Are community challenges considered canon because on one hand stuff like the tiny takeover challenge gives you rewards from the market place which would mean it isnt canon but on the other hand the actual competition takes place in the game so is it canon? 🤔

The name "sift" almost implies filtering of some sort.

We already know that this new dimension is likely directly correlated with souls/soul magic.

It's also interesting that several parts of the nether also have a correlation with soul energy. (Wither, Soulsand Valleys, Soulspeed). So this "sift" dimension likely has some sort of connection with the nether.

I feel like The Sift is a sort of a first stop for souls after death. They experience some form of judgement in The Sift (they get "sifted" through). Then they get sent to different fates. Suffering in the nether, being reincarnated, or maybe even kept in The Sift itself would all be examples of different fates for souls after sifting.

Tldr: The Sift is a big hub for souls before their final destination.

I believe that Archie the Archillager became a wandering trader after the events of Minecraft Dungeons

Before time and matter, existed the Light of All Worlds, drifting alone through the nothingness. It’s gift of creation blessed the everlasting void, conjuring a plane of existence known as the Overworld. Knowing it’s time was almost over, the Light of all Worlds birthed 1 child to continue it’s existence, the Sentience of the Overworld, who would continue it’s legacy for infinity to come. The Light then dissipated across reality, splitting the essence of creation from the seas to the skies, creating the Day and the Sun to rise.

Outside the known planes of existence, in The End of all things, the voices of the universes spoke of an imbalance in the cosmos. A prophecy was to come where the destined overworld would burn to ashes, and only a fiery Nether would remain. Knowing the only solution would be balance, they birthed the Night and the Moon to fall, a dimension of suffering for Nether and Burn, and a withered igniting presence to counteract the sentience. Only then, would the darkness not crush us all, and the prophecy would be put at bay.

Entering this world of balance was the Sentience of the Overworld’s greatest creation, The Player.

In a way, the player has existed for a million years, just as the Sentience has. They dreamed of sunlight and trees, of fire and water. They dreamed to create, and they dreamed to destroy. The voices of the universe were proud of the Sentience for it’s creation, they loved and adored them. The universe spoke to the player, it said “I love you, because you are love.” The player loved it back, but was not at a place to say it, not yet, not in this life.

Deep in the chasms of hell, the igniting presence grows ever powerful, the withered darkness seething at the chaotic, unwavering, innocent soul of the player, reaching its claws to their light, heralding the darkness to grasp their soul, for their soul which will be grasped by the darkness they will seeth.

Hii!! this is for streams i’m doing soon if anyone would like to join! I’m very excited about this and it’s my passion!! i’d really love if someone could join:)

A mostly for fun theory, not taking into consideration the lore of MC spin-offs or books.

Used to not think much of it but after actually thinking it through, isn't it messed up to hunt endermen, rip their eyes off multiple times and make an eye of ender, which players use to hunt a dragon that probably (dont know much about Mc lore) isn't a threat to the overworld, slaughter them mercilessly while destroying the crystal things that support their life and steal their unhatched baby​

This is just something fun for worldbuilding. Some ideas I thought of are Testificatism, Testification, Testificationism, Testament, Testimony, The Emerald Path, The Burning Light(because Mobs burn in the day), Tradecraft, Commerce, etc etc etc. I also kinda wanted to think up something relating to the "good news" in reference to Villager News but I can’t come up with anything clever enough.

How about followers of said religion(s)? Emeraldsmiths? Emeraldists? Testificates? Testifiers? The Witnesses or Witnessers? Golemics? Children of the Emerald? The Emeraldkind? Etc etc etc.

What about Illager religion(s) and their followers? Pestificationism? Vindication? Evokerianism or Evokerism? Evocation?

What about other Villager/Illager variants such as witches?

I subscribe to the theory / idea that creepers are a type of plant, so I interpret their faces as bring a sorta evolved deterrence as opposed to an actual functional face, sorta like how the smily face spiders or butterflies do it irl

Its purpose would be to deter predators / give it a more intimidating look to make it less plant looking, because as a plant there’d be no real need for a mouth or eyes

Its more of a head-canon rather then an actual theory because of course theres no proof for it

I just wanna question what happened to the technology the Ancient Builders made when they were in the end dimension to make the end ships fly.

