Find LeChuck’s Ship and Save Elaine Marley

Monkey Island holds many secrets, as the title of the game would tell you. Created by George Lucas’s Lucasfilm Games in 1990, the game’s humor and fun make it feel much more modern than you would expect. You play as Guybrush Threepwood, a young wannabe pirate, and fight an evil undead ghost pirate named LeChuck to rescue the beautiful local governor, Elaine Marley.

What lies waiting for you on Monkey Island? It’s finally time to find out!

In Part Three of the game, you will explore Monkey Island to figure out where LeChuck is hiding his ship so you can break in and steal a voodoo root that will make him vulnerable. This involves feeding a monkey bananas, bartering with cannibals, and using a mysterious necklace that makes you invisible to ghosts. Finally, you’ll fight LeChuck to save Elaine in Part Four.

Here’s a guide to surviving all of these tasks.

Blow Up the Dam

Once you land on the beach, you have to get your head out of the sand. Click anywhere on the screen and Guybrush will free himself. Pick up the banana nearby and then read the note nailed to the tree. Now enter the jungle.

Walk up and to the left, to the west side of Monkey Island, and click on the beach. Pick up the note by the water. Herman Toothrot comes out of the jungle to talk to you. After the conversation is over, go back to the main map.

Take Guybrush around the big crater by clicking on the north side. You’ll end up at a fort. Pick up the rope on the ground, then push the cannon. Grab the gunpowder and the cannonball that falls out. Also, grab the spyglass on the ground. Now talk to Herman again, then leave the area.

Go back down around the crater and follow the river east until you can click on the river fork. You’ll see a note with a rock on it to Guybrush’s left. Pick up the rock and read the note, then cross the bridge and climb the footholds.

On the cliffside, read the next note, then push the seesaw so that the rock is on the right. You’ll know it’s in the right spot when Guybrush says it won’t go any further. Now, pull it back three times to get it in the right position. Once that’s done, continue up to the top.

On top of the plateau, push the rock off the cliff. It’ll go flying through the air until it hits the big banana tree on the beach. Herman will appear and talk to you again.

After that, climb down the cliff and read the new note next to the seesaw. Once you’re down by the bridge, use your gunpowder on the dam. Now use your noteworthy rock on the cannonball you picked up earlier. Kaboom! The river flows free.

Find More Bananas

Go to the pond at the end of the river. Pick up the rope next to the body and read the note. Herman will show up for another chat. Now leave this area and travel to the beach on the east side of the island. Read the message in the bottle.

Afterwards, walk to the crack on the map, which is just north of the southern beach. You’ll see Herman’s oars sitting at the bottom of the canyon. To climb down, use your rope on the strong branch, and then use rope on the sturdy stump. Grab the oars and climb back up to leave the area.

Head back to the first beach and pick up two more bananas knocked down from the tree. Then use your oars on the rowboat to unlock it. Now you can row around the island. Row all the way to the northeast side of the island and land on the beach. Read the note here, then go into the jungle.

Visit the cannibal village by clicking the huts on the map. On the left side of the village, you should see a bowl of fruit left as an offering in front of a statue. Borrow two bananas. Walk toward the exit and meet the locals. They aren’t happy. Inside the jail, you’ll see Herman’s banana picker, but you can’t take it with you yet during this escape. Instead, read the note, take the skull, and sneak out by using the loose floorboard.

Get the Key to the Monkey Head

Now that you have all five bananas in your inventory, it’s time to put them to use. Get back in your boat and row back to your original beach. Enter the jungle and find the monkey roaming around on the map. Feed it all of your bananas, and it will follow you around the map.

Walk to the clearing on the east side of the map. Go to the right and you should see two totem poles in front of the gate. Pull on the nose of the left one, and the gate should open. Let go of it and the gate will close, but your new monkey friend will help you out by grabbing onto it for you. Walk through the gate and pick up the cannibals’ idol. It’s the one described as the “wimpy little idol.”

Return to the cannibal village and hand over the idol. Placated, the cannibals will now let you come and go as you please. Enter the hut you were imprisoned in earlier and grab Herman’s banana picker. Herman is here in the village, so give him back his banana picker and he’ll trade you the key to the monkey head! Hooray!

Find LeChuck’s Ship

After getting the key, it’s time to enter the monkey head and find LeChuck’s lair. Take your rowboat down to the eastern beach and park it. Walk to the clearing and go through the gate to the gigantic monkey head. Use your key in the monkey’s ear, and the monkey’s mouth will open. Walk inside.

Apparently, this is hell, and hell is littered with mushrooms. You’ll need a navigator to go through this maze, so leave the area. Go back to the cannibal village and ask them for the head of the navigator. They refuse, so offer them a trade. Give them the navigation leaflet, and they’ll give you the head of the navigator.

Make your way back to the giant monkey head and enter its mouth again. Use the head of the navigator, and Guybrush will hold it out like a lantern. Move in whichever direction it’s facing and make your way to LeChuck’s lair. Eventually you’ll come out next to the ghost ship.

Steal the Voodoo Root

To get onto the ghost ship, we’ll need to borrow the navigator’s necklace. Talk to the head in your inventory and ask nicely or threaten him. Either way, he’ll hand it over. Use it to put it on. Now you’re invisible to ghosts!

On the ship, the ghosts are throwing a party. Go into the cabin to the left past the ghost dog. LeChuck is standing there, but don’t worry, he won’t detect you. Use your compass on the key hanging on the wall to retrieve it.

Next, go back onto the upper deck and go down into the hatch. Walk through the passage on the right and pluck a feather from one of the ghost chickens. Then walk back and tickle the sleeping pirate’s feet with the feather. You might have to do it a few times, but eventually he’ll drop his grog. Thankfully, unlike the mugs from before, this jug won’t melt. Pick it up and go back to the room with the farm animals. Use your key on the hatch and enter.

Inside this hatch, you’ll see a bunch of ghost rats. Put grog in the dish and one of the rats will eat it and die again (double die?). Grab the cooking grease and leave. Go back up to the upper deck and use the glob of grease on the squeaky door to the right. Go inside this room and pick up the tools. Take them back down to the room with the farm animals.

Open the glowing crate very noisily and take the root at last. Thanks to the party upstairs, nobody noticed! Return to the cannibal village and give them the root. They’ll hand you the ghost-slaying seltzer. Go back to the lair.

Elaine’s been taken again … to her wedding with LeChuck?

Guybrush Kicks Butt

Bob says that the wedding is taking place at the church on Melee Island! Your crew arrives, so tell them you need to return and the last part of the game will start. It’s time to take LeChuck down and stop that wedding!

Head to the church, which, if you remember, is near the jail and the store. If a ghost appears, spray it with the magic seltzer bottle to defeat it. At the church, object with all your piratey might. Chaos ensues and LeChuck punches Guybrush all the way to Stan’s shipyard.

Quickly grab the bottle of grog, open your inventory, and use it on LeChuck to make him explode. If you don’t, he’ll send you flying all over the island, and you’ll have to wait until you next land at Stan’s. When you’ve finally done it, you’re free to watch the ending of the game.

Congratulations on beating The Secret of Monkey Island!

Did you like playing The Secret of Monkey Island? What was your favorite part? Discuss in the comments!