Will hitting a villager with a net make them move out in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Okay, it makes them mad at you. If you hit them once on accident, it's no harm, no foul. However, if you hit a villager repeatedly, they'll get irritated and tell you how they feel about it.

It's will also lower their friendship with you. This won't make villagers move out sooner, it's just a bit mean, and makes it more difficult to earn their photo.

No. This is another myth that's been spread around that doesn't do anything. Villagers may choose to leave regardless of how often you talk to them or basically any other friendship-related factor.

There's lots of false information out there on how to get villagers to leave in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but the most basic answer is that it's just up to random chance. Ever so often, you'll see a villager walking around slowly, looking pensive, with a thought bubble above their heads. When you talk to them, they might give you an item, or a new nickname, or something else...or they might say they are thinking of leaving.

When this happens, you can either convince them to stay or wish them well and let them go. If you do the former, nothing changes. With the latter, they'll pack up the next day and be gone the day after that, opening up your town to a new resident.

So far, there is no proven way to accelerate this process or ensure it happens to a specific villager. It doesn't seem to be determined by friendship or any other triggers. For instance, I had someone move in, then roll out within three days. I've also had a villager I was very close with ask to move out. It's random.

However, there are two ways to ensure someone leaves. The first is to have a full town of 10 villagers and scan an amiibo card at the Nook Stop terminal. You will be able to move in the villager on the card, and choose who you want to move out. They'll always accept.

The second way is to invite a villager visiting your campsite to move in. However, they'll offer to boot out a random villager, and it might be someone you don't want to move out. If they do pick one you like, you can save, close the game, and open it again, then ask them to move in again. They might choose a different villager, though they may also pick the same one. It's random chance. What makes Animal Crossing: New Horizons such a great game is that a villager won't move unless you encourage them to leave.