Creeper (Minecraft)

The Creeper is a fictional creature created by Markus “Notch” Persson that appears in the sandbox video game Minecraft and other media in the corresponding Minecraft franchise. It is a hostile mob (mobile non-player character) resembling a four-legged, bipedal, greenish monster that can spawn in dark places and, instead of attacking the player directly unlike other monsters, creeps up on the player before exploding, destroying blocks in the surrounding area and potentially hurting or killing the player if they are within the blast radius. The camouflage and generally silent behavior of Creepers aid in their stealth attacks on players, making the character one of the most dangerous mobs in Minecraft. Due to a software bug when creating the pig mob, the character model that became the Creeper was first added to Minecraft in a pre-alpha update to the game that was released on August 20, 2009. Having accidentally swapped the length and height of the pig mob, Persson chose not to remove the error and decided to keep it for a “creepy creature”. On September 1 of that year, Creepers were introduced in a pre-alpha version of the game. The Creeper has become one of the most widely recognized icons of Minecraft, where the character would go on to have new updates, including having the ability to become a “Charged Creeper” when struck by lightning. It has been referenced and parodied in popular culture, appears prominently in Minecraft merchandising and advertising, and has been ranked in lists of famous fictional characters, one of which includes the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition's list of "top 50 video game villains".