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Cauldron Keep is the final 'level' in Banjo-Tooie, which served as the main residence of Gruntilda's sisters, Mingella and Blobbelda. It is located at the highest peak of the Isle O' Hags, at its center.

While originally planned as a full level in development, in the final game, this world serves as an area in which the finale of the game takes place, featuring a third battle against Klungo, the Tower of Tragedy Quiz and the final battle against Gruntilda in the HAG-1. This area functions similarly to Grunty's Furnace Fun and the Top of the Tower in Banjo-Kazooie.

The entrance is found on a ledge in the Isle O' Hags Quagmire and is accessible from either climbing a pole or using Claw Clamber Boots to climb the cliff. The latter is required first, as the switch for the Shock Spring Pad needed to reach the pole is located at the cliff itself. 55 Jiggies are required to open the door, with 70 being required to access the final battle.

Design[]

After Gruntilda's Lair had been blocked and abandoned by the witches, Cauldron Keep became their new lair. The entrance to the castle interior is surrounded by a moat of plasma and the main entrance is blocked by blue lasers. The duo must split up and step foot on the buttons to activate the bridge and disable the lasers. The first room found inside the lair is the gatehouse where the third and final battle against Klungo takes place. The Tower of Tragedy Quiz game is found next after defeating Klungo. Another door inside The Tower of Tragedy Quiz room leads to the Gun Chamber, where the duo must use the B.O.B. to restore Bottles and King Jingaling. In the Gun Chamber, the opening where the B.O.B.'s beam blaster is found leads to the top of the tower, where a door that requires a number of Jiggies leads to a lift that leads to a glass dome at the very top, where Hag-1 is found. The duo must destroy Hag-1 and defeat Gruntilda.

Points of Interest[]

Enemies[]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • It's not actually necessary to deactivate the laser mesh, as you can just jump through the gaps instead.
  • In Cauldron Keep, there are no stairs going up, but Banjo and Kazooie must climb down stairs to enter the B.O.B. Chamber.
  • Kazooie again breaks the Fourth Wall upon entering the Gatehouse. When Banjo notes that there's no one there, Kazooie replies that the music has changed (to the boss music) and that they always end up in a fight when that happens. She proves right, as Klungo literally drops in seconds later.
  • On the right side of the entrance to the world, a sign that says "Cauldron Keep Secret Exit" is seen. This means that the area Banjo and Kazooie enter the world from is not the actual entrance. However, it is unknown where the real entrance would be.
  • This level has an equivalent in Donkey Kong 64 named Hideout Helm.
  • This level was originally going to be a fuller world like the other 8 levels in the game (see Castle World), however, it was simplified to Cauldron Keep due to time constraints.
  • For the top part of the world's tower, there are differences between the normal version (that's part of the world geometry) and the boss version (for the Hag 1 battle). In the boss version, most of the polygons including part of the B.O.B. are removed, it has a narrower boundry box, pressing "B button (N64)" on the elevator floor does nothing making the area un-escapable and it uses a similar skybox without the fog at the bottom and black background instead. Also, this area is a point of no return and cannot be re-entered after Gruntilda has been defeated; instead they will enter the usual variant part of the world's geometry so it can let them leave anytime by pressing "B button (N64)" on the elevator floor.

Names in Other Languages[]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese マジョのおしろ
Majo no Oshiro
Witch's Fortess
Spanish Torre del Caldero Cauldron Keep
French Forteresse Chaudron Cauldron Fortress
German Hexenkesselkerker Witch Cauldron Dungeon
Italian Torre Calderone Cauldron Tower


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