Paris is the chief helmsman, as well as a temporary auxiliary medic, of the USS Voyager, a Starfleet ship that was stranded in the Delta Quadrant by an alien entity known as the Caretaker.

The original backstory, and the only one acknowledged onscreen, cast Paris as a disgraced officer dishonorably discharged from Starfleet for covering up pilot error following a shuttle accident on Caldik Prime.

[4] In her published novel, Pathways, Voyager producer Jeri Taylor provided an alternative story much more similar to Locarno's, moving the accident to Paris' Academy years and making his fellow cadets the victims of his recklessness.

[4] Following his discharge, Paris left San Francisco for Marseille, where he started spending his time drinking and playing pool in Sandrine's, a waterfront bar that he frequented during his academy days.

[4] Tried and convicted of treason for aiding the Maquis Rebellion, Paris was sentenced to serve time in a Federation penal settlement near Auckland, New Zealand.

Voyager's first mission was to travel to the Badlands and locate a missing Maquis ship commanded by Chakotay, which also has Janeway's chief of security Tuvok aboard as a spy.

[4] Janeway and the crew of Voyager, while searching for the Maquis ship, are thrown into the Delta Quadrant by a massive energy wave created by an alien known as the Caretaker.

He had a rough start, however, as Starfleet and Maquis alike viewed Paris with suspicion due to his previous affiliations with both organizations.

During this time, he became best friends with Ensign Harry Kim, a young officer on his first mission who defied his crewmates to befriend Paris.

Once Voyager arrives to pick them up however, they learn that Paris is accused of murdering a well-known elderly engineering physicist after allegedly being caught flirting with the latter's wife.

[12] During Voyager's second year in the Delta Quadrant, Paris reconfigures a shuttlecraft with the help of Kim and chief engineer B'Elanna Torres and breaks the transwarp barrier, achieving warp 10 and becoming the first known person to do so.

The plot is successful at deceiving the rest of the crew to the point where Neelix, believing that Paris was going to leave Voyager for good, gives a tribute speech on his own onboard show.

[15] During Voyager's third and fourth years into its journey, Paris is accused of bombing an alien world along with Kim and is sentenced to jail.

Despite Voyager later discovering and bringing forward the true perpetrator, Paris and Kim are denied release due to the society's laws.

In one instance, Torres experiences symptoms similar to the Vulcan pon farr and aggressively pursues Paris as a result.

[18] During that year, Paris also returns to being a field medic after Kes departs Voyager in "The Gift", serving regular shifts in the sickbay.

The construction of the craft was authorized by Janeway as Voyager had to retrieve a multi-spatial probe that was lost in the atmosphere of a gas giant.

[19] Later that year, Paris is demoted to ensign by Janeway and placed in Voyager's brig for 30 days after disobeying direct orders to not interfere with another society, called the Moneans, who lived on a planet where the entirety of its surface area was covered in water.

In Lower Decks, Paris, who by then had been fully promoted to lieutenant, had been moving through various Starfleet ships and posts, conducting handshake tours and speaking of his experiences in the Delta Quadrant.

In Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force, published by Activision in 2000, Paris appears in the game as the ship's helmsman.

[25] This interest was also shown when Voyager encountered a Ford truck that originated from 1936 floating in space, as Paris was able to identify the car model and even the year it came from.

This interest later pushed Paris to do everything in his power to save the Moneans' planet, which was entirely water-based, as it was losing water due to the society's oxygen-mining operations.

[7] While serving on Voyager, Paris also nurtured a long-hidden talent for holo-programming, devising several programs for the entertainment of his fellow crewmembers.

His most popular programs included a re-creation of Sandrine's bar, an Irish town called Fair Haven, and a 1930s-era sci-fi movie serial titled Captain Proton.

[35] In 2021, they also felt that Paris' story arc was an interesting one, as he starts off on probation from Starfleet prison, but then returns to good standing over the course of his adventures on the show.