Torren Hans-Thomas

Torren Hans-Thomas is the main protagonist of the novel  The Good Mr. Thomas. Born in Kosovo, Liska, Torren is a brilliant mechanic, biomedical engineer, and doctor who lives in the Wastes. He is a jade-blood, unlike the rest of his family, who are green-bloods.

Torren experiences much difficulty in communicating with his peers, and especially so with strangers. This comes from his difficulty to adapt with Roria, the official language of the country, as he speaks Auslar, an indigenous language of the Selektran continent. He also speaks German.

Biography
Torren was born on Liska, an island off the coast of northwestern Selektra, to a poor Native Selektran family in Kosovo, on 3 May 2547. Second-oldest of seven brothers (including himself), he was born to Keltro Thomas and Ji Hans, alcoholics and drug-addicts living on the Native Selektran reservation in Kosovo. Little is known abotu Ji and Keltro besides their tendency towards abuse and alcoholicism, and also that they were very ungiving and never present. The eldest brother, Kals, was also known to be somewhat abusive and uncaring for his younger brothers, leaving Torren and his cousin Chori as the head parental figures.

Education
Torren was the only one of his brothers to finish C-school, and the first to attend college. He primarily studied medicine - specifically, biomedical engineering. He was also fascinated with robotics and engineering.

The Selektran Civil War
It is thought that the Hans-Thomas family fled to the Wastes after the Selektran Civil War began, after a series of heavy bombings destroyed Kosovo and most of Liska, for that matter.

In Literature
Torren appears in multiple short stories, novels, and poems, both as major and minor characters. He is most prominent in the novel ''The Good Mr. Thomas. ''

In The Good Mr. Thomas
In The Good Mr. Thomas, Torren is the main protagonist, along with Yu Machigai and Jason Smith.

Torren and Yu
Torren becomes extremely attached to his partner, Yu, from the moment he helps her with her arm. He is very protective of her and sees her as a frail being, even though she's not that fragile.

There is a language barrier between Yu and Torren for some part of the novel, as Yu doesn't speak Auslar and Torren doesn't speak any language that Yu knows. However, this gap narrows as the novel progresses and Torren starts to pick up Sauphan and Japanese words. Yu gradually learns Auslar and teaches him Sauphan and Japanese.

Torren and Kye
Kye Leichter is Torren's second obsession in The Good Mr. Thomas, and meets her sometime in the middle of the novel. He meets her very similarly to how he met Yu, while he was walking east to the Ruins of

In Whichever Way the Willow Tree Sways
Torren is one of the characters of "Whichever Way the Willow Tree Sways" or "The Willow Tree", a collection of short stories that describes the suffering of the Native Selektrans throughout Selektran history.

In Men
Torren is one of the main protagonists of Men, a collection of short stories describing the Hans-Thomas family. At the start of the story, Torren is 14 years old, and by the end of the story, he is 17 years old. In "Men", the bond between Torren and Alphonse is shown, along with the bond between Torren and Kals.

"The Rape of Sorra-Maria"
In "The Rape of Sorra-Maria", Torren and Kals's bond is most prominently shown, along with Kals's grip on Torren, the rest of his brothers, and Chori.

Appearance
Torren is a barbate man who appears to be in his mid- or late-twenties, and has an eyepatch. One of his most noteworthy features is his hair: he has long, dark hair that he usually keeps down, and has a pretty nice beard. He isn't white, and is actually an indigenous Selektran.

It is presumed that Torren lost his eye in the war, though this is not true. He actually lost his eye when he raped his neighbor's daughter when he was 16. (She stabbed him in the eye.) He is also missing a few of his toes from the harsh winters of the Wastes, but has built his own prosthetics to replace them. However, he is rather accustomed to the lack of one of his eyes, and feels no need to build a replacement eye.

Torren wears a knit shirt under a large, oversized jacket and a pale, ratty scarf. He also wears combat boots with frayed laces.

Personality
Not-bad Traits Torren is actually kind of a quiet, reserved man, who is always calm and contented. It seems impossible to frighten or surprise him. He is very, very loyal and will never betray anyone. He is also good about keeping promises, and is tight-lipped. Highly dependable.

Torren is able to adapt extremely well to his surroundings, which is often seen in all stories that he appears in.

Not-good Traits
Torren is extremely addictive; to others and to himself. Whenever he finds something that he likes, he gets obsessed with it, and becomes extremely attached to it. He is even more addicted to people, and possessive, though he is usually not forceful or assertive about it. However, if he has become obsessed or addicted to a person, he will force them to stay with him.

In addition to this, Torren is too personal with people, and doesn't understand personal boundaries; this is partially due to his upbringing and his culture, where it is polite to touch people and be very personal with them. This attribute causes him some trouble in multiple places - especially with girls. This also comes from his brother, Kals, who taught him that doing certain things was acceptable that aren't.

Torren is extremely anxious around strangers and is distrustful with many people, though he is loyal to those he has a good reason to trust.

Read More
The Bombings of Liska

Liska

Yu Machigai

Kals Hans-Thomas

The Wastes

The Rape of Sorra-Maria

Chori Maleshe