Misconceptions About Tommyinnitās Character That Genuinely INFURIATE Me
Since the recent events following the second LāManburg Festival and subsequent war, Iāve seen many, many hot takes surrounding the nature of Tommyinnitās character on the SMP. Some of which annoyed me to the point where I felt compelled to sit down and actually write this. Iām going to only be highlighting the most common complaints or questions Iāve seen, one by one, in hopes of providing a better understanding of Tommyās character for anyone interested. (I also briefly discuss Techno and Tubboās characters as well.)
If youāve said similar things to what Iām going to be discussing below, please know that itās perfectly understandable how youād come to these conclusions. Some of these aspects of Tommyās character are not always obvious; especially if being watched from another streamerās POV. This may become quite lengthy, so bear with me for now.
āTommyās motives are all over the place. He canāt decide whether he wants the discs back or not.ā
Tommy is actually one of the most motivationally consistent characters on the entire Dream SMP. Even Techno, someone completely confident in their ideals, does more motivational flipping than Tommy. From the very start of the story, Tommy has always cared for three things; LāManburg, Tubbo, and his music discs. However, him caring for something is not itself a motivation.Ā
Surprisingly enough, his motivation isnāt even just, āGet my discs back,ā like many assume it is. Tommyās one true motivation, since the end of the Independence War, has always been, āKeep things the way they are now.āĀ
Tommyās one fatal flaw is that he is resistant to change and refuses to let go of the past. This is seen through all of his actions and words; in all conflicts involving him. This flaw is the drive to all of Tommyās mistakes. Burning down Georgeās house, an action which resulted in him getting exiled, was done out of a desire to pull pranks the way he used to before the first war. His friendship with Ranboo started because Tommy said he reminded him of Tubbo, back before he was President.Ā
Tommy still talks highly of Wilbur because he chooses to remember him as the wise, kind mentor who cared for him. This motive is the reason he defends LāManburg so fiercely; itās his memory of a better past. This is why he holds grudges more often than any other character; especially refusing to forgive Techno after he killed Tubbo during the Manburg Massacre.
Itās why Tommy falls under extreme distress whenever Tubbo or Quackity tell him that something will never be the same again. This motivation is entirely formed from an underlying desire for peace and comfort, something Tommy has been denied since being forced into a life wrought with war and death. To accept change, to Tommy, is painful and terrifying. But he will only ever truly be happy when he finally learns to let go.
āWhy do the discs matter so much to Tommy? Theyāre not actually worth anything.ā
Tommyās discs are much more than just any ordinary pair of music discs. They were never important for their material worth, but for what Tommy was willing to sacrifice in order to keep them. Tommy is entirely what gives the discs their value.Ā
Tommy also commonly operates under the Sunk-Cost Fallacy, wherein heās invested too much of himself into something to just abandon it, even if itās causing him problems. This mentality is a huge piece of what keeps him tied to both LāManburg and to his discs. Heās sacrificed too much at this point to simply let them go. If he admits the discs are worthless, then heās admitting that he wasted all this time and effort, just to keep them.
The discs also act as a constant source of hope for Tommy because they are directly tied with his motivations as a character. Theyāre something heās had since the very beginning. Theyāre something he used to listen to with Tubbo on their shared bench.Ā
To Tommy, they symbolize a life before war, filled with comfort and peace. They are a love letter to his country and his late mentor Wilbur. They are a physical representation of Tubboās companionship. They are the only thing, besides LāManburg and his best friend, that gives him the hope that he can one day return things to the way they used to be.Ā
This ideal, paired with Tommyās refusal to let go, has left him ruthlessly pursuing the things heās lost. Not his music discs, but his peace and comfort, his friendship, his country, his mentor Wilbur, and his life before war.
In his desperation to hold onto his prized possession, it has only hurt and pushed away the people that love him. If Tommy continues to ignore this reality, while still refusing to resolve his major flaw entwined with it, he will lose all that the discs had once stood for. He will lose his country, then his friend Tubbo, and then he will lose himself.
āTommy never grows or learns from his mistakes. This makes him a badly written character.ā
Characters do not have to constantly learn from their actions to be well-written. Tommy is one of the best examples of this. The fact that his growth is infrequent is the entire point of his character; itās completely stemmed from his fatal flaw.Ā
By addressing himself, he would be accepting change, something that terrifies him; something he stubbornly resists until he is absolutely forced to confront it. Contrary to popular belief, Tommy knows when he makes mistakes, but he pretends to be ignorant as to avoid facing reality. He digs his head in the sand despite knowing better, puppeteering the person he used to be during happier times, now gone.
