Click above to view entire image.
  • Full name: Thomas Eugene Paris

  • Rank: Lieutenant, junior grade (field comission)

  • Position(s): Chief conn officer and medical assistant

  • Species: Human

  • Marital status: Married to B'Elanna Torres (chief engineer, USS Voyager)



Early Life:
Tom Paris is the son of Admiral Owen Paris. During his childhood, Tom's relationship with his father was often strained, a situation that continued into his adult life. Admiral Paris is a firm believer in Starfleet's Prime Directive and was known to lecture his family on the subject once a year. Tom had planned to join the Federation Naval Patrol after graduating high school, but his father had other ideas. Per his father's wishes, Tom enrolled in Starfleet Academy where he majored in astrophysics. Admiral Paris strove to avoid any hint of favoritism towards his son and even gave him a B- grade in a course on survival. As a cadet, Tom chose the Starfleet base outside of Marseilles, France for physical training in his second semester of the academy. He spent most of his time that semester at Chez Sandrine's, a bistro that he later recreated on the holodeck of Voyager.

Caldik Prime:
Just after graduating from the academy, Tom was involved in a fatal accident at Caldik Prime that claimed the lives of three other Starfleet officers. He initially denied responsibility for the accident and even falsified reports to hide his culpability. Tom then went on to serve aboard the Starship Exeter. Eventually, Tom came forward and admitted his error in the Caldik Prime incident and was forced to leave Starfleet. Admiral Paris took this very hard, even harder then himself, Tom believed. In later years, Tom realized that his greatest mistake during those events was failing to tell the truth.

Life as an Outlaw:

Tom joined the Maquis, where he served with Chakotay. The two did not get along, mainly because Chakotay saw Tom as a mercenary willing to fight for anyone who would pay his bar bills. On his first assignment for the Maquis, Tom was arrested by the Federation authorities and imprisoned at the Federation Penal Settlement in New Zealand on Earth. He was released in 2371, by request of Captain Kathryn Janeway, who had served under Admiral Paris' command on the Al-Batani. In exchange for his parole, Tom agreed to help Janeway locate his former colleagues in the Maquis. While carrying out this mission, Tom and all the Voyager crew were swept into the Delta Quadrant by an entity known as the Caretaker. They were then forced to join with the Maquis crew in order to survive. Janeway subsequently reinstated Tom's Starfleet commission, giving him the rank of lieutenant, junior grade, and assigning him to the ship's conn. Around stardate 51186, Tom was also assigned as the ship's new medical assistant since he had the most medical training among the crew. Voyager had been his big break, his new beginning. He was the pilot of a starship and had a wonderful girlfriend and best friend. He thought his days of rebellion were over. They weren't. Voyager happened upon a planet that is entirely made up of ocean. But the core is destabilizing and in order to fix it, Voyager would have to send the Delta Flyer to the middle of the planet. The aliens who live there disagree and forbid Janeway and her crew to do just that. Tom is furious. Convincing one of the aliens he has befriended, he takes the Delta Flyer down into the planet to, against captain's orders, save it. In Tom's mind that was the first time he went against orders for something he really believed in. He did save the planet. He did stand up for what he was right. But he did pay for it. Sentenced to thirty days in solitary confinement, Tom was also stripped of his rank, becoming an ensign. He was later promoted again and all was forgiven.

Life on Voyager:

Tom made quick friends with Ensign Harry Kim before Voyager even departed from Deep Space Nine. Many crew members were judgmental of Tom when he first joined the crew and some even warned Harry to stay away from Tom. However, Harry responded that he doesn't need anyone to choose his friends for him. Tom also earned the reputation of a ladies' man and made attempts to date several female crew members including Kes, Susan Nicoletti, Megan Delaney, and B'Elanna Torres. Using his "bad boy" image to his advantage, Tom was instrumental in a scheme developed by Janeway and Tuvok intended to trap a spy operating aboard Voyager. For several weeks, Tom exhibited increasing anger and discontent with his life and his superiors. This eventually lead to him leaving the ship and join a Talaxian convoy. The plan was successful and Michael Jonas was exposed as a Kazon operative. Tom eventually turned his life around and once even admitted that the life he had in the Delta Quadrant was better than anything he had back on earth. Tom and Harry are still best friends, and known for playing jokes on members of the crew, especially Tuvok.

Hobbies/Intrests:

Tom is an aficionado of the 20th-century. He is fond of traditional foods from that period, such as tomato soup and pizza. Tom's other 20th-centrury interests include: bad horror movies, cars, rock 'n roll, and early science fiction. Tom spends a lot of time on the holodeck running The Adventures of Captain Proton, an early 20th century sci-fi adventure, in which Tom is Captain Proton and Harry Kim is his side-kick Buster Kincaid. Tom's other favorite holodeck programs include "Grease Monkey," a holographic garage where Tom fixed up 1969 Chevy Camero and Sandrine's, a holographic recreation of the bar he frequented during his academy days. Tom and Harry also play many sports on the holodeck such as, volleyball, hoverball, golf, and hockey. Tom is an experience rock climber and skilled at spelunking. He is also known for his outstanding piloting skills.

