Tom Wachowski

Tom Wachowski is one of the two deuteragonists of the Sonic the Hedgehog film series (alongside Miles "Tails" Prower). He is the Sheriff of Green Hills who protects creatures big and small and lives in a household with his dog Ozzie, his wife Maddie and their adopted son Sonic, an anthropomorphic hedgehog from another planet. They often come together to protect the world from threats made by Dr. Robotnik, the evil doctor. 
Tom Wachowski was portrayed by James Marsden, who also portrayed Prince Edward in Enchanted film series, Cyclops in the X-Men Series, Fred O'Hare in Hop, and voices Diggs in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Tim Templeton in Boss Baby: Family Business and Hitch Trailblazer in My Little Pony: A New Generation. 
==Background==
Tom and his entire family have been the Sheriffs protecting Green Hills since the small town's founding. His father was the previous one and it was stated by "Crazy Carl" that Tom's father was a good man. Mr. Wachowski and Tom often fished, where his father gave his son words of wisdom.
During the years that he and Maddie were married, he took two extra jobs to pay for Maddie's rent and tuition. However, Maddie's sister, Rachel resented their relationship and always tried convincing her sister to divorce Tom, but to no avail. He graduated from high school and eventually succeeded his father as sheriff. Tom, Maddie, and the deputies often dismissed "Crazy Carl's" claims of a "blue devil" running around the area, as he failed to capture him. Unknown to both Tom and Maddie, Sonic the Hedgehog from another planet watched the Wachowski Family from afar. He also was called the "Donut Lord" by Sonic due his tendency to talk to his donuts and eat them if they get out of line.
When his father died, Tom was elected sheriff; however, he ended up resenting his job because everyone in the town called for "useless tasks" like jumpstarting their car or cleaning the gutters. Tom applied for a position at the San Francisco Police Department.
=== Personality===
Sonic calls him the "Donut Lord" due to Tom's tendency of talking to donuts and "eating them when they talk out of line." He is hardworking, protective, brave and kind-hearted. He is a defender of animals, big and small. However, he doesn't like it when the raccoons eat from Tom and Maddie's trash cans. Tom makes terrible "dad jokes," which Sonic points out. His responsible and cool behavior is meant to compromise with Sonic's more reckless and carefree one and one of the role models that Sonic looked up to from a far. Tom is also a family man at most, as he worked three jobs to provide for himself and Maddie and he will do whatever it takes to defend his family and friends. He will defend the people he cares about the most — his wife, his son Ozzie and the people of the world. 
Tom is as well openly skeptic when presented with a situation that seems odd or fabricated, such as when he first met Dr. Robotnik and heard his "story" about being from the power company in order to get inside his house. Not one to be easily fooled, despite Robotnik's belief to the contrary, Tom is witty and cunning, having outmaneuvered Robotnik in a battle of wits several times. He can also be sarcastic, telling Wade (his foolhardy deputy) that he was vacationing with Rhianna on anothee Island when Wade asked if Tom was waiting for a high speed chase. However, Tom initially disliked his job as sheriff and wants more excitement in his life. He wants to do more with his career like helping others who are in life or death situations. However after his first adventure with Sonic, Tom changed his mind about moving and realized that people of Green Hills rely on him to protect them. He is also fiercely protective of his family and friends, taking great insult to Robotnik when he called his wife collateral damage and threatenef his son more than once. 
By the sequel, the Wachowskis have become, not only Sonic's guardians, but have embraced the roles as his adoptive parents and have accepted him as their son regardless of them being a different race. He is a man who is a good man with honorable traits and a high morals. The second and the third movies shows that Tom will do whatever it takes to protect Sonic, having apparently joined forces with GUN to defeat Shadow. 
===Physical Appearance===
Tom is a handsome man, apparently in his mid to late 30s with short cut brown hair, Brown eyes and fair skin. He is often seen wearing his sheriff uniform when on duty. When not, he wears casual shirts and jeans. Tom also has a pair of sunglasses, when he was doing his job as sheriff. 
When Tom was on the run with Sonic, he wore a cap to conceal his identity. 
