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Vernon Locke
LockePD3
Locke in PAYDAY 3
Career information
Role Crime.net Contractor
Murkywater Major
Affiliation(s) Crime.net
Murkywater (formerly)
MI5 (formerly)
Biographical information
Also known as Locke
Nationality South Africa South African
Age Unknown
Physical description
Hair color Black
Ethnicity Caucasian
PAYDAY information
Portrayed by Ian Russell[1]
Voiced by Ian Russell
Quotes Vernon Locke/Quotes
v·d·e
FBI Description
FBI Files: Vernon Locke, of South-African nationality as evident by his accent, has long been an employee and operative with mercenary organization Murkywater. Even with the borderline grey-area reputation of that organization, surveillance and underground chatter has long been hailing Locke as something more than a soldier-for-hire. Perhaps he is some kind of double agent, aiming for something bigger.
"Think you can handle it, you chops? Hahahah! I know you can!"
—Locke debriefing the player on Turbid Station.

Vernon Locke is a supporting character, contractor, and mission coordinator in both PAYDAY 2 and PAYDAY 3, debuting on December 3, 2015, with the release of the Point Break Heists.

When Bain goes missing, Locke takes on his role as the mission coordinator of the Payday Gang in PAYDAY 2. He returns in PAYDAY 3 as the contractor for the Legacy heists.

Background[]

Description[]

Born in South Africa, educated at Lincoln Laboratory, trained under MI5, and now employed by Murkywater. Vernon Locke heads their special cyberwarfare division, which has been tasked with infiltrating and destroying Crime.net. Locke has managed this. However, being a mercenary with no loyalties that extra money couldn't bend, Locke sees this as an opportunity. An opportunity to get rich, and cause a little chaos. He has reached out to Bain and the Payday gang. The deal? Work with him, or he brings Crime.net down forever. And he already has a couple of jobs for you...

The FBI Files[]

Vernon Locke, of South-African nationality as evident by his accent, has long been an employee and operative with mercenary organisation Murkywater. Even with the borderline grey-area reputation of that organization, surveillance and underground chatter has long been hailing Locke as something more than a soldier-for-hire. Perhaps he is some kind of double agent, aiming for something bigger.

Most recently he has been sighted seemingly on his own, not working under the Murkywater umbrella, but perhaps involved with Bain and the Payday gang. Some intelligence operatives have also been following up on connections between Locke and “The Butcher”, though again- the exact nature of said connection remains a mystery at present.

Contracts[]

Locke is also heavily involved in the Heat Street PAYDAY 2 remake and is the substitute contractor in Day 2 (first day of the heist, gameplay wise) in the Reservoir Dogs Heist.

Achievements (Payday 2)[]

Trivia[]

  • Locke is one of the three contractors to directly assist the crew during a heist, the second and third being Jimmy and Jiu Feng.
    • He is also the second of six contractors to appear in a heist in person, the first being Hector, the third being Jimmy, the fourth being Bain, the fifth being The Dentist, the sixth being Vlad, and the seventh being Jiu Feng.
    • Additionally, he is the third contractor to instruct players directly throughout his heists, preceded by Bain and Vlad. Unlike Vlad, who simply gives instructions alongside Bain in every contract after and including Meltdown, Locke instructs the crew alone throughout the entirety of the Beneath the Mountain heist, with Bain only coming in after the heist is finished.
    • While also on this note, Locke is the first contractor to outright "betray" the Payday gang in a mission contracted by his name, unlike Hector and The Dentist, whose treacherous intentions were only found out later on as part of another plotline.
  • In the Reservoir Dogs Heist Day 2, Brooklyn Bank, Breakin' Feds, Henry's RockHell's Island, Shacklethorne Auction, The White House, and all heists released after support for PAYDAY 2 returned in 2019 starting with Border Crossing/Border Crystals, Locke is the one giving instructions, fully replacing Bain.
  • Vernon Locke for a long time lacked an entry in the FBI Files' Clown Case folder, possibly due to his affiliation with Murkywater. He has seemingly avoided suspicion by the authorities (and Murkywater) up until Alaskan Deal, where police noticed him fleeing the scene. He has since received an entry and has been referenced in Garrett's internal memos. In Brooklyn Bank, Locke reveals Murkywater has eventually obtained knowledge of his treachery and "closed all their communication channels" with him.
  • Locke can purportedly bring down Crime.net at the simple push of a button.
    • With his "betrayal" in Alaskan Deal, it remains uncertain if his threat to take down Crime.net is a bluff or not. However, with him being revealed to be on the Payday Gang's side in the Reservoir Dogs Heist, it's unlikely the button exists and even then he wouldn't have used it, especially since he appears to be working independently from Murkywater. This is supported in the FBI Files where Locke has been profiled by Solomon Garrett and is theorized by him to be working separately.
    • As Dallas mentioned in the Secret Ending video, Locke could have abandoned the crew especially when "things got rough with the Kataru" but stuck with them in the end, therefore proving his loyality.
    • It is implied that Joy is actually responsible for the hacking of Crime.NET rather than Locke himself.
  • Like The Butcher, Vernon Locke was introduced into PAYDAY 2 with a pair of heists packed into a single DLC as a collaborative effort between Overkill Software and another company.
  • Locke appears to be skilled in the field of aviation, as he provides aerial support to lift the money pallets in Birth of Sky, and pilots the escape helicopters in Beneath the Mountain and The White House heist. 
  • Despite Locke being South African, his accent is not that of a native African speaker owing to actor Ian Russel being British.
  • He tends to curse quite often, more than most of the other contractors.
    • He also has the tendency to change how he speaks to the heisters during Birth of Sky, being friendly and calm in one moment, but getting more aggressive if they don't complete certain objectives.
    • Since the Reservoir Dogs Heist, however, he is much more patient and swears less often at the crew, due to Bain being missing, the situation becoming more serious, and the fact that he seems to genuinely respect the Payday Gang.
  • It is hinted Locke has the same monitoring privileges as Bain, as Locke is able to recognize very specific details despite not being present with the crew. Some examples include him leaving remarks on the death of the logistics officer and the diner keycard in Birth of Sky.
  • Though not involved, Locke is mentioned in Murky Station of the Hardcore Henry heists, thus Beneath the Mountain and Birth of Sky take place before Jimmy was introduced to the Payday gang.
    • However, the official Story Line contradicts this, placing Jimmy's introduction before Locke's, making Bain's opening statement in said heist nonsensical.
    • In the Heat Street remake, Locke is more directly involved for tipping off the Payday gang to Matt's intentions and assisting them in extracting him to safety away from the police.
  • Despite his origins in the Point Break Heists DLC, he appears in neither Point Break movie, and is instead an original character; both Point Break Heists involve Murkywater in some form, and since Locke used to work for them, it is now his job to help the Payday Gang fight back against them.
  • Locke has never been seen outside of his Murkywater fatigues even in relaxing times (and when the weather is uncomfortable), leading to some heisters joking that he wears his outfit 24/7.
    • He has also a passion for golf as seen in the secret ending where he is seen playing the sport on some rocks. Hoxton shoots his golf ball with a silenced pistol just as he was about to swing making him shout “You chops! You come up here I’ll klop your fucking lights out!”
      • Hilariously, he is soon clocked by The Butcher in the face with a suitcase of presumably gold as payback over what he did in Alaska.

Images[]

Video[]

References[]

Gameplay • Heists • Skills • Weapons & Equipment • DLC


Gameplay • Heists • Skills & Perk Decks • Weapons & Equipment • DLC

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