| “ | I wish you had listened. I always liked you, Jim. I don't know why you turned against me. (Jim: Todd, can't you see what the sword has done to you?) You're wasting my time! The sword and I have a mission-a great mission. Hand it over. | „ |
| ~ Todd demanding Jim Hawkins to hand over the sword |
| “ | Yes, you two are quite the pair. I'll bet your father is proud to have children as lovely as the two of you. He'd probably do anything in the world for you. Yes, probably anything in the world. | „ |
| ~ Todd to Rebecca and Joshua Plimpton |
Todd Finlay is a major antagonist in the Tennis Shoes Adventure series. He first appears as the secondary antagonist of Gadiantons and The Silver Sword, then becomes the main antagonist of Warriors of Cumorah.
Biography[]
Gadiantons and the Silver Sword[]
Todd is introduced in Jim Hawkins' flashback to the car accident where Jim had came across the ancient mystical sword of Coriantumr. Officer Todd Finlay arrives on the scene to investigate, and is immediately enticed by the sword's power. Jim leaves the sword in Todd's care, with the promise that if no one lays claim to the sword within ninety days, then the sword will be given to Jim.
However, Todd is seduced by the sword's power and ends up bringing it to his home and keeping it with him at all times. Eventually, he is fired from the police force for insubordination and dealing drugs while on duty. Not long after, he takes his family's savings and abandons his wife and daughter to pursue a new life in Salt Lake City.
Jim Hawkins later learns from Muleki about the true nature of Coriantumr's sword, and that he must retrieve it and destroy it. Jim and Muleki try to track down Todd Finlay by talking to employees at stores that Todd shopped at, eventually finding one worker who had gotten Todd's address.
Jim also hears from his roommate that Todd Finlay is a member of a Bernardian alien club, acting under the alias Mr. West. Jim takes his girlfriend Renae to a Bernardian club meeting, where they run into Todd right as he is coming to the club. Jim resolves to go to Todd's address and try to find the sword while Todd is busy at the meeting.
Jim and Renae find that Todd had given the store worker a fake address, but they turn it around to find his real address. At Todd's house, Jim sneaks in while Renae waits outside. While Jim is rooting around in the house, Todd comes home and brings the sword with him. Jim hides in the closet, which Todd puts the sword in. Renae knocks on the door to distract Todd while Jim escapes. Todd watches as Jim takes the sword and flees the house, then gives pursuit. Jim and Renae manage to get back in their car with the sword and drive off into the night, leaving Todd behind.
The next day, Todd calls Jim's King's Court Arms apartment and demands him to give the sword back. When Jim refuses, Todd threatens to kill him and all of his family and friends.
Todd later follows Jim on his quest to the Hill Cumorah in Mexico. Todd catches up to Jim at the Hotel Castellano, where he pulls a gun on Jim and demands him to turn the sword over. The sword, with its semi-sentient mind, uses its power to control JIm into deflecting Todd's gunshot. The sword tries to mind-control Jim into killing Todd, but Garth tackles him over the edge. Jim, having gotten out of the sword's mind-control, watches as Todd is arrested by Mexican police.
As Todd is taken away by the police, he expresses regret for all of the trouble, asking Jim "Why couldn't you have just given it back to me?".
Warriors of Cumorah[]
25 years after getting arrested, Todd Finlay is residing in Mexico and dreaming of having the sword of Akish again. When Apollus moves to Mexico and demonstrates an ability to understand any language, Todd Finlay is intruged. He knows that anyone who time-travels from another century has the "gift of tongues," meaning that every language they hear sounds like their native language, and when they talk, it sounds like the native language of whoever they are talking to. Todd finds Apollus in a cantina and grills him about his origins. Though Apollus is suspicious, Todd tricks him into revealing that he is a Roman centurion from New Testament times. Todd is astonished to hear this, as it means that it is possible to travel to other times and places besides ancient America. Todd demands Apollus to reveal the cave's location, but Apollus refuses. Todd tries to bribe Apollus with a pair of seer stones, but Apollus still refuses. As Apollus leaves the cantina, Todd opts to instead forces Jim Hawkins or Garth Plimpton to reveal the location of the Rainbow Room.
As part of his plan, Todd disguises himself as akind, crippled old man named Cody Bernard and goes to Lagoon, where Mary Symeon is taking Rebecca and Joshua Plimpton for a day of fun. Mary and the Plimpton kids find Todd at a carnival booth supposedly attempting to win a giant stuffed dragon for his granddaughter. Rebecca, Joshua, and Mary take pity on Todd and help him win the stuffed dragon. Afterwards, they spend the rest of the day with Todd at the park. Towards the end of the day, Rebecca and Joshua help Todd return to his truck and put his wheelchair in the back. While Rebecca and Joshua are putting the wheelchair in the back of the truck, Todd stops feigning his inability to walk and locks the children in the back of his truck. He drives off with them toward Cody, Wyoming.
