Locke Cole

Locke Cole is a playable character from Final Fantasy VI. He is a Thief, but he prefers to be called a "Treasure Hunter". In fact, a running gag is that people call Locke a thief and in response he insists (sometimes with a threat) that he is a treasure hunter. His Japanese name is Lock.

Character and Appearance
Locke is a treasure hunter in his mid-twenties. He wears a blue vest and matching pants, though concept art shows his attire being black, all worn over a white shirt. He also has light brown hair. His most notable feature is his multi-colored bandanna which is shown in his Amano artwork, though his sprite shows it as a solid-blue headband. Although it is possible the blue part covering the top of his head is also part of the bandanna, and that the yellowish band is merely the underside's color, having been rolled up and folded to form a sweatband-esque line at his brow.

Locke is first introduced as something of a ladies man (though not to the degree of Edgar), and he puts his life on the line to save Terra, a girl he barely knows. It is revealed, however, he has vowed himself to protect any woman after the loss of his love and fiancée, Rachel. Locke continues to feel guilty over Rachel's death, believing her amnesia and death both to be his fault, sparking his continual search for a way to revive her to right his wrongs. Though he does not directly tell her, Celes reminds him of Rachel, which is one of the primary motivations for Locke falling for her during the course of the game. Locke is also shown to be a brave and caring man, and somewhat enjoys jokes, making many of them throughout the game about Edgar's flirtatious nature.



Story
In his youth, Locke used to travel with his father, who was a treasure hunter. Eventually his father died and people in Kohlingen started treating Locke like a common thief. Rachel was the only person who did not consider him as such, and they fell in love, but her father did not like him still. In an attempt at proving himself to Rachel's father, Locke went exploring a dangerous cave with Rachel.

However, a bridge was crumbling under Locke, and Rachel, out of love and devotion, rushed to save him. As a result, Rachel fell to her near death. Locke rescued her and took her home. He succeeded in nursing Rachel back to health, but she developed a case of amnesia. Blaming Locke for her condition, Rachel's father threw him out of their house; Rachel agreed, because she had lost her memory. The fallout from these events caused the village to turn against Locke, who then left Kohlingen. Locke felt guilty for Rachel's loss of memory, and he tried to redeem himself by protecting every female he came across. One day, Kohlingen was destroyed in an Imperial attack, and Rachel died. As a result, Locke joined the Returners and began to help the resistance against the Empire.

At the dawn of the adventure, Arvis calls Locke to Narshe to ask for assistance in helping Terra Branford. Locke is initially reluctant, due to her former affiliation with the Empire, but later agrees. He succeeds in rescuing Terra from the Empire's soldiers with the help of Ten Moogles and takes her to Figaro Castle as seen that Narshe was no longer safe. In Figaro, the king, Edgar Roni Figaro, offers her shelter. However, Kefka Palazzo, hot on Terra's tail, asks Edgar of her whereabouts. Edgar lies, and Kefka burns the castle down. However, Locke, along with Edgar and Terra, manage to escape, and the castle burrows underground. The trio go to the Returner Hideout in the Sabre Mountains, and meet up with Banon, the leader of the Returners.

During this time, the city of South Figaro is put under Imperial siege. Locke is asked to investigate, and he does so. During his time there, he learns the Empire is planning another raid on Narshe and decides to go and warn the Elder. However, he cannot get out of South Figaro alone. He has to sneak around houses and into the basement of the largest house in town, where an Imperial general, Celes Chere, is being interrogated. Locke rescues her, and vows to protect her because she reminds him of Rachel, although Celes does not know that at the time.

Locke and Celes head to Narshe to warn the Elder. When they get there, Cyan Garamonde and Celes get into a brief quarrel, which Locke has to break up. Later, everyone gathers together to defend Narshe against Kefka and his troops, and they succeed. However, after the battle, Terra reacts with the frozen Esper for the second time, and turns into an Esper and flies away. A search party is made to find Terra, and she is found in the city of Zozo, on top of the tallest tower. She is being cared for by Ramuh, who asks the party to go to Vector, the Imperial capital, and rescue the other imprisoned Espers, one of which, Maduin, is Terra's father. Celes agrees to lead the team, and Locke agrees to accompany her.

In order to get to Vector, the party needs an airship. In the town of Jidoor, Celes learns of a man named Setzer Gabbiani, who owns the only airship in the world: the Blackjack. She learns Setzer was in love with Maria, the star of the opera, and that he would kidnap her. Locke has the idea of dressing up Celes as Maria in order to get Setzer's attention. The plan works, despite Ultros's plans to ruin the opera. Setzer agrees, as the result of a coin toss, to take the party to Vector.

After arriving in Vector, the party heads to the Magitek Research Facility, where they find the Espers. However, freeing them turns them into magicite, a secret which is immediately discovered by the head Magitek engineer, Cid Del Norte Marquez. Kefka finds out, too, and orders Celes to come with him. This causes Locke to question Celes's loyalty, but Celes saves Locke and his friends from death by Kefka's troops right before Kefka kidnaps her again. Cid helps Locke and his friends escape via a mine cart. They meet up with Setzer later, who takes them back to Zozo to save Terra.

Afterward, the party head to Narshe for a strategy meeting with the Elder, Arvis, and Banon. The strategy would be for Terra to contact the Espers and have them attack Vector from the east, while a coalition of Returners and Narshe guards strikes from the north. Terra leads a party through the Cave to the Sealed Gate to reach the Land of Espers. However, they are ambushed by Kefka, and have to escape. The Espers attack and destroyed the airship, and the party is forced to go to Vector, where Gestahl seems to have surrendered. Gestahl asks if Terra would help negotiate peace with the Espers, and she agrees. Locke agrees to accompany her to Crescent Island.

