If you ask me, Darknuts are pure evil.
Classic Legend of Zelda has rooms *full* of the things that you cannot get out of until you kill them all. Horrible! You've gotta kill, like... 20 of them, swords-out, only backs and bottoms vulnerable! The way I deal with them is with bombs, or, if I'm at full-health, sniping them from a doorway. However... you cannot always duck into a doorway.... And one hit from a blue darknut kills three of your hearts! Three! That's the health you started out with!
The ones in some of the other games, such as Twilight Princess, are worse. There's a reason why they hang out in the bottom levels of the Cave of Ordeals. I say" worse" tentatively. You cannot bomb them. It's sword or nothing and they're (artifically) *intelligent.* Our "little" Darknuts grew up. No more bopping around a room at random. Link is a target and he's gotta get around them when they're swinging swords at him the size and weight of his entire body! The only thing that makes them "not as bad" as the originals? They show up in fewer numbers.
Can you imagine a Cave of Ordeals level or a dungeon in TP with 20 darknuts showing up like in the first game? Can we say "unbeatable," children? Though, maybe some of you would like the challenge, especially since TP in particular is lacking in that department in general.
I also am filled with dread whenever I enter a room in any of the games that have floormasters, wallmasters and ceilingmasters. The celingmasters are the worst of all as one does not always see their shadows right before they come down, and even if you do, it doesn't mean you're going to dodge in time. They may not take off health, but *I worked hard to get to the inner levels of a dungeon, Dindammit!* And you've gotta start over again, braving whatever dangers you already braved to get to the room you're trying to figure out. Also, it's just... this horrible titan-hand coming down for you! Link is like a hamster dreading the Great Unexpected Hand of Elmyra!**
(If you don't know who that character is, look up "Tiny Toon Adventures" or "The character that ruined Pinky and the Brain." ).