Tom Norton

Tom Norton was a Human male Jedi Padawan during the. He had known fellow Padawan Ahsoka Tano since he was five and she was four and was her closest friend. After becoming a Padawan Tom became the apprentice of Carmen Conrose before Conrose's death at the hands of Sora Bulq. Norton then became the second Padawan of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Childhood
"Hello, I'm Thomas Norton from planet Bespin."

- Tom introduces himself to Ahsoka

Tom Norton was discovered by Jedi Master Adi Gallia on Bespin while he was a baby and brought to the Jedi Temple to be raised as a Jedi. At five years old he met Ahsoka Tano who became his best friend. They got up to mischief together and sometimes got in trouble during their training. One notable occasion was when they slipped Whoopee cushions onto every Jedi Council Members seat. Most of the Council was furious but a few, like Plo Koon, thought it was amusing though Plo warned Tom and Ahsoka that he wouldn't be so playful if they did it again. Whoopee cushions were banned from the Jedi Temple after that but a lot of younglings thought it was worth it.

Tom and Ahsoka were almost inseparable and they liked to train and spend time in the library and occasionally went swimming in the room of a thousand fountains. Tom also became close friends with Plo Koon through his friendship with Ahsoka. Tom's friendly feelings towards Ahsoka eventually evolved into a crush and he considered her very attractive despite being a different species.

During his childhood Tom developed a rivalry with a boy called Abron Strife and lost to him in his first fighting tournament when he was twelve before beating him in his second the year after and winning the third. After winning his third tournament Tom became a Jedi Padawan.

First mission
Tom was assigned to a green skinned Twi'lek Jedi Knight named Carmen Conrose, who had been the only Padawan of Saesee Tiin. He, his new Master and Jedi Master Sora Bulq (who ironically would become the very person who was responsible for Carmen's death) were sent to the planet Ryloth to rescue Senator Orn Free Taa from a group of terrorists. On Ryloth they met Cham Syndulla who led them to the canyon where Taa was being held prisoner. The three Jedi and their guide found a large cave which would eventually become Cham's headquarters during the clone wars, and were surrounded by about fifty blaster wielding terrorists.

The leader of the terrorists, who looked almost identical to Orn Free Taa, except thinner, told the Jedi that he intended to replace Taa in the Senate and become the successor of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. It turned out that the terrorists were not interested in a ransom. Tom, Bulq, Conrose and Syndulla fought the terrorists and Tom felt slightly disturbed about harming living beings, especially when he saw Sora using Vaapad to kill many of them. Without Sora they probably wouldn't have survived since the terrorists were not mere droids. They defeated the terrorists and the leader agreed to hand over Orn Free Taa. Carmen meanwhile set about healing the terrorists with the Force. Then the group handed the terrorists that hadn't been killed by Sora's Vaapad frenzy over to the Ryloth authorities. Tom, proud about the success of his first mission, was looking forward to telling Ahsoka what had happened though he still felt a little uncomfortable about Sora's massacre.

At some point in his time with Carmen the Twilek began to teach him to heal wounds with the Force but Tom's healing abilities were limited.

Visit to Korriban
At some point before the Clone Wars Tom and Carmen were forced to land on Korriban on their way back from a mission because of a malfunction in the hyperdrive. While Carmen fixed the hyperdrive Tom went exploring. The Padawan accidentally stumbled upon the Valley of the Dark Lords, an ancient burial ground for dead Sith Lords. Tom sensed the dark side of the Force in the valley and, unsure what he was up against, he debated about whether to go in or not. He eventually decided not to go in and returned to his Master, asking her about the valley. Carmen told him a little about the Valley of the Dark Lords which she had read about as a youngling.

Battle of Geonosis
Three months after his first mission Tom and Carmen were sent on a negotiation mission on Demos 4. The mission was successful but the two of them had barely gotten back to the temple when they set out again, along with over two hundred other Jedi to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Padme Armidala from Count Dooku on Geonosis.

Tom and Carmen fought bravely in the arena and Tom managed to kill the fearsome Ackley during the battle. Shortly before the end to the battle in the arena Tom was temporarily distracted by Jango Fett's helmeted head shooting past him and received a wound to the shoulder. Despite the wound Tom was one of the few survivors though his old rival Abron Strife was cut down in the battle. Tom had never been fond of Strife and they got on rather badly as younglings but even so the Padawan was slightly upset by his death.

