Hostile Mobs (Minecraft)

Hostile mobs (simply known as Monster mobs or simply Monsters), are the main antagonistic group of hostile entities found in the 2011 sandbox video game, Minecraft. Hostile mobs are the only mobs in the game that are mean, genocidal, murderous, and evil. Because of these encounters, players are forced to fight them back in the middle of the night in order to protect their own house. Zombies, Creepers, Skeletons, Slimes, and Spiders are the most notable and iconic hostile mobs in the game so far. Even though the hostile mobs are the most destructive mobs in the game, they somewhat became a cultural phenomenon in social medias and websites such as: YouTube, Google, and more. Hostile mobs also became easter eggs and even cameos in several video games due to their popularity. They also serves as the secondary antagonists/major antagonists, or even the protagonists in countless Minecraft mods, maps, fanfiction, webcomics, songs, and videos.

PERSONALITY
Hostile mobs is often portrayed as the mean, rude, cruel, evil, villainous, murderous, dimwitted, weak, offensive, antagonistic, and ruthless entities that the players always find during nighttime or even dayime.

History (Minecraft)
Hostile mobs will face and chase/attack the player as soon as they come close. Hostile mobs will also attack a player even when he/she gets within a certain range. For most hostile mobs, the range is typically 16 blocks, without any obstructions. Some mobs can sense a player from much farther away, like Ghasts, who detect all players within 100 blocks. Here are some classifications of the iconic hostile mobs from the game:

Zombies


Zombies are considered as one of the most iconic hostile mobs in the game. They are melee, hostile that spawn in areas with a light level of 7 or less. They are found within nearly all Minecraft Biomes

Zombies are sometimes considered the least dangerous hostile mob in the game because they are slow and can only use close-range melee attacks. However, it is possible for several zombies to collaborate and attack as a team, making them more difficult to overcome. Zombies come in many different variations as well, each with their own unique attacking abilities, or inflict a certain effect.

A zombie will target a player when he or she is within a 40 block radius. Zombies can jump 1 block up and will crowd around doors when in pursuit of players and villagers (in Hard mode, they will break wooden doors down). Zombies also occasionally spawn with the ability to equip dropped armor and weapons.

Any item equipped in this way will be dropped after the zombie is killed. Zombies will also not drop down into an area if the ledge is taller than five blocks. Once implemented, zombies will have a small chance of spawning another zombie to assist it. This is very buggy, albeit, and it can turn a handful of zombies into a horde in a short amount of time. This ability is activated upon any zombie taking damage, whether it's environmental or player caused.

Zombies spawn in unlit areas either above ground or underground. They will attempt to break down one's door. When the sun rises, they will burn to death above ground. Zombies also appear in several other medias such as Machinima videos in YouTube.

Skeletons


Skeletons are common hostile mobs that shoots arrows and drops 0–2 bones, 0–2 arrows, and a bow (most likely used, however, there is a small chance a bow may be enchanted). They are the primary ranged mob that a player encounters while in the overworld. Skeletons are currently only one of two mobs that drop bones, the other being a wither skeleton.

Like zombies, skeletons spawn in darkness and have a chance of spawning with armor. They also burn in sunlight and take fire damage unless in shade, water, or wearing a helmet. Both skeletons and zombies seek shade when exposed to the sun so that they don't burn in the daylight. When a skeleton's arrow hits another hostile mob (with the exception of creepers and with the aid of a player to distract the skeleton), the other mob will attack the skeleton, and neither mob will attack a player until one of them dies. Skeletons themselves will also turn on any other hostile mobs that hit them, including other skeletons. Unlike most other mobs, skeletons are able to spawn naturally in both the Overworld and in The Nether, where they can spawn in Nether in place of wither skeletons 20% of the time.

