Tom Rintel (Über-Proto Gerosha)

Thomas Rintel is a child member of the Rintel family. He features in the Meshalutian Trilogy novella 90 Has No Secant, in The Gerosha Chronicles of Dozerfleet Comics. He is the younger brother of Mandy, and the son of Rick and Eva Rintel.

Character bio
At the time of Hurricane Nekoda's assault on Louisiana, Tom was 8 years old, and weighed 87 pounds. He was 4'7" tall. Not long after inquiring of his sister's homework, the two of them went to the attic to explore some of Rick's equipment that he hadn't been able to use much since losing much of his lower leg strength.  However, the transceiver they find, upon being turned on, causes a dagger to float in the air.  It strikes at Mandy and nearly kills her.  The two head downstairs only to find Rick has been knocked over and out of his wheelchair.  Their TV is damaged, and Rick is away from his respirator.  They get him attached in time, but have to head for their utility room when Dewey Reynolds and Lenny Hidds break into their house in search of them - eliminating the possibility of evacuation by car.

The many bizarre horrors of Nekoda conspire everything in their power to kill Mandy and Tom, but each trial ultimately fails and the kids survive. Tom is later taken prisoner by Dewey and Lenny, forced to watch as Dewey torments Mandy. However, he stands up to Dewey and defies him. And angry, distracted Dewey fails to see the debris about to hit the window near where he is standing. Lenny, Mandy, and Tom all get to watch in horror as the storm first impales and then electrocutes Dewey.

As the magnetic storm goes away, Tom attempts to use the transceiver one last time, which allows the rescue helicopter to receive his distress call. He is fortunate enough to get a phone call from his mother, telling him to take cover. Part of the house has already collapsed, nearly crushing and killing Rick and Mandy. Tom makes a diving leap for the sofa right as Nekoda's eyewall arrives and destroys most of the Rintels' home. From there, the severely traumatized Rintel family is airlifted out. The escape above the storm system in the nick of time, right as the eyewall is about to hit the house again. While braver than his sister during the actual storm, he never completely gets over his trauma. He joins the Coast Guard at a later point. But when battling smugglers at sea, he gets shot and falls overboard. He sinks to the bottom of the sea, just 153 ft. away from the grave of the cruise ship Landana.

Personality
From birth, Tom has been both inquisitive and at times, melancholy. His serious side doesn’t rob him of his desire to have fun though. He is incredibly brave in spite of extreme danger. His bold attitude and strong religious convictions help his family to survive in spite the sheer murderous rage of the storm and the burglars. His corrective nature irritates Dewey, eventually contributing to Dewey’s becoming the unknowing substitute for Mandy. Tom’s interest in technology makes him both important and dangerous. The radio he plays with out of curiosity in the attic, which nearly kills his sister when it causes a magnetic field to throw a knife at her, is the same curiosity that causes him to use the same radio to send out a broadcast signal that the overhead helicopter picks up, allowing the family to be rescued from the remains of their house before the eye wall comes back to claim them.

Trivia

 * Tom was intentionally created to put a twist on the "creepy child" trope popular in Hollywood in the early oughties.
 * Subverted in that he acts less afraid than he's supposed to.


 * Tom was named after the titular Tom from Uncle Tom's Cabin, which the Dozerfleet founder was required to read earlier in 2002 for American Literature class at Holt Lutheran High School.


 * His interaction with Dewey was modeled as a more serious take on Kevin's interactions with the Wet Bandits in Home Alone.


 * Tom's overall personality, with exception of his bravery, were inspired by David Dorfman's depiction of Aidan Keller in The Ring.


 * Tom's face was modeled after Jody Lee's book cover design for A Wrinkle in Time. That same illustration's depiction of Charles Wallace Murry became inspiration for Charlie McArthur in Ciem 3.


 * Tom was first depicted in writing outline notes with various bits of clip art.
 * He later on was drawn in The Sims Deluxe.
 * From there, Tom was re-created for Proto Gerosha, so that he and Stan Flippo could share a universe.


 * His first-ever depiction in The Sims 2 happened in May of 2005, when he was created in Test Gerosha along with the rest of his family.
 * All Sims 2 thumbnails of character PNG files dating back to 2005 happened in Test Gerosha. As development of a somewhat-quality version of Ciem would go through various development cycles over the following four years, only one other depiction of Tom in Sims 2 occurred.  That was in Classic Gerosha.
 * He bypassed Gerosha Prime and Despair Gerosha development phases entirely. His Comprehensive Gerosha version was first drawn in The Sims 3 in 2011, but it was not released for public view.