Talk:Tom Paris

Siblings?
In Tom says that his father used to preach to us about the prime directive. Seems to indicated there were at least two children. Tyrant 18:35, 13 Apr 2005 (EDT)Tyrant


 * And there was, in Jeri Taylor's novel Pathways. Two older sisters, named Kathleen and Moira. Moira, described as having dark hair and blue eyes, was studying to be a doctor while Tom was at the Academy.


 * Speaking of family, Tom's mother must be alive in late 2377/early 2378, since in Tom suggests to B'Elanna that they could go live with "[his] parents" after Voyager got home. Randee15 19:06, 13 Apr 2005 (EDT)

Us could have ment he and his mother just as well. And being a holiday that it was preached on, it could have been extended family gathering at the admirals home.


 * Pathways is not canon. Mr.gn 16:32, 8 July 2007 (UTC)


 * You're right, thank you for the info, Pathways is definitely not canon, but it mentions that Tom has two sisters.


 * BTW, I refer to my father and stepmother's house as "my parents'", even though my mother does not live there. -- Captain MKB 02:33, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Best title for this article?
Right now we have:
 * Thomas E Paris
 * Thomas Eugene Paris
 * Tom Paris

and there are also several pages linking the non-existing page
 * Tom Paris

which, I think, would be the most convenient title for this article. The first one, Thomas E Paris seems to be completely unneccessary, the other two should be redirects. I will move this article there now. -- Cid Highwind 23:13, 13 May 2004 (CEST)


 * There is lots more to tell about Paris then what is currently present. His holo adventures the stunts he pulled etc.. -- Q 21:12, 23 Jan 2005 (CET)

Indenting alternate timeline info
I like the indented alternate timeline paragraph. It might be a good idea to suggest this as a style policy. -- Captain Mike K. Barteltalk 15:08, 9 Apr 2005 (EDT)

doesn't paris get demoted at some point?
and then get his pip back a few seasons later, much to the chagrin of harry. Something to do with flying underwater (I only ever saw the episode once and I missed the first few minutes). I saw captain Janeway yoinking the pip off his collar, and giving him 30 days in the brig, where he later asked Neelix for some pizza rather than the food that he was getting. Have a got the wrong end of the stick here? 62.252.32.12 13:24, 31 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Coincidently the episode was called . --Gvsualan 13:46, 31 May 2005 (UTC)

Tom paris / nicholas licarno
It would be interesting to find out the real reason why Tom Paris' name wasn't Nick Locarno. --65.81.84.58 03:53, 26 Nov 2005 (UTC)


 * The producers (I think...) originally wanted Nick on VOY. However they discovered that they would've had to pay the writers of TNG's everytime they used Nick or his name in an episode... in other words, every VOY ep. A completely unrelated reason, too, was that they eventually decided that Nick was too unlikable and irredeemable.


 * So they went for Plan B, which was to create an original character similar to Nick, but somewhat different and more worthy of redemption. They still liked Robert Duncan McNeil, but attempted to find a different actor for Tom to prevent confusion. But no one fit the bill just right except McNeil, so he was hired after all. -- Miranda Jackson (Talk) 07:30, 26 Nov 2005 (UTC)


 * Original character? He's a slightly more ruthless Tom, which considering his mercenary stint, isn't too far fetched. Besides, in "Drive" B'Elanna refutes his claim that he "got through" the Academy and states that he was expelled. -06:49, 30 April 2008 68.41.252.127


 * It's more likely the later reason, since there is no legal reason for them to pay royalties to Moore.


 * Removed the following statement regarding this, which needs proof it was a reference to Locarno and not merely a reference to Tom's own history. I know he was kicked out of Starfleet, but I thought he graduated from the academy.


 * In the Episode: Drive of Season 7, Lt. Torres states that Tom was expelled from the academy. This could be in reference to another character played by Robert Duncan McNeil on Star Trek: The Next Generation, whom was expelled from the academy attempting to perform an illegal fighter maneuver. Cadet Wesley Crusher was also involved in this incident. --31dot 12:54, November 7, 2009 (UTC)


 * This is a bit old, but the royalties thing might be true. I've found a comment in Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages where Robert Wolfe (creator of the Bareil Antos character in ) observed that Bareil's death in meant that "that's a character payment I'll never see again" (p. 90).


