Animation vs. Minecraft (AvM) by Alan Becker is a series on Youtube about animated stick figures going on adventures in the game Minecraft on Alan’s computer. As of now, it has 33 episodes spread across four seasons. There is also an original episode, so there are technically 34. Season 1 consists of episodes 1–14, season 2 is episodes 15–19, and season 3 is episodes 20–30, while season 4 is currently episodes 31–33, with new episodes every few months or so.
For the sake of context and preventing a little confusion, an explanation about the different types of stick figures will be needed.
Hollow heads are stick figures drawn by Alan Becker within the context of AvM and AvA (Animator vs. Animation). These characters would be Victim, The Chosen One (TCO), The Dark Lord (TDL), and The Second Coming (TSC).
Hollow heads have powers that they can use, although Victim shows no abilities like the other three, and The Second Coming has been confirmed by Alan to have forgotten about theirs after awakening said powers.
Filled-in heads are just normal stick figures with no powers at all. Think of them as background civilians in a superhero movie. The other main characters besides The Second Coming are not from the outernet (think of it as a digital New York where the normal stick figures live) like other stick figures that look like them; they are from the Stickman Fight website. These characters are Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue.
Think of the Stickman Fight website as a doodled house the four just mentioned lived in together.
None of the stick figures have a confirmed sex or gender; it is up to the viewer’s interpretation, and for that reason, they will all be referred to in a genderless way throughout this.
In the original episode, The Second Coming is the one to find the Minecraft icon. The icon acts as a creative mode for whoever is holding it. The Second Coming is curious, testing out its abilities and building themselves a house. Green shows up just as The Second Coming completes the interior and takes the block, building a working windmill outside. Blue then snatches the block from Green and grows crops and trees. Yellow then takes the block from Blue and messes around with redstone (a material used with mechanical-like structures in the game). Within the first few minutes, we are given some insight into their personalities simply by their actions. No story remains interesting without a plot twist, though. Red comes onto the screen, and by the look of their body language, they are curious about what is going on. You would expect that they take the block next, and we would see what their personality is based on what they take, but no. Red punches Yellow to take the block, their body language is more hunched over and not seeming like their usual energetic positions. They attack the others (their friends) and dash off into a file folder on the desktop. When we see Red again, they are glitching from themself to the infamous Minecraft myth, Herobrine. Their body language and what we can see in this scene show that they are possessed. By the end of the episode, the others work together to throw the icon into the trash, freeing Red from this possession. It is in episode 1, The Rediscovery, that we see that Red’s personality is that of an animal lover.
Season 1 consists of the main group exploring what they can do, their talents, and such. Yellow is exploring redstone mechanics and engineering, Green is exploring music, Red is helping animals, and Blue is getting better at farming. This is the season when Blue also starts making potions and eating netherwart (an ingredient used to help make potions). The netherwart is important, not just because it is humorous but because it plays a semi-big part in the overall story in later episodes.
In episode 19, Lucky Blocks, Yellow gets possessed through the means of their own curiosity about just how the lucky blocks work. Their physical appearance changes with a white ball of light on their forehead, which is the source, but their body language is also more confident in other episodes, at least if you look closely. Similar to Red, the others save Yellow from this possession. The fact that you can understand the panic they all have during these dangerous situations despite the lack of faces and speaking takes a stroke of genius storytelling.
Blue’s body language is oftentimes full of curiosity and excitement, but looking at episode 21, The Witch, it is different. They are more stiff and calculated, almost condescending in their actions. This would be due to the fact that it is a witch impersonating them.
In the previous episode, episode 20, The Piglin War, Blue had run out of netherwart. This is where it starts to play a semi-big role as Blue runs out and has to reopen the nether portal to get more sets off the domino effect for basically all of season 3.
A character that is introduced sometime in season 1 is Purple, one of the antagonists in the story until around episode 29. The main villain of the series is King Orange, with their motive being to destroy Minecraft entirely due to the death of their child, Gold.
Purple, throughout their time as an antagonist, deceives the main group multiple times. From trapping them all in a parkour course prison to using Green and Blue for their own selfish motives, There comes a point where the main group has to fight against King Orange to stop them from destroying the game. Purple runs off sometime during the battle, and Green follows them, much to the obvious dismay of Yellow, who tried to stop them.
This leads to episode 29, Note Block Universe, where Green is following Purple through this unfamiliar world to figure out just why Purple is so against them. Atop a mountain, Purple tells Green their life story, from their dad leaving and their mom dying to their strengths being taken advantage of by King Orange for the goal of destroying Minecraft as a whole. Green, who in multiple episodes has noticed things about others and waited for them, helps Purple understand that they could be friends, and they return to the battle. Purple looks tense throughout most of this episode until Green reassures and hugs them.
We get King Orange’s backstory in the next episode. Episode 30: The King. We find out that King Orange was an amazing parent who loved their child dearly. Gold had spotted a booth in the market for Minecraft, practically begging King Orange to let them check it out. King Orange agrees and signs the waiver. Gold is ecstatic, eagerly entering the machine to play. Only for it to malfunction a few minutes later, killing Gold. From then on, King Orange is angry, wanting revenge and to destroy the game that destroyed their child.
After this flashback, the battle continues. If you had thought the original episode was the last time we saw Herobrine, you would be surprised. Herobrine joins the fight after noticing three of his students from episode 27, Monster School, are missing. During the battle, Herobrine possesses Red again for what looks to be a fighting advantage. That plan backfires, and Herobrine is sucked into the staff that King Orange wields. This episode is anxiety-inducing, but in the end, the main five win and forgive King Orange and Purple. Everyone can happily go home now and live in peace.
In episode 33, Lucky Block Staff, the main group is seeing what different blocks can do in King Orange’s, now Yellow’s, staff. They are all very reluctant to put a lucky block in the slot due to what happened the last time they messed with lucky blocks, so they skip past it and continue their fun. Although Red’s curiosity gets the better of them, they put the lucky block in the staff at night while everyone is asleep, causing trouble. Now the rest of the group has to clean up after Red, resulting in more near-death experiences and tension. They are all tense yet determined to beat this orb for a second time. It is harder this time, but they manage.
Red ends up in time-out at the end of the episode, and that is where the series has left off so far.
It is easier to understand by watching the series itself than by reading about it on a screen. If you have the time to do so, watch the series to better understand the storytelling in its entirety.
