Introduction
Unlike my previous character analysis of Matthis, Tomas isn’t really a character that I feel is overhated or undeserving of the ridicule he gets, nor do I feel like I have to really play defense or anything like that. He’s still an unpopular character, don’t get me wrong, but that’s mostly due to the fact that people simply forget about his existence. And anyone who does remember him just sees him as a weak Archer who joins in the midgame, which…he is.
When it comes to Archanea characters, some people may give them a lot of flak or write them off because they lack a lot of dialogue or any character, and Tomas is kind of one of the main poster boys of that notion. The guy straight-up doesn’t have lines of dialogue outside of death quotes in most of his appearances, so you’d expect this type of analysis to be devoid of substance. However, from the little we do get from this guy, I feel there is just enough for me to justify writing about him, talking about his character, and why I like him. So, let’s begin talking about Tomas, the Quiet Bow.
His Design
When you recruit Tomas the first thing you’ll notice about him is his appearance, as is the case for most characters that have portraits. Tomas is consistently portrayed with vibrant green, short, spiky hair with a large bang swept to the side that covers one of his eyes in some official artwork. Additionally, he’s also outfitted with blue armor, similar to any other archer.
In FE1, he has the same portrait as Gordin: the same green hair, the same blue armor, and the same facial expression. Online, there was somewhat of a meme where people would gaslight others into thinking the two portraits were slightly different, in particular, the shading of the hair, but that’s just a meme. Some sources also erroneously claim that Sedgar shares the same portrait as Gordin and Tomas, but that is not true. Both Sedgar and Wolf have their arms exposed, showing off their Aurelian guns.
In FE3, whereas Gordin’s portrait was overall changed completely to match his personality, it seems Tomas’ portrait was a simple graphical update to the Famicom portrait. In this game, he still resembles Sedgar, although their differing facial expressions sets them apart, giving the player a better sense of their respective personalities. Additionally, Tomas was given a green shirt to wear under his blue armor, which matches his hair.
Tomas’ portrait in this game gives off a more smug and snarky demeanor, he comes off as someone who is over-confident, bratty, stubborn, and impulsive. I really like the over-confident and determined angle because that would be what later media would essentially characterize him as, and the discrepancy between his confidence and his overall stats and growths will always be hilarious to me.
In BSFE, the green shirt he wears under his armor is changed to a beige color. The arrows he carries with him are more noticeable. His green hair is slightly cut to match his Famicom portrait, and he is given freckles. His smug over-confident expression is portrayed again but is more pronounced, and he appears as if he’s actively looking down at you. The freckles give him a more youthful look, which complements his character a lot in making him feel like a young kid who’s way in over his head. All this combined with the fact that he’s overall the weakest unit in the chapter you use him for completes this package. I love this portrait a lot.
In FE11 and FE12, he retains the beige outfit he had in BSFE, but his arrows are no longer noticeable. His hair was stylized a bit more, looking a bit more sleek and less rugged. His facial expression is a lot more dull and nowhere near as smug, and he lost his goddamn freckles. 😞
This version is a lot more diluted and has a lot less character than a lot of the other portraits used to represent him. There isn’t really too much to say about this portrait that doesn’t apply to many of the other portraits in FE11 aside from the fact that he looks malnourished.
His Name
In Japanese, our boy’s name is spelled as トーマス (Tōmasu) not to be confused with トムス (Tomusu) which is romanized as Tomth, and is what Dolph is called in Japanese. This is also not to be confused with the other トムス (Tomusu) who appears in Tear Ring Saga, who is referred to as both Thomas and Tom in the fan translation of that game. It’s also important to mention that this Tomas isn’t the same as the one who’s spelled as トマシュ (Tomashu) which is romanized as Tomasz and is also referred to as Tomas in the localization of Three Houses.
But enough fucking around, Tomas’ Japanese name is commonly romanized as Thormas and many fan translations interpreted his name as Thomas. In the internal data of FE11, the file for his portrait is called THORMAS, although there is a slightly different unused portrait for him which is called TORMAS. The name itself is a Scandinavian/Eastern European variant of "Thomas", from the Aramaic תָּאוֹמָא, Ta'oma, meaning "twin." If the name wasn’t chosen at random, I assume it’s meant to be poking fun at how similar he looked to Gordin in the original games.
