Konami Code

Found this in a Vic Viper's cockpit.

"Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right... I don't remember the rest!"

— EVA, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start (mix and match as desired).

The Konami Code (known in Japanese as the Konami Command) is a specific version of the Classic Cheat Code, and is one of the most popular variants in video game history.

The code first appeared in Konami games on the Nintendo Entertainment System, hence the trope name, as the Nintendo Hard games couldn't be properly debugged if the programmers couldn't even get far.

The typical form is the directional combination followed by two buttons and then start and/or select, though most of the time, start is just pressed to start the game and not part of the cheat code proper. As the code is used on games of various systems, the actual buttons will vary. For the examples listed below that include a select before the start, in Contra, select was used to select a 2-player game after entering the code.

Though being well known, this has rarely been used as an outright cheat code since the early 16-bit days (as is the case with cheat codes in general). More often these days it's an Easter Egg that gives a cute effect. The code doesn't even have to use a standard controller as long as the directions can be pressed in some way.

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Examples:

Konami

• The NES version of Gradius is the first game to use the code.^note Mr. Kazuhisa Hashimoto, the guy in charge of the port, did it for debugging, and forgot to remove it from the final release Entering the code while the game is paused gives you all power-ups except Speed Up, Double and Laser. In later Gradius games, this code instantly destroys your ship, but variant versions of it will provide the original benefits.
  • In the SNES version of Gradius III, replacing Left and Right with L and R (the shoulder buttons) will grant the ship four options and the selected powerup. You can try it with Left and Right, and it will give you the powerups, but as soon as you un-pause the game your ship will explode. The original version, with thirty lives, is also in the game - it's activated by pausing, then pressing B, B, X, X, A, Y, A, Y, Up, Left, and Start. The observant will note that this is the button sequence you'd hit on the SNES controller if you held it upside down while entering the original code.
  • Gradius V accepts both the left-right-left-right and shoulder trigger versions (in the case of the latter, L1, R1, L1, R1). One version gives you full power plus Laser, the other is full power plus Double. The amount of times it's used is recorded in the high score table under "Konami Command".
  • Gradius Galaxies / Generation / Advance gives you about three seconds after inputting the classic version of the code and unpausing before your ship explodes. The shoulder button version carries no such penalty.
  • Gradius ReBirth uses the traditional version of the code (with 2 and 1 in place of B and A, respectively) to give the player four Options but no extra lives or other powerups. It's especially helpful toward the end of the game since Continuing is Painful.
  • The NES version of Life-Force, a spinoff of Gradius, uses the Konami Code as a 30-live cheat similar to Contra.
• Contra:
  • In the NES version, the code increases the starting number of lives from 3 to 30.
  • Oddly enough, not many of the Contra sequels feature the code except for Contra: Shattered Soldier for the PlayStation 2 (the others use different cheat codes). For the code to work in Shattered Soldier, the player must input the code using the second controller and substitute the left and the right on the d-pad with each successive L and R button (L1, R1, L2, R2, L3, and R3). Of course, all this does is make it really easy to get the worst ending.
  • Hard Corps: Uprising: Inputting the code during the loading screen of the first stage replaces the music of that stage with a metal remix of the first stage music from the original Contra. Inputting a different version of it with LS and RS replacing B and A in the title screen unlocks the ability to buy an upgrade that gives you 30 lives without beating the game with that character first.
  • Contra 4 has an especially odd effect from the code. The first time you input it while the game is paused, your weapons immediately get upgraded. Doing it again kills you, and after that it keeps alternating.
  • Contra: Operation Galuga features it, on the title screen before the main menu loads in. While any uses after the first will merely play the 16 bit Konami logo jingle, the first one awards you a handful of credits, a trophy/achievement on the non-Nintendo systems, and unlocks a perk in the perk shop that, when equipped, sets your starting life count to 30.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!:
  • Appears in Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom as a code for getting bonus money.
  • Using it in any of the Yu-Gi-Oh Tag Force games unlocks a Konami-themed booster pack, featuring Gradius cards. A nice nod, but fairly impractical, as the cards themselves aren't that great, and the cost for just one pack is several times that of the others.
  • It got a revival and then some in Tag Force 5. To unlock the Konami pack, input Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, L, R, L, R, Square, Triangle, Square, Triangle.
  • In Yu-Gi-Oh! RUSH DUEL: Dawn of the Battle Royale!!, using it in a specific spot in the Goha #7 Student Council Room after defeating Number 6 unlocks the deck editor without having to beat the game first. You can also use it behind Otes's altar to get a free daily prize.
  • The anime got in on this too. Episode 129. Kaiba's code to control one of Yugi's monsters went as follows: Left right A B. It has been said to be an homage, but it's possible the connection is unintentional. Word of God hasn't confirmed whether it's a coincidence or if Kaiba's input was designed as a Shout-Out to Konami.
  • Later, in Kaiba's duel with Joey, Joey uses his Graverobber Trap Card to take the the card from Kaiba's Graveyard, and then inputs a different code to use its other effect: "Up, Left, Down, Right, A" (Note that the effect is inconsistent with the second effect of the OCG/TCG version of the card).
• Boktai: Using this code in a certain room in a certain bonus dungeon is the only way to get 100% Completion.
• Silent Hill:
  • In Silent Hill: Origins, where one of the bonus costumes has to be unlocked in this way. The game itself refers to the cheat as "an ancient and powerful spell".
  • In Silent Hill 3, you can enter the Konami Code... to remove Douglas' pants and shirt.
• Metal Gear:
  • Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty:
    • When your rank is displayed after you beat the game, enter the code and Solid Snake will make fun of you for trying to cheat so late.
    • Enter it as your name before starting a VR Missions save on the Substance version, and it will unlock all the characters and their missions for you, so that you can skip tricky levels and come back to them later.
