Tom Paris
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Thomas Eugene Paris is a character in the fictional Star Trek universe who served aboard the USS Voyager (NCC-74656) as helmsman and pilot, with the rank of lieutenant. He is portrayed by actor Robert Duncan McNeill.
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Biography
Thomas Eugene Paris ("Tom Paris") is the son of Admiral Owen Paris, and a scion of a family with a long history of illustrious service in Starfleet. Following his family's tradition, Paris attended Starfleet Academy sometime in the 2360s and majored in astrophysics. A gifted pilot, Paris earned an assignment to the Academy's honor squadron.
Soon after his graduation from Starfleet Academy, Tom crashed a shuttle he was piloting near Caldik Prime, killing three other Starfleet officers. Afraid he would lose his commission, Paris falsified records that would reveal the cause of the accident as pilot error. [According to the novel "Pathways," authored by Star Trek producer Jeri Taylor, the accident took place during Paris' final year at Starfleet Academy and killed his three best friends, fellow Academy cadets Charlie Day, Odile Launay, and Bruno Katajavuori.] His efforts to cover up his error succeeded, but later, overwhelmed by guilt and regret, he confessed. He was court-martialed for his actions in covering up the truth, and was dishonorably discharged from Starfleet, causing a major rift between Paris and his father.
Following his discharge, Paris left San Francisco for Marseilles, where he drank and played pool in Sandrine's, a waterfront bar. Chakotay, a former Starfleet officer serving with the Maquis, discovered Paris in Marseilles and recruited Paris to serve as a mercenary pilot for the Maquis rebellion against the Federation. This adventure went no better than his earlier stint in Starfleet, as Paris was captured by Starfleet while he was piloting his first mission for the Maquis.
Tried and convicted of treason for aiding the Maquis rebellion, Paris was serving time in the Federation Penal Settlement near Auckland, New Zealand when Kathryn Janeway, captain of the starship Voyager, obtained Paris' temporary release from the penal colony. Janeway, charged with finding and capturing the Maquis ship commanded by Chakotay, offered Paris an early parole in exchange for serving as her informant on Chakotay and the Maquis.
Janeway and the crew of Voyager successfully located Chakotay's ship, but as Voyager's crew attempted to capture the Maquis ship, both starships were caught up and thrown into the Delta Quadrant by a massive energy wave created by an alien known as The Caretaker, stranding them 70,000 light-years away from home. The Maquis ship was destroyed and its crew joined the Federation crew on Voyager.
The marooning of Voyager in the Delta Quadrant provided Paris with a new beginning. Janeway gave Paris a field commission as a Starfleet Lieutenant and made him chief pilot of Voyager. He had a rough start, however, as Starfleet and Maquis alike viewed Paris with suspicion. Paris worked hard to earn his crewmates' respect; during this time, he became best friends with Ensign Harry Kim, a young officer on his first mission who defied his crewmates to befriend Paris. Eventually, Paris was accepted by the crew and became one of Janeway's valued officers.
His rebellious nature occasionally showed through. Captain Janeway and Lt. Tuvok once used this, and the difficult relationship between Paris and Chakotay to uncover a member of the crew who had been leaking information to the Kazon. Over the course of several weeks Paris allowed his performance as a crew member to decline - showing up late to staff meetings, starting a betting pool, and maintaining a somewhat unkept appearance. As anticipated, Chakotay reacted negatively to these changes in Paris, and then had Paris removed from the duty roster.
It was then announced that Paris had decided to leave Voyager and join a Talaxian convoy. The Kazon were informed of this through their spy on Voyager, and they kidnapped Paris from the convoy. Soon Neelix uncovered evidence that had been planted painting Paris as the Kazon spy, which he broadcast to the crew as part of his "Briefing with Neelix" news program. When Janeway learned of this, she had Neelix and Chakotay brought to her ready room, and revealed to both that Paris had actually undertaken a covert mission to find the real spy. Paris was able to find the evidence that proved the identity of the traitor, and was able to escape back to Voyager.