==Appearances==
===Sonic the Hedgehog===
Ten years later, Tom(filled with boredom) is at the "Welcome to Green Hills" sign, anticipating for someone to speed past him with his radar gun. He is suddenly contacted by his deputy, Wade Whipple, asking if his friend is still waiting for someone to speed past him. Tom sarcastically answers he is on a yacht in Barbados sharing drinks with Rihanna. However, Wade takes him seriously and asks for pictures until Tom clarifies that he is still in the high-speed trap. He hung up when Tom saw that a turtle was slowly walking past him and as a joke, he clocked the Turtle's speed. Tom joked about him, asking him what the rush was because he was going slow. However, no one is around to laugh at Tom's joke, so he just dismisses it. Suddenly, Tom's radar gun docks something moving at 296 mph to 300 mph, leaving the Sheriff confused and unaware that Sonic the Hedgehog is tracking his speed limit. He left his patrol car, where he found a blue quill on the floor. However, Tom was interrupted when Wade joked with him about a violent gang shoot-out. He quickly rushed to his car, trying to forget about the incident with the radar gun, and drove away. However, Wade joked and told him it was a false alarm; a duck stole a bagel and the store wanted it back.
 
During Sonic's narration, Tom was later seen holding up traffic with a stop sign, so a mother duck and her children could walk across. According to Sonic, the Sheriff is a protector of all creatures, big and small. He is also married to "Pretzel Lady" (his wife Maddie), whom Sonic nicknamed because she could move her body in inhumanly possible ways. Sonic later goes over to the Wachowski house, where he finds Maddie, Tom, and Ozzie snuggling up on the couch, watching Speed, starring Keanu Reeves. Sonic says that they are all like one big happy family, even though they haven't met yet. However, he fears that he will forever be alone.The next night, Tom is driving home from work, where he sees that there are raccoons trying to eat his garbage from their trashes. The sheriff scared them away before going inside, where Ozzie greeted him. Tom affectionately greets his dog when he sees Maddie holding up a letter. Tom believed it to be the San Francisco Police Department acceptance letter he was waiting for it. Taking the envelope, Tom opened it and read that he had been accepted into their precinct. Maddie reached out for a cake she baked. However, it was the wrong one, which Maddie realizes that it reads "Forget those morons. San Francisco sucks." She grabbed the right one, offering his "congratulation. I never had a doubt" cake instead. 
As the two embrace one another, Tom notices an app opened on his wife's laptop, and she was looking for apartments for rent on Zillow in case Tom got accepted. When Maddie reveals her intentions of flying out to San Francisco during the apartment search, Tom realizes it is happening so fast as they sit down. Maddie hopes they don't find out about him using the neighbor's Wi-Fi, but Tom confirms he still was and adding that they were still completing his background check. The sheriff asks Maddie if she is okay with moving and she reaffirms she is because it is her turn to sacrifice him after he got three jobs to pay for her school tuition. Maddie asks Tom if he is okay with this because the Wachowski sheriffs have protected Green Hills in over fifty years. Tom says that while he loves their home, he wants to go to San Francisco for excitement and the chance to help someone. Maddie tells her husband that she is proud of him before they embrace each other.
 
The next day, Tom practices a farewell speech but he is rehearsing it to his doughnut. Now all he must do is share his news with a real person. Later that night, an EMP generated by Sonic causes a Black out and Tom gets call from Wade, who he sees on his caller ID. Tom tells him to call Zim and other electric companies: however, he is distracted when he notices the blue quill he found yesterday was glowing and electricity radiating out of it.
