Tom Sloane

Tom Sloane

Tom Sloane is a fictional character created for the MTV animated series Daria. He is a cynical rich teenager who was Jane Lane's boyfriend before deciding he liked Daria Morgendorffer better. The story arc about Tom Sloane on the TV series Daria ran from the last episode of the third season ("Jane's Addition") to the final movie (Is It College Yet?). He is a controversial character in Daria fandom because of the so-called "Triangle" involving him, Jane, and Daria, and references to "The Kiss" (the moment when he and Daria first kissed, while he was still nominally Jane's boyfriend) are common.

Fanfic Stereotypes

Tom Sloane as Nostferatu the vampire, from the MTV Daria website

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.

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.

External Links

In-depth studies of Tom Sloane’s character and his role in the TV series may be gleaned from these essays.

• First March 2005 interview with Glenn Eichler on DVDaria, with a long, interesting answer to the question, "Why Tom?"
• January 2006 interview with Anne D. Bernstein on DVDaria (see individual questions)
• “The Other Side of the Kiss: An Examination of the Infamous ‘Love Triangle’” by Kara Wild.
• “Anatomy of a Tom Hater: Why There Is So Much Anger Towards Tom Sloane” by Kara Wild with help from Alan Benard.
• “The Fall of Tommunism” by CINCGREEN.
• "A Rant About 'Evil' Tom by John Takis