War of Shadows
Nothing is known about Tomas before the war. However, he was alongside Midia, Boah, Tweedle Dee, and Tweedle Dum, soldiers of Archanea who were captured while defending the Millennium Court from Dolhr’s initial attack on the Palace. While Tomas remains mute in the FE12 version of this attack, in the original Satellaview Broadcast of this map, Tomas has a few voiced lines. These lines consist of affirming Midia’s declaration to protect Nyna, along with Boah, Dolph, and Macellan, exclaiming that the enemy mages are after Dolph and Macellan, telling Dolph to fall back, and chastising Boah for going into the frontlines. I also think it’s worth noting that Tomas’ voice actor is unknown.
After the battle, he along with everyone else was taken captive as Nyna managed to escape with the help of Camus. Eventually, Nyna would join Marth and together, they’d return to the Palace, and aim to liberate it. The arrival of the newly formed Archanean League comprising Archanea, Altea, and Aurelis, shakes the Dolhrian soldiers and in an attempt to make an example, they attempt to execute Midia and the gang.
However, Marth and his army are able to rescue the prisoners in time, and as thanks, they join his army. At least, that’s the implication; none of them really say anything after you clear the map. Tomas doesn’t really have any lines after this, (not that he said anything initially) and follows along Marth’s army for the duration of the game. After Marth defeats the Shadow Dragon, Medeus, and saves Archanea, Tomas’ ending is quite basic. He simply goes home and continues to live his days in peace.
War of Heroes
In FE12, he can be recruited in Chapter 18 residing in a village in Gra. He talks at Marth informing that he’s appalled by the actions of his countrymen and how they’ve treated the people of Gra, so he joins Marth’s army.
Throughout the remainder of the game, if you use Tomas, like I always do, he will have three support conversations with the avatar, Kris. In the first conversation, he’s practicing his archery by shooting an apple off of Kris’ head and is enthusiastic about managing to hit it. Afterwards, he admits that he’s only practiced with dolls up until now, so now he feels more confident with his archery. Kris is then left flabbergasted.
The next conversation opens with Tomas training his archery again, Kris acknowledges how earnest he is in his training, and Tomas explains that he has a debt to pay to Prince Marth. Kris then asks Tomas if there’s anything he could do to help him, and Tomas responds by asking them to put an apple on the top of their head. Kris is then understandably hesitant.
The last conversation begins with Tomas ecstatic at how his arrow flew over Kris’ head THEN hits the apple; Absolutely. Fucking. Incredible. Kris isn’t as ecstatic though because Tomas’ arrow nearly slit Jagen’s throat, and Jagen was livid, and chews out Tomas and Kris. The only thing that saved them was Marth intervening and vouching for them. Wait. What was that? Tomas literally almost killed Jagen, one of the strongest knights in Altea, and got Kris in trouble in the process? What an absolute unit. Did Jeorge ever do that? Didn’t think so.
Jagen’s reaction gets Tomas just as exhilarated as he was when he shot the apple. Kris then calls Tomas stubborn, but still opts to give Tomas company if he’s going to continue training. After this, Tomas gives Kris a grape, and before Kris can realize what’s going on, Tomas is already readying his bow.
After the war, Tomas decides to join the Archanean watchmen, defending the borders. His ending also states that he much prefers to be alongside his people than serve the military.
Other Iterations
In the Maki Hakoda manga, Tomas is introduced in Chapter 30 in Volume 6. He and the rest of the hostages are in Archanea’s Millenium Court and as they’re twiddling their thumbs, they hear the commotion going on outside. Dolph and Macellan are talking to Midia about the possibility of them being executed, and Tomas proceeds to scold them for always finishing each other’s sentences.
In the next chapter, the five prisoners are discussing what to do, and Tomas is suggesting that they should try escaping and join the liberation army. He also mentions how Jeorge had done the exact same thing. However, their talk is cut short as the Dolhrian forces march in and send the five to execution, in which Tomas reacts accordingly.
The five are quickly rescued by Jeorge, and here the relationship between Tomas and Jeorge is established. The two have a hilarious dynamic; it’s established previously that Tomas looks up to Jeorge and wants to be just like him, but when they actually interact with one another, they’re both just complete assholes to one another.
