Minecraft Mobestiary/Creepers

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Creeper

The Creeper is perhaps one of the more sad creatures I've researched, due to their history. If it weren't for their history, they'd be very quite fascinating, but alas, tragedy must complicate things. Due to how they are, I must split this into three sections: one for the standard variety likely to be familiar to most of you, one for the wild variety that was changed by the Illagers, and one for the charged variety that emerges from lightning.

The Typical Creeper

Physiology

Creepers of all types share the same basic structure: a head atop a tall, thin body, with four, short legs to provide locomotion, in addition to a long tail. They also all share the same curiosity that fascinates me so much: kingdom! Specifically, instead of being animals, these are decisively plants! They completely lack bones and fur, instead having wood and leaves, which makes their ability to walk so interesting. Do forgive me for indulging in unscientific ideas here, but I must say that the idea of a walking plant can only be explained by some sort of magic kickstarting their evolutionary career, as many of their characteristic features are peculiar for a plant to have.

Now, the Creeper most will find, which shall henceforth be referred to as "Illager Creepers," get their characteristic explosive tendencies from the gunpowder, TNT, or another similar compound that Illagers put in them. There's actual evidence for this, too, as I have witnessed Illagers capturing and transporting wild Creepers, and seen the Creeper gardens in certain outposts. Plus, the idea of Illagers taking a benign creature and turning it hostile isn't unheard of; just look at Vexes and Allays!

Behavior

Illager Creepers tend to prowl during the night and in caves, as that's when they can get to preform their namesake behavior: creeping up on unwary explorers. Usually, they'll sneak up on their foe, and then violently explode behind their back, producing a loud hissing sound when doing so. They also occasionally hiss when idle, alerting potential prey to their presence. In order to actually explode, however, they take their usually agape mouths and shut them, allowing the material inside to start priming and, after a bit, explode. This action also produces the hissing sound they're known so much for, as otherwise they cannot vocalize.

This explosion is fatal for any Illager Creeper, due to how close they are to the explosion itself. If one wishes to stop the explosion, all they need to do is run away from the Illager Creeper as it's being primed, as doing so will cause it to immediately stop. If one wishes to purposefully cause it to explode, however, one would need a flint and steel, and then ignite their tail. This causes an irreversible priming of the Illager Creeper, with the tail acting like a fuse.

Aside from that, Illager Creepers will ignore everything but explorers and cats. Their behavior towards explorers is what was previously outlined, however, their behavior towards cats is far different. Interestingly, they are acutely afraid of cats, and will run away from them if their target is near one. Cats, on the other hand, ignore them, so why the feeling isn't reciprocated is beyond me. Regardless, it's still useful to know, as Illager Creepers are quite the hassle to deal with for amateurs.

Where to Find

Illager Creepers can be found practically everywhere, as their seeds allow them to propagate faster than their untainted brethren. As stated earlier, they primarily prowl around during the night, but can be found in areas sufficiently dark, like caves or Dark Oak Forests. Being rather common, they aren't too difficult to find.

Spoils of Combat

If one were to successfully defeat an Illager Creeper and not blow it up, they'd gain a modest amount of experience energy, which is helpful with enchanting gear, as well as some gunpowder. They'll usually give either one or two clumps of gunpowder, but they can grant clumps small enough to be unusable, or even give no gunpowder at all. This gunpowder can be used for a wide variety of things, such as explosives, fireworks, fire charges, firework stars, and other explosive items.

Alchemists can also use it to make throwable potions, referred to as "splash potions" by the alchemical community. Once a potion is made into a splash potion, the process cannot be reversed, but the potion can still be tampered with, such as putting Glowstone Dust into it to extend the length or Redstone Dust to increase it's potency.

Wild Creepers

meh... i procrastinated too hard... maybe tomorrow...

Wild Creeper