Beyond Continuity Intro

Beyond Continuity is a series where I take a story or character and give my take on how I would present them. The goal is to take what exists in official continuities and improve on it or to show alternate paths the story or characters could have taken. Any and all suggestions on improvements to these entries are welcome.

Intro and Clarity

In Part One, I talked about the appeal of Minecraft and how it’s been utilized well and poorly by different entertainment formats. I was especially critical of “A Minecraft Movie” (2025). But my intent is not to shame those who enjoy the movie, nor it even to write a detailed breakdown of every flaw with the film. What I mainly focused on was how the movie did not properly utilize the Minecraft setting and lore, instead filling time with meta humor and distractions from Minecraft content.

Here, I will be giving a breakdown of how I would interpret Minecraft’s lore. Given that Minecraft is constantly expanding, I won’t be covering every aspect. Instead, I will give an explanation for the lore behind the game’s Main Quest and the Wither lore. This will include explaining much of the Overworld, the Nether, and The End. Perhaps in the future, I will also cover newer additions, like the Warden and the Deep Dark.

Finally, I do not present this as the definitive Minecraft fan lore book. There are others far more knowledgeable about the game than me who could almost certainly write something more accurate. And even if they couldn’t, one of my favorite things about Minecraft is how up to interpretation its world is. As much as I stand by my interpretation as a valid perspective, I hope this encourages different interpretations from others rather than discourages.

The Lore

The Protagonist Wakes Up

Minecraft starts you out by randomly spawning your character in one of many biomes (taiga, desert, plains, swamp, mountains, etc.). The character protagonist–let’s go with Steve for simplicity’s sake (though if you want to go with Alex).

This is a human (or human-like being) with no memory, in an unfamiliar environment. His only goal right now is survival. Steve will encounter many typical aspects of an Earth-like world: hilly plains, a variety of trees, small bodies of water, flowers, pigs, horses, cows, sheep, chickens, etc.

Steve won’t necessarily start by gathering materials. He probably doesn’t know how capable he really is yet. So instead, he’ll start traveling. He doesn’t have the tools to kill and cook animals yet so he relies on apples here and there. Then night falls.

Steve encounters hostile mobs.

Steve will see reanimated skeletons and zombies rise out from the ground like spirits, some having weapons and drabby armor pieces lingering on them. And from cave openings and tree-tops, giant enemy spiders will start searching for prey.

Steve will hide from the mobs at first but so many will appear around him that he’ll end up exhausting himself fleeing the whole night. The morning sun will appear and the zombies and skeletons will start trembling. The sun burns away at something in them and they collapse. While some of the skeletons’ bones remain, the zombie bodies are gone. And the once hostile spiders suddenly ignore Steve as they return to the trees or caves. While Steve isn’t keen on taunting the spiders, he finds that unless provoked, they no longer have interest in him.

Steve is now significantly hungrier, a little injured, and still without anyone to help him. He resorts to attacking a nearby cow for its meat and is shocked at how strong he is. It doesn’t take much to take the animal down, and when he does, Steve watches these green orbs of light expel from it. The orbs closest to Steve are absorbed into him but he doesn’t feel any change in himself.

Steve has to eat the meat raw. Then he continues on his search. He can’t find too many animals and eventually, night falls again. Steve is a little more confident after seeing how he fared against the cow, but he still only outright fights the mobs if he has to. He decides to target the skeletons due to them often carrying bows and arrows.

Steve successfully kills a skeleton but finds it harder than the cow and he doesn’t know why. And the same green orbs come off the skeleton’s remains. Steve takes the worn bow and a few arrows from the mob but he unfortunately doesn’t last long afterward. Out of nowhere, he hears a hissing, and then an explosion. But as he’s blown apart…

… Steve wakes back up.

Steve is back where he first awoke. His injuries are healed. He must have traveled some 10-20 miles and he was right back where he started. He quickly realizes that he won’t get far by traveling with no protection, sufficient food, or way to mark his path.

Steve decides to build a starter base. He finds that like with enemies and animals, he can quickly break down materials like wood and stone, though the latter requires a lot more work. Steve punches a tree into smaller cubes which he finds he can store on his person like a supernatural backpack. He spends most of the day gathering wood and makes a simple square shack to survive the night. And while it keeps the mobs from attacking him, he still doesn’t have food.

Steve experiments with the wooden logs and finds himself instinctively separating the cubes into wooden planks, able to make the material spread further as a result. Then, he recalls something specific. He fastens the planks into a square of four and creates a Crafting Table

Steve isn’t sure why he knows how to make this block but he knows it’s important. The nine squares in the shape of a cube are significant. He puts some of his other planks on it and finds that different combinations of shapes allow him to create different materials. He learns how to make basic sticks, slabs, doors, stairs, fences, and gates.

