Darknut

Darknuts are recurring enemies in the Legend of Zelda series. Though they have changed over time, Darknuts are best known for their defensive capabilities.

Darknuts are slow moving yet powerful knights. Typically, the thick armor and sturdy shield of a Darknut renders it nearly invulnerable from the front, forcing adventurers to circle around and strike from behind. Their erratic movement patterns also tend to be quite a challenge, one that is only compounded when they appear in groups.

The Legend of Zelda
Darknuts resemble caped knights. They come in red and blue varieties and are only a danger when Link comes in direct contact with them. Red Darknuts move slowly, while Blue Darknuts move much faster and deal twice the damage. Darknuts are impervious to attack from the front because of their shields.

Red Darknuts take four hits to kill with the Wooden Sword, while Blue Darknuts take eight; Red Darknuts cause one heart of damage when no rings are worn, while Blue Darknuts cause two.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
The Kanalet Soldiers in Link's Awakening are literally identical to Darknuts from the Oracle games, and are even called Darknuts in the Japanese version of the game.

They are found only on the grounds of Kanalet Castle, and they come in two subtypes. One wields a sword and shield and charges Link when it sees him. The other has no shield and throws spears from a distance.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons
Darknuts in the Oracle games come in red and blue. There are two subtypes: some wield a sword, and charge towards Link when they see him. Other Darknuts throw spears from a distance. These do not have a sword and cannot block attacks from the front.

In Oracle of Seasons, Darknuts can be pushed and pulled using the Magnetic Gloves. In addition, a Golden Darknut appears on the Western Coast during spring.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
There are many different varieties of Darknuts. Some are armed only with large swords, others bear their trademark shields, and some even wear protective capes that must be burnt or cut off. These versions can be stripped of their armor through properly placed attacks. Link can also knock off all their armor at once by hitting them in the back with a counterattack. Once Darknuts have lost their armor, they become more dextrous. Disarmed, they utilize a simple form of martial arts that includes a straight-palm punch and a roundhouse kick.

The faces of Darknuts are also revealed for the first time. They have a demonic canine appearance. Their large swords can be picked up by Link and used as a weapon. When killed, they drop Knight's Crests, which they appear to wear as a belt. The crest can also be stolen with the Grappling Hook, but only after their helmet has been removed.

Despite their burly appearance and bulky bodies, Darknuts are astoundingly nimble. Their strength allows them to break the marble pillars found in the Tower of the Gods and Savage Labyrinth in two with their bare hands, as seen when Link disarms one and lures it towards said pillars. If Link tries to charge up a Spin Attack, the Darknuts will do the same as long as they are armed. They can even imitate the Hurricane Spin. In fact, Link can exploit this ability by grouping Darknuts together and performing the Hurricane Spin nearby, causing the Darknuts to imitate it in close proximity to other Darknuts, possibly cutting their own capes and armor straps.

After their armor is gone, a quick way to kill Darknuts is to shoot one with an Ice Arrow and then immediately swing the Skull Hammer sideways, breaking the ice and subsequently defeating the Darknut. This requires fast reactions, as Darknuts can break out of ice much more quickly than other enemies.

There are also four Darknuts guarding a Triforce Chart, of which two are gold Darknuts and the other two silver.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Darknuts appear as mini-bosses in Four Swords, and their appearance begins to reflect their name. The Darknut is only vunerable to strikes from the side or rear, as its front is well-guarded. Darknuts tend to be quite nimble, making them considerably difficult opponents.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Their name is spelled "Dark Nut." They are heavily armored, and the red variety have a powerful sword thrust attack. They can be stunned with bombs or with a sword hit to their only vulnerable spot, their caped backs. A special classification of Darknuts appears only in this game -- the Royal Dark Nut, which is seen only in Dark Hyrule Castle. The strongest of all is the Black Knight, who is also found only in Dark Hyrule Castle. He appears twice, first as a mini-boss and then again in the company of some of the Royal Dark Nuts, trying to prevent Link from interrupting Vaati's ritual.

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The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The armor that Darknuts are clad in must again be sliced off piece by piece. They are armed with large swords or maces. They are capable of blocking any attack or weapon that Link uses, and can only be hit when they are about to attack. Once they have lost enough armor, they throw their larger swords at Link and draw a smaller longsword. With this weapon their defense is not as good, but they are much faster, faster even than Link. Additionally, after Link learns the Helm Splitter, it can be used to effectively remove Darknuts' armor.

The first Darknut appears as the mini-boss of the Temple of Time. After that, several others appear as enemies in some forced battles in the Cave of Ordeals and Hyrule Castle. They fight in groups of one, two, three and even four. These Darknuts are also slightly easier to defeat than the mini-boss.

The Twilight Princess Darknuts are far larger than Link and seem to be humanoid. However, their bodies under their heavy armor are wrapped in chain mail, and their form underneath that is never seen.

Link's Crossbow Training
One Darknut appears as the boss of stage 7. It looks exactly the same as Darknuts from Twilight Princess, but it has different attacks. As in Twilight Princess, the armor that the Darknut is wearing falls off as it sustains damage. However, it also splits into hundreds of bat-like pieces; some of which seem to be luminous, and give Link more points if he shoots them. Additionally, when in human form, the Darknut has the ability to send bats flying at Link when he slashes his sword; There are also a smaller number of larger flying creatures which are worth 100 points each that he sends at Link.

Mighty Darknut
Mighty Darknuts are captains and are stronger versions of Darknuts. They have a different appearance than the original, with shining red or black armor, a different-looking helmet, and a long red cape with a black tunic underneath. The Mighty Darknut appears in The Wind Waker, and possibly The Minish Cap and Twilight Princess.

The Mighty Darknut has a considerably higher amount of attack power and defense than standard Darknuts, but is still simple to defeat in combat. There are a few ways to kill it:


 * Using the parry (A) command twice on its back to destroy both the cape and the armor and Link can attack it until it is defeated.
 * Using the parry (A) command on the Mighty Darknut's helmet then using the Boomerang to daze it, followed by running behind and knocking its cape and armor off.
 * Shooting Fire or Ice Arrows at its back until it explodes.* Shooting a Fire Arrow at it to burn its cape.
 * As with most enemies, Mighty Darknuts can be killed in one hit from a Light Arrow.
 * When facing multiple Mighty Darknuts, it is possible for one to hit another, damaging it if it has been stripped of its armor.

Caped Mighty Darknuts can be found in the following locations:


 * Link is forced to fight two Mighty Darknuts on his third visit to Hyrule Castle.
 * There are some in a secret room in Ganon's Tower. If, during the maze in which Link fights Phantom Ganon, from the start he goes back, left, forward, left, forward, he will find a hidden room where there are three Mighty Darknuts.
 * There are several in the room after Phantom Ganon, guarding the door to Puppet Ganon's battle room. They will not come back if they are defeated. They wear different helmets to one another.

As noted in the Nintendo Gallery, not all Mighty Darknuts wear protective capes. These are often not considered true Mighty Darknuts due to their lack of a cape, however. Capeless ones can be found in places such as the Savage Labyrinth, the Wind Temple, and Ice Ring Isle.