Disturbing Secrets of the Piglins | Minecraft Deep Dive

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“The ancient builders dominated the piglins for personal gain” Their descendants who are doing the same with villagers: nervous sweating

Don't forget the importance of "Pigstep", proof piglins have culture.

IMO, the Piglins hoard gold for a deeper reason than that they just want gold. Lady Agnes kind of teased us in a video by Mojang, saying “They really like gold. Why do they like gold so much? And you don’t really know the history, but you understand that there is something.” I feel like that’s a hint that it’s more than just them being greedy pigs (or in this case, being taught to want gold by their creators.) As such, my theory is that they hoard gold to stave off the zombie infection. We know that gold, in addition to its healing properties, has the capacity to ward off that pestilence of the mind - Golden Apples are used to cure Zombie Villagers. In addition, while all other Zombie types are violent monsters, Zombified Piglins seem retain a semblance of a mind, presumably thanks to the golden swords they carry and the gold nuggets incorporated into their flesh and bones. They don’t attack on sight; they only retaliate if harmed.

There's actually something else that you should consider here. Maybe the Builders weren't exploitative monsters, but instead accidental and unprepared parents. They took pigs to the Nether and the mutations you suggested occurred. They attempted to bring the new Piglin race back to the Overworld, but something went dreadfully wrong. A native Overworld microbe (probably some kind of virus) mutated in the Piglin, turning them into zombies. The horrified Builders immediately stopped bringing Piglins home with them, and returned the afflicted back to the Nether. The infection didn't spread so virulently in the Nether, due to the hot, dry conditions, however the Overworld was already doomed. Zoonosis was nearly instant, transmitting this new mutant strain to the Builders (maybe the carrier of the original strain) and flourishing in a more compatible Overworld organism. The Builders in the other dimensions would've returned home to see why communication, travel and trade from the Overworld had suddenly ceased and subsequently been infected. Transmission in the Nether would've been more rare due to the hostile environment, requiring blood contact. The zombified Piglins didn't spread the infection very often, being docile and able to live alongside the healthy population of Piglins, but the zombified Builders were aggressive and deranged, attacking the healthy Builders and infecting all of them. Thus, the civilization of Builders perished, leaving a new and dependent race alone in a frightening place with little opportunity for them to advance to the level of their creators. This also explains how the Overworld skeleton spawns in some parts of the Nether. I feel like this may also draw a connection between the wither skeletons and Endermen

"for the first time in 2b2t history, slave labor was used"

“Villagers are a similarly intelligent species” Also villagers: 2 redstone for 10 emeralds is a great trade!

Maybe the Piglins attack players because they look like the ancient builders.

I’ve always just assumed the “zombie piglins from lightning struck pigs” was a reference to the Frankenstein story, with the “energy” from the lightning being what changes then from mere animal to a humanoid creature!

"villagers" "intelligent" my villagers walking straight into cacti: am I a joke to you?

I like watching these a lot. It’s like watching a spooky late night television show or something.

I always assumed that a revolt of some kind did occur, given the “War Pigs” achievement. The many deaths could have also resulted in the formation of the soul sand valleys.

If they were enslaved by the builders, then it makes sense for them to have an innate hatred for Steve whenever they see him, it makes sense for them to become hostile

i think "join me for a dive beneath the waves" is as good as "join me for a dive beneath the lava"

Is anyone going to mention that Piglins can sometimes trade splash potions of fire resistance. This means they'd have to have killed Blazes (for the brewing stand), Ghasts (for the gunpowder) as well as Magma Cubes (for their cream). Gotta appreciate the subtle attention to lore Edit: Of course this does beg the question - where did the water come from? Of course we can always assume that the Ancient Builders left some behind (inside glass bottles), but I doubt it would've lasted that long if the Piglins were experimenting with brewing. Plus, there would be no need for the Builders to bring water in the first place, as they'd likely already have potions on standby. There has to be a constant water source, something the Ancient Builders wouldn't consider viable... Which brings me to my main theory - Ghast Tears. Tears are mainly comprised of water and salt. If we assume Ghast Tears are literal tears (which is highly likely considering Ghasts are always crying), this would make Ghast Tears the only natural source of water in the Nether. Upon killing Ghasts, the tears solidify but don't evaporate (which is why they can be held), but what if the Piglins were able to revert them back to a liquid state? We already know Piglins are capable of hunting Ghasts, so it doesn't seem impossible that they discovered a second, unknown use for their tears. And considering Ghast Tears aren't affected by the Nether's hot climate, it makes sense that they'd be a viable substitute for Overworld water.

Something that he didn’t mention in the video, Hoglins. Hoglins are also not immune to fire and are rather pig-like. Perhaps they were kind of a transitional form between pig and Piglin, but the piglins split off at some point and became their own species. Maybe when the ancient builders fell the Hoglins, who weren’t as intelligent as the Piglins, ran off to go roam in the nether. Another thing he didn’t mention, both Piglins and Hoglins are scared of nether portals. Either they know the undead fate they would face if they crossed to the other side (which I kinda doubt, especially for the Hoglins), or the ancient builders used both Piglins and Hoglins for their work at some point, and trained both to run from portals, to avoid them escaping.

Maybe the airborne plague in the over world that turns piglins into zombies is the same one that turned the ancient builders into zombies.

I just wanna point out that if you hold any gold item except nuggets in front of piglins they start snorting enviously if you look at subtitles

"Minecraft is a kids game" The Piglins who were enslaved to mine and cursed to live in hell for eternity: Am I a joke to you?

I have a theory that the ancient builders were experimenting with the pigs in the nether so there will be no harm to the over world,they eventually transformed pigs into those piglins!