The latter two items give Steve an idea. His starter base is surrounded by animals so he decides to painstakingly corral some cows, sheep, and pigs. He sees the chickens laying eggs on their own and builds a wooden plank enclosure so he can harvest the eggs later. The problem is he can’t eat the eggs raw and he can’t just keep killing the animals.

In the meantime, Steve continues having to deal with hostile mobs every night, and with no bed to make his rest easier. But he takes advantage each morning when the skeletons and zombies die off. He salvages some of the better leather armor pieces, arrows, bows, and even occasional stone swords. And he discovers what killed him that other night: this exploding, grass-looking beast he calls The Creeper.

Like the Spiders, the Creeper is not harmed by the sun but it remains hostile: exploding once close to a target, and leaving behind some kind of fungal gas along with gunpowder. But after some careful training, Steve is able to kill Creepers before they detonate.

Steve also realizes that if a stone sword exists, there has to be a way to craft it. He starts out making a wooden sword and from that, discovers wooden shovels, axes, hoes, and pickaxes. He quickly pieces his next step together and mines a nearby cave entrance for cobblestone. Soon, he has a whole set of stone tools.

Steve fights with the mobs of the night more confidently now and manages to reap more rewards. But he’s killed all the same and respawns at the starter spot. But now he has some string from spiders and fashions a fishing rod and new bows for himself. A new food source in fish has been made available, but he still can’t cook anything.

About a week passes. Steve finally learns from harvesting the tall grass that he can grow refined wheat from the seeds. And the bones can be made into bone meal to speed the growth process. He breeds the cows and sheep with the wheat but the pigs and horses don’t respond. Steve decides to keep the pigs around more as companions since he has a more steady source of food. the chickens are fed with seeds but Steve seldom needs to help them breed as they do it well enough on their own.

Steve discovers furnaces and eventually finds bits of coal in the mouths of caves in the area. Finally, he can cook his food properly. He discovers torches, charcoal, stone walls, and more. He finally has a bed and his starter shack has grown a bit into a basic house. Hostile mobs don’t appear around his lit house but he has a peaceful life.

Another week passes and Steve’s acquired some curious items from the hostile mobs, such as an iron ingot. He’s able to make a flint and steel with this for fire-starting but doesn’t have much use for it yet. He’s gotten a full set of leather armor from harvesting cows and decides to venture into the caves properly to find more useful minerals.

It’s a grueling and painful process. Steve dies many times and loses track of where his inventory dropped multiple times. He becomes familiar with iron, making armor, tools, and buckets for water and milk. He encounters lava and carries buckets of that. He discovers obsidian but has great difficulty in trying to harvest it.

Steve doesn’t venture very far in any of his caves but occasionally, he finds stranger materials like a blue stone (Lapis Lazuli) and this glowing dust material, Redstone. Neither appear craftable for much so Steve stores them away for now.

Eventually, Steve comes across an abandoned mineshaft.

This is the first time that Steve finds anything resembling civilization. Rotting chains hold up platforms. Torches continue to light pathways. Rails lead to minecarts with random assorted items. Steve confirms from this that he isn’t alone. And more crafting recipes are discovered. He can make a railway. He finds pumpkin, melon, and beetroot seeds. He finds name tags and horse armor. He discovers gold for the first time, and a gold-lined apple. And then he finds a diamond.

Steve finds more diamonds surrounding lava beds. They’re much harder to find than the other ores but he manages to craft a pickaxe from them. And sure enough, this lets him mine obsidian… but he still doesn’t know what to do with it all.

People

After a few months of living on his own, Steve has created a proper base. He has a barn for the animals, a house to relax in, a crafting chamber with books full of his recipes, and a storage room for all his items. He’s acquired a full set of diamond tools, diamond armor, can breed horses, pigs, sheep, cows, and chickens, and is finally ready to travel in search of other people again.

Steve outfits one of his horses with a saddle and armor and heads out. Every so often, he builds a marker for his progress, intending to build a railway to wherever he can find civilization. But after days of travel, he still hasn’t made any progress.

Steve’s been traveling for a week now. He rests for the night only to wake up to a strange noise. He’s been discovered by a stranger in a multi-colored robe, leading two llamas: the Wandering Trader.

[Quick bit of clarity here: this next part was heavily inspired by a specific youtube video doing its own version of Minecraft lore. I really wanted to credit that youtube channel but I could not for the life of me find it.]

The Wandering Trader is curious about Steve and tries to communicate with him. But neither person understands the other. Even so, Steve is excited to have finally met a person. It takes some serious charades but the Wandering Trader realizes that Steve needs to find more people. So the Wandering Trader has him travel with them.

