| Magma Cube | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| File:Image magma.jpg | |||
| General information | |||
| Universe | Minecraft | ||
| Species type | Slime | ||
| Homeworld | Nether | ||
| Environment | Fiery locations | ||
| Intelligence | Non-sapient | ||
| Biochemistry | Silicon-based lifeform | ||
| Biological information | |||
| Locomotion | Hopping by turning body into spring | ||
| Lineage information | |||
| Related species | Slime | ||
| Cultural information | |||
| Alignment | Neutral | ||
| Personality | Hostile | ||
| Organization | Solitary | ||
| Sociocultral characteristics | |||
| Scientific taxonomy | |||
| Planet | Overworld | ||
| Domain | Eukaryota | ||
| Kingdom | Animalia | ||
| Other information | |||
| Status | Endangered | ||
Magma Cubes are a species of amorphous slime indigenous to the Minecraft World, specifically to the fiery, hellish realm known as the Nether. They are rare even in their home realm, but appear to be more often found within the walls of Nether Fortresses. Why this is has not been studied.
Physiology
Magma Cubes are amorphous creatures related to the Overworld Slime. Their gel-like bodies are a mixture of dark red and black, a what can be construed as eyes glow red, orange, and yellow. They grow as they age, and can be found both in small sizes as well as large sizes. Interestingly, their life seems to be sustained by a lava core deep inside their bodies.
Unlike their Overworld counterparts, Magma Cubes move by shifting their mass into a spring-like shape, allowing them to more properly bounce around their dangerous environment. This movement is quite impressive, and will send a Cube forward at twice the speed of most other creatures known to inhabit the Minecraft World. A cube's ability to leap is directly relevant to its actual size, and can be calculated to a distance of approximately 1.5x its length and a height equal to its own body mass. During this mass shift, their eyes are split into several sections, though it is unknown if this temporarily affects their vision or not. They can see roughly 48 feet away, indicating that they have particularly poor vision in the first place.
They have adapted greatly to life in the Nether, and the gel that their body consists of has become flame retardant; this allows them to be immune to the lava flows that make up much of their realm's landscape. Not only can they not be burnt but they also are not slowed by traversing across lava, and in fact are known to move upward through lava at extremely swift speeds. Being made of gel, they are also immune to injury that may occur from falling.
When slain, Magma Cubes can split into 1 to 4 smaller Cubes that then must also be dealt with, yet they have a limit to how small they can split off without perishing in the process. Their remains can be gathered as a creamy paste known as magma cream.
Behavior
Magma Cubes are silent hunters, and can easily surprise adventurers so long as they have not been hopping, which will make an obvious thudding sound upon landing, as one might expect. Luckily for adventurers, Magma Cubes are also unintelligent creatures, lacking any sort of pathfinding sense. As such, they will not actively avoid falling off cliffs, and cannot follow a target around a wall even when actively pursuing prey.
When on the prowl, they will hop at regular intervals, which will fall anywhere between every 2 to 6 seconds. Once they spot a potential prey item however they will speed up their movements to only about 1⁄3 as long. They are also surprisingly fast on the attack, and are known to attack twice as quickly as other monsters. To attack, they prefer to crush their opponent underneath themselves, though any physical contact with one can harm a foe, indicating that their body is either highly acidic (as with many if not most other amorphous slimes) or simply too hot to touch.