Tom wanted Ahsoka to be his last thought when the droids finished him off but then Master Yoda arrived with clone reinforcements and all the Jedi in the survivors circle, with the unfortunate exception of Joclad Danva, managed to get into a gunship and flee the arena. Tom used the Force to heal the wound on his shoulder as he'd been taught by his Master and then he and the other surviving Jedi fought alongside the clones against the Separatist droids. The battle was ultimately a victory for the Republic.

Beginning of the seige
"I'm an...okay pilot."

- Tom being slightly doubtful about his flying skills

About five months after the beginning of the Clone Wars, during the beginning of the Battle of Falleen, Tom was sent along with Barriss Offee to take down a Separatist blockade with a squad of V-19 Torrent starfighters and another squad of BTL-B Y-wing starfighters. Carmen and Luminara Unduli planned to bring the cruisers out of hyperspace as soon as someone in either squadron activated their tracking beacon. That way the cruisers wouldn't be a target until later in the battle and they might not lose as many men.

During the space battle Tom was chased by a vulture droids missiles but Barriss used the Force to move the missiles into an enemy cruiser, saving Tom in the process. Tom managed to keep his ship in one peice long enough for Barriss to call reinforcements as planned. However, though Tom was, in his own words, "An okay pilot" he was shot in the wing. Barriss used the Force to guide his ship back into one of the Republic cruisers, saving his life for the second time within half an hour and Tom felt that he'd made a new friend. Barriss and Tom became closer during the siege.

Carmen's death
"Padawan...Let her go"

- Luminara Unduli to Tom Norton after Carmen dies

A month after the beginning of the siege Tom and Carmen fought on the outskirts of a forest. Luminara and Barriss had promised to help Carmen and Tom as soon as they could. Tom and Carmen were lured away from the main battle by a cloaked figure who revealed himself to be Sora Bulq. The three of the dueled in a forest but even together Tom and Carmen were unable to overcome the Dark Jedi who stabbed Carmen in the chest. Tom attacked in a fit of rage but was no match for the Weequay and would have been killed if Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee hadn't arrived and forced Bulq to retreat. Tom was devastated by his masters death.

After winning the battle Tom had a nightmare about Carmen's death and was comforted by Barriss who rubbed his back.

Reunion with Ahsoka
After winning the battle of Falleen Tom was sent back to the Jedi Temple to be assigned to a new Master. The Padawan remained upset about Carmen's death but tried to hide it from Yoda when he contacted him as he went back to Coruscant. In the Jedi Council chamber Tom was assigned to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Plo Koon told him that another Padawan was going with him but he didn't tell him who the Padawan was.

When Tom got onto the ship that would take him to Christophsis he was delighted to find that his companion was Ahsoka. Tom temporarily forgot about Carmen's death in his happiness to see his old friend as he hadn't seen her often since becoming a Padawan and they went to Christophsis together to meet their new masters.

Personality and traits
Tom Norton was a nice person but in his early years he was a bit of a loner. This changed when he befriended Ahsoka Tano, though Ahsoka was one of the only people he felt truly comfortable with. Tom was a bit socially awkward in his early years but despite this he was confident in his lightsaber abilities, and when in combat his awkwardness was washed away by the thrill of the fight. Tom rather enjoyed combat preferring to fight first and ask questions later, which sometimes exasperated Carmen and later Obi-Wan. However Tom felt disturbed about killing living beings and was uncomfortable about Sora Bulq's massacre on Ryloth.

Despite being a bit awkward at times, Tom was willing to stand up for those he cared about, even getting into a brief fight with Abron Strife after the older boy bullied Ahsoka. He got sent to his room by Mace Windu for this but told the Jedi Master that Ahsoka hadn't had anything to do with it to keep her out of trouble. As Ahsoka got more independent Tom's slightly protective attitude wore off, though he still cared about her more than anyone else, including himself.

In his early years Tom was curious about life outside the Jedi Temple and was interested about what ordinary people did for a living. He was also quite adventurous, exploring a little during his and Carmen's brief landing on Korriban and stumbling upon the Valley of the Dark Lords though he decided not to enter the valley due to the dark presences he sensed there.

