I just realised that the Wither Skeletons and the Drowned are foils of one another.

The Drowned are zombies that lives in the wet and liquid Ocean, while the Wither Skeletons are skeletons that lives in the fiery and very solid Nether Fortress. Furthermore, both are opposites of the usual archetypes of their "species". All zombies in Minecraft are melee-based mobs, except for the Drowned, which can spawn with a Trident in hand to gain a ranged attack. By contrast, all skeletons are range-based mobs that use bows to attack players, except for the Wither Skeleton, which uses a stone sword to attack the player in close combat.