Как пишется стив в майнкрафте

Игровой персонаж (англ. Player character) — персонаж, которым управляет человек во время игры в Minecraft. Девять скинов (обликов), использующиеся по умолчанию, известны как Стив, Алекс, Нур, Санни, Ари, Зури, Макена, Кай и Эфе. Игроки, не задавшие свой скин, будут использовать один из этих девяти.

Внешний вид[]

В зависимости от идентификатора учётной записи игрока, игровой персонаж по умолчанию будет использовать скин Стива, Алекс или другой из 9 стандартных скинов.

У Стива тёмно-коричневые волосы, загорелый цвет кожи, носа и рта, и синие глаза. Он одет в бирюзовую футболку (расправленную со стороны левой руки), синие штаны и серые ботинки. Его руки имеют толщину 4 пикселя.

У Алекс длинные, светло-рыжие волосы, бледный цвет кожи, тёмно-зелёные глаза и розоватые губы. Она одета в светло-зелёную футболку расправленную с обеих сторон и затянутую тёмно-зелёным поясом, коричневые брюки и серые ботинки. Её руки имеют толщину 3 пикселя.

Строго говоря, определение этих двух скинов как «мужского» и «женского» не совсем корректно, так как согласно замыслу разработчиков, в игре Minecraft нет пола,^[1] и оба скина являются обобщёнными представлениями человека. Также Стив — форма «классического» скина, а Алекс — форма «тонкого» скина.

Рост игрового персонажа — 1,8 блока, крадущегося игрового персонажа в Java Edition — 1,5 блока, планирующего, быстро плывущего или ползущего игрового персонажа — 0,6 блока. Ширина игрового персонажа — 0,6 блока.

Различия между изданиями[]

Java Edition[]

В Java Edition, игрок может выбрать модель Стива или Алекс. Эти две модели могут быть модифицированы с использованием скинов, которые игрок может скачать с доверенного сайта или сделать самостоятельно в программе-редакторе. В демонстрационном режиме или при оффлайн-игре пользовательские скины недоступны, и игра выбирает случайным образом скин Стива или Алекс.

Bedrock Edition[]

В Bedrock Edition, игрок может в игре выбрать модель Стива или Алекс, что для пользовательских скинов задаёт как текстуру скина, так и модель. Также Bedrock Edition позволяет использовать пакеты скинов, в каждом из которых есть набор скинов. Некоторые скины могут быть приобретены за деньги как DLC.

Здоровье и сытость[]

У игрового персонажа 10 полных сердец или 20 единиц здоровья. Одно полное сердце соответствует двум единицам здоровья. У игрового персонажа также есть 20 ( × 10) единиц голода, от количества которых зависит естественная регенерация здоровья:

Очки голода исчезают со временем, но расходуются быстрее при совершении энергоёмких действий, таких как бег, прыжки, нанесение ударов по мобам или добыча блоков. Потраченные очки голода можно восполнить потреблением еды.

Движение[]

Максимальная скорость движения игрового персонажа (ходьбы, бега, и т. д.) не прописана непосредственно в коде игры. Наличие верхней границы у возможной скорости объясняется тем, что у игрового персонажа есть некоторое базовое ускорение, которому противодействует «трение» или «сопротивление воздуха». Базовое ускорение для ходьбы — 0,098, а для бега — на 30 % больше. Каждый такт (1/20 долю секунды) скорость игрового персонажа увеличивается на ускорение, затем игровой персонаж перемещается согласно получившейся скорости, после чего скорость умножается на коэффициент трения блока, на котором находится игровой персонаж. Этот коэффициент для большинства блоков равен 0,546. Так что когда игровой персонаж идёт вперёд, с течением времени скорость меняется по принципу +0,098, ×0,546, +0,098, ×0,546, +0,098, и так далее. Через некоторое время множитель 0,546 начинает нейтрализовывать повышение скорости на 0,098, и игровой персонаж прекращает ускоряться. Формула для этой конечной скорости — a/(1−r), где a — ускорение, r — трение блока. 0,098/(1−0,546) ≈ 0,2159 метра/такт = 4,317 метра/секунду. Бег на 30 % быстрее, примерно 5,612 метра/секунду.

Полёт работает по тем же принципам, но базовое ускорение — 0,049, а «трение» — 0,91, соответственно, конечная скорость — примерно 10,89 м/с.

Скорость ходьбы игрового персонажа — 4,317 метра (блока) в секунду. Это значит, что игровой персонаж может пройти 5181 блок (5,2 км) в один внутриигровой день.

Бег[]

Основная статья: Бег

Игровой персонаж может бежать, но при этом очки сытости тратятся намного быстрее. Скорость бега игрового персонажа — примерно 5,612 блока в секунду, по сравнению со скоростью обычной ходьбы, 4,317. Раньше считалось, что во время бега игровой персонаж может в прыжке преодолеть четыре блока по горизонтали, но это не так. Выяснилось, что при прыжке по прямой персонажу придается импульс и при нужном разбеге персонаж может преодолеть 5 блоков. Данный прыжок для обычного человека невероятно сложен, но его с легкостью может сделать бот или даже человек, знающий некоторые тонкости. Если у игрового персонажа 6 () очков сытости или меньше, он не сможет бежать.