It’s only a day or so later that the two arrive at a village proper, populated with a diverse set of citizens.

To Steve’s dismay, these villagers don’t speak his language either. But they’re more than happy to trade with him, be it some of the ores he carries, crops, leather, or especially emeralds, which are the main currency.

The villagers aren’t entirely sure what to think of Steve. And while communication isn’t easy, Steve learns that they’ve never seen someone like him. But for now, just being able to interact with other people is enough.

Steve starts to build a house near the village. The villagers protest this, not yet trusting Steve’s intentions. Worse, when night falls, the village is attacked by hostile mobs. Steve fights off the mobs and helps to light up the village properly. But the villagers act accusatorily toward him. He realizes that they think he brought the hostile mobs.

Steve puts some of the pieces together, realizing that the village wouldn’t have survived all this time with so little light. That meant they really hadn’t seen at least some of those mobs before. Something about Steve caused the mobs to appear. It was probably the green orbs.

Regardless, Steve decides to move his new house further away from the village but still intends to build his railway to make trips back and forth from home. Only the Wandering Trader is willing to interact with him at this point.

While working on the house, Steve notices a different kind of creature for the first time: this black, tall thing, almost like a person. It can carry blocks like he does and has a strange, purple aura around it. It doesn’t appear hostile at first, but once it notices Steve staring at it, it vanishes. Steve doesn’t think much of it until the creature reappears in front of him: teleporting. And it’s angry, with an open, screaming maw.

Steve is fully armored but he isn’t familiar with how this creature fights. He tries to stab it and manages to land a few hits, but it hits just as hard and teleports about. It isn’t long before the creature kills him.

It takes Steve a few days to get back to the village. He has to outfit himself with another horse and put together some iron armor. But on his way to the village, he sees someone like a villager. They’re more armored, and have gray skin.

Steve approaches the figure only for them to fire at him with a crossbow. Steve doesn’t want to kill someone so he tries to lose the hostile stranger. But the stranger tracks him down. Steve manages to beat the stranger down and take his crossbow. These villagers and villager-like people aren’t nearly as strong as Steve, especially without a weapon.

Steve decides to let the hostile stranger leave as a sign of good will before continuing back to the village. Once he’s nearly there, he encounters the Wandering Trader again. The Trader is understandably surprised to see Steve alive but given that Steve can’t properly explain himself, the Trader decides to just take him to where they buried his items in a makeshift grave near the village.

The Villagers show up, likewise surprised at Steve being alive. While still wary of him, they aren’t a violent sort so they let him collect his things and get back into his diamond gear. Shortly after, however, a group of the hostile strangers come charging in from nearby, armed with axes and some riding a large beast: a Ravager.

While Steve is relieved to have his superior armor, he doesn’t feel confident about his chances against a small army. All the same, he feels responsible for the Pillagers finding the Villagers and so he fights. It’s a brutal battle, with at least one villager dying. The villagers try to hide but a few are captured and taken by a section of the Pillager army. However, the tides start to turn when an unexpected defender steps in.

A metal humanoid with long arms comes in to attack the Pillagers. This Iron Golem manages to take out the remaining Pillagers and Ravagers. But it’s a bittersweet victory, with many buildings damaged and multiple kidnapped Villagers.

Steve has to rest but as soon as he’s recovered, he leaves to track down the Pillagers. He tries to get the Iron Golem to join him but the Iron Golem refuses to leave the village. One Villager decides to help by guiding Steve to where the Pillager Outpost is. And with at least one Villager nearby, the Iron Golem follows.

Steve, the Villager, and the Iron Golem get close enough to this slapped-together tower with moss growing over it. Steve can tell by the aged materials that it’s been here a while, and thus the Pillagers have been oppressing the Villagers for a while. He doesn’t want to go charging in, however, so he sneaks around.

Steve finds that the Pillagers force Villagers into their ranks, as they try to force the Villagers to fight each other in their tower while others remain imprisoned. Steve frees the jailed Villagers before returning to the Villager guide and Iron Golem. They decide to tunnel under the outpost so that the Iron Golem can let loose while the Pillagers are off their guard.

It’s a bit of a struggle but most of the Pillagers are killed and the Villagers are free. Steve is at the top of the outpost with one Pillager cornered. He recognizes them as the one he spared before. He knows the Pillager can’t understand him but he offers him the chance to give up. The Pillager puts down his weapons, reflecting on when he was first captured by the press-gangs.

Unfortunately, Steve doesn’t realize another Pillager survived and this one manages to critically injure him and send him hurdling off the side of the outpost. Steve dies again only to wake up on a village bed. He doesn’t quite understand it but apparently he can respawn wherever he sleeps, at least on beds. Still, he won’t be able to get to the outpost in time.

