mario
Super Mario Mario Party Paper Mario Mario & Luigi Yoshi
This article is about a general overview of keys. For the specific keys in Mario's Time Machine, see Key (Mainz) and Key (Philadelphia). For the coins simply known as keys in Super Nintendo World, see Key Coin. For keys in other Mario-related media, see Key (disambiguation).

Keys are items used for various purposes that appear in many games of the Mario franchise. Though their appearance and usage vary, they are typically used to open a locked door or a secret path.

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario Bros. 2

SMAS SMB2 Key Artwork
Artwork from Super Mario All-Stars.
Key SMA artwork
Artwork from Super Mario Advance

Super Mario Bros. 2 is the first Mario game to feature keys and locked doors, both first appearing in World 1-2. All keys in this game are guarded by Phantos, one of which will chase the player until the key is dropped or used to unlock a door. Unlike many other items in the game, keys are always visible without having to be rooted up like a vegetable.

Most keys are out in the open, but at least one was guarded by a Birdo in World 7-2.

Super Mario World

SMW Key Sprite

In Super Mario World, keys and keyholes can be found in various levels. Bringing a key to a keyhole activates the respective level's secret exit. Like other items in the game, keys can be carried around and dropped or kicked upwards, but they will have no effect on a keyhole unless held by the player. Yoshi can carry a key in his mouth, but will swallow it if it remains in his mouth for too long. The location of a key does not reset when it is scrolled off the screen.

Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS

Mario gets a Big Key in Super Mario 64.

Mario gets a Big Key in Super Mario 64.

An image of the unused key

An image of the unused key

In Super Mario 64, there are only two Big Keys[1][2][3][4] in the game, and they can be found in two Bowser levels: Bowser in the Dark World and Bowser in the Fire Sea. Mario gets them when Bowser is defeated. The keys can open the doors of the Mushroom Castle. The first key opens the door to the castle's basement, and the second key opens the door to the castle's upper floors. If a player attempts to open the door to the upper floors with the basement key, a message will appear to let the player know that that key does not fit the lock.

In Super Mario 64 DS, the Big Keys retain their purpose from the previous game, but there are other kinds of keys. First, there are those that rabbits steal. The first key Yoshi has to obtain unlocks the Mushroom Castle; only after he catches the first rabbit can he get inside the castle. There are many other rabbits that can be found in the game, but they unlock only minigames. Three of the second kind of key the player must collect are held by three bosses (Goomboss, King Boo, and Chief Chilly) and are used to free Mario, Luigi, and Wario. The third kind of key is obtained by catching the eight glowing rabbits that randomly appear in place of the regular ones after 50 Power Stars have been collected. The key opens the white-bordered door in the princess's room, which contains a secret Power Star.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3

A Key appears in the World-e level Doors o' Plenty in Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. While it is carried in the same way as in Super Mario World, its function is to open Key Doors, as in Super Mario Bros. 2.

New Super Mario Bros. series

Mario wins a key in World 3.

Mario wins a key in World 3.

Mario sees a key after defeating  in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Mario sees a key after defeating Roy Koopa in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

In New Super Mario Bros., at the end of each World from 2 to 7, Mario faces off against a boss. If he wins, a key will be granted.

In New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. 2, when Mario defeats any of the Koopalings at their castles, he will receive a key that he must grab to exit the castle. This item does not serve any purpose other than finishing and closing the level. However, in the Coin Battle mode of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the player that collects the key receives five coins.

Super Mario Galaxy

In Super Mario Galaxy, keys can be collected to automatically open locked doors or force fields. They are found in galaxies such as the Gateway Galaxy and the Ghostly Galaxy. In the Gateway Galaxy and Ghostly Galaxy, a Grand Goomba and a Boo, respectively, each hold a key which is released after Mario or Luigi defeats the enemies.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

A Key on the  in the .

A Key on the Jack O' Goomba Planet in the Battle Belt Galaxy.

Keys also appear in Super Mario Galaxy 2, and they serve the same function they did in Super Mario Galaxy. They can be found in galaxies such as the Haunty Halls Galaxy and the Battle Belt Galaxy. They also briefly appear in the Rolling Masterpiece Galaxy.

