Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Will Riker
5. The Minecraft Skin
Long after Riker has disappeared form the public consciousness, his presence is still keenly felt by many within the Star Trek fandom, and is still finding its way into popular culture in the most bizarre ways.
Starting in 2008, Yogscast Limited is a British entertainment company operating on YouTube and Twitch, producing video game related videos and assorted content for millions of fans. Beginning with World of Warcraft, the company grew its fanbase to a huge extent with their playthroughs of Minecraft, and it was here that they would add a little dash of Trek to their colossal fanbase.
As the Minecraft videos increased in popularity, they gradually became a semi-improvised comedy drama named Shadow of Israphel. Needing an iconic look for his character of Xephos, co-creator Lewis Brindley decided to go for an iconic style of black shoulders, red torso, dark hair and one hell of a beard. It was through this that the custom Riker skin was created and, although Xephos’ look has now become more personalised, he will always have a bit of Riker in his DNA.