A high school psychology student's attempt at psychologically analyzing Illusion Steve. Yes, I emailed this whole thing to my psych teacher. Nope, I did not edit a single word in this whole thing besides writing this little intro and the word count. This is allllll just me doin my thing.

Be warned, this is like..just me summarizing/writing out his entire story. Nope, I didn't use Sabre's "Story Of" to make research easier...I'm just stupid.

It was 8 pages in Microsoft Word and I spent 3 hours writing 6 of the pages yesterday and then like maybe an hour or two writing the first two lmao. Still, best 4 hours writing something for school I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

[word count: 4129]

Character Name: Illusion Steve, A.K.A. Reality Steve

Media: YouTube Minecraft roleplay series – the Steve Saga by FavreMySabre.

Basic Context: The Steve Saga is a series in which Sabre, the human main character, discovers and becomes friends (or enemies) with a race of humanoid creatures known as Steves who reside within the server Sabre created. Steves are colorful beings which are capable of using their energy in a superpower-like fashion; many have the ability to summon fireballs and fly, for instance. Each of these Steves are usually either named after their color or physical appearance, otherwise they're usually based off of their abilities. These entities are powerful, some being invincible to attacks unless at low health. Others are capable of not only knowing about our world but also attempting to escape the Steve Saga server or affecting person(s) who came in contact with them through their game.

Illusion Steve is a male-presenting Steve who plays the role of villain in the bulk of the Steve Saga's second season. Sadly, this season was deemed non-canon to the main story – however I do not know if this is 100% true as the rest of the series after season two concluded is rather spotty.

Illusion is the youngest of the three siblings in the Galaxy family. Galaxy Steve is the father of Time and Elemental Steve, who were both created around the same time. Elemental sacrificed himself to stop an evil machine he had created long before Illusion was created, so sadly the two never met. Time Steve witnessed Elemental's death, leaving Sabre's side to mourn his brother and to find himself and his creator. Later on, the two crossed paths again and this time Galaxy was with Sabre. Sadly, due to their energies being the same and Galaxy being stronger than his son, Time ended up being absorbed.

A long time later, Sabre leaves the server and an infection starts, causing many deaths and leading those infected to insanity. Galaxy got infected and in attempt to slow the spread, he sent himself out of the timeline. However, that meant no-one was around to help him, so he was lost in the blank whiteness alone. That extensive period of time outside the timeline was when Illusion Steve was created. Within the broken pieces of Galaxy's mind, rose Illusion. He was created to make sense of the world and to make Galaxy happy.

Galaxy has a history of creating Steves to do things for him; Void, the villain who destroyed many dimensions and lives, was created so Galaxy did not have to worry about watching over all of time, space, and all the dimensions. Void was the reason Elemental turned against his brother and became evil. He is most like a dark, evil version of Galaxy.

Elemental and Time Steve were created after Galaxy lost most of his memories when creating Void (Void had most of his powers and memories) to watch over time and space for him while he figured out how to defeat Void Steve. But Void sent his henchman (who may be his son) Memory Steve to wipe the memories of all three of them many times. Galaxy has short-term memory loss problems because of this.

But as for Galaxy being lost out of time, he was saved by Sabre traveling outside the timeline and getting his mind organized enough to reform Time Steve. Illusion escaped into the timeline when Time brought himself and Sabre back into the timeline; sadly, he could not bring Galaxy because he was still stronger than him.

Basic Identifiers

As I am not certain, I believe Steves as a whole do not have a gender however use he/they pronouns. Also, Steves seem to have a different development and seem to be created with a fairly well-developed mind and body, as Illusion began using his powers in the Overworld (normal world) rather quickly. However, I do not know for certain when he was created, as perhaps a Steve is in a long coma-like scenario when they are first created with a fully developed body, but their mind has to form slower.