Игровой персонаж начнёт бежать, если быстро нажать два раза клавишу движения вперёд (по умолчанию W) и удерживать её; также можно удерживать клавишу бега (по умолчанию Ctrl), нажав клавишу движения вперёд. В творческом режиме во время полёта игровой персонаж летит быстрее, если удерживать клавишу бега.

Режим скрытности[]

Когда удерживается клавиша скрытности (по умолчанию ⇧ Shift), игровой персонаж находится в режиме скрытности. В этом режиме игровой персонаж не может упасть с большей высоты, чем половина блока; соответственно, этот режим полезен при строительстве горизонтальных конструкций над пустым пространством. Если игрок выйдет за пределы блока и прекратит красться, он не упадёт с этого блока. В режиме скрытности с блока можно слезть, перепрыгнув его границу.

Режим перемещения	Скорость (м/с)	Скорость (км/ч)
Ходьба	4,317	15,54
Бег	5,612	20,20
Режим скрытности	1,295	4,663
Полёт	10,89	39,20
Полёт с «бегом»	21,78	78,40
Падение	78,4	282,24

Прыжок[]

Максимальная высота, на которую может прыгнуть игровой персонаж без эффекта «Прыгучесть» — примерно 1,25219 блока.

Плавание[]

Предотвращение удушения[]

HUD[]

Основная статья: HUD

На расположенном на экране HUD отображаются полоса здоровья, полоса сытости, полоса опыта и панель быстрого доступа. Если игровой персонаж носит броню, над полосой здоровья появляется индикатор брони, а если игровой персонаж погружен в воду, появляется индикатор воздуха. На HUD также присутствует перекрестие и модель предметов в руках (или самой руки, если в ней ничего нет). HUD можно включить или выключить, нажав F1. Или просто нажать кнопку 1. на клавиатуре.

Режимы игры[]

В режиме Выживания игровой персонаж имеет возможность устанавливать и уничтожать блоки, пользоваться крафтом и использовать всевозможные предметы.

В режиме Творчество игровой персонаж также имеет доступ к неограниченному числу блоков для строительства и возможность мгновенно ломать установленные в мире блоки.

В режиме Приключение игровой персонаж может устанавливать блоки, но разрушать их возможно только при помощи соответствующих инструментов. Данный режим доступен с версии 1.3.

В режиме Хардкор игрок имеет возможности такие же, как и в выживании, но имеет только одну жизнь без возможности возрождения,

Настройка[]

Основная статья: Скин

Управление скинами производится на сайте minecraft.net на личной странице пользователя Profile.

История[]

Pre-classic-версия Java Edition
rd-131655	Игровой персонаж добавлен в игру. На текущий момент не имел внутриигровой модели.
Classic-версия Java Edition
0.24 SURVIVAL_TEST_1	Стандартная текстура игрового персонажа с бородой[2] была заменена версией без бороды.
0.30_01	Тест MD3 модели игрового персонажа.
0.30_02	Тест тени игрового персонажа.
Infdev-версия Java Edition
20100227-1	Игроки с ником Notch теперь дропают яблоко после смерти
20100327	Игроки теперь дропают предметы из своего инвентаря и респавнятся в стандартной точке появления после смерти.
Альфа-версия Java Edition
v1.0.9	Анимация передвижения игрового персонажа до этой версии была иной; во время ходьбы игровой персонаж свободно махал руками в абсолютно разные стороны.[3] Данная анимация сейчас используется в Classic.
v1.0.14	Игровой персонаж может прыгать горизонтально на два блока (вместо трёх).
v1.1.1	Игровой персонаж теперь может приседать.
Бета-версия Java Edition
1.5	Урон без оружия увеличен с 1 () до 2 ().
1.8	1.8 Pre-release	Игровой персонаж теперь имеет шкалы опыта и голода.
Игровой персонаж может прыгать на расстояние четырёх блоков с помощью бега.
1.8 Pre-release 2	Урон без оружия уменьшен с 2 () до 1 ().
Официальный выпуск Java Edition
1.0.0	RC1	Изменены звуки игрового персонажа. Во время получения урона воспроизводится звук удара, а падение с большой высоты будет звучать как хруст костей.
1.3.1	12w18a	Яблоко больше не выпадает из игрока с ником Notch.
1.4.2	12w38a	Изменены звуки игрового персонажа. Во время получения урона воспроизводится звук удара, а падение с большой высоты будет звучать как поломка костей.
1.8	pre1	Добавлена новая модель игрового персонажа с меньшими руками, а также новый скин под именем Алекс.
4 февраля 2015	Игроки могут менять свои имена пользователей (ники).
1.9	15w42a	Модель повреждений игрового персонажа (обычно 1.8 блока в высоту) теперь меньше во время приседания (1.65 блока) и во время полёта на элитрах (0.65 блока).
15w45a	Высота прыжка увеличена с 1 3⁄16 до 1 4⁄16 блоков.
1.11	16w32a	Изменён ID сущности с Player на player.
1.13	18w07a	Добавлена способность плавать, которая активируется во время бега в воде. Присев в воде, игровой персонаж будет быстрее погружаться.
18w15a	Погружение и выплывание из воды теперь смотрится более плавно.
Теперь игровой персонаж снова может проплывать сквозь пространства в 1 блок.
1.16	20w21a	NBT-тег Dimension теперь в пространстве имён идентификаторов измерений.
20w22a	Игрок больше не может призывать других сущностей, пока клавиша приседания находится в нажатом состоянии.
Альфа-версия Pocket Edition
0.1.0	Игровой персонаж добавлен в игру.
0.11.0	build 1	Скин игрового персонажа теперь может быть изменён.
Добавлена новая модель игрового персонажа с меньшими руками, а также новый скин под именем Алекс.
0.12.1	build 10	Изменены звуки игрового персонажа. Во время получения урона воспроизводится звук удара, а падение с большой высоты будет звучать как поломка костей.
До этой версии во время получения урона игровым персонажем воспроизводилось глубокое «Ау!». По данному звуку можно было предположить, что игровой персонаж является мужчиной, что не сочеталось с женскими скинами и персонажами, потому Mojang сделала звук более гендерно-нейтральным.
0.15.2	Плечи Алекс слегка опустились.
Официальный выпуск Bedrock Edition
1.4	beta 1.2.13.8	Добавлена способность плавать, которая активируется во время бега в воде. Присев в воде, игровой персонаж будет быстрее погружаться.
beta 1.2.20.1	Теперь игровой персонаж снова может проплывать сквозь пространства в 1 блок.
1.5	beta 1.5.0.0	Улучшено плавание игрового персонажа на поверхности воды.
1.13	beta 1.13.0.9	Изменена высота игрового персонажа на 1.8 блоков.
beta 1.13.0.15	Глаза игрового персонажа теперь моргают.
1.14	beta 1.14.0.1	Теперь игровой персонаж может только бегать по воде, а не плавать.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1		Игровой персонаж добавлен в игру.
TU24	CU12	1.16	Добавлен скин Алекс.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0	Игровой персонаж добавлен в игру.

