Tom Paris is someone who doesn't seem like much on paper and arguably as the compulsory straight white guy his presence in the main cast is frustrating but on screen his character...really works!?
Like he has interesting dynamics with basically all of the crew - He is Janeway's rescue project, he and Chakotay have 'history' (and yet respect each other), he has an ongoing romance with B'Elanna, he acts like an emotional foil for Tuvok's cold logic, he basically took Harry under his wing (and taught him to loosen up a little), he and Kes were good friends, he was the first one to give Seven a warm welcome when the rest of the crew were cold to her and he also acts as a foil for her practicality (and she's amused by his antics), he acts as the Doctor's apprentice (and is the butt of his many dry jokes), and lastly, he and Neelix also have a weird bond which they somehow developed through co-parenting an alien. He's even close to Naomi and Samantha Wildman (he's the only one who calls her 'Sam' as far as I remember). Talk about a friendly dude!
He also has a very interesting perspective on the happenings onboard Voyager and adds a unique flavour of sarcastic commentary. Also, he's basically a nerd, kind of a Trekkie in space. That should be annoying and condescending but surprisingly it's not.
I just wish that the writers hadn't pushed him into the 'rebel' archetype that doesn't really work for his character (imo) and instead just let him be the middle-aged dad who works on cars and listens to old rock bands and plays golf that he clearly wanted to be.
