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Character Name: Thomas
Age: 17 or 18, he/we the audience don't know for certain
Canon: The Maze Runner books
Canon point: The Death Cure, end of Chapter 72
History: Thomas + The Maze Runner series
Personality:
“Your tendency towards freethinking is what ultimately determined that you are the Final Candidate.”
{ INTELLIGENT, resourceful, inquisitive, inventive, creative, observant, innovative, tactical, love for ingenuity and complexity, even when it's horrific, like the Maze }
Thomas was chosen to be one of the four advanced immunes to oversee the trials - he'd been the main engineering designer for the maze and all its complex features. Whether we’re looking at Thomas in his life before the Maze, or the boy he became after the Swipe that erased his memories, this trait is always true of him, and largely what keeps him and his friends alive through the trials. Inside the Maze, though many of the other Gladers had been there for years, it took Thomas a couple weeks to solve the puzzle hidden in the sector map patterns and uncover the password needed for escape. When Thomas is locked in the Maze overnight with Minho, he quickly figures out how to lift an unconscious Alby with vines to conceal him in ivy and protect him from Grievers, something no other banished Glader did, as none of them survived overnight in the maze ("To survive the buggin’ Maze, you gotta be smart, quick, strong. Gotta be a decision maker, know the right amount of risk to take."). He uses the same vines later to pull a very effective Tarzan while escaping a Griever, as well as doing the mental psychics for where and when to duck and roll, causing a Griever chasing him to fly past and into a bottomless pit instead. He's curious, always has too many questions, and feels a deep need to investigate, learn what’s going on around him, and have all information available ( “Ain’t no questions till the end, you get me? Ain’t got time to jaw with you all day.” [ ... ] Thomas nodded, his whole body itching with the desire to ask questions. I need some tape to put over my mouth, he thought). He’s observant, commits small details to memory and theorizes around them, able to infer things without being told, like Chuck’s alienation from the Gladers, Newt's intense fear of the Maze and past as a Runner, and Ably preparing to do something extreme before they go into the Maze for the last battle.
“All I know is I saw two people struggling to get inside these walls and they couldn’t make it. To ignore that because of some stupid rule seemed selfish, cowardly, and... well, stupid. If you want to throw me in jail for trying to save someone’s life, then go ahead.”
{ COMPASSIONATE, self-sacrificing, loyal, honest, moral compulsion, responsibility, endeared to fine moral character. }
He admires courage and fortitude in the Gladers, desires to live up to that, somewhat formed by that, as the Gladers essentially raised Thomas after his memory loss, when he’s allowed to restart with a blank slate and become a new person. People who are simple, honest and optimistic, true to their feelings, gain a fondness from him (as with Chuck, after telling him about his fear and loneliness, missing his parents and crying). That authenticity is something he admires, wishing he could emulate it in himself, especially after Chuck's death. What Thomas starts to learn about himself, particularly when he dives into the Maze to help Minho and Alby, is that he is morally compelled to do what he sees as right. There is no choice, no alternative (They aren't going to make it. Time was up. [...] Five feet. Four feet. Three. Two. Thomas knew he had no choice. He moved. [...] "I couldn't just sit there and leave you guys out here."). Guilt over his part in designing the maze produced this conviction to never ignore his gut sense about the ethics of a situation (“I just... feel like I need to save everyone. To redeem myself.”). In moments like Ben’s banishment, Gally’s insanity, Chuck’s sorrow and Minho’s frustrations, Thomas genuinely sympathizes with people, even ones he really dislikes.
”No one else dies. If we haven’t done enough to pass your stupid tests, then we fail. The tests are over.”
