Meet the Elder Guardian

If there’s one piece of advice an oldie like me could give to a wee youngun’ like you, it’s to RESPECT YOUR ELDERS. Especially if they are me. But also if they happen to be an Elder-ly Guardian. Those guys won’t just kick you off their lawn, they’ll get so seething mad they charge up their ancient laser beam and blow you clean out of the underwater retirement home. Don’t say you weren’t warned!

You may be familiar with the regular Guardian already, a young and sassy little fish that’s very keen on, well, shooting you with its laser beam.

Now we’re dealing with the older and larger of the two aquatic beasts, here’s what you need to know. Let's begin with how they came to be, as explained by Jens:

SPOOKY. These guys only spawn underwater in ocean monuments. They’re stronger than the lesser Guardian, but there's a finite number of them in any given world. This is because they spawn when ocean monuments are generated, and there’s always just three in each one. They never respawn after dying.

Upon perishing, they can drop either Prismarine shards or Prismarine crystals, a raw fish (or a cooked one, if you somehow manage to burn the Elder Guardian to death) and a wet sponge. Or, you know, they might not drop anything. That's life.

For the most part, the Elder Guardians act much like the regular Guardians. They have horrible laser beams, a very spiky body all the better for stabbing you with (try to hug these guys, I dare you) and they’re generally very grumpy. They don’t swim around as much, but unlike the little Guardian, the Elder Guardians will not back away from a player who approaches them. Awwww, how am I supposed to resist hugging one now?