    • Snake and Otacon designed a secret handshake friendship hug sometime before the story begins that's a physical representation of the Konami Code. Otacon's a huge dork, and Snake's a Pop-Cultured Badass, so it fits.
  • On Normal or easier difficulty modes, the notoriously tricky boss The End in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater can be seen on the Map screen with the help of the code (with Square and Triangle substituing for B and A).
  • On Solid Normal or easier in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the Konami Code reveals Crying Wolf's position on the map.
  • Enter it on the title screen in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (with Circle and X substituing for B and A; Circle and X are the Western PlayStation game menu equivalents of B and A) to unlock Very Hard and Revengeance difficulty levels without beating the game on lower difficulty levels first. In the PC version, entering the code also immediately unlocks the Jetstream, Bladewolf and VR missions, and all codecs and cutscenes.
• In the NES and FDS versions of Gyruss, you have to enter the Konami code backward (A, B, A, B, right, left, right, left, down, down, up, up) in order for it to work properly.
• DanceDanceRevolution has featured the directional portions of the code as part of the steps on several songs, such as "30 Lives" (a pop song making references to the Contra example), "Twinbee ~Generation X~" and "Make A Jam!" (which is in fact, a remix of the classic 90's Konami jingle too)
  • The first two games in the Xbox-exclusive Ultramix subseries are the only games in the series that feature the code as a cheat: inputting it during the credits with a controller inserted on the fourth controller port unlocks all songs (in Ultramix 2 it has to be inputted twice). Coincidentally, one of the songs present on Ultramix 2 is the aforementioned "Make A Jam!".
  • The original versions of DDR (not including the American PS1 version, which is based on 3rdMIX) require directional codes to turn on other difficulty levels and options. Sure enough, the eight directions of the Konami Code make up one of them (Double Basic).
  • In the PS1 version of Dance Dance Revolution 5thMIX, highlighting the correct picture in the gallery and entering the code, replacing B and A with X and O (which are in the same respective positions on the PS1 controller as the B and A buttons on the SNES controller), unlocks the last four pictures in the gallery.
• beatmania IIDX 22 PENDUAL invokes the Code as part of the requirements to unlock the Final Boss of the CHRONO SEEKER event. Among other things, once you've earned the right to unlock the final Crystal, you must input the following on the song select screen: Effect, Effect, VEFX, VEFX, 1P Start, 2P Start, 1P Start, 2P Start, any black key, any white key.^note The Effect and VEFX buttons are arranged in a column between the 1P and 2P Start buttons, with the Effect button on top.
• In Zone of the Enders, entering the full code in reverse at the title screen unlocks Versus mode without needing to complete the game.
• In Zone of the Enders the Second Runner, it's possible to get Zoradius mode by entering a shortened version of the cheat code: Up Down Left Right Start at the pause menu during the boss battle with Vic Viper. Entering the code again in the minigame itself gives you full powerups, just like a real Gradius game.
• Castlevania:
  • Inputting the Code on the title screen of Castlevania: Bloodlines unlocks Expert difficulty without the need to complete the game once on Normal.
  • In Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, the code unlocks 8-bit Simon Belmont (complete with the NES Castlevania's unfair Jump Physics) for use in boss rush mode.
  • In Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, you find a scroll on a dead soldier who went mad from reading a Tome of Eldritch Lore in the castle library, said scroll details the soldier's attempts to gain power that could bring God low, when he gets to "jump", he apparently crashes into a railing and falls to his death.
  • On the Castlevania Requiem Compilation Re-release, inputting the code on the title screen lets you access the Akumajo Dracula Peke minigame from Castlevania: Rondo of Blood^note Originally a creative error message Easter Egg accessed by using an earlier version of the PC Engine CD System Card than what was required, and made into an unlockable in the earlier compilation Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, with the message at the end now informing you there's "no extra life codes" and calling you a "cheater".
  • The NES version of Kid Dracula, being a Self-Parody, just makes fun of you if you try to input the Code on its title screen: "Sorry, nothing this time!"
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
  • The first two Game Boy Turtles games, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers, both have a feature where pausing the game and entering the code refills your health meter, essentially giving you an extra life on command. It only works once per playthrough, however.
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game for the NES: Grants nine lives instead of three, and lets you choose which stage to start from.
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Manhattan Project for the NES uses a variant of the code with the A and B button presses reversed to unlock a stage select / options mode.
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time for the SNES: Entering the code on Controller 2 awards ten lives.
• The International Superstar Soccer series uses this code in several of its games, although some require the second controller while others switch the up/down and left/right commands (in the case of the N64 version, C-triggers). The original gives you "happy players," Deluxe gives you a dog referee, and the 3D games give the players big heads.
• In The Legend of the Mystical Ninja, a villager helpfully informs you: "Just between you and me... if you use the command 'Up Up Down Down L R L R B A', nothing will happen".
• In International Track & Field 2000, inputting the code on the event selection screen (with Circle and X in place of B and A) and selecting an event replaces your athlete with Konami's on-and-off mascot Konami Man. For events with female athletes, it gives them a different outfit.
• In an interesting take on the Konami Code in mobile games, in Dankira!!! -Boys, be DANCING!-'s offline mode, on the title screen swipe in the directional order of the Code and tap the capital letters 'B' and 'A' in the game's subtitle. After hearing the title for the 2nd time, tap 'Touch Screen' to start up the game and then head to the preview room. This unlocks the game's BGM used in events and the stories.
• In the Tokimeki Memorial Spin-Off mobile game title Tokimeki Idol, inputting the Konami Code in the player profile's comments unlocks Mirror Mode in Lives. Like the Dankira example above, this only applies to offline mode.
• Konami's in-house animation studio, KONAMI animation, features the Code as part of its logo.

