For the Fall 2015 & 2016 CG Tama wears a blue yukata with a white gradient along the bottom and sleeves, and featuring a cattail and paw print pattern. She also wears a winter camouflage happi, a fishhairclip and sandals. She is holding an ikayaki in one hand and a baggedgoldfish in the other. She wears her usual rigging.
For the Saury Festival 2016, Tama wears a variant of her uniform with a green skirt instead of her shorts, a cardigan, black pantyhose and loafers. She also wears an abridged version of her gear and carries a tairyou-bata while holding a roasted saury with her mouth. Damaging her obliterates her clothes, leaving her only with what remains of her pantyhose, her shoes and her flag.
As her name is commonly given to cats, she meows as a verbal tic and many artists depict her acting like a cat, often with cat ears and a tail. These somewhat feline qualities are officially reinforced in her second remodel by the tiger stripes on her serafuku, the paw-like toe tips on her boots, and the paw pose with her left hand as depicted on her CG.
Her in-game voice is very soft spoken, so in terms of temperament Tama is usually depicted as rather laid back. True to her cat-like nature she is often portrayed sleeping or lounging, especially under a kotatsu. She is most frequently paired with her sisters, especially Kuma.
The historical IJN light cruiser Tama served with Kiso for much of the war. Notably they patrolled around Hokkaidō and the Kurile Islands, and participated in the Aleutian Islands Campaign. For their service in the North Pacific both ships were given arctic camouflage, which is reflected in Tama's gear and Summer happi as well as Kiso's Kai Ni cloak and rigging.
