Tommy Pickles

Thomas Malcolm "Tommy" Pickles is the main protagonist as well as the center character of Nickelodeon's animated TV series Rugrats (and all films except Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, in which he is the deuteragonist) and its spin-off All Grown Up!. He is clad only in a T-shirt and a diaper and he is bald with big blank eyes and speaks in a soft voice. He translates everything adult into baby gibberish, like most babies. Arlene Klasky said that she based the character of Tommy on her own son. Tommy typically does not wear shoes, but has been seen wearing shoes, most often with specific outfits.

Description
Tommy Pickles, leader of our intrepid band of Rugrats, is intelligent, courageous, compassionate and articulate. He also happens to be only one year old, which gives him an endlessly interesting perspective on life. Stu and Didi Pickles do their best to coddle their oldest child. But as Tommy says, "A baby's gotta do what a baby's gotta do." Under the not so very watchful eyes of the grown-ups, he leads his Rugrat friends on expeditions to unravel the great mysteries of life -- like "Where does the light go when the refrigerator door is closed?" To Tommy Pickles, the world doesn't always make sense, but it makes an incredible amusement park. - Rugrats Description from Klasky Csupo

Tommy Pickles has changed quite a bit since he was a baby. For one thing, he now has a full head of hair! Some things, however, are still the same: Tommy and Chuckie are still best friends, and Tommy is the guy all his friends turn to when they need advice or guidance. Tommy has done very well in school, getting good grades in almost every class. Still, the pressure of studying and keeping up with his pals can cause him to do strange things, like steal garden gnomes while sleepwalking around the neighborhood! Tommy has also developed a budding talent for making films, and is no doubt on his way to becoming a famous director! Just like he was as a baby, Tommy is brave, loyal, and is eager to join in on any adventure. - All Grown Up! Description from Klasky Csupo

Summary
Tommy’s father is Christian and his mother is Jewish, and the former born head leader of the babies. He is like twins with Angelica, and is always ready for adventure with courage to spare. Sometimes he leads the babies into trouble (usually as a result of one of Angelica's lies), but he always manages to lead them back out again. He is a loyal friend and always ready for action. Tommy is the best friend of Chuckie Finster, who is the exact opposite of him (except for the fact they are both friendly). He has a younger brother, Dil, who often gets in the way, but Tommy still loves him and is very protective of him. He is the main character in the series and appears in almost every single episode. He also appears to be the smartest of the babies.

Looks
In the original series, Tommy is only a 1-year old baby toddler, but his catchphrase to Chuckie Finster makes him call himself a toddler when he tells Chuckie not to be such a baby. He has a large, bald head with a few hairs on it, and large, round eyes, with a thin neck, round ears, and a bit of a belly on him. Tommy's outfit consists of a powder blue shirt that shows his belly-button, and a white, baggy diaper with yellow straps on it. He usually walks around barefoot and seems to be a bit pigeon-toed, as both of his feet face inwards.

In All Grown Up!, Tommy is now about 11 years old. He is of average height, with straight white teeth, and spiky, light purplelishly blue colored hair (since Season 2). Though, his outfit changes often now, his usual attire is a striped shirt, brown pants, red and white hi-top sneakers, along with a greenish-brown backpack. In this series, he is in fact much wiser and doesn't go on much adventures. Most of the time, he is either not focusing on the same problem with the group, and instead dealing with his own problems, but sometimes he's with the group and helping with their problems. All the time, he will be with Chuckie and Dil. In the All Grown Up! episode "Truth or Consequences", Tommy was seen as a 3 year old where his purple hair has started growing, he wore a yellow polo shirt, red paired of shorts and orange shoes.

In the 2021 reboot series, Tommy is still only a 1-year old baby. The only changes to his appearance are the tape straps on his diaper being a grey color rather than the typical yellow and his hair being slightly thinner and harder to see.

Personality
Tommy is best known for his bravery and adventure-seeking attitude. He is very playful and will do anything to have an adventure. Tommy is also very loving and protective towards his friends, especially his younger brother, Dil Pickles. He was initially annoyed by Dil, but he became more caring towards him. He is very caring and kind-hearted, and will never let his friends down. Tommy is extremely brave and is very rarely seen afraid of anything, only on a few small occasions. Tommy is also shown to be daring, as proved in the episode "Ransom of Cynthia", where he would rather take matters in his own hands instead of surrendering to the enemy.