Other Games

• Copy Kitty: Doing this on the Modifiers menu with Kick as A and Shoot as B, since Shoot is also Exit Menu, unlocks the Really Big Robot cheat.
• Insaniquarium Deluxe uses this code to open up the Sandbox, which not only lets the player do whatever the hell they want within said Sandbox, but also gives him/her/it a shiny new trophy and lets them put a whole batch of extra pets into their Virtual Tank.
• In the English version of the game Hyperdimension Neptunia, Neptune invokes her EX-Skill with the quote "Up, Up, down, down, left, right—aww, whatever... Secret Code entered!"
• The game Gundam SEED Destiny: Generation of C.E. features the "SEED Sense" effect, where starting to watch an attack animation has the chance to prompt you to push one of the PS2 controller face buttons. Doing so has the chance to improve any number of things, and even prevent death automatically at low health an unlimited number of times, as long as you hit the right button. However, starting an attack animation locks you into viewing it, so the game takes longer to play and gets stale more quickly. How do you get out of the attack animations after using your "SEED Sense," you ask? Push Down, Down, Up, Up, Right, Left, Right, Left, R3, L3, and Start. An inverted Konami code.
• In the online game Kingdom of Loathing, the code was the answer to a puzzle in the Naughty Sorceress' Tower until a revamp of the tower in January 2015 removed it.
• In Super Monkey Ball Jr., entering the code on the title screen changes "Monkey Ball" on the title screen to "Nice Try". Reversing the up and down inputs (e.g. Down, Down, Up, Up, etc.) instead changes it to "Enable All", and indeed, entering this code unlocks everything.
• Cuphead has a rather disturbing easter egg. If you get the game's bad ending and return to the title screen, the menu music will be played in reverse. If you then input the code with the back and confirm keys as B and A respectively, the music will distort, be played at a lower pitch and loop at several instances, furthermore, creepy laughter can be heard too, as well as sound effects that show the Devil's first and final forms when viewed through a spectrogram. It was initially thought that this song was part of an anti-piracy measure,until a YouTuber named GioTGM discovered the easter egg.
• Iji has a logbook that encourages you to try the Konami Code on the start menu. If you do, a dialogue scrolls across the screen chiding you for beating tired old memes to death.
• Hyper Princess Pitch: Using the Konami Code summons the Goddess of Explosions once per game, who acts as a Smart Bomb by clearing the room of enemies and heavily damaging bosses. By suplexing Saturn.
• In Samurai Zombie Nation, entering the code while the game is paused refills your life, but unfortunately it doesn't work on bosses.
• Entering the code in Achievement Unlocked (a Flash Platformer where the only object is to collect enough Cosmetic Awards to get 100% Completion) gives you the achievement "Too Much Contra".
• Tengen's NES version of Tetris uses the Konami code to activate a precursor to later Tetris games' "hold piece" feature. Inputting the code while the game is paused replaces your current piece with an I piece, as seen in this video. It only works once per 30-line section.
• In Tetris Effect, inputting the code takes you to a secret old-style terminal with "TETRIS" written in Russian. Using a keyboard to input the correct passwords into the terminal will unlock 1984 Mode and 1989 Mode without needing the proper unlock method of waiting for their respective dates.
• Star Ocean: Till the End of Time does a weird thing with this. Somewhere in the middle of the game, you can pick up a special trophy if you allow Roger to join your party. Entering the code with it equipped on someone kills that character and deals damage in a large area equivalent to one-half the HP of that person. Upgrading the effect merely swaps the last two buttons (X and Circle) that do this.
• 8ing/Raizing's shooters (particularly Battle Garegga, Armed Police Batrider, and Battle Bakraid) have a variant of this: entering Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, A, B, C at the title screen after inserting your coins will trigger extra features, usually Guest Ships and Characters from past Raizing games (in Garegga and Batrider) or all-new ships (in Bakraid, and you must input the code at a rate of 1 button press per second).
• Entering the Konami Code in the main menu of Reset Generation opens up a Space Invaders-esque minigame.
• In the console versions of Quake IV, the Konami code gives you all weapons, armor, and health.
• The Sega arcade game Manx TT Superbike features the code in a slightly truncated form. Entering Gear Up, Gear Up, Gear Down, Gear Down, Left, Right, Brake Accelerate allows you to... ride a sheep instead of a motorbike.
• A puzzle in Tales of Phantasia has the party hitting floor switches in a precise order. The order is "Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right"
• If you enter the code on the title screen of Viva Piñata Party Animals on the Xbox 360, you will get the Classic Gamer achievement. The instruction manual even has the code spread out over most of the pages.
• Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped: Entering up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, square on the title screen unlocks a demo of Spyro the Dragon (1998). As an homage to this, inputting the same code with Crash 3 selected on the menu in Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy unlocks a trailer for Spyro Reignited Trilogy.
• No More Heroes: It's available during the continue screen in the shmup homage just before the 4th ranked fight. Using the code will grant you a free continue while pressing any other button/combination will result in the Game Over countdown going faster.
• The Borderlands series
