Meet the Iron Golem

In the heat of combat, it can be very easy for friendly fire to occur. A sword is swung, or an arrow fired, and the weapon misses its intended zombie target – hitting a fleeing villager instead. It was an accident, and accidents happen. You’re not a bad person. But you know who won’t forgive and forget? Our mob of the month – the imposing iron golem.

These strange constructs first started appearing in villages in March 2012 – back then, updates didn’t have names like they do now. So Mojang’s historians refer to this era in the game’s development by the mysterious name: “Java Edition 1.2.1”. It was around the same time that jungle biomes, bottles of enchanting, redstone lamps and ocelots also appeared.

Iron golems are naturally found in two places – villages, where they roam around protecting the inhabitants, and pillager outposts, where they’ve been captured in cages. Unlike many mobs, though, they can also be created – place four iron-blocks in a t-shape, and then put a carved pumpkin or jack o’lantern on the top.

Golems obey a few simple rules. Rule one: wander around until you see danger. Rule two: if you see danger, immediately attack it by flinging it up in the air. Rule three: never attack your creator. That’s more or less it. But this means that you need to be careful around a golem that you didn’t create – if it perceives you as a danger, for example because you harm a villager nearby, then it’ll attack. 

Despite their appearance, iron golems aren’t indestructible. When attacked, their bodies will begin showing cracks. If you want to heal one, use an iron ingot on it to patch it up a bit. If killed, they drop iron ingots and poppy flowers. Why poppies? Well, it turns out that golems also have a soft side – occasionally you might see one offering a poppy to a villager.

The most famous story about a golem takes place in Prague. In it, a rabbi creates a golem to defend the Jewish population of the city from persecution. Every Friday, before the Sabbath, he’d deactivate the golem by removing its “shem” – a piece of paper with instructions inserted into its head. One Friday, however, he forgot – and the golem became increasingly uncontrollable and violent. Eventually, the rabbi managed to pull the “shem” out of its mouth to immobilize it, and the creature was stored in the attic of the city’s synagogue – where it could one day be restored again to life if needed.

Today, golems can be found in plenty of fantasy settings – from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, to Dungeons & Dragons, to our very own Minecraft. And unfortunately, Minecraft’s golems have no shem to pull out if they attack you. Which leaves two options when confronted with an angry iron golem – fight, or flee. Which will you choose?