Интересные факты[]

• После обновления Survival Test скин игрового персонажа был заменён: у него была убрана борода.
  • Хотя у Стива до обновления Beta на лице борода, многие игроки привыкли считать её не бородой, а улыбкой.
  • В трейлерах и в постерах к обновлениям борода всё ещё присутствует, возможно из-за большей узнаваемости.
• Имя Стив изначально было предложено Нотчем в шутку^[4], но затем начали использовать на сайте minecraft.net при выборе скина.
  • В Bedrock Edition является именем по умолчанию.
• В SMP, когда игровой персонаж умирает, он не падает на бок, а просто исчезает.
  • Это было исправлено с версии Beta 1.6
• Игровой персонаж может носить 45 206 784 килограмм, если он заполнит свой инвентарь золотыми блоками. Эти расчёты сделаны на основе предположения, что длина ребра одного блока составляет 1 метр. Таким образом, зная объём одного блока и плотность золота (19 621 кг/м³), можно посчитать массу блока золота (19 621 кг). Можно также предположить, что масса полной золотой брони составляет 529 767 кг, что даёт в сумме 45 736 551 кг. Однако, после добавления ящиков шалкера, игровой персонаж с собой смог унести 1 200 665 866 кг золота с учётом брони, но без учёта самих ящиков, так как аналогов в реальном мире этому материалу нет. Но в старых версиях в крафте зачарованного яблока использовались золотые блоки, а не золотые слитки, поэтому, унести он мог в восемь раз больше, так как в крафте использовалось восемь блоков золота.
• Игровой персонаж — правша, судя по тому, что он держит оружие типа мечей в своей правой руке. Но доминирующий глаз — левый. Это означает, что он стреляет левой рукой, держа запас стрел правой. Самый простой способ увидеть это — нажать F5 во время перезарядки лука.
  • С версии 15w31a игровой персонаж может использовать обе руки.
• Скин игрового персонажа похож на Томми Версетти, главного героя из Grand Theft Auto: Vice City,
• Рост игрового персонажа равен 31 пикселю. Ширина рук зависит от персонажа: у Стива — 4 пикселя, у Алекс — 3.
• Текстура в файлах игры с версии 1.6.1 называется steve.png. Ранее он назывался char.png
• Отмечается на карте белым указателем который в зависимости от направления камеры игрока поворачивается в соответствующую зону. Другие игроки в SMP отмечаются зелёным указателем.

Проблемы[]

Отчёты об ошибках, связанных с «Игровой персонаж», поддерживаются в системе отслеживания ошибок Mojira. Сообщайте о найденных ошибках там (на английском языке).

Галерея[]

Примечания[]

Steve
Minecraft character
Promo art for Steve
First appearance	Minecraft May 17, 2009
Created by	Markus Persson
In-universe information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Home	Overworld

Steve is a fictional character from the Minecraft video game. Created by Swedish video game developer Markus «Notch» Persson and introduced in the initial Java-based version of Minecraft which was publicly released on May 17, 2009, Steve is one of nine default player character skins available for players of contemporary versions of Minecraft. Steve lacks an official backstory by the developers of Minecraft as he is intended to be a customizable player avatar as opposed to being a predefined character. His feminine counterpart, Alex, was first introduced in August 2014 for PC versions of Minecraft, with the other seven first debuting in the Java edition in October 2022. Depending on the version of Minecraft, players have a chance of spawning as either Steve or Alex when starting a new game.

Steve became a widely recognized character in the video game industry following the critical and commercial success of the Minecraft franchise. Considered by some critics as a mascot for the Minecraft intellectual property, his likeness has appeared extensively in advertising and merchandise, including wearable apparel and collectible items. The character has also inspired a number of unofficial media and urban legends, most notably the Herobrine creepypasta which became widely shared around internet communities as a meme during the 2010s.

