Thom-A293
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
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S-A293[3] | |
- "I'm not gonna lie to you, Lieutenant. You're stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled."
- — Commander Carter-A259 to SPARTAN-B312 on replacing Thom on NOBLE Team[4]
Thom-A293 was a SPARTAN-III commando and a member of the UNSC Navy during the Human-Covenant War. He served as a member of Noble Team under the call sign Noble Six until his death on April 22, 2552.[1][2][5]
Biography
Childhood and training
Thom was orphaned in the early years of the Human-Covenant War when the Covenant glassed his homeworld. He was identified as a potential candidate for the first class of the SPARTAN-III program at a young age and, after "volunteering" for the program, was taken to the classified world Onyx for training under Lieutenant Kurt Ambrose and SCPO Franklin Mendez in late 2532. Thom was identified by Ambrose and Mendez as one of a handful of exceptional specimens within the SPARTAN-III Alpha Company and was extracted from the group before the disastrous Operation: PROMETHEUS. He and a small number of other Spartans were given MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor and were assigned to smaller special operations units and eventually NOBLE Team.[6]
Operation: OFFSET EYE
- Main article: Operation: OFFSET EYE
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Death
During the Battle of Fumirole on April 22, 2552, Thom participated in an operation put together by Lieutenant Commander Catherine-B320 to destroy the Ket-pattern battlecruiser, Sanctity of Purification, maintaining position above a city.[2][7] However, Kat, who carried the Fury tactical nuclear weapon intended to destroy the Covenant ship, was incapacitated while on her way to the objective by an enemy Banshee.[1]
Thom was the first to arrive to where Kat was laying wounded, picking up the nuke for her and using his jetpack to fly into the battlecruiser's gravity lift. Once inside, he threw the nuke into a crowded hangar and attempted to escape the ship before it went off, without success. The nuke detonated before Thom could safely make it out, destroying the ship and killing him.[1][8][7]
Replacement
Both Commander Carter-A259 and Lt. Commander Kat took responsibility for Thom's death, unable to admit that his death was his own decision. The team's commanding officer, Colonel Urban Holland, asserted that Thom died because he chose to attack Covenant forces without waiting for backup.[2][9] Thom was replaced on Noble Team by SPARTAN-B312 in July 2552, only days prior to the Fall of Reach.[4]
Personality and traits
Thom-A293 served in Noble Team, and was considered to be youthful and humorous individual, who served as the "heart" of Noble Team during his service.[7] Even during high-stakes firefights, he displayed a joking attitude and a pensiveness for ribbing his fellow teammates.[5] As such, his death hit the remaining members of NOBLE hard, with both Carter and Kat blaming themselves for his death[2][9] - resulting in his position in the team being something several personnel felt uneasy about replacing only a few weeks later.[4]
Equipment
During Operation: OFFSET EYE, Thom employed a CQS48 Bulldog shotgun and wore Mark V MJOLNIR armor with green-orange colouration. The suit was up-armored with the D0-01-CCR Breaching Kit and a Mark V[B] helmet with a UA/Type O5 attachment. He wore a HAZOP shoulder pad for his left shoulder and a UA/Multi-Threat shoulder pad for his right shoulder. Thom also had a SRT UGPS wrist piece on his wrist, the M10 Tactical Soft Case attached to his thigh, and UA/Type KT knees guards.[10][5][11]
During the Covenant attack on Fumirole, Thom wore gray Mark V MJOLNIR armor and a Mark V[B] helmet with a UA/Type B1 attachment, and FJ/PARA knee guards. He was also seen with a Series 8 jetpack on his back.[1][11]
Production notes
