Which mobs change when struck by lightning in Minecraft?

Lightning strikes are a weather-related phenomenon in Minecraft that usually occur during thunderstorms. They can be quite random until and unless a player uses a trident with the Channeling enchantment. However, they aren't purely visual since they affect the blocks, players, and even mobs wherever they land.

Whenever a lightning strike lands on a player, they can get loads of damage and can even die. It can also burn certain blocks that are made of wood. With an enchanted trident, players can also use them to attack mobs.

However, some entities are affected differently by lightning strikes. They simply don't take damage or die, and instead, they could activate certain rare events or variants in Minecraft.

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Mobs that get affected by lightning strikes in Minecraft

1) Skeleton trap horse

Skeleton horse spawns during thunderstorms and starts skeleton trap in Minecraft (Image via Mojang)

Whenever lightning strikes during thunderstorms, there is a strong chance that a skeleton horse will spawn. These entities are quite rare to find. Hence, when players run towards them to capture them, they will be hit with another lightning strike that will activate the skeleton trap.

This trap will consist of four skeleton horsemen attacking the player with enchanted bows and arrows. There is no special loot awarded after killing all the horsemen, but gamers can preserve the rare skeleton horses that become passive after the skeletons riding them die.

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2) Pigs

Pigs turn into Zombified Piglins when struck by lightning in Minecraft (Image via Mojang)

This is another fascinating phenomenon that not many players know about, at least those who are new to the game. When a pig is struck by lightning, it turns into zombified piglin.

This can also be manually implemented with the help of a trident with Channeling enchantment. They will act like regular zombified piglins and can even get hostile when provoked.

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3) Creeper

Naturally spawned charged creepers are extremely rare in Minecraft (Image via Reddit / u/The_8_Bit_Zombie)

Creepers become charged creepers whenever they get hit by lightning. Many players have come across naturally occurring charged creepers, but they are extremely rare to find. They can also be manually made with a trident with the Channeling enchantment.

These creepers are much more lethal as their explosive power is higher than regular than that of the regular variant. Moreover, whenever a charged creeper blows up a zombie, skeleton, or another creeper by exploding, their heads will drop as loot.

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4) Villager

A villager turns into a witch when hit by lightning strike in Minecraft (Image via Mojang)

Though villagers should die from a lightning strike, considering their small health bars, they actually turn into witches. They cannot despawn from the world, even if players leave the chunk and return. What's fascinating is that even a baby villager can turn into a small witch if they are hit by lightning. Iron golems do not attack these witches since they were once regular villagers.

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5) Red and brown mooshrooms

Red mooshrooms turn into brown, and vice versa whenever they are struck by lightning in Minecraft (Image via Mojang)

Red mooshrooms are rare passive mobs that spawn only in the rare mushroom fields biome. However, they can turn into an even rarer brown variant when hit by lightning. Moreover, a brown mooshroom can also turn into a regular red variant when struck by lightning.