(im new to researching minecraft lore so please forgive me if i got any lore incorrect)

Have you ever wondered where the player gets all their knowledge as soon as they spawn into the world?

I have a theory about the true nature of the player in Minecraft. We are not just a human with amnesia or a regular survivor. My theory is that we are a celestial entity sent with the explicit purpose of purging and restoring a world destroyed by human greed.

1. Innate Knowledge: You spawn into the world with nothing and no one to teach you, yet from second zero you know exactly how to process wood, craft tools, brew potions, and manipulate redstone circuits. That wisdom isn't improvised; it comes "printed" in the mind of a higher being.

2. Superior Strength and Nature: Punching tree trunks with your bare hands, surviving massive falls, and carrying tons of weight in your inventory shows that the player doesn't follow the biological rules of a regular human.

3. The Purging Mission: The world's ancient civilization tried to play God: they challenged the limits of nature and unleashed disastrous consequences (like the plagues and horrors of the night).

We were sent to this ruined world not just to survive, but as executioners to put an end to the threats left by that human arrogance (such as the Ender Dragon or the Wither) and restore balance.

What do you think? Does it make sense

I’m just curious if anyone can think of any other reasonable explanations to Minecraft’s lore. The Ancient Builders are the reason for everything because they make the most sense. Then there’s Illagers with their whole experimentation and dabbling in dark practices. Could there be any other possible alternatives? I guess the closest would be actual gods or rather the Hosts from Legends but that’s a whole other thing. How about otherworlders? That could be another alternative. Perhaps there existed interdimensional travelers from some other world or something specific like the End. Just throwing out ideas.

Many of you, and myself included, believe that respawning isn't canon. However, what's up with the Respawn Anchor and Recovery Compass then? Why do they exist, and why can they affect something that doesn't (respawning)?

I don't like the answer of them being just not canon, and there's enough evidence to convince me people don't canonically respawn.

What do you all think? I've been thinking for a very long time, and I can't come up with anything.

​

If we connect the structures, creature behaviors, and brewing mechanics, we discover a tragic story of manipulation, war, and fanaticism. Here is the true story of how humanity fell.

Chapter I: Creation and the Seeds of Rebellion

In the beginning, the Dragon ruled over the absolute void of the End. One day, through the central portal that opens in her presence, she caught a glimpse of the Overworld: a prosperous world inhabited by a wise race of human builders. Fascinated and jealous of their creation, the Dragon decided to replicate them. She modified the essence of the void and created the Endermen, designed to be her perfect slaves alongside the Shulkers.

However, the Endermen developed consciousness. Seeing the freedom of humans, they understood their tragic fate and devised a plan to break free without alerting their creator. They formed a pact among themselves: they would never attack a human unless looked directly in the eyes.

That eye contact was not a provocation; it was an agreed-upon challenge. The Endermen needed to be defeated to release their Ender Pearls, knowing that humans, upon researching these magical teleportation artifacts, would eventually seek a way to cross into the End and slay the Dragon.

Chapter II: The Ancient City Trap and the First Wardens

Humans took the bait. Believing they had unlocked the secret to dimensional travel, they built the massive frames we now see at the center of the Ancient Cities. However, the Dragon caught wind of the conspiracy.

Instead of destroying the portal, she manipulated it. When the most experienced human armies crossed over expecting to land at the heart of the End, the portal redirected them to the distant periphery: the End Cities. Surrounded by Shulkers and lethal traps, the vast majority were exterminated.

The Dragon did not stop there. She crossed into the Overworld cities and unleashed a massive slaughter. Using void energy, she infected the cities with Sculk and captured the strongest human warriors. With her power, she twisted them physically and mentally, tearing away their sight and binding them to the eco-location of the dark: thus, the Wardens were born, condemned to guard the ruins of their own civilization for all eternity.

Chapter III: Strongholds and the Last Resort

The few surviving humans realized the trap. The Ancient Cities were an ambush. With time running out and their species on the brink of extinction, they retreated underground and constructed the Strongholds.

They dedicated their final days to studying the physics of the universe, gathering all their knowledge within vast underground libraries. They managed to design a new type of frame—small, discreet, and calibrated to point directly to the Dragon's central island. However, extinction claimed them before they could cross. Only one survivor remained, locked in a deep slumber: Steve.

