Tom Sawyer is the protagonist and title character of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). He appears in three other novels by Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894), and Tom Sawyer, Detective (1896).

Tom Sawyer is a cunning, playful boy. He seems to be a showoff and likes to show his authority over other boys. He is around twelve years old as gathered from hints in Twain's works. Tom is supposed to represent the carefree and wonderful world of boyhood in the early-mid 1800s. His best friends include Joe Harper and Huckleberry Finn. In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom's infatuation with Rebecca (alias Becky) Thatcher is apparent. He has a half-brother, Sid, a cousin, Mary, and his aunt is known as Aunt Polly, all with whom he lives. Tom is Aunt Polly's dead sister's son. It is unknown how Tom's mother died.

Among the adventures Tom gets himself into are going pirating with Huck Finn And Joe Harper. He also stumbles upon Injun Joe's crime in which Widow Douglass is almost killed, and where thousands of gold rounds were involved. He also gets trapped with Becky Thacher, his "fiancée," in a cave. After which, Injun Joe dies, and Huck gets adopted by the widow.