  • The first game, Borderlands: Mad Moxxi's first husband was a cheat. No points for guessing what Visual Pun appears in the background when she says this.
  • In Borderlands 2, entering the code on the start screen activates the ability to toggle "Extra Wubs". As the game itself states, it does absolutely nothing.
• Burai Fighter Deluxe on the original Game Boy used this code.
• Used by Mylandah in Battle Athletes to confuse a robot in a three-legged race.
• Used by 3D Dot Game Heroes to make your shield invisible.
• Entering the code on the title screen of the Homestar Runner game TROGDOR! will give the player 30 lives instead of 3.
• LittleBigPlanet 2:
  • "Set Controls for the Heart of the Negativitron" has an Easter Egg where if you use a Controlinator to enter it on a seemingly broken arcade game, it will explode displaying an 8 digit code on the wall behind where it was.
  • Inputting the Konami Code early in the level "Got the Hump" makes disco music play and makes the camel and miniboss wear sunglasses.
  • One player-made level recreates the first stage of Contra, and has stickers with images of the buttons involved in the code hidden throughout. Finding them all and affixing them to a board at the start activates infinite lives.
• In Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, holding L2 and R2 (or the two triggers in the Xbox 360 version) and entering the code will cause your character to explode into a pile of coins.
• Using the code on the title screen of Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd you steal our garbage?!! activates Pendleton Ward's "secret screen".
• In a cutscene in Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Al uses the code "Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, Circle, Square, Square" and unlocks Captain Qwark in a tutu in the in-game Captain Qwark vid-comic. If the player does the same thing when playing the vid-comic themselves, it really works.
• The Xbox port of Half-Life 2 adds the code as a way to regain 25 health.
• In The 3-D Battles of WorldRunner and Cosmic Epsilon, entering the code merely produces the message "I am not Konami".
• In the SuperGrafx version of Daimakaimura, the code allows the player to add up to nine credits.
• In Final Fantasy VI Brave New World, the code is the input for Sabin's Bum Rush technique.
• In Arnold Palmer's Tournament Golf, after missing 100 shots on a single stage, the code can be entered on the Game Over screen to play a Mini-Game version of Fantasy Zone.
• In the Sega Genesis version of Sonic the Hedgehog pressing up, down, left, right, A, start on the title screen brings the player to a menu where all the levels in the game are accessible.
• In Abobo's Big Adventure, continues in the "Contrabobo" level require entering the "code for more lives," which can also be used to unlock a two-player mode.
  • The Amazon also references this code in the Balloon Trip section of the "Pro Wrabobo" level if you attack him.
    Amazon: Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, FART!
• In Billy vs. SNAKEMAN there's a 1 in 10 chance executing these movements will save you from an otherwise fatal Phase attack (Phases are the Kaiju which attack villages, fought one on one in their home ground). Knowing this sequence in-universe is the reward for the quest "Thirty Lives", which consists of supporting the rooftop concert of several female NPCs, whose instructions to the crowd reference it.
• Entering the Konami Code in Mari0 activates the cheat codes without having to complete the Super Mario Bros. levels first.
• The Konami Code is used as the input code for Luna's Reiki skill in Pony Fantasy VI.
• In BioShock Infinite, entering this code unlocks 1999 Mode without beating the game on lower difficulty levels first.
• Order of Twilight has the Ascend spell, which is activated by inputting the directional part of the Konami Code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right). It just gives Twilight wings that she can't even use. Since you can't use this spell until after you finish the game, this is somewhat of a Bragging Rights Reward.
• In Just Dance 3 for the Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360, the Extreme Version of "Barbra Streisand" is unlocked by using the directional part of the Konami Code.
• In Grandia, a character mistakenly quotes the directions of the Code when trying to remember a password to open a necessary door in the enemy fortress and progress in the game. The actual password is a slightly reshuffled version. Entering the correct code without finding the password in-game results in a brief scene where a flustered Justin tells the others he was just pushing random buttons.
• One type of loading screen in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier shows a diagram of your controller which, when any buttons are pressed, will list all the actions performed by that button in gameplay. Enter the Konami Code on this screen and the loading icon in the corner will spin around in place.
• Entering the code from the title screen of Bravely Default will unlock the Sequel Hook video (although much of it won't make sense until well past halfway through the plot).
• In Hands On! Tangrams, performing the Konami Code at the title screen results in a fanfare with a message telling you that you have been granted 30 lives. (The joke is that the game doesn't have lives.)
• In the arcade cabinet "Ms. Pac-Man & Galaga 20 Year Reunion", keying in "Up, Up, Up, Down, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left Right, Left, Right" after inserting enough credits, and then pressing the Ms. Pac-man start button starts a game of the original Pac-man.
• Mercenaries 2 uses the directional pad inputs of this code to give you twenty-five nuclear bunker busters.
• The Konami Code is quoted in Disgaea 3, known for its many references; in need of power, the main character tries it.
