One of the most captivating aspects of Minecraft is its environmental storytelling. The game has an intriguing blend of extensive yet minimal lore—while it lacks prominent characters or an overarching narrative, players can discover subtle hints that suggest a deeper history beyond mere sandbox gameplay. Over the years, fans have crafted numerous theories linking various structures, blocks, and behaviors of mobs to potential historical events and lost civilizations.
Recently, alongside other features like the player locator bar, a new mob joining Minecraft was introduced. This charming addition has quickly captured players’ hearts while also shedding light on long-held theories about the Nether’s origins. What exactly is this new mob, and how has it shifted many players’ perspectives on the Minecraft universe in such a short time?
Introducing the Ghastling and Happy Ghast in Minecraft
These New Ghast Variants Will Be Both Adorable and Beneficial
During the latest Minecraft Live event, Mojang unveiled one of the cutest additions to the game: the “ghastling,” which grows into a “happy ghast.” Since the game’s launch, many players have felt empathy for ghasts due to their sorrowful expressions and constant wailing. With the upcoming update, players can finally fulfill their dreams of bringing joy to these creatures. Players can find dried ghasts under fossils in the Soul Sand Valley biome, and when returned to the Overworld and placed in water, they will evolve into balloon-like companions.
These mobs are not merely cosmetic; the future update promises significant quality-of-life enhancements. Players can ride a fully grown happy ghast, providing a fun alternative to horses or boats for long-distance travel in survival mode. Additionally, since up to four players can ride on a single ghast, it could make group adventures much simpler.
Ghasts Are Out of Place in the Nether
The Current Environment of the Nether Seems Unsuitable for Ghasts
From the latest trailer, it becomes evident that the ghasts don’t appear to fit in the Nether—at least not in its present form. This idea has circulated among fans for some time, and the introduction of ghastlings seems to support this notion. Unlike their adult versions, ghastlings exhibit gills, which raises questions about a species designed to exist in such a fiery, inhospitable environment.
The tears of ghasts in the Nether might stem from their struggle to adapt to their fiery surroundings, causing them to be continuously dehydrated.
As ghastlings mature, they lose these gills, potentially indicating that ghasts share a similar life cycle with many amphibians, necessitating water for growth. This might explain the scarcity of younger ghasts in the Nether; a creature requiring water would have immense difficulty surviving there. The fossils beneath which dried ghastlings are found could belong to their parents, who may have perished, further indicating their harsh living conditions.
A poignant theory suggests that ghast offspring may only survive in the Nether thanks to the moisture from their parents’ tears.
Should ghasts truly be native to the Nether, the fact that they can “dry up” raises questions. Observers have noted similarities between ghasts and aquatic creatures like squids or jellyfish, musing that their limbs, sometimes referred to as “tentacles,” suggest an aquatic origin. All signs indicate that ghasts are not suited for the harsh, dry conditions of the Nether. However, this new happy ghast breed appears to thrive more successfully in the Overworld.
The description of the “Uneasy Alliance” achievement in Minecraft states, “Rescue a Ghast from the Nether, bring it safely home to the Overworld… and then kill it.” The words “rescue” and “home” are particularly striking. While “home” could refer to the Overworld being the player’s environment, why would retrieving a ghast from its own homeland be considered a rescue? Happy Ghasts boast 40 HP compared to the regular ghast’s 10, suggesting that, regardless of their origins, they appear to be significantly healthier.
New Findings Surrounding Ghastlings Could Confirm Long-Standing Fan Theories
Older Theories About the Nether’s History Gain New Relevance
While it seems likely that ghasts don’t belong in the current iteration of the Nether, another theory posits that they might not belong in the Nether at all as it exists today. A popular fan theory suggests that the Nether was once covered in ice. This idea has been around for quite some time—a Reddit user named gergfigter noted in 2021 that ice is a requirement for crafting Basalt, a block found exclusively in the Nether.
The happy ghast can be fed snowballs, which could be an alternative to fireballs. Since ghastlings are still collected from the Nether, it is unlikely that the regular and happy ghast are biologically different. This leads to the unfortunate conclusion that ghasts, adapted to thrive on snow, are now forced to survive on whatever moisture they can scrounge. If the Nether was once a frozen landscape, it follows that they would have evolved in a world abundant with ice and water.
Interestingly, fire charges can be obtained through trading with piglins—further supporting the suspicion that these creatures may be the reason why ghasts shoot fireballs. Rather than providing the snow they require, piglins possibly feed them fire charges instead.
The tears shed by ghasts in the Nether may signify their unfitness for launching fireballs from their mouths due to dehydration—their howls during player attacks could very well be cries of agony. It’s worth noting that in the Mobestiary, ghasts are depicted as mechanical. If they still possess some form of sentience, it could indicate that they were not designed to produce fire. However, the update appears to portray them as biological beings, leaving their true nature open to interpretation.
In initial development stages, ghasts were meant to spawn around Nether portals in the Overworld, although this feature was ultimately scrapped, possibly influencing our current lore. Theories surrounding the origin of ghasts often clash with the belief that they are lost souls, inferred from their presence in soul sand valleys and the assumption that the term “ghast” derives from “ghost.” While Minecraft players may never receive a definitive answer concerning the origin of ghasts, the affection for their new ghastling pets will endure.
Source: Minecraft/Youtube, gergfigter/Reddit