 * We still need some direct evidence regarding this issue from the creators of Voyager on this page, Nicholas Locarno and (instead of just saying that it "may" have been a reason).– Cleanse ( talk 01:40, September 5, 2010 (UTC)

PNA
I added the PNA template because this article (and most of the other Voyager character articles) have a lot of information cluttered together. This info needs to be formated better. --Galaxy001 00:20, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

I think the reason was that what Locarno did was somewhat more unforgiveable...Not only did he involve his fellow squadmembers (of the Nova Squad) in trying out a manoeuvre which he knew to be illegal (thereby exploiting his authority over them) but he also misused that authority (and their sense of comradeship for him as well as for each other) a second time by making them lie about it during the inquest. What Paris did wasn't a nice thing either, but it was a mere piloting error and at least he did not ask anyone else to cover up for him.

Typos
This article is currently loaded with TYpos and spelllling errors, let's get them fixed 20Jan06

Photo
Poor Tom's photo looks like crap. Let's get a photo wiz to get him a decent photo.--CaptainCaca 03:53, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Rank
Wasn't Tom a full Lieutenant at the beginning of the series, and up until he got bumped down to Ensign? In the article it says he started as a Lieutenant Junior Grade, but I believe that was only his rank after he was promoted from Ensign. DaveS86 04:17, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Tom was wearing full lieutenant's rank in, but by he was wearing lt jg. Obviously, like Tuvok, Paris was the victim of costuming error. --From Andoria with Love 23:07, 20 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Though that still doesn't fully answer a the question. We know he was a JR. Grade lieutenant, but up until "Faces" he wore pips of a full lieutenant. But in "Thirty Days" He gets demoted to Ensign. But in "Course: Oblivion" he is miraculously back at the full title of Lieutenant, and then stays that way until the end of the series. I don't think he would get promoted as a wedding gift from Janeway, so did something happen that we weren't aware of that got him promoted again?--Jay 19:12, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
 * You don't necessarily have to do some extra special heroic thing to get promoted. Time in grade and meeting other minimum requirements will also do it. THe fact that we were not told does not discount this possibility. --OuroborosCobra talk 19:27, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
 * I never got how such frequent costuming errors could occur, let alone for an entire season or several episodes such as these characters (or any characters), but that's moot at this point. The question I have, is why are multiple ranks in place for the sidebar? Why not just the last known rank the character had, like it is so done for any other character that had been seen with multiple ranks? --Terran Officer 22:59, November 7, 2009 (UTC)
 * I've just watched the episode and noticed, Tom Paris's rank is used as forshadowing, a sign that there's something now quite right. Because this is not the real voyager, this Tom Paris didn't go to the ocean and disobey the captain, so he's still a leiutenant. However the real Tom, at the very end of the episode is wearing only Ensign insignia. He must be promoted at a later date...
 * For the record, I believe Tom's promotion back to Lieutenant Junior Grade was in Unimatrix Zero. 58.110.182.64 03:04, April 16, 2011 (UTC)

Evolution
How exactly is turning into a fish evolution, shouldn't it be considered devolution instead?
 * Simple, they called it evolution in the episode, so that is what is canon. Also, he did not turn into a fish, he turned into a newt. --OuroborosCobra talk 21:58, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
 * "A newt?" "I got better..." --From Andoria with Love 04:39, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Evolution is not an "upward" process leading to "better" lifeforms. The real error was that evolution is just the net accumulation of random genetic changes, with which changes are retained being detrmined by the process of natural selection.  Evolution doesn't have an "intended path" or "destination".  This really should have been referred too simply as a mutation.

McNeill's muscle suit
So the Paris suit had rubber pecs. Technically true, perhaps; but isn't mentioning it here a little misleading and a little unfair to poor RDM? According to Wil Wheaton, everyone wears foam muscles under their uni (which any guy who's played winter sports could have guessed already; even relatively loose lyra-style shirts are unflattering to anyone who doesn't look like Terrell Owens)

If Lt. Paris were noticeable for being especially jacked, I could see how the muscle suit would have special interest for this entry. As it stands, I plan to delete this and add Wheaton's testimony to the Starfleet uniform page (or something similar); and if anyone has a source for this auction anecdote I'd like to add it, too. Also if anyone has any objections.


 * I added this note as I thought it would be interesting and that we've been putting up many notes in regards to the items from the It's A Wrap! sale and auction. Technically, there is nothing stating he wore a muscle suit for the whole series, it may have been for a scene or for a certain aspect. Personally, I think it's a note of interest to keep and not meant at all as an offense to RDM. :) - V. Adm. Enzo Aquarius...I'm listening 04:26, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

I apologize. My original post was very confrontational, and inadvertently suggested that you weren't being respectful of the actor (I'm an actor myself, albeit one with no "fans," and I know this is a very insulting suggestion to make of an audience member).

Here's what I meant to say: I have new information that's relevant to your contribution. Late TNG unis, which are cut essentially like the ones on the later series, all used muscle padding (according to Wheaton's memoir). So (unless the auction source says it was unusual in this regard) we do have a good explanation for the padding on the auctioned suit: It's a normal part of costuming.