Family/Social Dynamics

Besides what I mentioned before, the Galaxy family has quite the history. When Illusion arrived in the Overworld, he decided the first thing to do was to cast an illusion upon Sabre and pretend to be his old best friend, Rainbow Steve, who was killed by Void Steve prior. Later on, Illusion then pretended to destroy Time Steve, likely sending his older brother into a sort of illusion dimension, as he is never seen afterwards.

Upon ensuring Sabre and his friend Alex (who is an extremely powerful female-presenting person) were helpless and scared, Illusion stole Alex's powers. These powers were separated from Alex due to the infection sending her into a hysteria. The powers are god-like in capability; she was the first and only one of her kind, created long ago by the creator of the Steves, Origin Steve.

Illusion dropped the act of pretending to be Rainbow Steve, choosing to appear as the featureless being I described. He then created a massive illusion, essentially sending Alex and Sabre into a false Overworld. He was powerful enough to create an entirely new version of the world, a reset of sorts. Prior, Galaxy Steve was returned to normal in the Overworld, but he did not trust Sabre due to Illusion messing with his head. Around the same time, Demon Steve was summoned from the Steve Saga's version of eternal damnation, known as the Spiritless World, by Illusion Steve. Illusion had plans to use this demonic beast as his mind-controlled henchman.

Even when the Demon Steve was not under Illusion Steve's control, this Demon was a ruthless, mindless beast of hell. It could not speak, only growl and hiss in hatred.

Illusion created the false reality under the reasoning that 'Galaxy wants everything to be okay again, so I'm creating an illusion to fulfill his desires. Look at this world, Sabre, this world is broken. I'm going to fix this mess.' Or, well, something along those lines. Illusion was created to fulfill Galaxy's wishes; he was like a fae, being unable to do what he wanted and only under a set of instructions was he to do anything.

Illusion strongly dislikes Galaxy for that reason, among others. He only was aware of the other members of his family and the past of the server through viewing and playing with others' memories, most notably Sabre's and Galaxy's.

Behaviors

When the false reality was created, it made essentially everyone Sabre knew come alive or be back to normal, however none knew who Sabre was. Eventually Sabre was able to create a machine and steal some of Illusion's powers, forming the first Illusion Block. He later on found Alex and trapped her, merging his friend with the powerful block, allowing her to be a double agent and pretend to still work for Illusion Steve.

Illusion tasked her with trapping the Demon Steve he had summoned previously and deliver it to him. Sabre and Alex worked together to build a trap to catch the Steve, succeeding.

After Alex had delivered Demon Steve to Illusion, the Guardian of the Spirit World appeared – he is the caretaker of the deceased spirits within the "heavens" – the Spirit World. His job is to send the unworthy spirits to the Spiritless World and ensure they do not escape while maintaining the Spirit World.

Illusion had a better hold on the Guardian's mind; even after Alex and Sabre tried to restore his memories and such, he secretly was only pretending. The Guardian, in this alternate reality, was known as "The Guardian Of Illusion Steve." When he appeared after Illusion took Demon, he was sent to follow Alex around as Illusion was suspicious of her.

Alex and Sabre eventually tried to break him out of the illusion, however he faked it. Later on, they made a second Illusion Block, which he and Alex grew power-hungry for and had a rather mediocre fistfight over. However, Sabre decided the best option was to not give it to either, instead destroying it. After that was when it was revealed Illusion and the Guardian were still working together.

Illusion attempted to make a deal with Sabre; simply pretend the false reality was real and nothing bad happens. However, Sabre then told Illusion he knew why he was keeping Galaxy Steve separate from him; Galaxy had 100% believed Sabre that the world around them was fake before Illusion forced them apart. That he doesn't truly have anyone on their side.

Illusion wanted control; he didn't want to give up the illusion he had created; a world in which everything was perfectly fine. A place he had control and ease of mind. He kept turning Sabre's friends against him; he continued to scheme and plan in ways to hurt and break down Sabre's mind, making it easier for him to force Sabre to give in to the illusion.

