This article is about Tom Wachowski. For other uses, see the disambiguation page of the Wachowski family.
That little alien knew more about being a human than you ever will. His name was Sonic, this was his home, and he was my friend. 
— Tom to Robotnik.
Thomas Michael "Tom" Wachowski is the town sheriff of Green Hills, is married to Maddie Wachowski, and was previously wishing to move to the San Francisco Police Department. He protects creatures big and small as he works with the Green Hills Police Department and Wade Whipple, the deputy sheriff.
After meeting Sonic the Hedgehog in his shack, he shoots him with a tranquilizer gun. As he is now worried that the government is led to his house, Tom agrees to help him with Sonic's quest to retrieve his rings, which he previously lost. This leads to a 'roadtrip' to San Francisco whilst Dr. Ivo Robotnik follows them. Sonic gets heavily injured by an explosion of one of the drones (created by Dr. Robotnik), which makes Tom decide to bring him to Maddie (who is a veterinarian). Maddie later joins them on their mission.
Now on the Transamerica Pyramid, Robotnik confronts them in his Eggpod. Sonic pushes Tom and Maddie off the building so Sonic will later save them by throwing them through a ring. They both land in a farm.
Returning in Green Hills, Sonic is close to his death as Robotnik confronts him once again. Tom handles Robotnik with a fist fight, but later gets knocked out of the Eggpod. His heartfelt response to Eggman's confusion of having feelings with something like Sonic awakes him. He assists Sonic by throwing a ring portal as Sonic knocks him into it, which seems like he is gone forever.
Some time after Sonic's good deed, Vice Chairman Walters visits Tom and Maddie as they were painting the house, meaning to see said hedgehog. Tom lies that he is gone, so he receives an Olive Garden gift card from him. Tom closes the door and says that Sonic should go back to his cave, which is now re-located in the basement.
Some time in the future, Tom and Maddie Wachowski leave Sonic for a vacation, but alas, Dr. Ivo Robotnik returns with his partner Knuckles whilst they are absent.
History[]
Past[]
It's implied that he comes from a long line of police officers all native to Green Hills. At some point prior to the events in the film, Tom married Maddie and took on two jobs while Maddie attended veterinarian school. Upon deciding that he wanted to move out of Green Hills and pursue police work in bigger cities, he put in an application for a position in San Francisco, California as part of the San Francisco Police Department in place of his position as Sheriff of Green Hills and head of the Green Hills Sheriff's Department.[1] He is however convinced to stay in Green Hills.
Speed Traps[]
Tom is first seen working speed trap detail behind a welcome billboard some distance outside Green Hills, but barely any cars pass by going fast enough over the speed limit to warrant Tom to pursue and cite them for speeding, if at all, much to his boredom. He even decides to have some fun pretending a slow moving turtle on the side of the road across from him is in a hurry, toying with his speed radar until he conks himself with it, and joking with his deputy when he contacts him over the radio that he's on vacation down in the Caribbean. After Sonic has some fun with Tom by racing past and triggering the radar to clock in some very high speeds that not even a race car could clock in at full throttle, much to Tom's confusion, Tom is summoned by his deputy, Wade Whipple, to deal with some ducks back in town that were causing a few problems, and departs in his Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor to head back into Green Hills with his emergency lights blazing. After he leaves, Sonic rescues the same turtle he was messing with from being run over by an SUV going the opposite direction of Tom's police cruiser.[1]
Approval of the SFPD[]
After helping the ducks across the street, aptly naming them Donald, Daisy, and Daffy, and having another run-in with Crazy Carl at the local bar regarding his belief in Sonic being real, he soon returns home to learn that his application to the SFPD was approved, pending the initial background check and other exams to see if he qualifies for joining the force, with his wife Maddie presenting a cake to congratulate him for his application being approved. Around this time, Maddie leaves Green Hills to travel to San Francisco to find a new home for them, and visit her sister Rachel and niece Jojo. After she leaves, Green Hills suffers an power outage due to Sonic triggering an electromagnetic pulse in his frustration at his loneliness.[1]
First Encounter with Sonic[]
SFPD, pending background check. Paws in the air!
