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TOM PARIS
He fared well enough at Starfleet Academy - his grades, while not dazzling, were decent. He played on the Parises [sic.] Squares team and participated in various activities. His greatest skill was as a pilot, and he often said he'd rather pilot a ship than sit in the captain's chair. After graduation, he joined a unit of Starfleet's S.A.V division (Small Attack Vessel), where his piloting skills would be put to good use. But there was an accident during a war games demonstration, a pilot was killed - and Tom Paris, fearing his reputation might suffer and derail his career, lied and placed the blame on the dead man. The fault was actually his, and had he simply owned up to that, he would have been disciplined. But he was young, and was terrified of bringing disgrace onto his illustrious family. That mistake cost him dearly. When the lie was revealed, he was discharged. His worst fears had been realized - he had sullied the family name. He sank into a severe depression, wandering the next few years aimlessly, piloting freighters and tankers just to be behind the controls of a ship again - the only place he felt even vaguely alive. At one point he landed in a port where he fell into a game of Dabo with some members of the Maquis, and at the end of a long night he ended up joining them. They offered him the one thing he wanted most: to pilot a sleek starship in situations which require extraordinary prowess. He wasn't much interested in their cause - but it did provide a fight which took his mind off the fight with his own soul. He was with them barely a month when he was captured, and in his mind that was another "failure." When Captain Janeway contacts him in prison, it is with the gift of a new chance at life, and he has always credited her for that opportunity. He would stop a phaser blast for her, and is determined to make her glad she gave him a chance. He of all the crew is not dismayed by the cruel fate which has befallen them: what does it matter that they're at the ends of the galaxy? He's flying a ship and having adventures - that's just what he wants to be doing, and it doesn't matter particularly to him where it happens. He has an affection for B'Elanna, seeing in her a soul at war and reminding him of himself. And, like B'Elanna, he is drawn toward the rock-like steadiness of Tuvok. NOTE BY JANET: Certain aspects of the personality and certain back-story elements did not end up included in the series, while others were added during the series and thus do not appear in the above text.
Picture: publicity shot. Text sources: VC, Poe. Thanks to Juliomac for the background tile (shown at reduced size) and Eos Development for the text background tile from the set 'Traceries'.
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Paris's career in StarFleet was expected to be exemplary. He descended from a proud lineage of Starfleet legends;
his great-grandfather, grandmother, father, and aunt were all admirals. Everyone assumed that Tom, who was bright, capable, and charming, would achieve those same heights. No one knew that Tom felt a tremendous pressure to live up to the name his family had carved - and had grave doubts whether that was possible.