In a later chapter, Hardin decides to briefly go back to Aurelis with his men to stop a riot going on there, while the rest of the army decide to go to Gra. Tomas says something among the lines of “Will your small squadron of knights be enough? Do you know how big the riot is?” and Jeorge replies with something like “If you’re so worried you should go with them. Though, it’s not like you’ll be much help.” and then Tomas gets pissed off. Nyna then breaks up their fight by siding with Jeorge telling Tomas that Hardin and his knights will be fine on their own.
However, my absolute favorite part of the manga is definitely when they meet Catria in Gra. Catria flies down to greet Marth and thank him for rescuing Minerva and Maria. Then Tomas is like “Oh shit, a pegasus knight! Don’t worry, I’ll kill it!” only for Jeorge to jump in and fucking throw Tomas off to the ground. When I got to this part in the manga, I was laughing my ass off.
I absolutely love Tomas in the manga, and for someone who was somewhat of a nothing character in the games, I think leaning into the more comic relief angle was definitely the best move. A lot of the traits and characteristics that are implied through his supports in FE12 are represented in full effect in the manga, as well as some characteristics portrayed by OVA Gordin. I also really love how his poor base stats in the games are also used as a way to contrast his overconfident personality and make him work as the butt of the joke. Hell, even his character bio pokes fun at his low stats compared to Jeorge.
Another iteration worth mentioning is the other manga for FE1, the one by Masaki Sano and Kyo Watanabe. It had a radio drama show that was a reading of the first two volumes, and later it was released as a drama CD. In one of the bonus tracks for this CD, you can hear Navarre talking with someone, by the name of Milan, who wants to take his revenge on Navarre and the Soothsires for killing his brother Tomas.
It should be noted that this Tomas and the Tomas that’s the focal point of this analysis are two separate characters. So, let it be known that in Archanea, there are at least two people who happen to be named Tomas. Though, Milan is a character that is infinitely more interesting than his dead brother, and I recommend watching Percevalko’s video on Milan.
Gameplay Analysis
Now, I know I was literally just talking about how piss poor his stats are when I was talking about the manga, and if you opened up any of the wikis and looked at his base stats and growths, you’d run away faster than the average person when I talk to them about my hobbies and interests. Like, the guy joins in Chapter 12 with 7 strength and 5 speed with 20s and 30s in every growth aside from HP and Speed. However, despite the setbacks, Tomas is quite good… at least in FE1 and 3.
I don’t want to regurgitate the same talking points ActualLizard made in his video discussing Tomas because I’d recommend you just watch that instead, but to summarize, while Tomas’ bases are quite low, he has one base stat that’s unusually high, his base level. In FE1, Tomas joins at level 8, which is kind of funny to think about, because in BSFE, which takes place before FE1, he joins at level 1 and has the exact same base stats, which implies that between then and now, he's gained seven levels and they were all completely blank levels. But that's beside the point, with his base level of 8, and because of how EXP works in FE1 and 3, he can get to level 10 and you can promote him to a Sniper almost right away.
Don’t worry, the game’s got you, you get your first Orion’s Bolt in Tomas’ joining map.
Chapter 12 is quite literally the Tomas Starter Kit, and it’s very easy to get him up to speed with everyone else. Because of how promotions work, when he does promote, he will be gifted with a lovely 7 move, 14 speed, and… well his strength stays the same, but he’ll still kill things easily. Because Jeorge has a -2 personal base speed, Jeorge would be stuck at 12 speed, while Tomas sits pretty at 14, showing once again who the real best Sniper is. At 14 speed Tomas can double other Snipers as well as Heroes and Bishops with heavier weaponry. If you’re an absolute madman, and didn’t give your Speed Ring to Minerva, you could also give it to Tomas to just cap out his speed right away.
In FE3, most of the things that apply to FE1 also apply here; the only caveats are that Parthia grants Paragon making Tomas’ grind to level 10 a lot easier, and because promotion bonuses now just give flat stat boosts, rather than being a faster Jeorge, Tomas is a slightly slower Jeorge with more strength.