Concept and design[edit]

Steve is presented as a human character with a blocky appearance, which is consistent with the aesthetic and art style of Minecraft. His name originated as an in-joke by Persson,^[1] and was confirmed as his official name in the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft.^[2] Steve’s face consists of an eight-by-eight pixel image, usually adorned with a goatee. He wears a light blue top, a pair of blue trousers, and a pair of smart-casual shoes.^[3]

In spite of his masculine name and features, Persson claimed that Steve’s gender was never intended to be fixed. In 2012, Persson explained that Minecraft‘s blocky graphics inadvertently reinforced a default aesthetic for the game which is «traditionally masculine».^[4][5] He emphasized that Minecraft was designed to «be a game without a gender element» in a game where «gender doesn’t exist», and that the character model was «intended to represent a human being» who was genderless.^[4][6] Admitting that limiting the gender option to just male «is telling everybody this is a boy game only», Persson claimed that he once attempted to create a proper female character model in Minecraft, but said «the results have been extremely sexist.»^[4]

By August 22, 2014, another default skin that is complimentary for all Minecraft players named Alex was added to the Java Edition of Minecraft, for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.^[7][8] The character was added to the console and mobile versions of Minecraft at a later date.^[4] Alex’s character model is similar to Steve’s, but with a more feminine appearance: she has red hair tied into a ponytail, and arms that are more narrow.^{[9][10][11][4]} Commenting on Minecraft‘s reputation for better gender representation compared to other video games in the industry as of the 2010s, Helen Chiang, the Microsoft studio head responsible for the Minecraft franchise, explained in a 2018 interview that it is important for her company to leverage the power of the Minecraft brand to subvert traditional gender stereotypes. By presenting Alex and Steve as having identical physical capabilities or qualities as each other, Chiang said this reinforces the studio’s stance on gender equality and their commitment to its ideals.^[12]

On August 22, 2022, exactly 8 years after Alex was added, an update to the Minecraft launcher implemented a redesign of both Steve and Alex. The new skins were mostly the same as before, but were more textured. They also utilized multiple layers, a feature originally added to Minecraft‘s skins alongside Alex in 2014, but that had only ever been utilized by custom skins prior to this update. These redesigns also restored Steve’s goatee, which had been removed in a 2009 update.^[13]

On October 15th, 2022, Mojang announced that 7 more default skins would be coming to the game during the Minecraft Live event, to be named Noor, Sunny, Ari, Zuri, Makena, Kai, and Efe. Developers for the game stated that, since Minecraft is played all over the world, they wanted to make sure that the default skins they had to choose from reflected the diverse playerbase.^[14] The skins were made available to players of the Java edition of the game via the launcher the week following the announcement.

Description[edit]

Character overview[edit]

Steve is one of nine default character skins which are available for new players of Minecraft.^[16] A skin is the appearance of the player’s avatar that represents the player in the game world, which can be changed, altered, or replaced by the player.^[17] Players are allowed multiple options to change the visual appearance of their player character’s skin.^[18][16][17] All zombie mobs found in Minecraft appear to be wearing the same clothing as Steve, although no official explanation was ever given.^[2]

Prior to Alex’s introduction, Steve was the only official skin available to players on the PC and Mobile editions of the game, though players of the PC version could use skins they’ve designed themselves or found online. On the original console editions of the game, up to eight variants of Steve were also offered, none of them female, in addition to a greater variety of characters that were available to those who purchased them as part of bundles.^[4][a] Like Steve, Alex initially could not be manually selected in these console versions, and her use is randomly assigned whenever players start a new game.^[4][2] As of 2022, both Steve and Alex, as well as the other seven default skins, can be manually selected in all versions of the game, either via an in-game menu or in the game launcher, depending on the version of Minecraft being played.^[19]

According to backstory provided in Lego Club Magazine, Steve and Alex are in a romantic relationship and both have distinct interests outside of their shared aptitude for building: Steve has a penchant for mining and alchemy, whereas Alex prefers exploring and hunting.^[2]

Herobrine[edit]

Herobrine is an urban legend and creepypasta which originated as a hoax propagated by an anonymous post on the English-language imageboard website 4chan.^[20] A «ghost» who haunts single-player Minecraft worlds, the character is supposed to look like a standard character model for Steve, except for a pair of glowing white eyes which lack pupils.^[20] Theories which explain the character’s supposed origins range from his purported identity as Persson’s supposedly deceased brother, to an «unlucky miner» who haunt living players out of a desire for vengeance.^[20] The first purported sighting of Herobrine was from the time period when Minecraft was still in the alpha phase of development: an anonymous 4chan poster claimed that they spotted a character who stared at them from the dense fog between the trees before vanishing, and that they received a private message from a user called Herobrine, which simply said «stop».^[20] This occurred after a subsequent post they made which inquired about the sighting was allegedly removed without explanation.^[20]

Other appearances[edit]

Steve has been featured in video game media outside of Minecraft. He appears as an exclusive playable character in the PC version of Super Meat Boy as «Mr. Minecraft».^[21][22] Steve’s head appears in Borderlands 2 as an unlockable cosmetic.^[23] Steve’s head is also unlockable to those who managed to reach level 20 as the Paladin in Hybrid.^[24]

