The eleven-year-old creepypasta mystery of Herobrine in Minecraft

 

image via Mojang

Who is Herobrine, and where did he come from? He's a legend that dates back to the early days of Minecraft, almost as old as the game itself. In the early 2010s, stories about the eerie ghost miner became popular alongside Minecraft, fueling the game's early success in gameplay videos and livestreaming.

Your feelings about Herobrine are likely to be influenced by your age in 2010. If you were a gamer in your youth, you could recall sharing videos with your friends and thinking he was real. If you're older, he may just be an old meme that you've seen spiral out of control.

In any case, even after more than a decade, the spooky legend of Herobrine refuses to be exorcised from Minecraft's lore.

Who is Herobrine, and where did he come from?

Herobrine is a Minecraft ghost that haunts singleplayer worlds, according to legend. You'll recognise him by his white eyes, which resemble those of a normal Steve, Minecraft's original default player skin. Even if you never see him, if you notice strange 2x2 tunnels in your mines, you'll know he's in your save log. He might be the one who dug them up. It's possible that if your world is missing glass or you see tree trunks with all of their leaves missing, it's his job as well. He may also take the shape of a white-eyed cow or sheep.

Some believe he's a ghost—the late brother of Minecraft's creator—while others believe he's just an unfortunate miner who died and returned to exact vengeance on living players.

Despite the fact that Herobrine appears to be harmless, most sightings result in players fleeing in terror. Those that are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of him from afar sometimes see him standing completely still, staring off into the distance.

It was uncertain if Herobrine was a ghost, a virus, or even a joke by the game's creators when he was first seen.

Origin of Herobrine

image via Minecraft wiki

The first widely-known sighting of Herobrine dates from Minecraft's alpha, and is from a thread almost as old as the game itself. One poster said they saw this other character in their singleplayer universe who looked at them from the thick fog between the trees and then disappeared in the picture above. They went to post about the sighting, curious if anyone else had seen the same odd character, but their post was deleted. A user named Herobrine sent them a private message that simply said "stop."

They assumed Herobrine was the alias of a Swedish player, the brother of Minecraft's original creator Notch, after speaking with other players who had seen similar strange signs in their Minecraft worlds. They allegedly asked Notch if he had a brother and received the answer, "I did, but he is no longer with us."

Not long after, livestreamers "Copeland" and "Patimuss" made two more famous Herobrine sightings. Copeland was playing a regular Minecraft world he'd been working on during his livestream. After about two hours, he steps into a room he's preparing to furnish and sees the white-eyed Herobrine standing across the room, looking at him. Copeland yelled, spun around, and bolted for the door.

After the livestream, the players questioned whether it could have been genuine, according to Copeland's archived article. One said, "Cope hasn't changed the game at all." "The scream he let out was real. I'm not sure what I'm doing anymore. His machine also BSoD'd twice after attempting to go online." Player Patimuss saw Herobrine standing over a lake of lava in a separate livestream. Patimuss, too, bolted and turned off the game.

Since this was before Twitch or YouTube streaming, the original videos have evidently been lost to the wind. Other players have recreated the moment Copeland saw Herobrine, similar to how a documentary film crew recreates bigfoot sightings.

Copeland also shared this eerie image of Minecraft's Steve, but with human eyes hidden behind his pixelated mask. The text at the bottom of the page shows yet another creepypasta message, this time a repurposed spooky tale that suggests the reader is trapped in a dream world within their head and needs to awaken. Herobrine earned the new nickname Him as a result of the page's title "him.html."

Herobrine had a life of his own after that, if he didn't have one before.

Herobrine's spread

Herobrine may not have spread like a virus in fact, but his legend did. He was the subject of several threads on the Minecraft Forums, where he received a mix of purported player appearances and comments from other posters claiming he was clearly a fake.

He also began invading YouTube videos, with several players sharing footage of supposed Herobrine sightings. Others were based on him and were jumpscare videos. Even if the legend of Herobrine doesn't make you nostalgic, listening to young players recount their sightings with red text and music is bound to do so.

Years later, new Herobrine sighting videos can still be found. The Legend of Herobrine, a printed book, tells his life. If you want to play as the popular spook, you can find him in our list of the best Minecraft skins.

The joke was also picked up by Mojang. To this day, Minecraft patch notes often contain the line "Removed Herobrine" as a nod to the meme.

The seed of the Herobrine

The Minecraft At Home project has managed to unearth the seed where the original creepy photo of Herobrine was taken a decade back. You can also travel around the world to see the exact location where he was seen. Will Herobrine, on the other hand, be waiting for you when you arrive?

So, was Herobrine real?

He certainly lives on in the minds of many Minecraft players who recall being terrified by his legend when they were younger. Was he ever in Minecraft, though?

No way.

Copeland was questioned by Minecraft Wiki editors on what he later admitted was a Herobrine hoax on his livestream. He mentioned that he enjoyed the original creepy text post about Herobrine and began by posting a few edited Minecraft screenshots of the ghostly miner, which elicited a response from his followers. Copeland claims he retextured a painting to look like Herobrine for the livestream, and it looked good enough at first glance to fool people.

He explained, "Unlike Slenderman or anything else, it was Minecraft basic." "That's about what I think it had going for it. If it was just an old meme tossed into the Minecraft universe, it wouldn't be the same. A Slenderman sighting in Minecraft would be uninteresting to no one."

Herobrine did become a craze, but he was not without his detractors. Even from Copeland's forum post following his livestream, some astute players have already noted that the character appears to be some sort of edited texture. Others believe it was a joke by Notch rather than the livestreamer.

Notch has tweeted several times about Herobrine over the years, stating in 2012 that "I don't have a brother who died, and he was never in the game. This isn't true. That was never the case."

Herobrine might not have existed in Minecraft, but after a decade of legends and tales, he's more than likely outgrown the need for a physical shape.