Traveling Trader

Let’s take a moment to immerse ourselves in the world of Minecraft. Imagine strolling through a meadow filled with flowers, birds chirping, the distant sound of a mooing cow, and a bright sun shining overhead. Everything is simply wonderful! But suddenly, an unfamiliar noise resembling “Hmmmm” catches your attention!

You turn around to find a mysterious figure dressed entirely in blue who seems to have appeared out of nowhere. Your breath quickens, and you accidentally drop your controller. The next thing you know, everything feels hazy; you’ve fallen to your knees, and questions race through your mind: “Who is this person? How did he get to our village? Why does he keep trying to sell me something, and where are all the local residents of Minecraft Pocket Edition? What on earth is happening here?

There’s no need to panic, my friend! Everything is fine. This is the new and most skilled merchant – the Wandering Trader.

He always appears unexpectedly, wears blue clothing, and is accompanied by two llamas, as his name suggests. The Wandering Trader often travels through the Nether looking for customers willing to trade their emeralds for rare and unusual items.

One of the game developers for Minecraft, Steve Enos, who was involved in creating and adding the trader to the game, shared some insights. “The idea for the Wandering Trader came from RPGs. In such games, merchants appear when you’re in dangerous places to help you and sell essential survival items. Also, if you’re about to face a powerful character, like a boss, they might show up with potions that boost your health.”

“We wanted to do more than just add a new character; we aimed to create an interesting backstory. Why does it happen this way? Where is this person headed? What purpose do they serve here? We thought it would be great for players to encounter a trader who constantly changes locations. Imagine walking through a desert and coming across the Wandering Trader. I think players will enjoy it.”

In fact, trading isn’t a new feature in Minecraft Bedrock, but the behavior of the Wandering Trader is completely fresh. This character can appear quite unexpectedly, whether you’ve descended into the Nether or ventured into unfamiliar territories; at any moment, you could stumble upon the trader. He always has what you need. His inventory is diverse, ranging from dyes to coral blocks (if you’re searching for nautilus shells, try asking him; I’m sure he has those too). Plus, due to his nomadic lifestyle, the Wandering Traders have developed their own methods for dealing with hostile mobs.

Don’t try to outrun robbers; instead, drink an invisibility potion.

“What I love most is watching him drink an invisibility potion when attacked by a hostile creature. And the funniest part is seeing him hold onto two llamas by their leads!”

Creating a villager who would joyfully wander through villages turned out to be a challenging task for the developers; it was indeed a challenge for them. Initially, they needed to ensure that the trader could reach the player’s village.

“To explain how the Wandering Trader moves between villages, we decided to give him the same particles as the Enderman during teleportation, allowing him to easily travel from place to place,” Steve explains. “But after a while, we realized that making him supernatural wasn’t necessary; it would suffice for him to simply appear in specific locations.”

Once the technical aspects were sorted out, the developers faced another issue: the visual design of the Wandering Trader. Lead pixel artist Jasper Beestra and his colleague, pinball enthusiast Chris Nordgren from the Minecraft: Dungeons team worked on his creation.

“He shouldn’t wear a hat!” said art director Johan Aronson.

This was the initial design of the Wandering Trader. Why trade emeralds when he has one right on his forehead?

“What’s this?” says a villager. “Why does he need my hoodie?”

“We wanted to create an exotic character, so the first few designs deviated slightly from our theme,” Jasper shares. “I allowed Chris to experiment, and we really liked what he came up with. The only issue was the trader’s resemblance to a pirate, so I tried to add a hat. But art director Johan Aronson suggested giving him a hood, saying it would make him look more mysterious, as if he’s trying to hide from everyone he interacts with.”

A hood? I’m crazy about hoods! Giving the Wandering Trader a hood was one of the best ideas in Minecraft Bedrock, not counting, of course, my idea about sliced bread (though the idea of carrying sliced bread in his hood would top everything!). But the hood isn’t the only aspect that sets the Wandering Trader apart from other villagers; he also possesses a pleasant voice that no other character has. This makes players ponder once again about the true origins of these enigmatic figures.

“Our goal was to create strange traders who arrived in the village from far-off lands. They should stand out from the other villagers surrounding you,” Jasper explained. “And the hood reinforces the question of whether they truly belong to the villages.”

Sounds great! If I put on my hood, will I become just as mysterious?

“No, you won’t!” says Jasper. Hooray!

I hope you made it this far and didn’t rush off to search for the Wandering Trader because I haven’t mentioned one important detail. As of now, these characters have yet to appear in the game. They will be included in the upcoming Village and Pillage update! I hope you’re looking forward to it. In the meantime, you can check out the update in Minecraft Bedrock. And also, I recommend starting to save up emeralds right now.