Tom Sloane

Tom Sloane is a "rich kid" with the interesting distinction of being the only character on the show to have dated both Daria Morgendorfer and Jane Lane. And, indeed, the only character we actually meet who has dated Daria, period (if you don't count Robert or Ted).

Character Overview
Tom Sloane is a cynical rich teenager, who has certain characteristics in common with Daria. Specifically, he is very intelligent and very well-read, and is not afraid to show it. He was introduced in the episode Jane's Addition, and indeed was the titular "addition" of that episode. He has one sister, with whom he appears to have an ambiguously hostile relationship.

It is directly stated by many characters on the show that his family is not only rather wealthy but is also quite powerful. His interest in this wealth and power varies considerably. For example, when first introduced he is driving a Ford Pinto which, due to its being both a dangerous car and a lousy one in almost every respect can be seen as a clear attempt by Tom to escape or at least not be associated with his family's immense wealth. However, by the end of the series he is not only gleefully going to attend the pompous, Ivy League school known as Bromwell, but is also using his family's influence to get Daria in as well.

His family's wealth and power was a source of tension between him and Daria before and during their relationship.

The "Love Triangle" Story Arc
In the episode Jane's Addition, Tom was introduced and began dating Jane Lane in very short order. They met at a Mystik Spiral gig. The amount of time Jane would come to spend with Tom would be a source of tension between Daria and Jane for many episodes afterward.

Daria and Tom, however, had a lot in common. They were both smart, cynical, well-read, and weren't afraid to display either characteristic. Though Jane was never portrayed as stupid, she was definitely not as "book-smart" as Daria...Or, as her own boyfriend Tom.

By the episode I Loathe a Parade, however, it was clear that the tension between Daria and Tom had blossomed into something else. Throughout the next several episodes, the two began a strange flirtation, which did not go unnoticed by Jane. "When," she asked bitterly, "did I become a third wheel in my own relationship?" In Dye! Dye! My Darling, Daria and Tom shared a moment known as The Kiss, in Tom's car. This moment nearly ended Daria's and Jane's friendship. Daria's relationships with both Jane and Tom were not to be fully resolved until Is it Fall Yet?. At the end of that movie (really a long episode), Daria's and Jane's friendship was revealed to be stronger than boy-drama, and Daria decided to pursue a romantic entanglement with Tom. As far as anyone knows, this was Daria's first romantic relationship of any kind.

Daria's and Tom's Relationship
Daria's and Tom's couplehood was the source of many episodes throughout the remainder of the series. It finally ended in Is It College Yet?.

Fan Controversy
Tom's potentially ending the relationship between Daria and Jane (the central relationship of the show!), and effectively sealing the fate of the flirtation between Daria and Trent Lane, caused Tom to be a very controversial character.

Evil Tom
Because of the Triangle issue, Tom was occasionally portrayed as basically unfeeling and cavalier of the attitudes of others. This stereotype has been parodied and taken to the extreme in several fanfics, painting Tom as the driving force behind global evil. (See Kill Tom Fic.)

The "Evil Tom" stereotype was on some message boards referred to as "Thom."

Tom-Who-Belongs-With-Someone-Else
The outcome of the Triangle led some fanfic writers to speculate that Tom properly belonged with someone else entirely. This issue has been examined in a number of shipper fanfics, creating pairings such as Tom/Quinn and Tom/Jodie, most of which are implied to have turned into successful relationships.

Trivia
Tom is the only character we meet to have actually "dated" Daria. However, he is not the only date Daria's ever had, as the double-date in The New Kid clearly counts, as (probably) does Daria's unexplained drop-off at home late at night in The Big House.

It is not clear at all, as well it shouldn't be, "how far" Daria and Tom went, physically, just that no intercourse was had. This gap has led to some speculation in fan fiction, both pornographic and "normal." (And, in one case, pornographic fan art.)

Bromwell, where Tom's parents went to college and where Tom is off to at the series's end, is clearly modeled after Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Tom's attendance of that school continues a family tradition, in what was clearly meant to be a parody of the "family legacies" so often present at Ivy League schools.

Tom's initial car is Ford Pinto, considered to be among the more dangerous cars ever made. (It had a habit of exploding when rear-ended.) Later, we see him driving what appears to be a used Mercedes, a car more fitting of his station.