Skeleton key (InstanceTopic, 7)

From Compile Worlds

A skeleton key, also known as a master key, is a key which can be used to unlock many different doors. With a few rare exceptions, every key that you find in a video game is a skeleton key (though whether this is made obvious to the player is a different matter), mainly to save memory and graphics as all the keys are identical.

If you are wondering why "skeleton key" sounds familiar, you've probably spent too much time with "Skeleton T". ;)

In Mario Party

In Mario Party 2 and Mario Party 3, skeleton keys are used to unlock locked doors on the board maps. Their function is seemingly like that of a normal key, but the doors in Mario Party board maps refuse any substitutes. Each key can only be used once, and the door shuts itself behind the character. Skeleton keys also have faces, and can speak to you. They get upset when they are used on a door or thrown away, making you feel guilty for using them in the first place. They even claim they'll miss you. Poor things =(

Surprisingly, skeleton keys only vaguely resemble skeletons in any way. There seems to be two kinds of skeleton keys. The ones that appear in MP2 are supposedly female and wear bows while the ones in MP3 are male and have big bushy eyebrows.

In Kingdom of Loathing

In Kingdom of Loathing, you can craft a skeleton key by meat pasting a skeleton bone with loose teeth. Alternatively, You can get from a key ring that you can find... somewhere. Quite obviously, they're really useful to the plot for something, but also useful for something not-so-useful for the plot of the game.