- "Ugh... Looks like this guy will take some convincing before he lets us take that Sol... Watch for the shadow of the hand, Link!"
- — Midna
Zant's Hands are enemies from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. They are disembodied hands with the single purpose of guarding the Sols, magical objects sacred to the Twili race. Despite their name, they are not believed to be controlled by Zant, but rather separate beings. The hands' function is somewhat similar to Key Masters.
In the Palace of Twilight in the Twilight Realm can be found two chambers containing Zant's Hands, guarding Sols. Should Link attempt to take the Sol one is holding, it awakens once he is halfway across the room. When a Zant's Hand is in pursuit of Link, an eerie tune plays and increases intensity as it nears the Sol. When the hand is right above the Sol, the music is at its loudest and angriest, which can help Link realize the hand has reanimated after being stunned or simply aid the less attentive player. It then floats slowly in the air, trying to recapture the Sol. Once the Hand is situated directly above a Sol, it will (after a brief pause) slam down and attempt to grab it. If it successfully manages to grab a Sol, it will ascend, turn around and float back to its chamber.
If Link happens to be holding the Sol when the Hand swoops down to grab it, he will be knocked away and will take damage. Link can stun Zant's Hand with his weapons, or grab the Sol from the hand's grasp with the Double Clawshots. To avoid the hand for some time Link can place the Sol under a platform or close to a wall and it will, if placed right, make it unreachable for the hand and allow Link to take his time and look for a way to get it out of the room. Another way can be just running around with the Sol, dodging the hands attempts to grab it since it is slow and uses some time to slam down after it. If Link is standing on one of the many floating platforms inside the palace, the hand will strangely slam right through it and land on the floor below, possibly because the platforms are powered by the Sols themselves.
The Hands also move very slowly and methodically around any obstacles instead of flying over them, which can buy Link some time when he has to let go of the Sol to progress, since often Sols will cause tall stairs to emerge from the floor, which will hinder the Hands' progress to the Sol significantly. Zant's Hand can move through walls that connect rooms and will follow Link from room to room if he is carrying the Sol. Only after Link takes the Sol outside the Palace of Twilight does the Hand cease its steady pursuit.
After both Sols have been placed in the depressions in the ground outside the temple, Link uses them to upgrade the Master Sword. The upgraded sword has the ability to cut through darkness and fend off Zant's Hands; however, the need to avoid Zant's Hands is not presented at any later time in the game.
Other appearances[]
Subseries warning: This article or section contains information on a subseries within the Legend of Zelda series and should be considered part of its own separate canon.
Hyrule Warriors/Legends[]
As part of his Scimitars moveset, Zant can summon Zant's Hand to grab and attack enemies during certain combos.
Twili Midna can summon a similar hand (or possibly a Zant's Hand that she has taken control of) as part of her Mirror moveset, though it color is altered to match the blue-and-black color scheme of Midna's Twilight Portals.
Subseries warning: Subseries information ends here.
Theories[]
Theory warning: This section contains theoretical information based on the research of one or several other users. It has not been officially verified by Nintendo and its factual accuracy is disputed.
Wallmaster[]
Since many of the enemies in the Twilight Realm are Twilight versions of regular enemies, it seems possible that Zant's Hands are Twilight versions of Wallmasters. Regular Wallmasters are not present in the game, but Zant's Hands act similar to them and have no Light World counterpart. But, like Zant Masks, Zant is shown to have hands resembling these during the first cutscene of the Stallord battle.
Creation[]
It is possible that Zant's Hands were created by Zant, as they feature a black-and-red color scheme similar to other Twilight objects under the control of Zant (such as the red Twilight Portals used to summon Shadow Beasts, as well as the aforementioned beasts themselves) as opposed to the the blue-and-black colors found on the more peaceful Twilight objects, such as Midna's Twilight Portals and the transformed Twili. The purpose for creating Zant's Hands appears to be to keep the Sols away from their proper place in the indentations before the Palace of Twilight.
Theory warning: Theories end here.