I’m not sure how many of my followers play or care about Minecraft, but as a data pack developer and someone who’s job is to create Minecraft content, I want to talk about something very concerning.
Today, Minecraft revealed that in an upcoming update, they will be adding Piglin Heads as a decorative block, and along with all the other heads that already exist in the game, it would be given the ability to, when placed on a Note Block, make the Note Block make the noises of the creature who’s head is on it.
If you’re not familiar with Minecraft, you might not really care, or maybe if you do play, you’re thinking “So what? We already have like, Zombie Heads? One more sounds cool enough.”
Except Piglins are very distinct from something like Zombies. Piglins are intelligent, and participate in an organized civilization.
In Minecraft, Piglins live in the Nether, which was recently updated to be much less like a direct Hell, and more like a complex superwarm underground ecosystem, with actual life outside of souls or undead in the form of Fungi, Striders that walk upon the lava, and Piglins: bipedal pig-people.
Piglins live in the ruins of Bastions, clearly ancestral homes of an aged mining empire. They are known for liking and hoarding Gold. However there’s a lot more to them than that: Piglins wear leather clothes that they craft by hunting Hoglins, which are like giant boars. They farm Nether Wart to brew Fire Resistance Potions. They dance, and have an understanding of value in commerce--they know that if the player gives them gold (even if they’re mad at the player) that they should offer something in return. They have a military hierarchy, with Brutes being classified as guardians that wear more significant armor, and are not forgiving of invaders, only being stationed to protect their treasure.
This is an intelligent civilization. Semi-primitive, sure, but they have society. That they are hostile if the player doesn’t wear gold doesn’t strip them of intelligence. They they are an opponent that can be fought, killed, and stolen from doesn’t diminish their intelligence, however even then there are clear mechanics at play that discourage killing them, such as their sense of community when attacked and the fact that they don’t drop any loot when killed. Adding a feature that allows the player to hunt them, and then to mount their heads as trophies? That is horrific. It degrades them as an intelligent people. If Villager Heads were added to the game, it would be disturbing and gross. Why not for Piglins, who exemplify many of the same traits as Villagers including commerce, farming, clothing, community, military, and construction?
Piglin Heads should not be a thing. At the very least, they should be obtained via loot chests, not from the usual manner as with Zombies or Skeletons, or worse, Wither Skeletons. However more seriously, I think they should explicitly not be real Piglin Heads at all, but rather a Piglin Mask, or Golden Piglin Head--something that they might make as part of their culture.
Minecraft 1.20 doesn’t yet have an Update Name, but it is explicitly focused on representation and inclusion--this comes in the form of adding more default player skins for different skin colors and nationalities, making bamboo ( a very versatile real-world resource) into a crafting ingredient with all the same uses as wood, and adding camels, just because people in the world live in places that have camels. But Minecraft is even more than that--they have shown repeatedly that they care about the impacts their game has on how we view the world, which is why Frogs do not eat fireflies as they were originally planned to.
Please Mojang, give Piglins respect as an intelligent civilization. Fight them, steal from them, but don’t glorify their deaths with stuffed heads as trophies.
