Web Animation / Rainimator

Following

Main Fractures Episodes

Season 1: Herobrine's Revenge

• The Struggle
• Cold as Ice
• We Are the Danger
• Just So You Know
• Goodbye

Season 2: The Last Ender Watcher

• Wings of Salvation
• Hard Pill to Swallow
• Wither Heart
• Ender Wish
• Wishing Dead
• Falling
• Cold as Ice: The Remake

Season 3: The Endstone Crusaders

• Be Afraid
• Eternal
• Gotta Get Outta Here
• Clear Skies
• Back into Darkness
• Already Dead
• Preach to the Choir
• We are the Danger XL

Season 4: The Unburnt Rebellion

• I Try Today
• You Can Do Better
• Unburnt Rebellion
• Fine Right Here
• Paper Towels
• Waterfall

Special Fractures Episodes

• Begin Again - Abigail
• 1 of a Kind - Kyle
• Nightmares - Ciara
• Poison - Kane
• To the Void - Captain Arabella
• Demons - Herobrine
• Pretty In The Sky - Naeus

Other videos

• Fractures - a trailer for a scrapped movie
• A Christmas Special - Collab with TheBlueJerome
• Our Song - Collab with TheFatRat
• Noob's Adventure
• Crossed The Line [Version B] - Collab with Fricco
• Red Line

• Animated Music Video: Most of his current works are these, usually as covers for small-time artists and independent labels.
• The Big Race: Red Line's premise has the protagonist taking part in two street races. The first ended with her crashing her car, while the second has her coming back with her car remodeled and beating the street racing club.
• Bolivian Army Ending: “Our Song” ends with the pursuing detective being cornered by the Nether Family, preparing for a firefight.
• Canon Welding: Back when Rainimator went by Radapedaxa, the two player characters who would become Rain and Abigail would star in their own videos where they would generally go on fun adventures together, while Herobrine starred in his own canon as an infamous leader of mob bandits. When the Fractures series was created, the couple and Herobrine would be put in together in the same canon.
• Christmas Episode: Rainimator once did a non-canon collab episode with TheBlueJerome involving Rain and Stella joining a Christmas dinner with the main characters of the "Running To Never" trilogy.
• Cool Old Guy: The mechanic who runs the workshop in “Red Line” (named Reykjavik, Rey for short) seems to be this, helping the protagonist Mori to upgrade her car after it’s crashed in a street race.
• It's Personal: Detective Rose makes it her personal mission to get back at Herobrine Crime Family after her partner, Officer Zeg is gunned down by the mob boss during “Our Song”. She makes it even more personal after she figures out that her superior is a Dirty Cop for the Crime Family.
• The Mafia: Our Song took place in a modern setting with a detective being pitted against Herobrine's criminal mob gang and the Dirty Cop who is watching her.
• Song Parody: Rain would use songs from various sources before his first channel was stolen. After creating his second channel, he mostly uses music from the rock band Blacklite District.

