All mobs from Minecraft Alpha version

Minecraft Alpha refers to a period of development from June 30, 2010, to December 3, 2010. This period follows the Infdev phase and progressed the game's beta, which would then last until September 15, 2011. Alpha is famous for its bright green foliage and is responsible for the addition of many of the title's most iconic mobs.

Every single mob added throughout Minecraft's short-lived Alpha period can be found detailed down below, along with what makes them so important to gameplay or significant to development history.

---

Every mob added in Minecraft Alpha

Cows

The original, much grayer cow texture (Image via Mojang)

Cows are the oldest Alpha mob to still be in Minecraft. They were added to the game in Alpha v1.0.8, though they originally only dropped leather. Raw beef and steak wouldn't be added until Beta version 1.8.

When cows were first added, they were more grayscale than they are now, though this monotone color scheme was also removed in Alpha.

---

Slimes

The original slime texture (Image via Mojang)

Slimes were added to Minecraft in v1.0.11 and were the fifth hostile mob introduced in the game. When originally added, they didn't have their modern translucent green outline and were instead flat green cubes with piercing black eyes.

Slimes are some of the most useful mobs to farm as they drop slime balls. These are needed to make sticky pistons, which are useful in many of the game's most advanced redstone builds and systems.

---

Chickens

Chickens also have essentially the same texture today as when first added (Image via Mojang)

Chickens were added to Minecraft Alpha in version v1.0.14. Similar to how cows originally didn't drop food, chickens used to only drop feathers. It wasn't until Beta 1.8 that raw and cooked chicken were added as items.

However, one feature that chickens have had since Alpha is the ability to ignore fall damage by using their wings to slowly float to the ground.

---

Ghasts

The ghast texture has gone almost entirely unchanged since its addition (Image via Mojang)

Ghasts were added to Alpha in v1.2.0, which was the version where Minecraft's useful Nether dimension was first introduced.

Ghasts are strange, otherworldly beings that float around the dimension, with squid-like tentacles dangling underneath them. They have amazing vision, which they use to attack players with an explosive fireball attack.

---

Zombie Pigmen

The original zombie pigman texture next to the used zombie pigman texture (Images via Mojang)

Zombie Pigmen, known in more modern versions of Minecraft as zombified piglins, were also first added in v1.2.0 alongside the Nether as a dimension. They behaved almost identically to how they do now, as hard as it might be to believe, given how long it has been since their introduction.

However, their core systems were the same. They were passive mobs that would only attack players who attacked one of them first. However, they would never forgive a player, making their dimension much more lethal.

Zombie Pigmen also originally dropped cooked pork chops rather than gold nuggets. Other than that, they're essentially unchanged in terms of behavior.

---

Regular Pigmen

The unused pigman mob (Image via Mojang)

Another mob that was technically added to Minecraft in Alpha is the regular pigman. This mob had its textures added to the game's files in v1.2.0, alongside the rest of the Nether's mobs. However, these unzombified pigmen were never introduced in the game, making them one of the title's several unimplemented mobs.

This version of the pigman might be lost to time, but Mojang did eventually add piglins to the game in their place, also changing the texture of the original zombified pigmen to resemble their newer, living relatives. So, while the pigman might be gone, its concept remains.