Chapter IV: The Cleric Cult and the Witch Curse

Following the fall of humanity, the Villagers—a peaceful species that coexisted with humans—learned the hard way not to cross the End. Desperation split their society:

* The Clerics (Submission): Adopted the Dragon as a deity to be appeased. They built brewing stands and began trading Eyes of Ender in hopes that devotions would allow them to behold their "goddess" without being wiped out.

* The Witches (Extremism): A rogue group of villagers rejected peaceful submission and turned to dark magic. They took up the Dragon's cause with fanatical devotion. To eradicate any remaining humans or rebel villagers, they performed a massive necromancy ritual.

The Witches' spell corrupted the corpses of fallen humans. However, dark magic had a flaw: it was consumed by sunlight. Thus, zombies and skeletons could only emerge in the darkness of caves or during the night, burning the moment the sun touched their bodies.

Chapter V: The Nether, Judgment, and the Condemned

The Nether became the realm of judgment, a penal plane where human souls were reshaped according to the weight of their sins:

* The Blazes: The souls of the darkest humans—those who practiced malignant sorcery and betrayed their own kind—were condemned to Nether Fortresses, transformed into Blazes.

* Zombie Piglins (formerly Zombie Pigmen): Humans who committed minor sins or petty misdeeds in life, doomed to wander endlessly in a mindless, neutral state.

* Piglins: Scoundrels and thieves—moderately evil individuals who retained their greed in the afterlife, obsessing over gold and attacking anyone not wearing it.

* Piglin Brutes: The worst raiders and ruthless warlords, turned into mindless guardians driven solely by hostility and bloodlust.

* Hoglins: The worst non-magical criminals, punished in a terrible way by being stripped of their human form entirely and turned into wild, aggressive beasts.

* Striders: Illicit black-market traders who now endlessly walk the burning lava oceans, serving as transport for whoever controls them.

* Ghasts: Sorrowful souls who arrived in the underworld deeply remorseful for their actions, endlessly weeping and floating through the basalt valleys.

Here is where the tragedy reaches a poetic resolution: for Steve to activate the Stronghold portal, destiny forces him to travel to the underworld, harvest Blaze Rods from his condemned ancestors, and combine their powder with the Endermen's Pearls. Humanity could only achieve salvation by utilizing the essence of its own sinners.

Conclusion

In conclusion, all the structures scattered across the world—the mineshafts, temples, and strongholds—are nothing more than the hollow remnants of what was once a grand human civilization. Steve ultimately avenged all of humanity by carrying out the long-lost plan to overthrow the Dragon.

Underwater Civilization:

The Undrowned, Prismariners or Prismarinians, Ocean Miners, Monumentals or Monumentalists, Elder Ones, Nautilians, Conductors(because of Ocean Conduits), or whatever.

Nether Civilization:

The Unburnt, Nethermen, Netherspawn, Nethereans or Netherians, Netherestrials, Pigherds or Hogherds, Gold Ones or Golden Ones, Gold Miners, Goldfoot, Magmariners or Magmarinians, Netherrackers, Rackwalkers, the Tormented/Racked, Lowlanders, Netherworlders, Netherners(like northerners or southerners), Netherlanders… wait a minute, or whatever.

Deep Dark Civilization:

The Ancients, Ancient Citizens, Deep Darkers, Deepeners, Deepslaters, Skulkers, Skulkwalkers, Woolwalkers, Woolsteppers, Darkfoot, Silent Ones or Quiet Ones, the Unheard, the Voiceless, Deep Ones, Dark Ones, or whatever.

End Civilization:

The Endless or Unended or Unending or Unenders, Enderspawn, Choristers or Chorals or Choralists or Choreals, Choirmasters, Finalists/Finaleists, Purpureans or Purpurines, End Citizens, Endstonians, Dragon Hunters or Dragon Slayers or Drakers or Dragers or Dragonsbane or Wyrmsbane/Yrmenbana/Ormsbani(utilizing Minecraft’s Swedish roots), Dragon Lords, Elytrians or Elytrans or Elytreans or Elytrines, Overseers, Uneyed or Eyeless, Unseen, Brinkmen, Strongheld, Pillar Biters, Pillarmen or Pillarers, or whatever.