• Aerith and Bob: Some characters have more mundane names like Lance, Stella or Patrick, while other characters are called names like Azura, Nostra or Zarkos.
• The Alliance: The Frostbourne initially fought off the undead on their own, but the Ender Watchers joined up with them after Rain proved his worthiness by taming the Ender Dragon. Later on, the Ender Watchers were annihilated by Nether forces, which were already being attacked by a group of warriors called the Netherbane. After Kane and Ciara rescued Rain and Stella and brought them back to the Frostbourne, they agree to form a four-man group called the Endstone Crusaders to find the End Crystals while the Frostbourne continues fighting the larger scale battles.
• Ancestral Weapon: The Nether Star wielded by Abbigail is shown to be a family heirloom passed down through the generations, ever since her ancestor Belphagor was the Nether King. She herself was given the Star when her aunt Vanessa left for unknown reasons, but her extended use of it warped her mind with each, and every kill. Naeus acquired the Star after Abbigail’s demise, and it immediately made him more powerful during his early reign as Nether Emperor, though Abbigail is glad she is free of its influence after her most recent revival.
• The Assimilator: Naeus makes it a regular practice to absorb as much power sources and abilities from his enemies’ remains, ensuring that he remains as powerful as possible throughout the story. The Nether Horde also absorbs the remnants of other nether nations that it conquers and subjugates to further strengthen themselves in their campaign on the Overworld.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: All the leaders are excellent warriors, and the setting means that they more than likely ‘’need’’ to be in order to prove themselves worthy of such a position.
• Author Avatar: Rain shares his name with the creator of the series, who also has him as his profile picture.
• Badass Army: The majority of the armies in the setting prove themselves to be very capable of going up against incredible odds:
  • The Frostbourne military is its entire society, which constantly evolves over the course of the series in adapting new ways to keeping up with the Undead, and later, the Nether Horde. They include the regular infantry, archers, bandits, cavalry, hunting squadrons, a small navy, an air force, and most recently, elite golems.
  • The forces of the Nether Horde regularly show that while their primary strength lies in their sheer numbers, they too have diverse units at their disposal. They have flying units in ghasts, blazes and wither angels, high-grade Netherite armour, Withers that they deploy in large open battles, and Wither Giants used as kaiju to destroy enemy forces. This is on top of using magic far more frequently than the Frostbourne.
• Big Bad: Herobrine was this during Season 1, but after he and the Pig King were killed, Naeus saw the opportunity to take over the Nether as its emperor to continue the war against the Overworld and Ender Watchers.
• Big Badass Battle Sequence: This happens several times a season, to the point that it’s guaranteed to happen in every other episode.
• Capital Offensive:
  • This was attempted by Ender forces on Frostbourne Castle, Dreadfort, in Cold As Ice (Season 1), which was thwarted when Rain went into the End and used an Ender Eye to tame the Dragon, forging an alliance between the Frostbourne and the Ender Watchers.
  • The Nether Empire successfully pulled this in Season 2 when they attacked New Dragonspire, the headquarters of the Ender Watchers. They have since used it to create an End-Nether fusion of the Dragon, and for harvesting Ender Pearls.
• Citadel City: The Frostbourne’s Castle, the Dreadfort is a fortress of a city where the Forstbourne build and plan all of their resources for the many wars that they have had to face, being in the barren tundra that they live in.
• Combat Medic:
  • Nostra (short for Nostradamus) the Occult Doctor, initially proves their medicinal knowledge when treating patients afflicted with the Demon Curse, and later treating soldiers with specific and unique injuries (such as Azura’s strike from Naeus). “Preach To The Choir” later shows that they fill the Weak, but Skilled type of combat by using healing potions against the undead, and wielding an intricate curved knife called Contagion against Azalea and her vines.
  • Wurstguard the War-torn, is the capable medic of the Unburnt Rebellion, regularly tending to the wounded when a battle is over, and is proficient with ranged weapons, notably a crossbow, and later uses what seems to be a handheld cannon against a zombie Ravager in “Fine Right Here”.
• Conscription: The Frostbourne, being a stratocratic nation (where the government and the military are one the same), employs mandatory conscription throughout its population, with training beginning at age 12 and becoming ready for military service at 18.
• Creator Cameo: The Production Team behind the series will occasionally have their skins cameo in the series to fill in as minor characters, usually in the Frostbourne and Netherbane.
• Culture Chop Suey: The Frostbourne seem to have a culture mix of both Ancient Sparta, and the Norse Viking societies. The former being a stratocratic (military-led) society that trains their citizens from a young age for war, the latter being based in the cold northern territories where being able to fight means well survival against its many hostile forces.
• Curb-Stomp Cushion: Most of the battles the Frostbourne face against Nether Horde typically end like this, with both sides inflicting a large number of casualties, the Frostbourne getting to test out their new weapons on them and taking some of the most important assets of the Nether, before needing to retreat with very little gained, other than staling the Nether’s overall advance.
• Dance Battler: Though rare, this form of combat does appear on occasion, but tends to be Subverted:
  • Before being fully corrupted by the influence of the Royal Nether Star, Abigail incorporated some ballet into her combat, best shown when she’s fighting off Ciara during the events of “Nightmares”. After her revival, she hasn’t used them to the same extent, though it might be because of the style she adapted with her new weapon and abilities.
  • Lance, in his debut episode of “Poison”, dances much like Michael Jackson in his fight against Abigail and later, Kane. Throughout the episode however, it’s implied that he is Just Toying with Them until he’s forced to forgo it for practicality. The War of the Ender Kingdoms prequel series also shows that he didn’t always having this style, showing him utilising more practical combat styles.
• Dangerous Deserter: Much of the newly-formed Unburnt Rebellion is seen as this, with many of its high-ranking members, such as Urgrakk and Lahar, having left the army and the war in general for their own personal convictions.
• Decapitated Army: The main antagonist armies after Season 1 suffer this fate. Though both do rebuild themselves after a while, to varying degrees.
  • The Nether Horde devolves into civil war due to the long-brewing tensions between Wither Skeletons and Pigmen after Glutton’s death, who was able to temper the tensions during his reign. Not long after, Naeus is able to slay the unnamed Pigman attempting to make himself king and unite the Nether’s forces under his rule, subjugating nearby kingdoms to create a force to conquer the three dimensions.
  • Herobrine’s Undead forces suffer this after the Nether Horde, with the remnants of his undead army returning to their original masters if they aren’t mindless. Numerous Undead Lords spring up in the power vacuum, with only a handful of them, such as the Scorched Corpses and the Drowned Legion becoming a large enough threat. Many of Herobrine’s former allies later form the Corpse Alliance and team up with the Nether Horde, making themselves a thorn in the Frostbourne’s side once again.
• Defector from Decadence: The Freedom Fighters, later named to the Unburnt Rebellion, largely consist of these, if they didn’t already oppose the Nether Empire’s plans in the first place.