Super Mario Maker / Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS

SMM-SMB-Key

An update released on March 9, 2016, for Super Mario Maker allowed players to add keys to levels. They can be placed in blocks, or in an enemy, making them obtainable after Mario defeats it. Additionally, another new item included in the update, the Pink Coin, reveals a key once Mario collects every single one in the level. A key does not need to be directly held onto by Mario, as it automatically follows him after obtaining it, similar to the keys in the Yoshi's Island series. Up to eight keys can be obtained at one time.

Super Mario Run

Keys reappear in Ghost House levels in Super Mario Run, with their appearance from the New Super Mario Bros. U style in Super Mario Maker. They are used to unlock Key Doors and can be found inside of Boos and ? Blocks. They are required to beat level 5-3: Boohind Lock and Key.

Super Mario Odyssey

In Super Mario Odyssey, keys make a reappearance, albeit slightly redesigned. They unlock locked panels which contain Power Moons when collected.

Super Mario Maker 2

SMM2-SM3DW-Key

Keys return in Super Mario Maker 2. In the Super Mario 3D World style, they resemble the key symbols seen on Key Coins in the original game. In multiplayer, a player can stomp on another player who is holding a Key to grab the Key for themselves. If the player holding the Key is defeated, the Key enters a bubble, allowing other players to grab it.

A variant of the key called the Cursed Key was made available with the version 3.0.0 update exclusive to the Super Mario Bros. game style. When a Cursed Key is picked up, a Phanto is spawned.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

Keys reappear now with cat ears in the Bowser's Fury campaign of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, appearing specifically when a Key is needed to open a cage containing a Cat Shine. Unlike in previous games, the key must be carried all the way back to the lock, rather than simply touching it. They also disappear if they are on the ground other than their initial spawn point for too long, or if they get thrown into water, the black goop, or lava. In these cases, the key will respawn back at its original location.

Super Mario World animated series

King Koopa holding a key in "Mama Luigi".

King Koopa holding a key in "Mama Luigi".

Keys appear in the Super Mario World cartoon in the episodes "Ghosts 'R' Us" and "Mama Luigi". In "Ghosts 'R' Us", when Wizenheimer is defeated, Oogtar uses a ? Block, causing a key to appear, and uses it for the door. In this episode, it makes the same sound as a Cape Feather. In "Mama Luigi", King Koopa shows a key off, gloating that the Mario Bros. will never be able to find Princess Toadstool without it. However, Yoshi then eats it, and after Koopa retreats, he spits it out and it opens the cell the Princess was being held in.

Yoshi franchise

NES (left), Game Boy (right)
NES (left), Game Boy (right)
NES (left), Game Boy (right)

Throughout the Yoshi franchise, keys utilize their design from the Mario franchise.

Keys appear in Yoshi, after the player clears levels 22 through 24 of the B-Type game, rewarding the player with 1,000 points.

In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (and its reissue), Yoshi's Story, Yoshi's Island DS, Yoshi's New Island, Yoshi's Woolly World, Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, and Yoshi's Crafted World, keys can be collected and carried like Yoshi Eggs, taking up one space of the player's maximum number of eggs. They can be used to unlock Mini Battle houses, locked doors in castles, and Corks that block pipes. Additionally, during the cutscene following the defeat of a castle boss, a large key appears and unlocks a keyhole.

In Yoshi's Story, keys are required to open locked doors in the Lift Castle, Ghost Castle, and Magma Castle. They are obtained by defeating a certain ComBat in the Lift Castle, popping a certain ? Bubble in the Ghost Castle, and defeating the two slugs in the Magma Castle. One key in the Ghost Castle is out in the open in an underground section.

Mario Party series

Main article: Skeleton Key

Bowser owns various keys in the Mario Party series. These so-called Bowser Keys are usually found in Bowser Minigames, and are necessary to escape from Bowser. In earlier Mario Party games, Bowser Keys are simply keys shaped like Bowser's head. In later games, they are engraved with Bowser's likeness. The minigame Locked Out from Mario Party 3 features keys with key heads shaped like mushrooms, flowers and stars.