  Mao: Games have cheat codes, too! What was it already? Up, up, down, down...
• Elder Xelpud in La-Mulana makes a reference to the Konami Code in one of his 'guy ranting about old video games' dialogues. He doesn't know what it is, though, as he's an NES-hating MSX fanboy, and MSX games don't use the Konami code.
• In Jardinains!, the cheat codes "uuddlrlrba" and "upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart" turn your balls into powerful Brickplow Boomers. Oddly enough, there's a different cheat code^note "gomomgo" that'll give you 30 lives.
• In Assassin's Creed III, after summoning a turkey by whistling from a corner at the Davenport Homestead, you can enter the Konami Code to give the turkey a hood just like Connor's. Technically, it's only the actual Konami Code in the Xbox version because it's the only one with all the appropriate buttons (and even then lacks use of the Start button): on the PS3, it's Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, O, X, and on the PC it's 2, 2, 4, 4, 1, 3, 1, 3, E, Space.
• After selecting the "Enter Code" option and entering the Konami Code in Super Mario Bros. Crossover, all cheat codes are unlocked. The Contra title theme plays as a hint to this (and in fact the code must be entered while this is playing).
• Putting the Konami Code into the start menu of Justice League Heroes: The Flash will cause all of the enemies in the game to become gigantic.
• EA Sports UFC 2 lets you unlock Joe Rogan as a fighter by entering the code at the title screen (substituting "B" and "A" for "O" and "X" if on PS4).
• Inputting the Konami Code on the title screen of The Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures will trigger a fake Blue Screen of Death, advising the player to be more creative as that cheat code is too obvious.
• In the Nintendo Switch version of Sonic Mania, holding Y on the title screen and performing the code with an extra "left, right" will unlock a level selection mode that looks almost identical to the one in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
• In the original Mario Party, entering it with Controller 1 after pausing the game during Player 1's turn with Controller 2 will trigger the debug menu, which can subsequently be opened by pressing C-Left.
• In the game The Escapists, entering the directional component at the prison select screen unlocks all the levels up to HMP-Irongate.
• In The Darkside Detective, McQueen finds a newspaper with the headline "Computer Stock Goes Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start". He adds that he regrets having read it out loud, because it feels like a magical incantation to him and now he's going to worry about what it did.
• In Snailiad, an NPC snail starts reciting the code, then realises it's thinking of the wrong game.
• Ori and the Blind Forest: Inputting this code (without the start at the end) under a certain waterfall will give Ori a rainbow trail when using the dash move. It's a Rainbow Dash.
• Dead by Daylight: Inputting the Konami Code while playing as Heather Mason or the Pyramid Head will play a short retro version of the game's theme and unlock a charm of Vic Viper.
• In Honkai Impact 3rd, the "Honkai Weekly Trivia" question of "Multi-hit shadow attack: Kei: Six-Sided Shock deals massive AOE DMG. How do you perform it?" includes the choice "Up, Up, Down, Down, B, A, B, A".
• In an event in Monster Camp, Scott and Polly argue with Aaravi over who is better at yoga. One of the suggestions you can give to Aaravi so she can beat them is using a specific sequence of poses: "up-dog, up-dog, down-dog, down-dog, left-dog, right-dog, left-dog, right-dog, b-dog, a-dog, start".
• Ep 1 of the Umineko: When They Cry has what is most probably a reference to it as when Rudolf pulls Battler's ear exactly as the code (except "a, b, start" which would be difficult to do with an ear).
• In the WarioWare series, the Konami Code (except for B+A+Start) is one of the possible inputs in higher levels of the recurring microgame "Code Buster".
• In Infernax, inputting the Konami Code in the title screen results in unlocking and starting the game as a futuristic gun-shooting protagonist, Maxime Gunn.
• On the original "Sword or Whip?" teaser page for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, inputting the code would cause Pixel IGA to chime in with "Did you think that would work here?" Doubles as a subtle Take That! toward Koji Igarashi's former employers. In the game proper, using it in the "Classic Mode" subgame unlocks "1986 Mode".
• In the Mega Drive/Genesis version of The Jungle Book, inputting the Konami code while the game is paused brings your number of lives to three, refills your health, and gives you 99 of every weapon in the game.
• Halfway through the "Colossatron's Menace" event in Battle Racing Stars, Raskull King suggests Dan to use the code to defeat Colossaton. It does nothing, and King laments that it used to work in the old days.
• In ULTRAKILL, pressing Konami code sequence brings up cheats menu where the player can activate things like invincibility, allkill, flight etc.
• Referenced in MLB: The Show: If you strike out a batter with two pitches up and then two pitches down, color commentator Dave Campbell may remark: "Up, Up, Down, Down...my producer is telling me that sounds a bit like a video game code!".
• After the conclusion of season 10 of Fortnite, inputting the Konami Code while on the black hole screen would activate the Durr Burger minigame, a space shooter where you control a slice of pizza shooting at burgers.
• CrossCode has a variation of the code. In the quest A Promise Is a Promise 4, the player will eventually come to the entrance of a dungeon where they must input the code, except the B and A are instead A then B, presumably as a test to make sure players actually understood the hints given.

