TOM

T.O.M. (short for Toonami Operations Module) is known to have had the longest run as host of Toonami for exactly 9 years from July 10, 1999 to September 20, 2008, the day Toonami shut down tragically. He has been hosting the block from four incarnations. After being canceled, TOM 3.0 suddenly reappeared on April 1, 2012 during an April Fools prank on Adult Swim. The Toonami block was tentatively brought back to replace the yearly April Fools tradition of airing The Room, and he reviewed the game Mass Effect 3. To fan outcry, Toonami made its official return on May 26, 2012 with the "fifth" incarnation, Tom 3.5.

TOM 1.0
The first version of TOM introduced and the first one to have custody of the Ghost Planet spaceship Absolution, Cartoon Network's first and only interstellar travel unit. He was called a bubble-headed host by Wall Street Journal and had the joke of fans because of his enourmus "gut" which was a very large nuclear reactor. His appearance was a short, visored helmet wearing, white and blue robot who's limbs were connected by thin black threads. His personality was that of Moltar's: wise-cracking, sarcastic, and sardonic. Also, the symbol of his nuclear reactor was a hazmat symbol. His intro speech was broadcast on July 10, 1999 at 11:55 p.m., five minutes before Toonami's first Midnight Run broadcast. "So it's a brand new Toonami but the mission objectives remain the same. My name is TOM. I'm the new Moltar. Welcome aboard the Ghost Planet spaceship, the Absolution, Cartoon Network's first and only broadcast & exploration vehicle, but I'll give you the tour later. From this day forward, she's responsible for all Toonami transmissions. I'm taking you guys into the new millenium. No big changes now, same shows, same attitude, new place to do it, new guy to do it with. I'm not going to waste anymore time, let's get back into it. Later." -Tom v.1's first message

July 10, 1999, 11:55 pm:

TOM was a very good friend of Moltar and when he had heard of TOM's bravery in stopping a metallic threat on a space colony, he decided to give TOM reign over Toonami and also gave TOM the Absolution to help broadcast the block.

TOM ended up doing what Moltar wished by bringing lots of new material to Toonami, bringing us into the new millenium, and making Toonami and Cartoon Network rise to the top. Also, like Moltar he gave out sage-like advice like standing up for yourself, courage, and doing the right thing. However, unlike the original guy in red and blue, he rarely talked about the heroes or villians in an insulting way. In the first TIE (Total Immersion Event), The Intruder, while having a conversation with his A.I. assistant, SARA, on the deck, a large, red blob crashed (or should we say burned) through the hull of the ship. TOM sent out the Clyde 50's to investige, only for them to be devoured. TOM was immediatley charged with the task of fighting the Intruder. After fighting it and getting knocked out of the ship, having his nuclear reactor turning off in the process, he was turned back on when he bumped into an asteroid. After taking the bigest weapon in his arsenal which was charged by SARA, he attacked the Intruder which really grew since their last encounter. TOM continuously attacked the red sludge-like creature, but with no luck whatsoever. After a failed attempt to trap the intruder, TOM attacked with enough force to send him flying backwards, but to no avail. The ever-hungry Intruder devoured him, bringing an end to our short, Bomberman-like robot friend.

Hosting period: July 10, 1999 - September 22, 2000

Voiced by: Sonny Strait

TOM 2.0
As the ever hungry intruder ate one of the engines, it looked like the end of the Absolution and TOM's sacrifice to be in vain. But like the comics no one stays dead forever and immediately after The Intruder's assault on the engine, SARA downloaded all of TOM's AI matrix (which means his personality, memory, and other stuff) into a new chasis named TOM 2. Despite this, he was still refered to as TOM and was still the same sarcastic host of ours. After awaking and learning from SARA about his "death", TOM was immediatley ordered to blow up the remaining engine since things were getting risky. After setting the detonators, TOM set off the charges and destroyed the Intruder (as far as we know). Soon afterwards, the Absolution was taken in for repairs. Then, some time after that, the ship detected a distress beacon and the Absolution was pulled in the tractor beam in the TIE Lockdown. However, the Absolution and everyone on it were able to escape due to TOM activating the DOCs to help pull them out of the tractor beam.

Sometime afterwards, in Trapped in Hyperspace (the last TIE to focus on the Absolution crew) while going through Hyperspace the Absolution was hi-jacked by Swayzak (Menace online) who then ended up kidnapping SARA. However, in the end TOM managed to regain control of the Absolution, defeat Swayzak and rescue SARA at the same time.

Unfortunately, TOM 2 would soon meet his end in the Toonami online comic Endgame in which SARA was captured by Ocelot Rex and TOM ended up trying to save her. Except unlike his past dangers, TOM wasn't so lucky when dealing with Ocelot Rex and later was horribly destroyed along with the Absolution. However, this wasn't the end of TOM just yet.

Voiced by: Steven J. Blum (as with later versions)

TOM 3.0
Tom 3 was the host replacing Tom 2 from 2003-2007. He is arguably the one the fans are more familiar with.

He may have been replaced by Tom 4 due to Toonami's rebranding of style as part of its 10th anniversary. He did make a brief return on April 1, 2012, during an April Fools prank in which he reviewed the game Mass Effect 3. On May 26, 2012 Adult Swim marked the return of Toonami with TOM 3.5 - essentially the same model in HD. He is the official host from 2012 onwards.

Tom 3 also made a cameo in Sly 2 as one of Sly's gadgets.

TOM 4.0
Tom 4 was the final host in toonami's history. His appearance was the most controversial among fans, though creators wanted more human features in their host.

On September 20th, 2008, Tom gave his last message.

"Well, this is the end, beautiful friends. After more than 11 years, this is Toonami's final broadcast. It's been a lot of fun, and we'd like to thank each and every one of us. Toonami wouldn't have been anything without you. Hopefully we've left you with some good memories. So, until we meet again, stay gold. Bang."

The last word is a reference to a character Steve Blum has previously voiced - Spike Spiegel of Cowboy Bebop. This version is eventually succeeded by Tom 3.5, a rendition of Tom 3 in high definition.