Tom Paris
Tom Paris is a male television character who features in Star Trek.
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Biography
Thomas Eugene Paris was a male human born in the 24th century in the United Federation of Planets where he was the son of Starfleet Admiral Owen Paris. (VOY: Caretaker)
Growing up, Paris often felt inadequate, due to the pressure his father put on him to excel and feeling like a failure as a result. The alienation continued throughout his adulthood to the point where Tom would just ignore his father altogether, 'tuning out' to what he referred to as yet another 'holiday sermon' about the Prime Directive. (VOY: Time and Again) Throughout Tom's life and career at Starfleet, his father remained tough and remote, telling him, for instance, that crying was a sign of weakness. Crying, incidentally, was the one thing Tom recalled doing the most as a teenager. (VOY: Threshold) As a result, Paris and his father had a rather troubled relationship, and, at some point, Tom just wanted him out of his life. Despite this, Paris loved his bedroom back home, as he often locked himself away in there, not only to cry, but also to play games and listen to music. After it landed on his windowsill next to his bed, young Paris also fed a baby bird water with an eye dropper to keep it alive. (VOY: Parturition) Moreover, he lost his virginity in his bedroom at the age of seventeen, while his parents were away for the weekend. (VOY: Threshold)
When Captain Janeway first recruited Tom to retrieve a Maquis ship that had disappeared in the Badlands, he agreed to help, but only if there was something in it for him. Not caring much about the crew of that ship, he smugly confirmed Chakotay's assertion of him as a mercenary willing to fight for anyone who paid his bar bills. When Paris first set foot on board Voyager, he was seen as brash and arrogant, an aimless wanderer who seemed a little too cocky and a little too sure of himself. His haunted past resulted in him receiving a rather cool reception from pretty much everyone on board, including the ship's first officer, Cavit, as well as the ship's doctor, both of whom openly expressed their dislike of him. Chakotay, who was also trapped in the Delta Quadrant with the Voyager crew, was not happy to see him either and, upon their first encounter on the bridge, angrily accused Tom of having sold them out for a meager reward. Despite rather shaky beginnings and a crew that wondered whether he could be trusted when things got tough, Paris was nonetheless able to gradually redeem himself in the eyes of many. On Ocampa, he saved Chakotay's life, resulting in Chakotay greatly changing his sentiments toward Paris and beginning to respect him. In addition to saving Chakotay's life, he also helped rescue B'Elanna Torres and Harry Kim, who had been sent to an underground Ocampa city, and he struck a meaningful friendship with shy Harry Kim, who had just graduated from the Academy and was on his first deep space assignment. During a battle between Voyager and a Kazon-Ogla starship, Janeway posted Paris to the conn. After the Caretaker's array was destroyed, Paris' commission was officially reinstated, and he was designated as flight control officer, with his Starfleet rank of lieutenant junior grade. (VOY: Caretaker)
Paris' reputation continued to haunt him, however, and finally caught up with him while he was on a mission to Banea, to repair a damaged collimator. On Banea, Paris was convicted of murdering Tolen Ren – an elderly scientist whose young, beautiful wife he fancied. It was believed that Tom had killed Ren when he had been caught flirting with his wife, Lidell. As punishment, the images of Ren's last moments up to his death were imprinted in Paris' brain, and he was forced to relive his alleged victim's last moments over and over again – a punishment that was slowly resulting in permanent brain damage. Uncertain of his guilt, Tuvok began an investigation and eventually managed to discover proof that Paris had been framed for the murder, even though he had gotten closer to Ren's wife. (VOY: Ex Post Facto)
Later that year, Paris, along with B'Elanna Torres, was captured by the Vidiians. While Torres was subjected to an experiment that parted her Human and Klingon halves, Paris, after working at hard labor, was going to have his organs harvested. Finally, Chakotay, disguised as a Vidiian, managed to save them. (VOY: Faces)
Whilst at the Holodeck, he was with Harry and the Delaeney twins as they were using their free time to take part in a Captain Proton adventure. Their free time was interrupted by an alert from the bridge as the U.S.S. Voyager had uncovered upon a new wold that was a giant sphere of water that was suspended in space. The giant ocean was inhabited by an alien race known as the Monean Maritime Sovereignty who initially attempted to attack Voyager but Starfleet's advanced weapons caused them to stand down. Captain Janeway then asked to make peaceful first contact with the Moneans who revealed the history of their people. During a tour of Voyager, the Monean Riga revealed that the structural integrity field around the Waters was weakening and had experienced a loss in mass. The Moneans though were unable to investigate the matter as they lacked the technology to investigate the depths of the Waters. This was until Tom Paris suggested that they offer the use of the Delta Flyer to aid them in investigating the Waters core. Alongside Riga and Seven of Nine, they took the flyer into the Waters depths where they discovered an ancient field generator. After downloading its database, they discovered the origin of the Waters which was an artificial creation made by an ancient alien civilisation who used a field generator to maintain the integrity field of the ocean. They also determined that the Moneans oxygen mining refineries had placed an incredible strain on the alien generator which was the cause of the loss in water mass. Thus, the recommendation from the Voyager crew was that the Moneans shut down their refineries otherwise the integrity field would collapse in seven years thus necessitating the inhabitants conduct a mass evacuation. Such information was not politically inconvenient to the Monean leaders who refused to listen to the advice and intended for the recommendation to be buried under bureaucracy. Tom Paris came to challenge the Monean leaders over their willingness to bury this danger despite being reprimanded by Captain Janeway as his actions went against the Prime Directive. Afterwards, Janeway came to learn that Paris had taken the Delta Flyer and looked to force the matter alongside the Monean Riga where they looked to target the oxygen refineries within the Waters. The diplomatic incident led to Voyager intervening to apprehend the rogue Tom Paris with the Delta Flyer being disabled and he returned to the ship. Once on-board, he was demoted to the rank of ensign and confined to 30 days in the brig for the act of insubordination. (VOY: Thirty Days)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Tom Paris was a Human male in his late twenties who carried himself with a brash, arrogant air that initially masked the weight of his haunted past. Standing at approximately 1.85 metres tall, he possessed an athletic build that suggested a life of active service despite his recent confinement. His hair was blonde and short, neatly trimmed in accordance with Starfleet's professional standards once he shed his prisoner's garb for a duty uniform. His eyes, a striking blue, were often alight with a cocky confidence and a sharp. (VOY: Caretaker)
He said that he had a deep love of nautical stories which stemmed from the stories of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea that his father used to read to him as a child. When he was growing up, he developed a deep love of ships and in fact wanted to join the Federation Naval Service. However, as he was growing up, his father had other ideas about his future career as he wanted him to join Starfleet. (VOY: Thirty Days)
Tom Paris was noted for being the son of Starfleet Admiral Owen Paris. (VOY: Caretaker)
Powers and abilities
Notes
- Tom Paris was portrayed by actor Robert Duncan McNeill and featured in the setting of the Star Trek universe.
In other media
Books
Appearances
- Star Trek: Voyager:
External Links
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