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So, why is Lacarno-- er, I mean, "Tom Paris" a captain?
mhall85
Member Posts: 2,852 Arc User1
I do get it on the surface level... this is the easiest way to get him into the game... but, why is Tom Paris a captain? Better yet, why is he still in Starfleet?
He never struck me as a "career" guy, despite his time on Voyager. That time changed him, matured him, and made him the man he always was supposed to be... great. That doesn't mean he needs to be in Starfleet to be that way.
He CERTAINLY doesn't need to be in the center seat. This is kinda my quiet problem with the Star Trek "extended universe" in the novels and what not: not everyone needs to be super-awesome at their job. Ezri Dax becomes a captain... Beverly Crusher becomes chief of Starfleet Medical (again)... Tuvok becomes an admiral... Jonathan Archer became Starfleet C-in-C, before becoming President of the UFP... BLAH. For once, I want to meet someone like Reg Barclay... and he's still a lieutenant.
He never struck me as a "career" guy, despite his time on Voyager. That time changed him, matured him, and made him the man he always was supposed to be... great. That doesn't mean he needs to be in Starfleet to be that way.
He CERTAINLY doesn't need to be in the center seat. This is kinda my quiet problem with the Star Trek "extended universe" in the novels and what not: not everyone needs to be super-awesome at their job. Ezri Dax becomes a captain... Beverly Crusher becomes chief of Starfleet Medical (again)... Tuvok becomes an admiral... Jonathan Archer became Starfleet C-in-C, before becoming President of the UFP... BLAH. For once, I want to meet someone like Reg Barclay... and he's still a lieutenant.
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To be a Captain in new Star Fleet you have to be a Fleet Admiral.
Someone with the actual Captain rank is basically an Ensign.
So, I guess he took advantage of Starfleet's Bonus XP weekend? :P
It could be an old freighter hauling a cargo full of rubber dog %$@& out of Hong Kong.
My guess is obviously you didn't watch the entire voyager series. Tom Paris became quite a Star fleet officer,
People's careers advance and they gain rank, eventually they get offered their own command.
You do realise that 32 yars have passed since we last saw the Voyager crew and Lieutenant Barclay right?
Barclay would have to be an extremely TRIBBLE poor officer to still be a puny lieutenant after 32 years.
I'd welcome characters returning, helping us - but maybe being not what they have been all the time. Paris would have made a great "Quatermain in space", actually.
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Another good point... although, this one... I assumed she became so lonely/heartbroken over Odo that she "went to a convent." :P
In seriousness, her faith was a big part of her character, so it makes some sense... but, becoming Kai? Yeah... that's a stretch.
In, Endgame, Barclay was teaching at the Academy and was of Commander rank then. So, although he had issues, he still progressed from Lt. J.G. on the Enterprise-D (and still that rank when working on Pathfinder) to Commander by 2404 (Alternate Timeline).
Unfortunately, I did watch all of Voyager. More than once. :P
Paris was a convict, serving as an "observer." He was only given a field promotion because Voyager needed officers. IIRC, he (like B'lanna and Chuckles) didn't even graduate from the academy. None of that warrants him remaining in Starfleet... certainly rising to the rank of captain. He never showed interest in command.
Um... that was kinda the point of his character, LOL.
And, I would disagree... rank isn't everything. He could just be really good at his job. That's a fine thing to be. You don't need to be Master-General-of-Awesome to be a good officer.
Yeah, Ensign Paris and Ensign Kim got their command ... roflmao...
Watch again Endgame. Paris is a writer. I dunno how Ensign Kim got his command tho lol...
Always bugged the heck outta me. I'm sure he would have taken a one-time payout.
Yep, it's *a* possible outcome that Cryptic is using happily.
As a matter of fact the more you study him you begin to wonder if he was a MACO before getting kicked out of Starfleet Academy. He was a crack shot, a medic, test pilot, and all around tactical leader. Remember he took a handful of Talaxians and retook Voyager from the Kazon. He matured over the show and earned the right to be a Captain. For all we know he was Section 31 put there to test Janeway's loyalty to Starfleet. Isn't that the Star Trek way?
By that Logic Seven of Nine and none of the Maquis officers should be in Starfleet.
(Exept Chakotay) and we saw in endgame that Belena even became a Federation liason to the Klingon empire.
As someone else mentioned it has been 32 years since Voyager returned and a lot can change in that time. and I don't know why you are arguing about this as Cryptic aren't going to change their story line because you believe there is an inconsistency, sorry to "burst your bubble" but you aren't that important.
Just ignore your rank. We all effectively operate as captains anyway, in command of a single starship.
If my character was really a Fleet Admiral he'd be flying a desk and in command of a starbase or a task force or something similar.
In STO they're the new heroes of Starfleet though. Canon wise you are right, but I have the feeling that not many players actually know that anymore. I'm also not convinced Cryptic knew that, actually.
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Paris actually did graduate from the academy. He was dishonourably discharged from Starfleet.
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Tom_Paris
Don't confuse Tom Paris with Nicholas Locarno. They were just played by the same actor.
I wouldn't trust anybody else with captaining my starship
Tom Paris was supposed to be Nicholas Locarno, though. It was only changed after the first episodes have been written, supposedly because they didn't want to pay royalty to the author who invented Locarno. But the whole story makes a lot more sense with that knowledge. In-universe, though, you are right.
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But Tom Paris still graduated from the academy. He just didn't stay long in Starfleet. Though he got drummed out for a similar reason, so they didn't change the back story that much.
*MINOR* changes: Both got into trouble, both had dads that were admirals.
/still bugged by this