Minecraft, the video game with cubic graphics that was officially released in 2009, has had a monster lurking in the files for quite some time. “Steve,” is the default skin for a Minecraft player when they first create an account. Herobrine, the monster, has a “Steve” skin with glowing white eyes.

   Herobrine is known around the Minecraft community as an urban legend and creepypasta. The first rumor of seeing him is said to be that a Minecraft gamer was on a single-player world and they found a Non-Player-Character, or NPC, with the default “Steve” skin and “empty eyes.”

   After the first appearance, many people started to encounter Herobrine and his “creations.” Man-made objects started to pop up around worlds; things like trees missing leaves, two-by-two tunnels underground lit with redstone torches and pyramids of sand that appeared in the ocean.

   The player, who presumably met what was introduced to be Herobrine, posted on the Minecraft forum about his experience. The post was taken down from the website, and a user with the name “Herobrine” messaged the player, telling them to “stop.” Administrators of the website contacted the player, and told him that other people have had the same experience with an NPC with glowing eyes.

   Herobrine’s powers include having 360 degree vision, due to his glowing eyes, teleportation, telekinesis, telepathy and extreme physical attributes such as super strength and being almost completely invincible.

   But the question remains: Who is Herobrine?

   With research, the community narrowed it down as Notch’s brother. Markus Persson, better known as Notch, is the creator of Minecraft and known for starting the beginning of Mojang and the rest of the Minecraft franchise. The player who originally discovered Herobrine personally contacted Notch, asking if he had a brother, and Notch responded with, “I did, but he is no longer with us.”

   Since then, Notch has posted on Twitter that he does not have a brother besides his half-brother. It is a false reality that Herobrine is his dead brother from 2010, but, still, the Mojang employees continue the trend of adding “Removed Herobrine” into the update log when releasing an update, teasing the Minecraft community.

   It is uncertain whether or not he exists for sure, and the Minecraft community may never get a definite answer.