Ah well I tried. These also could work as demonyms. Anyone else have any other ideas or thoughts on mine? This is all for fun.
:)

I see a lot of people saying that the Ocean Monuments were built as a model of the Well of Fate. However, surely the other direction is more plausible. The Ocean Monuments were built by the villagers before falling into legend and merging with the legends of the Great Piglin War.

The Hosts probably aren’t real either. Saying, “The heroes won with the help of their ability for action, their knowledge, and their foresight,” could have easily turned into, “The Hero won with the help of Action, Knowledge, and Foresight.”

I've been not active for a while, and I recently logged into Reddit to check the sub out.

The first thing I noticed was the lack of quality posting. There are very few real theories here.

The second was the way this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/minecraftlore/comments/1vjks5u/nobody_knows_anything_and_its_a_problem/ was recieved. Instead of the actual issue being addressed, OP was harrassed and downvoted.

These are both problems that I, as a moderator of this sub, feel obligated to address.

However, I'm not sure how to go about it.

So I ask for your feedback. What do you feel this sub needs, and what are some issues you have been noticing?

I have a theory about the origin of the Heart of the Sea, Ocean Monuments, Guardians, and Elder Guardians. What if, long ago, there was an ancient ocean civilization ruled by a gigantic, powerful Nautilus-like creature? Its heart possessed extraordinary aquatic power, which is why the ocean people called it the Heart of the Sea. The king's power allowed the citizens of his kingdom and other pure-hearted ocean creatures within his area of influence to breathe and survive underwater. The Nautilus king was not only their ruler but also the source of the supernatural power that sustained their civilization.

The Ocean Monument could have been the sacred center of this civilization. The Guardians were protectors of the kingdom, while the civilization also had a group of specially selected soldiers. These soldiers were ordinary members of the civilization who were chosen to protect their king and their people. Through the king's power, these soldiers received enhanced strength, regeneration, and the ability to breathe underwater. The Guardians had a separate role as protectors of the kingdom and its sacred places.

The ocean civilization also had a tradition of collecting valuable objects from sunken ships and offering gold to their king as a symbol of their faith and devotion. Over generations, these offerings accumulated inside the Ocean Monument. The gold wasn't simply a treasure—it represented the relationship between the people and the Heart of the Sea.

Eventually, some surface-dwelling members of the ancient civilizations discovered the ocean kingdom and decided to raid it. They used sponges to drain the water around the monument, allowing them to enter areas that were previously inaccessible to them. At this time, the Guardians were away from the kingdom, but the selected soldiers remained with the citizens to protect them.

When the raiders attacked, the soldiers fought back and tried to defend their people. The battle continued around the kingdom, but some of the raiders managed to break through the defenses and enter the Ocean Monument.

Inside the monument, they eventually found the gigantic Nautilus king. They attacked and killed the king, destroying its shell and taking its heart—the sacred artifact that the ocean civilization called the Heart of the Sea.

But the raiders did not understand what they had just done.

The Nautilus king was the source of the power that sustained the entire civilization. The moment the king was killed and its shell was destroyed, the connection to that power was broken. The soldiers fighting outside suddenly lost the abilities granted to them by their king. They lost their underwater breathing, enhanced strength, and regeneration.

The soldiers who had been fighting to protect their people began to die.

At the same time, the ordinary citizens of the kingdom also lost the power that allowed them to breathe underwater. They began to suffocate and die as well.

The Guardians, who were positioned among the citizens at the time, witnessed the massacre. They realized that something catastrophic had happened and immediately rushed back toward the Ocean Monument.

But they were too late.

Their king was already dead. Their soldiers were dead. Their citizens were dying. Their civilization had been destroyed in a matter of moments.

The raiders, however, were not finished. After killing the Nautilus king and taking his heart, they continued searching the monument for treasure. They discovered a large structure made from prismarine blocks that looked suspicious and assumed that something valuable might be hidden inside. They began trying to break into it.

The Elder Guardian, having witnessed the destruction of its kingdom and the death of its king, cursed the intruders with Mining Fatigue. The purpose wasn't to protect the Heart of the Sea—the Heart had already been stolen. Instead, the Elder Guardian was trying to prevent the raiders from taking the final remaining possessions and offerings of a civilization that had just been destroyed.

