Guardian

"Thorny fellows they may be, but that spiky exterior hides a deliciously tasty interior. When killed, the Guardian has a 40% chance to drop a perfectly sliced piece of raw fish."

- Emily Richardson

Guardians are pufferfish-like hostile mobs found in ocean monuments.

Spawning
Guardians spawn naturally in ocean monuments. They require water to spawn. Specifically, they can spawn only if the spawning block and the block below the spawning block are both water (regardless of stationary water or flowing water), and the block above the spawning block is transparent (air, water, sign, slab, ice, etc.).

$$ guardians spawn less often in ocean open to the sky than they do in covered areas (i.e. inside the monument). Specifically, spawning fails 95% of the time if the spawning water block is below sea level (Y=63 by default), all blocks between the spawning water block and sea level are liquid or fully transparent, and the block at sea level has a view of the sky. Above sea level, spawning fails 95% of the time if the spawning water block has a view of the sky.

$$, guardians are structure spawns, spawning on 25 pre-determined spawning spots. The x-coordinate of each spawning spot is X+2, X+13, X+29, X+45, or X+55, where X is the west edge of the monument. Similarly, the z-coordinate is Z+2, Z+13, Z+29, Z+45, or Z+55. They spawn on the northwest corner of the spawning spot block, meaning they can spawn inside of a portal and get instantly sent to the nether. If their sky access is obstructed by a solid block, the guardians spawn significantly faster. Like all structure spawns, guardians belong to the cave cap.

Guardians spawn in between Y=39 (floor of the ocean monument) to Y=61 (1 block higher than the topmost block of the monument).

Drops
When killed, guardians always drop 0-2 s. Looting increases the maximum prismarine shard drop by one per level, for a maximum of 5.

They also drop one of the following:
 * 40% chance of dropping a ( if killed by fire). An additional 0-1 drops are added per level of Looting for a maximum of 4 cod with Looting III.
 * 40% chance of dropping . An additional 0-1 drops are added per level of Looting for a maximum of 4 prismarine crystals with Looting III.
 * 20% chance of dropping neither.

Guardians also have a 2.5% chance of dropping a random fish as an extra drop in addition to the normal fish drop. This chance is increased by 1% per Looting level, for a maximum of 5.5% with Looting III. This drop uses the same chances that fishing uses, resulting in a 60% chance for raw cod, a 25% chance for raw salmon, a 13% chance for pufferfish, and a 2% chance for tropical fish. A guardian on fire drops cooked fish.

Guardians also drop when killed by a player or tamed wolf.

Behavior
Guardians swim around in water, attacking any players or squid that come into sight. They swim in abrupt charges, moving their tail rapidly when doing so. When swimming, their spikes retract. When not swimming they sink slowly and their spikes extend and quiver.

The guardian's eye follows and stares at any nearby players, and always looks directly at its target. The eye does not follow completely unarmored players under the effects of a potion of invisibility, and the guardians cannot attack them. A player can wear a helmet or boots while under the effects of potion of invisibility and still not be targeted by the guardians.

Stationary guardians can be pushed by flowing water, but swimming guardians cannot. When pushed horizontally they move significantly faster than other mobs pushed by water.

When out of water, guardians squeak at the player while flopping about. They do not suffocate in air and can live indefinitely out of water. Their spikes are always extended when out of water.

Guardians, as aquatic mobs, are affected by the Impaling enchantment.

Combat
Guardians have two methods of attack: a laser and a defensive attack analogous to the Thorns enchantment. Unlike most other hostile mobs, a guardian does not follow a player who moves out of sight. Instead, it simply continues swimming until the player becomes visible again, and then starts charging its laser to attack.

Laser
The laser takes 2 seconds to charge, doing no damage in the meantime. Once charged, the beam deals damage on normal difficulty. Guardians swim around for a few seconds before firing again. If the target approaches while the guardian is firing its beam, it stops firing and swims away until it is at a comfortable range, at which point it continues attacking. The beam cannot be dodged or blocked by a shield. The laser has a maximum range of approximately 15 blocks. Once the player is out of range, or if the beam is obstructed by solid blocks, the guardian's beam disengages from the player and deals no damage. The guardian's beam can penetrate armor to some extent.

Thorn-like attack
Guardians deal damage each time it is hit when spikes are extended. If cornered, the guardian usually extends its spikes and fires at the player, even at point-blank range.

Data values
Guardians have entity data associated with them that contain various properties of the mob.

Trivia

 * A guardian's eye is actually the "head" part of the mob's model. This gives the illusion of a dynamic eye.
 * Underwater, guardians emit deep, growl-like sounds, but on land, they emit high-pitched squeaks.
 * Guardians' laser-beam attacks are affected by the potion of strength, which normally affects only melee attacks.
 * When placed or spawned on a slime block, guardians start bouncing and continue and each bounce higher than the last, until each bounce brings the guardian to 17 blocks height.
 * In the texture file for the guardian, "jeb" is written in the bottom right corner.
 * If summoned with, the guardian's eye still follows the player.
 * In Bedrock Edition, guardians do not make the flopping sounds while on land.