 
A few hours later, Tom gets a call from Maddie and he answers it. During their conversation, he apparently heard raccoons in the garage. He took the tranq gun(meant for bears) and went to the garage. To his shock, he finds a mysterious blue hedgehog in the garage and they both scream. Tom shoots the hedgehog in the leg, who sees Tom's "San Francisco" shirt. He drops his ring that opens portal to the TransAmerica building and drops the bag in the process. Confused, Tom locks Sonic in Ozzie's cage and starts to poke and prod him with his spatula. Tom looks at Sonic close and realizes that the quills match the one he found. He concludes that the blue creature is the "Blue Devil" Carl rants on about. Sonic regains consciousness, much to Tom's fear. He becomes confused when he hears Sonic talk to him for the first time. Realizing he is still stuck on Earth, Sonic gets frustrated when Tom asks if he is here to abduct him until Sonic points out that Tom kidnapped him, which the human agrees with. He also explains that he calls Tom the "Donut Lord" because he tends to talk to donuts and eat them if "they are out of line. Tom gets equally confused with his newfound discovery when Dr. Robotnik drives up in his driveway, looking for Sonic. The young hedgehog looks outside and begs for Tom's help. However, the latter initially refused and asked why. Sonic explained that there was not enough time to answer and that he needed Tom's help because the tranquilizer poison was still affecting his legs and because it was a matter of life or death. Tom conceded and he took Sonic up to the attic and told him to remain hidden. 
 
Tom went to confront Dr. Robotnik himself and became immediately suspicious of him. Tom doesn't believe him when Robotnik claims to be from the energy company. After Tom refuses to comply, Robotnik sneaks into Tom's household and sees that the "rattling" he heard was the raccoons breaking into his house and eating the leftover cake. As Tom offered a piece of cake, Robotnik glared at him and turned to leave until he saw one of Sonic's quills on the table. Realizing Sonic was hiding here, Dr. Robotnik whistled in one of his Badniks and tried intimating Tom with it. However, Sonic appeared and begged the doctor not to hurt Tom, causing Robotnik to scream upon seeing him. The human punches Robotnik in the face, knocking him out. He and Sonic take cover as the robot fires bullets at them. As the robot reloads, Sonic goes on top of one of the shelves and pounces on the robot but it doesn't work out with him as the drone throws him off. After Tom hits it with a round object on the table, he quickly grabs Sonic and quickly drives them away in his car as GUN agents show up. 
As the two drive away, Tom demands to know who and what Sonic is. He explains that he is a hedgehog and that he is in danger because he lost his rings through a portal. After he claims he needs Tom's help, the man grows frustrated and pulls over, opening the door and telling Sonic to get out because he can't handle this. Sonic reluctantly leaves but he stops because he doesn't know where San Francisco is. Tom tells him to head West and Sonic does that. However, he ends up in the Pacific Ocean, so Sonic returns to the truck and yells at Tom because he has no idea where he is going. He also reminds the human sheriff that it is his fault he is still trapped on earth because Tom shot him in the leg with a tranquilizer dart. Realizing it is his fault, Tom agrees to drive Sonic to San Francisco and tells him to get back in the truck as the two drive away. Tom makes Sonic listen to the rules on their trip: do ever no matter what. After the teen hog calls him "Donut Lord" again, Tom gets frustrated and gives him his real name before Sonic tells him his. Tom gets used to saying the teen's name before responding that Crazy Carl was right about Sonic the entire time. However, the teen gets distracted when he sees the "World's Largest Rubber Band Ball" and tries getting Tom to pull over so they can visit is. The man refuses until Sonic uses his super speed to check it out himself. However, he returns and tells Tom that the trip is pointless. After Sonic asks when their ETA will be, Tom snaps and says they will "get there when they get there. 
 
The following evening, Tom and Sonic come to a rest stop, where the former goes to the nearby landline to contact Wade since Tom ditched his phone. He orders Sonic to always stay in the truck, much to the Hedgehog’s annoyance. Tom calls his deputy at the Sheriff's station, where he learns the government has branded him a terrorist and a fugitive. However, Tom is too late because Robotnik and the other government agents have been listening for the entire time. Robotnik takes the phone from Wade and briefly threatens the former sheriff, who the doctor despises for punching him in the face. However, Tom quickly hangs up the phone, not wanting to hear any more of this. When he gets back to the car with dinner from the nearby fast-food restaurant, Tom finds his hedgehog companion had gone into the bar nearby. Just as he is about to retrieve Sonic, Tom orders for him and questions if this is a big night for Sonic and something he will tic off his own bucket list. 
