The Animals of Minecraft and Their Real-Life Counterparts

Animals of Minecraft
Phil's Mommy/Shutterstock.com

Written by Abby Parks

Updated: February 3, 2025

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Minecraft has grown into a massive phenomenon since its release in 2011. The game has sold over 300 million copies, making it the best-selling game of all time. Although it has a simple design, there are endless possibilities for gameplay. One popular aspect of the game is mobs, or mobile entities, that represent living creatures. Mobs move around independently, but getting them to follow you is a fairly simple task. Animal mobs are especially easy to entice with food. Do you know the real species that the animals of Minecraft are based on? Let’s check out a few of the most popular Minecraft animals to learn about their real-life counterparts.

Minecraft Animal: Axolotl

axolotl
Unlike Minecraft axolotls, axolotls in the wild cannot live out of water.

Minecraft axolotls are aquatic mobs that can be found in lush caves. You can simply pick them up with a bucket. They require water, and they will naturally move towards it if they are outside of water for up to five minutes. If it is attacked, it will play dead until it accrues enough health points to be active again.

In the game, axolotls are useful in aquatic combat. This animal can be found in gold, blue, orange, pink, and brown. Even though there are promotional images of a green axolotl, it was never released for the game.

Real-Life Counterpart: Axolotl

In real life, the axolotl is a critically endangered salamander. They primarily live in Mexico’s high-altitude freshwater lakes. In the wild, axolotls are not as colorful as they are in the game. They are mostly a grey-brown color, but albinos appear pinkish-white. Unlike their Minecraft counterparts, axolotls cannot survive outside of water.

Axolotls are unusual because they don’t go through the process of metamorphosis like other amphibians. This allows them to develop legs and lungs, but axolotls retain the gills they develop in their larval stage. So it never adapts to living on land. It’s not hard to see why these creatures are the subject of fantasy. In some ways, they seem mythical. Axolotls can regenerate not only limbs but also their eyes and brains.

Minecraft Animal: Moobloom

Minecraft Animal: Moobloom
Like the Moobloom, domestic cows are very cautious.

The Moobloom has a passive personality, wandering throughout the game. However, they are cautious, and they will not mosey through areas that could cause them harm, like high cliffs or lava floors. As they walk around, their steps leave buttercups behind them. They are a variation of the mooshroom, which is a combination of a mushroom and a cow.

Real-Life Counterpart: Cow

The cow doesn’t leave any buttercups behind them, but like their in-game counterparts, they are very cautious. Cows are also intelligent and have emotional depth. They are very social animals and live in herds. They may become depressed when isolated or anxious when other cows in their herd are injured. Cows are also highly adaptable to their surroundings.

Minecraft Animal: Horse

Minecraft Animal: Horse
In the game and in real life, horses can be cross-bred with donkeys to make mules.

The horses in Minecraft are passive mobs that can be ridden by the player once the horse is tamed and saddled. The player can give the horse apples, sugar, bread, and other foods to build a relationship so they can ride without being bucked off. The horse can only be ridden in water as deep as two blocks, but the different types of variants will determine their speed and how high they can jump.

Horses can be bred with other animals in the game to create a different animal. For example, if a horse breeds with a donkey, they spawn a mule. Unlike other passive animals in the game, horses can slowly regenerate health.

Real-Life Counterpart: Horse

A horse can also be ridden in real life, though they require training beforehand. Horses primarily eat hay and grass, but they will also eat the sugar and apples mentioned above. While you can safely feed your horse bread on occasion, it doesn’t have the necessary nutrition.

Unlike Minecraft animals, a real horse can swim rather well. As in the game, horses can be cross-bred with other equines to make hybrids such as mules. Additionally, female horses and male donkeys can make hinnies, while male zebras and female horses create zorse.

Minecraft Animal: Sea Turtle

Minecraft Animal: Sea Turtle
Baby sea turtles in the game and in real life are threatened by predation.

The sea turtle is bright green, taking on a passive role primarily underwater. There are multiple ocean biomes with beaches that the sea turtle can spawn on, and they lay anywhere from 1-4 eggs. The baby sea turtles have many threats before they hatch, including foxes, cats, wolves, ocelots, and multiple zombie mobs.

Real-Life Counterpart: Sea Turtle

Sea turtles often show many colors in their ocean environment, living underwater like their respective Minecraft mob. However, they lay over 100 eggs in each nest, which is much more than their Minecraft counterpart. Real baby sea turtles also face many threats before they hatch, including raccoons, crabs, and even ants.

Minecraft Animal: Cat

Minecraft Animal: Cat
Both Minecraft cats and real cats typically love fish.

Cats can be primarily found in villages, though the black cat is also found at a witch hut. In total, there are 11 different color options, and the cat can be tamed with either raw cod or raw salmon. However, while feeding, the player needs to stay in one place, or the cat will be scared off.

When falling or jumping, the cat will not sustain any fall damage. When they aren’t roaming around in the game, they prefer to sit and rest on chests, beds, and active furnaces. Cats can also be used to ward off creepers and zombies.

