Cover-Credits:
Alex is the main female character in Minecraft who was added long after the game was released. Minecraft initially launched with just Steve as the protagonist but to add more diversity to the game, Mojang introduced Alex as the female counterpart to Steve so players could have another character to identify with. Alex has an interesting history behind her release and has represented Minecraft in other games like Minecraft Dungeons and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Alex’s introduction to Minecraft
If you are wondering when Alex was introduced to Minecraft, she was made available on the live servers in 2015 for all players. However, it was not the first time that she had made an appearance in the game. Alex was already available in the Windows and Mac OS versions of the game for a long time, but was randomly assigned to players and was not available as a selectable character.
She was added to the game because there was no female representation in Minecraft. The developers stated before Alex’s release, “He’s (Steve’s) probably the most famous minecrafter in the world, and has excellent stubble. But jolly old Steve doesn’t really represent the diversity of our playerbase."
The blocky shape might give the characters a masculine look but the developers did not want players to make decisions about gender in a gender-less game. The Minecraft playerbase wanted a feminine playable character. Players felt that it would allow a large part of the playerbase to identify with the character, which is why Alex was eventually added to the game.
It is unknown if Mojang continues to portray the human designs as gender-less, but the developers have made it clear that the game is inclusive for the hundreds of millions of players that have played Minecraft.
For more Minecraft content, you can find out everything you need to know about Alex here. If you are excited about the new 1.20 features, you can view our 1.20 patch breakdown.