Steve gets some basic gear and heads back out only to find the freed Villagers being led back home by the surrendered Pillager. The Pillager carries the remains of the Iron Golem, a flower and some iron ingots. Steve accepts these and they all return to the village. But the former Pillager doesn’t enter, too ashamed. But he leaves on better terms with Steve.

Having helped the Villagers, Steve wins their trust and is awarded a metal totem with a Villager-like shape. The Villagers try to explain through movements what it does but Steve decides to just keep it as a badge of honor for now.

The Wandering Trader decides to go a bit further. They take Steve on a short journey to something that’s puzzled the Villagers for many years. In the middle of the land is a small plot where the soil turns to this red, blocky material which smells of smoke. A stony set of blocks accent a rectangular frame made of obsidian with some gold blocks atop it.

The Nether

Months pass. Steve now has a well-protected rail system between his house and the village. He’s learned how to design many more things, including building Iron Golems to better protect the Villagers. He doesn’t perfectly communicate with the Villagers but he’s able to understand and speak their language okay enough. From them, he’s learned a great deal.

According to the Villagers, Steve is the only one of his kind they’ve ever seen. The Wandering Trader has been to dozens of villages and some had been around for almost a hundred years. The Pillagers came about from opportunistic Villagers who seek to dominate the landscape. And they supposedly have a master headquarters but the Trader’s never found it.

Steve also learned that the Villagers called the strange black creatures Endermen, and that their dropped-orbs, Ender Pearls, could be thrown at locations to teleport to them. But no one knew how the Endermen came to be or what their motives were.

Steve explored more biomes as well, encountering another hostile Villager-like person called the Witch, as well as what the Villagers believed to be a creation of the Witch: the Slime.

The Villagers also believe the Witch created Creepers but the Witch wasn’t interested in explaining herself. She kept to herself unless bothered. But during Steve’s first encounter, he discovered Potions. However, he couldn’t seem to make any without a proper fuel source and nothing with wood or coal worked.

Steve also learned how to use Redstone as a conduit for simple machines. With this, he built a protective barrier around the village which opens and closes at different times of the day. He also used this to make his railway faster and create time-based lights throughout the area.

And most importantly, Steve realized the purpose of that obsidian rectangle. It was early after first being shown it. After completing the frame, Steve eventually tried to ignite it with the Flint and Steel. And from that, an ominous, translucent purple energy glowed within the frame. It was a portal.

On the other side of this portal was a Hell-like landscape with more of the red block material. Steve decided to call it The Nether.

The Nether is a ash-filled dimension, far more hostile than the Overworld. Lava fills an eternal ocean, a roof ceils the skies with bedrock all from traveling above or below. These veiny, red and blue biomes produce strange vegetation. And the mobs here are match their home.

Most common were the Zombie Piglins, dressed basically and armed with golden swords. Unlike Overworld Zombies, they are completely passive unless attacked and do not burn in the sun. However the living Piglins are a different story, living in Bastion fortresses where they horde resources and attack anyone near them. They are never seen without their Hoglin pets: able to launch a man into the sky. Steve discovered early on that by wearing and trading gold, the Piglins could be reasoned with and would occasionally relinquish useful items. But none were much for conversation.

To Steve’s horror, he caught sight of a young Piglin who had followed him through the Nether Portal and into the Overworld. At first, Steve was concerned that the Piglins would attack the Overworld to reclaim the child but it was much worse than that. The child turned into a Zombie Piglin from just being in the Overworld.

Steve returned the child immediately but it did not change back. The Piglins were displeased but did not show any greater hostility. It was like they were used to this and accepted the process. Regardless, Steve put measures in place to keep others from traveling through the dimensions without his supervision.

The only fully passive mob was the Strider, a strange lava-walking two-legged creature with a fondness for the warped fungus in the Nether. Then there were the Magma Cubes, which were basically far more painful versions of the Slimes. Their presence made Steve wonder just how knowledgeable the Witch was about everything.

Finally, there were the Fortress Mobs.

The Nether Fortress was populated by these taller, black variants of the Overworld Skeletons, Wither Skeletons, and the fiery Blazes. Neither seemed intelligent enough to build the bricky fortresses but Steve wondered if these Wither Skeletons were once intelligent people. He recalled discovered Spawners in certain caves and mineshafts back in the Overworld, which generated–or summoned–different hostile mobs–and was surprised to find ones for Blazes placed deliberately at sections of the fortresses.

Steve’s suspicions were reinforced when he eventually killed a Blaze and gained one of its hot rods. He tested a theory by grinding the rod into a powder and using it to power the potion-generating machine, the Brewing Stand.