At one point he was demoted to Ensign for disobeying direct orders, and thrown in Voyager's brig for a period of 30 days (a record sentence for a starship). About a year later, after working diligently at his duties, he regained his former rank.
While serving on Voyager, Paris nurtured a long-hidden talent for holoprogramming, devising several programs for the entertainment of his fellow crewmembers. His most popular entertainments included a recreation of Sandrine's Marseilles bar and Captain Proton.
Tom Paris married Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, Voyager's half-Klingon chief engineer, in 2377. Torres gave birth to their daughter Miral Paris during the events that led to Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant and Earth.
Personality
In addition to the above mentioned incident at Caldrik Prime, Tom at times displayed resentment of and evidence of a difficult relationship with his father, Owen Paris, with vague implications of paternal abuse. His psychological state improved substantially over the course of the series, due primarily to Janeway's willingness to offer him redemption, and later due to his relationship with B'Elanna Torres.
Paris was also one of the most strongly human characters within the Voyager series, and he thus partly enabled the traditional Trek contrast between human and non-human characters. His exchanges with Tuvok during the episode Gravity in particular are reminiscent of some of the sparring between McCoy and Spock. He also engaged in some occasional minor and relatively friendly squabbling with the Doctor and Seven of Nine, which some considered amusing to watch, as well as often making MST3K-type quips about communications with various aliens while on the ship's bridge.
He also became good friends with Harry Kim from the pilot episode on, and at times displayed protectiveness in the face of Harry's customary naivete. The only member of the crew who he had a genuinely difficult relationship with was Chakotay, because of their history in the Maquis, although they usually managed to remain civil.
Verbally, his manner was generally informal and mildly jaunty. He normally stayed away from discussing his emotions, but displayed tenderness towards B'Elanna on a few occasions, as well as gratitude to the Captain for her faith in him.
Overall, Tom was initially a fairly one-note rebel who ended up becoming a much more complex, mature, and responsible individual by the end of the series.
Backstory
The character of Tom Paris is based on Nick Locarno from the Star Trek:TNG episode "The First Duty", who was also portrayed by Robert Duncan McNeill. Locarno, a charismatic and gifted Starfleet Academy cadet, covered up the facts concerning the death of another cadet and persuaded three other cadets, including Wesley Crusher, to go along with the coverup. Crusher finally confessed to the coverup and the reckless behavior that caused the cadet's death after Jean-Luc Picard encouraged Crusher to tell the truth. Confronted with his lies, Locarno refused to let any wrongdoing fall to his fellow cadets and was expelled from the Academy.
According to published interviews, the producers first thought to use the Locarno character in Star Trek: Voyager, but then decided that Locarno, who never repented of his bad acts in "The First Duty," was irredeemable. "Tom Paris" was given a similar background, but endowed with the regret and desire for redemption that was never exhibited by Nick Locarno. [Actor Robert Duncan McNeill, asked separately about Locarno / Paris, suggests that the studio did not want to pay royalties to the writers of "The First Duty."]
As noted above, Paris has two backstories. The original backstory, and the only one acknowledged on screen, cast Paris as a disgraced officer dishonorably discharged from Starfleet for covering up pilot error following a shuttle accident on Caldik Prime. In her published novel, "Pathways," Voyager producer Jeri Taylor provided an alternative story much more similar to the events in "The First Duty" by moving the accident to Paris' Academy years and making his fellow cadets the victims of his recklessness.
Production note: When casting the role of Tom Paris, the producers tried to avoid comparisons to Locarno by seeking out a "Robert Duncan McNeill-type" rather than McNeill himself. After failing to find an actor with McNeill's talents, the producers decided to pursue McNeill for the role.
See also
External links
- Template:Memoryalpha
- "Tom Paris" at STARTREK.COM
- "Crew: Tom Paris" at Janet's Star Trek Voyager Site
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