He is also shown to be a natural leader and is looked up to by the other babies, coming up with the most ideas to get his friends and himself out of trouble. However, Tommy does have his faults, he can be a little short-tempered at times, sometimes act stubborn, a little smug if he lets his older cousin Angelica influence him, and can be rather naive at times because he is a baby. Overall, Tommy is brave, adventurous, selfless, and caring.

Once Tommy lost his bravery, however he was able to come back from it and help his friends and lead them once more.

Appearances
Tommy appears in all but 4 episodes of the original series. He also appears in all the episodes of All Grown Up!, as he is the main character of each series. His first appearance was in the unaired "Tommy Pickles and the Great White Thing". As of right now, Tommy appears in every episode of the 2021 series.

Relationships
Didi Pickles - Didi is Tommy and Dil's mother. She has a overall good relationship with her son. Earlier in the series, we saw multiple affectionate moments. They have a wonderful bond, and when "danger" lurks, he's always worried about his mother (and father). Like in "They Came from the Backyard", when she was wearing soundproof headphones or "alien ears". Like Tommy, she's also a bit short-tempered and volatile. For instance, whenever she gets her sons, who saved the mall from idiotic robbers in "Rat Traps", Dil told her about the R-rated movie they snuck into. She filled with rage, and dragged her sons home.

Also, in "R.V. Having Fun Yet?" when the gang went cross-country to New York, the kids were bored because the lack of video games, and movies. At the Grand Canyon, Didi was telling Tommy about the wonders of the beauty which is the Grand Canyon, more specifically a rock tower. Tommy said "You're going to make me stand here, and watch it, aren't ya?" She explains they just want to get close with the preteens. Tommy lashes out, and tells her he's sick of getting close, being told what to do, and sick of having a mom. Ironically, later in the episode, when they sneak out for a water apparition that appears by mist shooting from geysers, in the middle of the desert. They come back to find the RV, and their moms gone. When they go through multiple challenges.

They walk down a deserted road, and stop from exhaustion, and dehydration. They slowly start getting depressed, and Tommy says they made it this far, and didn't they want to prove they are responsible. The others start telling their moms always have something to eat, or drink, or to provide for their needs. Tommy says it couldn't get much worse, but it starts raining. He falls to the ground, and yells "I... want... my... Mommy!", and collapses in a pool of his own tears. The others do the same. Their moms pull up, and they are so excited, and grateful. Didi says how proud she is of him, and look how far he came. He said, "Yeah, no big D!" He shows signs of crying, and hugs his mother.

Stu Pickles - Stu is Tommy and Dil's father. He loves Stu, and inherited his inventor gene as seen in "The Science Pair".

Lou Pickles - Grandpa Lou is Tommy and Dil's grandfather, and is someone who Tommy loves very much. Many of Tommy's adventures come from the stories that Grandpa told to Tommy and the other babies. When Grandpa moved out of the Pickles' home in "Acorn Nuts & Diapey Butts", Tommy was upset because he thought Reptar was the cause of Grandpa's sudden urge to leave and tried to get rid of everything Reptar hoping he would come home.

However, after Lou and Lulu got married, Lou stayed in the retierment home with Lulu but still comes to visit Tommy and Dil. In All Grown Up!, Lou is much older, and when taking a class field trip in the episode "The Old and the Restless", Tommy snaps at him because Lou was embarrasing him, was tired of hearing the war stories, and wanted him to move faster. In the end though, after Tommy, Sean, and Justin got stuck in the broken heart of the exhibit, it was Lou who came to Tommy and his friends rescue and Tommy said he was glad that Lou had told him all the stories.

Dil Pickles - Dil is Tommy's younger brother who he loves to play with and teach how things work to. They had a bit of a bad start after he was born, but after getting lost in the forest Tommy and Dil get along much better. Tommy is there to comfort Dil whenever he needed it and supported him.

Angelica Pickles - Angelica is Tommy's mean three year old cousin who causes Tommy and the other babies to get into trouble with her lies. Tommy however looks up to Angelica sometimes and helps her whenever she needs it. Tommy has also been known to care for her and sometimes she cares back.

