Tom is NOT "Incompetent" (Rant)
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".