Steve is featured as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate; his alternate costumes transform him into Alex as well as the Zombie and Enderman enemies from Minecraft.^{[25][26][27][28]}

Steve and Alex appear as skins in Minecraft Dungeons, where Steve was the most commonly selected skin among players.^[29]

Reception[edit]

Cultural impact[edit]

Critics noted that Steve have achieved a level of cultural impact and viral recognition outside of the character’s original purpose as a baseline or default skin for new players of Minecraft. As the face of the franchise in promotional and advertising materials,^[17] some commentators consider Steve to be the closest character Minecraft has to a protagonist or main character.^[16] This is in spite of the fact that his existence is not asserted by way of an official backstory or in-game dialogue unlike most other video game characters.^[3] In 2016, Glixel staff ranked Steve as the 4th most iconic video game character of the 21st century.^[30] In a 2021 list published by GamesRadar which rank 50 iconic video game characters, Rachel Weber considered Steve to be the «enduring symbol» of Minecraft, and his character model to be one of most instantly recognizable silhouettes in video game culture.^[31]

Steve has been the subject of multiple fan theories spread around Internet communities.^[32] One theory alleged that Steve is based on Tommy Vercetti, the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, due to the alleged physical resemblance between both characters. It relied on a 2009 Tumblr post by Persson which documented his progress working on Minecraft, where he confirmed that he used designs inspired by Grand Theft Auto video games as a foundation for his work.^[1] In 2020 Persson publicly responded on social media and denied any tangible connections between both characters.^[1]

Another fan-spread phenomenon, the Herobrine creepypasta, is regarded as a notable horror-themed urban legend in the video game industry.^[33][34][35] Following the anonymous 4chan post, the hoax became the subject of numerous threads on Minecraft internet forums as well as user generated videos on YouTube which report alleged sightings, often annotated with red text and eerily-themed music.^[20] Two popular Minecraft livestreamers, Copeland and Patimuss, were acknowledged by Lauren Morton from PC Gamer for their contributions towards popularizing the urban legend into a viral meme.^[20] For example, Copeland posted a few edited Minecraft screenshots which shows a depiction of Herobrine to get a reaction from his viewers and staged a hoax sighting for his lifestream using a retextured painting which is made to look like Herobrine.^[36][20] The popularity of the Herobrine creepypasta led to a placement on a 2013 poll of the «Top 50 Video Game Villains of All Time» organized by Guinness World Records,^[37] spawned unofficial books such as The Legend of Herobrine and the Gameknight999 series of novels, and inspired fan-made skins patterned after the creepypasta.^[20] As an acknowledgement of the Herobrine meme, Mojang development staff often include the line «Removed Herobrine» within patch notes released for the game up until June 23, 2020, with the Java Edition 1.16 patch, also known as Minecraft‘s Nether Update.^[20][38] Fan interest in the meme eventually culminated in early 2021 with the discovery of the world seed which contains the first instance of Herobrine’s alleged sighting.^[36][39]

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

The announcement and introduction of Minecraft themed DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which is primarily represented by the Steve character, was met with a very enthusiastic response from critics and players.^[40][41][42] Some commentators suggested that much of the excitement was due to the character’s unprecedented inclusion into a popular fighting game, and that in the aftermath of the reveal, social media website Twitter may have struggled with the volume of postings which were generated in response.^[43][44] Patricia Hernandez from Polygon and Nadia Fox from US Gamer further noted that an awkward animation which is featured during the character’s end-of-match win screen scandalized some viewers, which had the effect of generating further publicity surrounding the character’s imminent debut in Smash.^[45][46]

In his review of the Steve DLC for Ultimate, Mitchell Saltzman from IGN described Steve as one of the most complex fighters ever introduced in the game in terms of gameplay mechanics, and highlighted the inventive ways which the developers incorporated the resource collection and item crafting mechanics of Minecraft into his moveset.^[47] Kotaku staff were divided over the playable iteration of Steve in Smash. Ian Walker considered Steve to be one of the most exciting characters to play for Ultimate after observing an event where one of the players displayed his ingenuity with Steve’s construction capabilities.^[48] Ari Notis took a less favorable view and called him the strangest character he has ever played. Notis described in detail the visual and gameplay dissonances he observed from the implementation of Steve in Ultimate.^[49]

Since Steve’s addition to Ultimate, the character became a point of contention within the game’s competitive community, citing Steve’s unorthodox playstyle and rapid rise in high placements at competitions. Some players began advocating for Steve to be banned from tournaments, fearing the character’s dominance could negatively affect viewership like Bayonetta had for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Opponents of a ban point out that Steve is a recent addition to the game, and that effective counterplay has yet to be developed.^[50][51] Calls for a ban only intensified after Mashita «あcola» Hayato and Angel «Onin» Mireles took first-place victories at The Gimvitational and Super Smash Con 2022 respectively primarily using Steve, with the latter securing a 3-0 victory against Leonardo «MkLeo» Perez, who is widely considered to be the best Ultimate player in the world. Onin has also received death threats from some viewers as a result of his victories.^[52][53][54]

Analysis[edit]