  • From the Pigmen:
    • Urgrakk was once a commander in the Horde before he lost his son, losing the will to fight for the empire entirely.
    • Wurstguard was a loyalist of King Glutton, going into retirement following Naeus’ ascension, before returning to battle after the fall of the Piglin Kingdom, putting his Combat Medic skills to good use.
  • From the Piglins: Bash Brothers Baator Basaltwalker and Durkkol the Hoarder, have a sense of patriotism towards their home kingdom, and aren’t happy about their people effectively being used as Cannon Fodder for the ongoing invasion of the Overworld, nor the attempted assimilation by the Imperial Loyalists.
  • From the Blaze Kingdom:
    • Akui Azurlumen is the Half-Blazekin Half-Netherkin daughter of a General, who was killed alongside the Blaze King under Brots’ command during Season 3, giving her all the desire necessary to get back at the empire that got her father killed.
    • Lahar is an old friend of King Glutton, who went into retirement when Glutton expressed ambition to conquer the Overworld. When he sees that the Empire has gone all-in with an invasion of the Overworld, be comes out of retirement to put an end to it.
• Defiant to the End: This is recurring trope throughout the series, with it being invoked at least Once a Season with the following examples:
  • Rain’s first death at the end of “The Struggle”, has him doing whatever he can to kill as many of the infected zombies before succumbing to the infection himself.
  • Season 2’s “Wings of Salvation” gives us Gigabone, who keeps fighting Azura despite her having sliced his arm off, still swinging before she ultimately kills him.
  • During “Eternal” in Season 3, King Porkshire is fully aware that he is likely to die at the hands of Ciara, with her vendetta against him going a long way back. This does not stop him from making a final stand against her during the Endstone Crusaders attempt to retrieve the End Crystal from him. He manages to get the upper hand, choking Ciara before she summons her karambits and stabs him to death.
• Delaying Action: The Season 2 finale, Cold As Ice XL, features this tactic as the primary goal of the Frostbourne to stop the Nether from gaining a large enough foothold in the Overworld after the fall of the Ender Watchers. This very nearly failed after Naeus turned up to unleash his power on the army, only for Daryll (who had called the plan insane when he first heard of it) to sacrifice himself in a Mutual Kill with Naeus, which properly stalled the Horde’s movements in the Overworld until Naeus was revived.
• Dem Bones: Skeletons regularly appear as a major part of undead factions, and their wither counterparts are often seen as the backbone of the Nether factions.
• Determined Defeatist: The Ender Watchers become this in Season 2, having foreseen that the Nether Horde would eventually destroy them, but fought to the bitter end anyway.
• Downer Beginning: The first episode, The Struggle, began with an undead infection attacking and destroying Glacierford. Its remaining survivors try to flee, but Herobrine's undead army catch up to them, with Rain being turned into another zombie while Abigail is shot with arrows by a skeleton archer. The rest of the first Season has the Frostbourne rescue and cure Rain, who joins them in the fight against Herobrine.
• Dragon Rider: Rain, becomes one in Cold As Ice after he tames the Ender Dragon, bringing the dragon into the Overworld and having it attack the Nether during the events of We Are The Danger.
• Dual Wielding: This is very common in the setting, as many characters use different weapons to wield in battle, such as Ser Patrick’s twin naginata and Kane’s cleaver and pistol.
• Eldritch Abomination: Just about everything that Lance created from the Void during the Ender Wars of the past, many of which are empowered with Skulk and mutated to create Mix-and-Match Critters. This is stated to be an effect of Lance’s skill with Void magic.
• Elite Mooks: Mutated mobs will serve as this, with some form of eldritch magic involved in their creation:
  • The Nether has given us two variants: 1. The Mutated Piglin Brute in the service of the Piglin Kingdom, which required the efforts of three of the Endstone Crusaders to successfully kill it, and 2. Guktark the Witherpig, a Humanoid Abomination made fusing a wither skeleton on the body of a mutated zombie pigman, which is killed by the Unburnt Rebellion.
  • Lance created these through his Void Magic, creating Endermen and part-dragon creatures to fight his war against the Ender Kingdoms. The best of which served as his generals, such as General Dystopia who led the forces against the Gatekeepers.
• Elite Zombie: Herobrine had many of these in his army, thanks to his alliance with the Ostrovic Order, which acted as armoured units in many of the battles against the Frostbourne. After Herobrine’s fall, the vast majority of them returned to the Order, which would eventually become part of the Corpse Alliance.
• Enemy Civil War: While the Nether Horde is initially portrayed as a dangerous antagonistic force, Season 2 reveals that it split in half very quickly after King Glutton is slain. The Pigmen and the Wither skeletons came to blows with each other, with Naeus leading the latter faction to victory and reuniting the Nether as an empire, though his desires to expand the nation would eventually lead to the Unburnt Rebellion forming in opposition to this goal. This group is later led by the recently revived Abigail, who felt that Naeus had manipulated her by giving her a Nether Star powerful enough to brainwash her.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: All races and genders are allowed in the Nether’s armies, with Naeus in particular, making it a policy to have as many different leaders in his army from different species, with the goal of creating a more united front against those they conquer.
• Face–Monster Turn: Two variants have turned up so far:
  • Abigail represents a monster turned by The Corruption brought about by the Royal Nether Star, which was corrupting her every time she would use its power (for both combat and prophecy), and over the course of several months, it stripped her of her humanity. During her time as a more feral Netherkin, she mercilessly cut down her opponents, and gave the killing blow to her former lover Rain, not so much as remembering or caring about what she did. After being freed from its influence following her second resurrection, she’s able to forsake her previous life and works to make up for what she did, leading a La Résistance against Naeus as part of that.
  • Stella gives an example of And Then John Was a Zombie. After being struck by a knife coated in corrupting poison, she wakes up as a feral, cursed Netherkin, and immediately turns on Rain, with her magical abilities enhancing her attacks on him. Rain is able to blast her with a spell that restores some of her humanity, which makes run away before Kane and Ciara have a chance to hunt her down. She is later purged of her demonic curse by a dying Zeganirn, and returns to her original personality and temperament, but still has her pyrokinetic abilities and horns on her head from then on.
• Fantasy World Map: Some animations show the war being discussed over a map of the Continent, which is portrayed as a single landmass large enough for at least one of each major biome from the game.
• Fearless Undead: Zigzagged, the attitude of the undead typically depends on the situation, with some undead possessing just enough self-preservation to at least try to run away if it looks like they’re in trouble.
• Frontline General: A common scene in the series, the Frostbourne Grandmasters have this as a standing policy, with both Theo and Patrick being right at the front with their soldiers during battle. It is in fact rare to see high-ranking military personnel not in battle with their subordinates, with only Kralos having not participated in battle since the finale of Season 2.
• Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: Many undead humans may briefly possess these during their initial revival process, which will most likely turn into other colours after they settle.
• Grim Up North: The Frostbourne, who live in a snow biome at the northeast corner of the Continent, are a nation whose army is known for fighting the Undead monsters that would try to invade their land. With the death of Herobrine, the Undead would later be replaced by the Nether Horde, who continue to fight the Frostbourne for control of the Continent.
• Great Offscreen War:
  • The Undead were apparently ravaging the Overworld for around 14 years before reaching Glacierford in The Struggle.
  • The Saltbourne, another large faction of the Overworld, are having a war with the Drowned Legion. This causes them to not join the main war.
  • A much older example would be the War of the Ender Kingdoms, which saw the End Crystals being fought for, and ending with the founding of the Ender Watchers under Ceris. Currently, only one episode showing the beginning of this war is released.
• Guns Akimbo: Both Daryll and Azura of the Frostbourne use this as one of their primary means of combat, though they do have melee weapons to use in close quarters, or if firearms won’t work.
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • The Bandits seem to have this dynamic with the primary Frostbourne army. They were previously roaming thugs and criminals, and many of them had bounties on their heads for all the crimes they committed. When the Frostbourne captured them, they were indentured to military service to work off their sentences, and many, including their leaders Daryll and Flint, reformed from their criminal ways. Despite this, many bandits have deserted (as is the nature of many Hired Guns) and the Frostbourne is considering scrapping them to create a scouting division in their place.
  • The Unburnt Rebellion in the Nether is a much more straightforward example. Many of its members would not have gotten along together, let alone being willing to put their lives on the line for one another, if the Nether Empire hadn’t attempted to assimilate them into the grander war effort against the Overworld. One of their leaders, Urgrakk the Deserter, is a former commander of the Horde who has since vowed to stop the conquest, knowing how much the war is costing the average citizen of the Nether, befriending many like-minded deserters who would have been oppressed by the actions of his former superiors.
• Hidden Army Reveal:
  • “Gotta Get Outta Here” shows the Frostbourne, coming out of the cover of a blizzard to decimate Hogsworth’s forces, just as they were about to retreat at that.
  • This seems to be a specialty of the Soulsand Servitors, where their soulbound wither skeletons bursting from the soulsand surrounding their bastion to ambush any would-be attackers.
• High-Altitude Battle: Lady Azura is all but guaranteed to participate in these when she has her wingsuit on:
  • She goes against the Wither Angels in a pre-emptive attack in “Wings of Salvation” at the beginning of Season 2, decimating their numbers and stopping them from maintaining their hold in the Floating Isles in the Overworld.
  • She then goes up against ghasts, blazes and a Wither in the finale of Season 2 “Cold As Ice XL”, alongside the Elytra Corps that she captains.
  • The finale of Season 3 “We Are The Danger XL” has the Wither Angels, led by Kaia the Witherkai, out for revenge and challenging Azura to another battle. This ultimately gets subverted however, as most of the fighting takes place against ground forces at the Frostbourne’s Dreadfort, and Azura eventually kills Kaia after she’s baited into the Nether.
• Horse Back Heroism: Ser Patrick is the head of the Frostbourne Cavalry as well as the Grandmaster, and he regularly rides in and out of battle on a horse, which is usually followed by him performing amazing feats of combat.
• Human Subspecies: The races of the settings, both from canon Minecraft and used specifically for Fractures, are divided up as thus:
  • Humankind is divided up into Humans, Villagers and Illagers, with the latter two being closer in relation than to Humans. Each one has commanded their own civilisations across the continent at various points in history, though the Illagers have declined significantly in recent times. They also have their own ethnicities within the races, as shown in brief cameos across the series. It is said however, that the Netherkin and Enderkin are descended from humans who were either lost, or settled into the respective dimensions thousands of years in the past.
  • Pigfolk is the name for the combined races of Pigman and Piglin, with the latter having branched off from the former. Unlike with Humankind, they all get along rather well and will almost always have each other’s species in each other’s armies. They are also closely related enough to have hybrid offspring, as is the case with Hogsworth of the Nether Empire.
  • Wither Skeletons of the Nether have their own subspecies, though it’s unknown if they are natural, or made with magical influence. In any case, the Wither Giants and Wither Angels are directly branched from the base Wither Skeleton “species” and have made their own cultures in the Nether. The wither themselves are the remains of Netherkin who kept living after their flesh fell away.
  • The Endermen have their own unique ethnicities from varying End Territories, but the ones from the Deltas are referred to as the End Dancers, who adapted to move in a quadrupedal form instead of bipedal like normal Endermen due to the vast size of the Deltas, as well as bony plates across their body acting as a natural armour. They are also much more solitary than regular Endermen and tame the local wildlife as a means of company.
  • The Enderkin, already a subspecies descending from humans who found their way into The End, have their own subspecies in the form of Draconics and Vampires. Both evolved from exposure to the environments of The End, and live for the same length of time as their parent species, but have their own divergences that make them unique:
    • The Draconics have many dragon-like physical features such as wings, claws, tails, and fire breath, and have ancestors in the Dragonborn (Draconic Humanoid offshoot of Ender Dragons), effectively creating a race of Were Dragon common throughout the End Kingdoms.
    • Vampires are a sapient undead offshoot of Enderkin who can reproduce either through mating with each other (known as purebloods), or infecting other Enderkin by biting them (as is the case for Captain Arabella).
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
  • Herobrine suffers this, ironically after doing something similar to Patrick (stabbing Patrick’s sword clean through him. After Ceris joins the fight, she completely overpowers him before throwing Herobrine onto her Ender Greatsword, impaling him before she swoops down to decapitate him, killing him for good.
  • Ceris, rather sadly suffers from this during Season 2, when after her pummelling by Infernius (who she soon killed), she faces off against Naeus himself, who impales her on his new weapon, the Nether Swordspear, blasting his new lightning powers through it, which ultimately leads to her defeat. She’s later executed after the Nether conquers New Dragonspire.
• Interquel: The "Special Episodes", if they aren’t prequels, will be this, typically combined with an Origin Story behind the character(s) in focus for it.
• It Only Works Once: The method of resurrection used by Naeus to revive Rain Wynter is said to only be a one-off use, since Rain would need to remain in the Nether if he doesn’t want to be affected by the Wither Heart Curse. The episode “Wither Heart” revolves around his and Stella’s efforts to purge the curse from him.
• Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: Weapons such swords, bows, cannons, and occasionally muskets, are used much more frequently over high-tech weapons derived from beacons and magic, particularly in the Overworld. This is stated to be the case because they can be mass produced and are relatively easy to train with over tech-based weaponry, and too few people in these armed forces have enough magic abilities to be of any use in combat.
