"Keys" is the only name given for an important
minor character in the
movie,
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, although the character is more broadly developed in the
novelization of the movie. Keys is a
government agent played by
Peter Coyote, whose somewhat
ominous presence is
signaled by a set of
keys that dangle from his belt and jangle with his movements. He is apparently the main person on the ground coordinating the government's initial
investigation of the
alien spaceship landing. His group, running towards the spaceship with
flashlights blazing in the night, causes it to leave in
haste, which in turn strands the title character on
Earth. Keys is in charge of the later searching and
surveillance which eventually leads to the government's discovery of E.T.
When the government at last takes control of E.T., Keys has an important conversation with E.T.'s child friend Elliott, who had previously helped E.T. to build a
communication device in an attempt to
signal the ship by which he had been
left behind. When Elliott is reluctant to give Keys any information because E.T. had come to Elliott first, Keys responds, that "he came to me too. I've been wishing for this since I was 10 years old, I don't want him to die." Keys asks Elliott what more they can do, and Elliott responds that E.T. needs to go home. Keys then intones, "Elliott, I don't think he was left here intentionally, but his being here is a
miracle, Elliott. It's a miracle and you did the best that anybody could do. I'm glad he met you first."
After Elliott and his siblings facilitate E.T.'s escape from the government, Keys is one of the few people present when the spaceship returns to
rescue its
castaway, thus marking his presence throughout the
story arc.
In the novelization, Keys is portrayed sympathetically, as someone who went into the
profession of
science and
medicine to facilitate searching for alien visitors, as an
outgrowth of a
childhood fascination with the
subject. For him, as much as for Elliott, the encounter is a
dream come true, and it is established that Keys genuinely intends to protect E.T. from harm. There is also a suggestion in the book that a connection is established between Keys and Elliott's mother (a divorcee), which could lead to a
relationship. A script treatment written by
Steven Spielberg for a possible E.T.
sequel confirmed that this was the direction which he saw the characters going, with Keys (referred to in the script as "Dr. Keys") possibly becoming a
father figure to Elliott. Discussions of a sequel often include
speculation of such a development. Although Keys appears in only a few scenes in the movie, his combination of
tenacity and
humanity are effective in moving the story forward, making him an excellent minor character in the annals of science fiction.