In an entry about Steve from the 2017 publication 100 Greatest Video Game Characters, Chris Bailey explained that what little is known about Steve helps illuminate how video game avatars are being perceived in relation to player identity, because the character embodies and conducts the spirit of freedom and customization inherent to sandbox video games.^[3] He further elaborated that Steve exemplifies the «centrality» of relatable avatars in affording players their own creative agency in and around video games: while other games allow a certain level of avatar customization, Steve embodies this possibility more than most with a process akin to a kind of scaffolded pixel art enabling the redesign of the entire surface of the body beyond changing a pre-defined hairstyle or skin color. This process is particularly visible through the proliferation of online communities and forums set up to share user-generated adapted skins.^[3]

With regards to the concept of Steve’s gender being neutral and non-binary as asserted by Persson, Bailey took the view that it is «initially difficult» to account for the inclusion of an avatar with an «evidently gendered name».^[3] Nevertheless, he observed that Minecraft‘s player communities have embraced the game’s general principle of openness due to their enthusiasm in engaging with the possibility of customizing their avatars’ appearances.^[3] This is achieved through the process of overlaying a new skin over Steve’s original form, which represents a player’s direct input in how they want to be represented in-game.^[3] Similarly, H. Chad Lane said that the concept of skins in Minecraft, represented by Steve and Alex as the baseline, can act as a reflection of the player’s identify and self-perceptions, regardless of whether it is similar to or in contrast to the player’s identity in the real world.^[17]

Gabriel Menotti cited the Herobrine hoax, which involved a character which was never a real in-game entity, as an example of how the recording of playthroughs might influence the universe of Minecraft in a radical way. He believed that Persson’s ambiguous answer on whether Herobrine will ever be integrated into Minecraft suggests that there is always a possibility for player imagination to be incorporated into one of the game’s future updates, which is consistent with the logic behind Minecraft‘s open development as well as its history of frequent updates that sometimes introduce game-changing novelties.^[55] The authors of Mixing and Re-Purposing Realities observed that the popularity of the Herobrine meme represents the Minecraft community’s embrace of creative efforts by its members with the transition of spontaneous user-generated content into Minecraft folklore. Their survey of the study’s respondents found that Herobrine is treated as a mythological destructive character which some similar traits as superhero characters.^[56]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

• Steve’s entry on NameMC—a searchable skin database

Steve
Minecraft character
Promo art for Steve
First appearance	Minecraft May 17, 2009
Created by	Markus Persson
In-universe information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Home	Overworld

Steve is a fictional character from the Minecraft video game. Created by Swedish video game developer Markus «Notch» Persson and introduced in the initial Java-based version of Minecraft which was publicly released on May 17, 2009, Steve is one of nine default player character skins available for players of contemporary versions of Minecraft. Steve lacks an official backstory by the developers of Minecraft as he is intended to be a customizable player avatar as opposed to being a predefined character. His feminine counterpart, Alex, was first introduced in August 2014 for PC versions of Minecraft, with the other seven first debuting in the Java edition in October 2022. Depending on the version of Minecraft, players have a chance of spawning as either Steve or Alex when starting a new game.

Steve became a widely recognized character in the video game industry following the critical and commercial success of the Minecraft franchise. Considered by some critics as a mascot for the Minecraft intellectual property, his likeness has appeared extensively in advertising and merchandise, including wearable apparel and collectible items. The character has also inspired a number of unofficial media and urban legends, most notably the Herobrine creepypasta which became widely shared around internet communities as a meme during the 2010s.

Concept and design[edit]

Steve is presented as a human character with a blocky appearance, which is consistent with the aesthetic and art style of Minecraft. His name originated as an in-joke by Persson,^[1] and was confirmed as his official name in the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft.^[2] Steve’s face consists of an eight-by-eight pixel image, usually adorned with a goatee. He wears a light blue top, a pair of blue trousers, and a pair of smart-casual shoes.^[3]

In spite of his masculine name and features, Persson claimed that Steve’s gender was never intended to be fixed. In 2012, Persson explained that Minecraft‘s blocky graphics inadvertently reinforced a default aesthetic for the game which is «traditionally masculine».^[4][5] He emphasized that Minecraft was designed to «be a game without a gender element» in a game where «gender doesn’t exist», and that the character model was «intended to represent a human being» who was genderless.^[4][6] Admitting that limiting the gender option to just male «is telling everybody this is a boy game only», Persson claimed that he once attempted to create a proper female character model in Minecraft, but said «the results have been extremely sexist.»^[4]

By August 22, 2014, another default skin that is complimentary for all Minecraft players named Alex was added to the Java Edition of Minecraft, for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.^[7][8] The character was added to the console and mobile versions of Minecraft at a later date.^[4] Alex’s character model is similar to Steve’s, but with a more feminine appearance: she has red hair tied into a ponytail, and arms that are more narrow.^{[9][10][11][4]} Commenting on Minecraft‘s reputation for better gender representation compared to other video games in the industry as of the 2010s, Helen Chiang, the Microsoft studio head responsible for the Minecraft franchise, explained in a 2018 interview that it is important for her company to leverage the power of the Minecraft brand to subvert traditional gender stereotypes. By presenting Alex and Steve as having identical physical capabilities or qualities as each other, Chiang said this reinforces the studio’s stance on gender equality and their commitment to its ideals.^[12]

On August 22, 2022, exactly 8 years after Alex was added, an update to the Minecraft launcher implemented a redesign of both Steve and Alex. The new skins were mostly the same as before, but were more textured. They also utilized multiple layers, a feature originally added to Minecraft‘s skins alongside Alex in 2014, but that had only ever been utilized by custom skins prior to this update. These redesigns also restored Steve’s goatee, which had been removed in a 2009 update.^[13]

On October 15th, 2022, Mojang announced that 7 more default skins would be coming to the game during the Minecraft Live event, to be named Noor, Sunny, Ari, Zuri, Makena, Kai, and Efe. Developers for the game stated that, since Minecraft is played all over the world, they wanted to make sure that the default skins they had to choose from reflected the diverse playerbase.^[14] The skins were made available to players of the Java edition of the game via the launcher the week following the announcement.

