Silent, deadly, and destructive, creepers are probably the most dreaded mob in Minecraft. Fittingly, the creeper has a twisted and horrifying past that ranges all the way back to one of the first editions of Minecraft.
The creeper is one of the oldest entities in the franchise: it was the first enemy mob added in the survival test in 2009. Creepers were never meant to be in the game, though. According to creator Markus “Notch” Persson, he was originally trying to create a pig.
“The creepers were a mistake” Notch revealed in the 2012 documentaryMinecraft: The Story of Mojang. “I don’t have any modeling programs to do the models, I just write them in code. And I accidentally made them tall instead of long, so it was like a tall thing with four little feet. And that became the creeper. As opposed to a pig.”
Inspired rather than horrified by the monstrosity that he had created, Notch added a green texture and some aggressive behaviors and threw the creature into the alpha version of the game to torment players for years to come.
From the beginning, the explosive power of creepers was a real threat, and unlike zombies, which most seasoned players can run circles around, creepers have never stopped being dangerous. On higher difficulties they can kill you in one explosion in iron armor and drop you down to two hearts even in diamond. They can knock you into lava, off of ledges, or toward other mobs. They’re completely silent until they’re right on top of you, making them especially painful for players with bad sound or who like to listen to music
For a while, it seemed like creepers would remain an afterthought, with little more than a placeholder texture and behavior that was mostly a copy of the way zombies behaved, but— possibly because of how many unfortunate players lost their lives, loot, and bases to creepers— they eventually got a new texture, sound, and unique behaviors (here’s a recording of the old creeper sounds, which are lot less horrifying than the current hiss-boom). Early on, creepers would charge right at players like zombies and only explode when killed, but Notch decided that wasn’t maddening enough, and made the explosion their baseline attack.
Fans of Minecraft developed a love/hate relationship with this iconic mob from the very beginning. The “That’s a very nice [X] you have there, it would be a shame if something happened to it” joke is probably the oldest Minecraft meme in existence (using ‘sssSSSS’ as an interrupter is probably about as old, but hasn’t had the same persistence). Some of the earliest Minecraft fan videos are expressions of frustration about creepers, like Rocket Jump’s Minecraft Massacre, though perhaps an equal amount of effort has been spent on trying to understand the tormented creeper.
Aside from Endermen, who (inconsistently) pick up and move blocks, they remain the only mob that can affect the terrain, making them a particularly cruel foe to survival builders:
Hilariously, creepers could also damage players and objects in creative mode through the end of beta. It took several patches for the devs to iron out creeper-related bugs like that one, and every now and then a new one would slip through. For a short while creepers would explode after falling, which meant players were literally being dive-bombed by unavoidable, completely silent exploding mobs.
After a few patches, Mojang decided that creepers weren’t quite unpredictable enough and added a way for them to become even more destructive: if struck by lightning, creepers become charged, and explode at twice the force. Don’t let the fact that you are unlikely to ever encounter a naturally charged creeper soothe you into a false sense of security, because it happens when you least expect it. Weirdly enough, mobs killed by a charged creeper will drop heads that can be worn as disguises, causing some particularly deranged players to actually seek out the glowing monstrosities.
Creepers, aside from cosmetic changes, are still basically the same mob that they were at release, but, ironically enough, they have a long and storied history of wreaking havoc on the code as well as on players. Getting creepers just right, in terms of behavior, power, and interactions, has proven to be pretty sticky for developers. For a while, other mobs would run away from creepers, but this behavior was removed, presumably because it was causing undesirable AI interactions. Iron Golems — which are supposed to protect villagers from mobs—still ignore creepers because otherwise they’ll blow the village to pieces. Most of these bugs have been addressed in the Java edition, but the latest MCPE patch was delayed for almost a week because creepers were exploding through doors and ruining survival players’ hard work.
The legacy of this particular monster was so immediately iconic, that in 2011, the Minecraft logo was updated to include a creeper face, and it’s stayed that way ever since. Some of the very earliest Minecraft merch were creeper plushes, and in 2016 that’s expanded to include t-shirts, toys, hoodies, and, for some reason, Bible covers?
