Locarno is the fake identity. Tom wanted to be in starfleet but not have any nepotism so he went in under a fake name
Why Tom Paris and not Nick Locarno?
- Thread starter Darth Thanos
- Start date
Yeah that could have worked if they went in that direction.
Indeed.
And isn't this also why ENT had to invent the character of T'Pol and not use T'Pau as was originally planned?
Maybe.
But what about the the pop group T'Pau from the 80's? Do they have to pay royalties too?
They'll just give a little bit of heart and soul.But what about the the pop group T'Pau from the 80's? Do they have to pay royalties too?
Not exactly. If the episode was written by staff writers, then the guest characters are owned by the studio. If it was written by a freelancer, then the writer owns the guest characters created for that episode. The First Duty was written by staff writers, Ron Moore and Naren Shankar, therefore Paramount owns Nick Locarno.
Though that might explain T'Pol being created instead of T'Pau being utilized... Theodore Sturgeon wrote "AMOK TIME". He wasn't a staff writer for TOS.
However, that does beg the question if his estate gets royalties whenever T'Pring is used on SNW.
However, that does beg the question if his estate gets royalties whenever T'Pring is used on SNW.
thanks for the correction. either way though it makes the claim that using Locarno would require paramount to pay a writer for every episode" incorrect. they had clear rights to add Locarno if they wanted, but they chose not to. and the idea that they had cold feet about how Locarno would be viewed.. that makes sense. especially if you watch "The first duty" and pay attention to what Locarno kept doing before the finale.
the first time we see him, he throws the dead cadet under a bus by blaming his poor piloting for the accident:
then we find out he not only they the dead cadet under the bus, but he did it after lying to his own team about how they were going to handle the aftermath, gaslighting them in the process..
then, after the evidence comes out about what manuever they were actually trying to do, and Picard confronts wesley with it, Locarno basically tries to get Wesley to either take a direct hand by lying to the board and to wesley's own father figure (Picard), or to have wesley throw himself under the bus and sacrifice his career to protect locarno. belittling Wesley's sense of morality and ethics in the process, as well as the notions of honor and duty. (keep in mind, morality, ethics, honor, and duty are key elements of being a good starfleet officer, both in practice and in the ideology that the academy promotes with its curriculum and culture)
of course, Locarno was in Wesley's place at that time, he could have stood up and told the truth at any time. the fact that he didn't illustrates how self centered he was, and how much his claim that by lying and throwing people under busses he was 'protecting the team' was a false one. that he threw himself in front of the board at the end was damage control, not moral fiber.
i honestly think that Lower Decks handled him correctly. he was an arrogant, self-centered person, who refused to admit his own mistakes.
I think that my three suggestions are better:
Option 1: Nick Locarno was the result of a a love affair between Admiral Paris and another woman than his wife. The old Admiral helped Nick Locarno to be accepted at Starfleet Academy where he screwed it up. The similar accidents Nick and Tom had were coincidents. Tom's hatred to his father was because he found out about Nick Locarno's existence during his time at Starfleet Academy. A possible meeting between Tom and Nick would be something for coming books or movies, wouldn't it?
Option 2: Tom Paris and Nick Locarno are the same persons and there was only one accident. Admiral Paris tried to cover it up by persuading all involved to use the name "Nick Locarno" during the trial so that the good name of Paris wouldn't be disgraced. However, Starfleet later gave the Admiral a reprimand for that sceme and the convicted pilot was revealed as Tom Paris. Tom's dislike of his father was further increased by that "Nick Locarno" scenario and the fact that Admiral Paris more and less pretended that the accused wasn't his son.
However, option 2 is out of the picture since Nick Locarno did show up in a ST novella called Revenant. The Memory Beta article about Locarno's appearance can be found here. In fact, even the story Strange Dreams on the Kes Website website states that Paris and Locarno are two different persons.
Option 3. Tom Paris and Nick Locarno are twins separated at birth. The similarity between the accidents are coincidents, however Admiral Paris did his best to cover up the relationship between Nick Locarno and the Paris family. Tom did find out about it later which is one of the reasons he despises his father.
Or you know we could go with what's canon and just say they are completely different people that only some people think look alike. He was in Lower Decks so it's obviously not the same person.
Yeah, it's not like RDM is the first actor ever to play multiple roles in Trek. 
I just don't see how people think they look alike. I don't see it at all.
I don't know I just don't see it.
They're probably right next to your similarly misplaced joke detector?
Was he making a joke?
Based on Occam's Razor, I'd assume so.
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