Steve (Minecraft)

Steve is the name given to the default main player character and protagonist in Minecraft; the female default skin playable character is Alex. Steve has dark brown hair, a light blue shirt, blue pants, grey shoes, and a dark, brownish pigmentation. Alex has long, red hair, a light green shirt, brown pants, grey boots, and a much lighter skin tone. Enemies in the game include a Zombie (a green-skinned version of Steve with no hair), and an Enderman (an entirely black humanoid-like figure with small, purple eyes, and skinny, tall legs).

The game, Minecraft, and its characters were created by independent video game developer company, Mojang Studios, which was wholly purchased by in 2014. Steve, Alex, a Zombie, and an Enderman were all confirmed to be a playable character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as downloadable content.

Minecraft
Steve is the default skin in all versions of Minecraft, with Alex being the other default playable skin available from the start. Before being named Steve, the model for the human player was added to the first public release of Minecraft on May 13, 2009. The character of Steve originally came to be referred unofficially to as "Steve?" by the game's creator, but it was not until the game's official release out of beta in 2011 that the name "Steve" was made official (dropping the question mark). Zombies were added on September 1, 2009 to Java Edition Classic 0.24, Endermen were added on September 14, 2011 to Beta Update 1.8, and Alex was added on September 2, 2014 to Java Update 1.8.

The Super Mario Mash-up, available on Wii U, Nintendo Switch, and New Nintendo 3DS, adds forty different Mario-themed skins to replace Steve. Hammer Bros. replace the Zombies in the pack, while Endermen are replaced by Stilt Guys.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
On October 1st, 2020, Steve was revealed to be the second fighter of Fighter Pass Vol. 2 for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with Alex as well as skins based off of the Zombie and Enderman mobs veing alternate costumes for him. An additional video showing his moveset was presented on October 3rd, 2020, Steve was released on October 13th, 2020. The name on the character selection screen changes to "Alex", "Zombie", or "Enderman" while changing costumes for Steve, to reflect their differences, much like how Captain Olimar and Alph are the same character, but get identified separately.

Steve's moveset is heavily based off of Minecraft in general (and especially that game's Survival Mode). Many of Steve's standard attacks use a sword, axe or pickaxe from the game; neutral attack and side tilt attack are quick sword swings, up tilt attack is a quick upward axe swing, dash attack is a running pickaxe swing, side smash attack is a slower but stronger sword swing, neutral air attack is a quick sword swing, forward air attack is a pickaxe swing that can meteor smash, back air attack is a backward-facing pickaxe swing, and up air attack is a quick upward axe swing. Steve also has other standard attacks that do not use those tools; down tilt attack uses flint and steel to create a flame in front, up smash attack places a magma block above then breaks it, down smash attack uses a lava bucket to pour lava on both sides, down air attack places an anvil directly underneath which falls downward, and grab uses a fishing rod to grab an opponent. Steve's grab attack involves punching the grabbed opponent, forward throw places a piston which launches the opponent forward, backward throw tosses the opponent backward with a fishing rod, upward throw uses a piston to launch the opponent upward, and downward throw drops an anvil on the opponent. Steve's neutral special move is Mine / Craft / Create Block, which functions differently depending on Steve's position: when grounded, Steve uses a tool to mine for resources; when near a crafting table, Steve uses resources to craft tools; and in the air, Steve places a block directly underneath. Steve's side special move is Minecart, which has Steve summon a minecart and ride it; Steve can jump out of the minecart, and it can grab opponents after Steve has exited it. Steve's up special move is Elytra, which uses elytra wings to glide horizontally or vertically, with Steve briefly using firework rockets as well. Finally, Steve's down special move is TNT, with Steve placing a TNT block in front; after the TNT block has been placed, Steve can place a trail of redstone dust followed by a wooden pressure plate to create a redstone circuit which can detonate the TNT block itself.

Steve's Final Smash is called House of Boom, and it uses a large that pushes the fighter into a dark room if made contact, locking them inside with, , and. After the room explodes, Steve eats a upon successfully finishing his Final Smash.

Some of Steve's attacks use tools from the game, such as a sword, an axe, a shovel and a pickaxe. Said items can break over time from being used. A will spawn in the background near Steve at the beginning of a match. Using his neutral special move, Steve can mine the ground for various resources. There is a limit to how many resources Steve can carry, so if he exceeds this limit, he will begin to ditch previous resources to make room for new ones. A gauge is present near the player's icon and damage at the bottom of the screen which shows Steve's current resource. The resources that Steve mines with his neutral special move will vary depending on the material of the stage that Steve is playing on. Steve can then walk over and use the Crafting Table and his mined materials to craft a full set of tools in addition to replenishing broken/damaged ones; when Steve crafts using the table, all of his tools get upgraded at the same time. The various types of tools in order of strength are wood, stone, iron, gold and diamond; gold is weaker and less durable than stone, iron and diamond, but attacks with golden tools are faster overall. The Crafting Table can be broken by any player's attacks (including Steve's own), but it will respawn after a few seconds. Steve can also summon his table near him at any time by pressing the special move button while shielding. If there are two or more Steves in a battle, they can all use one another's Crafting Tables.

Additional elements borrowed from Minecraft include Steve wielding a shield from the game if a perfect shield is performed. When Steve is put to sleep, he will sleep on one of the beds that can be crafted in the original game.

