Mob Menagerie: Polar Bear

In Minecraft’s frostiest corners, in the iciest of Overworld biomes, lives a furry creature that’ll melt your heart and then probably try to eat it: the polar bear.

This huge, majestic creature has been hanging out in Minecraft’s chilly climes since mid-2016 when it was added to the game alongside fossils, strays, and husks as part of the Frostburn update.

Polar bears spawn on top of snow-covered grass or ice in snowy plains, ice spikes, and frozen ocean biomes in Java Edition. In Bedrock, they can also spawn in frozen rivers, snowy slopes, and sometimes jagged peaks and frozen peaks.

They spend most of their lives just wandering around, not caring much about what’s going on nearby. But all that changes when there’s a baby polar bear cub hanging around – the adults become super-aggressive and will attack any player who comes near their little darling.

Polar bears were added to the game because Jens "Jeb" Bergensten's wife Jenny is a fan of them. In 2017, he told Minecraft.net’s dearly-missed former editor Marsh Davies that they even have a polar bear room in their house. And then when they had a little cub of their own, there was no question:

If you think polar bears in Minecraft are dangerous, wait till you hear about them in the real world! They’re scientifically classified as “hypercarnivores”, meaning that they get more than 70% of their diet from meat. They weigh half a ton and are up to three meters long, making them the biggest bears in the world. They have extremely sharp teeth and claws, and are excellent swimmers – allowing them to chase down prey both on land and at sea.