Thomas King

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Evil-doer
Full Name	Thomas King
Alias	Thomas Tom Grumpy Knickers
Origin	Emmerdale
Occupation	Veterinarian at Emmerdale Veterinary Surgery Son of Carl King Husband of Belle Dingle
Powers / Skills	Deception Charisma
Goals	Get revenge on Chas Dingle to avenge his late father Carl King (abandoned) Reconcile with Belle Dingle (succeeded, later failed) Get away with controlling behaviour over Belle Dingle Incriminate Belle Dingle for mental health issues Create friction between Jimmy King and Nicola King Form a relationship with Amelia Spencer Destroy evidence of recordings of Belle Dingle Escape to Saudi Arabia after being caught (all failed) Escape justice with help from Ollie
Crimes	Spousal abuse Coercive control Domestic violence Assault Psychological torture Harassment Stalking Animal mistreatment Criminal damage Breaking and entering Provocation Affray Incrimination Kidnapping Blackmail Attempted murder
Type of Villain	Wrathful Trickster

“	"Do you even have an ounce of gratitude. You ungrateful, self-obsessed, bi-ch! All I ever did was love you, and this is how you're gonna repay me?!"	„
	~ Thomas King arguing with his wife Belle Dingle as she finally confronts him for abusing her throughout their relationship.

Thomas King is a fictional character and major antagonist of the long-running ITV British soap opera Emmerdale.

Originally starting out as a minor character following his small stints in 2004-2010, he reappeared on October 2012 and became an anti-hero up until his departure on April 2013. Thereafter he returned a decade later in April 2023 as a major protagonist for the rest of the year before later becoming the show's main antagonist in 2024 as well as a supporting antagonist in February 2025 itself.

He is portrayed by James Chase after having been previously casted by Mark Flanagan in his anti-heroic stint on the show.

History

Thomas King was born on 6th September 1996, conceived by parents Carl and Coleen respectively. Then in January 1999, Thomas had a sister named Anya when she was born at that time.

By 2004, Thomas' parents had divorced after their marriage fell apart; Colleen has been granted custody of Thomas and Anya, but she still reluctantly allowed Carl to spend time with his children. It was then Colleen took the children to visit Carl in Emmerdale village. Upon arrival, she clashed with Carl's love interest Louise Appleton and the latter dumped him after learning about Carl's past married life.

Over the next few years, Thomas and his sister are taken by Colleen to visit Carl on various occasions. They spend time with the rest of Carl's family, including his younger brother Max and their father Tom King, on multiple occasions; this also involves spending time with Carl's older brothers Jimmy and Matthew as well as Tom's villainous daughter-in-law Sadie at the same time. From those occasions, Thomas gets unwittingly acquainted with Carl's other love interest Chloe Atkinson and his stepmother Rosemary King on different occasions.

Soon enough, Thomas starts hanging out with his father's girlfriend Chas Dingle during her lengthy relationship with Carl over the years. Then at one point in 2010 when Thomas and Anya are rushed to hospital, before they later attend Carl's wedding with Chas; it ends in disaster, though, when Chas exacts revenge on Carl for his affair with her friend Eve Jenson.

In 2012, Thomas reappears with Anya following their father's death. He initially resents Carl for neglecting his children and after learning that he tried to rape Chas before he died, but Jimmy convinces him that his father was never a monster in the end. Thomas then starts to believe that Chas killed his father and begins a revenge campaign that involves stalking Chas, but she and Jimmy soon discover the truth and force him to apologize. Thomas continues to resent Chas until they eventually make peace with each other.

By February 2013, Thomas attempts to reform by having a relationship with Chas' relative Belle Dingle. He also clashes with Chas' boyfriend Cameron Murray, not knowing that Cameron is actually the one who killed Carl due to their conflict over Chas in the past, and is bullied by the latter when Thomas begins working for Chas and her cousin Marlon Dingle at The Woolpack public house. Thomas then clashes with Belle's other love interest Sean Spencer when he cheats on Belle with her best-friend Gemma Andrews.

