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One of Minecraft's earliest in-game mobs, zombified piglins (formerly known as zombie pigmen) are inhabitants of the Nether dimension. These undead creatures have had quite a long developmental history dating back to Java Edition's alpha preview.
Since they've been around for so long, there's a lot that fans may already know about zombified piglins. These mobs have been through plenty of changes and have been part of Minecraft's development, lore, and community well before the game became what it is today. However, the creatures players see in version 1.19 and above are a far cry from their initial form and function.
Curious Minecraft fans may enjoy looking back at some of the more interesting aspects of zombified piglins in their tenure that has stretched over a decade.
Intriguing facts about zombified piglins in Minecraft
1) They were originally passive and unarmed
During the early Java Edition alphas of Minecraft, before the Halloween Update, Notch introduced zombie pigmen (initially called that) as the second creature to roam the Nether. In a preview before the Halloween Update was released, players could find these creatures in the Nether. However, they were quite different from how they are known now, featuring a bloodier model and being unarmed and non-hostile to players.
In this iteration, zombie pigmen would simply roam the Nether and gaze at players, which was likely quite eerie. It wouldn't be until after Alpha 1.2.0's full release that these mobs would receive weapons. Additionally, Notch changed the textures for zombie pigmen to incorporate green ooze instead of blood, as he believed that it was "more fun to be scary without using blood."
2) They initially dropped cooked porkchops
Before they began dropping golden items, rotten flesh, crossbows, and other items, zombie pigmen in early Minecraft alphas would drop cooked porkchops instead.
This made the Nether native mobs quite easy to farm for free food, even compared to farming ordinary pigs in the Overworld. However, this wouldn't remain the norm, and Mojang would change the zombie pigmen drops to rotten flesh and gold nuggets when Java Edition 1.0's beta pre-releases were provided to the community.
Fortunately, some mods exist that can revert this change back to its original setting, but it's an interesting fact to observe nonetheless.
3) They can spawn naturally in the Overworld
While zombified piglins are typically found as inhabitants of the Nether, they can generate naturally in the Overworld in very specific circumstances. If a pig mob is struck by lightning in Minecraft, it will turn into a zombified piglin.
This feature was added early on in the game's development during Java Edition's 1.5 Beta. Though this implementation remains today, it was also used in other contexts, as lightning strikes can also convert villagers into witches. Perhaps Mojang will implement future updates that allow lightning to transform Overworld mobs in the future as well.
4) They wear carved pumpkins on a special holiday
When Halloween arrives in Minecraft, players can expect a few changes upon logging into the game. For example, bats will appear more frequently, and fun Easter eggs related to the holiday can be found. Additionally, some in-game mobs may generate with carved pumpkins on their heads, including zombified piglins. This change was introduced for zombified piglins during the 1.4.2 Java Edition "Pretty Scary" update and has remained a part of the game ever since.
5) Villagers and traders fear them
Minecraft's Bedrock Edition has some unique differences compared to its Java counterpart, which can be seen in mob behaviors. For example, zombified piglins have an interesting interaction with Bedrock Edition villagers and Wandering Traders.
Although zoglins attack them and piglins run in fear, if a villager/trader sees a zombified piglin nearby, they will run away in fear, similar to how they react to hostile Overworld mobs. However, zombified piglins don't give chase or attack. Instead, they simply ignore villagers and traders (like they do with most other mobs). The reason for this behavior remains unknown, but it could be due to the zombified piglins' rotting appearance or their golden weapons.