Ahsoka Tano
Tom Norton had a very close friendship with Ahsoka Tano and over time he developed mild romantic feelings for her despite being a different species. These feelings got stronger as time went on. Tom and Ahsoka became friends very quickly despite the fact that, before they met, Tom was rather solitary. Tom was kind to her when they first met and helped her with her training and she may have felt that she owed him her friendship in return.

Ahsoka and Tom were virtually inseparable - until Tom became a Padawan - and did almost everything together. Tom was a bit more cautious about the pranks they played on the Masters but usually went along with them and sometimes he and Ahsoka got told off for playing them. They were also known to tease each other from time to time. Tom missed Ahsoka when he was a Padawan and though he was very fond of his Master he wished he had more time to be with Ahsoka. He was delighted when he discovered that Ahsoka was going with him to Christophsis, so delighted that he at least temporarily forgot about Carmen's death though it would return to haunt him later.

Obi-Wan Kenobi
Tom became close with his second master, Obi-Wan Kenobi but the extent of their relationship is currently unknown. However Tom was incredulous about Obi-Wan's calm attitude when they were unarmed and surrounded by Separatist droids, indicating that Carmen, despite being a skilled negotiator, had never acted that calmly when surrounded by enemies. He was also amused by the Jedi Masters dry sense of humor.

Carmen Conrose
Tom also had a close relationship with his first Master, Carmen Conrose, considering her to be like a big sister to him. Tom also felt that Carmen was a good teacher despite her lack of experience in training a Padawan. He was devastated when Carmen was killed and it took him a while to get over her death. Jedi detachment was not one of Tom's strong points. Carmen's death actually made the Padawan cry and Tom was rarely someone who was reduced to tears. After her death he had nightmares about it from time to time.

Plo Koon
Tom took a liking to Plo Koon and through his friendship with Ahsoka he became friendly with the Kel-Dor though he wasn't as close to the Jedi Master as Ahsoka was. While Ahsoka considered Plo to be like her father, Tom considered him to be more like an uncle.

Barriss Offee
During the Battle of Falleen, Tom befriended Barriss Offee who saved his life twice at the beginning of the siege. Barriss later tried to comfort Tom about the death of his Master. Tom liked Barriss but noted that she wasn't Ahsoka and never became as close to the Mirialan as he was to Ahsoka.

Powers and abilities
Despite his age Tom was a skilled fighter and was Ahsoka Tano's equal in lightsaber combat, having sparred with her countless times. They each won and lost sparring matches roughly an equal amount of times and became friendly rivals as Younglings. Tom managed to outmaneuver and defeat Ahsoka during his third fighting tournament before being promoted to Jedi Padawan. He practiced Ataru, Soresu and Shien and during his training with Obi-Wan Kenobi he became fond of using the Niman opening stance, mirroring his masters habit of using the stance. Tom managed to survive the Battle of Geonosis with only a minor wound to the shoulder which was impressive for his age and he briefly held his ground against Sora Bulq after Bulq stabbed Carmen on Falleen, but the Dark Acolyte easily overwhelmed him and he only survived because of the arrival of Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee.

Tom possessed a strong connection to the Force and according to Plo Koon his Force connection was only a shade weaker than Ahsoka's. Though Tom's Force powers required more training he was capable of a reasonably strong Force Push from a young age, using it on Abron Strife after Strife bullied Ahsoka while they were Younglings. His Force pushes became stronger over time. Tom was also able to use Force Jump and Force aided acrobatics.

Tom also had a degree of healing skills but his healing abilities only allowed him to heal minor flesh wounds as Carmen didn't have time to train him in advanced healing before she died. Tom found healing more difficult to use than other Force powers, possibly because he was, at heart, more of a fighter than a healer.

Despite Tom's advanced lightsaber skills and strong connection to the Force, the Padawan was slightly doubtful about his flying skills. During the battle of Falleen he was saved twice by Barriss Offee whom he later became friends with. Tom was, in his own words "an okay pilot" but preferred fighting on the ground, feeling safer when he was using his lightsaber rather than flying a space craft.