— Tom crashing down the door. [src]
A day or two later, Tom, hearing noises in his shed, suspecting it to be the raccoons that he caught rummaging through his trash previously, grabs Maddie's tranquilizer gun to deal with them and, practicing his shout-out when breaking into a search warrant assigned house once he joins the SFPD, is startled to find Sonic in there just as he was about to leave Earth for the Mushroom Planet after realizing his earlier triggering of the EMP has attracted unwanted attention from the U.S. Army and he had to flee for safer havens. Before he can, Tom shoots him with a tranquilizer, and as Sonic succumbs to the sedative, he notices the San Francisco T-shirt Tom is wearing, causing him to open a portal to said city with the ring he was holding, dropping his entire bag of them through the portal to land on the Transamerica Pyramid before passing out from the sedative.[1]
Meeting Robotnik[]
When Sonic wakes up later, it is not long before he tries to explain to Tom how he needs his rings to flee from the military as they are hunting him for his powers. Tom refuses at first, despite Sonic pleading that it was a matter of life and death, before being forced to hide Sonic in his attic when his house is visited by Doctor Robotnik. Tom is able to dupe Robotnik into blowing his cover regarding his reasons for visiting, which was by pretending to be a friend of one of Tom's friends, but although Tom nearly convinces Robotnik to leave without further confrontation, Robotnik spots Sonic's quill that Tom had discovered previously while on his speed trap detail, and threatens Tom with execution by one of his Badniks if he doesn't tell Robotnik the truth in five seconds. At the last second, Sonic emerges from his hiding spot, pleading for Robotnik to not harm Tom, and as Robotnik freaks out at seeing Sonic, Tom punches him, which causes the Badnik that Robotnik threatened to turn on Tom to become hostile, but Tom and Sonic take it out before fleeing in Tom's Toyota pickup.[1]
Road trip with Exceptions[]
Once out on the road, Tom pulls over and lets Sonic off to head for San Francisco on his own, but after Sonic literally runs all the way to the Pacific Ocean and back, not knowing how to get to the City by the Bay on his own, Tom concedes to help him get there himself, since he could rejoin Maddie once he got into town.
When they stop at a biker bar during the night, Tom calls back to Green Hills to talk to Wade, only to learn that Robotnik and his men were in the office with Wade when Robotnik takes over the call and threatens Tom with marking him as a domestic terrorist for interfering in his mission to capture Sonic. Tom abruptly hangs up on the doctor before discovering Sonic went into the bar, in disguise, and teaches Sonic about the meaning of a bucket list, the things you want to do before you die, or in Sonic's case, leave Earth forever. After Sonic inadvertently starts a bar brawl that he easily subdues in supersonic speed mode within seconds, he and Tom flee from the angry patrons for a motel to spend the rest of the night at. While there, Tom begins to soften his attitude towards Sonic as he tucks him in for the night, before learning on the news of his wanted status as a domestic terrorist due to Robotnik.[1]
The next day, Tom and Sonic are on the road again, only to be attacked by a large tank Badnik sent after them by Robotnik. Sonic is able to take it out by knocking it on its side with his spin attack, but Robotnik, prepared for a situation like that, deploys a smaller Badnik to continue the pursuit. Sonic subdues this one with its own EMP mines, but a one-wheeled Badnik continues the pursuit, only for Tom to take it out himself. Growing increasingly frustrated by this, Robotnik sends a tiny, helicopter Badnik from the remains to slice off the top of the cab of Tom's Toyota pickup, before Sonic breaks the Badnik in half, only to find its core has become a sticky bomb on a timer. Sonic and Tom manage to plant the bomb on a rock, but the resulting explosion is powerful enough to knock Sonic out cold and badly wound him. Fearful for Sonic's life, Tom takes him into San Francisco to see if Maddie could help him, having to deal with Rachel in the process, who soon faints upon seeing Sonic, giving Tom time to tie her up and subdue her. Maddie manages to awaken Sonic with smelling salts, and after Jojo gives Sonic a new pair of shoes to