Don't... you... believe it!?

Tom when he gets a sarcastic result.

Thomas Jasper Cat Sr., better known as Tom Cat or simply Tom, is one of the two titular main protagonists (alongside Jerry Mouse) of the Tom and Jerry franchise.

He is a cat of unknown breed who is always tasked with hunting Jerry Mouse, a slippery rodent who often escapes from his claws. Under the threats of his owners, Tom often comes up with different schemes to get and eat Jerry, but most of his plans end in failure or make him a target of Spike Bulldog. He is Jerry's arch-enemy and best friend.

He is voiced by the late William Hanna, and has been replaced by countless voice actors since then, but archive recordings of Hanna are still used to this day for some of Tom's noises.

What Makes Him A Shonen Rival?[]

• Heroic/Anti-Heroic/Anti-Villainous: He and Jerry save a little girl from her greedy aunt and have plenty admirable deeds. While he is never directly villainous, he takes pleasure from his rivalry with Jerry.
• Honorable: Shows good attitude towards Jerry during the rivalry.
• Tragic: Tom is tragic as he always gets punched for what he didn't do. Also, in one episode both him and Jerry were ignored by their girlfriends.
• Intelligent: While not as clever and resourceful as Jerry, Tom still does happen to be smart sometimes, as he does come up with some good plans that could nearly work for him, often picks up on Jerry's provocations the most or even try to impress girls and catch Jerry with clever ways (even though Tom tends to be incompetent at the end).
• Naturally Talented: Tom is a good musician, especially playing piano. Also, both him and Jerry are good at sports (for example, in one episode they both showed to be good at golf).
• Arrogant/Jerkish: Both him and Jerry are on & off and take pleasure from tormenting each other. Tom also tends to be the most egotistical and is often a jerk a whole lot of the time.
• Short Tempered: Has had moments of losing his cool, especially the episode "The Million Dollar Cat" where he got at his most angry when he got ticked off by Jerry's shenanigans.
• Pursues a Big-End Goal: His and Jerry's goal is to outwit each other, which while Tom rarely succeeds at this, he has his moments of succeeding at this.
• Cynical: Tom is more than willing to harm Nibbles, despite the latter being a child, just because Nibbles stands on his way just like Jerry. He also willing to harm Tyke, the son of bulldog Spyke, knowing full well that Spike can pummel anyone for his son and is more than right while doing so.
• Pessimistic: Was once shown to be down on his luck, became depressed and gave up on life to the point of wanting to be ran over in the episode "Blue Cat Blues".
• Is A Serious Threat/Villain: Tom single-handedly destroyed Australia.
• Is a Chick/Dude Magnet: Tom is definitely a one when he hits on certain ladies and sometimes attracts guys when he puts on ladylike disguises to fool them into lust and love as his strategy to outsmart Jerry's protectors and get Jerry for himself (which usually backfires due to the guy's being smitten by Tom's personas).
• Is a Blood Knight: Takes extreme level of pleasure from fighting Jerry and Spike.
• Vengeful: Always seeks revenge towards Jerry for all the times he's won and outsmarted him.
• Unnatural Hair Color: Blue.
• Is a Mentor: Took the role as one to a kitten in the episode "Professor Tom" with teaching a kitten how to be a good mouse catcher but ends up backfiring in the end.
• Wears Blue: Has blue fur in future cartoons.

External[]

• Tom Cat on the Tom and Jerry Wiki
• Tom Cat on the Heroes Wiki
• Tom Cat on the Villains Wiki
• Tom Cat on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
• Tom Cat on the Inconsistently Heinous Wiki
• Tom Cat on the Excellent Eejit Wiki