Highlights

  • The illusioner mob adds unique challenges with invisibility and duplication spells, making combat more interesting in Minecraft.
  • Despite technical challenges, Mojang has continued updating the illusioner since 2017, hinting at future implementation in the game.
  • The illusioner, first officially appearing in Minecraft Dungeons, could be introduced as a boss mob for more engaging gameplay experiences.

Over the course of Minecraft’s 15-year-long history, many mobs have been added to the game. From the teleporting endermen to the whirling breezes in the Tricky Trials update, new mobs have bolstered Minecraft’s world and combat in many ways.

However, not every mob concept makes its way out of the pre-design stage, such as the giant zombie or killer bunny. Many of these mobs can be found in Minecraft’s files but can only be spawned with in-game commands rather than using eggs in creative mode. One such mob that shouldn’t be abandoned by Mojang is the hostile illusioner.

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Minecraft's Unused Illusioner Illager Needs to Make a Comeback

The illusioner was first added into Minecraft’s files back in 2017. Like other illagers, the illusioner is a gray-skinned hostile villager but wears a blue, starry hooded cloak instead of the common black and gray garb worn by most illager variants. Little is known about how the illusioner would have spawned with other illagers, but the illusioner was designed to be a tough foe to take down. The illusioner’s primary weapon is a bow and arrow. On higher difficulties, the illusioner would additionally cast blind spells at the player, plunging the nearby area into darkness for 20 seconds.

Perhaps the illusioner’s most unique ability is its invisibility and duplication spells. When entered into combat, the illusioner will turn itself invisible and spawn four identical, false duplicates. These duplicates will stay close to the invisible illusioner and won’t harm the player. Despite their non-hostile nature, the duplicates can hover slightly and phase through walls. When the real illusioner is damaged, the duplicates will regroup to the original and then reposition themselves to confuse the player. However, the illusioner’s invisibility spell only lasts for 60 seconds and once that fades, the duplicates will disappear. If killed, the illusioner may drop a bow or an illager ominous banner.

The Illusioner in Minecraft Dungeons

While the illusioner has never been fully implemented in mainline Minecraft, it was implemented as a hostile mob in 2020’s Minecraft Dungeons. Unlike the illusioner in mainline Minecraft, Dungeons’ illusioners wear dark purple cloaks and have much more deadly weapons and spells. The Dungeons illusioners can shoot explosive arrows and can teleport throughout an area. The dungeon duplicates are also more dangerous than their mainline game counterparts, having the ability to fire real arrows instead of false arrows.

Illusioners Hold a Lot of Potential for Minecraft

There has been no official statement from Mojang as to why the illusioners haven’t been fully implemented in mainline Minecraft. Mojang developer Cory Scheviak has previously detailed that they weren’t implemented in 2017 due to a lack of “technical capabilities” and intended to add them to illager raids. Despite these issues, Mojang has been updating the illusioner mob’s abilities and appearance since 2017, with the mob receiving its last update in 2019's 1.19 update where some pixels were changed to the bottom of the illusioner’s robes. In 2020, Scheviak tweeted that the illusioner mob was not currently up to Mojang’s standards and that they’ve been testing it with players to make sure it wasn’t too easy or difficult to fight against.

In January 2024, the illusioner mob was referenced in a short video on Minecraft 's YouTube channel called "WHICH MOBS DID WE MISS?"

While its invisibility and duplication abilities may be confusing and possibly frustrating for players to combat, the illusioner could be introduced in Minecraft in a number of ways. Instead of a simple illager variant, Mojang could tweak the illusioner to be a boss of the illagers. They could spawn randomly in raids, but have their duplicates actually harm players to make the fight more of a challenge like in Minecraft Dungeons. Mojang could possibly have an illusioner boss be found at rare illager bases or have them appear only after the player has successfully thwarted several illager raids. The illusioner has been in Minecraft’s files for nearly 10 years, and it can be a fun challenge if fully implemented.