Darknut

A Darknut from Legend of Zelda

Darknuts are powerful armoured knights. Typically, the thick armour and sturdy shield of a darknut renders it nearly invulnerable from the front, forcing the player to circle around and strike it from behind.

In the original Legend of Zelda, the darknut's seemingly random movement and high damage capability make them a significant obstacle. The challenge is only compounded by the fact that they frequently appear in groups. The original Darknuts are monsters that attack in the traditional manner of attempting to touch Link, but are much more difficult to fight than other enemies with this attack pattern since they can only be damaged from the side or the rear. Their armour also renders them invulnerable to projectile attacks.

They next appeared in Link's Awakening, as much weaker versions of their past selves. These are called Soldiers in the English version, but their Japanese name was the same as the Darknut's. This incarnation also appeared in the Oracle games.

Darknuts next appear in Four Swords as an occasional miniboss. In The Wind Waker, they are much larger, slower, and more intimidating than before. Throughout The Wind Waker, Darknuts carry various different weaponry, armour, and uniforms. Some carry only a large sword, while others also bear their trademark shields. The Wind Waker's Darknuts are capable of holding any weapon in one hand, even an oversized greatsword. Some wear special ceremonial armour and capes, which must be slashed repetitively or burned with a fire arrow before the armour can be removed. The Wind Waker's Darknuts can be stripped of their armour through properly placed attacks or special counterattacks, and also of their helmets, but only through certain counterattacks. Once its helmet is removed, the Darknut's face is shown to resemble that of a Dobermann, Bull Terrier, or possibly a stylized jackal. The Darknuts in The Wind Waker will continue to attack even when disarmed, resorting to bare-handed combat; they are also apt to dodge attacks by leaping backward, if their body armour has been removed. Unlike other enemies, The Wind Waker's Darknuts easily break out when frozen by the Ice Arrows, However Link can still shatter them with quick use of the Skull Hammer. The Darknut's Greatsword can be taken by Link and used as a powerful (if clumsy) weapon, which can even break pillars in certain dungeons to reveal rupees and hearts. In a similar fashion, Darknuts can also retrieve their dropped weapons, or those of other enemies, including Boko Sticks, Bokoblin knives and even Moblin spears, all of which they wield to great (if similar) effect. They have been also known to imitate Link's spin attack when the player tries to do it. Attacking their armour for long periods of time can destroy it. They drop Knight's Crests as spoils.

File:Zww-mighty-dark-nut.jpg

A Darknut from The Wind Waker

In the Japanese versions, Darknut is called "タートナック" (taatonakku) which is noticeably similar to the name of Iron Knuckle, "アイアンナック" (aiannakku). It is apparent these two enemies are related, especially in the first two Zelda games, in which they shared similar designs and purposes.

File:Darknut 2.png

Link battles against a Darknut in the Temple of Time.

A Darknut serves as a mini-boss and otherwise a high-level enemy in Twilight Princess. A piece of armour falls off every time Link strikes it with his sword. However, this can prove quite difficult, as they are quite adept at defending themselves from Link's attacks. The best way to deal with a Darknut is to either use the Helm Splitter or Back Slash hidden skills. Once its outer armour has fallen off, the Darknut throws its greatsword or mace at Link and attacks him with a longsword. The basic idea used in Wind Waker is taken even further in the game: after losing its heavy armour, the Darknut has a major speed boost and attacks with lightning speed and precision. The Darknut is an expert swordsman in his "unarmored" condition, as he can deflect and countercut most of the strikes Link targets at him. It should also be noted that the mace users can hit through Link's shield. Later on, a golden Darknut appears that is faster than other Darknuts, even though it also has the heaviest armour. Late in the game, in Hyrule Castle, the player will be forced to fight two of these foes at once, resulting great danger to the player as the two foes stay very close to each other, making it quite difficult to concentrate on just one of them and leaving the player very vulnerable after an attack. At floor 39, in the optional "Cave of Ordeals", the player must fight off two Darknuts at once, at floor 49, the player must fight three Darknuts at once. On the second go-around of the Cave of Ordeals, Floor 39 has three Darknuts, and Floor 49 has four Darknuts. The Darknuts in these games have a very similar appearance to the Iron Knuckle, as when their helmet is destroyed,there appears to be no Doberman head, but rather a mail facemask.