Zelda franchise strategy guide/Enemies/Iron Knuckle

An Iron Knuckle (アイアンナック) is an enemy in The Legend of Zelda video game series. A massive armored foe, they are often confused with the similar Darknut and Armos. Although they wielded swords and shields in the earlier games they now typically appear armed with a large labrys. They typically remain still and motionless, but when an intruder is detected, an Iron Knuckle will come to life and mercilessly strike.



Zelda II: Adventure of Link
The Iron Knuckle first appeared in The Adventure of Link in three colors - orange, red, and blue, in order of difficulty. Each is armed with a sword and shield, and able to block attacks. They are often considered the toughest non-boss enemy in the game, since their swords are quite powerful and their shields are capable of blocking Link's sword from almost any position he can swing from. Additionally, their helmets can successfully deflect most attacks from above.

The stronger Blue Iron Knuckles can throw swords. In some instances, they enter battle on a floating metal horse, wielding a lance. After dehorsed, they behave as slightly stronger versions of the normal Blue Iron Knuckles. These mounted Blue Iron Knuckles were also known as Rebo Knuckles or Rebonacks (from the Japanese rebonakku, whereas Iron Knuckle is aiannakku), and are treated as either bosses or mini-bosses.

Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask
In both Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, Iron Knuckles attacked with a monstrous axe that did massive damage to Link. This axe, however, is fairly slow and can sometimes get stuck in the ground for a few seconds, giving Link a better chance at a counterattack. The Iron Knuckle's swings would also destroy stone pillars in the rooms where he was encountered. After several blows, the Iron Knuckle's armor would partially fall off and, as a result of losing some of the added weight, give the Knuckle greater mobility. After losing its armor, the Iron Knuckle would become vulnerable to arrows, which would simply bounce off it before. In Ocarina of Time, there are four variants of Iron Knuckle: Silver, Black, White and the one Nabooru appears as. In Majora's Mask there were three that were Silver, Black and White.

Familiar faces
Iron Knuckles seem to share similarities with several other enemies seen in the Zelda series. The most noticeable are the Darknuts. Both Iron Knuckles and Darknuts are knight-like enemies that wear heavy armor and are incredibly strong and durable. Also, in the 3D Zelda games, players are able to strip the armor off of both enemies (Iron Knuckles shed their armor as they take damage, while Darknut armor can be removed by executing different kinds of parry attacks or attacking from the rear).

A key difference between the two enemies (in later Zelda titles) is that Iron Knuckles are often referred to as animated suits of armor, whereas Darknuts are some type of creature (depicted as man or beast, depending on the game) wearing a suit of armor.

The Castle Guards from A Link to the Past are another similar enemy but, again, the Castle Guards are also clearly human soldiers wearing heavy armor.

In Oracle of Seasons, Onox is strikingly similar in appearance to an Iron Knuckle, and even has Gerudo colors that are visible in the cloth he wears underneath the armor, he also is seen having the symbol of the Gerudo's on his chest plate.