Chuckie Finster - Chuckie is Tommy's best friend, they met when Tommy was only eight days old. Chuckie is the reason Tommy took his first steps and they've been friends ever since. The two friends however have had their small arguments but made up in the end as they become friends again. In All Grown Up!, they ended their friendship for a brief amount of the episode "TP+KF" because Chuckie thought Tommy had a crush on Kimi. In the end, they became friends again.

Kimi Finster - Tommy and Kimi met in Rugrats in Paris: The Movie when Kira brought her along. Kimi is, what Chuckie describes as,"another Tommy" in which Kimi's adventurous personality has her planning adventures and wanting to go on adventures just like Tommy. In the All Grown Up! episode "TP+KF", Kimi revealed that she had a crush on Tommy after they all found Tommy and Kimi's initials carved in the wall. Tommy and Kimi claimed that they weren't into each other but at the end it was hinted that they both have a crush on each other.

Phil DeVille - Phil, just like Lil is one of Tommy's friends who are always ready to go on an adventure with Tommy.

Lil DeVille - Lil, just like Phil, is one of Tommy's friends who are always ready to go on an adventure with Tommy.

Trivia

 * Tommy is based on Arlene Klasky's son.
 * In the pilot episode, Tommy was voiced by Tami Holbrook. In the series, he is voiced by E.G. Daily.
 * Tommy's birthday is presumably August 11, considering the fact that the episode focusing on his birthday was officially created August 11, 1990 and then the episode was aired August 11, 1991. However, this could be wrong as a Fourth of July episode took place as the second episode after his first birthday.
 * Tommy appears to have blue eyes, as seen in a close-up of him during the pilot episode, although this may not be true.
 * Tommy was probably born premature, as he is seen in an incubator in the episode "Mother's Day".
 * Tommy, up until Dil was born, was the smallest and youngest main character of Rugrats at the age of 1, being a couple months younger than Phil and Lil who are also 1.
 * Tommy may be ambidextrous. He has showed in numerous occasions that he can use either hands to do tasks (i.e. bowling, eating, and using glue with his left hand when he is right handed). The cause of this may be because two prominent figures in Tommy's life, his brother Dil and his best friend Chuckie, are left-handed. Therefore, by using his left hand while doing certain tasks in their presence, Tommy has made tasks such as eating easier for them.
 * Originally, Tommy's shirt would be red or orange in Season 1. This can be shown in the pilot when he is wearing orange aprons while sleeping, and in the test pilot when he was wearing an orange T-shirt.
 * In Season 1, he was underweight like the rest of the boys, but gained weight along with them (except for Dil, who apparently is actually the right weight). This has only happened in All Grown Up!
 * Tommy is seen to be an avid fan of "Indiana Jones" which he pronounced "Okie-Dokie Jones".
 * In Rugrats, Tommy is skinnier since he looked at 10 (he should be that age in 5th grade), but this is baby skinny.
 * Tommy is revealed to be a really early walker (5-6 months, when 10 months is the average baby) in "A Step at a Time".
 * Tommy has been shown wearing just a diaper in a few episodes including "Naked Tommy", "Mother's Day", "A Step at a Time", and the short "Dil's Bathtime".
 * Tommy has been seen as a 6 year old in the episode "Back To School" (in Didi's imagination), and 2 year old in All Grown Up!.
 * In All Grown Up!, Tommy has different colored hair in season 2. It is a dark purplishly type in season 1 and in season 2, it is light purplishly blue.
 * In the Invader Zim episode "Plague of Babies", Tommy was going to be the leader of the aliens who disguised themselves as human infants, and he would have been voiced by his official voice actress, E.G. Daily. Due to copyright issues, Nickelodeon wouldn't allow it and this plan was scrapped; despite this, the character that replaced him, Shnooky, still resembles Tommy.
 * Through out the entire series Tommy is seen wearing an orange shirt 3 times in the episodes "Tommy Pickles and the Great White Thing", "Tommy's First Birthday", and "Real or Robots?", and a red shirt three times in episodes "Tommy's First Birthday", "Reptar's Revenge", and "Real or Robots?". His shirt is blue all the other episodes of Rugrats.
