7. The Magic Of The Keys
One of the tricky things about using magic in a story is trying to set limits or rules to the magic. If you don't set up the rules, then almost anything can happen through the wave of a wand or an incantation. This can really lower the stakes in the story, and it's one of the frustrating things about reading stories that rely on magic. Sometimes someone just shows up, casts a spell, and everybody's happy. Locke & Key works around this by limiting the magic that can be wielded to the person holding the specific key and what that key does. The keys do some pretty amazing things. The Head Key lets you look into people's heads, putting things in there or taking things out as you wish. The Shadow Key lets you control shadows. The Giant Key turns you into something that can fight a Kaiju! The keys do all kinds of cool things, but they don't let the characters do anything and everything they want. There's no magical reset button, no easy escape. And because of the limiting of the magical power that can be wielded, you get a sense that there is so much at stake. This comes to the fore as the keys change hands and we see what can happen when an evil character uses the keys. Though the world is built around magic, the consequences of the use of magic can feel almost too real.