Creepers


Creepers are one of the most unique and iconic hostile mobs found in the game and can been seen everywhere on the internet and other social medias. A creeper can easily be recognized by its tall vertical structure (roughly the size of a player), green, pixelated skin, and four legs. It is one of the most dangerous enemy in the game, as it is not affected by sunlight (but it can despawn after a while), which makes it a constant threat as it silently roams the map, searching for a player to explode upon. It should be noted, however, that most creepers do despawn during the day, along with spiders. It is often used as the game's mascot by Mojang.

A creeper who has found a player will chase down that player until the distance between them is only a few blocks. It should be noted that creepers tend to walk to the right of a player. The creeper makes use of a suicide-bomb attack involving getting within close proximity of a player (usually 2–3 blocks) before exploding. A player's only warning to when the creeper is about to explode is by a very distinctive hiss, as well as the swelling and flashing of the creeper itself, which starts about 1–2 seconds prior to the explosion. If a player tries moving away when a creeper is hissing, it will cancel the detonation; however, the harder the difficulty, the further away a player has to get. It takes three full seconds for the creeper to detonate. After it explodes, it will leave a large crater in the ground. The size of this crater is solely dependent on what the terrain is made from. Typically, a hole in the topsoil is created. However, they can be powerful enough to destroy a stone.

When a creeper is killed by an arrow shot by a skeleton, it will drop a random music disc, which can be played in a jukebox. It doesn't matter what dealt most of the damage, as long as the last blow was the arrow of a skeleton. Creepers cannot use doors, but they can climb ladders and vines, unlike other hostile mobs and despite being armless.

Spiders


Spiders are half-neutral, half-aggressive mobs (depending on the time of day) which can spawn in groups of 1–4. They are also one of the iconic character of the game. Spiders move slightly faster than other hostile mobs, making creeping noises as they move around. They are aggressive at night, attacking nearby players, but neutral during daytime. However, a spider will always attack any player who provokes them, regardless of the time of day. Spiders will perform a leap attack at a player when close enough. They make an audible sound similar to a loud hissing. Unlike the other mobs that spawn during the night, spiders have the ability to see through every block, which makes them particularly dangerous to players. This, and their unique climbing skills, make them one of the greatest risk to players who are active during the night (especially in a shelter, where spiders can sneak onto a roof or over walls, in order to reach a player). Unlike most other mobs, spiders can move easily through cobwebs. Cave spiders are the kinds of spiders which is only found in abandoned mineshafts.

Slimes


Slimes are a rare mob, which can spawn in three different sizes: big, small, or tiny. A slime will split into two smaller slimes when killed, unless the slime is already the smallest size. It is also one of the notable mobs in the game. Slimes can only be found in swamp biomes, below layer 40 (in 1/10 of all chucks), or in superflat worlds. Big and small slimes are hostile, but tiny slimes are passive and are popular pets, because they will follow a player around, and do not require taming. However, a slime can despawn if it is not given a nametag. Slimes of sizes small and tiny can climb ladders.

Endermen


Endermen are also one of the most recognizable mob found in the game. It is a mob with unique teleportation abilities, who will attack players who look at its head. Endermen have long legs, purple eyes and sometimes pick up blocks and move them around. In the Overworld, endermen typically only spawn at night in groups of 1-4, but they can spawn in The Nether at any time of day. In The End, encountering very large groups of endermen is quite common. Endermen wander and/or teleport around randomly, until a player attacks or "stares" at them from less than 65 blocks away. "Staring" at an enderman is defined as aiming the cross-hair at the enderman's head.undefinedOnce a player looks at an enderman in the right spot, it becomes hostile toward that player (unless the player is wearing a pumpkin on their head). It will open its mouth, and either run or teleport to the player. An enderman will not be alerted if a player is protected by one of the methods listed below. Even though Endermen are considered as hostile mobs by others, they are actually neutral mobs, because they only attack when the player stares at them.

Witches


Witches is a ranged mob, added in 1.4.Witches are hostile and are found mostly in swamp regions on their witch hut wandering around their houses. When a witch notices a player, they begin to viciously attack them with splash potions. Witches also have the ability to regenerate health. It fires splash potions of weakness, slowness, poison, and harming to weaken a player so it makes it easier to attack a player. Because of this, a player's armor is rendered useless, regardless of the armor's material and/or enchantments.