However, Thomas' relationship with Belle sparks disapproval from her family - most specifically her parents Zak and Lisa due to the extent of Chas' breakdown relationship with Carl in the past. Thomas and Belle later plan on running away together, prompting her half-brother Cain Dingle to alert the family about it. But Thomas returns Belle to her parents and leaves the village on his own.

Nearly a decade later, Thomas returns to the village and seems to have fully reformed. He reconciles with Belle but has a hard time with Jimmy, especially when he learns the truth about Carl's murder and discovers that Carl had killed his late father Tom King back on Christmas Day 2006. Thomas later makes amends with Jimmy, though, and the pair get along with each other. Thomas later attempts to propose to Belle. However, when she turns him down, he reacts angrily and goes to leave until he hits Belle by accident; he apologizes and she forgives him. Later on Thomas learns that his mother Colleen has died and asks Belle to go with him to attend her funeral out of the country; Belle agrees and later accepts Thomas' marriage proposal, much to his delight.

In February 2024 Tom and Belle were married, The wedding was an absolute disaster with Ruby Fox-Milligan guffawing at Belle’s legal name, Tinkerbelle, during their vows and then exposing husband Caleb’s affair with Tracey Robinson at the reception.

In true Dingle style, the wedding was full of the family’s little quirks, much to Tom’s distaste; Sam arrived in the dowdy clapped out van and later cut the photographer short so he could dig into the buffet, Mandy slipped into a leopard print outfit, a welly boot full of ale was sat on the top table and a “welcome home from prison” banner was repurposed as “welcome to the family”. They even initiated a conga.

Sneaking away from the reception, the couple consummated their marriage back at Dale Head cottage, but when Belle wanted nothing more than to read the letter her mother Lisa wrote her before she died, Tom launched another attack on his wife. Mocking her words, Tom began to get dressed and fumed at Belle. Brandishing his in-law’s actions as tacky and embarrassing, and saying Mandy looked like a slob, he said his day had been ruined and he knew where he stood going forward. Taking himself upstairs to bed, he warned that Belle should sleep on the sofa alone.

Throughout 2024 Tom's behaviour went from bad to worse!

In March The abuser continued to exert more control over his spouse, having most recently ruined her first day working at Take A Vow because he was jealous of her client. Tom keyed the client's car and then warned him that Take A Vow owner Leyla was siphoning off her clients' money for her cocaine habit. The couple attended Marlon Dingle's birthday party where Tom slipped up and revealed he'd seen the client's car.

Belle questioned Tom on whether he'd been the one to scare off her client, pointing out that he'd not been keen on her getting a job in the first place.

"That's not a normal thing to think, Belle," I wish you trusted me as much as I trust you." Insisted Tom.

The family soon arrived and it was time for Marlon's party, but Tom stormed out after witnessing drama between Paddy and Mandy. Belle covered for him with the family, claiming Tom was having work stress. Back at home, Tom lashed out at Belle for putting her career and family before their marriage.

Tom then called Belle "a massive cock-up" and angrily asked her how she would feel if Tom came home from messing up at his job and took it out on her. He likened Belle to a "human pinball" who was "bouncing around from one stupid mistake to the next". In a moment of frustration, he kicked the urn at his feet and splattered Belle's mum Lisa's ashes all over the place.

Tom turned the tables on Belle, blaming her for the urn being destroyed because she'd upset him. Belle was conflicted over what to do, so she told her family she'd accidentally broken the urn. Tom was the one who destroyed the urn not Belle! All the while, Tom was thrilled to see that his wife was lying to her family to protect him!

Tom was longing for a kid but Belle had other ideas, so Belle started taking birth control pills behind Tom's back which eventually did not end well!

In May Tom's behaviour took a dark turn when a dinner party went terribly wrong. Tom had sprung the dinner party on Belle with only one day's notice as a way to win back his work colleagues after Vanessa called him out for wrongly diagnosing a dog with cancer.

