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Darknuts are recurring enemies in The Legend of Zelda series. They have appeared since the first Legend of Zelda game. They resemble a gigantic knight wearing heavy armor. They usually wield a large sword and a wide shield as their weapons.
Appearance[]
Darknuts are always shown in heavy armor, usually inspired by Medieval French armor. They also carry large broadswords and shields sometimes even carrying a thinner lighter sword.
The Legend of Zelda series[]
The Legend of Zelda[]
Sprite of a Red Darknut in The Legend of Zelda.
In The Legend of Zelda, there exist two types of Darknuts, which can be identified by the colors of their armors. Blue Darknuts are stronger than Red Darknuts with eight and four health respectively. They use their shield to protect their front and must be hit in the back as a result. They are immune to the Boomerang, the Magical Rod, Arrows, or fire.
Link's Awakening[]
A Darknut's sprite in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX.
In The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, they can only be harmed if they are hit in the back. They will now charge at Link and a new variant with the ability to throw spears at him from a distance now exist.
Four Swords[]
Sprite in The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords.
In The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, they appear as mini bosses. Like in their past appearances, they can only be damaged from the sides or from behind. They are rather nimble compared in this game compared to their usual selves
The Wind Waker[]
A regular Darknut in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
There are two types of Darknuts in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, the regular Darknut who appears in varrying colors like silver, gold, or dark and the Mighty Darknut which serves as a commander to the former ones and is red. In this game they are armed with thick flamberges but only the Mighty Darknut has a shield and a cape. If they weapon is knocked out of their hand, they can pick up any other weapon lying around or even engage in hand-to-hand combat. one of their only weak spot is the strings keeping their armor together, which can be found on their back. Cutting those string will make it fall appart and expose their armorlesss body. Mighty Darknut have an additional layer of protection on their back as their cape must be cut off before even reaching the strings. They also tend to perform the Great Spin attack if they see Link charging said attack.
An armorless Darknut is a terrible opponent that is way more agile than an armored one and it will often dodge Link's sword attacks. They can also counterattack and perform martial art moves in that mode like a flurry of karate chops or a spinning jump kick. Their helmet alone can be removed by performing an overhead parry attack. This leaves their head exposed to long range attack without granting them the agility boost they would recieve from removing their entire armor. The first Darknut encountered is the mini boss of the Tower of the Gods. The Grappling Hook can be used on them to steal Knight's Crests.
Minish Cap[]
Sprite of a Silver Darknut in The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.
In The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, their appearance is based on Wind Waker. Their only weak point is once again their caped back but this time, they can be stunned by Bombs or by hitting them on their weak spot. Regular Darknuts are less powerful than the Red Darknuts who possess a powerful thrust attack. A special variant called the Royal Darknut are only seen in Dark Hyrule Castle. The Darknuts are headed by a special Dark Nut refered to as the Black Knight who serves as a mini boss of said dungeon.
Twilight Princess[]
A Darknut in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the Darknuts are some of the strongest enemies in the game. They appear in multiple colors notably black, red, blue, and gold. There is no gameplay difference between those four types. Black Darknut are the more common ones, red and blue Darknuts are found in the Cave of Ordeal, and the gold darknut is a uinque Darknut only found once in Hyrule Castle. It should be noted that the first Darknut fought by Link is a black one which has a different helmet from the rest. Their standard equipement is a wide shield with a large sword or mace used to swing at their enemy.
They have two phases to their fight. In the first phase, they are completely armored. The common tactic to hit them in this state is by waiting for their attack before hitting them with a Jump Strike, while they are moving back into their standard fighting stance. It is also very much possible to hit them by performing the Back Slice, the Helm Splitter and the Mortal Draw are also effective. The Bomb Arrows and other explosives also work if they hit them in an angle that isn't protected by their shield. With each hit, pieces of its armor will fall off, the second phase starts when the Darknut is left armorless.
Once their heavy armor is off, it reveals a humanoid creature wearing chain mail under-armor. It will immediatly jump back and throw their weapon at Link. It will then pull out a lighter longsword used for a more agile fighting style. They tend to perform two successive strikes in this form. They can also thrust and even kick Link's shield to throw him off balance for a bit. In this form, they block attacks way more frequently and can now dodge Arrows and explosions. Jump attacks, jump strikes, and back slices can send a Darknut reeling just long enough to create an opening. The first Darknut encountered serves as the mini boss of the Temple of Time.
Super Smash Bros. series[]
The Darknuts have made multiple appearances across the Super Smash Bros. series. They mostly appear as side collectibles are as enemies.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[]
The Darknut trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Darknuts appear as both a trophy and a sticker. The trophy is based on their Twilight Princess appearance while their sticker is based on their Wind Waker appearance. The sticker can only be equipped by the Zelda characters and will boost slashing damage by 13.
