Tom Riley

Tom Redmond Riley is a New York City firefighter and the main protagonist in Resistance: Burning Skies. A fireman working on Staten Island, Tom was caught in the events of the Chimeran invasion of the American east coast in August 1951.

Background
Tom was born to Brian and Helen Riley. He was aspire to becoming a fireman much like his father. On January 18th 1943, his father died from severe burns during in the line of duty. On his will, Brian entrusted his fire axe to Tom before the latter transferred to Engine 174. At a later point, Tom fell in love and married a woman named Natalie and sired their daughter, Rachel.

Resistance: Burning Skies
Riley was responded to an incident at a power plant on Staten Island, where he first encountered the Chimera, which they originally came from a downed Chimeran ship that crashed into the plant. Riley fought his way through the plant and rescuing fellow fireman Smitty after another fireman, Larson, was killed by a Longlegs. He and Smitty escaped the building and only to witness the bulk of the Chimeran invasion of New York.

Although bewildered by the invasion and concerned for the safety of his family, Riley was radioed by Central Dispatch and given orders to assist in the evacuation of the city and to reaching the evacuation zone at the Howard Tunnel. He encountered members of the Minutemen, a militia group, led by Ellie Martinez before finally reunited with his family. However, Riley was separated from his family upon being forced to defend the evacuation zone. After defending the zone, Riley along with the Minutemen discovered an army truck carrying Grey Tech components and their ability in upgrading their weapons. After their location is bombarded by Spire Missiles and releasing Crawlers, Riley managed to escape with the Minutemen.

Forced to tag along with the resistance group, Riley requested Ellie's help in trying to locate his family in which she granted his request by introducing him to Colonel George Amherst, the commander of a naval base in Bayonne, and learned that the refugees, along with his wife and daughter, were relocated to a Protection Camp in Union City. Soon thereafter, the naval base came under attack by the Chimera. Riley assisted the base's personnel in repelling the Chimera, helping to install the main battery gun into the USS Puerto Rico, and later single-handily killing the Abomination that had emerged from Upper New York Bay.

Thereafter, Riley along with Ellie worked for Amherst in discovering the secret behind SRPA's Project Phoenix. While en route to SRPA Station Kali on Ellis Island, where Project Phoenix is located, Riley and Ellie witnessed Chimeran ground forces crossing the George Washington Bridge. Ellie requested Amherst for an airstrike on the bridge, but Tom went against it upon seeing a VTOL crashing into the GWB with its passengers still alive. Unfortunately, Ellie had already called the strike and unable to call it off, Riley rappelled down and managed to rescue the people aboard the crashed VTOL. After saving the survivors, Riley along with Ellie were then left stranded on the bridge, and together fought their way to the other end of the GWB and barely escaping the airstrike.

Riley and Ellie continued on their journey to Ellis Island by boat. They infiltrated the SRPA Station Kali which is already been abandoned and completely overrun by the Chimera. They found Richard Gorrell's film that has all the information of his "pet project" before they escaping the base with the film and leaving the New York Metropolitan Area.

They arrived in Union City Protection Camp in New Jersey, which is already under attacked and now is completely destroyed by the Chimera. They split up into two separate route and enter into the Protection Camp. After they meet up, Riley spots the Carriers that taken the survivors away from the Radio Tower as he realize that he saw his family were also taken. They fight their way through the Radio Tower and battle against the Chimera all the way to the rooftop. Riley quickly destroys the Spire Beacon with his axe, forcing the Carriers to retreat before Riley and Ellie catch up to them, allowing the Carrier bringing both Riley and Ellie to the nearest tower in the Appalachian Mountains.

Upon approaching the partial unearthed tower, Ellie tells Riley about what's happened in Europe and the Chimera came to invaded the earth and excavated the tower before the Carrier drop them into the meat grinder of tower interior. They quickly escape from the grinder and rescue one of the soldiers before they split up again and rescue any survivors. Riley fight his way through the facility and battling the Chimera inside the tower until finally, he found Natalie, but she already been infected by the Chimeran Virus and it's too late to save her and tell his wife to he loves her before forced Tom Riley to shoot her in the abdomen, euthanize and preventing her from conversion. Riley continue battle his way and fight more Chimera before he take the elevator down to regroup with Ellie Martinez after she found and able to rescue Rachel and the large group of uninfected survivors. Ellie show him that Richard Gorrell is controlling the conversion process with the console and using it to created his latest "pet project", now revealed as the giant Chimera known as, Leviathan with all of the human victims. Riley tell Rachel to go with her while he's gotta stop the mad scientist from using his creation. Riley confront Gorrell before he activated all the control molecules, hopefully attempt to control Leviathan, but it didn't work. Gorrell is escape and Riley battles and defeat the Leviathan by destroying all the molecules before it fell into the power core and killing the giant alien. Riley make his way out of the tower before the chain reaction destroys the tower. Surprisingly, Richard Gorrell shows up and hit him with the plywood before he grab Riley by chocking him. But not long, before the fireman fight back by punch him in the face and quickly slashed his fire axe into the Gorrell's neck, killing him for good before he make his escape just in nick of time before the tower explodes. He then tells farwell to Ellie and leaves alongside his daughter.

Trivia

 * Tom Riley is the first playable character that is an ordinary citizen instead of a soldier in the Resistance series.
 * He is one of two playable characters to come from the U.S. State of New York (Joseph Capelli being the other one). Nathan Hale came from the State of South Dakota and James Grayson came from the English county of London.
 * He's the only protagonist who has never been infection with the Chimeran Virus. Unlike James Grayson, he still has regenerating health despite not being infected.
 * In the novel Resistance: A Hole in the Sky, there is a minor character named "Tom Riley". However, unlike Riley depicted in Burning Skies, the book's Riley was a former mailman.
 * An image of Tom can be seen in the games manual.