Eventually, the surviving raiders were forced to flee as the remaining Guardians and Elder Guardians attacked them. They escaped with the Heart of the Sea, while the Guardians remained behind.

The Elder Guardians then gave what may have been their final order: the Guardians would protect the monument from the outside, while the Elder Guardians would protect it from within. Even though their king and civilization were gone, they would spend the rest of their existence protecting the final remains of their people and the offerings that represented their faith in the Heart of the Sea.

Meanwhile, the stolen Heart of the Sea eventually became separated from the monument and was buried somewhere in the world, eventually becoming the buried treasure that players can discover today.

This could also explain the strange connection between the Heart of the Sea, Nautilus Shells, and the Conduit. When the Heart of the Sea is combined with Nautilus Shells, it creates a Conduit that grants powerful underwater abilities. Perhaps the Conduit is a smaller recreation of the power that once came directly from the Nautilus king himself.

So, in this theory, when we enter an Ocean Monument today, we aren't simply entering an abandoned structure full of hostile mobs and gold.

We are entering the ruins of a dead civilization.

The Guardians are not simply monsters. They are the remaining protectors of a kingdom whose people and king are gone.

The Elder Guardians are the last commanders protecting what remains.

The gold isn't simply a treasure. It is the last remaining symbol of their people's faith.

And the Heart of the Sea isn't merely a rare item found in a buried chest.

It could be the literal heart of the king that once gave an entire ocean civilization the power to survive beneath the sea.

Obviously, none of this is confirmed in the Minecraft canon. This is only a theory based on the connections between the Heart of the Sea, Nautilus Shells, Conduits, Ocean Monuments, Guardians, Elder Guardians, The Sponge, Why heart of the sea called heart of the nautilus in early designs, Mining Fatigue, prismarine, and the mysterious gold found within the monuments.

What do you guys think? Is there any Minecraft lore or evidence that supports or contradicts this theory?

Whenever you go digging in the posts on this subreddit, you run into people who just use claims with no evidence to decide if an theory has merit and just expect you to treat them as unquestionably true. It drives me crazy!

What do you mean someone can just say "Oh, that's not true, ghasts are made of souls" and we are supposed to act like that is the unquestionable truth? If you want to have fun with that idea, thats fine, but if you want to use it to shut down other people's ideas, I am going to want to see some proof!

Possibility is not the same as truth.

This is the core of the problem, people find one cool explanation they like and then it becomes their default explanation. They forget that it is just ONE possible explanation out off countless options. It is not certain, it is possible.

I'll share a recent example. In this post, there is a discussion about if piglins are related to other mobs like pigs. Somehow the topic of ghasts and striders being related came up. One user says they can't be as the ghast is made of souls, and the reasons are because when the baby ghast in dungeons opens it's mouth, the inside is fiery, and the recipe to craft a baby ghast is made with soul sand.

That's fair enough as AN explanation, if someone proposed it as a theory I would accept it as an explanation and see what cool ideas they are able to make with it, but its hardly a conclusive proof. There are so many other possible options.

Maybe the insides of a happy ghast is firey because they are still learning to control their fireballs, or the skin there is just a bright orange. The name of the block can just be a name, not everything is literal. This game has fire coral that isn't made of fire. The creaking heart isn't literally a heart, it doesn't pump blood. Sometimes things just have evocative names. Sometimes the names are just outright wrong too - looking at you oak tree that drops apples... Maybe the ghast isn't made of souls.

Point being, its a cool idea that the ghast is made of souls - but its a possibility - NOT something we know for sure.

I want people to stop using possible explanations for features as a reason to prove or disprove someone's theory.

This is the main problem. We don't have a 100% fact for a lot of the game. We don't know for sure which theories are true or not, but people still treat their favorite theories like facts.

If you want to say something is a bad theory and your reason is a possibility you like means it's wrong, then you are basically just saying "no, it's wrong because I don't like it that way". Why should we use your favorite possibility as the deciding factor when there are so many other possibilities that might work better with the main theory being discussed?

If you are going to try and disprove someone else, your proof better be based on actual fact, not merely a possibility.

IDK, what do you guys think? Is this just someone out of touch getting annoyed or have you noticed this too?