Steve quickly adapted to making a variety of potions, from invisibility to speed to strength. But none of this went unnoticed. The Witch followed Steve to the Nether and broke the portal. She then laid a trap for Steve but upon dying, the totem given to him by the Villagers activated and resurrected him.

Being able to communicate well-enough, the Witch warned Steve to give up on his search. She wasn’t alive when his people roamed the land but she traveled to the Nether and other lands before. She learned about what happened to them and couldn’t let that happen again.

Steve warned that the Witch would kill herself by leaving the portal closed but the Witch thought this was for the best. Steve prepared to kill himself and respawn but the Witch warned that he might not respawn after dying in the Nether. So Steve decided to place down a bed. But upon trying to rest on it, something inside of him caused it to explode, killing him.

Steve respawned back at the village and quickly restored the portal: taking obsidian with him. He tracked down the Witch as she tried to destroy the spawners in the fortress. She nearly died to the Wither Skeletons but Steve arrived in time to save her. And in the process, he gained one of the Wither Skeleton’s heads as a trophy. The Witch warned him to throw it back out into the lava but Steve ignored this. He subdued the Witch after quite the struggle and took her back to the Overworld. And while the Villagers weren’t keen on letting her go, Steve gave her the same choice he gave the former Pillager. So she fled.

Answers

The Former Pillager began to visit Steve and the Villagers semi-frequently, sometimes bringing news of Pillager Outposts and more. And this time, he was certain he knew how to find the Pillager Headquarters. He showed off a flying creature called an Allay.

These fairy-like creatures could take any item and locate others of its kind. And the Former Pillager had a book written by Pillager leaders and distributed to their many outposts. The Allays were enslaved by Pillagers and could almost certainly find their stronghold. The Former Pillager offered Steve the chance to take out the Pillagers once and for all.

Steve took the Former Pillager up on his offer. Along with the Wandering Trader and a supply of Iron Golem blocks, they used the Allay to eventually find a giant Woodland Mansion.

Steve and his team started out by sneaking around the mansion. They found more Allay, captured Villagers, and various resources. Stockpiled ores were everywhere, and libraries were filled with old texts. More concerning, however, were stronger Pillager mobs in the structure: the Evoker, which used a strange magic to summon hazards, the Vex, controlled by the Evokers as converted Allays, and the Vindicators, strengthened Pillagers with deadly axes.

Fearing having to take a long journey after dying–and not wanting to abandon his allies–Steve and his team build a small bunker under the Mansion. There, Steve builds a Nether Portal. During his Nether journeys, he learned that the Nether travels on a similar plane to the Overworld and can be used to travel great distances faster. So all he needed to do was create a Nether railway between the Village and the Mansion, but keep it hidden so the Pillagers couldn’t follow them home.

The battle which followed was long. Steve died multiple times and the Pillagers discovered his bunker at one point. But the Pillagers were driven from their Mansion with few surviving. In the aftermath, both the Wandering Trader and Former Pillager couldn’t help but reflect on how strong Steve had become, with no obstacle remaining in his path given enough time.

They weren’t the only ones to think so. The Witch was here and she decided to light the Mansion on fire. Steve wanted the horded knowledge to get answers about his people but the Witch couldn’t let that happen. Out of rage, he killed the Witch and salvaged what he could.

While most of the books were lost, Steve found two key recipes. Most of the information was in the Villager language but it talked about salvaged relics now long-lost which they never quite understood. These two relics were a purple table and a strange, eye-like orb.

Steve built the table first. It was an arcane device with multiple slots. Through trial and error, he learned that it utilized the strange Lapis Lazule ore, transferring its dust into a glowing language. And when an item was placed atop the table, a series of markings appeared next to it.

And Steve could understand this foreign language. This was an Enchantment Table.

Steve found that the energy he absorbed from others could power this table and permanently empower different things. He could make his swords sharper, his armor more durable, and even cause his tools to break down materials faster.

Then came the strange eye.

Combining an Ender Pearl with Blaze Powder created this floating eye-like orb. But what it was for, Steve didn’t know. He sat the orb down and watched it vaguely move in a specific direction. He placed it elsewhere and found it moved the same way. He threw the Eye in one direction and it curved back to the same as before. It was pointing somewhere.

Steve never understood the Endermen. They existed both in the Nether and Overworld. They weren’t harmed by the sunlight and they weren’t hostile unless stared at in the eyes. And the sounds they made almost sounded like words at times.

Thankfully, Steve didn’t have to go hunting for Endermen as many trades with the Piglins scored him a number of the pearls. So, with a hefty number of Eyes of Ender for good measure, he and his two main travel companions traveled farther than ever before until the Eye of Ender stopped moving.

