Zant

Zant dressed in his traditional helmet and robes.
Zant
Species	Twili
Eye color	White
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Zant was a minion of Ganon who acted as one of the main villains of Twilight Princess. He was a Twili who used Ganon's power to overthrow usurp the throne of the Twilight Realm. Establishing himself throughout the game as a menacing figure, it is not until his final battle with Link that he reveals his eccentric and energetic fighting style.

Background

Zant was original a servant in the royal household of the Twilight Realm. He had hoped to one day become king of the realm, but the other Twili instead chose Midna as their leader. Zant was not chosen because, unlike most Twili, he had the lust for power in his eyes. The Twili felt Zant would lead them to ruin like their power-seeking ancestors. Zant responded to his defeat by retreating to the rooftop of the Palace of Twilight, where he cried until Ganondorf descended upon him. Posing as a god, Ganondorf offered to share his power with Zant. In exchange, Zant would have to use this power to fuse the worlds of Light and Twilight together. Zant agreed to this arrangement.

Zant used his newfound power to overthrow Midna and transform her into a shadowy imp creature. He proceeded to morph all of the Twili into his own army of monsters. Zant then began fusing the lands of light and Twilight as Ganondorf had requested. However, Midna with the aid of Link had managed to prevent the dark twilight from taking over various provinces of Hyrule, while collecting the Fused Shadows which contained the great magic of the Twili's ancestors. After Midna gathered all of the Fused Shadows, Zant confronted her. He took the Fused Shadows from her, claiming that the ancient magic they held was no match for the magic of Ganondorf. Zant then cast a fatal curse on Midna and used a dark spell to trap Link in his wolf form.

But Midna and Link undid Zant's damage to them through the efforts of Princess Zelda and the acquiring of the Master Sword. Zant confronted Link and Midna again when they entered the Arbiter's Grounds. This house the Mirror of Twilight, which Link and Midna could use to access the Twilight Realm. Zant distracted them by reviving a monster called Stallord while Zant attempted to destroy the Mirror, but he could only break it into shards. This would only aggravate Zant, as it was said that only the true master of the Twilight Realm could completely destroy the Mirror of Twilight. Zant settled for hiding the shards throughout Hyrule.

Link and Midna eventually assembled the Mirror of Twilight and soon attacked the Palace of Twilight. As Link and Midna progressed through the Palace of Twilight, Zant twice sent an apparition of himself to attack them. The apparitions summoned monsters but were defeated by Link's Master Sword. Zant himself battled Link at the end of the dungeon. Throughout the battle Zant warped throughout various arenas and constantly changed his attack pattern. But each time Link managed to attack him with the Master Sword. Finally Link defeated Zant, and they were back in the Palace of Twilight's throne room. Zant was dying but confident that Ganondorf would revive him. Midna, in a fit of rage after realizing that she was still stuck in her cursed imp form, finished Zant off by shoving a giant energy hand through his body.

Despite Zant's demise, he made an abstract appearance during the game's ending. As Ganondorf was impaled by a sword and was dying, it was intercut with images of Zant, who seemed to snap his own neck in Ganondorf's last moments.

Gameplay

In the final battle with Link, Zant usually follows an attack pattern of warping around the arena and shooting energy blasts rapidfire at Link. When he is hit enough times he teleports to a new arena. Each arena is a miniboss or boss arena from a previous temple in the game. In most arenas Link must use a weapon he found in that dungeon in order to stun Zant so that he can attack Zant with his sword. The following is a list of the arenas:

• Forest Temple boss room: Zant attacks while floating above an acidic pool. Link must use the Gale Boomerang to knock him down so that he can attack him.
• Goron Mines mini-boss room: Zant attacks on an unstable magnetic platform suspended above a lava pit. Zant jumps around on the plaform in an attempt to knock Link enough, but Link can keep his footing if he wears the Iron Boots. Zant eventually gets dizzy and becomes vulnerable to Link's attack.
• Lakebed Temple boss room: Zant attacks from one of three underwater statues. Link must determine which one he is hiding in, pull him close with the Clawshot and attack him.
• Forest Temple mini-boss room: Zant leaps from pillar to pillar while continuing his basic attack strategy. If Link rolls into the pillar Zant is standing on twice, Zant will lose balance and fall, at which point he is vulnerable to attack.
• Snowpeak Ruins boss room: Zant grows to giant size and stomps around on the ice. But by hitting Zant's foot with the Ball and Chain, Link will cause Zant to shrink down to normal size while hopping around in pain, at which point Link can attack him.

The final arena is not a boss room but is instead the area in front of Hyrule Castle. At this point Zant resorts to blade combat, producing a pair of blades from his sleeves in a manner similar to the Garo Master. He attacks Link with the blades and also spins around like a top. After Link hits Zant enough times with the Master Sword, Zant is defeated.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Within the Super Smash Bros. series, Zant appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, a sticker in Brawl and a Primary Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In Spirit battles, Zant's Spirit possesses Robin, who will become giant partway through the match and be assisted by an Abra (mimicking Zant's teleportation).
• Zant appears in Hyrule Warriors, where he is a recurring boss and is also unlockable as a playable characters. In Legend Mode, his storyline starts off as an alternate version of the Twilight Princess storyline where he is empowered by Cia instead of Ganondorf. However, he and Ghirahim end up working for Ganondorf as his main lieutenants later in the game.

Trivia

• In Breath of the Wild, Zant's Helmet is a piece of armor that appears after obtaining the second DLC pack. It is described as one of the priceless artifacts stolen from Hyrule Castle by the Great Thief Misko, and it is hidden in Tobio's Hollow. The helmet's special effect is making the wearer unfreezeable. Its description also mentions that it is "much like" the helmet worn by Zant, implying that it may actually be a replica of the original.