Real-Life Counterpart: Domestic Cat

There are many different types of cats, but black cats can be found in just as many places as other cats. Salmon can be a part of their diet, but these carnivores also like chicken, beef, and other cooked meats.

Giving rise to the myth of the “nine lives” these animals are supposed to have, cats can regain their upright posture to land on their feet. This ability is called a “righting reflex.” While this ability can prevent injuries, the height of the fall can affect whether or not a cat does land on its feet.

Minecraft Animal: Sheep

Minecraft Animal: Sheep
Sheep provides mutton and wool in both Minecraft and real life.

Sheep are abundant in Minecraft, making them the most common animal to come across. Their purpose is to offer mutton and wool for the players. The wool can then be dyed into 16 different colors, and it can be used as fuel, decoration, or supplies to create other items with the Crafting Table.

When undisturbed, sheep will walk around and consume grass until the area is reduced to dirt. They are easy to farm since all the player has to do is walk around with wheat to attract their attention. Though the most common sheep are white, they can also be found in brown, shades of grey, and black. The rarest version comes in pink.

Real-Life Counterpart: Sheep

Sheep offer the same benefits in real life as they do in the game – mutton and wool. Real sheep are genetically only black or brown, but they may appear white because the white coat pattern is dominant. Real sheep also love grass, and they are easy to take care of.

Minecraft Animal: Fox

Minecraft Animal: Fox
Minecraft foxes can be tamed, but real foxes are notoriously difficult to domesticate.

The fox, a nocturnal mob, spawns as either a baby or in adult form. It is found in an orange or white hue. Commonly found in taiga biomes, the fox seeks out shelter so they can rest during the day before wandering around at night. They will attack chickens, rabbits, and baby turtles while untamed, but they will protect players who earn their trust by going after any mob.

Taming a fox is rather difficult, but it is possible. The best way is to breed two adults with sweet berries or glow berries to produce a kit. A baby fox will trust the player who bred it and will not run away as it grows up.

Real-Life Counterpart: Fox

The fox has the same colors as the Minecraft mob. In real life, most foxes prefer woodland areas that are not as cold as taiga biomes. Foxes love to eat rabbits, though they will go after primarily the same prey as in the game. While foxes can be domesticated, they are notoriously unpredictable.

Minecraft Animal: Glow Squid

Minecraft Animal: Glow Squid
Bioluminescence is a common adaptation for cuttlefish deep in the ocean.

The glow squid comes from the animals of Minecraft Earth, and it was only recently released in the game. The creators of Minecraft have hinted that they spawn in swamps and underground lakes, but they will also go deeper into the ocean to spawn. As the glow squid moves, it drops glowing ink sacs.

Real-Life Counterpart: Cuttlefish

The closest animal to Minecraft’s glow squid is the cuttlefish since some variations glow. Cuttlefish often make their habitat in shallow reefs, but they are sometimes found at great depths in the ocean, just like the glow squid mob.

Minecraft Animal: Pufferfish

Minecraft Animal: Pufferfish
Real and in-game pufferfish contain toxins that are extremely poisonous.

The pufferfish is one of the uncommon Minecraft animals, spawning underwater in lukewarm or warm bodies of water. They do not like to be approached by players, puffing up as a defense mechanism. It is possible to collect them with a water bucket, but they cannot live without being immersed in water. They can use poison against players or other mobs.

Real-Life Counterpart: Pufferfish

Like their Minecraft mobs, real-life pufferfish also prefer tropical and subtropical ocean waters. They, too puff up to intimidate predators. Their toxins make them extremely dangerous, just like the mob. They are over 1,000 times more poisonous than cyanide and there is no known antidote.

Minecraft Animal: Hoglin

Minecraft Animal: Hoglin
Hoglins are very hostile, but warthogs are not particularly aggressive unless threatened.

The hoglin is a hostile mob that comes from pigs, and they are one of the only ones that can be bred. When killed, they are a source of pork chops and leather. They are usually found in crimson forests in groups of 3-4. Hoglins are aggressive by default and will thrust their tusks upward to attack when a player is detected.

Real-Life Counterpart: Warthog

Unlike the hoglins, warthogs are not particularly aggressive. However, like most animals, they can become aggressive when threatened. Warthogs also use their tusks to defend themselves and ward off predators. Also like their fictional counterpart, warthog meat is considered edible, and the skin can be made into leather.


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About the Author

Abby Parks

Abby Parks has authored a fiction novel, theatrical plays, short stories, poems, and song lyrics. She's recorded two albums of her original songs, and is a multi-instrumentalist. She has managed a website for folk music and written articles on singer-songwriters, folk bands, and other things music-oriented. She's also a radio DJ for a folk music show. As well as having been a pet parent to rabbits, birds, dogs, and cats, Abby loves seeking sightings of animals in the wild and has witnessed some more exotic ones such as Puffins in the Farne Islands, Southern Pudu on the island of Chiloe (Chile), Penguins in the wild, and countless wild animals in the Rocky Mountains (Big Horn Sheep, Mountain Goats, Moose, Elk, Marmots, Beavers).

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