• La Résistance: Two of them are a part of the setting, both of them against the Nether in their own particular ways.
  • The Netherbane acts as a secret society operating out of a tavern, that train their members as hunters against the Nether, though most of them were already rather dangerous before ever being a part of the organisation.
  • The Unburnt Rebellion is a more traditional depiction of this trope, with the entire organisation operating out of a castle of a nation not aligned with the Nether Empire, with its members made up of defectors, citizens of conquered nations, and people out for personal revenge.
• Last Stand:
  • “One of a Kind” is a retelling of the events of “The Struggle” focussing on a lone warrior named Kyle, who understands what the appearance of an infected human means and prepares to fight off the undead army headed towards Glacierford. He uses a crossbow and an axe to save a handful of civilians and slows down Herobrine enough for the party containing Rain and Abbigail to escape the doomed village, dying from the wounds inflicted by Herobrine.
  • Zeganirn has a much more spectacular one in “Wishing Dead”, where he brutally slaughters most of the assassins sent after Rain and Stella whilst cutting down many Zombie Pigmen and Wither Skeletons before he’s overwhelmed and the army heads back into the Nether. He’s later seen missing an arm from the whole ordeal, and has enough life left in him to purge the corruption out of Stella’s demonic form.
• The Legions of Hell: The Nether Horde, and later the Nether Empire, act as this, summoning vast and varied armies from the every corner of the dimension to subjugate the End and the Overworld for the glory of conquest.
• MacGuffin: The End Crystals are highly sought after for their ability to empower whoever holds them, and to form portals to any of the dimensions if they are all brought together. We are the Danger XL reveals that an End Crystal can also react with a Nether Star to revive anyone who used a Nether Star before, which is what happened with Abigail.
• Made of Iron: The vast majority of the characters in the series have some frankly impressive durability given that most of them are normal humans and soldiers, many of them not wearing armour.
• Magic Versus Science: This forms a subtle backdrop for the Azura vs Wither Angels fights in “Wings of Salvation” and “We Are The Danger XL”, with Azura using her wingsuit, built through reverse engineered Elytra, and the Wither Angels using their Aeromancy to achieve flight. Azura’s Flying Firepower manages to win out both times.
• Magitek: The Frostbourne, thanks to the work of its scientists led by Lady Azura, have produced Beacon Guns from redstone and miniaturised beacons, Wingsuits from reverse engineering elytra (gifted from the Ender Watchers), and even created the Machine Golem, brought to life from the combined magic of a Nether Star and End Crystal.
• Million Mook March: The Nether Empire seem very keen on having masses of their troops to march in formation to conquer other dimensions/biomes, starting by creating the End Gateway, and then throughout Seasons 2 onwards against the Overworld.
• Multiversal Conqueror:
  • Naeus is attempting to do this throughout the series, starting with the End, and is currently in the process of razing his way through the Overworld. Season 4 however, reveals that his grip on the Nether, where he should be at his strongest, is weakening thanks to the multiple rebellions brewing in the conquered nations.
  • Lance is revealed to have attempted this in the past, having secretly planned his subjugation of the End Kingdoms before intending to move on to the Nether and the Overworld. It was only thanks to the efforts of the Ender Watchers that his plans unravelled, before he was then banished to a lonely existence in the swamp.
• Mutual Kill: The carnage of “Just So You Know” only ends after Rain and Abbigail (then the Nether Princess) impale each other with their respective weapons. Both would later be resurrected at different points in the story, with Abbigail in particular barely remembering her time as the Nether Princess.
• Mythology Gag: The Illagers in this series draw much of the designs and aesthetics from Minecraft Dungeons. Even their scripture is adopted into this series, being given the name of Vasolian which sounds identical to Latin.
• Necromancer: Several of these appear throughout the series, in all three dimensions, and having an overall important part to play within the series:
  • Herobrine was an ordinary human cursed with magical abilities, primarily in the form of Electromancy and Necromancy, using the latter to revive his slain to become his thralls, having complete control over those he revived and those turned by his Plague Zombie legion.
  • Necromancers are one of the most important pillars of Nether society, with their abilities being used to constantly revive skeleton rulers, so long as they have an intact skull. They can also revive other Undead, but the unknown methods of doing so would only work a singular time, and Overworld-based undead would struggle with the Wither Heart Curse (see below).
  • Arabella, Captain of the Orchid Fleet in the End, has Necromancy abilities that she acquired by unknown means, and can endlessly revive her fallen minions and former enemies to serve as her troops. This includes her second-in-command, the undead Draconic Purple Reaper, who seems to be much more intelligent and articulate than her other subordinates.
• Non-Mammalian Hair:
  • Vordus the Dragonseer, one of the Ender Watchers and former Ender Lord of Dragon Tower, has had a long brown beard with him for most of his life, and noticeably grew longer in between the War of the Ender Kingdoms and the events of the main series. The only explanation is that Endermen hair is a recessive trait, since he’s the only Enderman seen with hair throughout the series so far.
  • Lahar, an elder Magma Blazekin has himself a brownish-orange beard, which is outright stated to be a recessive trait amongst the male population of the Blazekin. Female Blazekin in comparison, do have hair as part of their normal physiology.
• Our Demons Are Different: Netherkin are Horned Humanoids who are generally immune to fire. Some Netherkin are born due to their parents also being Netherkin, though one of them can still be human as is the case with Abigail. Others can be humans who were forcefully turned into Netherkin by a special poison, and would behave in a feral manner without the help of a certain spell.
• Our Witches Are Different: There are several different varieties of witch in the series, with varying degrees of importance to the main story.
  • One of the main characters of the main story, Stella, is a student of The Coven a clan of withes from the Mystic Forest, having reintroduced magic to the Overworld following the fall of the Illager Empire. Its members are said to be proficient in both magic and alchemy, but they were decimated by Infernius during the Undead Reign, leaving their fate largely unknown.
  • The predecessors of The Coven were an independent faction from The End, simply named the End Witch Coven, who were a motley mix of spellcasters from across the End Kingdoms coming together to devote their lives to the studies of the Mystic Arts. They were founded by Grand Sorceress Gwendolyn, one of the Ender Watchers who fought against Lance’s ambitions of interdimensional conquest. She and a few others later went to the Overworld the establish the above-mentioned Coven.
  • Ironically, regular Minecraft witches get only a handful of appearances throughout the story, and those have only been in recent, minor roles. One was burned at the stake as part of Herobrine’s origin, whilst another was a member of one of the Illager Clans (specifically the Asher Clan based in the Nether). Only the latter has been named so far, her name being Hagra, and she has a multitude of spells and skills at her disposal.
