Most seasoned Trekkies will know how Robert Duncan McNeill ended up playing a Star Trek: Voyager character after already debuting as someone else in a different corner of the franchise, but it's easy to forget that the actor actually played a third character during his Star Trek tenure. As a prominent member of the Star Trek: Voyager cast, McNeill's Lt. Tom Paris was the primary helmsman of the show's titular vessel. If it hadn't been for Paris' innate flying talents, the crew might never have reached the Alpha Quadrant.
Robert Duncan McNeill appeared in every season of Star Trek: Voyager, but his characters have also popped up at other points in the Star Trek timeline. While it's not uncommon for actors within the iconic sci-fi franchise to play more than one character, it's rare for them all to share a connection. So, this makes McNeill's triple-Star Trek casting especially interesting. One of his three characters only appeared once, but the forgotten figure still fits in nicely with McNeil's more well-known Star Trek roles.
Robert Duncan McNeill's 3 Star Trek Characters Are All Named After European Cities
2 French cities and 1 Swiss city get shout-outs
Lt. Tom Paris is McNeill's most famous Star Trek character, as well as the role he's played the most overall. He not only appeared in 168 episodes of Voyager, but McNeill also made a rare return to acting to voice Lt. Paris in Star Trek: Lower Decks, which is set in the wake of Voyager's return to Earth. Before playing Tom Paris, McNeill made his franchise debut as Cadet Nick Locarno in TNG. Just as Paris is a city in France, Locarno is a city in Switzerland. McNeill also reprised the role of Locarno in Lower Decks, but twice.
As I've already mentioned, it's well-known among certain circles that Robert Duncan McNeill played both Locarno and Paris, despite the pair having no canonical connection. However, portions of the Star Trek fan base are likely unaware that McNeill also played Lt. Marsielles, whose first name is never revealed. Marseilles is the name of another city in France, just like Paris. He appeared in just one installment - Star Trek: Voyager season 7, episode 19, "Author, Author."
Robert Duncan McNeill's Star Trek Characters' Names Explained
Nick Locarno sparked a naming trend
Nick Locarno was the first of McNeill's Star Trek characters to be created, so there was no naming pattern when he made his debut. That particular convention only came into existence when the possibility was explored of placing Locarno under the command of Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) in Star Trek: Voyager. Sadly, it would have been too expensive for this to happen, as the original creators of Locarno would need to receive royalties for every episode of Voyager in which he appeared, which would have created budgetary issues.
Tom Paris' surname is a subtle reference to the fact that he was introduced as a replacement for McNeill's first Star Trek character.Regardless, the Voyager producers still wanted McNeill for a big part in their show, even if it meant creating a new character for him to play. So, Tom Paris' surname is a subtle reference to the fact that he was introduced as a replacement for McNeill's first Star Trek character, with both being named after European cities. Marseilles made this quirk into a real pattern when McNeill was tasked with playing his third franchise character in "Author, Author."In the universe of Star Trek: Voyager, Lt. Marsielles is a holographic character created by Voyager's EMH (Robert Picardo) and is part of the Doctor's controversial Photons Be Free holo-novel. Picardo's character populated his fictional world with characters who were too heavily based on members of the Voyager crew. He changed their names rather clumsily and without much tact, so Lt. Paris became Lt. Marseille. So, while the Doctor named his character after a European city like Paris and Locarno, Picardo's Star Trek: Voyager character wasn't exactly one for subtlety.
