It seems the juggernaut franchise that is Minecraft is once again finding its numbers growing, as Minecraft Legends was announced this year at the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase. It joins a series that now has games ranging from the original Minecraft to the hack-and-slash dungeon crawler Minecraft Dungeons, as well as the likes of ARG Minecraft Earth and a still-in-development Minecraft film. Mojang clearly sees no end to Minecraft's potential, and it has ample room to explore and experiment with the ways the game can be adapted across genres.
But as Mojang continues to plumb the well that is Minecraft for all that it's worth, the studio could be dipping back into the history books and reviving one of the internet's oldest urban legends to feature as a new antagonist for the upcoming game. New details revealed from the trailer are backed by Mojang's all too playful attitude toward this fan-fueled boogeyman, making it look like Herobrine could be a new villain inducted into actual Minecraft canon.
Who is Herobrine?
Herobrine started life originally as a Minecraft community creepypasta, serving as the equivalent of a second player-character sharing a single-player world with the actual player. Herobrine mostly avoided the player and constructed tunnels and pyramids, removed leaves from trees, and generally acted harmless in spite of its creepiness. Fueled by an edited screenshot of in-game Minecraft featuring a fuzzy Herobrine in the distance, the urban legend gained significant popularity until a hoax was perpetrated by Brocraft streamer Copeland, which propelled Herobrine into the heart of the Minecraft fandom.
Since then, Herobrine has been thoroughly explored by the community through the use of Minecraft mods and various fan artwork depicting him, with even the likes of Notch and Mojang sharing in the community spirit to some degree. For example, when Notch had been leading Minecraft, he often toyed with the idea of adding Herobrine officially when asked about it, and Mojang often includes Herobrine occasionally through official artwork or at live events. However, canonically, Herobrine has never existed in Minecraft whatsoever, and from all official accounts, there has yet to be any indication that he will be added.
Herobrine's Taking Over Minecraft
With Herobrine's history as a "ghost in the machine" type of entity who invades player's games, it's strangely coincidental that Mojang's latest Minecraft iteration sees the overworld of Minecraft being invaded and overrun from another dimension. A current theory that's risen up following the announcement trailer is that Herobrine may actually be responsible for the Nether's invasion, citing not just the basic principles of Herobrine but also pointing out the strange glowing eyes of the Mobs such as Piglins, as previous trailers have never shown their eyes to glow before. Fans suspect that Herobrine is staging an invasion of the overworld and using the Nether as a means to do so, offering a counterpart antagonist beyond just the Enderdragon or anything similar.
Whether this theory is true or not remains to be seen. Still, it's entirely possible that while Mojang might be reluctant to include Herobrine in vanilla Minecraft, they might deem it permissible to feature Herobrine in a game away from the official canon. One of Mojang's past "jokes" regarding Herobrine saw the developer saying it had removed Herobrine from the game's data. This sets up the ideal antagonist in Herobrine, making him an entity whose creators tried to hide him away and snuff him out. This could push him to invade the player's world and use supernatural powers to achieve his goal. Herobrine's Urban Legend status might even explain where Mojang got the inspiration for the game's title. It's a very exciting idea, but if Herobrine is not the main villain set to drive Minecraft Legends, it will be interesting to see who the actual antagonist is.
Minecraft Legends is set to in 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.