Other Media

Advertising

• A station indent for the 2021 G4TV network types out the Konami code in text, then adds, "Yep, still got it".

Anime and Manga

• Used in Hoshin Engi as an order from Taikobo to his steed, Supushan. At first, Supu doesn't understand it and does nothing. Many chapters later, after Supu's upgrade to a dragon, Taikobo says the command again and Supu executes a very complex evasive maneuver that would make Guld Bowman proud.
• Hellsing references the Konami code in its usual fashion. During the first attack on the Hellsing manor, Jan Valentine finds himself at a four-way hallway intersection with Hellsing troops coming from each direction. His response is to start firing his machine guns vis-a-vis the Code.
  Jan: Up Up! [fires both machine guns down north hallway] Down Down! [fires both machine guns down south hallway] Left Right Left Right! [points one machine gun down the east and west hallways respectively and alternately fires them] Bringin' the motherfuckin' death by Konami! Aaah, I'm so fuckin' hard right now...
• At one point in Yuria 100 Shiki, Yuria becomes convinced she has a "cheat code" to unlock some kind of special abilities. She imagines this cheat along with a Gradius spaceship.
• Skuld from Ah! My Goddess uses a very similar code (leaving out the B A start in favor of the "set" button twice) to reverse the expansion of her space doubler.
• Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei: during the opening for the Magical Girl Spoof, Meru's phone is using this code (must be Game Breaking). [1]
• Used in the third episode of The World God Only Knows anime to help Keima to dance with Mio.
• In-universe example in Shaman King. Apparently putting in the Konami code on the Oracle Bell pulls up information on all the competitors in the tournament.
• And Yet the Town Moves it shows up in the most random places.◊
• In the anime Pani Poni Dash!, an ancient civilization's language is deciphered as this code. A news bulletin mentions that "Professor Tokimemo" believes that it is incomplete and will cause an explosion.
• One of Amelia's over-the-top For Great Justice speeches in Slayers NEXT actually has the code scrawled over the bottom of the screen during her Giving Someone the Pointer Finger moment.
• In Fullmetal Alchemist, you can see the Konami code on a post-it on a door, just in passing, in Fuery's cache (vol. 11 or 12)
• Umino mutters part of it in episode 32 of Sailor Moon's Viz dub.
• In an episode of Galaxy Angel, Vanilla uses this in a Dating Sim to unlock an option for 'praying' when asked about her interests.
• In chapter 379 of Squid Girl, policewoman Keiko tries to give Ika directions, only to get lost herself. As she's repeating map directions in her head, she gets distracted by two kids reciting a shortened version of the Konami Code.
• The second ED theme of Student Council's Discretion is "Ue Ue Shita Shita Hidari Migi Hidari Migi B A".
• Used in the beginning of the fourth KissXSis OVA by Riko. On her breasts.
• In the first episode of Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!, Rikka uses this code on a soda machine with arm gestures. She gets a free drink.
• A variation appears in the second season of BanG Dream! for Misaki to activate Michelle's flight mode.
• In Konosuba: Legend of Crimson movie, a ruin has a door which has a NES controller-like key and to open the corresponding door, one must enter the code. After being threatened with his life (and mental psyche via virginity assault) by a monster, Kazuma enters the Konami Code (minus the B, A, Start, it's replaced with panicky "Here you go!") and opens the door. When said monster enters beyond the door, Kazuma pushes them down the stairs and re-seals the door with the same code.

Comic Books

• In Matt Fraction's Defenders, Black Cat is trying to activate an artifact while in freefall.
  Black Cat: Come! on! stupid! claw! Up Up Down Down B A Start? [claw activates] Oh, you gotta be kidding—
• In the Divergence: Batgirl teaser comic, Batgirl is trying to rescue people from a Deadly Game created by insane video game designers. Towards the end, she's told one of the designers always includes cheats, and enters the code in a direction pad on the wall. A panel slides open to provide her with an energy mallet.

Fan Works

• In the Empath: The Luckiest Smurf story "Inside The Game", Pixel the Gametronian uses the code to activate the Skimmer.
• Referenced by Root in Holi-daze when she's stuck in a simulation. She asks Shaw if reciting the code out loud will grant her more ammo. Shaw tells her no.
• Cheat Code: Support Strategist, appropriately enough, features a nod - the logo Mei and Shinsou help design for Izuku ends up paying homage to the code.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series has Kaiba use the code when he uses his Enemy Controller magic card, allowing him infinite cards. Yugi points out that this will make it harder for him to draw the card he might actually want.

Film — Animation

• Featured in a plot relevant manner in Wreck-It Ralph, where King Candy uses the Konami Code to get super-user privileges to Sugar Rush, rewriting it to his advantage.

Literature

• In the Gamebook Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? by Max Brallier, you at one point fight off a zombie at ComicCon using an old NES - smashing the console up into the zombie's jaws twice, then down on his head twice, then two quick left-right combinations. You then give yourself a B for originality and an A for execution before starting to push the Zapper through the zombie's brain. You still die. Cheaters never win.
• Jess Gulbranson's story "Extra Lives" in the ''Amazing Stories of the Flying Spaghetti Monster'' anthology features a crazy cult who use the code as their worship chant
• In Oracle of Tao, the group are stuck in the villain's mansion and there is some arrow trap puzzle (that somehow you can't just go around) involving a cross-shaped stone pressure plate, two circular pressure plates, and two long ones. Aqorm fiddles with the pressure plates in the general pattern (never mentioning B, A, or start but "the circular plates" or the "long plate on the right") and the pressure plate deactivates. Then you hear this exchange.
  “Wait, how'd you know to do that exact pattern?” I asked. Aqorm explained, “Oh that? That's the secret code to the universe”.

