Commander Jason Lock (played by Harry J. Lennix) is the supreme commander of all military defense forces of the human city Zion. Lock appears in The Matrix Reloaded, Enter the Matrix, and The Matrix Revolutions. Lock was a naturally-born Zion citizen. This differs from redpill inhabitants, particularly his hovercraft crews and their commanders, most of whom are Matrix inhabitants. His unfamiliarity with the Matrix grounds his views to the unadulterated realities of using any and all resources he can command to evade Machine forces and keep Zion’s whereabouts a secret. He is one of the few characters in the films who has a given first and last name. He was at odds with not only the Zion Council when managing the defenses, but with some errant ship captains, especially Captain Morpheus of the hovercraft Nebuchadnezzar. He appears to be bureaucratic, taciturn, unimaginative, and uncharismatic; as a result, he is not highly respected by either his subordinates or by the Council.
As of the beginning of the Matrix Reloaded, Lock was romantically involved with Captain Niobe of the hovercraft Logos, but loses her to Morpheus (who had been her captain and her lover for some years) during Revolutions. The history of Niobe’s relation with Morpheus increased tensions between Morpheus and Lock when discussing defense strategy. Morpheus’ and the Council’s desire to aid the One frustrated Lock, who felt that the limited resources of Zion’s defenses would be better used elsewhere. Even Niobe became intolerant of his autocratic views after Lock convinced the Zion Council to not let the Logos join the defense fleet, claiming that that ship’s size and EMP systems are “too weak to make a difference”. After the Council asked for two captains to search for the Nebuchadnezzar, only one captain, Soren of the Vigilant, initially volunteered. When Lock stated to the Council that he found it hard to believe “any man” would volunteer for such a daring mission, Niobe volunteered as a reprisal for being patronized. As the Machines tunneled toward Zion, Lock devised a strategy where the hovercrafts would be scattered in an attempt to use the ship EMP devices in a combined attack to disable most, if not all, of the digging machines and Sentinels all at once. However, Smith/Bane prematurely set off one of the ship’s EMPs, disabling many of the ships. The Machines decimated the helpless ships. This left only the ground forces of Zion to withstand the eventual assault. By the end of the first wave of the Machine attack, Zion would have fallen were it not for the arrival of the hovercraft The Hammer, piloted by Captain Niobe. The Hammer activated their EMP, disabling all Machine forces. Although the Machines’ progress was momentarily halted, Lock was displeased that the Hammer’s EMP had also knocked out most of Zion’s defenses, saying that they had just handed the dock to the machines “on a silver platter”. When the Council asked his advice as the Machines commenced their attack, the only course of action was continuing with his original back-up plan; gathering Zion’s citizens in the Temple and making a last stand at the Temple gates.