Zant

Zant (ザント) is a villain in Hyrule Warriors. Players can unlock him in the game's Adventure Mode. He originally appeared in Twilight Princess.

Role in Game
Zant allies with Cia when she opened the Gate of Souls in his world, the Era of Twilight. He protects the gate in his palace, but is defeated and imprisoned by Midna, Agitha, and Lana. However, Ganondorf retrieves him to serve as one of his lieutenants when the former regains his full power.

Development
According to an interview with Game Informer, the developers decided to make Zant playable due to positive feedback from fans.

Personality
Zant is a being who comes off as calm and analytical at first glance. But beneath the surface, he is disturbingly insane to the point where he snaps when things don't go his way. He is also obsessed with having the throne of the Twili, even if it means usurping it

Quotes

 * See also: Zant/Quotes

Gameplay
For each of Zant's charge attacks, the player can continue pressing X to extend the duration of the attack. Doing so will slowly fill up Zant's special meter, located under the special attack gauge. If the meter becomes full and overloaded, then Zant will stun himself and get dizzy, leaving himself vulnerable. Players must time the attacks right so that his special meter doesn't overflow.


 * X: Zant laughs manically while unleashing a burst of energy. If Zant's Special Power Meter is filled up even a little, his mask will be removed and gain access to two different new abilities while the Special Power Meter slowly drains.
 * (Only if Special Bar is filled) X, Y: Zant does a continuous spin attack with his scimitars, cutting rapidly. He may eventually get dizzy. He moves around during this attack and can be directed with the control stick.
 * (Only if Special Bar is filled) X, X: Zant rapidly shoots bolts of energy at his enemies. He stays stationary during this, but he can be rotated with the control stick, changing the trajectories of his energy bolts.
 * Y, X: Zant makes a large replica of his mask appear from the ground in front of him. It then spins rapidly while shooting bolts of energy. Then the mask disappears in an explosion. If X is tapped too many times, Zant will faint.
 * Y, Y, X: Zant summons a totem pole from the ground which he stands atop of, then shoots energy bolts diagonally down at the ground, before collapsing the column down on the enemy. The trajectories of his bolts can be directed with the control stick. If X is tapped too much, Zant will fall back onto his head as the column collapses.
 * Y, Y, Y, X: Zant violently hops around on the ground repeatedly, with each stomp creating shockwaves of dark energy. He then generates a ball of dark energy and throws it down. If X is tapped too much, he'll fall over, leaving himself vulnerable.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, X: Zant hovers in the air, and creates a dark summoning portal above him. A hand made of dark energy appears out of it and slams down onto the ground to grab an enemy. If an enemy is grabbed, the hand will slam down two times, then swings it around, before doing a final slam. If X is tapped too much, Zant will get dizzy.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, X: Zant becomes a giant and stomps the ground violently with his right foot, making shockwaves of black energy. He then stomps with both feet and shrinks back down. He can pivot around his other foot with the control stick, changing his stomping area. If X is tapped too much, Zant will clutch his ankle in pain and go back to normal.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y: Zant performs five wide slashes, stomps the ground a few times, charges forward while making rapid slashes, and finally spins and blasts enemies away with a small shockwave of Twilight energy.


 * A: Summons two phantom replicas of himself that float in front of him to either side of him. The three focus their energy to summon a large orb of Twili Energy in their center and slam it onto enemies.


 * Focus Spirit + A: Summons a giant replica of his helmet in front of him, and spins it around causing it to damage enemies in front of him.
 * Focus Spirit Finisher: Grows into a giant and performs a body slam into the group of enemies surrounding him, sending them all flying.


 * Weak Point Smash: Zant spins repeatedly around the enemy, trapping his opponent in a black hurricane.

Fighting Style
Zant's fighting style is highly erratic and reliant on his magic powers. Many of his attacks hit multiple times, enabling him to clear out hordes of enemies, but they can leave him vulnerable after use - in the game proper, this is represented by the Special Power Meter underneath his Special Bar. If the meter begins blinking red when Zant is using one of his attacks, he will end the attack by stunning himself somehow, leaving him open for enemy attacks. The meter itself can be filled by using Zant's various attacks - when full, it enables the Usurper King to use two special attacks until it drains itself.

Counter Strategies
Zant is one of the more unique characters in Hyrule Warriors due to the fact that his Weak Point Guage will only appear if his attacks are blocked. When performing one of his charge attacks, if the player simply dodges it, his WPG will not appear, however if the attack is blocked at least once it will. If players manage to stay in place and block the majority of strikes from his Charge attack he will go into his vulnerable state from when over using his charge attacks with a maxed out Power Meter. Because of this Zant is capable of being either the hardest enemy to fight, if one does not know to block in order to get his WPG to appear, or the easiest if you do know how to get it to appear.

Weapons

 * Zant's strongest weapon is the sword he used to bring the Stallord to life in Twilight Princess.

Badge Materials

 * See also: Hyrule Warriors/Badges

Attack Badges=
 * -|Defense Badges=
 * -|Assist Badges=

Trivia

 * A glitch exists that enables Zant to use his spin attack indefinitely. By using Zant's spin attack while engaging a named character (i.e. one with a cinematic introduction) and then mashing the attack button as the cutscene ends, Zant can spin indefinitely.