Zombie Pigmen


Zombie Pigmen are a variation of zombies, (hence the name) who are neutral and are from The Nether. They drop 0-1 pieces of rotten flesh upon death as well as 0-1 gold nuggets. They occasionally drop a gold sword or gold helmet if defeated. Zombie pigmen can also drop gold ingots, however, this is very rare.

They travel in groups of up to 20, and do not attack a player unless a player attacks them first. Zombie pigmen are able to drown, but cannot be killed by lava, other then drowning in it. Because they are well-armed, zombie pigmen are highly dangerous to an unsuspecting player, also considering the ghasts and horrible terrain of the Nether.

Ghasts


Ghasts are hostile, Nether dwelling mobs that float around and shoot explosive fireballs at players. Ghasts are cube shaped with 9 large tentacles hanging beneath them, and their main body is an exact 4×4×4 block cube, but despite their ghost-like appearance and their ability to move through other mobs, they cannot move through solid blocks, and they do not take extra damage from the smite enchantment. Ghasts were first added in the halloween update and will spawn anywhere in the Nether where there is a 5×5×5 block space. When a ghast finds a player, it will keep floating around, but it will face a player and start opening its red mouth and eyes and spitting fire charges whenever it has a clear shot. The only warning a player will get is the ghast's high-pitched scream before the shot is fired. These fireballs create explosions and light nearby blocks on fire.

Blazes


The Blaze is an uncommon mob with yellow colored skin and black eyes. They first appeared in the Beta 1.9 Pre-release 1 version. These are hostile mobs who are located within The Nether. When a player is spotted, they will set themselves on fire, which does not damage them, and they will then shoot a 3 round-burst type of fireball attacks at a player. They guard Nether fortresses and are usually spawned from a Monster Spawner, but can be found roaming Nether Foretresses. They are easily recognized as a ball of flames, which can help a player notice a blaze before they are noticed. Since a Blaze is on fire, and fire is extinguished by water, Blazes are the only mobs that can be killed with snowballs. Zero to one blaze rods are dropped when killed. Blazes have two attacks. When a player is close, the Blaze hits a player for about 2 hearts of damage. If the Blaze has spotted a player, but a player is too far, the Blaze will shoot a fireball at a player, which ignites on impact.

Silverfish


Silverfish are small, bug-like hostile mobs that have silver skin, black eyes, and hide in monster eggs found in strongholds.

Silverfish can spawn from silverfish eggs and monster spawners. They are also able to spawn, albeit rarely, underground in extreme hills, inside of certain blocks. In the former case, they can only spawn in light level 11 or lower, except on top of stones blocks, where they can spawn at any light level. They also cannot spawn within a five-block distance of any player.

The blocks in which silverfish hide look identical to stone bricks, cobblestone, or regular stone, but take slightly more time to mine than normal with a pickaxe, and will take noticeably less time to mine without one. When the block is broken, Silverfish will pop out and attack. Destroying one of these blocks via creepers or TNT will kill the silverfish instantly, before it has time to emerge. In regular gameplay, silverfish blocks occur rarely. If left alone, silverfish can re-enter some blocks, namely cobblestone, regular stone, and stone bricks.

Guardians


The Guardian is a hostile mob that can only spawn underwater inside of or around ocean monuments. Its eye will always look toward a nearby player or a squid. There is a mini-boss variant called the elder guardian. The guardian attacks by sending out a large laser beam which will harm a player. In addition, guardians can target and damage players who are riding in boats. However, once a player is out of range, the guardian's laser will disengage from a player, and it will deal no damage. Guardians will swim around in water, and they will attack any players or squids that come into sight. They swim in abrupt charges and move their tail rapidly when doing so. Unlike squids, guardians will not die outside of water. Instead, they will jump and flail around while making wet and squishy sounding noises. They will also quickly move towards the nearest water source at which point they swim away. When they are swimming, their spikes will retract, and they won't deal any damage when attacked. When they are not swimming, they will sink. Guardians' eyes will follow and stare at any nearby players, and it will always look directly at who they're attacking. This makes them the first mob with dynamic eyes. As of 1.13, Guardians also attack fish mobs.

