Thomas Marvel

Thomas Marvel is a fictional character created for the novel The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. He was a jolly old tramp unwittingly recruited to assist the Invisible Man as his first visible partner.

Thomas Marvel in The Invisible Man

Thomas carried around the Invisible Man's scientific notebooks for him and, eventually, a large sum of money that Griffin had stolen from a bank. Eventually Thomas grew afraid of his unseen partner and fled to Port Burdock, taking both the notebooks and the money with him, where he sought police protection.

Although the Invisible Man was furious and vowed to kill Thomas for his betrayal, and even made an attempt on his life before being driven off by a police officer, he became preoccupied with running and hiding from the law and with trying to get revenge on his "old friend" Dr. Arthur Kemp as well, and Thomas was spared.

He eventually used the stolen money to open his own inn, which he called the Invisible Man, and became very wealthy. He also secretly studied Griffin's notes but found out nothing of the secret of invisibility. He still respects the Invisible Man for his mental abilities and his courage in experimenting with himself.

Thomas is sure to have died already that we can know of one source only: the epilogue. Its last sentence declares that while Thomas was alive no one knew he had had the notes.

Other appearance(s) of Thomas Marvel

In Alan Moore's comics series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, in which Griffin is a major character, it is stated that Marvel is the man killed by a mob at the end of the original novel, after being substituted by Griffin himself.