View source for Tomb of the Ancients secret

[[File:Tomb of the Ancients secret.png|320px|thumb|right|The clearing at the end of the tunnel.]]

The '''Tomb of the Ancients secret''' refers to an unnamed secret area found in the [[Tomb of the Ancients]] in ''[[Rayman 2]]''. It is known to be accessible in the PC, Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast and the [[Rayman 3D|Nintendo 3DS]] versions of the game. In the [[Rayman DS|Nintendo DS]], [[Rayman 2 (iOS)|iOS]] and [[Rayman Revolution|PlayStation 2]] versions the hidden area is available, but can't be accessed, either due to the respective buttons not being available to press or because the cheat was disabled. In the [[Rayman 2 (PlayStation)|PlayStation version]] it does not appear at all. In the Dreamcast and [[Rayman 3D|3DS]] versions, three [[List of cheats in Rayman 2|cheats]] are given to the player in the secret area.

== History ==
The cheat was originally created by the developer "Ritchy", real name Arnaud Guyon, for the Nintendo 64 version. Upon porting the game to PC the cheat got named to "playjeff", which was the key combination needed to access it there. Ritchy posted details about this cheat on his website back in 2002,<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20020330184649/http://ritchy.free.fr/</ref> although it wasn't discovered by the ''[[Rayman (series)|Rayman]]'' community until 2019. There he lists other cheats as well, most which appear to be named as references to his friends. In 2020, Jeff, also known as François Queinnec, confirmed that the person playing the guitar was in fact a depiction of himself.

==Description==
The entrance to the secret area in hidden in the final phase of the [[Tomb of the Ancients]], outside the door to the [[Technical Check-up]] where [[Rayman]] fights [[Clark]]. In each version, the area can be accessed by pressing certain buttons or keys while [[Rayman]] is standing in front of the [[Technical Check-up]] door.

* Nintendo 64: Hold L + R while pressing A, B, A, B, A, B
* PC: Type playjeff
* Dreamcast: Press A, B, X, Y, X, Y
* Nintendo 3DS: Press B, Y, D-Pad Right, D-Pad Left, D-Pad Right and D-Pad Left

If successful, a puff of dust will appear on [[Rayman]]'s left and a wooden crate will materialise. [[Rayman]] can then climb onto the crate, and use it to reach a previously inaccessible tunnel whose entrance is hidden in the shadows high on the wall. The walls of the tunnel are decorated with the engraved coffins and [[skull]]s typical of the level. At the very end of the tunnel, [[Rayman]] encounters an impassable net, but the player is treated to a unique view: a small forested glade with a campfire at its center lies beyond the net, and surrounding it are two [[baby Globox]]es playing stones as if they were drums, a [[Grand Minimus]] dancing, and another large character (a depiction of Jeff) can be seen playing a guitar. The scene is very similar to the one shown during ''[[Rayman Revolution]]'''s end credits, which may have been based on it.

In the [[Rayman 3D|3DS]] version, the area itself is accessible. The net can be breached due to [[List of glitches in Rayman 2|a glitch]] where the player can get through the bottom right corner. [[Rayman]] must keep trying to walk into the right corner between the net and wall until he starts glitching. Eventually [[Rayman]] will glitch through the corner of the net and fall into the secret area.

<gallery widths="320px" heights="205px">
Rayman In The Tomb Of The Ancients Secret Area 2.png|[[Rayman]] in the [[Tomb of the Ancients]] secret area on the [[Rayman 3D|Nintendo 3DS]] version.
</gallery>

==[[List of cheats in Rayman 2|Cheats]]==
In the Dreamcast and [[Rayman 3D|3DS]] versions, as [[Rayman]] makes his way through the tunnel, he will come across three [[Robo-Pirate]] signs, one after another, each bearing a different message. The first sign says ‘To gain life points, try to shoot on a bridge’, the second says ‘To gain 3 [[Power Fist|Mega-Shoots]], try to jump under a well’, and the third says ‘To recover full life, try to push a tree’. Each of three messages [[Rayman]] reads as he makes his way through the secret tunnel in the [[Tomb of the Ancients]] is in fact a cryptic clue to one of three [[List of cheats in Rayman 2|cheat]] codes which [[Rayman]] can activate in various locations throughout the game. It is not necessary to enter the secret area and read the messages in order to use these [[List of cheats in Rayman 2|cheats]]; however, they only function in the Dreamcast version of the game and its derivatives, the [[Rayman 3D|3DS]] and [[Rayman 2 (iOS)|iOS]] versions. In [[Rayman 2 (iOS)|the iOS version]], this area cannot be accessed due to the lack of buttons, but the [[List of cheats in Rayman 2|cheats]] function properly. The words do not flash across the screen when these [[List of cheats in Rayman 2|cheats]] are used in [[Rayman 2 (iOS)|the iOS version]].

===Fahrenheit===
The first message, ‘To gain life points, try to shoot on a bridge’, was mixed up with the second one. The first message ''should'' read, ‘To gain life points, try to jump on a bridge’. If the player goes to one of the many bridges in the game and jumps up and down on it, the word ‘Fahrenheit’ will flash across the screen and [[Rayman]]'s health bar will refill – the same effect as the one provided by the ‘Pickwitt’ cheat. The name ‘Fahrenheit’ is probably a visual joke regarding the health bar's resemblance to a thermometer.

===Gauntlet===
The second message, ‘To gain 3 [[Power Fist|Mega-Shoots]], try to jump under a well, was mixed up with the first one. The second message ''should'' read, ‘To gain 3 [[Power Fist|Mega-Shoots]], try to shoot under a well’. If [[Rayman]] goes to the bottom of one of the many vertical passageways throughout the game and starts shooting with his [[magic fist]], the word ‘Gauntlet’ will flash across the screen, and [[Rayman]] will be given three [[Power Fist]]s. The name ‘Gauntlet’ is a reference to the [[Power Fist]]s, and draws a comparison between them and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauntlet_%28glove%29 hand armour].

===Pickwitt===
The third message, unlike the first two, does not contain any mistakes. ‘To recover full life, try to push a tree’ is self-explanatory: if [[Rayman]] walks up to one of the many trees littered throughout the game and presses himself against it, the word ‘Pickwitt’ will flash across the screen and his health bar will refill – the same effect as that of the ‘Fahrenheit’ cheat. ‘Pickwitt’ is not a word, and the reason it was used as a name for this [[List of cheats in Rayman 2|cheat]] is unclear. It requires 900 [[Yellow Lum]]s to reveal this secret.

==External links==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvwI22dRA4w Tomb of the Ancients secret playthrough at YouTube (Sega Dreamcast version)]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmc7zhSicFE Net Breaching Glitch (Nintendo 3DS version)]
[[fr:Secret du Tombeau des Anciens]]
[[de:Der Geheim Bereich im Grab der Alten]]
[[pl:Sekret w grobowcu starożytnych]]
[[zh:幽秘古墓密室]]

== References ==
<References />

{{Rayman 2}}

[[Category:Places from Rayman 2]]