Endermites


Endermites are very small, hostile mobs that were added in update 1.8.

Endermites are similar to silverfishes, except they are smaller, more cube-like, and purple. An endermite will occasionally spawn when a player throws an ender pearl. It will repeatedly attack the player, dealing 1 percent of damage per strike. If it is killed by a player or a tamed wolf, it will drop 3 EX. An endermite will despawn within two minutes, unless it is named with a name tag.

Endermites currently experience multiple bugs, and have a tendency to stay in one place and become glitched, as opposed to moving like other mobs.

Boss mobs
Bosses are aggresive, difficult mobs that pose a challenge to players. Bosses tend to have much higher health, deal more damage, and attack the player constantly. There are only 2 bosses in Minecraft, (excluding the story mode content) the Ender Dragon, and the Wither. Each having their ways of spawning and attack methods. Elder Guardians are said to be "boss" in the Pocket Edition, as they tend to be quite a challenge to kill in survival.

Killing a boss, will either give the player a rare drop, or change the minecraft world. All bosses will always drop expierience points.

Other new hostile mobs
Shulkers, Vexes, lllagers, Drowned, Pillagers, Ravagers, and Phantom are the new and latest hostile mobs that were added since Minecraft 1.9.



Shulkers are hostile mobs a player can encounter, as of the 1.9 update. They appear only in an End City. When a player gets close to the shulker, its shell will then unscrew, revealing the shulker. When it attacks, a white bullet will follow a player. Being hit by the shulker will give a player a 10-second levitation effect and will do a little bit of damage. This effect is very useful, as it allows a player to fly up the End City if he/she keeps getting hit. However, if the effect runs out on a player when he/she is in mid-flight, he/she can sustain heavy fall damage.



Illagers, are hostile mobs that are added in update 1.11. They consist of Evokers, Vindicators, Pillagers, Ravagers and Illusioners. They are humanoid mobs found in the Overworld similar to the model of the villagers, and the witches.

Illager noises are sinister, saying "Hrrrm," "Harrurm," and "Hun." They also say "Wololo" sound.

Drowned and phantom- are hostile mobs that were added in the 1.13 Aquatic Update.

History (Minecraft: Story Mode)


Hostile mobs are present in Minecraft: Story Mode and serves as major antagonists in the whole game. The monster mobs threatens all the players and the main characters as they go in their journey. Most notable examples are the intro sequence of some episodes of that season.

The main antagonists, PAMA, The Wither Storm, Hadrian, and Romeo uses the hostile mobs to prevent Jesse and his/her friends from continuing and succeeding in their own journey in the whole series. Luckily, The hostile mobs were defeated after Romeo's defeat in Episode 5 of Season 2 but still returns posthumously after daytime offscreen afterwards.

In Season 1-2, Jesse, alongside his friends fights all the mentioned hostile mobs except from the 1.11-1.14 hostile mobs.

Trivia

 * When lightning strikes certain mobs, they will change into special versions: a pig will turn into a zombie pigman, a creeper will turn into a charged creeper, and villager will turn into a witch.
 * All hostile mobs are genderless, nameless, and mute as said by Notch in a tweet.
 * Renaming a hostile mob "Dinnerbone" or "Grumm" using spawn eggs or name tags will flip them upside down, also happens in other mobs.
 * The hostile mob, Creeper, is the most iconic of the hostile mobs, being recognized very easily by fans and people. It also became an internet meme character.
 * In Minecraft, all hostile mobs are the only ones that oppose or attack the player or even villagers as they are portrayed as an evil, cruel entities in the game.