Thomas Coville

Thomas Coville
Biological Information
Status	Alive
General Information
Occupation	Lawyer (formerly) Leader of the Cult of Rao
Family	Unnamed (ex-wife)
Actor	Chad Lowe

"I looked into your eyes from my seat on that plane. When you look into the eyes of God, you do not forget."

—Thomas Colville to Kara.^[src]

Thomas Coville is a resident of National City, a former lawyer who was down on his life, until his hope in it was restored by Supergirl when she saved the crashing plane he was on. After that he went on to gather Kryptonian knowledge and create the Cult of Rao.

Biography

Early life

Thomas had been a lawyer who was married and led a life of success. However, at one point he then learned that his wife was cheating on him with her personal trainer. After that, she divorced him, and Thomas went on a drinking binge that got him disbarred after some misdemeanor incidents.

Epiphany

Colville sees Supergirl after she saves the crashing plane

Thomas was on Flight 237, along with Alex Danvers, as he was returning to National City. He was telling his troubles to a younger man, when the plane started to crash, he looked around as people panicked and noticed that a few were praying. Suddenly, the plane leveled and was placed in the bay safely. As everyone celebrated, he looked out of the window and noticed Supergirl there on the wing. He was awed and amazed when he saw her fly away. The experience had a spiritual effect on him and he went on to find a BetaHedron, a Kryptonian probe that had information on Krypton's religion of the Red Sun God Rao.

Leading the Cult of Rao

The Cult of Rao was noticed by Supergirl's team in 2017. They decided to visit one of the meetings and discovered that along with the worship of Rao, Thomas has also encouraged his faithful to pray to Supergirl, making her a godlike figure, and even gathered people that were saved by Supergirl at some point, like Olivia. When Olivia's boyfriend went on to commit arson and attempt suicide just for a chance to be saved by Supergirl, Kara understood that Thomas's cult was dangerous. She then confronted Thomas, asking him to stop people from endangering themselves, but he saw nothing wrong with people "testing their faith". He then recognized Kara as Supergirl, but promised not to divulge her secret, thinking that the encounter has been a test of faith from Rao himself. He then went and gave Supergirl the obelisk he found from the probe to help 'remind' Kara of Rao's words. She angrily took it from him and told him that if she truly was a god then he had to listen to her and told him to stop holding meetings and asking people to put themselves at risk.

Colville with his followers about to set off the Betahedron.

Despite Kara's words, Thomas went on to endanger even more people, gathering his cult under a stadium and setting the BetaHedron to self-destruct, which could kill 15,000 people. Once again, he thought his beliefs proven true when Supergirl arrived to stop the destructive pod, but, as it contained Kryptonite soil, Kara was weakened. She tried to show that she is no goddess to the people, showing that Kryptonite can even make her bleed, which terrified the cult members, making them run away in fear. Distraught at what he'd done, Thomas tried to deactivate the BetaHedron, but to no avail. He collapsed in sorrow beside Supergirl, but when Alex Danvers arrived to remove the pod, he found strength to help her carry it and throw it down a giant shaft into Earth that Supergirl created. Thomas then surrendered to the authorities and was incarcerated.

Colville praying to Rao for Supergirl

He met with Kara in prison and told her that he accepts imprisonment as penance and salvation. Colville told her that he remembered her from the night that she had saved him as her eyes were so sure and full of clarity. Now, he sees that she doubts herself and feels that Rao had sent her to him, to help her find the path back to the hero she had been that fateful night. He also promised not to divulge Kara's secret and to pray for her, giving her spiritual advice. He then went on to pray for her in his cell at the same moment that Kara began to reaffirm her own faith to Rao.

Personality

According to Thomas, he once had high hopes for his life, thinking that he was building something with his success at work. After he has found out that his wife was cheating on him with a private trainer, she filed for divorce, leaving Thomas hopeless, sarcastic and self-pitying, which led to a destructive drinking binge.

His outlook on life has changed after being saved from a sure death on Flight 237 by Supergirl. Seeing people of many religions praying to their gods, and Supergirl, of all people, answering their prayers, Thomas became convinced that the Kryptonians are a true source of religious. After finding a Kryptonian pod containing the teachings of Rao, he started a cult based on worshipping Rao, and also Supergirl as one of his pantheon. His heart was in the right place, but he has crossed a line when he encouraged the group members to put themselves in danger just to be saved by Supergirl. He was so blinded by his faith in Supergirl that he thought her able to save a million people from the explosion despite Kryptonite. After witnessing that even Supergirl bleeds, Thomas understood his mistake, showing remorse for what he was doing and helping Alex Danvers get rid of the bomb.

However, his faith strengthened again after he was put in prison, finding it his salvation. Thomas considered it redemption for the mistakes he made by endangering people against their will. Nevertheless, he still believed in Supergirl and gave her some religious advice, telling that he would pray not just to her, but for her, and saying that coming back to the worship of Rao can help her move on from the loss of Mon-El, and let go of her troubles. Despite knowing Kara's identity, Thomas decided not to expose her, because he understood she wants to live a normal life and be treated by people equally as a person.

Appearances

Supergirl

Season 3

• "The Faithful"