{ WILLFUL; refusal to admit defeat, agitation at calling something impossible or unsolvable, doesn't take shit, won't be bullied or used as a doormat, protective. }
Thomas has Underdog Syndrome. The more someone tells him he can't do something, the more he wants to prove them wrong, even if the thing doesn't actually mean much to him (Gally's repeated attempts to establish some machismo kind of social dominance, guards at WICKED forcing him to lie down, or stand up, or just behave). Driven, self-motivated, obsessed with problem solving, and unrelenting, Thomas has a complete inability to accept an unsolvable problem. WICKED chose the subjects put into the Maze on the basis of wanting to see which ones crack and give up under the loss of hope. The more they work at it, the more frustrated they become, and Thomas isn’t an exception (“Most people would’ve given up by now. But I think we’re different. We couldn’t accept that a problem can’t be solved—especially when it’s something as simple as a maze. And we’ve kept fighting no matter how hopeless it’s gotten.”). He refuses to admit defeat, both in solving a puzzle or in situations designed to break him, like the isolation at the beginning of the Death Cure, and Thomas's stubborn focus on 'Eat. Sleep. Exercise. Thirst for revenge.'. Confronted with a reality that looks a lot like certain death, he quickly decides he'll at least die fighting. As with the night in the maze with the Grievers, when he beserks and charges one, it's soon after that he invents his dive and roll technique that keeps him and Minho alive for the night. The same logic is applied when trying to convince the Gladers that the suicide mission to jump through the Griever Hole is worth doing. When faced with a problem, Thomas becomes near obsessive in his want to solve it. He doesn’t like to state that anything is hopeless, and becomes annoyed with others who express that kind of negativity in a difficult situations - when Minho insists they're already dead after being locked out in the maze, with Gally arguing to stay in the Glade rather than attempt escape. Additionally, Thomas is difficult to intimidate, especially if it's clear a person is trying to (Gally, Jorge, Janson), and tends to blandly make fun of them when pushed (“Okay,” he said, so sick of the guy he wanted to scream, punch him in the face. “Captain Gally it is.” He exaggerated a salute, feeling a rush of adrenaline, as he knew he’d just crossed a line.).
He thought about what he’d just said. Did he really only care about having numbers in the end so they’d have a better chance to be safe? Was he really that detached?
{DETACHED; arrogant, prideful, stuck in his head, occasionally self-centered, immature, petty, childish, sarcastic, critical, Machiavellian struggle, logos vs pathos & ethos, conflicted. }
Thomas has difficulty accepting that someone else might have a better idea, as he’s used to being told he’s the smartest person in the room, which can be really obnoxious when he insinuates others working on a problem (the maze) just didn't try hard enough or weren't smart enough to come up with a solution ("It's been two years. Haven't you gotten desperate enough to stay out there overnight, see if maybe something opens while the walls are moving?" Minho looked up at him, a flash of anger in his eyes. "That's kind of insulting, dude. Seriously." "What?"). What intelligence he does have is more for strategy, problem-solving and academic knowledge - certainly not the only or most vital brands of intelligence. His social skills are lacking, sometimes making observations without realizing how rude they sound, or how critical they are, but this becomes a somewhat comical part of his character eventually, once the other Gladers get used to it and start teasing him when he makes dour or deeply cynical comments (“Well,” Thomas said, “if WICKED can create Grievers, they can create plenty of other freaks of nature that might be worse. Hate to say it, but that rat-lookin’ guy said things were finally going to get tough.” “Once again, Thomas gives us a cheerful pep talk,” Frypan announced.). Idleness is the most annoying thing to him; he's too high functioning to be comfortable with it, and he requires some kind of productivity or mental stimulation, thus, if relegated to a basic task like pulling weeds when he could be working on a problem or doing something more efficient, he acts indignant and fussy (“Newt, I mean it. I can’t pull weeds all day - I’ll go nuts.). He’d held onto bitterness, petulance and spite, particularly for Gally, one thing he didn’t start feeling bad about until later. As he grows, gets accustomed to the Glade, learns more about the Gladers and all they put into the life there, and experiences genuine empathy for them, Thomas learns more about himself as well, becoming more and more ashamed of those thoughts or feelings, and eventually, decides they’re unacceptable (A surge of pride filled Thomas's body, then fizzled. Thomas was sickened by the happiness he'd just felt. Alby was still in bed, screaming his head off in pain - probably wishing he were dead.). Thomas survives by compartmentalizing and suppressing emotions, letting the detached trait of his personality take over when the fear, hopelessness, or emotional pain is too great (Scared? Teresa asked him as they ran. No, I love things made out of blubber and steel. Can’t wait to see them. He felt no mirth or humor and wondered if there’d ever be a time again when he would.).
“Don’t do it, Tommy! Don’t you bloody do it!”