• Our Zombies Are Different: There are a plethora of zombie variants throughout the setting:
  • There are the standard Minecraft zombies, as well as the Husk and Drowned variants. The first one acts as a standard threat in large numbers, especially under Undead Lords such as Herobrine. Husks act as the same in dry areas, though the Scorched Corpses of the Barren Frontier area a plague on the settlements there. Then the Drowned are a united force under the Drowned Legion, led by Exton Atlas, who are at war with the Saltbourne in the south of the continent.
  • The first non-standard zombies appeared in the very first episode The Struggle, in which some of Herobrine’s legion were of the Plague Zombie type. Some of them infected some of Glacierford’s citizens, spreading the infection to most of the town, even getting to Rain by the end of the episode, requiring the Frostbourne to revive him.
  • Most of the prominent zombies in the series are simply people who came Back from the Dead after a prolonged period of said death, which makes them the kind of zombies most seen throughout pop culture.
  • Necromancy is the final mode of transformation for the zombies in the setting, with its most basic type being capable of reviving dead humanoids as zombies of varying intelligence. The more skilled the Necromancer, the more powerful the zombie can get. Someone can even revive themselves when they have enough latent magic on them, as is the case with Klaus, who had enough magic potential and feedback from the End Crystal to resurrect himself as an Undead Lord.
• Purple Is Powerful: Given the prominence of the colour purple in the dimension, it’s unsurprising that many of The End’s most powerful denizens show this trope in its fullest, especially the Ender Watchers, who are experienced warriors with many powerful abilities in their arsenal.
  • Even those descended of The End are able to invoke this trope, with Stella, who has Enderkin ancestry, showing off her impressive repertoire of spells that she uses to great effect throughout the series, even after being afflicted with the Demon Curse and becoming part Netherkin.
  • Emperor Naeus is later able to absorb some of Ceris’ power and displays a purple in his eye to reflect this, though he’s not quite used to the power yet and can’t do a whole lot with such power.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits:
  • The Frostbourne Bandits are said to be a motley mix of mercenaries, reformed crooks, and criminals trying to work off their sentences handed to them. This becomes Deconstructed between Season 2 and 3 as it’s said that many of them have run off from the war after all the casualties the Frostbourne face. It’s not for nothing that Frostboune leadership intends to replace the Bandits with a full time scouting division at some point following the war with the Nether Empire.
  • Endstone Crusaders consist of: Rain, an undead warrior and heir to the Ender Watchers. Stella, the Sole Survivor of the Coven Witches and recently-turned Netherkin hybrid. Ciara, an assassin of the Netherbane with a serious grudge against the piglins. And lastly, Kane, the Captain and founder of the Netherbane, which he runs from his tavern and is pulling many political strings behind the scenes. Their diverse skills and backgrounds mean that they are able to forge many alliances in their effort to take down the Nether Empire.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Fairly common throughout the series, primarily in regards to the Undead.
  • The zombies transformed under Herobrine and his legion of normal zombies, all have red eyes and black sclera after being turned. Many of Herobrines Elite Zombie guards also have red eyes.
  • The forces of the Nether also possess red eyes, including some of the more prominent Wither Skeletons such as Blackbone and Kralos, and Zombie Pigmen such as Duma and Brots. The Nether Emperor himself, Naeus, will occasionally having glowing red eyes after absorbing the Nether Star from Abbigail in Season 2.
  • Stella gets a set of red eyes after she’d transformed into a cursed Netherkin by the poison from Djinn the Nether Assassin, keeping them until the curse is purged by Zeganirn. It’s implied that there are other cursed Netherkin that also get red eyes following their transformation, if the appearance of actual Netherkin is anything to go by.
• Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain: This is one of the only ways to really kill someone/something in this universe, except for Skeletons, who only need a mostly-intact head to be revived by a Necromancer. Afterwards, complete destruction is the only way they remain Deader than Dead.
• Ridiculously Alive Undead: Some characters become various kinds of undead, but for one reason or another, are able to retain a humane appearance and sanity. This is especially the case for Rain, who was brought back with Azura's technology, but is still considered an undead with his red left pupil being the only change to show he was ever infected.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Two have happened in the series so far, both with world-changing ramifications:
  • “Just So You Know” has Rain, who had just seen Abbigail as a Netherkin laying waste to Frostbourne forces, goes on a rampage against the Nether Horde, using one of Azura’s experimental weapons to decimate a small garrison at the fortress, before tearing through the higher-ups of the Nether Horde, brutally beheading Pig King Glutton, before putting an end (initially) to Abbigail as the Nether Princess.
  • “Demons” reveals that Herobrine has this out against the whole of humanity. After being tried for defending his family against bandits, he lashed out against his would-be executors, and after waking up amongst the carnage the next day, went to check on his family, only to see his wife branded a traitor and hanged for it. He then snapped and took vengeance against the entirety of Gravehold and the Witchbane force that ruled it, turning most of the populace into his original Undead Army.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: All of the monarchs are warriors, who take an active part in the affairs of their respective nations. Interquel episode also point to many nations having a Warrior Prince, though only Duma, son of Nether King Tuskarr, has been seen as that so far.
• Schizo Tech: The Frostbourne have all sorts of armaments in their army, from simple bows, swords, shields and spears to highly advanced beacon cannons, pistols, airships and wing-suits. It’s been confirmed that the advanced weaponry is very resource-intensive and hard to create en-masse, in contrast to the more medieval weaponry which are easy to learn and use in a short space of time.
• Shock and Awe: Electromancy is rare, but prominent part of the series, with a handful of characters being capable of wielding its immense power:
  • Herobrine, the first Big Bad was born with these powers and had to hide them for a long time whilst he was pretending to be an ordinary miner. After using it in conjunction with his Necromancer powers to take over Gravehold, he uses it to carve his way through the Overworld as the driven leader of the Undead.
    • Naeus is later able to take Herobrine’s head and after absorbing it, gains his Electromancy for his own, using it to devastating affect against the Ender Watchers and the Frostbourne.
  • Stella is able to use Arcane Magic to summon a Lightning Whip that she uses against Blackbone during the events of “Goodbye”. Since becoming an undead however, she has rarely used it since.
  • Abbigail is shown to be capable of using lightning attacks after her initial transformation into a full Netherkin, though only in short bouts. After she’s revived just in time for Season 4, she’s able to use it much more freely, or through her new weapon. It’s later revealed that she most likely inherited these abilities through her father, who as it turns out, is none other than Herobrine.
