The Wandering Trader was added to Minecraft in the 1.14 Village and Pillage update in 2019 as a passive mob that randomly spawns near players and despawns after a short time. Its villager-like huh noises and often overpriced trades for emeralds quickly became a running joke among players. Clips and edits on YouTube and TikTok turned the sound into shorthand for an unwanted random encounter, and it remains popular because almost every Minecraft player has been surprised by the trader and his llamas appearing mid-build or mid-exploration.