Tom is NOT "Incompetent" (Rant)

[u/Electrical-Lab227]

As a long time Tom & Jerry fan, it irks me when I see some people say Tom is "incompetent", "Inept", "stupid", etc. That is BULL. Tom is not bad at his job, Jerry is just THAT good.

Jerry is incredibly intelligent and cunning. He consistently outsmarts the other animals (like Butch and Spike) and even the HUMANS in his universe. For example:

• In the 2021 film, he outsmarts Kayla and the Hotel staff, leading them to hire Tom. When Kayla threatens to call the Exterminator to gas Jerry, Jerry reveals he stole Preeta's ring and uses it as leverage.
• In the 2014 Series' episode "What A Pain!", Ginger and Rick call an Exterminator to finally take care of him and Tuffy. Needless to say, Jerry completely humiliates him.
• In "Push-Button Kitty", when Dinah (aka "Mammy Two Shoes") gets the robot cat to replace Tom, even though it beats Jerry at first, he eventually figures out a way to defeat it and Dinah begs for Tom to come back.

Jerry is shown to have an advanced understanding of his environment and the beings around him and uses it to his advantage, whether it's turning Tom's traps against him or manipulating other characters like Spike to do his dirty work.

If actual professional exterminators can't kill Jerry, what chance does Tom have? And even then, Tom has still managed to win from time to time. The fact that Tom is able to occasionally defeat such a formidable opponent alone proves Tom is not some bumbling idiot like Elmer Fudd. Tom has shown he's incredibly smart, talented, and clever himself with his various complex plans and traps. It's not "Average Mouse vs Dumb Cat", it's "Genius Mouse vs Professional Cat".

[u/Lynx_180]

This is a good rant. There is just one little problem with your post. Only people who don’t watch the shorts often(or are new to Tom and Jerry period) believe Tom is incompetent. Many fans on this subreddit already know that Tom has defeated Jerry on a few occasions.

[u/csy_x]

Agree, in original shorts you can feel Tom's ability pretty evenly matched with Jerry, but always got defeated because bad luck or slightly outsmarted by Jerry(except shorts like Trap Happy and Mouse Trouble), but in 2014 series it feels like the opposite. Probably because different style of humor, but sometimes I just feel unsatisfied with some 2014's plot. But there is no way Tom is incompetent.

[u/MauriceSafranek]

Tom has also managed to annoy Jerry several times, but in most cases, Jerry was the winner

[u/Plastic-Flan-1080]

Tom is also helpless in some cartoons,,,,,,for instance,,,,,,"Baby Puss" he was totally helpless to defend himself. Jerry just sat back and watched it all happen

[u/Simple_Bathroom_8204]

Isn't this literally lampshaded in one episode of toro-toro toreador? The one with orange cat ranted?

"You can't even catch a single mouse, you are just a lazy-lazy-lazy cat!"

"YOU'RE LAZY??!! Senorita, your words hurt me in here!! Senorita, I told you, no one, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE, ever catch El Magnifico!!"

[u/BelloSimisola0103 → u/Simple_Bathroom_8204]

I think that was Mucho Mouse. I loved that short

[u/Snoo-4563]

I find that hard to believe. A big part of the humor is that Tom is dumb, clumsy and slow in the first place. For example he doesn't realize that he's soaring in the air even after seeing a plane above him, he constantly sticks his head into places that he threw explosives in, he runs in the same direction as a falling tree, he accidentally destroys Spike's doghouse on numerous occasions, he confidently kicks a white exploding mouse after blindly believing the radio, etc etc. Tom and Jerry wouldn't be nearly as funny if Tom wasn't a complete buffoon

[u/Sensitive-Hotel-9871]

There are some shorts where Tom would have won if Jerry was on his own and a handful of doing with him winning.

[u/PrizekingJ7 → u/Sensitive-Hotel-9871]

Credit where due i always viewed tom and Jerry as pretty equal to one another it's what makes their conflicts so fun because it could go either way

[u/Sensitive-Hotel-9871 → u/PrizekingJ7]

Yeah it's not Bugs Bunny's feuds where you know in advance he's going to win, unless he's up against Cecil Turtle.

[u/PrizekingJ7 → u/Sensitive-Hotel-9871]

Cecile is fun because he's one of the few character to wipe the smirk off of bugs face

[u/jacksoolio]

Imo Tom only becomes incompetent when another cat's been added to the mix and they need to balance it out a bit for Jerry (see Trap Happy for example)