However, since Sonic has no idea what a bucket list is, Tom explains it is a list of things people do before they "kick the bucket." After seeing Sonic falter when he stops writing his bucket list, Tom takes pity on him and decides to help him with his bucket list for one hour. Despite them having a good time and bonding, Sonic and Tom are accosted by a Roadhouse thug and some of the patrons. However, Sonic starts a bar fight and Tom gets punched in the face; as he is fighting Tom suddenly finds himself opening a beer bottle and when he turns around, Tom sees that Sonic took out the entire bar fight in a master of seconds, further important the sheriff. Sonic and Tom quickly leave and drive out of their car as the bar patrons chase them. the two laugh off their latest escapade. 
They arrive at a nearby motel where Tom confesses that Sonic is a bit unusual before giving Sonic permission to do whatever he wants in the trashed motel room. The two then talk about Sonic's next destination planet.However, Sonic Annie thinks that the planet is filled with mushrooms. As Tom makes a terrible joke, Sonic brushes it off and confides that maybe his previous caretaker, Longclaw was wrong and that he could have a life on Earth. Though Tom sympathizes with Sonic, he has no idea what to say, other than they will depart the next morning. Just as Sonic tells Tom that he wants to stay up all night since it's his last one on Earth, Tom allows it as long as they are on the road by eight the next morning. However, when he turns around he finds Sonic has fallen asleep. Tom tucks him in and notices that Sonic's bucket list also includes "Make a real friend," making him realize that the hedgehog alien is more human than ever and is, deep down, just an ordinary kid. However, he is troubled when Tom looks up and sees that he has become a fugitive of the law but this still doesn't deter him from helping Sonic one bit. 
Maddie and Tom sit on either side of Sonic and tell him that he has finally come home, officially adopting him into the family. 
===Sonic the Hedgehog 2===
==Other appearances==
===Books=== 
*Tom appears in the official movie novelizations, Sonic the Hedgehog: The Official Movie Novelization and Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Novelization.
**When he goes to the house with an injured Sonic, Rachel and Jojo aren't present.
=== Comics===
*Tom appears in the comic The Adventures of Sonic and Donut Lord, which is a comic book retelling of the first movie.
*Tom also appears in Sonic the Hedgehog: The Official Movie Pre-Quill.
==Relationships==
===Family===
====Maddie Wachowski====
Wife 
Along with his wife, Tom and Maddie are one of the most endearing couple in the series who love and support one another. Despite the complications that come along with adopting an alien from another planet, Tom and Maddie's marriage had endured. It is unknown how long Tom and Maddie knew each other before the film. However, it is known that they have been married ever since Maddie started medical school, with Tom doing three jobs at once in addition of being a sheriff's deputy at the time. After Tom's sacrifices, Maddie decided to do the same with him. After he got accepted into the San Francisco Police Department, Maddie proved she is willing to to race for him this time. However, she is more concerned with how he feels about leaving Green Hills more than she does. 
====Sonic the Hedgehog ====
Adoptive Son 
Since coming to Earth many years ago, Sonic became immediately attached to the Wachowski family. He affectionately nicknamed Tom "The Donut Lord," because of his tendency to talk to his doughnuts and eat them when they cross some kind of line. After Sonic had been exposed to the world, he went straight to Tom's house and hid out in the garage. They weren't properly introduced until February 2020, when Tom caught Sonic in his garage and accidentally shot him when Tom saw that the hedgehog could talk. With the first few minutes of knowing each other, Tom was afraid of him. However, he decided to help Sonic when the teen begged for his help saving home from the government agents. He reluctantly did so; Sonic later came out of hiding, begging Dr. Robotnik (who was threatening Tom with his Badnik) to leave his friend alone.
After the boys fled from the house, Sonic told Tom who he was and that it was his fault that Sonic lost his rings in the first place. Realizing that it was partially his fault, Tom agrees to take him to San Francisco and retrieve his rings so he can escape Earth. Tom got easily frustrated with him due to Sonic's more talkative and energetic demeanor; however, Tom changes his opinions of Sonic after realizing that he is, a lonely person and saw humanity within an anthropomorphic hedgehog. The two bonds at a bar, where Sonic uses his super speed to save Tom from being assaulted by the other bar patrons. When they are at the motel room, Tom looked at Sonic's bucket list and saw "Make a friend" was one of them. They grew further closer as Sonic admitted his worries and vulnerabilities about leaving Earth for the Mushroom Planet to Tom. On the way to San Francisco, Tom admits that he likes Sonic but insists they are not friends. After Tom reveals he is leaving Green Hills, Sonic and Tom got into an argument until Robotnik sucked them. After Sonic was knocked unconscious by one of the bombs, Tom took Sonic to his sister-in-law's house, where Maddie revives him. Tom fulfilled his promise and got Sonic to the top of the building before the two said goodbye to each other, they were confronted by Dr. Robotnik and his drones. Realizing they were in trouble, Sonic realized Maddie and Tom were defenseless, so he threw them off the building and used one of the rings to teleport them home.
Tom later comes to Sonic's aid during the final boss battle, where Tom admits that Sonic was more human than Robotnik ever was and calling Sonic his friend is what allows the younger male to regain the power he needed to defeat Robotnik. Tom helps him open a portal with Sonic's Rings so his friend can banish Robotnik from Earth to the mushroom Planet, where he gives Sonic his rings back. A few days later, Tom and Maddie have fixed up a room for Sonic and have become parental figures for him. Tom and Maddie later move all of Sonic's possessions from the cave into his new room as they officially welcome him home.
In the sequel, Sonic and Tom have forged a strong son and father bond in Sonic the Hedgehog 2; however, like Longclaw before him, Tom never wanted Sonic to use his powers in public but only because he was still growing up. Tom posted have Sonic advice on being a hero. Sonic would take his warnings light into he gave the same advice to Knuckles. He finally understood Tom's meaning and hoped Knuckles would too. when they fought, they were going to be killed by the Giant Eggman Robot, Sonic and Tom admitted their shared familial love for each other. After Sonic defeated Robotnik a second time, Tom and Maddie shared pride in their son and they each embraced him. During a baseball game with himself, his friends and his family, Sonic finally acknowledged Tom as a father figure, much to Tom's joy.
====Rachel ====
===Jojo ===
Unlike Her mother, Jojo has a positive relationship with her uncle. Due to having no children of their own at the time,Jojo seemed to be the daughter Tom and Maddie never had. When Tom appears with Sonic (who is hidden under a brown tarp), Jojo immediately yells "uncle Tommy", who is equally happy to see her and they hug. However, Rachel pulls her daughter away and tells Tom that his niece is now an accessory to terrorism, much to Tom's annoyance. As Maddie tends to Sonic, Tom assures Jojo that the little guy is going to be alright. However, Tom is trying to reassure himself more than his niece due to the former starting to grow attached to Sonic. 
Since Tom and Maddie adopted Sonic, Tom still shows the same love and support to Jojo, who he plays with by doing a ring trick on her. However he is too late to realize that when he did the joke, He switched out Sonic's ring with the wedding rings and had to punch Jojo's future stepfather in the face to get the right one. 
==Gallery==
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
* Tom is an original character and doesn't appear in the original games.
* Tom doesn't want Sonic to use his powers in public like Longclaw.
*One of the few types of roles by James Marsden when one of his costars is CGI character, after Prince Edward from Enchanted and Fred O'Hare from Hop.
*Like Chris Thorndyke, Tom is the first human Sonic befriend and the one who tells him to use his powers responsibly.
*Chris Evans and Chris Pratt were considered for the roles before James Marsden was cast.
* After Sonic tells Tom to stop acting like his father, Tom falters for a bit. Whether it was because Tom regretted yelling at Sonic because he realized his son never meant to hurt anyone or that the young hedgehog still didn't regard him as a father figure is unknown, it is completely up for the students' imagination.
*There is speculation that Tom's father was involved in Project Shadow due to Wachowskis protecting Green Hills for more than 50 years, which was around the same time that the project was created
==External links==
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