Benjamin Locke is the creator of the keys in the Netflix adaptation of Locke & Key.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Benjamin grew up in colonial Massachusetts, the son of a metalworker who made weapons for the American Revolution. However, Benjamin lacked his father's talent, much to his own dismay.
Encounter with the British Army[]
One night in 1775, British soldiers led by Captain Frederick Gideon storm the Keyhouse, having heard rumors about Peter Locke creating weapons for the American soldiers. Peter sends Benjamin to get Captain Crais of the local militia for help while he distracts Gideon and his men. Benjamin returns just as his family are about to be killed and helps to save his mother and sister, but Peter is killed by Gideon.
Benjamin and the other American soldiers chase the British into a nearby sea cave where Gideon's touch has activated a portal to another world. One of the British soldiers, Howe is possessed, but the Americans manage to blast him back through the portal before Gideon allows himself to be possessed by a demon.[1][2] In the skirmish that follows, Benjamin is nearly killed, but they manage to subdue Gideon who is subsequently hung for his crimes. Before dying, Gideon warns that he is only the first that will come through the portal.[2]
Creating the Keys[]
Returning to the portal with his sister Miranda, Benjamin becomes determined to find a way to contain it before the two narrowly avoid being hit by a demonic bullet. The bullet turns into Whispering Iron which Benjamin picks up with interest. To his surprise, Benjamin is the only one that can hear the whispers of the metal.
Benjamin begins constructing a door using the Whispering Iron to hold back the evil as both lock and key. However, Benjamin's first attempt at making a key fails. Miranda recalls that in the rituals of alchemy, you must have two things, intention and sacrifice to bind the spell-caster to the source. By adding his own blood to the molten Whispering Iron, Benjamin succeeds in creating the Omega Key and seals the portal behind the Black Door.
Following the sealing of the portal, Benjamin finds himself drawn to the Whispering Iron still left on the cave floor and uses it to craft the various other keys.[2]
Benjamin later creates the Harlequin Key to secure all of the keys in the Harlequin Chest so that no one can get at them. Benjamin demonstrates to Miranda how the key makes the chest impenetrable and indestructible. Time traveling with the Timeshift Key, Benajmin's descendant Bode witnesses this and accidentally draws Benjamin's attention to him through Bode's exclamation of awe at the demonstration of the chest's powers. After Benjamin introduces himself and accuses Bode of being an intruder, Bode explains that he's a Locke too and had used one of the keys to get there from the future. Miranda is surprised as no such key exists, but Benjamin corrects her that one doesn't exist yet. Bode introduces himself before being sent back to the present.[3]
Appearances[]
- Season Two
- The Premiere (flashback)
- Irons in the Fire (flashback)
- Season Three