In spite of his infrequent growth, the idea that Tommy still hasnāt learned anything isnāt quite correct either. Tommy, as of the last three plot streams, has shown incredible character development. By giving up his discs again, he had finally demonstrated that Tubbo is more important to him than his possessions. Speaking as a makeshift leader, he put aside his issues with others to rally them together against a common threat, something which Tommy had never been able to do before. He owned up to all of his mistakes openly, apologizing to everyone heās ever hurt in one place.Ā
He apologized to Tubbo after they were reunited and came to terms with the fact that Tubbo was forced to exile him without choice, finally forgiving him. He was kind to Sapnap and learned how to be his friend after months of bitter rivalry. And these are only a few examples. This isnāt to say Tommy has overcome/fixed everything because he clearly hasnāt. There are still major things Tommy needs to work through that remain unaddressed, the biggest being his complicated relationship with Technoblade.
āTommy only cares about himself. He does everything in his power to be the hero, always putting himself in the center of attention, especially during Doomsday.ā
Tommy, since the start of the LāManburg War for Independence, has never set out to be a hero. Not once. He may fall into the role of the protagonist, but his identity as a hero was pushed onto him by others. Giving up the discs was his only option during the Independence War.Ā
So when Wilbur called him a hero for it, Tommy said he didnāt feel like he was. During the November 16th War, Tommy again said he didnāt feel like a hero because he had lost what he thought was everything at the time. During exile, Tommy certainly knew he was no hero. And upon reuniting with Tubbo, he admitted to feeling like the farthest thing from it. That heād hurt everyone and all he wanted to do now was fix it.Ā
The day before Doomsday, Tommy only took a leadership position because no one else was willing to, filling the role for Tubbo, who was crumbling under pressure. He had no choice but to try to bring everyone together, or fight alone. Most viewers never saw this during Doomsday, but before the battle, almost everyone who had vowed to fight alongside LāManburg had abandoned them the very next day. They were convinced it was going to be destroyed either way, no matter what they did, so they chose not to see it through to the end; ultimately leaving Tommy and those who remained to fight a losing battle, alone.Ā
After about a third of the way through the battle, it became clear to everyone that they could do nothing to win. One by one, everyone stopped fighting and stood by to watch their country go up in smoke. Tommy was the only person on the battlefield who refused to stand down and give up. And so he took over the role as leader again, trying his best to keep them alive, to keep Tubbo hopeful; to keep fighting, no matter what.Ā
However, what most people donāt realize, is that this isnāt Tommy trying to be a hero or force himself into the spotlight. This is Tommy trying to convince himself to keep going. Because whenever things start to look hopeless, Tommy simply chooses to ignore them. He puts on a happy face and soldiers through it because thatās all he knows how to do. Tommy, at his core, is someone who wants peace through stagnation. He doesnāt want to fight, although causing the occasional friendly conflict is how he finds fun. He doesnāt set out to purposely hurt others.Ā
Tommy may come across as self-centered, but this is because he is an extremely extroverted character. He finds energy and joy in the attention of others, both good and bad. Itās why heās always seeking the approval of others and, oftentimes, will destructively insert himself into another personās life in order to find it.Ā
Out of every character in the story, Tommy is the most drawn to praise and positive reinforcement. He is constantly seeking out mentors and friends because Tommy needs someone else to help him feel confident in his own identity and abilities. Itās why Wilbur was such a positive influence on him. His boisterous confidence has always been a front because if anyone were to actually hurt him, he knows it will make his self-esteem crumble instantly.Ā
This is part of why Dreamās manipulation was so effective against him. By isolating him, heās left without energy and looking to another personās guidance. Tommy outwardly may seem independent and rude, but just under the skin, heās unconfident and lost when heās by himself. Tommy will only grow from this flaw when he finds his own identity and inner confidence; when he finally learns to be okay with being alone.
āTommy goes to the festival solely to get his disc back and then tells Tubbo to give it away immediately after. That doesnāt make any sense.ā
Before the screaming match between the two friends during the second LāManburg Festival, Tommy had been in exile, manipulated by Dream for long enough to lose his will to carry on. It is because of him that Tommyās reality becomes distorted, long after fleeing from his abuser. This mangling of ideals leads Tommy to subconsciously believe that LāManburg and Tubbo are unsalvageable.Ā
Therefore, the only thing he has hopes of retrieving are his discs, which are easier to manage than the latter two things. And so Tommy does reprehensible things at the behest of Techno in a vain hope of getting them back, going so far as to kidnap and torture for them. This ultimately culminates in a confrontation between the ex-friends, quickly turning violent. It is in this violence that we see Tommy has sunk to his absolute lowest point in his journey.Ā
Swinging his axe, he nearly kills his friend as he delivers a string of words that cause the room to silence instantly. He says the discs were always worth more than his friend. Within the quiet of the room, Tommy is forced to reflect on everything heās done. How he kidnapped and tortured Connor. How he accidentally drowned Fundy. How he traumatized Ranboo.Ā
And now heās hurt Tubbo, the one person he has always sought to protect; someone he vowed to never hurt. This realization causes Tommy to break. Heās so ashamed of himself that he canāt look at anyone. Tommy knows now that he is worse than anyone heās ever hated.Ā
With pain in his voice, he tries and fails to apologize to Tubbo in the moment. The only way he knows to redeem himself now is to prove to Tubbo, after everything, that he can still put the discs aside. And so he does.