villager was simply someone tied to the land around a villa, long before it meant merry men with pitchforks.
minecraft tradevillagers swap emeralds, never say a real word
torch mobpitchforks-and-torches image mostly comes from 1930s frankenstein films
global sharenearly half of humanity still counts as rural
zelda cameohyrule villagers exist mainly to gate quest items
for instance
minecraft villager — traded with by millions daily since 2012 update
stardew valley npc — pelican town's 30-plus residents each keep a private schedule
harvest moon farmer — 1996 game built entire genre on small-town routines
frankenstein mob — 1931 film cemented torch-carrying crowd as horror shorthand