Description[edit]

Character overview[edit]

Steve is one of nine default character skins which are available for new players of Minecraft.^[16] A skin is the appearance of the player’s avatar that represents the player in the game world, which can be changed, altered, or replaced by the player.^[17] Players are allowed multiple options to change the visual appearance of their player character’s skin.^[18][16][17] All zombie mobs found in Minecraft appear to be wearing the same clothing as Steve, although no official explanation was ever given.^[2]

Prior to Alex’s introduction, Steve was the only official skin available to players on the PC and Mobile editions of the game, though players of the PC version could use skins they’ve designed themselves or found online. On the original console editions of the game, up to eight variants of Steve were also offered, none of them female, in addition to a greater variety of characters that were available to those who purchased them as part of bundles.^[4][a] Like Steve, Alex initially could not be manually selected in these console versions, and her use is randomly assigned whenever players start a new game.^[4][2] As of 2022, both Steve and Alex, as well as the other seven default skins, can be manually selected in all versions of the game, either via an in-game menu or in the game launcher, depending on the version of Minecraft being played.^[19]

According to backstory provided in Lego Club Magazine, Steve and Alex are in a romantic relationship and both have distinct interests outside of their shared aptitude for building: Steve has a penchant for mining and alchemy, whereas Alex prefers exploring and hunting.^[2]

Herobrine[edit]

Herobrine is an urban legend and creepypasta which originated as a hoax propagated by an anonymous post on the English-language imageboard website 4chan.^[20] A «ghost» who haunts single-player Minecraft worlds, the character is supposed to look like a standard character model for Steve, except for a pair of glowing white eyes which lack pupils.^[20] Theories which explain the character’s supposed origins range from his purported identity as Persson’s supposedly deceased brother, to an «unlucky miner» who haunt living players out of a desire for vengeance.^[20] The first purported sighting of Herobrine was from the time period when Minecraft was still in the alpha phase of development: an anonymous 4chan poster claimed that they spotted a character who stared at them from the dense fog between the trees before vanishing, and that they received a private message from a user called Herobrine, which simply said «stop».^[20] This occurred after a subsequent post they made which inquired about the sighting was allegedly removed without explanation.^[20]

Other appearances[edit]

Steve has been featured in video game media outside of Minecraft. He appears as an exclusive playable character in the PC version of Super Meat Boy as «Mr. Minecraft».^[21][22] Steve’s head appears in Borderlands 2 as an unlockable cosmetic.^[23] Steve’s head is also unlockable to those who managed to reach level 20 as the Paladin in Hybrid.^[24]

Steve is featured as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate; his alternate costumes transform him into Alex as well as the Zombie and Enderman enemies from Minecraft.^{[25][26][27][28]}

Steve and Alex appear as skins in Minecraft Dungeons, where Steve was the most commonly selected skin among players.^[29]

Reception[edit]

Cultural impact[edit]

Critics noted that Steve have achieved a level of cultural impact and viral recognition outside of the character’s original purpose as a baseline or default skin for new players of Minecraft. As the face of the franchise in promotional and advertising materials,^[17] some commentators consider Steve to be the closest character Minecraft has to a protagonist or main character.^[16] This is in spite of the fact that his existence is not asserted by way of an official backstory or in-game dialogue unlike most other video game characters.^[3] In 2016, Glixel staff ranked Steve as the 4th most iconic video game character of the 21st century.^[30] In a 2021 list published by GamesRadar which rank 50 iconic video game characters, Rachel Weber considered Steve to be the «enduring symbol» of Minecraft, and his character model to be one of most instantly recognizable silhouettes in video game culture.^[31]

Steve has been the subject of multiple fan theories spread around Internet communities.^[32] One theory alleged that Steve is based on Tommy Vercetti, the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, due to the alleged physical resemblance between both characters. It relied on a 2009 Tumblr post by Persson which documented his progress working on Minecraft, where he confirmed that he used designs inspired by Grand Theft Auto video games as a foundation for his work.^[1] In 2020 Persson publicly responded on social media and denied any tangible connections between both characters.^[1]

