FiveThomas

FiveThomas is a fictional multimedia franchise created to explore multiplicity and identity through a unified character named Thomas who exists in five distinct versions. The concept originated in a 2010 novella and has since expanded into graphic novels and an interactive web game. The project employs cross-media storytelling to examine how a single core identity can diverge across different circumstances.

Across the works, the five Thomases are differentiated by color-coded motifs and distinct social roles, ranging from memory and longing to action and consequence. The narrative structure is non-linear, utilizing parallel chapters, fragmentary diaries, and clues that encourage readers to compare timelines and interpret a larger connected arc.

Reception to FiveThomas has been mixed to positive. Critics have praised its inventive use of multiplicity and transmedia storytelling, while noting that the complexity can be challenging for casual readers. The franchise has a small but engaged fan community and has been discussed in academic contexts concerning narrative reliability, identity, and the ethics of game-like interactivity.

See also: doppelgänger, multiplicity, transmedia storytelling, unreliable narration.