Tom Cat

Thomas "Tom" Cat is a fictional character and half of the academy-award winning Tom and Jerry cartoon cat-and-mouse duo. He is a blue/grey anthropomorphic cat who first appeared in the 1940 animated short Puss Gets the Boot. Tom was originally known as "Jasper" during his debut in that short, however, beginning from his next appearance in The Midnight Snack and onwards, he is known as "Tom". Unlike popular belief, "Jasper" is not his last name. His full name "Tom Cat" is based on "tomcat", a phrase which refers to male cats. He is very rarely heard speaking with the exception of a few cartoons (such as Tom & Jerry Tales' League of Cats) and "Tom and Jerry: The Movie" He is continuously after Jerry Mouse, for whom he sets traps, many of which backfire and cause damage to him rather than Jerry. Tom rarely sets out to eat Jerry, only to hurt or compete with him, going to great lengths in order to torment jerry, dont migth what sacrifices he needs to do so(in the final of The Million Dollar Cat, Tom give up of a wealth innerent in order to chase Jerry.). However, Tom actually gets along with Jerry at times. Tom has changed remarkably over the years, especially after the first episodes. For example, in his debut, he was quadrupedal and had normal cat intelligence. However, over the years (since the episode Dog Trouble), he has become almost completely bipedal and has human intelligence. As a slapstick cartoon character, Tom has a superhuman level of elasticity. Though normally when acting as Jerry's antagonist, Tom usually was defeated in the end, unlike other cartoon cats with natural enemies, there were times he outwitted and defeated Jerry in the end.

Voice actors
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 * Clarence Nash: Vocal Effects in The Hanna-Barbera era (1940 - 1941)
 * William Hanna: Vocal Effects in The Hanna-Barbera era (1942 - 1958) shorts, Baby Puss
 * Billy Bletcher: 1944 Shorts: The Bodyguard, Zoot Cat''
 * Daws Butler: 1956 Short: Mucho Mouse (and a few others as well)
 * Allen Swift: Vocal Effects in the Gene Deitch era (1961 - 1962) shorts
 * Mel Blanc: Vocal Effects in the Chuck Jones era (1963 - 1967) Shorts
 * Terence Monck: 1964 Short: The Cat Above and the Mouse Below
 * Frank Welker: The Tom and Jerry Show, The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show
 * Jeff Bennett: ''Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring
 * Dan Castellaneta: Tom & Jerry Kids, Tom and Jerry: The Movie, Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars, Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry, Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers
 * Spike Brandt: 2005 Short: The Karate Guard
 * Spike Brandt, later Don Brown (voice actor): Tom and Jerry Tales
 * Don Brown (voice actor): Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale

Love interests

 * Toots, a non-speaking cat who appeared in Puss n' Toots.
 * Sheikie/Toots, a cat who appeared in The Zoot Cat.
 * An unnamed non-speaking appears in The Bodyguard.
 * Sheike, a cat who appeared in The Mouse Comes to Dinner.
 * Tara, a non-speaking cat who appears in Texas Tom.
 * Toodles Galore, a non-speaking recurring cat who sometimes adores Tom. She appears in multiple shorts.
 * A cat who looks like Toodles that Tom is attracted to appears in Blue Cat Blues.