Steve's home stage is based off the various biomes from Minecraft, and it is called Minecraft World. Villagers, Cows, Chickens, Sheep, Zombies, Skeletons and Endermen appear in the background of the stage (regardless if Zombie or Enderman are being controlled by a player), but they do not interact with the action.

Steve is one of the lighter middleweights, being heavier than Toon Link, Palutena, Marth, Lucina, Diddy Kong, Peach and Daisy, lighter than Joker, Ness, Lucas, Inkling and Mii Brawler, while weighing the same as Villager, Lucario, Wolf and the Ice Climbers.

Classic Mode route
Steve's opponents in his Classic Mode route reference various enemies in Minecraft. All rounds except for rounds 2 and 6 are Stamina battles.

Mine / Craft / Create Block
Steve has three different standard specials which all require pressing the special move button in different places. Mine is used when Steve uses his standard special on the ground. He will use his tools to mine on the ground, creating materials for him. If it is used while Steve is on ground that is made of wood, he will use his axe. If the ground he is standing on is made of stone or metal, he will use his pickaxe. If the ground is made of dirt, sand, or snow, he will use his shovel. The materials he gets depends on the terrain that he mines. For example, when Steve mines stone, the most common material he receives will be Cobblestone, but he can also receive other items like Redstone, Iron and Gold ingots, and occasionally Diamonds. If the stage that is being played on is Omega or Battlefield form, the materials are mined in a predetermined order, no matter what material he mines, although he will still use the proper tool.

His second standard special is Craft. At the beginning of the match, wherever Steve spawns in, a Crafting Table will also spawn in. Whenever Steve presses the special move button near a Crafting Table, he will use his highest level materials to craft a set of tools. This only requires one of the material, and crafts a Sword, Axe, Pickaxe, and Shovel. If there are multiple of Steve/Alex/Zombie/Enderman in the battle, there will be multiple Crafting Tables, one for each player. Crafting Tables can also be destroyed by both Steve and other characters. When this happens, the Crafting Table will respawn beside Steve after a few seconds. If the player presses the special move button while shielding, the Crafting Table will respawn where Steve is.

Steve's third standard special is Create Block. Whenever the player presses the special move button while midair, Steve will create a block. He will always use his lowest level materials first. The blocks will break over time and can also be broken by Steve and other players. The higher level the material is, the longer it takes to break.

Minecart
Minecart is Steve's side special move. When Steve uses this, he uses Iron to create a Minecart, and will use wood to create rails. Once he is out of wood to make rails, the minecart falls off of them and slows down, eventually coming to a stop. If Steve has Redstone, he can create a powered rail which will make the minecart go much faster. Steve can also jump out of the minecart. Whet he does this, the minecart travels on its own. If the minecart hits an opponent while Steve is not in it, the opponent will get stuck in it. The more damage the opponent has taken, the harder it is for them to get out of the minecart.

Elytra
Elytra is Steve's up special move. When this move is used, Steve will equip an Elytra and light a firework, sending him gliding in the air. The direction can be changed by inputting up and down. Once the firework has worn off, Steve can still glide, but he will not be able to inflict damage to opponents. The move will end when either Steve lands or the Elytra falls off, leaving him helpless.

TNT
TNT is Steve's down special move. Steve places a TNT block, followed by an Oak Pressure Plate. Whenever the pressure plate is stepped on, the TNT explodes. Whoever detonates the TNT will take less damage than other players who are hit by the blow. If Steve has no wood, there will be no pressure plate. If this happens, the TNT will only explode when it takes enough damage. If Steve has Redstone, he can make a Redstone trail from the TNT, then place the pressure plate so that it can be detonated from a farther distance away. TNT is normally crafted with Sand and Gunpowder in Minecraft, but it is crafted with low level materials like Sand and Dirt in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

House of Boom
House of Boom is Steve's Final Smash. Steve creates a huge piston, then activates it. Whoever is hit by the piston when it activates will be damaged, but only the first character will actually appear in it. The character is thrown into a dark structure made of stone bricks. The camera then switches to a first-person view of the character thrown in the structure. Several Creepers and Zombies (one of which is wearing Leather Armor) approach the character, then the camera pans out to the outside of the structure. Steve appears on the right side of the screen and eats a steak as the structure explodes.

Trivia

 * The model for Steve in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate uses a version of his face with a beard that was removed from Minecraft since Java Edition Classic 0.24 released on September 1, 2009. Despite having been changed in-game for over a decade, this bearded version of Steve is still used in promotional artwork for Minecraft, including its game cover, and thus was most likely chosen for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, for being more iconic. The beard on Steve's face is often confused for a smile.
 * Steve is the second Microsoft-owned playable character and the second playable character from a Western franchise added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate; Banjo and Kazooie mark the first for both instances.
 * Steve is the first playable character that originated from an independent game, though Minecraft is no longer considered independent after the Microsoft acquisition in 2014. However, the original Switch, Wii U, and New 3DS ports of the game were both developed and published independently by Mojang and 4J Studios.
 * Unlike other fighters who have spirits depicting their alternate costumes, Zombie and Enderman are not classified as Fighter Spirits, and therefore cannot be switched to their Super Smash Bros. artwork.