Warning! Major spoilers for Locke & Key.
Beloved comic series turned Netflix show Locke & Key features a number of magical keys with mysterious powers. Unlike the comic book series, the show leans more YA family drama than horror. But at the crux of both stories is the Locke siblings finding each key and learning more about what powers they each possess.
Locke & Key follows the Locke siblings trying to pick up the pieces after dealing with their father’s murder. Their mother moves the family to the Locke family ancestral home for a fresh start. It’s there that the Locke siblings find these keys and learn about their late father’s connection to them.
The original comic book series from horror writer Joe Hill, son of Stephen King, features dozens of keys, but the Netflix’s adaptation of Locke & Key only features a portion of those keys. This could mean they’re saving some for future seasons. Here is a breakdown of every key in Locke & Key, and what those keys do.
Every Key Featured In Locke & Key
Anywhere Key — This is the first of the keys shown in Locke & Key. The youngest Locke sibling, Bode, finds it and learns it can take him anywhere in the world. As long as the user can picture a door at their intended destination, he or she can use the key to walk through a door and get to the destination on the other side. And, as any self-respecting young boy would do, Bode’s inaugural use of the Anywhere Key is to take him to the local ice cream shop.
Echo Key — The Echo Key can bring back the ghostly echo of someone who has died. Ellie uses it to bring back her high school love, Lucas. However, Ellie finds out too late that the key brings back the demon that had possessed Lucas at the time of his death, not the real Lucas she knew and loved. This allows all hell to break loose.
Head Key — The Head Key opens up the mind of the user, allowing anyone to go inside. Memories and feelings — and sometimes literal objects — can be inserted or removed with the help of this key. Many characters utilize this key over the span of season one. Tyler uses the key to insert knowledge into his head that will impress Jackie, Kinsey uses it to remove the fear from her mind, and Dodge/Lucas uses it to go inside the mind of Rendell’s friend Erin. By the end of Locke & Key’s first season, it’s revealed that Rendell somehow used the Head Key to hide the Omega Key within his own mind.
Ghost Key — This key allows the user’s spirit to exit his or her body and fly around like a ghost. Bode uses the key to meet one of his ancestors, who chose to remain on the property as a ghost after his death. As long as the corresponding door for this key remains open, the user can re-enter his or her body. Perhaps the most heartbreaking moment of Locke & Key sees a dying Sam use the Ghost Key with the door quickly shut behind him, thus sealing his fate.
Music Box Key — When inserted into its accompanying music box, this key allows its user control over others. Think of it like the voodoo doll of the keys. Kinsey uses the Music Box Key to seek revenge over her high school bully, Eden.
Mending Cabinet Key — The kids’ mom, Nina, accidentally stumbles upon the Mending Cabinet Key. If a broken object is placed in in the accompanying cabinet, using the Mending Cabinet Key will fix said object. In a devastating sequence, Nina drunkenly places her husband’s ashes in the cabinet, in hopes that it will “fix” him.
Matchstick Key — This one is just a very elaborate lighter. This is technically the first key audiences see before the keys’ power is really introduced. Once Mark Cho, an original Keeper of the Keys, gets word that his old friend Rendell is dead, he uses the Matchstick Key to commit suicide so that no one can get to the secrets that hide in his head.
Identity Key — The Identity Key actually does not appear in the comic book series. This newly created key is a combination of the Gender Key and the Skin Key. This key allows the user to take on the identity of anyone they like. In Locke & Key, this one is typically used for no good by Lucas. First, he uses this key to take on his disguise of Dodge. In the season finale, “Crown of Shadows,” it’s revealed that Lucas used the Identity Key to trick the Lockes into thinking Ellie was actually Dodge. But perhaps the cruelest use of all was in the final scene of that episode when it was revealed that Lucas also took on the form of Gabe, Kinsey’s boyfriend. From the looks of things, Lucas’s newest trick will cause a huge problem for the Lockes in a potential season two of Locke & Key.
Plant Key — This key only has a brief appearance in Locke & Key, but it’s a pretty important one. As its name suggests, the Plant Key allows its user to control plants. In season one of Locke & Key, teenage Rendell and his friends take the memories out of his brother Duncan’s head with the Head Key and use the Plant Key to hide those memories in a tree.
Shadow Key — The Shadow Key is one of the more menacing keys in this season of Locke & Key. If the user inserts this key into the Crown of Shadows, that person can control creatures that emerge from the shadows. Lucas uses this Key against the Locke kids in his ongoing search for the Omega Key.
Omega Key — The Omega Key is the most mysterious of all the keys. It can open the Black Door, which appears to be a portal to another world. Due to a case of mistaken identity by means of the Identity Key, The Lockes use the Omega Key to throw Ellie, thinking it was Dodge/Lucas, through the portal. It can be assumed that the portal on the other side of the Black Door has strong connections to Keyhouse’s power.
Odds are that many keys featured in season one will make a reappearance in a potential second season of Locke & Key. It hasn’t officially been renewed yet, but work has already begun on the second season. It’s safe to assume some of that work likely includes introducing some new keys to the mysterious world of Locke & Key.
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