He didn't have free will, so he created the illusion world to give him that freedom from Galaxy Steve's desires. Illusion excused the creation of the illusion as simply him acting upon his purpose; to give Galaxy Steve what he wanted. He told Sabre all this, saying he did not care if others were not on his side.

Sabre mentioned that it wasn't too late for Illusion to back down; he had not done anything too extreme to be deemed a villain, beyond the fact that he was using the Demon Steve to make an army.

Illusion is fueled by logic, and his own emotions, to a degree. Each conversation he has with Sabre leads to him mentioning how nonsensical Sabre is. He dislikes others; he considers himself above the meaningless nonsense of other people. He believes no-one has free will, only being manipulated and altered by those who made us. He acts rather similar to a teenager, in all honesty.

He often is sarcastic or annoyed by others and wants to do what he wants without others getting in the way. He is rather solitary in social behavior. He acts as if he knows everything when he does not and tries to hide any potential weaknesses or need for others' help. He appears to be rather easily irritated, not unlike a teenager. If Minecraft had animated eyes, and Illusion even had eyes, he would likely roll them in annoyance when asked to do something.

Illusion Steve tends to be blunt. Yet he keeps his head about him and carefully reveals bits and pieces of his plans. However, while he is intelligent and appears fairly level-headed, his emotions get the best of him. He will leave someplace when he feels everyone is too much to deal with, whether that simply be that they are "too stupid and annoying" to handle or otherwise.

He likely experiences difficulty in expressing other emotions when he has repressed anything bubbling up to the surface. Like his physical appearance, he tends to keep a fairly empty emotion about him, sometimes devolving into anger or irritation. He seems to obsess over knowledge.

Eventually Illusion revealed the "Illusion Town" to Sabre, Alex, and the Guardian, which was a small to medium sized place with walls not unlike the Rainbow Town's. The Rainbow Town was a safe haven Sabre and Rainbow Steve created long ago, before they even met Galaxy Steve. Sadly, it was destroyed by Nightmare Steve.

The Illusion Town was based off of the memories Illusion saw in Sabre's mind of the Rainbow Town, who also pointed out that little detail. There were Illusion Blocks replacing the Rainbow Stone embedded in the walls and had the Rainbow Tree Of Life, which was destroyed along with the Rainbow Town.

Later on, Sabre stole Illusion Steve's core, then trapping Illusion himself. It was revealed Illusion was faking not being able to break anything, the entire thing with the Illusion Town and the Demon Steves were all a distraction. After simply breaking Alex out of the machine, which was still being powered, he revealed that he simply was holding her in there himself. He said he still let her speak to give Sabre hope, when in reality the machine did nothing whatsoever.

But then he turned the conversation against Sabre, pointing out the secrets and strangeness about the human – where he went when he logged off.. where he was even from.. why he could get away with things easier than anyone else on the server.. if he was really helping the Steves or if he was helping the Steve Saga..

He forced Sabre into a position, where he couldn't find a way to easily explain the truth of the world Alex and the Guardian knew. Illusion talked about the Steve Saga, and asked Sabre if he never told his friends of the truth because he thought they did not have the intellect to understand, that Galaxy Steve knew of some part of the truth but he lived in blissful ignorance. Illusion manipulated the conversation from being about him being an awful person, to pointing at Sabre and convincing everyone that Sabre was also manipulative and keeping secrets. That Sabre was playing a game...but Alex and the Guardian were fighting for their lives.

Illusion made Sabre scared. And not just of him, but of admitting a metaphysical truth that the universe his friends knew as their entire world was within a game. Not only just a world within a game he played, but a world he originally created as a fun little investigation into the Steves. To admit to your friends within the monitor of your computer that you're playing a game, that you're really not there with them? That you aren't fighting for your life alongside them? To admit to your friends that the person saying all these bad things about you are telling the truth? That is more terrifying than anything.

