Iron Knuckle
The Iron Knuckle is one of the toughest sub-bosses Link will have to defeat. It swings a mighty axe that deals devastating blows to whatever comes in its way. If Link is hit by this axe, he will lose quite a large amount of life energy. In Ocarina of Time, Iron Knuckles are associated with the Gerudo. In Majora's Mask, they are a part of the Ikana tribe.
To defeat an Iron Knuckle, you must run in, do a stab attack or jump slash, and back-flip quickly. The Iron Knuckle will slash with the axe, and when he is done slashing, run in and get two more good attacks in. Repeat this process until he loses quite a bit of his armor. He will then become more frantic and begin charging at you much faster. Just step in and repeatedly stab him. Do not stop stabbing until he kneels to the floor and dies in a flood of purple flame. An alternative is to use Bombs or Bombchus.
The Iron Knuckles appeared in games such as Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. In Adventure of Link, they are frequent enemies in the dungeons, and an Ironknuckle astride a floating horse appears as the boss of the third dungeon. A pair of them later appear in the sixth dungeon as sub-bosses.
In Ocarina of Time, Nabooru is captured and brainwashed by Koume and Kotake, a pair of Gerudo witch sisters. Koume and Kotake then force the brainwashed Nabooru to don armor and protect the entrance to the final chamber in the Spirit Temple as an Iron Knuckle. When Nabooru is defeated in her Iron Knuckle form the armor falls away and reveals her, apparently releasing her of her hypnosis. Immediately, the witch sisters appear and threaten to brainwash her again (suggesting that the hypnosis was temporary and had to be maintained).
After Link defeats Koume and Kotake, Nabooru becomes the Sage of Spirit and is freed from her hypnosis permanently. The fact that the other two Iron Knuckles in the Spirit Temple dissolve completely when they are defeated suggests that they were animated by magic and not hypnotized people, like Nabooru. In both Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, Iron Knuckles come in three colors: silver, white and black. Also in Ocarina of Time is the armor that Nabooru is encased in, which looks slightly different to others. There is also Gold Iron Knuckle armor on display in the Curiosity Shop in Majora's Mask.
The idea of hypnotizing inherently good characters to serve as evil soldiers is not singular to Ocarina of Time. While no Iron Knuckles appear in A Link to the Past by name, Agahnim apparently controls the soldiers of Hyrule by some evil magic.
Onox, the main antagonist of Oracle of Seasons, highly resembles the appearance of an Iron Knuckle. The only real difference is that Onox wields a mace, while Iron Knuckles tend to use axes.
Possible History
Although widely accepted that the Iron Knuckles of the Spirit Temple are animated by magic, it is theorized that the Iron Knuckles of Termina are the last warriors of the Ikana Tribe (except for the one on The Moon), although no definite proof supports this claim.
Boss Iron Knuckle
Template:Boss This Iron Knuckle (known as レボナック Rebonakku in the Japanese) rides a ghostly horse, and is the boss of the Island Palace. Link must use the Down Thrust initially to damage him. After enough damage is done, he dismounts his horse, and can then be fought as a normal Iron Knuckle. The trick is to attack while standing and ducking down so that he can't block every attack with his shield.