Tom Wilcox

Tom Wilcox is a gray border collie with red hair featuring blue highlights, created by Tony Bark. He is known for his passion for skateboarding, photography, and art design, particularly for skateboards. He also possesses some computing experience in programming.

Tom’s appearance is characterized by a beanie worn consistently, a well-worn vest paired with a denim skirt that often rides up to reveal his crotch. Despite having a male build and psychology, Tom was born with female genitals and is capable of giving birth. He carries a backpack stocked with extra skateboard wheels, a camera, a single-board microcomputer, and a smartphone.

His communication style frequently incorporates skateboarding slang interwoven with occasional tech jargon. Tom can always be found sketching or collecting unusual objects that pique his interest, such as skateboard wheels or broken electronics. He actively engages on the Bark Pack social network, a federated microblog platform designed for skaters and photographers alike.

While Tom exudes confidence and passion for his pursuits, he can also be overconfident and reckless, occasionally slipping into tunnel vision when engrossed in a particular project or idea. He views himself as a maverick, a creator and master of his domain, driven by the desire to be recognized and leave his mark while primarily expressing himself through his art and actions.

Incarnations

Unlike Aidan and Max, who remain relatively static due to their current or prolonged use as fursonas (the latter adopting the original university storyline and attire), Tom was designed to subvert expectations and adapt to any scenario Bark envisioned. He is a true comic book character with multiple incarnations, both created by Bark and potentially adaptable by anyone else.

Cyberpunk

In this universe, Tom sports cybernetic legs enhancing his skateboarding prowess, operating under the moniker “Skr8Collie10” on Bark Pack. Alongside Aidan, he endeavors to expose TPaw Corporation’s manipulation of Montok, a city within Nethington that skirted national laws by registering its subsidiaries as independent entities.

Tom hacks CityNet terminals using his microcomputer as a bridge between his neck data port and the terminal. However, he grapples with ethical dilemmas and high-stakes risks. TPaw’s CEO, Draxon, covets Tom’s cybernetics for himself, finding them more durable and compatible with his own hardware than his existing models. Saville Cornell, a corgi and Draxon’s reluctant henchman, usually operates from Bridgeport (where Max resides) and patches terminals via OTA updates. He only intervenes if Tom ventures near TPaw’s data centers, where Draxon likely awaits.

Tom encounters Prince Oliver, a restless feline prince yearning for experience amidst newfound trade opportunities and democratization. Their relationship blossoms into forbidden love; Oliver submits to Tom as a demonstration of worth after witnessing his skills against a mega-corporation. In exchange, Tom vows protection, contingent on Oliver aiding in exposing Draxon.

While this storyline started as an extended AI Dungeon scenario inspired by cyberpunk prompts, it proved compelling enough, particularly with the Prince twist adding an optional four-act structure, solidifying Tom’s versatility.

Superhero

Here, Tom embodies a Marvel-esque character akin to Spider-Man, retaining his original traits but with enhanced charisma. He possesses fire and kinetic superpowers. Bark Pack functions as a decentralized superhero league wielding significant influence.

Draxon continues as the overarching antagonist, seeking to absorb Tom’s powers, while Saville Cornell serves as a recurring villain, often acting as a henchman. Tom juggles superhero responsibilities and fatigue, striving to prevent or thwart Draxon’s schemes. The nation remains a democracy similar to modern and cyberpunk timelines. Oliver is restless but confined within the mansion due to superheroes preventing his escapes. Tom and Oliver share a mutual friendship with bickering reminiscent of a romantic relationship, foreshadowing potential future collaboration for the Prince’s freedom.

This superhero universe can exist as an in-universe comic within both modern and future universes, capable of wreaking havoc on the multiverse.

Mage

The mage universe combines elements from superhero and cyberpunk settings. Tom remains enigmatic and reserved, wielding powerful runic magic while retaining his signature attire revealing his crotch. He adopts a tunic, necklace, and cuff from earlier AI concepts, now adorned with runic motifs. Draxon utilizes forbidden magic to absorb power from mages.

This universe places Nethington in an earlier timeline where isolation reigns and the kingdom holds sway. Tom forms a forbidden romance with Oliver, who desires to understand magic. Their agreement mirrors the cyberpunk scenario: Tom aids Oliver’s magical exploration in exchange for his assistance in dismantling Draxon, under the assumption that Draxon wouldn’t anticipate a submissive prince yielding power to a civilian.

While capable of multiverse disruption like the superhero universe, this magical realm operates on fantasy principles and “planes” exist throughout, making it difficult for magic to breach without first acknowledging its existence – something lacking in this world. Unlike superheroes, mages here lack the awareness to manipulate the multiverse directly.

Background

Tom Wilcox’s origins trace back to a brief period when he served as Bark’s fursona in late 2015, featuring a university storyline. As Bark’s fursona, Tom inherited the brown hair characteristic of his predecessors, Zack and Aidan, and adopted a letterman jacket inspired by the Sims’ university expansion.

Following a conflict with an open-source project and a newfound interest in fennecs, Bark retired Tom as a fursona. However, he later revived him in the early 2020s, coinciding with the rise of furry-based diffusion models. Hesitant about fully returning to Tom, Bark initially created generic prototypes and concepts for a gray-furred collie based on his wizard adventures in AI Dungeon, incorporating elements like a tunic with cuffs and a necklace.

Bark intended for Tom to have ginger hair, but mistakenly used the phrase “red hair,” leading to an unexpected literal interpretation by the AI. Despite this initial error, Bark found himself drawn to the result and incorporated it into the redesign as a tribute to Red Heads and Tomboys.

The surname “Wilcox” and his later photography hobby were inspired by a friend met on Second Life in 2009. Skateboarding was added during the 2020s redesign after one of Bark’s Swedish friends took up the sport, triggering nostalgic memories of Bark’s real-life friends who shared that passion in the early 2000s. Lastly, the denim skirt is a personal homage to a similar skirt Bark owned, purchased with assistance from his cousin in 2009.

While Bark typically favors smaller creatures like fennecs and mice, border collies held a special place for him due to their endearing floppy ears. Although Tom is no longer Bark’s fursona, his redesigned persona was crafted with intentionality and detail, aiming to be adaptable for storytelling or interactive media.