Thomas Grant

When we meet Thomas, he’s the classic school bully; big, strong, and merciless. Over time, we learn that there may be more to Thomas than we think. And, that like most bullies, he wasn’t born a tormentor, he learned it.

When we find out the source of Thomas’ pain is his father, who he idolizes, it brings into focus the nature of how kids often process these conflicting forces in their lives. Parents aren’t perfect, and although they often do the best they can, that doesn’t mean that they don’t make mistakes, or suffer from their own insecurities. 

In Thomas’ father’s case, he’s a Marine, descended from generations of war heroes going back to the Revolutionary War. When The United States was attacked on September 11, 2001, he went off to war to fight for his country. That’s the story everyone knows, including Thomas. What they don’t know is that when Thomas Grant III was deployed to Afghanistan, he suffered severe, debilitating panic attacks. It wasn’t because he was afraid. Panic attacks happen for a variety of reasons, and almost always outside of our control. He wanted to fight, but he was a liability to his unit. This was devastating to him. He completed his service, far from the front lines, and returned home. But he couldn’t forgive himself, thinking he was a failure. He told no one the true story, letting them believe he was the tough combat hardened Marine they thought he was. But the lie also ate away at him. Thomas’ father became fixated on preparing his son for life’s challenges, aiming to mold him into the toughest, most resilient person he could. In reality, he was punishing himself through his son while trying to make Thomas invincible to whatever had caused his panic attacks. Thomas became tough, but he thought he was never good enough, believing that he never could be good enough to please his dad. He was wrong about that. His father just didn’t know how to be vulnerable enough to express himself. It would take a harrowing event that put all of Thomas’ physical ability, courage, and morality to the test.

Bullies exist in life, and something that many of us have to face. It’s easy to hate them, to want to hurt them, to paint them as inhuman monsters. But what The Legends learn is that in many cases bullies are acting out of their own torment, paying what they are receiving elsewhere forward.