I Built a Nightmare (Minecraft Deep Dark Diorama/set Piece)

This is a dream come true for me =D

Weird as it may be, I had always wanted to construct some sort of Minecraft diorama that could be used for stopmotion animation (in other words, larger than a 16/16 baseplate) of a cave. With the coming of the Caves and Cliffs update, i decided to say WtF iM gOiN 4 It and bought 12$ worth of dollar tree legos (That's the black and grey making the cave itself, including the 32x32 base piece).

The Warden himself came first, oddly enough. I originally wanted to build a redstone golem/monstrosity from Dungeons, but thought the Warden to be a cooler and more fitting build.

And yes, I know that the Warden is more blue than green, but it looks nicer to have green instead of deep blue (I also don't exactly have an abundance of dark blue pieces).

Supplies

As much in the way of black and grey as you can provide, with some black B+S joints.

Other pieces will be shown with their appearance.

Step 1: The Deep Dark

This is the largest and densest any of my environmental builds have been, including for GLaDOS.

There was no rhyme or reason for where the grey bricks went, aside from doing it in 2x2 increments to maintain the blockiness. Detailing was done with plates to break it up and smooth it out.

The black ones fade in from the grey, and represent the sculk growths. I think it brings across the gradient to the new biome beautifully.

I did use some main-brand dark green, but it is not necessary to pull off the eerie look.

Step 2: The Warden

The warden here is slightly of-scale with ACTUAL block size (the 2x2 size is simple and uses less resources, but each block should be 1 meter by 1 meter, meaning 3x3 is the actual size), since it is 5 blocks (15 studs or feet) tall, but it is actually in line with the artist sketch shown.

The spine was actually hard to decide on; my original idea had the body 2 studs long, with the spine jutting out. After looking at gifs of its "tantrum" animation, it turns out the back is kind of hunched anyways.

If able, use black sockets for the shoulders. I had none available, and could therefore not use them.

An odd detail I'm proud of is the feet. I acually managed to get the claws on, which is a detail most other people tend to miss when building theirs.

Step 3: My Theory

My theory comes from a variety of sources, most notably Matpat's minecraft series.

Basic idea: Sculk grows deep underground, kind of like the nether's nylium, or mycelium from the overworld. Based on Game Theory's "control over death mission" theory, what if one or a few of the builder race went insane and put their soul (lol) into trying to preserve themselves?

Storytelling:

Torn with anxiety over having possibly seen the last of their kind, and tasked with guarding the elusive strongholds, the wardens, having been long sealed away with limited supplies in their individual strongholds after the portals deactivated, were desperate. They eventually found ways out of the strongholds, and made their way into the deep dark. (Slightly based on one of Game Theory's theories.)

This was their first interaction with the sculk. They were possibly disgusted at first, with its slimy appearance and sound. They knew there was no way out for them with the limited tools they had, so they built shelters, little nests where they could store their things and take a load off.

They began experimenting with the sculk (after getting over their initial feelings for it), looking at its ability to consume blocks, and, most notably, its ability to sense. They had never seen anything like this before, and could be used to guard against quieter monsters such as creepers. (This is similar to the race's experiments with Soul Sand, but less directed toward eternal life... at first.)

Feeling the breath of death on their backs, they knew they had little time left. In one last hurrah, they built a golem-like structure, a life support system of sorts, out of the sculk. Since it was conductive of not just redstone but of living matter as well, it would keep them alive long enough to see their race's return... right? (Based on Minecraft Dungeon's redstone golem; the player may not know how, but it is possible to build larger and more complex constructs than just iron golems.)

Not quite. The thing the wardens forgot about was the sculk's ability to consume. Having sealed themselves in their golem shells, it was too late to go back. The sculk tore apart the human flesh while indeed keeping the wardens alive. The features we see today began to manifest: forming ears, since it did not know how to see, and big, strong arms to fend off any attackers. Its soul hearts are the experience the warden had forming roughly the faces of those the souls belonged to. (this assumes that Matpat's theories about enchanting using souls is true; that would mean that eperience is soul fragments. This is also based on comments regarding the nature of the sculk itself by developers.)

The wardens we see now are as decayed as the strongholds themselves; their ribs shattered open after one too many creeper explosions, their spines visible after flesh was torn off by a zombie. They are what remains of the guards of the only ways to the end of the game, corrupted and broken.

More information:

Further evidence for the Warden having once been a player-like being is that the "Warden's cabin" is too small for the warden to get inside (The cabin is 3 blocks tall, and the warden is at least 3.5.) Also, they attack with a one-fist punch, which is a trait that is only shared by the player and the endermen (which have been confirmed by Matpat to be a far-removed descendant of the builder race that the player is.)

If there are more than one, this could mean that the sculk put its intelligence to use, analyzing the genetic blueprints for the Warden and creating more copies out of any other organic material the sculk could locate, such as skeletons and zombies. This idea is supported by a game mechanic proposed in a recent youtube video I saw: a little-known block (called "sculk jaw" in the video), could be designed to "digest" organic material, and after having swallowed enough creatures, may generate a Warden.

Link to the video: Possible functions of the sculk and warden

Alternate theory regarding the chest:

What if the face things really are just a heart (or hearts)? Maybe they look like faces for a similar reason to soul sand; they were imprinted by the souls, and the warden(s) do indeed have more than one soul, but not literally shown in their chest. The heartbeat is self explanatory: the chest being open means the heart is more audible, and the size of the beast means it needs a larger, and therefore louder, heart to function.