In the port of Albrook, Terra and Locke met up with General Leo Cristophe, who would be leading the expedition, the mercenary Shadow, and Celes. Locke jumps in surprise, and does not know what to say to Celes. The night before departure, Locke attempts to talk to and apologize to Celes outside the Inn, but she runs away. On the boat to Crescent Island, Locke gets seasick and embarrasses himself in front of Shadow. Shortly before landing, Celes tries to say something to him, but he turns and walks away.

Locke, accompanied by Terra and Shadow, enters the town of Thamasa where they meet up with Strago Magus, the elder of the town. That night, Strago asks Terra and Locke to help him rescue his granddaughter, Relm Arrowny. They agree and succeed in Relm's rescue. Strago agrees to help Terra and Locke look for the Espers, so they head for the Espers' Gathering Place. Relm follows them, and catches up with them during a fight with Ultros. The foursome continue on to the area where the Espers are hiding. Terra and Locke speak to their leader, Yura, and take him to Thamasa for negotiations with Leo. At Thamasa, Locke and Celes reconcile, although they are quickly embarrassed when Relm remarks that they seemed "all hot and heavy" to her grandpa. However, Kefka interrupts the negotiations and wounds everyone but Leo, who tries to fight Kefka and is murdered by him. Kefka tells everyone this was all a set up to get more magicite, and as a result, he kills Yura and the other Espers and collects their magicite. He heads for the Sealed Gate to collect more, and as a result, the Warring Triad are revived and the Land of Espers becomes the Floating Continent. Terra, Locke, Strago, Relm, and Celes meet up with everybody else, and attacks the Floating Continent, but fail, as Kefka moves the Statues out of place and the Apocalypse takes place.

One year later, Locke hears a legend of the legendary Esper Phoenix said to revive the dead. He wants to use it to revive Rachel and heads for the Phoenix Cave to find it. The rest of the party eventually find him there, and invite him to Kohlingen. Locke uses the Esper on Rachel, who is revived, and tells Locke to stop feeling his guilt. She then proceeds to die again, restoring Phoenix in the process. Locke, rejuvenated, joins Celes and the others to fight Kefka. In the ending, Celes, who possessed Locke's bandanna at the time, drops it and goes back to get it, forcing Locke to save her, saying, "I won't let go, I promise".

Battle
Being a Thief, Locke has high speed, evasion, and physical stats, but low magic stats. His equipment draw includes most daggers and swords, several boomerangs, all shields except the Golden Shield, lightweight vests and hats, and most heavy armor. Locke's ability is Steal, which allows him to attempt to steal an item from an enemy. Equipping Locke with the Brigand's Glove turns Steal into Mug, which allows Locke to attack an enemy while attempting to steal. Equipping Locke with a Genji Glove or the Master's Scroll allows him to attempt to steal multiple times in a turn. The Sneak Ring boosts the success rate of steal. Having Locke in the party allows the party to unlock the locked doors in Narshe in the World of Ruin. Locke begins with a Dagger, Leather Hat and Leather Armor.

Development
Locke's design was originally that of a slightly-older, dark and mysterious partner of the male protagonist that became Terra Branford. He was supposed to be a rival of sorts to the other characters. He was the one that had the Runic command. As development proceeded his personality was tweaked and eventually became the more "regular" character he is in the final game.

Musical Themes
Locke's theme is a heroic introduction that is notably played during his and the Moogles' mission to protect Terra. His leitmotif is reprised in "Forever Rachel" and the "Ending Theme", where in the latter, his theme plays in counterpoint with Celes' theme.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Locke was considered as a candidate for Dissidia Final Fantasy, but was left out in favor of Terra, who was considered the most prominent character of Final Fantasy VI, and had a closer link to Kefka than Locke. However, he makes appears as a tutor from the in-game manuals.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Locke will appear as a sub-character in Theatrhythm, to be bought from crystal fragments collected during the game.

Secret of Evermore
In Secret of Evermore, Locke appears among a crowd of people that includes Final Fantasy VI characters in the gladiator battle of Antiqua. He appears alongside Terra, Mog, Relm, Strago, and Umaro.

Trivia

 * Locke's Desperation Attack, Mirage Dive (or "Mirager" in the SNES version), is a Band ability in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. It is used by Edge and Kain.
 * Author Scott Lynch makes a homage to Locke with the titular thief and con artist of his book The Lies of Locke Lamora.
 * Locke appeared in Final Fantasy VI: The Interactive CG Game as a playable character.
 * Namesakes of his have appeared in Secret of Evermore and in Final Fantasy IX as an NPC. Locke Cole is himself a namesake of a playable character in Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (see Tristam).
 * In Order of the Stick, Elan dresses up as Locke when he tries to board the Blackjack with Thog dressed up as Mog. The wig and bandanna were discarded when he was discovered to be a fake, although he retains all other parts of Locke's clothing style.
 * The Magi-Nation Duel character Locke is a direct reference to Locke Cole's portrayal in Final Fantasy VI.
 * Locke breaks the fourth wall when engaging Ultros for the last time, after Relm appears he goes near the dialog box and says to himself while looking to the player "A pint-sized virtuoso and an egotistical octopus, do I wanna know whats next?"
 * In a Famitsu character popularity poll, Locke was the only character from Final Fantasy VI listed.
 * The post-hardcore band A Skylit Drive has a song titled "I'm Not A Thief, I'm A Treasure Hunter" from their debut album "Wires And The Concept Of Breathing", as a nod to Locke's famous quote.