Realizing that they had to be above the destination, Steve and his friends dug down until they reached something more mysterious than the mineshafts. It was a stony-brick series of pathways and what looked like prison cells. More–untouched–libraries were found here. It was this maze of a bunker.

Neither the Trader nor the Former Pillager had the intent to burn these books but they voiced some concern about what Steve might find. And what he discovered was indeed concerning. Most of the books were ancient and damaged but he gathered enough from them. His people built this Fortress. They made the Nether Portals. They made everything.

The green orbs were called Experience: a life force Steve’s people could absorb and channel into objects. Nothing explained why Steve respawned but there was enough to gather that the Zombies and Skeletons in the Overworld were his people: dying unnaturally. The Experience resurrected their bodies as instinctual husks. And that meant the same became of the Wither Skeletons. But what caused them all to vanish?

The Trader found the answer. A frame not unlike the Nether Portals hung over a pit of lava, guarded by a mob spawner. Steve learned from one of the books what his people called this.

It was time for The End.

Steve placed the Eyes of Ender. The portal turned into a starry square. An ominous gong sounded. Both the Former Pillager and the Wandering Trader traveled with Steve to an unknown fate.

The three arrive in what looks like the middle of space. Floating islands made of a pale-tan stone speckle the area, with a notably large one at the center. At the island are pillars of obsidian. And atop these are floating crystals.

The three protagonists can’t study this for long. There’s no portal to get back, just this fountain-looking structure at the center of the island, hundreds of aimless Endermen… and the Ender Dragon

The winged beast is immediately hostile: swooping down at the three and shooting purple fire at them. They all try to fight it but they find that the crystals heal the dragon’s wounds. The three shoot some of the crystals, causing them to explode, but the Endermen start to attack at random as the dragon continues its aggression.

Before all the crystals can be destroyed, the Former Pillgar is killed. But Steve and the Trader have no time to think about that. The Endermen get more and more aggressive, as does the dragon. The two protagonists are able to use water to ward off the Endermen, as water harms them. But the dragon doesn’t care.

After a long struggle, the crystals are destroyed and Steve takes out the dragon. It explodes in a purple light and covers the area with Experience. The fountain in the center fills with the same starry energy that the End Portal did. The surviving Endermen get bored and walk away.

Steve looks around, hoping for something to answer what exactly happened here. While he doesn’t yet have answers, he finds that the Dragon left behind a large, black and purple egg.

Steve takes the Egg, much to the Trader’s concern. Then the two take the Former Pillager’s remains with them through the fountain portal. But as they go through the portal, Steve hears something, like a conversation between two people. And it sounds similar to a noise he was familiar with.

Steve and the Trader find themselves back at the village with the Former Pillager’s body. But Steve doesn’t stay. He travels back to the Fortress and scours the books until he finds what he needed. He then goes back through the End Portal. No Dragon waits for him this time. It’s just a bunch of Endermen.

Steve approaches one of the Endermen and stares directly at it. The Enderman is agitated but Steve maintains eye contact. This freezes the Enderman in place as though paralyzed by the stare as long as Steve doesn’t break his concentration. Steve can feel the connection. There’s a mental link. The Enderman is experiencing Steve’s thoughts but its mind can’t take that much information. Its brain is overloaded by it.

Steve focuses on a specific thought: “Do you know me?”

The Enderman is clearly in pain but Steve’s focus manages to keep it steady enough. The Enderman slowly walks up to Steve and shakily puts a hand on his shoulder. It says something we can’t understand but Steve does: “Brother”.

Steve still has more questions. The Enderman turns to a floating structure nearby made of bedrock with energy in it. Steve makes a note of it before choosing to leave back to the Overworld.

From what Steve can gather, his people were an advanced civilization. They uncovered or created the ability to harness life energy and respawn after death. This Experience became part of their very DNA. But when they discovered the Nether and The End, it affected them. Those who were stationed in the Nether became the Wither Skeletons. Those who were trapped in The End became the Endermen. And while their new powers allowed them to travel dimensions, they lost their humanity and their minds.

Steve still didn’t understand how the Skeletons and Zombies came about. But he couldn’t handle any more revelations right now. He, the Wandering Trader, and the Villagers buried the Former Pillager. But just after, Steve heard something coming from where the Trader buried him after the Enderman first killed him.

There was a zombie of Steve in the hole, forcing its way through. It took months for it to accumulate Experience but every time he died, this fragment from his Experience was left behind. And the same must have happened to his people. Their undead, undying husks were cursed to rise over and over, first as Zombies and then eventually as Skeletons.

The Wither and the Ghost

Steve was not satisfied despite all he had discovered. He still didn’t know how his people harnessed the power of Experience in the first place or if there was a way to restore them. The Villagers continued to praise Steve as their hero but the Wandering Trader was growing concerned. The death of the Former Pillager was a great loss, and Steve had already learned so much. But the fact that he was still so determined to find more made the Trader worried that others might be put in danger as a result.