After reaching Cody, Todd drives Rebecca and Joshua up Cedar Mountain to where Frost Cave (which houses the Rainbow Room) is. While Todd is checking on them, Joshua and Rebecca attack him. Todd manages to subdue Joshua, but Rebecca escapes. Meanwhile, Apollus, along with Meagan Sorenson and her boyfriend Ryan Champion, go after Todd Finlay and find that Mary is trying to follow him. Mary finds a note to Jim and Garth in her purse that Todd had left in there earlier. The group goes up the mountain after Todd and finds Rebecca.
Todd continues with Joshua into Frost Cave and finds the Rainbow Room. Apollus, Rebecca, Mary, Meagan, and Ryan catch up with him and demand him to let Joshua go. Todd flees with Joshua with Apollus, Ryan, Mary, Rebecca, and Meagan in pursuit. Mary, Rebecca, and Meagan corner Todd and try to bargain for Joshua's life, but Todd refuses. However, Apollus attacks him from behind. In the ensuing struggle, along with the bursts of energy from the Rainbow Room's energetic pillar, Meagan, Apollus, and Ryan fall into the river that leads to Nephite times, while Todd, Mary, Rebecca, and Joshua are sent to 1841 AD.
Todd first shows up in the ruins of Petra, where he is found by Sheik Hazim Haggai and his men. Hazim plans to behead Todd for trespassing on sacred grounds, but Todd reveals a stash of modern-day artifacts he had brought. Using butane lighters, Tootsie Rolls, and a digitial wristwatch, he is able to talk his way out of execution and buy 19th-century clothes, two Turkish pistols, and passage to civilization.
While mingling with Hazim and his men, Todd hears that Rebecca, Joshua, and Mary are in this time and place, and that Rebecca has retained one of the seer stones and has the gift that allows her to harness its power. He sneaks into Brother Nicholas' monastery and enters the room where Rebecca, Joshua, and Mary are sleeping. He advances toward Rebecca, intending to kidnap her again, but Rebecca wakes up and sees him. Nicholas and the monk Gregorio come to investigate, forcing Todd to flee.
Later, Rebecca exchanges herself to stop Hazim from murdering the Apostle Orson Hyde. Hazim brings her to Todd Finlay, who reveals to her how he attained his current status as Hazim's employer. Todd talks to Rebecca and confirms the stories that she has the gift that allows her to harness the seer stone's power. He asks her if she will help him find the sword of Akish, to which Rebecca agrees on the grounds that Todd and Hazim will help her reunite with Mary and Joshua and then let them go home.
Todd takes Rebecca with him and his entourage on their way to Petra. On the way, they stop and make camp, where Todd shows his companions a Gameboy Advance with the Pokemon Silver and Worms Armageddon games. While this is going over, Rebecca goes to the top of a nearby dune and hides in a fox hole. When Todd realizes Rebecca is missing, he orders his men to find her. Since Rebecca's fox hole is hidden by a bush, nobody finds her. Out of spite, Todd kills Haggai, who had been assigned to keep an eye on Rebecca.
Rebecca reunites with Joshua, Mary, Brother Nicholas, and Shika and goes to Petra. Todd, Hazim, and their Moslem followers follow them there and attack. After Shika kills Hazim, he takes Rebecca into a nearby tomb. Todd, Joshua, and Mary follow them into the tomb. Todd tries to convince Shika to hand over Rebecca, saying that he needs her to find the sword of Akish. Shika, amused, reveals that he is actually Akish, and that the sword he carries and intends to finish forging is the exact sword Todd is looking for. Todd attempts to take the sword from Akish, but Akish states that the sword isn't finished; he still needs to coat it in silver and bathe it in an enemy's blood. Todd gives Akish a silver statue, saying he can use it to finish the sword. Akish shows him the sword, and Todd demands him to hand it over. He holds Akish at gunpoint, but the power of the sword forces him to drop his pistol. Akish takes the chance to use his sword to kill Todd Finlay. As the sword cuts through Todd's body, Todd's blood coats the sword and finishes it.
Trivia[]
- He is similar to Gollum, in that they are both strongly attached to a magical object that belongs to another villain, and will go to any ends of the earth to have it back.