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Thomas "Tommy" Jarvis is the main protagonist of the films Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, and has been portrayed by Corey Feldman, John Shepherd, and Thom Mathews. A resident of Crystal Lake with an affinity for masks, Tommy lived with his mother (until she was killed by Jason) and sister. Since he was the first person to truly defeat him, Jason developed a hatred for Tommy.

Biography

Killing in self-defense

Tommy Jarvis lived with his sister and mother. His parents were apparently divorced. In 1984, a few days after the bloodshed on Higgins Haven, the Jarvis family got caught in the middle of a new bloodshed, in which a new group of people were killed one after another by Jason Voorhees. When the siblings (Tommy & Trish) were the only two left alive, Tommy shaved his hair off of his head to be similar with Jason as a child, and so lured the murderer into a trap. Trish managed to tear off Jason's mask with his machete, which made him turn away from Tommy to face her. While Trish was unable to do anything, Tommy picked up the machete and delivered the killing blow to Jason. When the boy realized only a moment later that the man was still alive, he hacked feverishly at Jason with the machete. Later he was sent to a clinic.[2]

Pinehurst

Tommy Jarvis Part V

Tommy is transported from the Unger Institute of Mental Health to the Pinehurst Halfway House.

Tommy loses control

Giving in to his psychosis the hockey mask-clad Tommy attacks Pam Roberts with a knife.

Five years later after the death of Jason Voorhees, Tommy, now a 17-year-old teenager, was sent to Pinehurst Youth Development Center, or "half-way house" (as locals called it) for teenagers with mental disabilities, in 1989. Pinehurst's mission was to try to train its residents to re-enter society. On the same day that Tommy was sent there, Joey Burns, one of the residents, was hacked in the back by an axe by Vic Faden, his arm was dismembered and his back mutilated. Shortly after, a maniac started to kill people using Jason's identity and appearance, which made Sheriff Tucker believe it was really Jason Voorhees. After Pam Roberts, Reggie Winter, and Tommy were left as the sole survivors, there was a confrontation with whom was believed to be the real Jason Voorhees, and then, after Tommy killed the murderer, they found out he was actually Roy Burns, and that Joey was his son, whose murder was the reason for the new killing spree.[3]

Jason Lives

Thom Mathews as Tommy Jarvis

A year later, Tommy and his friend Allen Hawes travel to the cemetery where Jason is buried in order to cremate him. They dig up his grave and discover his decomposing body, which causes Tommy to have a flashback to when he killed him, making him snap and use a metal fence post to repeatedly stab Jason's body. Unfortunately, lightning from a brewing storm strikes the post and revives Jason as an indestructible, zombie-like creature with superhuman strength. Jason kills Allen and Tommy flees to warn the authorities. The local sheriff, Michael Garris, is aware of Tommy and his mental issues and locks him up, believing he's crazy. He later escorts Tommy out of his jurisdiction to get him away from his daughter, Megan, who has developed a mutual attraction to Tommy. Eventually, with the aid of Megan, Tommy confronts Jason on Crystal Lake after his killing spree. Tommy uses a chain to tie a boulder to Jason's neck to keep him underwater. Jason however pulls Tommy from his boat into the lake and drowns him. Megan comes to Tommy's aid, using the boat's motor to damage Jason and free Tommy. She revives him with CPR and Tommy declares it all over. Jason is still alive in the lake, however, waiting to be set free.

Friday the 13th: The Game

Tommy-jarvis

Tommy is a playable character in the game and is given more backstory in its continuity through the Tommy Jarvis tapes, collectible cassette tapes with audio of Tommy being interviewed, which bridge the gaps between films and the tapes take place before Tommy was called back to Camp Crystal Lake and battle Jason again.

They start with Tommy being questioned after he has killed Jason. It is revealed that his mother was in fact killed and that the authorities don't believe the killer was Jason Voorhees. He also claims to have made himself look like a young Jason to communicate an understanding of each other. He meets Detective Alex Rico, who is annoyed by the Jason claims and put off by Tommy's behavior. It is vaguely implied Rico came to Crystal Lake sometime after the urban legend of Jason came to be. He is assigned to child psychologist Lauren Marino, who makes friends with him and wants to help him. A year after being institutionalized, Tommy's sister goes off to college and he is transferred to Westin Hills Asylum for more intense treatment.