The Trader confided their worries to Steve and he agreed. He felt he had an obligation to try and restore his people but he felt responsible for the Former Pillager’s death. So he promised not to allow anyone else to join him in his search. While the Trader was grateful for Steve’s consideration, they still worried for Steve himself.

Steve started at the Witch’s hut but found many items missing. Without answers there, he decided to relocate to the fortress near the End Portal and properly go through every bit of text that survived. Almost nothing was of use but he decided to test all the recovered crafting recipes. One in particular involved taking glass, an Eye of Ender, and a Ghast Tear to create one of those crystals that powered the Ender Dragon. Perhaps constructing something similar to dragon’s lair in The End and using the egg would bring out a new dragon, and spawning it in the Overworld could lessen the effects that turned people into Endermen.

Sadly, no matter how accurately Steve recreated the island, the egg would not hatch. So after thorough enchanting and repairing of his armor, he made the attempt in The End. The egg hatched as soon as the new crystals were placed. Steve tried to subdue the dragon and see if he could communicate with it, but in the end, he was forced to kill it once more. And like before, the egg spawned after: reincarnating like Steve’s people.

Once again, Steve was showered in Experience, having more than he ever had gathered before. His body practically radiated with it now. When he looked into the End Fountain Portal, he saw something. There was another figure, almost identical to him. It was faint, and the figure’s eyes were glossy white. But no one else was physically there.

Steve decided not to touch the portal for now. He remembered that shape the one Enderman directed him to, with the energy inside of it. He investigated, climbing up and through the light only to reappear somewhere else in The End.

Immediately, Steve worried if he had just doomed himself to the same fate as his people. He had never died in The End so he hurried to find something to help him get home. He only had so many blocks to travel across these floating islands but he could use his pickaxe to mine the Endstone if needed.

Eventually, Steve came across strange purple branches growing out of the Endstone.

The plant had fruit on it but Steve didn’t eat it. He instead took some of it and the seed in his pack to study later. Sadly, he couldn’t find anything else. This dimension was so vast and empty save for the occasional purple plant. Steve was low on food, his equipment was worn down, and he was out of blocks. He decided to take a risk and dove down into the void below. After falling far enough, he felt his body compress until crushed. It was painful but he was used to it. It was what he’d be on the other side that worried him.

To Steve’s relief, he respawned back in the Overworld, still himself. Sadly, everything he had brought to The End was gone. The experience left Steve wary of returning to The End so he decided to investigate the destroyed Woodland Mansion instead. There, he found a painting. He had encountered many of these before but this one almost looked like a crafting recipe, similar to how one made an Iron Golem.

It looked like Wither Skeleton heads on… dirt? Steve returned to the Nether to farm Wither Skeletons for skulls. And while there, he realized that the dirt must have been the Soul Soil lining the Nether hills. He didn’t know what constructing this being would do so he took precautions. He replaced his equipment and made an underground chamber to build the being.

Steve placed the blocks and as soon as the final skull was connected, an explosion went off. Steve was knocked back and watched in horror as the soil and skulls contorted into an almost three-headed snake of a creature made of black bones. It grew larger than any golem as it flashed white and black rapidly, then let off a second explosion.

Whatever Steve had just summoned was no person. It was a monster, intent only on destruction far more deadly than the Ender Dragon. This was the Wither.

Steve was not prepared despite all his precautions. The Wither could fly swiftly, and it shot these smaller skulls from its heads which detonated on impact. It gave the same decaying effect as the skeletons, and it could break any block, even obsidian.

Steve damaged the Wither significantly before being killed. He respawned nearby and returned to the fight but the Wither was already breaking through the containment chamber. Steve died a second time while trying to take it down but it was too late. The Wither was free.

Steve was intentionally camped far away from the village but to his horror, the Wither could sense life around it. It hunted down wild animals before finding its way to a separate village. Steve tried to fight it off but his equipment was worn down. He had more back at his main village but the longer he waited, the more death the Wither brought upon the land.

Steve took a Nether Highway back to his main village to collect more of his equipment. The Wandering Trader asked what he was doing but Steve had no time to respond. The Trader followed after him to find the horrific monster having nearly destroyed the foreign village. With the help of the Trader, the Wither was finally destroyed but the village was gone.

The Trader had enough. They demanded that Steve abandon this quest and Steve agreed. He was devastated by what he had brought upon the Overworld. He and the Trader searched for any survivors but all they found was this small, glowing, four-pointed star.