Magazines

• The introduction to Nintendo Gamer's Konami history lesson:
  When they were up they were up, and when they were down they were down, and when they were left they were right, left, right, B, A. Sorry.

Live-Action TV

• One of the characters in a Saturday Night Live sketch on a ski lift, played by the host, skier Jonny Moseley, references the code.
  Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start
  Just because we use cheats doesn't mean we're not smart
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver has John discussing the inability to have a same-sex marriage in Nintendo's Tomodachi Life. He jokes that you can use a civil union cheat code, "Up, Up, Down, Down, Be, Gay, Be, Gay, Start", but it's just not the same.
• Blindspot has this referenced by Rich in the episode "City Folks Under Wraps" when he tries to help Patterson escape via air vents in the New York branch office. He got his code wrong though.
• Kamen Rider Zi-O: In Episode 3, people are being attacked by Another Ex-Aid, a Monster of the Week resembling a twisted version of the video game-themed Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, who resides inside an impossibly hard video game. The Zi-O crew discovers a note left behind by Dr. Emu Hojo (the real Ex-Aid), which reveals that they can enter the game and confront the monster by inputting Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, then pressing all the buttons simultaneously.

Music

• The band The Motion Sick created a song, "30 Lives", inspired by the Konami Code. The music video features a cheerleader and a polar bear mascot (it's set in a high school) doing a cheer based on the Konami Code. As noted above, the song was recognized by Konami, who put it in Dance Dance Revolution X.
• Linkin Park has a fake DVD menu that looks like the the main menu on their oldest DVD. Entering the Konami Code (the directional part, anyway) unlocks a secret chapter.
• The Pettit Project's 99 Lives
  Up up down down left right left right B A select start
  Now I'll play you all night
• Seattle Geek Rock band Kirby Krackle has a song called "Up, Up, Down Down" which uses the code as part of the chorus. It's about a geek guy flirting with a girl who looks to share his interests She turns out to be a Humanoid Abomination and eats him though.
• Of all things, the band The Moldy Peaches.
  • In "Anyone Else But You":
    Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start
    Just because we use cheats doesn't mean we're not smart.
  • It's slightly more relevant in Kitsune^2's song "Noise Channel Rocker":
    Now punch in Up Up Down Right Left Right Left Right B A Start,
    But I don't have to tell you, it should be down to an art.
• One of The Gothsicles' most popular tracks is "Konami Code".
• One of the tracks on Deftones' Saturday Night Wrist album is named "U, U, D, D, L, R, L, R, A, B, Select, Start".
• In the Doomtree song "Final Boss", resident gamer P.O.S. raps "99 lives, living by the Konami code/Fold 'em all, origami mode".
• From nerdcore rapper ytcracker's song "n.e.s.":
  Up up down down left right left right,
  Then B A Start, the screen goes white...
• Electronic musician Savant has a song about it.
• Referenced and shown on the music video "Geek and Gamer Girls" by Team Unicorn.
• The Ataris have a song titled "Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start" on their 2001 album End Is Forever.
• The Konami Code is referenced in Falling in Reverse's 2013 song, "Game Over".
• Repetitions of the code form the chorus in brentalfloss's rendition of the first Contra's Jungle theme.

Professional Wrestling

• Ring of Honor wrestler Jimmy Jacobs used to have a Finishing Move called the Contra Code, before he had a Face–Heel Turn and got way Darker and Edgier.

Theatre

• Be More Chill: In the musical, the code "Up up down down left right A" Is used to sync Squips.

Toys

• Punching in the Konami Code on the Fisher-Price Game & Learn baby game controller toy (minus Start, since the toy doesn't have such a button) will have the toy play some sounds from Super Mario Bros. and then proclaim you the winner.

Webcomics

• In PHD, the Konami Code is spoofed as the secret magic dance to make lab equipment "start?"
• This Dueling Analogs comic.
• Appears in the Ctrl+Alt+Del spin-off Analog & D-Pad, used by Lucas and Ethan to activate their Transformation Sequence into the titular superheroes.
• In Darths & Droids, when the Millennium Falcon fails to go into hyperdrive, part of the code is called out as suggestions for button presses in order to activate it.
• Konami from Consolers wears the code on her shirt collar.
• High Priestess Raisin from Dragon Mango often phrases her skills as button combinations, and the Konami Code is one of them. According to her it gives her infinite lives.
• Like the Team Fortress 2 wiki, the MS Paint Adventures wiki employs ENTER as a substitute for START. Typing the code redirects the reader to the article on Problem Sleuth's Code Machine.
• Used in reverse in L's Empire as a cure for Memeic Syndrome Type 1.
• Referenced in Silent Hill: Promise when the protagonist encounters a directional pad on an electronic box.
• Shown in this El Goonish Shive strip, when Ashley is doing some mental calculations while attempting to make sense of a conversation going on around her which she has almost no context for.
• The Konami Code is how the Hero activates invincibility in RPG World.