• Sliding Scale of Undead Regeneration: The varying kinds of undead throughout the story means that there are several ways that the undead can regenerate.
  • Pigmen/Piglins will still zombify the longer they are around, though they can heal injuries no matter the form they have taken, unless they are outright killed. “Pretty in the Sky” implies that zombified Pigmen can even have children in their undead state.
  • Being brough back to life with a Totem of Undying will not only ensure that the user will remain immortal, but they will also be able to heal from grievous wounds that only kill them temporarily, offering the undead a way of Resurrective Immortality, unless they target the head.
  • Skeletons are the result of beings who no longer heal, and whose flesh has rotted away, making them a Glass Cannon whilst they move around as undead. They have to be rebuilt by skilled Necromancers through various means, which makes skeletons fairly easy to bring back after their untimely deaths, no matter what happens.
• Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Appears every now and then within the series:
  • End Magic has a rather simply, but effective means if this with most Ender beings having the ability to summon armblades that they can summon at any point. Non-Ender beings can only summon these kind of armblades with sufficient exposure to Ender Crystals, or in the case of Naeus, outright absorbing the power of an Enderkin.
  • Arcane Magic is also capable to creating solid swords that can be either fires at something, or used in melee combat. Stella often uses Arcane magic for her primary magic abilities, and Lance can summon a Greatsword version without much focus. Arcane weapon creation can also be used an extension on existing weapons, as shown with Klaus’ hammer and Gwendolyn’s staff.
  • Abbigail’s primary weapon from Season 4 onwards is a double-bladed glaive that can morph itself into a bow, which in turn can summon a Hard Light string and arrow for ranged attacks.
• Squishy Wizard: Many of the magic users in the series are this, with Stella being the most prominent example so far, having no real way of helping herself if she gets onto the backfoot of an ambush by non-magic users (it’s implied to have been the case for many members of The Coven as well). Zargos, the most important Necromancer of the Nether, is stated by Word of God to be utterly defenceless against even a simple conscripted soldier.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Rain and Abigail. The former had been prophesised to become the last Ender Watcher by taming an Ender Dragon, while the latter became the Nether Princess, who initially led the forces of the Nether against the Frostbourne before Rain is forced to kill her in Just So You Know.
• Succession Crisis: The Nether Civil War in Season 2 was started after Rain killed both King Glutton and Abbigail, who was meant to be the heir to the Nether Throne, leaving it vacant for an ambitious warrior to take for themselves. The throne was briefly occupied by the False Pig King before a powered-up Naeus usurped it from him and became the Big Bad of the series going forward.
• Super-Soldier: Different shades of these have appeared throughout the series, with varying results.
  • The main protagonist, Rain Wynter, seems to have developed into this over time. Already a very skilled and determined warrior, he trains under the Frostbourne after they revive him from his zombification, allowing him to wield much larger weapons, and using his new enhanced physique to its peak. Throughout the series, he continues to show himself as arguably the best warrior around, with very few creatures or beings having the capability to best him in any fight.
  • Machine Golem, debuts in Season 3 as the most powerful Golem the Froustbourne have created thus far. Retaining the strength and durability of an Iron Golem, they are equipped with a Gatling Gun on the right arm which mows down the Nether’s forces with ease, effectively making them a One-Man Army for the Frostbourne. This is all possible thanks the work of Nostra and Azura, who have channelled the energy of an End Crystals and Nether Star to augment all of its capabilities to their absolute best work.
  • Guktark the Witherpig, is one of the many horrors created by the Nether Horde to serve its ongoing subjugation in the Nether. A fusion of a Wither Skeleton and a Zombie Pigman, his strength is much greater than both of them combined, allowing him to wield a Netherite Warhammer with ease to squash dissidents against the Nether Empire. However, his creation was experimental, and the inherit weaknesses allow the Unburnt Rebellion to put an end to him soon after their formation.
• Technicolor Fire: Whilst Pyromancy is rather common in this universe, and the red/orange is commonly used by all sides of a conflict (provided that they have latent magic potential), there are examples of other fire types in the series:
  • Blue fire comes in two forms in the series.
    • The first being that of the Ender Dragon, who can blast blue fire hot enough to incinerate Zombie Pigmen, who already have fire resistance themselves.
    • The second comes from the Soulfire Blazes and Blazekin (essentially Palette Swap versions of the normal ones), who naturally use the blue-coloured Soulfire. This also extends to Blazekin-Netherkin hybrids such as Akui Azurlumen of the Unburnt Rebellion, who uses her blue flames with ease.
  • Black fire, native only to the Nether, is the fusion of Pyromancy and Withermancy. If the flames come into contact with living flesh, it will induce a withering effect on the being in question, who will likely succumb to the effect. So far, only Nuriel Ratzon of the Soulsand Servitors has wielded it.
• There's No Kill like Overkill: On occasion, there will be some ridiculously brutal deaths, though they tend to make way for more logical and easier kills instead.
  • Rain gives us two examples from Seasons 1 and 2 respectively. His Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the Nether Horde has slash at Glutton before brutally beheading him. His fight with Djinn (the only living assassin left), has him repeatedly punching him, smashing his head into a tree trunk, stabbing him in the eye with his own knife, before finally beheading him with the Ender Greatword.
  • The finale of Season 1 shows Stella continuously blasting Commander Blackbone (who’s Weak to Magic) with Arcane Lightning, before sending a flurry of Arcane Blades into his face.
  • Ciara has this towards the Piglins in general, coldly and unhesitatingly cutting them down for, as far as we know, her bigotry towards them. Her attack on one of their bastions in "Nightmares" shows exactly what she would do to them over something ultimately minor in the grand scheme of things. She even brags that she can push them into extinction if she wanted, implying that she absolutely wants to do so.
• Training Montage: Both “Cold As Ice” and “Begin Again” (which take place around the same time) have one dedicated to their respective focus characters, those being Rain and Abbigail, before they show their improved skills in the second half of the episodes.
• Travel Montage: Such a montage will turn up on occasion, which helps to break the tension in some otherwise emotional episodes.
  • Season 2 has “Wither Heart”, and its follow-up episode “Wishing Dead” follow Rain and Stella as they traverse the tundra and plains to get to the Coven Village and from the Nether Assassins, respectively.
  • Part two of the Tales of the Netherbane Interquel mini-series, “Poison”, has Kane and Abbigail traverse through the swamplands to get the Lance’s castle, encountering the Man-Dragon along the way.
  • Season 3 gives an extended montage in “Be Afraid”, where the newly-formed Endstone Crusaders journey to the Frostbourne’s castle to discuss their plans. The penultimate episode “Preach to the Choir”, gives us brief showing of Rain, Stella and Nostra traveling through the caves to get to the Deep Dark, with the resident Monster of the Week waiting for them.
• Undead Abomination: Several appear throughout the series in a handful of ways.