Another fan-spread phenomenon, the Herobrine creepypasta, is regarded as a notable horror-themed urban legend in the video game industry.^[33][34][35] Following the anonymous 4chan post, the hoax became the subject of numerous threads on Minecraft internet forums as well as user generated videos on YouTube which report alleged sightings, often annotated with red text and eerily-themed music.^[20] Two popular Minecraft livestreamers, Copeland and Patimuss, were acknowledged by Lauren Morton from PC Gamer for their contributions towards popularizing the urban legend into a viral meme.^[20] For example, Copeland posted a few edited Minecraft screenshots which shows a depiction of Herobrine to get a reaction from his viewers and staged a hoax sighting for his lifestream using a retextured painting which is made to look like Herobrine.^[36][20] The popularity of the Herobrine creepypasta led to a placement on a 2013 poll of the «Top 50 Video Game Villains of All Time» organized by Guinness World Records,^[37] spawned unofficial books such as The Legend of Herobrine and the Gameknight999 series of novels, and inspired fan-made skins patterned after the creepypasta.^[20] As an acknowledgement of the Herobrine meme, Mojang development staff often include the line «Removed Herobrine» within patch notes released for the game up until June 23, 2020, with the Java Edition 1.16 patch, also known as Minecraft‘s Nether Update.^[20][38] Fan interest in the meme eventually culminated in early 2021 with the discovery of the world seed which contains the first instance of Herobrine’s alleged sighting.^[36][39]

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

The announcement and introduction of Minecraft themed DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which is primarily represented by the Steve character, was met with a very enthusiastic response from critics and players.^[40][41][42] Some commentators suggested that much of the excitement was due to the character’s unprecedented inclusion into a popular fighting game, and that in the aftermath of the reveal, social media website Twitter may have struggled with the volume of postings which were generated in response.^[43][44] Patricia Hernandez from Polygon and Nadia Fox from US Gamer further noted that an awkward animation which is featured during the character’s end-of-match win screen scandalized some viewers, which had the effect of generating further publicity surrounding the character’s imminent debut in Smash.^[45][46]

In his review of the Steve DLC for Ultimate, Mitchell Saltzman from IGN described Steve as one of the most complex fighters ever introduced in the game in terms of gameplay mechanics, and highlighted the inventive ways which the developers incorporated the resource collection and item crafting mechanics of Minecraft into his moveset.^[47] Kotaku staff were divided over the playable iteration of Steve in Smash. Ian Walker considered Steve to be one of the most exciting characters to play for Ultimate after observing an event where one of the players displayed his ingenuity with Steve’s construction capabilities.^[48] Ari Notis took a less favorable view and called him the strangest character he has ever played. Notis described in detail the visual and gameplay dissonances he observed from the implementation of Steve in Ultimate.^[49]

Since Steve’s addition to Ultimate, the character became a point of contention within the game’s competitive community, citing Steve’s unorthodox playstyle and rapid rise in high placements at competitions. Some players began advocating for Steve to be banned from tournaments, fearing the character’s dominance could negatively affect viewership like Bayonetta had for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Opponents of a ban point out that Steve is a recent addition to the game, and that effective counterplay has yet to be developed.^[50][51] Calls for a ban only intensified after Mashita «あcola» Hayato and Angel «Onin» Mireles took first-place victories at The Gimvitational and Super Smash Con 2022 respectively primarily using Steve, with the latter securing a 3-0 victory against Leonardo «MkLeo» Perez, who is widely considered to be the best Ultimate player in the world. Onin has also received death threats from some viewers as a result of his victories.^[52][53][54]

Analysis[edit]

In an entry about Steve from the 2017 publication 100 Greatest Video Game Characters, Chris Bailey explained that what little is known about Steve helps illuminate how video game avatars are being perceived in relation to player identity, because the character embodies and conducts the spirit of freedom and customization inherent to sandbox video games.^[3] He further elaborated that Steve exemplifies the «centrality» of relatable avatars in affording players their own creative agency in and around video games: while other games allow a certain level of avatar customization, Steve embodies this possibility more than most with a process akin to a kind of scaffolded pixel art enabling the redesign of the entire surface of the body beyond changing a pre-defined hairstyle or skin color. This process is particularly visible through the proliferation of online communities and forums set up to share user-generated adapted skins.^[3]

With regards to the concept of Steve’s gender being neutral and non-binary as asserted by Persson, Bailey took the view that it is «initially difficult» to account for the inclusion of an avatar with an «evidently gendered name».^[3] Nevertheless, he observed that Minecraft‘s player communities have embraced the game’s general principle of openness due to their enthusiasm in engaging with the possibility of customizing their avatars’ appearances.^[3] This is achieved through the process of overlaying a new skin over Steve’s original form, which represents a player’s direct input in how they want to be represented in-game.^[3] Similarly, H. Chad Lane said that the concept of skins in Minecraft, represented by Steve and Alex as the baseline, can act as a reflection of the player’s identify and self-perceptions, regardless of whether it is similar to or in contrast to the player’s identity in the real world.^[17]

Gabriel Menotti cited the Herobrine hoax, which involved a character which was never a real in-game entity, as an example of how the recording of playthroughs might influence the universe of Minecraft in a radical way. He believed that Persson’s ambiguous answer on whether Herobrine will ever be integrated into Minecraft suggests that there is always a possibility for player imagination to be incorporated into one of the game’s future updates, which is consistent with the logic behind Minecraft‘s open development as well as its history of frequent updates that sometimes introduce game-changing novelties.^[55] The authors of Mixing and Re-Purposing Realities observed that the popularity of the Herobrine meme represents the Minecraft community’s embrace of creative efforts by its members with the transition of spontaneous user-generated content into Minecraft folklore. Their survey of the study’s respondents found that Herobrine is treated as a mythological destructive character which some similar traits as superhero characters.^[56]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

• Steve’s entry on NameMC—a searchable skin database