The President's Key is an item that was presumably handed down to each president of the United States. The key was officially last held by Quentin Trembley until he was kicked out of office and disappeared with it. The key has the ability to open any lock in America.
History[]
The President's Key was originally created in 1797 by George Washington, meant as a means to hide all his scandalous etchings of women's ankles from King George. Following this, it was passed down from one president to the next as their terms came and went.
Eventually, the short-lived eighth-and-a-half President of the United States, Quentin Trembley, was given the key, which he swallowed "to preserve its power". However, his presidential term was viewed as an embarrassment due to his rampant silliness, and he was thus kicked out of office, with all knowledge of his term covered up. He was able to escape to a small valley in Oregon, where he would found the town of Gravity Falls. The key was lost with him.
Season 1[]
Years later, his body, preserved in peanut brittle, Trembley was uncovered by Dipper and Mabel Pines. Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland, however, had been ordered to find the body, and subsequently ordered to detain them, in order to keep one of the nation's greatest embarrassment a secret. They took the president and the twins to Washington, D.C. by train. However, on the way to the capital, Mabel accidentally helped the former president escape from his hibernation. Realizing they were in a crate, he attempted to use the key to escape by smashing it into the wall, but to no avail.
After they escaped, Trembley gave the key to Dipper along with a Negative Twelve Dollar Bill, telling him to go unlock Gravity Falls' secrets. Dipper was later able to use the key to unlock Stan Pines from the stockades in which he had been placed.
Season 2[]
In "The Last Mabelcorn," while he was connected to the Project Mentem device created by Ford Pines, the President's Key was among Dipper's numerous thoughts being displayed on the monitors. Humorously, he briefly considered the possibility of robbing a bank with the key.
Uses[]
The President's Key functions similarly to a skeleton key, in that it can be used to open any lock, regardless of shape or size. However, from Trembley's wording, it can be inferred that it is mildly limited in that it can only open locks made in America. Thus far, these are the known uses or potential uses of the Key:
- In "Irrational Treasure", Dipper was able to successfully utilize the Key to break Grunkle Stan out of the stockades that he was locked in by Deputy Durland and Sheriff Blubs for being insubordinate.
- In the Gravity Falls: Lost Legends story "Face It", Dipper uses it to open a door to a paranormal black market called The Crawlspace so that he and Pacifica could rescue Mabel's face from Mr. What's-His-Face, implying that the key could also open supernatural doors.
- In Lost Legends' Shmeb-You-Unlocked secret pages, the Key is noted to be able to unlock the following:
- The Washington Monument, which is actually a giant music box that spins and plays "Yankee Doodle" when you crank it.
- The Lincoln Memorial, under which are hidden the bones of Linclops, the 100-foot cyclops with a saddle on it that Abraham Lincoln rode into battle during the Civil War.
- The President's Cabinet, a chest buried beneath the White House containing the never-before-seen "Final Draft of the Constitution", which features the Kevinth Amendment (granting special rights to anyone named Kevin), and would instate a prohibition on sideburns.
Cut Usage of Key[]
In an early plan for Not What He Seems, the president's key was to finally be used. Dipper and Mabel were to have been trapped in an old schoolhouse by Trigger while waiting for child protective services to take them. Due to the old style lock on the door, Dipper is able to unlock it using the key and allow them to escape and subdue the agents. The scene was never used in the episode and thus the key never made an appearance in that episode.
Sightings[]
Season 1
- 108. "Irrational Treasure"
Season 2
- 215. "The Last Mabelcorn" (mentioned)
Games
Trivia[]
- According to Lost Legends' Shmeb-You-Unlocked files, the President's Key tastes like licking a grandpa.
- This is the basis of one of the most prominent plot holes in Gravity Falls, which is that the President's Key could've been used to open the lock of Mabel-World in Weirdmageddon Part Two: Escape from Reality