  • The Nether as a whole creates several undead individuals, either serving as The Leader, or The Brute in their respective societies. Many of them are even mutated to for whatever purpose they were resurrected for.
    • The Nether Emperor himself, Naeus, has certainly evolved into this over since his official debut. Already a skilled skeleton, owing his skills to his time as a living Netherkin champion, he begins to absorb as much power as he can from across the three dimensions. After having his body ruined, he is rebuilt with Netherite, now making him Nigh-Invulnerable One-Man Army.
    • An enormous, Mutated Piglin Brute is introduced in “Eternal”, being a guard of the Piglin King, with a Zoglin at its side. It is far larger and stronger than any undead Pigman or Piglin thus far, and with its massive hammer, it can send anyone flying with so much as a graze. The combined forces of Rain, Stella and Kane take a long while to take it down.
    • Sticking with the Piglin Kingdom, “I Try Today” introduces us to someone oppressing them with Guktark the Witherpig. A massive, hideous fusion of a Wither Skeleton and a Zombified Pigman, he is sent as the muscle to assimilate the Piglin Kingdom with his superior, Aurora Goldfist. Also wielding a massive Netherite hammer, he is all too willing to squash any Piglins that rise against the Imperial Loyalists. Thankfully, he is very much a prototype, and he is soon killed by the very experienced Urgrakk and Abbigail in their liberation of the kingdom.
    • Solemnus somehow ends up being far more horrifying to the eyes. After the fall of the Soulsand Servitors following Tuskarr’s campaign hundreds of years prior, he was resurrected by the Necromancers as their new leader, having is Wither Skeleton body molded with skulk to transform him in a Wither-Warden fusion, ruling the Servitors ever since.
  • Klaus, formerly the head of the Lagurus Clan and King of the Pillagers in the Illager Town, returns as Undead Lord in “Fine Right Here” with a husk army, and begins to zombify and enslave the population of Illager Town to take them over. His latent magic abilities also mean that following his absorption of energy from the End Crystal he has monstrous strength and flying abilities, on top of already impressive strength and durability as a regular Illager.
  • The End has numerous Undead Enderkin and Endermen that come back to haunt the living thanks to the work of Necromancer and Captain of the Orchid Fleet, Arabella, who herself is a turned Vampire, and whose second in command is an undead Draconic called Purple Reaper.
• Undeath Is Cheap: While it is generally hard to revive a dead body, there are some ways that it can be (theoretically) quite easy to come back to life.
  • Skeletons, already being undead, can be revived by a basic Necromancer so long as they have an intact skull available, which allows the Undead forces to replenish their numbers quite easily if needed.
  • Totems of Undying are (as far as the series goes) the best way to be outright immortal, as its users will be revived repeatedly from death so long as most of their body is intact. This is how Kane manages to avoid dying permanently despite many close calls with death since his introduction.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
  • Rain’s Roaring Rampage of Revenge at the Nether Horde in Just So You Know leads to him killing much of the Horde’s higher-ups, including his vicious beheading of King Glutton, directly led to the Civil War that ended with Naeus as Emperor of the Horde, and the Ender Watchers being wiped out.
  • A far more potent example came from the Witchbane from Demons, who were the vicious anti-magic enforcers of Gravehold. They attempted to execute Herobrine, and then successfully executed his wife Bella Crysteffor. This drove Herobrine to madness, resulting in most of Gravehold, barring Herobrine’s daughter Abbigail, and sister-in-law Vanessa (who fled), and a young Ser Patrick (who barely survived). The zombies revived from the Witchbane and Gravehold would then become the beginning of Herobrine’s Undead Reign.
• Vocal Dissonance: Some Piglins, both normal and zombified, stand out like sore thumbs in comparison to others of their species:
  • Durkkol the Hoarder sounds like a young human, in comparison to his much more gruff-voiced partner Baator. This helps to show him as the younger and more naïve of the two.
  • Prince Duma, later the second Nether King, sounds like a teenage human when we first see him in “Pretty in the Sky”. While it does show that he is very much an adolescent in Zombie Pigman terms, the fact that he’s partially zombified makes this example particularly strange.
• War Is Hell: This is a trope that is emphasised very clearly throughout the series, especially with the current conflict tied to the Nether Empire.
• The War Room: The Frostbourne have their own dedicated room to meet and discuss plans about the war and what to plan throughout the series, usually featuring a map of the world to make better use of their resources.
• Warrior Undead: Most of the undead mobs from the base game have warrior variants in the series, many of them far more formidable. Some, such as Herobrine’s Commander Blackbone, can think strategically and lead their respective forces. Naeus, the new Nether Emperor, is the pinnacle of this trope within the setting of the world.
• Witch Hunt: There once was a city called Gravehold which was controlled by the Witchbane, a group that persecuted and killed anyone who used magic. They would meet their end when they killed Herobrine's wife, with Herobrine retaliating by starting the Undead War and destroying Gravehold.
• World in the Sky: Two variations appear in the series:
  • The Floating Isles are a series of land masses that are high up above the Mystic Forest, only reachable by any creature that can fly, and as such is largely uninhabited. The Wither Angels set up an outpost on the islands alongside some Wither Skeletons and Ghasts, which Lady Azura wiped out in a preemptive strike to deny the Nether Horde a foothold in the Overworld.
  • The End dimension is entirely compromised of floating land masses in the Void, which means that the majority of the inhabitants have evolved to have some way to travel across this islands, either through teleportation, flight, or immense strength.
• World of Badass: Just about every character in the series can skillfully fight their way through enemy forces with some effort. This is in fact enforced by the Frostbourne, who conscript and train most of their population to be able to fight anything that comes at them.
• Yellow Lightning, Blue Lightning: Users of Electromancy (see above) can have different colours in the lightning they wield. The lightning typically shows up as bluish white, but Nether beings (Naeus) can have their show with a red/orange tint to them. The Enderkin Elise is said to have the ability to wield purple lightning.
• You Shall Not Pass!: 1 of a Kind features Kyle, a human who stayed behind in Glacierford to fend off Herobrine and the undead by himself while the rest of the village fled to safety. Considering what happened in The Struggle, he mostly failed as everyone shown onscreen is either turned or killed, though Rain and Abigail are brought back through separate coincidences.
• Zeppelins from Another World: The Elytra Corps of the Frostbourne have created large warships in the style of zeppelins, which take the members of the Elytra Corps to the battlefields in droves. They are all equipped with canons and explosives for those who don’t fly, which helps them get the drop on the ghasts and blazes of the Nether Empire. Unfortunately, they are rather slow, and their size makes them easy targets for any enemy with long-range capabilities.
• Zerg Rush: How the Nether Empire ultimately destroyed the Ender Watchers. Although the latter were all very skilled warriors, there were only around 100 Endermen and the Ender Dragon who were available in New Dragonspire, while Naeus' army had thousands of pigmen and wither skeletons along with several ghasts serving as artillery.