Steve (Minecraft)
Steve is a player character from the 2011 sandbox video game Minecraft. Created by Swedish video game developer Markus "Notch" Persson and introduced in the original 2009 Java-based version, Steve is the first and the original default skin available for players of contemporary versions of Minecraft. Steve lacks an official backstory as he is intended to be a customizable player avatar as opposed to being a predefined character. His feminine counterpart, Alex, was introduced in August 2014 for Java PC versions of Minecraft, with seven other characters debuting in the Java edition of the game in October 2022. Depending on the version of Minecraft, players have a choice of defaulting to either Steve or any other variant skins when creating a new account. However, the skin is easy to change from the game itself or website.
Steve became a widely recognized character in the video game industry following the critical and commercial success of the Minecraft franchise. Considered by critics as a mascot for the Minecraft intellectual property, his likeness has appeared in advertising and merchandise, including apparel and collectible items. In October 2020, Steve was added as a playable character to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where he is commonly ranked as the game's best character and has sparked controversy due to his imbalanced power, leading to him being frequently banned from several tournaments for the game. He was portrayed by Jack Black in the film adaptation A Minecraft Movie, released in April 2025. Steve's design has additionally been used in unofficial media, such as the "Herobrine" creepypasta.
Concept and design
Steve was designed by game creator Markus Persson for Minecraft. He is a human character with a blocky appearance, which is consistent with the aesthetic and art style of the game. His design consists of a light blue top, a pair of blue trousers, and shoes, while his face is sometimes adorned with a goatee. In the console editions, Steve is presented in different outfits, such as a tuxedo, a prison jumpsuit, and a kilt. While the name Steve originated as a joke due to Persson thinking it was "generic", the name was adopted by the community and became official in the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft. In spite of his masculine name and features, Steve's gender was never meant to be specific. In 2012, Persson explained that Minecraft blocky graphics reinforced the " masculine" aesthetic of the game. He emphasized that Minecraft was designed to be an inclusive game where "gender doesn't exist" and that the character model was supposed to be a genderless human being. Admitting that limiting the gender options to just male would insinuate that Minecraft was a "boy game only", Persson said he once attempted to create a proper female character in Minecraft but said the final results had been "extremely sexist." To keep the game gender-neutral, Steve's goatee was removed in 2009 but has since been readded to his character.Alex, another complimentary default skin for all players, was added on 22 August 2014, to the Java Edition. The character was added to the console and mobile versions at a later date. Alex's character model is similar to Steve's but with a more feminine appearance: her orange hair is tied into a ponytail, and she has narrower arms. Commenting on Minecraft campaign for better gender representation compared to other video games, Helen Chiang, the Microsoft studio head responsible for the Minecraft franchise, explained in a 2018 interview that it is important for her company to use the Minecraft brand as a tool to subvert gender stereotypes. By presenting Alex and Steve with similar abilities or qualities, Chiang said it would reinforce the studio's stance on gender equality. In 2014, an update to Minecraft added the ability for skins to have multiple layers, which allowed for more detail.
In August 2022, an update implemented redesigns for Steve and Alex, using multiple layers and more texturing. Steve's redesign restored his goatee, which had been removed thirteen years prior. In October of the same year, seven default skins were added to Minecraft using the existing Steve and Alex character models to increase diversity within the game's community. These skins were named Noor, Sunny, Ari, Zuri, Makena, Kai, and Efe.
Description
Character overview
Steve is one of nine default character skins that are available to new players of Minecraft. 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. Players are allowed multiple options to change the visual appearance of their player character's skin.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 have designed themselves or found online. On the original console editions of the game, up to eight male variants of Steve were also offered, none of them female, in addition to a greater variety of characters that could be purchased from bundles. Like Steve, Alex initially could not be selected in these console versions, and the skin chosen is randomly assigned whenever players start a new game. As of 2022, Steve, Alex, and 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.
''A Minecraft Movie''
Steve appeared in the film adaptation of the game, A Minecraft Movie, wherein he was portrayed in live action by American actor Jack Black. Originally, Black was intended to play as a talking pig, before the then-director felt that a host was needed for the other characters present in the film. He was also the actor who was the most invested into the game. During production, the crew set up private Minecraft servers for everyone to play on; Black played over 100 hours of the game on those servers, more than anyone else, before he was cast as Steve. Following the original intent for Steve to be a default character that anyone can modify, the film's depiction of Steve is Jack Black's own interpretation of Steve.In the film, Steve was a struggling doorknob salesman who comes into contact with a mysterious object in a cave and is transported to the "Overworld"—a magical world made out of blocks and the main setting for the film. From there, he becomes the leader for the other main characters of the film. In addition, Black performed numerous diegetic songs for the film. This includes "I Feel Alive"—an original song in the movie based on Steve's character—and "Steve's Lava Chicken", the latter of which became the shortest song to reach the UK singles chart. Alex appears in the post-credits scene, where she appears to have taken residence in Steve's house in his absence, and invites him in to discuss the chest in the attic. Kate McKinnon makes an uncredited cameo as the voice of Alex, while Alice May Connolly serves as her physical actor.
Other appearances
Both Steve and Alex are skins in Minecraft Dungeons, with Steve being the most popular skin among players. Outside of the Minecraft series, Steve appears as a playable character in the PC version of Super Meat Boy, in which he is referred to as "Mr. Minecraft". Steve also appears a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, wherein Alex and some enemies from Minecraft are featured as alternate costumes. Cosmetics based on Steve's head appear in Hybrid. Steve and Alex also appear as playable characters via downloadable content in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.Reception
Cultural impact
Critics believe Steve has achieved a level of cultural impact and viral recognition outside of the character's origin as a baseline for new players of Minecraft. He has been considered the face of the franchise in promotional and advertising materials; some commentators consider Steve to be the closest character Minecraft has to a protagonist or main character. 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. Steve has been considered one of the most iconic video game characters by the publication staff of Glixel and GamesRadar+, with the latter considering Steve to be the "enduring symbol" of Minecraft and his character model as one of the most recognizable silhouettes in video game culture. In 2024, a poll conducted by BAFTA with around 4,000 respondents named Steve as the thirteenth most iconic video-game character of all time.Steve has been the subject of multiple fan theories spread across Internet communities. One theory alleged that Steve is based on Tommy Vercetti, the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, due to the physical resemblance between the characters. It relied on a 2009 Tumblr post by Persson about Minecraft development progress, where he confirmed that he used designs inspired by the Grand Theft Auto games. In 2020, Persson responded on social media and denied any connections between both characters, though he stated he had a subconscious connection due to him being a fan of Vice City. In 2010, Herobrine, a creepypasta that is a derivative design of Steve with white, solid eyes, was created on 4chan, gaining prominence amongst the Minecraft community and becoming an internet meme, being featured in some official artwork for the game as well. Conversely, the portrayal of Steve by Jack Black in A Minecraft Movie became the subject of memes as well due to its live-action depiction.