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 played by Robert Duncan McNeill.

Biography

Tom Paris graduated from Starfleet Academy sometime in the 2360s and majored in astrophysics. His father, Admiral Owen Paris, was an instructor at the Academy at the same time. During his last year at the Academy, Tom was involved in an shuttle accident at Caldik Prime which killed his three best friends, Charlie Day, Odile Launay and Bruno Katajavuori. Afterward, he lied about the incident, but later confessed, and was discharged from Starfleet.

He came to Voyager after serving in Federation Penal Settlement near Auckland, New Zealand after he was found piloting for the Maquis. Circa stardate 48315.6 in 2371, the starship Voyager, along with a Maquis ship commanded by Chakotay, was brought 70,000 light-years to the Delta Quadrant by an alien known as The Caretaker and were stranded there. The Maquis ship was destroyed and its crew joined the Federation crew on Voyager.

Circa stardate 49373.4 in 2372 he, with Captain Kathryn Janeway attempted to break the Warp 10 threshold and achieve infinite speed. This then caused both him and Janeway to 'evolve' at a greatly accelerated pace. Eventually, The Doctor was able to revert them back to their normal state.

Circa stardate 51186.2 in early 2374 he was assigned additional duties to sickbay to assist The Doctor, the original medical staff having all been killed earlier. Circa stardate 52179.4 in 2375 he was demoted to ensign and put in solitary confinement for thirty days after violating the Prime Directive. He was reinstated to his former rank in late 2376.

Lieutenant Tom Paris and Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres entered into a relationship sometime in 2374 and in 2377, they got married. Shortly after this, B'Elanna discovers that she's preganant; circa stardate 54973.5 in 2377, their daughter Miral Paris was born, just as Voyager reached returned to Earth.

Backstory

The character of Tom Paris is based on Nick Locarno from the Star Trek:TNG episode The First Duty , who was also played by Robert Duncan McNeill. They were going to be the same person but the producers realized that they would have to pay a royalty to the writer of The First Duty, they decided to use a different name and not identify any relationship directly.

According to a large number of fans, the reference to "The ghosts of those three officers came back and taught me the true meaning of Christmas" was originally meant to be sarcastic remark to Ensign Harry Kim. However, some took it to be literal. The similarities between Paris and Locarno also show that they are in fact the same person, Paris having used an alias, and his mother's last name as to not receive any special "favors" in Starfleet Academy because of his father's positions. After being kicked out of Starfleet, he reverts back to his real name, and then travels out on his own. He joined the Maquis and was arrested on his first mission. This set the stage for the beginning of Voyager.

See also : Star Trek, List of Star Trek Voyager episodes

External links

• "Tom Paris" at Memory Alpha
• "Tom Paris" at STARTREK.COM
• "Crew: Tom Paris" at Janet's Star Trek Voyager Site