Web Original

• Google:
  • Google Reader recognized the Contra Code and unlocks a ninja theme when it is used (before it was discontinued, of course).
  • When creating or editing a Google Word Doc, entering the Konami Code will enable Mirror Mode, which lets you view and edit word docs backward.
  • Google Play Games: Swiping the code directions in the mobile app opens a popup with buttons for the final three entries of the code, giving an "All your game are belong to us" achievement, though it doesn't show up as a regular Google Play Games achievement.
• On April 27th 2009, entering the code on espn.com caused unicorns to appear every time you hit enter, and inserted adjectives like 'sparkly' and 'wonderful' into all the story titles. It was removed later the same day, unfortunately. A website with similar code is here ("enter", then the code through A, then "enter" again).
• Believe it or not, this used to work on Facebook of all things: entering the code finishing with Enter enabled lens flare.
  • In the Facebook game, Ninja Wars it unlocks a relic and an award.
• Using the code on the Marvel Comics website brings up a squirrel.
• Typing upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart into the Palm Pre will unlock the Developer Mode, which is required to install third party software.
• Entering the code anywhere at Gamespot will bring you to the page for Contra.
• Entering the code (with Enter instead of Start) on the comedy site The Eggplant will bring up a modified version of the Contra NES main screen
• Inputting the Konami Code on any story or chapter on Fimfiction.net summons an interactive Rainbow Dash who follows the cursor.
• Inputting the Konami Code on any page on http://www.ukoakdoors.co.uk takes you to one of a selection of fake fantasy door product pages, including the Tardis Door and Bilbo Baggins' door.
• If you enter the Konami Code on the website for British Vogue (http://www.vogue.co.uk/), it shows a dinosaur wearing a very stylish hat (or wig or hair-ribbon or...).
• On Gene's Journal, a special interview between Gene Roddenberry and Bill Shatner is unlocked with the code through this news post. (This obviously used "Enter" rather than "Start").
• Domain registrar Gandi.net uses the Konami Code to unlock a JavaScript FPS, where you blow up the site to reveal a door, which opens to deliver a message.
• Using the code on Overwatch's official website causes miniature D.Vas (originally Hanzos) to start raining down. In the actual game itself, D.Va herself says out loud the code in one of her voice lines.
• Typing in the Konami Code on the characters page of Yandere Simulator's website causes Fun Girl to appear.
• Using the Konami Code at the Newsweek site (use the Enter key for Start) used to yield reports of zombie apocalypse.
• Used in, oddly enough, the official wiki of Team Fortress 2 (ENTER substitutes for START.)
• The official website for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon has the code scribbled in the upper right corner. Entering it and hitting enter will make the images on the page wobble for a second, and then the user is allowed to make every last item on the page explode in a cheesy gif fireball by clicking on it. See for yourself.
• On Dragon Cave's Portal 2 layout, if one enters in the Konami Code, the colors in the theme will change.

Web Video

• The Desert Bus for Hope Live page uses the Konami Code to unlock a new hidden data panel, which plays a relevant memetic video. Example videos include Desert Bus Killed the Internet Star, Caramelldansen, Gangnam Style, etc.
• When one of the hosts said the code out loud on Escapist News Network the watermark suddenly changed color.
• Xavier Woods' video-game-and-other-geekdom YouTube channel is named UpUpDownDown obvious homage to the code.

Western Animation

• In the Drawn Together episode "A Tale of Two Cows", Toot inputs the Konami code, only ending in "B, A, B, A, Start", on a PlayStation controller.
• The Konami Code is featured in an episode of Spaceballs The Animated Series where Lonestar and Vespa are trapped in a video game.
• The Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island episode "Sir Nut-a-Lot" has the heroes turned into video game characters. Fred uses the Konami Code for summoning a Mario pipe needed to escape from a monster (that looks similar to Triclyde from Super Mario Bros. 2). See for yourself.
• Knowledge of the code and the ability to estimate his height are apparently all that is necessary to pass the Trial of the Shadowhog.
• Gravity Falls: It appears on a page◊ from Journal 3 which appears for a brief moment at the end of the show's opening sequence. Even when the opening is corrupted during Weirdmageddon, the code is still there, though it's very hard to see and is only onscreen for one frame.
• In The Amazing World of Gumball episode "The Tape", Ocho uses the Konami code in reality to summon money for a vending machine, write a test, and easily pass gym. When Gumball does it, it results in a very painful Reality-Breaking Bug.
• In the Sonic Boom episode, "Let's Play Musical Friends", Orbot and Cubot activate a closing wall trap. Orbot asks Cubot if he has any last words, and Cubot recites the Konami code, which stops the two walls.
• The Code is used to dodge bottles thrown by an angry crowd in an 8-Bit Guitar Hero clone in an episode of Regular Show.
• In Guardians of the Galaxy (2015), one of the Art Shift areas of the Black Vortex Prison Dimension is a 16-bit video game. Quill uses the code to warp himself and Gamora to the Final Boss.

Real Life

• Netflix uses a variant to reset Instant Play on the Nintendo Wii. Lacking some buttons, they use U U D D L R L R U U U U
  • The same code is used for a number of other Netflix-capable devices, including game consoles, smart TVs, and set top boxes.
• The Cobra Lounge in Bellingham, Washington featured the Konami Code on its membership cards before it shut down (God rest its soul)
• In Windows 10, typing Konami or Konami Code in Cortana will reveal the Konami Code.

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"Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right..."
No, don't! That's the wrong code!
"...B, A, Sta—"
[BOOM]

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