Zant

Zant, the Usurper King, is the self-proclaimed King of Twilight and called the King of Shadows by Midna. He was thought to be the main antagonist of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, but it was later revealed that Ganondorf was the true mastermind. He is member of the Twili race and usurped the throne from Midna in the Twilight Realm. He often wears a helmet that conceals his hidden face. He is a very powerful sorcerer.
== The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ==
Before the events of Twilight Princess, Zant was supposedly the next in line for the throne of the Twilight Realm, but was skipped and his position was filed by Midna instead. This caused him to lose trust in the Twilight Realm's Royal Family. That and his hatred of the Twili race being were trapped in the Twilight Realm caused him to seek a path of his own and looked to the heavens for answers. Ganon, who was exiled into the Twilight Realm, appeared to Zant, posing as a god. He appeared in a fiery manifestation of his face and imparted Zant with a fraction of his own power in order to help fulfill his own desire of ruling the World of Light. Zant using his newfound abilities stole the throne from Midna and transformed her into an imp. In addition, he transformed the rest of the Twili into Shadow Beasts and sought to drown the kingdom of Hyrule, which he believed rightfully belongs to the Twili race, in Twilight. He invaded Hyrule Castle and gave Princess Zelda the option of surrendering or face annihilation. Zelda willing gave in to Zant's demands and surrendered. 
After Midna and Link collected the three Fused Shadows, Zant appears and steals the Fused Shadows away from them and scolds Midna for her betrayal. He tries to convince Midna to give up the powers she had gained when becoming the "Twilight Princess" and give them to him. When she refuses, Zant esposes her to the full light of Lanayru which almost kills her and places a Shadow Crystal in Link's head, keeping him in a permanent state as a wolf. The duo escapes with the help of Lanayru. 
Zant later appears at the Arbiter's Grounds, surprised to see Link alive. He stabs the lifeless skull of Stallord with the Twilight Sword which brings it to life. After defeating the ancient fossil, Link and Midna discover that Zant attempted to destroy the Mirror of Twilight, but due to his lack of the true power to do so, could only shatter it into four individual pieces and scatter them. 
After collecting all the mirror pieces and using it to get into the Twilight Realm, Zant seems to undergo a change in character. He went from having a serious, calm personality to a much more childish one. This could be revealing his true personality. 
Zant engages Link in battle and recreates many of the arenas that Link had fought previous bosses at. He recreates the Forest Temple boss arena, Dangoro's room from the Goron Mines, the Lakebed Temple boss arena, Ook's room from the Forest Temple, the Snowpeak Ruins' bedroom, and the area just outside Hyrule Castle. After his defeat, Zant proclaims that he will be resurrected by his "god", who is actually Ganondorf, and that the curse put on Midna can't be undone as long as Ganondorf lives. Midna angrily kills Zant with a fraction of the power from 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.
Category:Antagonists
Category:Nintendo characters
Category:Characters from The Legend of Zelda series