The Trader took the star before Steve could. Steve didn’t try to grab it. He just returned to his base in the fortress. The Trader couldn’t bring themselves to reveal what happened to the main village but would return regularly to tend to the remains of the destroyed village: burying bodies and beautifying the land. They did not see Steve for a month until suddenly, he had reappeared. Even more, he had added to the restoration of the village grounds. But most of all, he was wearing armor the Trader had never seen. It was fully black, but heavily enchanted and glowing with purple light.

Steve explained that he had been working in the Nether, destroying the Wither Skeletons and putting safeguards in the hellscape. That’s when he found a material he called Ancient Debris. From it, he was able to craft a coating material for his tools and armor. He called it Netherite.

The Trader wanted to know what Steve planned to do next. Steve explained that he was going to repay his debt. He asked that the Trader invite the the Villagers from his main village to this destroyed village and to bring the star recovered from the Wither. Steve read something about it and promised that it would not harm anyone.

With the last of the Trader’s faith in Steve, they agreed. The villagers came to the memorial village where Steve confessed to unleashing the Wither. the Trader was impressed at his accountability. Then, Steve asked for the star.

Steve had built a pyramid-like structure out of ore blocks. And using the star, he crafted what he called a Beacon. It was a glowing blue cube inside dense glass. And when he placed it atop the pyramid, something spectacular happened. A beam of white light shot into the sky, and suddenly, everyone near the beacon felt strengthened, healthier… faster even.

Suddenly, the Trader felt sick as they realized where Steve was going with this. Steve declared to the Villagers that he would use this technology to ensure greater protection for everyone and he claimed to have plans to ensure the safe harvesting of these Nether Stars.

The Trader left. They did not have the nerve to challenge Steve and the Villagers were already too enthralled by his promises of industry. If the Trader was going to oppose this, they were not nearly strong enough.

As Steve stood in front of his acolytes, he turned to the light beacon. And in it, he saw that same ghost of a figure, looking over his shoulder, with the white, glossy eyes.

Lore Summary

Just as a more straightforward rundown, this is how I’ve interpreted the lore covered in this post:

Steve’s ancestors predated the Villagers by at least 100 years. At some point, they discovered the power of Experience and used it to allow themselves to infinitely respawn after death. They built advanced technology and eventually discovered how to travel to the Nether. They built fortresses in the Nether where they harnessed Blazes for fuel.

Eventually, Steve’s ancestors discovered (or rediscovered) a link to what would become known as The End. They found locations with the strongest connection to the void dimension and channeled their experience into creating the End Portals. They expanded into The End only to find that it, and the use of Experience, was affecting their bodies and minds.

Those who were stationed in the Nether were slowly decayed into bestial Wither Skeletons. Those in the Overworld who respawned would leave behind these phantoms of consciousness, and these would slowly accumulate until they could take on physical forms.

And those in The End had it the worst: warped by The End’s energy into the Endermen of today. The Endermen infection spread until no one of Steve’s kind remained.

The Villagers arrived in the lands of Steve’s ancestors, being ignorant of their history. But as the opportunistic Villagers developed into Pillagers, they discovered remnants of Steve’s people and learned some of their secrets. This led to the Witch, who unintentionally created The Creeper by imbuing infected mobs with Experience and potions. Then, the Witch created The Slime as a predator to repel visitors.

What About the Other Stuff?

There’s a lot left to cover for sure but it will take a lot more time to flesh out all the lore. At the risk of spoiling my early-draft ideas, I think it would be interesting if Steve’s ancestors originated from The End itself. The End wasn’t always the cold void it is today but after some unknown event, Steve’s Ancestors found a way into the Overworld. They sought a way back into their original dimension while colonizing the Overworld and discovering Experience. But Experience tainted them, causing The End to transforms their bodies.

I’m considering tying this into the Warden somehow, potentially introducing an ancient infection that might have been connected to The End. The idea is that everything leads back to Steve’s ancestors at the end of the day. The End, the Nether, and more were different but transformed and corrupted by one means or another.

The Ghost Steve sees is indeed Herobrine, manifested more and more as Steve gains more Experience. And as Steve becomes more experienced, Herobrine manifests with less Experience needed each time. And Herobrine won’t necessarily be a physical presence/threat at first. He doesn’t speak but instead, he causes Steve to slowly remember more about his own past and what led to him being the last survivor of his species. Herobrine could very well be Steve’s past self, remanifesting. Or he could even be the combined consciousness of all the dead. I don’t know if I want him to necessarily be evil but he’s definitely a dark omen: haunting Steve over time.

More could definitely come from this as well but this post is long enough as is. I may come back to this in the future but for now, I’m satisfied with the overall narrative. Maybe one day, I’ll go through this proposed storyline in more detail rather than this more summarized format.