So far from saying your contribution should go, I'm saying it's more informative than you realized; it gives readers interesting background on Trek wardrobe. If you move it to a Starfleet uniform article, it will serve that purpose clearly, and be right where interested readers will read it. (And I can supplement it with my info.) Keeping it in the "Tom Paris" article would rob it of that benefit; instead, readers would inadvertently get the impression that there was something unusual about the suit--and again, that doesn't seem to be the case. Let's move it!

Major at Starfleet Academy
Wikipedia states that Tom Paris majored in astrophysics at Starfleet Academy (Source: Tom Paris). Is there any validity to this? It could explain why he took stellar cartography, unless everyone attends that course. After seeing his mentioning of "science guys" (in reference to Tolen Ren and Harry Kim) in, this possible major seems rather unlikekly, though. --Dr. Zefram Cochrane 04:18, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Totally valid, per :
 * ROBINSON: You know a lot for someone who can't find his way past Saturn.
 * PARIS: I majored in astrophysics.
 * ROBINSON: Where?
 * PARIS: Starfleet Academy.
 * ROBINSON: Never heard of it.
 * PARIS: East coast school.
 * So, I guess Paris was trying to impress Rain Robinson by claiming to major in astrophysics (that wasn't the intention of the scene), or maybe "astrophysics" is the "phys. ed." of the future. Of course, he lied about the location of Starfleet Academy (an east coast campus, maybe?).--Tim Thomason 03:09, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

I saw, where your quotes actually come from, and since it is valid, I will add it to the article. One might assume it was a ploy to explain his astronomy knowledge (e.g., Fourier spectral analysis), but that is contrary to his mistake in mentioning Starfleet Academy. --Dr. Zefram Cochrane 10:04, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

In it becomes apparent that he has a degree in astrophysics, as he proved his aptitude in Advanced Subspace Geometry, suggesting a symmetrical warp field could contain any instabilities in the coaxial warp ship's space-folding core. It makes him similar to fellow flight controllers Hikaru Sulu, head of the astrosciences department, and Jadzia Dax. Furthermore, he is a prolific holodeck programmer (see Chez Sandríne, Grease Monkey, The Adventures of Captain Proton, Fair Haven, Insurrection Alpha, and ) and quite the engineer, realizing how to cross the transwarp threshold, having led the design and construction of the Delta Flyer , noticing design flaws in a quantum slipstream drive , and designing a polaric modulator. The latter device could dilute a subatomic particle stream, similar to how a carburetor dilutes gasoline with air, and thus, he solved the problem of unstable particles that kept overloading the engine that Starfleet scientists and engineers thought was purely hypothetical. He later disabled it with a chromoelectric pulse. This is all in addition to him being a medic, 20th century history buff, and pilot. He seems as versatile as Neelix, but on par with B'Elanna Torres. However, his intellect has been undermined in the episodes, , and (with only a holographic representation of him), as he doesn't understand temporal mechanics, theoretical cosmology, and pleenok. --Dr. Zefram Cochrane 23:04, 5 April 2008 (UTC)


 * It's entirely possible that astrophysics is views in much the same light as geology or mechanical engineering by todays standards. In the same way as chemists, quantum physicists and micro-biologists would consider their subjects academic but geologists and engineers subjects as practical vocations (drawing the line between scientists and engineers although the line is hardly set in stone), in starfleet theoretical cosmology, temporal mechanics and the like may be considered amongst starfleet as the pure sciences, where as subjects like astrophysics and stellar cartography the "practical sciences" (like engineering and geology is today). Basically it's the geeks vs. jocks rivalry for brainboxes.

Children
I know that this is going to sound stupid, but wouldn't the beings he had with Kathryn Janeway in be his children too. And if they are shouldn't they be included in the infobox?--UESPA 18:49, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Printing
Probably a bit of a moot item to post. Please feel free to just crop it out if it should be somewhere else. But I like to keep hard-copy printouts of the Voyager characters' Memory Alpha bios. I update my printouts once or twice a year. It's really helpful in fanfiction writing and table-top RPGing. Well.. the time came to do my updates for the new year, and I find I can't print Tom's bio.

The others print fine. But Tom's has the text printing over the second picture in his infobox. I tried editing the code for the box, based on the code in Torres' infobox. Didn't help. BTW - I'm trying to print in Firefox to keep from printing the adds with the bio. --Jadza 20:52, January 19, 2010 (UTC)

Whoever fixed Tom's bio, thank you, very much. I got it printed just fine. I like printing the bios in Firefox because it allows a little more flexibility in print-size. Thanks again --Jadza 23:11, January 19, 2010 (UTC)