The Key
Number	196
Series	Explorer's Friend Series
Value	× 100
Weight	1
Maximum carriers	3 Pikmin
Location	Citadel of Spiders
Challenge Mode levels	All

The Key (あのカギ^?, lit.: "The Key") is a treasure in Pikmin 2, whose name is the only one among the treasures that describes itself exactly. It is a large, golden key. The Key is found inside the body of a Beady Long Legs on the final sublevel of the Citadel of Spiders. Besides increasing the Poko total, The Key unlocks Challenge Mode, which can be found in the main menu after the treasure has been collected. It is the only part of the Explorer's Friend Series that is not found in the Exploration Kit.

In Pikmin 2's Challenge Mode, this treasure is found on every sublevel of every one of the 30 levels. It is required to make the entrance to the next sublevel – or a geyser – appear, and is worth 100 Pokos.

Notes

Ship's dialogs

Olimar's journal

Sales pitch

Olimar's journal (Nintendo Switch)

Gallery

• 

  Artwork of The Key.
• 

  Alrernate scan of The Key's artwork.
• 

  The Key's discovery cutscene.
• 

  The Key in the Citadel of Spiders.
• 

  The Key being analyzed by the Hocotate ship.
• 

  The Key in the Treasure Hoard.
• 

  The Treasure Hoard icon of The Key in the Nintendo Switch version of Pikmin 2.
• 

  A key from Super Mario World.

Trivia

• The Key bears a striking resemblance to the keys in Super Mario World, which open keyholes leading to secret stages.
• In his journal entry for The Key, Olimar calls the Beady Long Legs a "Pikmin-devouring spider", even though the creature cannot devour Pikmin, only crush them.
• Two unused upgrades in Pikmin 3 feature The Key on a pedestal.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	あのカギ? Ano Kagi	The Key
French	La Clé	The Key
German	Der Schlüssel	The Key
Italian	Chiave	Key
Korean	그 열쇠 Geu Yeolsoe	The Key
Spanish	La Llave	The Key

• Pikmin 2
• Pikmin 2 treasures
• Explorer's Friend Series
• Citadel of Spiders
• Pikmin 2 Challenge Mode
• Boss rewards