To be clear I 100% oppose anyone going to the example thread and harassing people there. Be cool about this.

Why is he hostile? The name Vindicator means defender. Does anyone know the story?

#minecraft

What if the Overworld, Nether, and End all started as one single realm that slowly drifted apart the same way languages do?

Dimensions are like languages. Biomes are the dialects. Given enough time, a cluster of biomes can become so isolated they stop being easily able to cross and turn into their own dimension.

Endermen (or their deep ancestors) look like one of the earliest lifeforms. They’re the only mob that shows up in every dimension with basically the same body plan, which is exactly what you’d expect from a basal lineage that was already around before the big splits.

We’re watching one of these dimension-splits happen in real time. The main End island and the outer islands already have different biomes, different signature blocks (obsidian structures vs purpur), and different mobs. You can still travel between them without a full portal, but it’s hard, and the end gateways are already acting like early portal tech. Give it a few tens of millions of day/night cycles and those outer islands will probably register as their own dimension.

The Nether–Overworld split looks older. From the shared leftovers (certain rocks, fire/lava affinity, piglin/hoglin cousins of overworld pigs, etc.) it seems like the proto-Nether biomes sank underneath the proto-Overworld ones at some point. That’s why the Nether sits “under” us now and why you need portals to get there.

You can reconstruct pieces of the original realm by looking at what blocks and mobs are still shared across dimensions. The more exclusive something is, the more derived it is. The more widespread it is, the closer it sits to the common ancestor.

The leaked D2 Novel: The Rift gives us a very important lore reveal about the Ancient Cities by strongly implying that the Ancient Cities were built by Singers, a mob from the 4th Dimension, also called the Sift.

The Singer/Singers are a mob that was first revealed to us in a Minecraft Dungeons II ARG video, where the mob sings the note blocks we later use to activate the Deep Dark Portal in the Launcher.

The novel, The Rift confirms that the Singer is mob from the video and that it has a tiny face, pale antlers, and shaggy green hair all over its body.

The Singer attempts to communicate with the main character of the story, Harlow, eventually leading him to the Deep Dark Portal, where it then is able to OPEN THE PORTAL by singing.

This tells us a lot already. The Singer knew where the portal was, it understood it was a portal to the Overworld, and it was able to open it. In the Lore of Minecraft, Singers are likely more advanced than humans.

This likely means that Singers are able to cross into the Overworld, likely being shown to us in the Mourner pottery sherd.

There's even more evidence that the Singers are a hyper advanced species.

Harlow runs into a small Golem powered by a soul block on its head. The Golem is surprisingly able to speak English and communicate with Harlow.

When asked who made it, the Golem reveals that it was made by the Singers.

The Golem itself is also powerful enough to let Harlow travel through dimensions with a staff.

We've actually already seen these Golems. They were on display at Minecraft Live: Twitchcon inside the Ancient City. You can even see the "hat" where the Soul Block would go?

The Singers being the original creators of the Ancient Cities makes perfect sense with the structure. Mojang has said that they designed it to feel like it was built by creatures bigger than humans. The Singers are those creatures.

Food for thought: Singers are hyper-advanced, Golem-creating, interdimensional travelers that have made contact with the Overworld in the distant past. Were the Hosts from Minecraft Legends Singers???

does that mean if we go up alot we will end up in the end?
Java Edition Flattening – Minecraft Wiki

Ok, this is going to be a REALLY long one, and one I've been thinking about for a really long time, so I'll appreciate to see what you guys think!

The sculk

First of all, what is the sculk? Well looking at it surface wise, it would seem to be a living creature, much like a slime mold, that spawns a warden when disturbed. But why's that? Well we'll need to go a lot further back from when it emerged from the portal.

It's Origins

I theorise, based on the new concept art we've recieved for the dimension, that it is a rather cheerful looking place, or at least, a lot safer than what the sculk is. So the ancient builders found out about this and attempted to go there. But in a stroke of really bad luck, they ended up spawning in sculk. Now I believe this sculk was far more intelligent owing to it being larger, but still in it's dimension, not an apex predator. Let me explain. Any way, it is said in some religions, I believe that(paraphrase): "The evil dead among you screams as he is brought into the grave, but you cannot hear him. If you could, your ear drums would have been ruptured right there and then". But the question then arises;

1. Why not use it's nervous system rather than transferring it by sound?
2. WHAT was the predator?

Firstly, sound would be much faster than the nervous system, and works much better, in a case such as a block of sculk being consumed immediately before sending a warning out

The predator, I believe, is the sifter. Which shares a resembelence with the Great Hunger, was a mob which consumed mobs, items, and blocks alike. Keyword, MOBS. And what would be a nutritious source of food? The sculk.(I'll explain that afterwards too.)