And yet, Notch’s cruel disregard for his creation continued as long as he was at the helm of Mojang. When asked to describe the creeper, Notch said that he always thought of them as “crunchy, like dry leaves”, but that he doesn’t know why they explode. I like to imagine that it’s because they’re filled to bursting with the burning shame of being discarded by their maker, but maybe that’s being dramatic.
So the next time a creeper blows a hole in your house or ends your five hour spelunking expedition with an ignominious plunge into a river of a lava, spare a thought for the poor creature, lurching through the world of Minecraft like an abandoned Victorian monstrosity, malformed by fate and unloved by all, doing the only thing that it knows how to do: kill.
Rob Guthrie is a lapsed academic who writes about history, video games, and weird internet things. Follow him @RobertWGuthrie for pithy Tweets and lukewarm takes.
In an announcement today, Mojang has indicated that a large number of long-awaited changes are coming to the console editions of Minecraft, bringing those editions a lot closer to the Java edition.
The most significant updates are the addition of Ender Cities—pre-generated structures in The End that contain some of Minecraft’s more obscure materials and enemies—and the Elytra, the much sought-after glider that allows players who have beaten all of Minecraft’s structured challenges to explore the world from the skies. Chorus plants, chorus flowers, and purpur blocks, all harvested from The End, give late game players more options when it comes to construction and decoration. You’re also now able to harvest the Ender Dragon’s breath, which opens up a whole new dimension of potion crafting that relies on this particular ingredient (harvested from the dragon’s attacks) giving console players the chance to create throwable potions with lingering effects.
Another cool addition is the addition of the ‘amplified terrain’ world creation feature, which generates a world with much higher highs and lower lows. World generation features have been somewhat lacking on consoles, and opening up more features can only be good.
What’s especially exciting about this, however, is that it’s one of the biggest steps toward feature parity that we’ve seen in a long time. Console players have felt like second-class citizens for a while because of how far those editions have lagged behind the Java edition, but with this update — and a similar one announced recently for the Pocket and Win 10 edition — the gap has closed considerably.
There are still some unknowns at play, like if and when Shulker boxes, Observer blocks and other late additions will be making their way to consoles — but even taking some doubts into consideration, this is a very exciting announcement that could mean big changes for the future direction of Minecraft.
Correction 11/23 9:46 AM: An earlier version of this article identified the part of update as “The End,” rather than Ender Cities. We apologize for the mistake.
Rob Guthrie is a lapsed academic who writes about history, video games, and weird internet things. Follow him @RobertWGuthrie for pithy Tweets and lukewarm takes.
“Minecraft” is a sandbox written in java originally created by Markus “Notch” Persson. It was maintained by Mojan AB, and part of Microsoft Studious. It is heavely inspired by Infiniminer.
“Minecraft” focuses in allowing the player to explore, intertact with, and modify a dynamically-generated map made of one-cubic-sized blocks. In addition to the game, it features plants, mobs and items. It includes activities including mining for ore, fighting activities with hostile mobs, gathering specific resources and crafting new blocks.
The final Minecraft: Console Edition update of this year is also its largest. This Christmas season update brings Elytra (wings that allow players to fly and glide), amplified terrains, end cities, the Dragon’s Breath potion ingredient and more feature to Playstation 4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Vita and Wii U. This means that the “Minecraft” console versions will be close enough to PC editions, as Microsoft assured.
This holiday update allows the UI and includes new mobs, items, blocks and status effects. Gamers will discover Elytra in the end, Minecraft’s third and final dimension. The End itself will be updated with End cities, End ships, chorus plants, chorus flowers, and purpur blocks among other features . New enemies’ will be expected, such as Shulkers which hide near purpur blocks and also fire homing missiles at encroaching players. Dragon’s Breath allow players to create Lingering potions, just throw one of these suckers on the ground to leave some effects behind your enemies and allies.