Achivements:

In 2372, Tom made history for becoming the first human to pilot across the transwarp threshold and attain a warp 10 velocity. The experience accelerated the evolutionary process in his cellular DNA, mutating him to an amphibious creature. Fortunately, the EMH was able to reverse the process. In 2375, he lead the effort to design a new shuttle, the Delta Flyer. Specifications of the shuttle include ultra-aerodynamic contours, retractable nacelles, parametallic hull plating, and unimatrix shielding. Tom also used design elements from his Captain Proton holodeck program.


Tom mutates after achieving Warp 10.



Tom and B'Elanna:


It is assumed that Tom first met B'Elanna Torres in the Maquis. However, this has never been confirmed. B'Elanna's initial impressions of Tom were that he was a "arrogant, self-absorbed pig." Their friendship began to develop on an away mission where B'Elanna was captured by the Vidiians and split into two people, one fully Klingon and one fully Human. Tom comforted B'Elanna's human half while they were trying to escape the Vidiians. Tom began to have romantic feelings for B'Elanna, which he assumed were one-sided. In 2373, B'Elanna was approached by Ensign Vorik, who was experiencing his first pon farr. Vorik asked B'Elanna to be his mate. B'Elanna declined, but during the encounter Vorik forcibly initiated the telepathic mating bond. Unbeknownst to B'Elanna, she had contracted the pon farr. She then went on an away mission with Tom to mine for gallacite. During the mission, B'Elanna exhibited odd behavior , such as biting Tom (a Klingon mating ritual) and starting a fight with a group of armed aliens.

The gallacite was located in very unstable caves and after a quake, B'Elanna and Tom were separated from an away team sent down to assist them. B'Elanna's condition quickly became worse. She made many attempts to seduce Tom, but he rejected her. He told her as her friend it was his duty to watch out for her when her judgment was impaired. He felt that if she let her instincts take over, she would hate herself, and him, too, for taking advantage of her. B'Elanna played on Tom's attraction towards her, and even admitted that she was attracted to him as well. Tom continued to reject her and soon after they were rescued by Tuvok and Chakotay. On the surface, Tuvok informed Tom that they were out of communications range with Voyager and that B'Elanna's condition was becoming life-threatening. If she didn't take a mate soon, she would die. Tom agreed to help her, but before he could, they were interrupted by Ensign Vorik who had disabled communications in order to be with B'Elanna. B'Elanna became angry with Vorik and the two engaged in the ritual combat which resolved both of their pon farr.

B'Elanna told Tom that whatever happened while on the away mission, it wasn't really her since she was under the influence of the pon farr. Tom acknowledge that he knew B'Elanna was afraid that her Klingon side was showing, but admitted that it wasn't so bad and he wouldn't mind seeing it again someday. B'Elanna retorted that he should be careful what he wished for. Tom continued in his efforts to win B'Elanna's heart and finally tricked her into a date by winning a bet. Their first date ended in a fight, with Tom calling her hostile, and B'Elanna asking him to stop trying to be her friend if he found her so impossible. They later reconciled and shared several innocent lunch dates. In 2374, while on a salvage mission to recover Voyager's ejected warp core, their shuttle experience a core breech, and the two were forced to abandon ship. They floated in space in EVA suits for several hours with very little oxygen. With their oxygen supply about to diminish, B'Elanna confessed to Tom that she loved him. The two were rescued and a few days later, shared their first kiss since B'Elanna's pon farr. At first, they attempted to keep their relationship a secret.
However, a group of aliens began conducting experiments on the crew of Voyager, including Tom and B'Elanna whom had their hormonal level increased. Due to the increase in their hormones, the two were caught in a compromising position by Commander Tuvok and then lectured by Captain Janeway to use better judgment. Because of the incident, their relationship soon became public. They were even the subjects of a study on relationships held by Seven of Nine, who told B'Elanna that there isn't anyone on Deck 9, Section 12 who does not know when B'Elanna and Tom are having intimate relations.



Like any relationship, Tom and B'Elanna had their share of set backs, including Tom spending too much time on the holodeck and B'Elanna suffering from acute clinical depression. Their relationship withstood all of the problems that were thrown at them. After being together for three years, B'Elanna began to want more from the relationship and worried that she and Tom were just a "bad match." In an attempt to salvage their relationship, B'Elanna was Tom's co-pilot in a race that he had entered the Delta Flyer in. Tom, who hadn't realized that there was a problem with their relationship, soon caught on and sacrificed winning the race in order to work things out with B'Elanna. Tom then proposed and the two were married shortly afterwards. Tom and B'Elanna's first child, a girl, was born aboard Voyager during the battle with the Borg in which the crew eventually reached the Alpha Quadrant.

1