Minecraft Headcanons That Don't Really Matter

Hostile Mob Headcanons: Phantom

You're dreary, tired, and can hardly stand anymore, standing in the middle of the woods as the sun sets. Finding the path of cobblestone you've used to mark your way home, you trudge along it, letting your head droop forward in the process.

You're almost there, you tell yourself, the sky now a light shade of purple. You can make it inside and craft your first bed--you're so happy that you finally managed to get the wool--and sleep for the first time in this world.

But there is something stopping you, just as you pause to open the door to your wooden house. There's an unholy screech as the familiar monsters begin to spawn, and you look around wildly, seeing nothing within the trees.

From above, a purple shape appears, and another, and another, and they're all swooping down to hit you, soaring back up before you can deal your revenge. Stone sword tight in your grip, you reach up to hit them, but it's too late. Your health is low.

The leader hits you one last time, and you keel over, dead, gone in a puff of white smoke. Taking your last breath, you wonder, shaking:

What the heck was that?!

...

- Phantoms are distantly related to manta rays--as in, distant. They can no longer be called fish, but as for what the heck they are in that case, nobody's coined a name for it yet. Phantoms are rare creatures, after all.

- They target prey that hasn't slept because that typically makes it easier to kill. They don't intend to be mean, but they're hongry, and you're just as good as a tiny rabbit, only bigger and carrying more meat to feed them with.

- They live in small flocks, with the one attacking first typically being the leader.

- Obviously, they're nocturnal. Their skin is very sensitive, however, so they heat up easily and thus burn in the sunlight.

- The phantom population is actually severely declining due to the fact that Endermen keep killing them for their membranes (which mend elytra) and their habitats are being infringed upon by villages, mansions, and outposts. Which means that, yes, your younger cousin relentlessly spawning phantoms in creative mode on your shared server is helping.

- Phantoms are about as smart as an owl (and, no offense, but owls aren't as intelligent as they're portrayed), and make similar, soft hooting noises to show affection to each other. Obviously, the player doesn't see this, because the phantoms are trying to have a good time, which can never happen when players are near.

- They feel a little leathery and smooth, a bit like a dry dolphin, and the trail they leave behind are caused by them flapping their wings and flying, the wind being affected behind them.

- They don't really have many natural predators, aside from maybe the occasional bragging pillager who claims he can shoot down that phantom with no problems, but ocelots and cats have been known to attack them. Flying, colorful objects are never safe from cats.

- As such, phantoms HATE HATE H A T E any and all felines. They sometimes try to gang up on a lone cat if given the chance, but the cat almost always wins.

- If there's no easy prey nearby, they'll settle for rabbits, chickens, bats, piglets, lambs, possibly even a beached fish, but nothing bigger than that.

- Most villagers don't even know that phantoms exist, as they don't venture far outside their home village and tend to stick sharply to their sleep schedules. Illagers know a bit about them, but there are other mobs that they typically study more.

- It's possible to keep a phantom (or two, or a flock) as a pet if the enclosure they're kept in includes an opaque roof, and the player sleeps regularly, but it isn't advised. Phantoms are wild animals.

- They take a ridiculously long time to train, if the pet route is chosen, and unless the enclosure is huge, they don't seem to like being pets.

- Young phantoms are hatched from eggs, and they can survive on their own after about three days. Phantom eggs are small (about the size of a phantom's eye), indigo, and have creamy white patterns over the shell. Eggs are laid in small nests inside caves, in clutches of up to ten. Baby phantoms are often called ghosties or shrieklets.

- Ghosties hatched together (be they actually related or not) will often form a flock.

- During mating season, intricate courtship dances in the sky are performed. Phantoms do not make for life, so it's common to choose a different dancer for a mate every year.

- Elytra weren't originally made using phantom membranes, but it was discovered that the skin of a phantom's wing could be used to fix them. Cue the overhunting.

A/N: Another chapter has been finished! Next will be the killer bunny, then silverfish, and then slimes.

This is the part where another thank-you to the people reading this comes in. I hope you'll like my soon-to-be-posted SCP, Warriors, and Jurassic World fanfictions as well!