

Big Eater: Not as much as Jerry, but he is shown to have a huge appetite.Rarely does a minute go by without at least one of them trying to kill or otherwise harm the other. Arch-Enemy: His conflict with Jerry is considered to be among the most famous rivalries of all time.There was also an episode where Jerry tricked him out of anger into going to his owner's bed when Tom's snoring got on his nerves. His owners would also want him to catch mice so that they don't munch on their food.

Anti-Villain: There have been times where he does not start the conflict, only trying to protect the house, doing his job, or other things.He still wants to catch Jerry, but he has no problems teaming up with him whenever a bigger problem comes along. Anti-Hero: Depending on the episode and occasionally in the DTV movies, Tom sometimes plays a heroic role.

His duration of shorts through the forties would gradually evolve him into his trademark more humanoid design. Anthropomorphic Shift: In " Puss Gets the Boot", he's barely recognizable as a four-legged cat, and has only subtle anthropomorphic mannerisms.Afraid of Needles: His response to learning he'll get a shot in "What a Pain"? Oh, Crap!.Adaptation Dye-Job: His irises are green in the original shorts but some adaptations, like The Tom and Jerry Show (1975), depict them as black instead.Adaptational Nice Guy: In the comics, he usually leaves Jerry and Tuffy alone, resorting to chasing them only when he's provoked or ordered to.Adaptational Heroism: Some of the movies, including the first film outright portray Tom as being heroic, saving Jerry from harms way on occasion and caring for others besides himself.He's also more likley to come out on top as the victor than before and even best Spike and especially Butch the cat, both of which had had previously dominated him in the original shorts. However, this may be because of Spike's Adaptation Relationship Overhaul. In the 2014 series, however, Tom has become less likely to deal with Spike's stuff and deal with him head-on, sometimes giving it as good as he gets.