Trophy description[]
- "A knight enemy clad in heavy armor that defends with a shield and attacks with sword techniques and kicks. Darknuts lose their armor as they take hits, but they grow faster in the process. Their sword skills are quite accomplished. The most fundamental way of dealing with Darknuts is having good command of spin attacks and back slices."
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U[]
The Darknut trophy in the Nintendo 3DS version.
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U, the Darknut only makes an appearance in the Nintendo 3DS version. There he appears as both a trophy and an enemy in Smash Run. The trophy is once again based on their Twilight Princess appearance. As an enemy they work similiraly to their Twilight Princess incarnation. They are resistant to most flinching and perform heavy attacks with a lot of knockback while armored. Their shield is also a reflector. After tacking enough damage, they will loose their armor and switch to a more agile fighting style. The also toss their sword at the player when switching to their lighter weapon.
Trophy description[]
- NA: "These heavily armored, bulky enemies often seen in the Legend of Zelda series are slow but powerful and can use their swords to block attacks and projectiles. When you're faced with one, you'll need to slowly cut away its armor. Once it's gone, the Darknut will become more agile, but it'll also be more vulnerable!"
- EU: "These heavily armoured, bulky enemies often seen in the Legend of Zelda series are slow but powerful and can use their swords to block attacks and projectiles. When you're faced with one, you'll need to slowly cut away its armour. Once it's gone, the Darknut will become more agile, but it'll also be exposed enough to be beaten."
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, they are featured as an Advanced Primary Spirit. They are also one of the few non-playable characters featured in the introduction cutscene of World of Light.
| No. | Image | Name | Type | Class | Slots | Stats | Ability | Acquisition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 183 |  |
Darknut | Shield | ★★ | 1 |
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Sword Attack ↑ |
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Spirit battle[]
| No. | Image | Name | Enemy fighters | Type | Power | Stage | Rules | Conditions | Music |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 183 | |
Darknut | Link (black) | Shield | 3,800 | Bridge of Eldin (Battlefield Form) |
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Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess |
Other appearances[]
Link's Crossbow Training[]
In Link's Crossbow Training, a Darknut appears as the boss of Stage 8-3. Its appearance is identical to its Twilight Princess incarnation. Unlike in Twilight Princess, they now can unleash a swarm of insects in addition to his usual sword combat. Its shield is invulnerable, requiring that Link wait until the Darknut attacks to shoot its armor off with the Crossbow. Each time a piece of armor is shot off, it will turninto a larger insect, which must be killed.
When all of the Darknut's armor is destroyed, it then proceeds to attack Link with its smaller sword, and gains a teleportation move, in which it turns into a swarm of insects to move around and attack. After landing several consecutive hits, the Darknut then turns itself into a swarm of white insects that are each worth 100-300 points. By shooting these white insects, Link can whittle down the Darknut's health and eventually defeat it.
Hyrule Warriors[]
In Hyrule Warriors, Hyrule Warriors Legends, and Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, they are a type of captain that is usually affiliated with monster armies but not exclusively depending on the game mode. Their design is based on the unique design of the Darknut found in the Temple of Time in Twilight Princess. Unlike most other appearances, they can be hit despite their armor. However like most officers in this series, it is more effective to wait for them to reveal their weak point gauge or force them to reveal it in order to deal more important damage. There is three ways to force the gauge to show up.
One of them involves waiting for them to perform the attack starting with a red glow coming from around their eyes, followed up by a large upward sword thrust. This attack will break your guard if you happen to guard too close to the Darknut while he is charging. A second mean to expose his weak point gauge is by waiting for them to perform another special attack and struck them with the Boomerang while they are charging. This attack involves them grabing both their swords in order to unleash a flurry of shock waves in front of them. The last one simply involve the player character dodging behind the Darknut while they are shielding themselves, this leaves them completely defenseless and reveal their weak point gauge. They are weak to the VS Undead skill, which may imply that this variant is undead.
Drops[]
- Bronze materials: Piece of Darknut Armor
- Silver materials: Large Darknut Sword
Cadence of Hyrule[]
Sprite of a Darknut in Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer feat. The Legend of Zelda.
In Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer feat. The Legend of Zelda, they are similar to their Minish Cap incarnation and serves as minibosses. They are pretty fast as they move to every single beat unlike most otherminibosses. Their shields protect them from front facing attack and can push the heroes back into the traps. They will sometimes lower their Shields, exposing them to attack but they will also try to attack heroes who are in front of them or trying to go around them while they are in this state. When they decide to strike the heroes, they will hold out their sword for one beat and 5 warning tiles will flash in a horseshoe formation before they swing their sword on the second beat, dealing damage to anything within 3 spaces in front of them and anything that was already standing at their sides. It is possible to attack them through their shield with the Ring of Piercing, the Great Bow, or the Fragarach.
Gallery[]