Developer Mojang is allowing the players to have a sneak peak at the update today, meaning there will be more surprises features when it’s actually go live in this Holiday season. The holiday update is free for those who own Minecraft: Console Editions. The Windows 10 and Pocket Edition of Minecraft recently saw update that connects those versions nearly with the original Java version as well. In addition, “Minecraft” is scheduled to hit Apple TV before year ends.
Wings are finally coming to Minecraft: Console Editions in December.
A free Holiday Update will bring the Elytra insectoid wings, End Cities, lingering potions, levitation and luck buffs, and amplified terrain, which exaggerates the contrast between mountains and valleys – perfect for a bit of flapping around.
The Elytra wings arrived for PC Minecraft in October 2015, and they’re a pain in the arse to find in game. Obtaining them involves going to The End, where be the Ender Dragon, and finding a flying ship where the wings are mounted on a wall. But once you have them you can glide around like a seagull eyeing someone’s lunch below, the majestic bastards.
A guide to getting the Elytra wings on PC in Creative mode, but it should be the same in Survival and on console.
The lingering potions are created using the dragon’s breath ingredient collected (bottled) from dragons. Lingering potions leave status effects on the ground.
October’s update.
The Holiday Update follows October’s console patch that introduced banners, blocks, beets and polar bears.
Microsoft announced today that it will bring a Holiday Update to Minecraft on Xbox and other consoles in December. This update will include new mobs, items, blocks and status effects, in addition to UI, game and tutorial updates, the firm says.
“Since adding banners, beets and polar bears with our last update in October, the team has been hard at work on our biggest Minecraft console update of the year – the Holiday Update,” Microsoft’s Jeff Rivait explains.
The Holiday Update is for what Microsoft calls the Minecraft: Console Edition, which includes the versions of the game for Xbox 360 and Xbox One, plus Playstation 3 and 4, PlayStation Vita, and Wii U. Microsoft also makes a Minecraft: Computer Edition for PC, Mac, and Linux, and Minecraft: Pocket Edition for Android, iOS, Windows phones, and Amazon Fire. It’s not clear if the Holiday Update will ship on these other platforms. Nor is it clear when or if Microsoft will ever consolidate these various products into a single line of compatible games.
Anyway.
Today’s announcement is just a sneak peek and Microsoft says it will reveal more next month. But Mr. Rivait included the following list of enhancements that we can expect:
Fly with the new Elytra. “If you’re sick of spending all your time walking on solid ground, just equip the new Elytra, which enables players to glide through the air!”
Updates to The End. “You’ll find your Elytra in The End, which has been updated to include End Cities, End Ships and all the Chorus Plants, Flowers and Purpur you can handle. Don’t say we didn’t warn you if one turns out to be a Shulker.”
New Potions. “Like potions? Use Dragon’s Breath to create Lingering Potions if you want to leave some status effects on the ground for a friend or foe to happen upon. Speaking of status effects, we’re adding a couple new ones as well – Levitation and Luck.”
Amplified Terrain (Xbox One only). “If you’re just getting started on a new world on Xbox One or PlayStation 4, you can turn on Amplified Terrain. This option makes the differences between mountains and valleys more extreme – so put that Elytra to good use!”
It’ll look familiar to those who’ve used introductory programming projects like Google’s Pencil Code or MIT’s Scratch: Commands take the form of Lego-like pieces you snap together into a sequence that controls an on-screen character. Puzzles alternate with video tutorials explaining new programming concepts.
Programming isn’t for everyone, but many schools and businesses are trying to expose students to it as a way to build skills for the 21st century, when tech is spreading beyond PCs and phones into cars, refrigerators, thermostats, and many other corners of our lives.
President Barack Obama has endorsed the Code.org effort.
“If we want America to stay on the cutting edge, we need young Americans like you to master the tools and technology that will change the way we do just about everything,” Obama said in a 2013 video. “Don’t just buy a new video game. Make one… Don’t just play on your phone. Program it.”
![Minecraft’s Next Update Will Bring Huge Progress To Consoles [Update]](https://www.stonemarshall.com/wp-content/uploads/doctorstrangeheader-7.png)
