Shadow Beast

The Shadow Beasts were Twilit beings of darkness created by the ruler of the Twilight Realm, Zant, the ursurped Twilight King. They were members of the Twili race, who were the descendants of the Dark Interlopers who invaded the Sacred Realm, then had the light blotted out of them and were eventually taken over by darkness after the power of the Sols were sealed away.

They were black, tentacled beings that had their bodies enveloped in a strange, Twili pattern. They posessed a mask which concealed their face; what its purpose was for is unclear. They served as the main attack force in Zant's Invasion of Hyrule. They arrived in Hyrule through the use of Twilight Portals. The beasts normally attacked in groups of three to four, during which they projected unbreakable walls composed of Twilight around their opponents to make killing more efficient. If all but one fell, the last remaining beast had the ability to revive the others, so Link was required to attack all beasts simultaneously as a wolf or by spinning his sword with careful timing. After successfully killing a group, their Twilight portal became available as warp usage.

After Link assembled the Mirror of Twilight, which opened the way into the Twilight Realm, he restored the Sols to their rightful shrine, which let light back into the realm, and reverted most of the beasts back into Twili.

Behind the scenes

 * Shadow Beasts are also known as "Twilight Messengers", which is the name the Official Prima Strategy Guide calls them. However, the official The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess website confirms their name to be "Shadow Beasts".

Appearances

 * The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess