Zant

Zant (ザント, Zanto), the Usurper King, is one of the major antagonists in Twilight Princess. He is a member of Twili who usurps the throne of the Twilight Realm from Midna before the events of Twilight Princess. He regularly appears wearing a helmet that conceals his face, but removes it before his battle with Link. He is a powerful sorcerer and minion of Ganondorf.

The Usurper King
Zant is a member of the Twili race, and is the self-proclaimed ruler of the Twilight which engulfs much of Hyrule during Twilight Princess. He is portrayed as the main antagonist of the game and possesses powers beyond Link's comprehension. There are multiple ways of defeating Zant, the first suspected way being the use of the Fused Shadows. When Zant steals these away from Midna and returns her to the World of Light, the only option left to reach and defeat Zant is to find the Mirror of Twilight which will grant access into the Twilight Realm.

Presumably, Zant was to be the next in line for the throne, but was skipped over and his position was filled by Midna instead. This led him to lose trust in the Royal Family of the Twilight Realm, which, added onto the fact that he hated that the Twili were trapped in the Twilight Realm like, "insects in a cage," made him seek his own path. In throes of rage and despair, he looked towards the heavens for an answer.

Ganon, who was cast into the Twilight Realm by the Sages, appeared to him in a fiery manifestation of his face. Posing as a god, Ganon offers to impart Zant him with his power (which is, in truth, a fraction of the power of the Goddess, Din, as a means of fufilling his own desire to return to the World of Light. Using his newfound power, Zant overthrew Midna and turned her into an imp. He changed the rest of the Twili into Shadow Beasts soon afterwards and proclaimed himself as the "Twilight King," with the ultimate goal of spreading Twilight across Hyrule to make way for the Twili to return to the world that he believed rightfully belonged to them. Zant invaded Hyrule Castle and gave Princess Zelda the choice of surrendering or facing the annihilation of Hyrule's inhabitants. Zelda, dropping her sword as a symbol of submission, yielded to Zant's demands.

Soon after, Zant engulfed most of Hyrule in Twilight, a process that was soon reversed by Link. He confronts Link and Midna after they finish collecting the Fused Shadow fragments. Zant takes the three Fused Shadow pieces from Midna, scolding her for her betrayal, and tries to convince Midna to give him the power she retained as the Twilight Princess. When Midna refuses, Zant exposes her to the full light of Lanayru, which almost kills her, and places a Shadow Crystal in Wolf Link's forehead, keeping him in a permanent wolf state. The duo escaped Zant with the help of Lanayru, yet their paths crossed again at Arbiter's Grounds, at which Zant placed a Twilight sword through Stallord's skull before departing, and reanimating the giant fossil. After defeating Stallord, Link and Midna discover that Zant had attempted to destroy the Mirror of Twilight, but lacking the true power to do so, he could only shatter it into four shards and scatter the pieces across Hyrule.

When Link and Midna meet Zant in the Twilight Realm, he undergoes a change in behavior that drastically contrasts the character that he displayed before. The reasons to this change are often debated by Twilight Princess fans. The predominately embraced theory is that the character change symbolizes Zant's revealed immaturity when it comes to ruling the Twili, as is displayed by his childish tantrums and fits. There is a likely possibility Zant was driven to insanity by his anger, despair, and desperation after losing the position as ruler of the Twili to Midna. This is shown by his jumping around, whirling about in a blur of motion, and his reedy shrieks of insane fury.

After Zant is defeated, he proclaims that he will be resurrected infinitely by his god, who is in reality simply Ganondorf, and that the curse placed on Midna cannot be removed while Ganon is still alive. Midna, hearing this taunting speech, destroys him with a mere fraction of the power of the Fused Shadow. However, later in the game it is implied that Ganondorf probably would never have revived Zant because he believed the entire Twili race to be foolish, and that they had already served their purpose in restoring his power.

At the end of the game, a vision of Zant is shown abruptly breaking his own neck, and this directly proceeds to Ganondorf's apparent death. There has been no concrete evidence to what actually happened given that it is not known how or if Zant will appear in future games. Based on what is shown, it is believed that either Zant's spirit killed Ganondorf or the vision was symbolic of Ganondorf losing the power he gained from the Twilight Realm, which would have been the last known source that could have kept him alive.

Boss Strategy
Zant is one of the most diverse bosses in the game, with the ability to emulate previous battles and change assault tactics.

Zant will first recreate the Forest Temple boss arena and float above the poisonous water while firing an array of dark energy balls. Block these with your shield and use your Gale Boomerang to knock him down before he warps away. When struck with the Gale Boomerang, Zant will skip across the venomous pool and land on the ground to regain his composure. Use this brief moment as an opportunity to attack him with your sword before he recovers. Repeat this a few times and he will change the arena.

Zant changes the environment to that of the mini-boss arena seen in the Goron Mines, and will jump up and down repeatedly along the borders of the magnetic platform in an attempt to make Link slide off the edge, laughing maniacally as he does so. Avoid falling into the lava by using the Iron Boots when necessary (although, with good handling, the boots may not be needed at all). Eventually he will stop and attempt to attack you again with a flurry of energy blasts. The attack will leave him exhausted, so remove the Iron Boots and quickly attack him before he catches his breath. Repeat this a few times and he will change the arena again.

Next, Zant recreates the Lakebed Temple boss arena. Be sure to equip yourself with the Zora Armor so that you can breathe underwater, and your Iron Boots to sink to the lakebed below. At first, a giant helmet in likeness to his will emerge from the sand, open up, and he will attack you with energy balls from within; a familiar tactic. Use your Clawshot to draw him close and then, after equipping the Iron Boots, attack him with your sword. The helmet will disappear, and then another four will rise around you. Only one, upon opening, will reveal Zant inside, and he will attack you with more blasts. After he is done, he will wait a few seconds before he closes the helmet. At this point quickly use the Clawshot to pull him out and attack him. He will teleport back into the helmet and you will have to figure out which one he is in and then repeat the process until he changes the arena again.



Next Zant emulates the mini-boss arena in the Forest Temple. He will leap from totem pole to totem pole, occasionally stopping to attack Link with his common method of firing energy balls. Avoid the blasts and roll into the pole he is standing on twice to knock him down, and then attack him. Repeat this a few times and the arena will, once again, change.



Zant will change the field to that of the Snowpeak Ruins and grow to a gargantuan size. In this giant state, Zant will hover above the arena and you will need to avoid him when he drops down to avoid being crushed; by using the reflection off the ice on the floor, you can determine when he will fall. With the Ball and Chain, you must strike him on one of his feet as he stomps around to make him shrink down into a size that you can attack, but the player will need to chase Zant around (which is quite tricky on the ice) because he will attempt to evade Link while hopping across the arena gripping his injured foot. Repeat this a few times to go to the last arena.

The final arena lies just outside of Hyrule Castle, and Zant will wield two swords from underneath his sleeves. With his two swords, he will simply start attacking you in a maniacal fashion, that of which you can either evade, attack him with a Back Slice, or attack him directly. Occasionally, Zant will appear with his own version of the Hurricane Spin and will be left dazed for a few seconds when he wears himself out. This is the best opportunity to attack. Also, if you hit Zant with a spin attack while he is performing this move, it will cause him to stop and catch his breath. After many sword strikes, Zant will be finally defeated. Unlike other bosses, he is not killed directly by Link. He is weakened by him and, panting, angers Midna by saying that she cannot be restored to her original self. She stabs him with her "hair", of which he inflates and explodes.

Miscellaneous
Zant bears an uncanny resemblance to Onox and Veran; if you observe his clothes, you will notice that he has the same symbol Onox bore on his armor. Given that Twilight Princess is full of references and close similarities to Oracle of Seasons, and Oracle of Ages, it is likely that this is not purely by coincidence. However, Onox's armor very closely resembles that of an Iron Knuckle, which were essentially baddies that worked for Ganondorf, and the fact that Zant, too, was seen in relation to Ganondorf as nothing but an "underling".

Of course, a resemblance of clothing is not the only thing that reveals itself when analyzing Zant. His combat techniques, when facing him head-on, are similar to the techniques used by the several forms of Majora's Mask, Ganon, and Phantom Ganon. He teleports from one place to another, followed up with a fashion of cunning attacks, and uses consistent energy strikes in order to test Link's patience, just as Ganon and Phantom Ganon do. 

Trivia

 * There is a theory that Zant was possessed by Ganondorf and that plays a role in Zant's behavior in the Palace of Twilight. According to theory, Zant displays the body actions that people display when they are undergoing demonic possession, where a victim will twist and bend into positions that are otherwise humanly impossible. Zant also undergoes a drastic voice change said to be similar to those of the possessed since cut-scenes earlier in-game had him bearing a deeper, more menacing voice. The theory is supported by Ganon stating that he would house his power within Zant when the two first met, but is at odds with Zant displaying similar behavior before the meeting, and the dissimilarity between Zant's behavior to those of when Ganondorf explicitly possesses Princess Zelda.


 * Another theory is that, as Ganondorf houses his power within Zant, Zant believes that the newly-obtained power is simply his to use when he so pleases, and in his many attempts to wield it, goes insane in doing so.


 * There is another theory, that explains that Zant could have stolen the Triforce of Power from Ganondorf at the ending, as Ganondorf's Triforce dissapears and a second later Zant is shown snapping his neck, maybe as a taunt. This would give the possibility of Zant being the antagonist in the next Zelda game.


 * Zant keeps his hands hidden for most of the game under his sleeves. He only reveals them once when he reanimates Stallord, where they can be seen vaguely under the darkness, and they appear dark gray -- discolored from the normal Twilight colors of black and white.


 * Zant is the first Major Villain to give a Heart Container to Link.