replace his severely-worn ones, Maddie joins Tom and Sonic in heading to the Transamerica Pyramid, where Tom is able to use his badge to get roof access granted to him so Sonic could recover his rings. However, after Sonic says his goodbyes to Tom and Maddie and prepares to leave Earth, he is stopped by an army of Badniks, along with Robotnik, piloting the Eggpod. Knowing that Tom and Maddie would be killed by the Badniks when they open fire, Sonic knocks the Wachowskis off the Transamerica Pyramid, before using his supersonic speed to take out the Badniks and then move to save them, but Robotnik, using Sonic's quill he found, is able to have the Eggpod enter supersonic speed and nearly ruin Sonic's rescue attempt, but Sonic manages to open a portal to Green Hills so Tom and Maddie land safely in the hay pile of a barn there before turning his attention to Robotnik.[1]
Battling Robotnik with Sonic[]
Tom and Maddie make it back downtown to the heart of Green Hills just in time to see Sonic emerge from a ring portal mortally wounded from one of the Eggpod's attacks as Robotnik himself emerges to capture and take him back to be dissected. Using Sonic's rings, Tom ambushes Robotnik and tries to fight him personally to protect Sonic, but is swiftly overpowered. However, Robotnik's attempt on Tom's life infuriates the people of Green Hills who, led by Deputy Wade and Crazy Carl, come to Tom's defense. When Robotnik questions why Tom is protecting Sonic, calling Sonic a "silly little alien", Tom explains that Sonic is his friend. Hearing this causes Sonic to gain a miraculous second wind, and now in full control of his powers, begins to tear the Eggpod apart, before Tom provides a portal to the Mushroom Planet for Sonic to send Robotnik through, destroying the Eggpod in the process, and ensuring Robotnik doesn't threaten anyone ever again[1].
Receival of a Gift Card[]
Some time later, Tom and Maddie are fixing up their house when they are visited by Commander Walters, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from the Pentagon in Arlington. As thanks for dealing with Robotnik and keeping word of what happened a secret after the U.S. government erased all knowledge of it, Walters gives Tom and Maddie an Olive Garden gift card as a token of their government's gratitude. Then they politely close the door on Walters when he tries to get a peek at Sonic, even offering a chance for Sonic to meet the President of the United States personally, before then revealing to Sonic that they moved all his stuff from his cave in the woods to their attic, so now Sonic can live with them from now on, thus allowing Sonic to have a family and friends and never be lonely again.[1]
Personality[]
Tom is a kind-hearted yet tempered person who loves to tell witty jokes. He is very brave and is not afraid to get physical if the need arises and is protective of those he cares about. Despite his sharp tongue and an occasionally dark sense of humor, he is very sweet and gentle and frequently goes out of his way to assist others.[1] He hates the boredom in Green Hills and decides to do his job in San Francisco, since he's brave and has an eye for adventure. Tom is not afraid to fight, he prefers to avoid resorting to violence, shown when he tried to leave the Piston Pit when confronted by angry bar patrons.
Trivia[]
- When Tom is preparing his speech, he talks to two donuts with sunglasses on the police car, this is why Sonic calls him "Donut Lord".
- Tom hates racoons.
- He's good at throwing darts. In the Piston Pit, he shot one straight in the middle of the darts board
- Tom has an unnamed father, who was also a sherrif. Carl in a deleted scene (the father is also only mentioned in said scene) compares him to Tom.
| Sonic the Hedgehog Characters |
|---|
| South Island residents: Team Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna) | Longclaw | The Echidna Tribe (Pachacamac, Knuckles' father, Echidna Scavengers) | Rava the Destroyer | Team Chaotix (Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, Charmy Bee) Government: Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik | Agent Stone | Drone | Buzz Bomber | Crabmeat | Guardian Units of Nations (Vice Chairman Walters, Randall Handel, Randall's Squad, Drench, Faucet, Grommett) Air Force Chief of Staff | Army Chief of Staff | Navy Chief of Staff | Secretary of Homeland Security | Shadow the Hedgehog | Gerald Robotnik |