Paper Mario series

Paper Mario

PM Lock Render

There are many key designs in Paper Mario and its sequel, but each only opens doors in the area they are found. There are Castle Keys for every castle and fortress, and various others keys in different locations. In Paper Mario, they were used in Tubba Blubba's Castle, Bowser's Castle, and Peach's Castle. Tubba Blubba's keys look like three-leaf clovers, while Bowser's look like a gold three-leaf clover with a blue ball in the middle. There are about three of Tubba's keys and five of Bowser's keys. Peach's Castle Keys are pink versions of Bowser's Castle Keys. Also, a living key called Yakkey locked the Gusty Gulch Windmill.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

The  in .

The Grotto Key in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the Castle Keys that open the doors in Hooktail Castle are shaped like flowers. There are four Castle Keys. There is also a Grotto Key, which opens the door to the south area in the Pirate's Grotto.

Super Paper Mario

In Super Paper Mario, keys appear more prominently than in the previous installments. They are used in many levels to unlock doors.

Mario & Luigi series

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story / Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey

Blue Keys, Red Keys, and Green Keys appear as special items in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and its remake, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey. They are found on the second floor of Peach's Castle, the last stage in the game, held by Fawfulcopters which Bowser must chase after. The Blue Key is required to proceed the storyline; the other two are optional. Earlier in the game, the Stingler and Star Panels behave like keys and open the doors in Pump Works and the Energy Hold, respectively.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Mario holds a key in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Mario holds a key in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

A key briefly appears in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, as a teaching tutorial for the Trio Grab. The key is used to open a door in Twinsy Tropics Dungeon.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

Keys appear as items in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and its Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS ports. They can be obtained from Pluck Patches, and always open locked doors. They can also be thrown at enemies to defeat them. Akin to other items in the game, Captain Toad and Toadette carry the keys atop their head.

If a stage is cleared while a key is outside its Pluck Patch, the key rewards the player with one coin.

Dr. Mario World

A key in Dr

A key in Dr. Mario World

In Dr. Mario World, keys appear as stage objects where they first appear in World 8. The keys in this game are all found inside bubbles, meaning that they will float upwards until they hit an object. The bubbles containing the keys cannot be removed until it comes into contact with a door, after which it will disappear. Like the bubbles in this game, the keys that are currently floating cannot be reacted to, such as when Dr. Petey Piranha's hits the bottom-most objects in each column (therefore the key is not treated as the bottom-most object while floating), except by pushing it upwards with a capsule. Moreover, the Hammer Bro. assistant will affect the floating speed of the key when equipped by slowing down the floating. When a capsule match is made next to the keys, the skill meter will be filled with an extra point for each key that it is made next to, even though the key will not be removed. The keys, as stage objects, appear exclusively in stage mode.

In versus mode, keys are items in which the player can be rewarded by winning versus matches. They are used to unlock battle boxes, of which the player can obtain three out of the nine possible rewards. The default number of keys required to unlock battle boxes is five since version 2.1.0 and seven prior to that, but only three are required on certain weeks. On certain weeks since season 3, specialists have the benefit of winning two keys instead of one if any of them are used to win the match.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

In the teaser poster for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, voxelated keys resembling their sprite in Super Mario World can be seen being sold at the antiques store for two coins each.

Profiles

Super Mario Bros. 2

Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

Notable keys

Gallery

Hat mario To view Key's
image gallery, click here.

References

  1. Nintendo Power volume 91, page 63.
  2. (February 24, 1998). Items. Nintendo: Super Mario 64 Strategy (Internet Archive: Wayback Machine). Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  3. Prima Bath. Nintendo 64 Game Secrets, 1999 Edition Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Pages 84 and 86.
  4. Prima Bath. Ultimate Nintendo 64 Pocket Power Guide, 1999 Edition Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Pages 56, 57.


Navigation
Reuse disclaimer

Source: This article contains content from the article Key from the Super Mario Wiki A list of the original authors can be found on that article's history page or on the local history page.

Content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, and content submitted to the Super Mario Wiki before February 27, 2026 is compatible with the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license. For more information, read MarioWiki:Copyrights.