Thom was originally intended to play a larger role in Halo: Reach as a member of Noble Team, as a part of the team's original roster of seven members alongside Rosenda-A344. Ultimately, the team was cut down to six members, with Thom being replaced with a custom player character and Rosenda cut from the game entirely. Both Spartans were retained in Halo canon, with Thom's death taking a central role in the Deliver Hope trailer for Reach and Rosenda referenced offhandedly in the Noble Team performance reports as a potential replacement for Emile-A239.[2] During development, Thom was designed to have a "cowboy-like" personality, and concept art produced by Isaac Hannaford depicts him in yellow-orange and blue MJOLNIR armour with a nondescript machine gun.[12] "Thom" remained one of the name options for customized loadouts in Halo: Reach, along with the names of the members of Noble Team and several Spartan-IIs.[13]
While Thom was kept nominally in canon via his depiction in Deliver Hope he remained outside of the spotlight for over a decade except for a brief mention by Catalog confirming his service tag of A344 - something first associated with the license plate Easter eggs in Halo 3: ODST. In ODST, the license plate "KNT 293T" was long assumed to stand for "Thom-293, Noble Team". Catalog confirmed his tag several years later in addition to identifying him as a member of Alpha Company.[3]
Thom was given her first major spotlight since his introduction in Deliver Hope in 2023, in the Noble Intention event for Halo Infinite. The event features an armour kit based on Thom's original concept art (alongside one for Rosenda), with the original concept art colouration as opposed to the grey-white suit depicted in the live action trailer.[10] The Winter Contention short story released to celebrate the event centred on Rosenda and Thom, and fleshed out their characters and history with NOBLE team.[5]
While Thom's appearance in Halo Infinite and Winter Contention is based on his original armour design, both iterations remain fully-canon, with Alex Wakeford later clarifying that they are simply the result of Thom changing his suit between missions.[11]
Gallery
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Browse more images in this article's gallery page. |
Concept art of NOBLE's full originally-intended roster, including Rosenda and Thom.
Early concept art of Thom for Halo: Reach.
Concept art of Thom in his MJOLNIR armor.
Thom-A293 using a jetpack to plant a Medium Fusion Destructive Device on a Covenant Ket-pattern battlecruiser.
Thom gazes into the cruiser's hangar bay just as he is about to deploy the MFDD.
Thom during the Battle of Fumirole in April 2552.
The Thom-A293 armor kit in Halo Infinite.
List of appearances
- Remember Reach
- Deliver Hope (First appearance)
- Halo: Reach (Mentioned as a loadout)
- Halo Infinite (Mentioned only)
- Winter Contention
Sources
- ^ a b c d e Halo: Reach marketing, Deliver Hope
- ^ a b c d e f Bungie.net, Halo: Reach - Intel - Kat-B320 Profile (Retrieved on Oct 13, 2014) [local archive] [external archive]
- ^ a b Halo Waypoint, Catalog Interaction (Page 51): "Query Answer: Human naval records list requested individual as Thom-A293." - Catalog (Retrieved on Oct 13, 2014) [archive]
- ^ a b c Halo: Reach, campaign level Noble Actual
- ^ a b c d Winter Contention
- ^ Bungie.net, Halo: Reach - Intel - Personnel (Retrieved on Oct 13, 2014) [archive]
- ^ a b c Twitter, Halo (@Halo): "CHARACTER DATABASE - THOM-A293
The former Noble Six, who sacrificed himself to destroy the Covenant battlecruiser Sanctity of Purification in April 2552. For his youthful exuberance and humor, we honor him as the stalwart heart of Noble Team. #FictionFriday" (Retrieved on Feb 11, 2023) [archive] - ^ Bungie.net, Bungie Weekly Update 08/27/10 (Retrieved on Oct 13, 2014) [archive]
- ^ a b Halo Waypoint, Kat-B320 (Retrieved on Jul 28, 2021) [archive]
- ^ a b Halo Infinite, Armor Hall: Thom-A293 Kit
- ^ a b c Twitter, Alex Wakeford (@haruspis): "Both his Halo Infinite coating (based on the original Halo: Reach concept art) and the "default grey" we see him sporting in the Deliver Hope trailer are canon 🙂" (Retrieved on Feb 8, 2023) [archive]
- ^ YouTube - CMNeir, PAX 2010: *Bungie Panel*: "And yes, originally, there were seven Spartans. A little trivia for you guys; Rosenda and Thom were two Spartans that didn't make the cut..." - Marcus Lehto
- ^ Halo: Reach, Custom Games: Gamemode loadout settings
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