In FE11, the shift to Master Seals means that rather than only competing with Gordin for its usage, he’s now competing with almost the entire roster. Additionally, reclassing essentially kills his original niche of being one of your three possible Snipers, in the same way half of the roster lost their own niches in the remakes. Now, if you want a good Sniper, you’d just reclass Jagen or Minerva. The Sniper base bow rank is C anyway, so you can already use every bow barring Silver Bows and Parthia.
In FE12, Tomas is just another late-game prepromote with low bases and high growths, and by low bases, I mean really low. In fact, Tomas’ personal stats are about on par with Gordin’s, and for reference, Tomas joins in Chapter 18, Gordin joins in Prologue 4. One of his only redeeming qualities is that since Chapter 18 has so many enemy Dracoknights, an extra Silver Bow Sniper with free deployment is handy.
The only other redeeming quality is that if you were to open FE12 in a hex editor and look at the unit data, they each have a byte that denotes their gender, likely for reclassing and Prf items like the Ladyblade or Excalibur. Male characters are represented by 00 and female characters are 01. However, Tomas is represented with 02, which means Tomas is considered nonbinary as far as internal data goes. Talk about representation; not only did Tomas almost kill Jagen, get Kris in trouble, and be the best canonical Parthia user, but he’s also a proud member of the LGBT community. Tomas confirmed better than Jeorge!
Key Character Traits
When looking at dialogue alone, there isn’t all that much you can interpret from Tomas in most of his appearances, let alone a lot of things that would stand out. In his death quotes for both FE3 and 11, he simply wishes for Nyna to be safe, which is a trait shared with most characters who are aligned with Archanea, and in FE1 he didn’t even have a death quote.
In FE12, his death quote is something along the lines of “Was I...a burden all along...?” which is an interesting piece of introspection that contrasts his usual overly confident attitude, and maybe sheds light on somewhat of an insecurity about his usefulness in combat. He has a similar death quote in FE12’s version of the first BSFE map, “Princess Nyna... Sorry for... being useless…” which further implies this idea. Unfortunately, that angle is not explored at all outside of this.
In his supports, he’s shown to be very stubborn, earnest, and somewhat childish. He’s very interested in archery, as you’d expect from an archer, to the point where all of his supports feature him training his bow. He’s a lot more enthusiastic when it comes to training than the average person, and is always trying to shoot fruits off of someone’s head in his free time. Like I mentioned in the manga section, he feels a lot like Gordin from the OVA.
And since I have nowhere else to mention this, someone on Reddit made a really cool fan support between Tomas and Gordin, and I feel they did a really good job at capturing Tomas while also adding more layers to him. The same guy, LaughingX-Naut, has also released several other really good fan supports of other Archanean and Valentian characters.
Something I like to imagine is that, since the games refer to him as “The Quiet Bow,” Tomas is normally a quiet and peaceful guy, but once archery is mentioned, he can’t shut up about it.
Furthermore, his portraits in the non-DS games portray him as a confident, smug, and adventurous looking individual. It’s a look I feel portrays his personality better than words could and it’s a cool design that sets him apart from the more grounded and serious characters in the cast.
Conclusion
Well, that’s basically all I wanted to talk about relating to Tomas. He’s not the most deep or interesting character, but he has more than I feel he gets credit for; there is definitely a semblance of a character there which is more than I can say for characters like Kane, Alba, and Robert. Then again, Tomas had the advantage of remakes, being featured in a manga, and a Satellaview game.
In any case, I hope at the very least I was able to effectively communicate my interest in Tomas and why I like him. At the end of the day, I feel a lot of Kaga-era fans have that one unit that has little to no dialogue that they obsess over, and Tomas just happens to be one of those characters for me. The way he’s built in FE1 and 3, as a unit who looks like complete trash at first, but subverts those expectations with little effort, his various portraits that brim with attitude, his portrayal as an absolute goofball in the manga, and his silly supports in FE12 all contribute to making Tomas one of my favorite archers in Fire Emblem.
No one will likely comment on this, but if you do, I wonder what other units similar to Tomas that you happen to obsess over. One that you hyperfixate on that most other people deem as forgettable or lacking of substance. I’m genuinely curious to know, so don’t be afraid to comment below telling me all about your obsessions with units like Bord and Cord. Anyways, that’s it for today, goodbye!
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