Netherite

About

Netherite is a type of crafting material that will be added to Minecraft as a part of the 1.16 patch and was first featured in the 20w06a snapshot (test version) of the game. The introduction of the material, which surpassed Diamond in a number of categories, spawned memes in the Minecraft community. In August 2022, TikToker @borkzzisdaddy's viral video in which they celebrated the creation of Netherite materials and accidentally confused the item with the N-word became known as the Netherite Incident, further adding to the lore surrounding the in-game item.

Origin

On February 5th, 2020, snapshot (test version) 20w06a for the upcoming 1.16 patch for Minecraft was released.^[1] The version introduced a number of updates to the Nether biome of the game, including the introduction of valuable Netherite^[2] crafting material, which can be used to upgrade Diamond items (Netherite Ingot and Netherite Armor recipe shown below, left and right).

The material surpassed Diamond, previously considered the best crafting material in the game, in a number of categories (snapshot notes^[3] shown below).

Netherite items float in lava so you don’t lose all your gear after that unplanned lava bath
* Netherite items have higher enchantment value than diamond (but not as high as gold)
* Netherite tools work faster and last longer than diamond
* Netherite weapons do more damage than diamond
* Netherite armor have higher toughness and durability than diamond
* Netherite armor gives you knockback resistance, so you barely get knocked back at all when hit by arrows and such
* …and it looks cool!

Spread

The higher quality of the Netherite compared to Diamond spawned multiple memes in the Minecraft community, with memes about the material also appearing in major meme communities such as /r/dankmemes and /r/ShitPostCrusaders. For example, a meme posted by Redditor^[4] connordor64 on February 5th received over 5,600 upvotes in /r/MinecraftMemes in one day (shown below, left). A same-day meme by Redditor^[5] sadcookiebruh gained over 2,300 upvotes in /r/okbuddyretard in the same period (shown below, right).

The Netherite Incident

On August 31st, 2022, TikTok user @borkzzisdaddy uploaded a video celebrating the creation of three Netherite materials, but wrongly confused the item with the N-word, quickly correcting himself later. The post went viral, garnering 8,8 million plays and 1 million likes.

The video was later turned into a viral event called "the netherite incident", with parody videos never explaining what it happened, using the XqcDespair / Serious XQC meme. For instance, @darksylium posted on January 11th, 2023, a gameplay video (below, left) of Minecraft showing his craft of the Netherite item, receiving 999,000 plays and 53,800 likes in one month. @babagril420uwu also posted a similar video (below, right) on November 19th, 2022, showing the item craft menu with XQC's clip, which garnered 2,3 million plays and 208,900 likes in four months.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References