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There is an ever-growing roster of mobs in Minecraft, and depending on the version being played, there are some that may be quite similar to each other.
For example, Minecraft: Education Edition (as well as Bedrock Edition when Education Edition's settings are toggled on) possess unique mobs known as NPCs. Their models are quite similar to villagers seen across all Minecraft platforms, but they operate in a significantly different capacity regarding AI and behavior.
Villagers, on the other hand, have been a fixture for some time in Minecraft, and their behavior and professions have been updated and tweaked over the game's tenure.
Minecraft: Differences between NPCs and villagers
NPCs and villagers serve somewhat different purposes in Minecraft. NPCs, in particular, are suited for guiding players along to different areas in Minecraft: Education Edition, and by default, retain no AI and cannot be interacted with by many forces or entities aside from the players. They remain stationary and follow players' movements by watching them, moving their heads as players pass.
Villagers, on the other hand, have quite robust artificial intelligence in Minecraft. They move about their villages, associate with each other and mingle, and even acquire professions where they can work.
While NPCs can be interacted with by players, villagers can conduct trades with them, typically swapping profession-specific items for emeralds or vice versa. Although they can't defend themselves, villagers can run and hide in their homes when the village bell is rung in hopes of avoiding hostile mobs. Specifically zombies, which can turn the inhabitants into zombie villagers.
Villagers retain many different forms based on their Minecraft profession and the biome they find their village in. NPCs are also highly customizable, with many different visual variants (approximately 25 different character models at the moment) and the ability for players to customize the text that they speak when interacted with.
This includes giving NPCs the ability to include HTML hyperlinks in their text. They can even be tasked with carrying out chat commands, something that villagers are incapable of doing.
Unlike villagers, NPCs do not spawn naturally in Minecraft, and are typically created through the use of spawn eggs and commands. Educators can set these NPCs up to guide players with helpful dialogue to assist them in their endeavors, while villagers are much more self-sufficient.
NPCs are effectively immortal unless they fall out of the world, while villagers are more world-weary entities and can be killed quite easily.