By adulthood, Tommy has been through four programs, having been kicked out of Westin, Smith's Grove, Glen Echo, and New Orlean Psychiatric, expressing depression over his belief that he'll never get better. Lauren sends him to the Unger Institute near Crystal Lake in the hopes that confronting his fear will help him, which he is reluctant of. Tommy is transferred to Pinehurst without Lauren's knowledge, her being notified after Joey is killed, with Tommy's presence at the time raising suspicion. Tommy meets Rico again after Roy's killing spree and death, refusing to cooperate since all the necessary information is apparently gathered. Tommy later tells Lauren he is being moved to Pinehurst, closer to Crystal Lake, was his idea, thinking it would be more effective. He expresses the fear that he has become Jason and is dangerous, revealing he had a dream of killing Pam in Jason's mask. Tommy is moved back to Unger, where he meets Allen Hawes, who believes him about Jason and knows where he is buried. Lauren hopes that Tommy can see Jason was merely a persona, which he doesn't. Tommy reveals he and Allen are going to check Jason's grave to see if Rico's claim that he was cremated was true.

After Jason's killing spree after his resurrection, Rico returns, further frustrated to come across Tommy again. He goes on a rant about the urban legend, expressing his belief that all the murders were caused by psychos attracted by the story who took on the persona, and people like Tommy perpetuating the myth causes each new massacre. In a bit of humorous meta dialogue, he points out how the legend doesn't make sense, with Jason having died as a child, returning from the dead and suddenly being a grown man. He makes an implied threat on Tommy and an explicit threat on Lauren, who he is angry with for not having locked Tommy away to keep him quiet. This makes Lauren leave.

Lauren meets with Tommy, who tells her about trapping Jason in the lake, only for her to tell him that divers have been sent in and not found anyone. Tommy is outraged to hear this, believing Rico passed on false information, also angered that Jason was not in fact cremated. He expresses guilt over his hand in Jason's resurrection and subsequent murders. Lauren now expresses her own frustration over Tommy's "delusion" of Jason and refuses to believe he saw Jason rise from the grave, also agreeing that Tommy is at fault for attracting murderers with the Jason legend. The witnesses unfortunately only saw a man in a hockey mask. She tells Tommy she can no longer help him, which leads Tommy to believe she sold him out and "they" are going to kill him to silence him. He becomes hysterical and knocks out Lauren with a lamp before fleeing from the approaching police.

Tommy makes his own audio recordings, revealing he has created a conspiracy website about the truth of Jason and the attempt to cover him up. He is on the run, hiding from the authorities. His sister has stopped contacting him, which he says he forgives her for, believing she has been brainwashed as well and wishing her safety. He apologizes to Marino. He says he's tracked down one of the survivor's from his last Jason encounter, but stops when a police car passes.

In the final tape, Tommy says he has found a more secure location and the survivor he tracked down was Deputy Rick Cologne, who was apparently "gotten to", as he moved away to Ohio and changed his last name to his wife's maiden name of Pastori. Unfortunately, Rick was supposedly killed by a maniac named Pinker, though Tommy believes perhaps he was starting to talk and was taken out. He saw a news report of Jason's activities on Crystal Lake and a cruise ship as he intends to return to Crystal Lake to try and deal with Jason permanently. It is then revealed Tommy has been captured and locked up again under Lauren's watch, and is taken away in hysterics, begging not to be medicated and made to sleep, only to be sedated and sent to solitary. Lauren reveals Tommy has been allowed to record himself, during which he expresses his conspiracy beliefs, seemingly unaware of his current situation or in deep denial, operating under the delusion that he is on the run. (This opens the possibility that Tommy was captured very soon after fleeing and was never actually on the run). He is showing extreme fear of nightmares and needs to be medicated to get rest. She intends to watch him while he slumbers to discover how he is lacerating himself in his sleep. The tape finishes with the reveal that Lauren is looking after Tommy in Westin Hills.

Tommy manages to get out of the Westin Hills to help the teenagers fight Jason.

Victims

Appearances

Films

Novels

Comics

Video Games

Short Films

Facts

References

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