Lightning is an orange cat who first appeared in the 1948 short Old Rockin' Chair Tom as Tom's rival. Lightning is named as such because in his first short, he practically moved at the speed of lightning. In later cartoons, Lightning often appeared as one of Tom's alley cat friend/foes. he is either depicted as a house cat or an alley cat.
He also made appearance in 1960s era in Switchin' Kitten & Catty-Cornered.
Personality
Lightning is known as laid-back, impatient, gluttonous, hard-working, tenacious, manipulative, negative, ingenious, no-nonsense and fast. He always hangs out with Tom, Butch, and the other cats.
Appearance
Lightning Cat has orange fur and white paws and green eyes. In at least two of his appearances, his tail is shown tied in a bandage similar to Meathead Cat. In most of his appearances, he physically resembles Butch Cat, although his character design varies within appearances. He was seen with a lighter face in his later appearances in the classic era in cartoons like Muscle Beach Tom and Mucho Mouse, He is given a Siamese-like appearance in Catty-Cornered with light tan fur and black ears and tail.
In The Tom and Jerry Show (2014), he has blue eyes instead of green ones.
Appearances
Tom and Jerry
- Old Rockin' Chair Tom
- Saturday Evening Puss
- Sleepy-Time Tom
- Smarty Cat
- Muscle Beach Tom (cameo)
- Mucho Mouse
- Switchin' Kitten
- Catty-Cornered
Spike and Tyke
The Tom and Jerry Show (2014)
Season 2
- Pinch Hitter
- Missing in Traction
- Brain Food (as Ernie)
- Going, Going, Gone Viral (cameo)
Season 3
- Vegged Out (seen in tablet)
Tom and Jerry in New York
Season 2
- Stunt Double Trouble (cameo)
- Relativity
- Pied Piper of Harlem (cameo)
- Planet of the Mice (does not speak)
Film Appearances
- Tom and Jerry (2021 film)
- Tom and Jerry: Cowboy Up (does not speak)
Trivia
- Lightning resembles Meathead (most notably in Saturday Evening Puss), though the two are not the same and have appeared side-by-side in a few cartoons.
- However, in most of his later appearances, including Tom and Jerry in New York, Lightning shares the same design as Butch.
- His voice in The Tom and Jerry Show episode "Missing in Traction" is very similar to that of the late Jerry Stiller, while his voice in Tom and Jerry in New York resembles that of Bear, the titular character from the Jim Henson puppet television series Bear in the Big Blue House.
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