Locke Cole is a character in the 1994 Square Enix video game Final Fantasy VI, and a thief who prefers to identify as a "treasure hunter".

[5] Locke was also one of three characters from the game featured in a tech demo for the August 1995 SIGGRAPH event showing a 3D example of Final Fantasy gameplay.

The cast of characters were selected from submissions from across the development team, with Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi contributing Locke.

Given full creative freedom, Amano wanted to make "real" and "alive" characters, though with consideration for their representation in-game as small computer sprites.

She also enjoyed that instead of blatantly stating they were in love, the game approaches it with a slow buildup, and praised it as a "nice example of showing versus telling", something she felt the genre wasn't particularly good at.

[26] RPGFan's Daniel Hernandez meanwhile praised Locke's charisma, and felt their relationship was "love in a very human, authentic fashion" in how it illustrated them moving on past their traumas.

Instead of being driven by revenge against the Empire solely, his primary goal is to help others, but also by seeking Rachel's forgiveness, drawing comparison to the Greek hero Orpheus.

Maugein felt this was represented by his relationship with Celes, someone he cared for rather than wanting to protect, and found that this "powerful extremism" made him a "resolute yet poignant protagonist".

[28] Sebastian Deken in his book examining Final Fantasy VI and its themes described him as a "pathologically heroic" character who compensates for failing Rachel by frequently throwing himself into danger and being immediately protective of any woman he meets.

Deken felt a good part of his characterization was emphasized in his theme music which shared a similar excited tone to Locke's portrayal, with the third measure "being a little unhinged".

He emphasized however that neither the theme nor the character give the impression of going too far off the rails, but instead are a "smidge manic", reflecting that his "brashness and thievery come from a fearless, well-intentioned heart" demonstrated in the heartbeat-like pattern in the music's strings.