Lieutenant Thomas Eugene "Tom" Paris is a fictional character in the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager and is portrayed by Robert Duncan McNeill. Paris is the chief helmsman, as well as a temporary auxiliary medic, of the USS Voyager, a Starfleet ship that was stranded in the Delta Quadrant by an alien entity known as the Caretaker. Initially recruited by Captain Kathryn Janeway as a Starfleet "observer" on Voyager's first mission into the Badlands, Paris was reinstated as a Starfleet officer by Janeway and took on the role of being Voyager's helmsman after the original helmsman was killed during the ship's turbulent displacement from the Alpha Quadrant. The character's middle name, "Eugene", is a tribute to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Background The writers planned to use the character of Nicolas Locarno as a template for Tom Paris, a previous similar character played by McNeill in the Next Generation episode "The First Duty". Voyagers writers created an entirely new character sharing many of Locarno's attributes. One reason for this is that the writers want to have the character be a story of redemption, and they did not like the backstory established for Locarno. Paris' character has two backstories. The original backstory, and the only one acknowledged onscreen, 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 Locarno's, moving the accident to Paris' Academy years and making his fellow cadets the victims of his recklessness. An unproduced Voyager script was to have had a flashback to his time attending Starfleet Academy, and shown that Ro Laren, the Bajoran character from Star Trek: The Next Generation was among his classmates. Appearances Prior to Voyager In the Star Trek fictional universe, Star Trek: Voyager takes place in the years 2371 to 2378. Most of Paris' backstory takes place prior to the 2370s. Tom Paris is the son of Starfleet Admiral Owen Paris, with most of his other family also hailing from Starfleet. Following his family's tradition, Paris attended Starfleet Academy sometime in the 2350s and majored in astrophysics. A gifted pilot, he earned an assignment to the Academy's honor squadron. His relationship with his father was not a good one; while Tom wanted to join the Federation Naval Patrol due