{RECKLESS, impatient, stubborn, pigheaded, serious, doesn't let go of things easily, disregard for authority. }
Doing Dangerous Shit Way Too Fast and With Little Forethought Because It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time: the Thomas Edison Story. He doesn’t have a lot of respect for rules or the idea of How Things Are Done. In fact, Thomas barely even notices them as he zooms by doing whatever the hell he wants, chasing a theory, wanting to see what's behind that locked door, or trying to glean new information from a dangerous person. If the rules are barring him from doing what he believes he needs to do, he won’t have a second thought about breaking them, and making a lot of people really angry (ie, the second time he goes out into the maze without permission, right after being forgiven for the last time). Concern for consequences usually comes after, not before ( after jumping through the closing doors of the Maze: "Thomas leaned back against the rough rock, overcome by disbelief at what he had done. Filled with terror at what the consequences might be.). Recklessness both accelerates Thomas's path to solutions, and is the reason nearly every Glader has wanted to punch him at one point or another. Within the society of the Glade, which requires him to be an obedient unit and follow the formula, this attitude makes him an outlier. Thomas sees it as is stagnation, holding them back more now than anything else - the unwillingness to allow others to explore the maze, the stiff adherence to order in the Glade that doesn't allow for creative problem solving. Maybe in the beginning it was all that kept them safe, but now, that order is trapping them. Thomas cannot stand waiting, and hates anticipation almost more than he hates the actual event - wanting the horror or violence to just get on already (The anticipation of what might happen was overpowering, a suffocating blanket of misery and fear that began to take on a life of its own. He almost wished the suckers would just come and get it over with. The waiting was unbearable.). Thomas often follows a gut feeling, or goes for an extreme if he thinks it's necessary (An idea had just occurred to him. A horrible, terrible, awful idea. The worst idea in the history of horrible, terrible, awful ideas. But instinct told him he was right. That it was something he had to do.). When not in an intense situation that demands quick action, he can be a strategic, logical thinker, like his plan to escape the Maze, and plot to intentionally be stung, but not killed, to retrieve old memories and information.
Suitability: Just based on his history and where he's coming in from, the initial introduction to ADI would be really rocky. Since he's such a literal, logical person, he'll have a rough time believing the supernatural elements, but after seeing/experiencing it himself, he isn't going to stay in denial for long. He'll stick with ADI for a couple reasons - If ADI has the best resources (technological, scientific, etc), he'll consider them his best chance of getting back home, thus stick with them so long as it gives him access to those resources. Beyond that, curiosity is forever a big motivator for Thomas. Throughout the series, his curiosity knows no limits for danger, self-preservation, and sometimes, ethics. Once he sees the paranormal still is real, he'll be obsessed with figuring out how it works, and how ADI works with it. If he can get a reassurance that his home world isn't moving on without him, he'll settle in pretty well. He has that compulsive need to solve puzzles and answer questions, and there are plenty in this setting to keep him busy.
Powers/Abilities: No powers, just some general skills:
➤ SURVIVAL TRAINING; The Glade had very little in the way of comforts, and while WICKED did supply water, electricity and various basic supplies, it was up to the kids to put it all together, build shelter, raise and slaughter livestock, plant and grow crops, and form sort of societal system and authority hierarchy. While Thomas didn't live in the Glade very long (not even a month), he was trained to work and help with all of these things, passed between the different teams to see which he was more useful with, before becoming a Runner. Traversing the Scorch gave him experience surviving extreme terrain and climates, as well as effective unarmed, close quarters combat. So nature survival, rural living, and zombie apocalypses he's all set for.
➤ EMERGENCY APOCALYPSE PARKOUR; Tom's skill for running, climbing, swinging around on vines, ducking and rolling and jumping, is partly learned out of pure necessity, running from the dangers in the maze and inspired by his own natural ingenuity and skill for understanding physics. The other part was muscle memory, as he went through an intense and regular training regimen before the Creators wiped his memory and put him into the maze. Surviving the maze, avoiding capture by the Grievers, running from Cranks and navigating structurally unstable cityscape ruins, demanded a lot of free mobility, agility, and quick thinking. As a Runner, Thomas realized his body is in a sort of perfect shape, his stamina is fairly insane, able to run at a steadily rapid for hours on end, which is all due to the training he received prior to the the maze.
➤ SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, NUEROLOGY PROGIDY; From age 9+, Thomas was forced to work as a scientist in a highly technological and medical (neurology & virology) center, but mainly worked on creating the maze itself, which is more on the engineering side. Granted, he does not have the clear memories of learning about these fields, but there is an innate knowledge and understanding he carries with him, specifically around psychics and mechanical engineering. However, he's a very fast learner, and in canon, once he starts working with something he was familiar with before, he quickly catches back up, even if he doesn't exactly understand the specifics of what he's doing. Relearning theories, formulas, terminology and the more solid elements of these fields would require taking time with textbooks, but it would all still feel pretty familiar, like buried under a layer of brain-fog.
Entity Affinity: The Extinction, The Eye, The Spiral, or The Web
Inventory: Dirty, blood-stained clothes with some Griever slime crusted in (pants, shirt, jacket), a letter from Ava Paige stuffed in a pocket.
Samples: Network/Dialogue & Introspection/Log