Man. The Herobrine really is summat else. We got:
A glitch of a ghost in the machine that causes every error in the game
The White Eyes character, stemming from a texture error, which becomes associated with the cave noise & eventually leads to the creation of the Herobrine myth
The fucken. Brocraft stream that links to that ONE image & implies that either you or Herobrine are "asleep" & dreaming
The way that Herobrine myths kicked up due to the TF2 influx, after the devs made mention of the game
Every single unexplained structure in the game, all abandoned, all without a clear group that created them can & will be associated with Herobrine
The mineshafts. The ruined portals. The deep dark. It's kind of like a story, told in three arcs, if you squint right
Like something that used to live there, toiled in the soil along with the worms
Like something that got locked away, that wants to go back
Like something that needs to be kept out
Every single zombie looks like Steve. Does that say anything? Does it imply something about Herobrine, another reflection, but maybe a bit more sentient? With teeth that are a bit more sharp, with a malice that is a bit more cold?
Mojang putting the "Removed Herobrine" note in for YEARS, then one day dropping it, only to bring it back 3 years later
N*tch being scrubbed from the game's lore, so he's also (sometimes) scrubbed from Herobrine's lore, leading to alternate origins
He is the first player. He is the ghost of a fellow player. He is an architect, a miner, a builder. He is a friend to all the mobs, & an enemy to those that take all the trees & never replant the saplings. He is a curious onlooker, probably harmless. He is a deep loathing. He is a danger, a legend, just a myth, but is he?
The way that people's opinions of Herobrine have shifted through years, like a litmus test for Minecraft players as a whole
It starts with the eerie feeling of being in a room you KNOW should be empty, but feeling eyes on you, anyways & ends with a sad type of goodbye, a dreamer seeking a dreamer condemned
The way he's more quiet, more calm, less prone to the griefing & attacks he was once known for, like his fire has cooled with time
The Minecraft end poem. Maybe. Do you think Herobrine ever got to hear those words? "I love you," & "You have played the game well"?
The person with the Herobrine username, which has had the catboy Herobrine skin on for years o7