Minecraft just made me question everything I thought I knew about Endermen

Minecraft has some spicy lore, especially for a game largely considered to be played by kids. We know that's not true, of course, but if the general public knew that there were far deeper layers than Jack Black and "chicken jockey," they might start getting concerned. I've always been fascinated by the concept of the End, mostly because it involves a dragon. Dragons are great. However, the eerie shells of former builders known as Endermen have always freaked me out. Unfortunately for me, specifically, a new lore drop has made them even creepier.

The Endermen are builders from another dimension, so we don't know a whole lot about them. What I can tell you, though, is that they're the creepiest mobs in the game. Keep your Creepers, the Warden has nothing on these purple-eyed freaks. I think a part of it is because they don't notice you until you make eye contact. What's with that?

Endermen are nightmare fuel, the worst thing that the survival game can throw at you. Even Herobrine has nothing on them. But Minecraft has revealed some new lore that makes these lanky lads even weirder.

A new hoodie has appeared on the official Minecraft store, which shows a cross-section of an Enderman. Inside, you can clearly see a human-ish skeleton. If anything, this makes the teleporting terrors even scarier. It was low-key reassuring when they dissected the Facehugger in Alien, and its anatomy was completely, well, alien. Oysters and acidic blood are somehow more reassuring than human-like bone structure.

The fact there's something human about the Endermen makes them feel like a warning to humanity. Could this be our fate? The merch drop also includes a skeletal Ender Dragon design, but I always figured dragons had bones, so that hasn't freaked me out as much.

Minecraft players are currently discussing whether merch is considered canon. Many lump it in with the non-canonical Minecraft Mobestiary, which offers an interesting insight into the creatures of the game, but isn't considered fact. Still, for all intents and purposes we know that Endermen have bones now. I'm not sure how to feel about that.

If you can still stomach facing off against the Endermen after all this, the best Minecraft seeds should set you up with a good start. I wonder if one of the best Minecraft mods will help me face my skeleton-based fears…

How do you feel about knowing what's inside an Enderman? Let us know in our community Discord server, where readers and staff discuss other such existential questions.