 * It is revealed in a Nick magazine that Phil and Lil's birthday is March 31st and are 15 months, when Tommy is 1, making them 3 months older than Tommy. Which means that Tommy is possibly born in June, other info that could prove this is that it is said that Tommy was born 2 months premature. This could mean his actual birth was suppose to be August 11 but was born June 11 (2 months earlier) which would make him 3 months younger than Phil and Lil. Plus the fact that a fourth of July episode appeared after the episode "Tommy's First Birthday" it would make more sense logically.
 * At the beginning of the All Grown Up! opening theme, when the "4...3...2..1.." is said, it's in Tommy's voice.
 * Tommy is one of the only four characters that appear in the series finale episodes of both Rugrats and All Grown Up!, the other three being Dil, Stu, and Didi.
 * Tommy spoke the last line in the Rugrats television continuity. The line being "Gotcha!" in the All Grown Up! episode, "Golden Boy".
 * Tommy overall wore shoes twelve times throughout the entire series in episodes: "Waiter, There's a Baby in My Soup", "Stu-Maker's Elves", "Beauty Contest", "Reptar's Revenge", "Let Them Eat Cake", "The Blizzard", "Heat Wave", "Miss Manners", "Steve", "Babies in Toyland", "Snow White", and "Three Jacks and a Beanstalk" of Rugrats and Rugrats: Tales From The Crib, but "Heat Wave" was the only episode Tommy wore shoes with his normal attire.
 * He carries one of Stu's screwdrivers, which he calls a Studriver.
 * In All Grown Up!, Tommy bears somewhat of a resemblance to The Simpsons character Bart Simpson.
 * When Tommy lost his bravery, it seems it was the fear of losing his friends that brought back his bravery.
 * It is hinted that Tommy has a crush on Kimi as seen in the episode "TP+KF".
 * Tommy's shirt as a 6 year old (Didi's imagination) in the episode "Back to School" is similar to the shirt his younger brother, Dil, wore in "All Growed Up".
 * Tommy saw a flying saucer in the episode "Brothers Grimm".
 * Throughout All Grown Up!, Tommy has a huge interest in film directing. However, as seen in "The Science Pair", Tommy has the capabilities and knowledge of inventing, just like his father Stu and his brother, Dil.
 * Angelica would sometimes call Tommy "Melonhead" in the early seasons of Rugrats.
 * She would also call him by his last name Pickles like she does to Chuckie, Kimi, Dil, Phil, Lil, and Susie by calling them by their last names.
 * Martin Costomiris is Tommy's favorite film director.
 * As revealed in "Wouldn't it be Nice?", Tommy blinks when he lies.
 * As shown in "Bad Blood", Tommy gets a rash when he is stressed.
 * We can assume that Tommy knows how to roller-blade seeing how in the All Grown Up! intro shows Tommy holding his camera while rollerblading.
 * It is shown in "River Rats" that Tommy is scared of being underwater due to an incident when he was little. Whilst at a waterfront with Lou, a toddler Tommy fell in the water and had to be rescued by Lou. He fights this fear when Phil falls into a river, and Tommy has to save him.
 * Tommy is the only main character in the whole series to get his first kiss which happen in "Fear of Falling" by a girl named Olivia.
 * In the episode "Moving Away", Drew mentions to the neighbors in the flashback of when the kids first met that Stu and Didi have just moved from Akron. This could mean Tommy was born in Akron. Though it could be considered non-canon since there are episodes like "Showdown at Teeter Totter Gulch" in Season 2, "A Step at a Time" in Season 8, and "The Crawl Space" in Season 9 that shows Tommy and his family where there since he was born, and there are also episodes like "The Santa Experience" (which is also a season 2 episode) that implies that the grown-ups have known each other since away longer then they implied in "Moving Away" and in "Moose Country" where Phil and Lil eat worms for the first time in that episode, so there are a lot of things that make Tommy being born in Akron non-canon unless moved to Akron and then to where they currently live.
 * Tommy is the very first Rugrat to get kidnapped.
 * Tommy appears in every episode of the original Rugrats series except for "Cuffed", "The Unfair Pair", "Pickles vs. Pickles", and "Tell-Tale Cell Phone", though he appears in every episode of All Grown Up!.
 * He is mentioned by Angelica in The Unfair Pair.
 * So far Tommy and Chuckie are the only characters to appear in every episode of the 2021 series.
 * The only incarnation of the franchise where he doesn't appear is Rugrats Pre-School Daze.