Game Theory's MatPat appears to have uncovered the truth behind the origins of the Minecraft monster, the Phantoms. Matthew "MatPat" Patrick, the founder and host of Game Theory, has built his YouTube career on discovering the deeply hidden lore within video games. Taking on titles such as Doki Doki Literature Club, Inscryption, and most famously the Five Nights at Freddy's series, he has built a reputation for exploring wild possibilities and diving further into the lore than most fans will venture.
Phantoms are a horde of unique undead monsters that can prove to be a frightening menace, especially to new Minecraft players. It is a large flying skeletal creature with bright green eyes and an infamously piercing screech that it makes as it divebombs players from the air. It was brought into the game several years ago, by winning the first public fan vote for a new monster from Minecon Earth 2017. Game Theory pokes holes in a long-lived theory about the Phantoms while revealing the dark truth behind their origins.
The theory begins by describing an unusual trait of the Phantoms. While the spawn rates for the other mobs are affected by variables such as the light level and the terrain, what makes the Phantoms unique is that they only appear if the player character hasn't slept in at least three days. This led to a long-prevailing theory that the Phantoms aren't real, just hallucinations brought on by a lack of sleep. However, true to form for MatPat, he discovered that this can't be true due to several very simple details. For starters, the Phantoms drop items, called Phantom Membrane, when they are slain which can then be picked up. Players can also capture Phantoms as pets or have wolves attack them. Suffice to say, the Phantoms are not illusions and do have a true physical presence in the game.
After crossing off the hallucination theory, MatPat goes back to the Phantom's item drop, the Phantom membranes. These membranes are the only material that can be used to repair a rare Minecraft item that gives the player the power of flight, called The Elytra. As MatPat points out, players can only mend items in Minecraft with the same material the item is made from. This implies that the membranes and Elytra are "one and the same". From there MatPat makes a connection based on another theory of his, where he deduced that the Elytra are the wings of a fallen Ender Dragon. Ergo, the Phantoms must have a connection to Ender Dragons.
He goes on to propose that Phantoms are the spirits of Ender Dragons that were slain by an ancient society, possibly brought back to life through experimental rituals done by the Illagers. Throughout his series of Minecraft theories, MatPat has found many clues hinting toward the existence of this long-lost society. This haunting possibility of Phantoms having ties to slain Ender Dragons, partially back to life to hunt down people just like the player, is just one more clue towards his ongoing theory.
This theory takes its place among MatPat's long ongoing series of uncovering secrets of the residents in the world of Minecraft. While some players are content to just explore and build upon the blocky world, players like MatPat find that it's finding secret lore like this that makes the experience all the richer. Whether Phantoms are hallucinations or undead dragon ghosts, they will still prove to be a challenge to any player that skips out on sleep.
Source: Game Theory/YouTube