The Lore of Minecraft

The Lore Behind Alex: Origin & Purpose

A first look at Minecraft's Lore offers a brief summary of one of the most basic yet unspoken theories that most people seem to know anyway. There was Notch, who created Minecraftia, and Steve. Some theories offer Alex as Steve's offspring, others merely suggest Steve was lonely so Notch or in some cases Steve himself created a friend for himself.

While thousands of ideas back-up Steve's backstory, Alex is nearly ignored in most cases.

Whatever she poses as - Steve's love interest, best friend, or rival - some ideas even skip Alex's origin completely and completely miss anything to do with her - if you dive into Minecraft's lore, you'll realize she's crucial to the storyline.

In this chapter of Minecraft's Lore, we'll dive into Alex and why she's so important, and what makes her unique - where did she come from, what role did she most likely play in the origin of Minecraftia, and was she really one of the two ancestors of every Minecraftian to come after them?

It is said Alex was created five years, days, or hours after Steve precisely - whichever one it was is beside the point. She was supposedly created to be Steve's friend or partner in some way. It is known the two shared an interest in building, while it is said that Alex preferred hunting and exploring while Steve enjoyed mining and alchemy.

This contrasts deeply to the most commonly accepted theory, where Alex preferred a more vegetarian lifestyle and took a penchant for gardening and creating flowers, plants, and fresh-grown fruits. It is also commonly accepted that she preferred to stay near home and work on larger builds. This is not the full truth, however.

Alex was said to be the second player created. The second player to ever reside in Minecraftia. But it was not always so. Lore says Notch created Steve's companion five days, months, or years after Steve was first created. If you look at the lore, Steve was still alone when the island was created, and it was much longer after that before Alex was created when he became lonely.

This means it is unlikely Alex was created five days after Steve was created. Narrowing her origin down to five months then makes the most probable sense... if you don't dig much deeper and find the surprising truth.

Alex has always been taken as the second canon player, but in reality, was she? Much before, probably right after or as the island was first created, there was another companion, another girl who looked much different yet much the same as Alex.

Notch created a girl called Rana approximately one month after Steve's creation. This is surprising in its own light considering Steve was generally expected to have lived in the void for about two months before the island was created... so did Rana reside in the void for another month with Steve and Notch before the island was created?

And why was Rana created? The simple answer most would take for granted would be a companion for Steve. But if you look back, Steve's original purpose was most likely to be a friend or companion for Notch. Steve wouldn't have been nearly as lonely while he resided high in the void with Notch, after all a friendship is a two-way street for Notch and Steve.

When Steve was sent down to the island, most simply conclude it was because he was 'bored' - but the lore doesn't actually mention Steve being bored. We know from early descriptions he was 'reckless' and 'resentful'. He wanted magic. He wanted immortality, something Notch was still holding back.

And then all of the sudden Notch creates an island and puts Steve there while he stays in the void. Why didn't he go down to the island to stay with his friend, later described even as his 'son'? Why? Was Notch angry at Steve? Was there a reason he wanted them to be apart? What happened in the void?

That's where Rana comes in again. It seems Notch created Rana to try to keep Steve content and distract him from his restlessness and resentment - or he created her to be another friend for himself. Was she supposed to be Notch's love interest? But something happened, and Rana disappeared from history after what seemed to be only a day or two. And then all of the sudden the island is created.

Something happened, something caused a temporary rift between Notch and Steve, something caused Rana to disappear...

The most plausible answer after a glance is that Steve became jealous, and as he was described as 'reckless' he did something to Rana, causing her to disappear. This is true in a manner of speaking, but though he instigated it - it was not he who caused her to disappear.

After much searching, there seems to be only one way Rana disappeared. Steve couldn't have done something to her that put her in mortal danger or caused her to disappear, meaning the only likely explanation is that Notch caused her to disappear - was it because she had turned out wrong?

It seems like the only thing that was wrong was how she acted instead of how Notch wanted her to. Here's the summary:

Notch created Rana to be his lover - he had a friend, and after this success, he had begun to dream of more than a friend. But even though she was created to be his lover, she wasn't actually programmed to do what Notch envisioned. She was programmed with a heart, her own opinion, and her own unique personality and choices.

And all of a sudden the plan went wrong. Rana fell for Steve instead, and Steve liked her back. But when Notch realized what was going on he became very, very angry. And just like that Rana was gone in a burst of Notch's wrath.

Notch then created the island and banished Steve down to it. He realized after his rage what he had done, and though he promised Steve to visit he decided he shouldn't interact with his creations anymore - not on such a personal friendship level. He would instead watch them from high in the void, so nothing again would happen to destroy his beings.

It was five years later he finally gave in and created another player. By this time Steve had become very lonely. No Notch, no animals, no other players, just alone on an island for years. He created Alex... in most versions of lore.

It is also said Alex was Steve and Rana's daughter, which would match the theory that Rana and Steve had twins. Alex and a third character sometimes called Jamal, Alex's opposite. Alex was a lighter Rana, and Jamal a darker Steve... this is a very little-known idea and is honestly not very convincing. If it were ever true, there's one large gap in the plot...

Rani only existed for about two days, meaning if they were ever together there wouldn't have been nearly enough time for Alex to be born, even if the Minecraft breeding rules applied. The main reason I've chosen to toss aside this theory is the fact that it's canon that Alex was created five days, months, or years later.

Rana's timeline doesn't intersect with Alex's on any level, meaning we have to discount this theory for now.

So Alex was created by Notch to be Steve's second companion and possible love interest. This is where we'll leave off for now, but there is so much more behind Alex's lore than you could ever dream. Stick around for another chapter on the lore of Alex!