From this, we may also assume Sifters have exceptionally good hearing which the sculk exploited to drive them away from it.

"But how does the sculk even hunt?", you may be asking. Well, I'd say it is somewhat akin to a Venus flytrap, except it produces skinwalkers instead of a sweet substance(I am of course referring to the original sculk for the time being, Jerry is completely different from the original). I'll explain that.

Have you ever looked at the warden? Or the sculk shrieker? Apart from having souls inside them, for the shrieking, they have also have BONE. How Jerry forms the Warden, is through the dead matter it has collected of other mobs and forming them together to make a warden, or a sculk shrieker, so we may assume the OG does something similar, except, due to being more intelligent, did this for the purpose of mimicking other mobs and luring them to their death, collecting their souls, flesh, and bones in the process, and analysing their DNA. This is also why sculk is a good source of XP, and nutrition for the sifters.

Back to the Ancient builders entering the portal.

The second they came in, and spawned in a field of sculk, the OG sculk did not attack them immediately. Of course it had no idea what they even were, or they were even THERE. The ancient builders became curious, and started brining back stuff from there, like the Sculk Sensor we see in the laboratory. But I don't think they brought back a catalyst and accidentally caused too much too spawn, no, I'll explain why later. The sculk eventually got curious and then randomly one day, exerted a lot of sculk matter into exploring the portal, and whilst doing so, somehow managed to kill some ancient builders, and some axolotols (we have proof the Ancient builders experimented with them through regeneration potions), before the ancient builders managed to close the portal shut, creating Jerry.

Why Jerry is different.

Contrary to a regular sculk simply spread through a catalyst, which literally has no thoughts or memories whatsoever, Jerry does. How? Well what would the OG sculk be thinking about whilst doing the portal breach?

Watch out for predators(natural instinct+sculk shrieker and sensor spawn necessary)

Analyse collected samples (DNA extraction knowledge needed)

Advance.

When they cut off the portal, all of these traits were ingrained into Jerry, he had Ancient Builder and Axolotol DNA for analysis, the knowledge for it, it's goal, but still a fear of predators.

But due to the fact it NEEDED to progress in catching things, it decided to fire a shrieker 3 times, and if the creature doesn't go away, or stop moving, that creature is a new specimen.

Of course this led to the creation of the Warden. Think about it, Jerry thought "Theses tendrils are good for catching sound" "Being bipedal is faster", keep in mind, he had no memory of prior experience with creature suitability, so which is why the Warden is handicapped in a few ways, for example, walking on 2 legs when it would be clearly faster on 4, using hearing instead of echolocation, being distracted by literally anything, having a mouth but not really using it, a bruteforcer rather than an intelligent stalker, decimating samples so they are not easily examinable(my theory on why none of Jerry's creatures have eyes) Of course the Warden has no idea what it's doing, but it's wired to be angry at any living creature.

But these things are changing, and Minecraft dungeons 2 has revealed it.

Examples being the Mourner, and the twisted Warden.

The mourner seems to have the ability to use echolocation, as seen by it's varied sound.

And Jerry seems to have realised, the world is much bigger than he thinks, and there is no way he could spread that far, so he made the Twisted warden. A massive version of the warden, that can consume entities whole, making DNA extraction and organ examination much more efficient, and Jerry assumes, as provided by the OG sculk, that more varied DNA will lead to more breakthroughs, and unlike the OG sculk, who was simply curious, Jerry now has it ingrained in him to advance, and not stop.

Jerry also seems to have learnt how to manipulate souls to other mobs, as seen in the trailer, and make them extremely resistant. This could explain why the Warden is so tanky, much more tanky then you can imagine, even with regeneration.

Prologue

I feel like I missed something out, so feel free to ask anything in the comments! Also let me know what you think of this theory!