Key Cavern

"...PRAIRIE... ...PRAIRIE... The Prairie is waiting..."

- Link's Awakening

The Key Cavern is the third dungeon in Link's Awakening and the location of the Sea Lily's Bell. The dungeon's entrance is behind a 'fence' of Slime Eye statues, one of which has the Slime Keyhole. Despite being called a cavern, this dungeon isn't set inside a cave, but more or less a bricked building. The Slime Key, which is possessed by a man called Richard, is required to enter. The mini-boss of this dungeon is a pair of Dodongo Snakes, which require bombs to defeat them. The main tool of this dungeon is the Pegasus Boots, which is necessary to break away blocks that cannot be bombed as well as used to aid Link in defeating the boss, Slime Eye, who guards the Sea Lily's Bell.

Entrance to the Cavern
When Link enters Ukuku Prairie and heads to where Richard's Villa is located, he passes by the dungeon's entrance which is at first closed and requires the use of the Slime Key to open. South of the entrance is Richard's Villa, where Richard now resides ever since he had been kicked out of Kanalet Castle. Richard has the Slime Key with him but does not let Link have it until Link fetches all five of Richard's Golden Leaves from the castle. After Link hands all of them to Richard, he will let Link into his villa's maze of bushes and hidden pits. Link would eventually make his way to an Owl Statue, in front of which the Slime Key was buried. Link then has to use the key in one of the keyholes in the Slime Eye statues to open the entrance. To actually get to the entrance, Link has to go around the villa and cross a lake using the Roc's Feather.

Themes and Navigation
The mini-boss of the dungeon is two Dodongo Snakes, which act much like regular Dodongos, and can be defeated in the same way: by feeding them bombs. Defeating these monsters opens the way to the chest where the dungeon's item, the Pegasus Boots, are hidden. The Pegasus Boots allow Link to perform a running attack when combined with his sword, which is necessary for defeating the boss of the dungeon, Slime Eye. This Nightmare takes the form of a giant eyeball, which hides above Link on the ceiling of the room until Link runs into the wall with the Pegasus Boots, making it fall to the floor. It then must be split into two smaller eyes using the running attack before it can be hurt by conventional weapons.

When looked on a map, the first and third floors of this dungeon form the shape of a very large key, while the second and fourth create a smaller key. The name of this dungeon is thus named after its shape. Fittingly, there is a multitude of keys in this dungeon. There are a few rooms which require a key to enter, but yield only enemies and another key when explored. Also, to proceed to the top floor where the boss room is, Link must collect four keys to open four key blocks which block the way to the staircase. This dungeon additionally appears to be themed on the boss Slime Eye, as there are Slime Eye statues outside and Zol tend to live here. The keyhole to open the dungeon is also called the 'Slime Keyhole'. There is also a pattern of eyes above the dungeon's entrance, as Slime Eye is basically a giant eyeball in its original state. There are also more than average amounts of bombable walls and bomblike enemies.

Trivia

 * Key Cavern contains one more key than it does unlockable doors. The final Small Key in the dungeon drops from above automatically in the final room before the boss, when there is no use for it. If Link has not unlocked the optional rooms in this dungeon, it can be used to unlock them, although since both of them contain keys themselves and have no other purpose the end result will always leave Link with an extra key.