Belle tried to explain that she'd never cooked for so many people at once, with Tom snapping at her that he didn't need any more problems or excuses from her. Tom seethed through the dinner after finding out that Belle was secretly taking her birth control pills!

The night started badly with Tom ordering his wife to change into a more 'appropriate' outfit for a formal dinner. Marlon and Rhona were distracted with their marital woes throughout the meal. At the same time, Paddy and Mandy were blissfully ignorant of Belle's situation as they put on a loved-up display. At one point, Belle had to flee the dinner table in tears after Tom made a vindictive speech about marital solidarity, though she pretended the tears were due to cutting onions. The tension between Marlon and Rhona escalated to the point where they took focus, as a confrontation over their recent disagreements led Rhona to end their marriage.

"I'm out," Rhona insisted. "You say you wake up and you wish I wasn't there, well, from now on I won't be." As the guests started making excuses to leave following Marlon and Rhona's row, Belle was left with the terrifying reality of being alone with Tom.

Belle started to run the water tap to clean up when Tom vindictively confronted her over the contraceptives. He pushed her hand-made cake to the floor and called her a liar. Tom menacingly shoved the packet of contraceptives in Belle's face, before accusing her of messing with his head.

"You're so manipulative," Tom sneered. Belle tried to push past Tom once he called her "unhinged" and "crazy", but he blocked her way and shoved her hand under the scalding hot water from the tap. "Tom, you're burning me!!" Belle cried out.

Tom finally released his grip after a few seconds, then sarcastically called her a "great wife" as he walked away. Belle was left in tears and cradling her burned hand.

Tom has been responsible for attacking Vinny Dingle, a move that only came because he was jealous of Vinny and Belle’s connection.

He has also installed cameras in their house so he’s able to watch Belle at all times. Elsewhere, expressing his opinion on Belle’s family is something Tom does an awful lot.

After Tom lied to Belle about getting help for his mental health, he paid a visit to Doctor Liam and told him that Belle is the one with anger problems, not him. This false narrative was fuelled days later, when village residents watched Belle push Tom over after he wound her up with hurtful comments about her dead mother.

Aware her mental health was struggling, Belle decided to check into a mental health unit after speaking to a nurse. This development left Tom incredibly fearful, as he knew full well Belle could tell someone about his abusive behaviour, or a health professional could work it out. With that, Tom conjured up another terrible plan! His plan was to poison Belle's beloved dog, Piper and then inform Belle her beloved pooch was unwell, she would return home and therefore, be placed back under his control.

Development

In 2024, Emmerdale has confirmed Thomas and Belle's latest storyline will explore themes of domestic abuse. There have been worrying signs about Thomas over the last several months, as the ways he's lashed out have ranged from cruel insults to physically shoving her. With the couple back from their honeymoon after a disastrous wedding night, Thomas has made a show of humiliating Belle for her latest attempt at a romantic gesture. Over the coming weeks, Thomas's controlling nature will become more evident as he begins to use technology to constantly monitor his wife's whereabouts. The show has confirmed this long-range dark storyline will cover numerous ways abusive partners can victimise their spouses, including through coercive control; physical violence; emotional mistreatment; and technology-facilitated abuse.

Quotes

“	"What you think you can kill my dad and get away with it!?"	„
	~ Thomas' angry outburst to Chas Dingle after she discovers that he has been stalking her out of revenge for the death of his late father Carl King himself.

“	"Right, this is gonna hurt me more than it hurts you. Actually.... maybe not."	„
	~ Thomas prepares to harm Belle's beloved pet dog Piper just to further subjugate her under his coercive control.

“	"It's over when I say it is!	„
	~ Thomas argues with his uncle Jimmy after the latter finally discovered his true nature.

“	"Belle..... that BI-CH!!"	„
	~ Thomas' angry outburst after learning that Belle has got him arrested for coercive control.

Trivia

• The character Thomas King was played by four different actors.
  • Jack Ferguson from to 2004-2007.
  • Connor Hill from 2009 to 2010.
  • Mark Flanagan from 2012 to 2013.
  • James Chase from 2023 to 2024 onwards.