Illusion Steve put that weight on Sabre's shoulders. On purpose...To force the negative attention off of him and onto his enemy.

Illusion watched as Sabre tried and failed to explain, interjecting with the idea that everyone was simply a tool for Sabre to use. That he, Alex, and every single other person is used by him for his own personal gain.

He asked Alex if she ever wondered why he left the world for months (well, months in his time, it was centuries for the Steve's world). When Sabre said he left Alex and Galaxy to protect the world and all the dimensions, he left believing it was better to leave it all behind and hope things went smoother when he was gone..because in the time prior to leaving, he had only caused more of a mess. Dozens, maybe even hundreds, of more Steves were dead because of him. All except for the Guardian, Alex, and Galaxy (and technically Time) were alive...the other 50+ various Steves he had met on his journeys were dead or missing from existence.

Illusion kept referencing it all being a game, looking Sabre directly in the eyes and telling him that he knows. Sabre was growing even more fearful, and Alex and the Guardian grew increasingly confused and curious, yet afraid and uncertain.

Illusion simply watched as the chaos unfolded after telling Alex and the Guardian that their world was a game Sabre played for fun. He pointed out their questions went unanswered, that he was the only one besides Sabre who knew the truth. Pointing out when Sabre had said "wait this is a serious fourth wall break, "when Illusion said the Steve Saga was just a game.

Even when Sabre tried to explain that the Steve Saga was technically a game, but he didn't treat the inhabitants and their situations like a game, Alex was having second thoughts on everything. She didn't know how to trust the first friend she ever made all those years ago.

She still tried to believe, though.

But Illusion and Sabre told the truth; Sabre was part of a different world, a bigger picture so to speak, and if he is destroyed, he still lives within his world. Sabre can leave whenever he wants; he chooses not to not because he can't but because Alex, the Guardian, and all his friends can't.

Illusion said that "I assure you; I will find a way for all to transcend this reality as I have discovered for myself." Essentially, he considered himself not a villain but a seeker of truth and a savior to his people, all of which he either hasn't met or has manipulated in some fashion.

He went on to mention that Sabre considered Alex the most powerful, previous holders of the title being Origin Steve, Void Steve Nightmare Steve... But in truth, Sabre was the unstoppable one.

He admitted to using Galaxy Steve to gain all of this information, beyond the understanding of simply knowing Sabre was very different. He even referred to Lucas, another player who used to be on the server and join Sabre in his adventures long ago, who disappeared just like Sabre did temporarily before.

Illusion then summoned Galaxy Steve, absorbing him, taking on an even stronger form known as Reality Steve. Reality Steve has a purple, pink, and magenta pattern upon his skin rather than the plain gray.

Reality used his new, strengthened powers to swap with Sabre, allowing the Steve access to the perks of being a player, such as being able to go into third person, a settings menu, and the one item that most interested Reality: the disconnect world button.

Hidden Traits Beneath The Surface

Reality pressed the disconnect button, despite Sabre's warning that he would not only not be able to comprehend the real truth but could possibly disappear forever. Sabre was now trapped in the server, unable to leave while Illusion gave himself trauma.

Reality left the server, coming face-to-face with the server menu, seeing that the other server Sabre had was Hypixel, which had over 37,000 players on it at the moment of Reality's arrival. Reality was confused by how the out-of-server menu worked, being unable to look around or move but only have a menu in front of him.

As long as he was outside the Steve Saga server, Reality was experiencing glitches which were a result of him being outside of the world he was created in. I believe it's directly from coming out of the server forcefully, as previously Sabre and Rainbow Steve had once built a machine which allowed Rainbow Steve to join servers just like Hypixel as if he were a player with no problems.

Reality was astounded that there were so many others like Sabre, yet what he had failed to notice was that there was a maximum of 95,000 people on the Hypixel server...meaning there were many, many more than just the 37,164 online at the time. He told himself that he needed to figure everything out when he started getting confused and a bit scared.

