The Key is the name of two supervillains in the DC Universe.
History[]
The first Key appeared once during the Golden Age, and battled the Justice Society of America in their last Golden Age appearance. He ran a major crime syndicate. When the Justice Society was about to capture him, he jump out of a cable car and into a gorge. It is believed to have killed him, for he hasn't been seen since. The second Key was a chemist for Intergang that invented "psycho-chemicals" that gave access to 90% of his untapped brain power, and a total of ten natural senses. He armed himself with a "key blaster", and several henchman that he called "Key-Men", he became a criminal that regularly fought the Justice League, and failed. In JLA #8, he returns from a long absence to invade the Justice League headquarters and them in a fantasy realm created by his "dream flu", hoping to steal their energy to enhance his own powers. Conner Hawke arrived however, to discuss membership of the League, and defeated him. The Key then returned to fight Batman, with the hopes of Batman killing him so that he may escape life. It failed. While the Justice League was dissembled, he gained telepathy from a cybernetic implant, and tried to destroy the League. A combination of Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Manitou Dawn defeated him yet again. He would be present at the Battle of Metropolis, as a middleman for Roulette and an unknown master, and later a member of Libra's Secret Society of Supervillains.
Powers and Abilities[]
Originally he had a heightened ten senses, compared to normal people that only had five, and access to 90% of his brain power. He also owned a blaster in the shape of key, and several robots called Key-Men. He invented a dream flu, that can cause hallucinations, and transfer energy from its victims to the Key. He also develops telepathy from a cybernetic implant.
In other media[]
In Justice League Unlimited, a Golden-Age Key (voiced by Corey Burton) is seen as a member of the Secret Society. His skills seem more oriented to penetrating secure areas with a key shaped gun that can easily open doors as well as fulfill mundane ballistic means. In a commentary, it was said that he was originally going to be possessed by, or be connected to, Brainiac, and play an important role in the season finale. However, he was dropped in favor of a resurrected Darkseid. In the finale, he sided against Lex Luthor and was subsequently frozen by Killer Frost.
In the Batman: Brave and the Bold episode Night of The Huntress, a villain similar to him named Skeleton Keyes is a member of Baby-Face's gang.