When Reality then left the server menu and went to the main menu, he told himself again that he needed to figure this out. He was beginning to obsess more obviously over knowledge than before, it seems to be a coping mechanism to new situations/confusing concepts or to anxiety.

Out of fear that Sabre was telling the truth when he said that Reality would never be able to return if he hit the quit game button, he forced himself to focus on solving the mystery of what "singleplayer" meant. Another example of this apparent coping mechanism to the unknown... or more specifically, the scary truth and "what ifs."

Immediately when arriving to the single player menu, he began freaking out over the button labeled "create new world." He most likely would have sent himself into mass hysteria if he pondered over that any longer than he had. Note that at any moment he could have left this all behind, he could have returned to the Steve Saga to process things. But instead he brought upon himself more pain by trying to answer questions he was no longer so sure he wanted to know the answer to.

Clicking the button rather than trying to take a minute to think or calm down, he explored the world menu and found the creative mode option. He was starting to lose his mind, talking to himself about a Steve needing unlimited power to do what Sabre could do with creative mode. He was surprised and taken aback when he discovered that with Sabre's account, he could create a new world with the simple touch of a button.

He attempted to create a world, but as it was loading, he glitched out worse than before... He knew his time was running out, he could not hold himself together much longer.

He noted out loud that within the new world, he felt better. He could see himself... he could move... he could act normally. As he fell further into a confused panic, he mentioned that in his collecting of memories, he saw Galaxy Steve was trying to stop Steves from creating their own, referencing back to when Void Steve was attempting to wipe the whole universe clean and start anew with one created in his image. Yet Sabre could create a new one so easily.

He eventually came to the point where he realized Sabre was right, he was unable to leave the game or else his "reality would cease to exist." He returned to the server menu to check out the Hypixel server, eying the huge build constructed in the main lobby in awe. He was surprised by the players' ability to create something with such ease.

Reality found the compass in his inventory directing him to a game menu, setting in the truth that his entire world really was a game to Sabre and his people. Returning back to where he spawned, he completely lost his cool and rambled on about not being ready to know the truth of Sabre and his world and that Sabre was right. It really took a traumatic experience for him to realize he doesn't know everything.

He began to glitch out far worse than before as he panicked, returning to the server menu and rejoining the Steve Saga server.

At first, he thought it was all okay. But then it was discovered that in the exchange, Sabre had become the vessel for Reality Steve's powers and now Reality was completely powerless, being too afraid of the truth to disconnect again. He eventually was backed up against the Rainbow Tree Of Life, finally being unable to manipulate the situation or just simply leave and now being held accountable for his actions. He tried to ask for forgiveness. Sabre was a bit more unstable than previous times he had used a Steve's powers, and chances are, if he kept them much longer, he would have potentially become a power-crazed villain.

But Sabre instead gave back Alex and the Guardian's ability to break blocks, while replacing some of the machine with diamond blocks. He got into the machine, using up the entirety of the Steve energy he had remaining to switch places with Reality Steve.

The trio thought it was all good, but then Reality brought out Demon Steve and broke himself out by controlling the Demon Steve. Reality was going to still try and mess with the Steve Saga world, trapping Alex and Sabre. But once Sabre managed to remove a bit of Reality's energy, Reality was starting to hear Galaxy Steve in his head.

He began to lose his mind, every time he tried to use his powers (specifically to attack Sabre and co.) Galaxy Steve would start talking, saying random things which were annoying Reality to beyond irritated. He had basically transcended the "annoyed" plane of existence. Finally, Reality gave himself up.

Reality Steve complied with Sabre's word, despite the underlying want to destroy him so he would get out of his way. But Galaxy Steve annoying his son was far stronger, resulting in Reality separating Galaxy from himself. And then afterwards Illusion willingly gave away his powers to Alex, both the powers/energy he stole from her and his own.

And thus, Illusion Steve left the Illusion Town in trauma-laced annoyance on his own.