Chosen Child
A Chosen Child (選ばれし子供 Erabareshi kodomo; plural: 選ばれし子供たち Erabareshi kodomo-tachi; Dub: DigiDestined/Chosen Kid[1]) is a type of Tamer that has been specifically "chosen" by a higher power of the Digital World (or similar alternate reality) to defend both that world and their own world from some sort of threat. They are partnered with a partner Digimon (or similar life-form), are capable of making their partner temporarily evolve to fight threats to the worlds and, usually, possess a Digivice.
Overview[edit]
Terminology[edit]
In series which feature Chosen Children, the term "Tamer" is never used.
In Japanese writing and speech, Chosen Children are universally called "Erabareshi kodomo-tachi". However, it is common for the Japanese versions of sequels to Digimon Adventure to borrow the term "DigiDestined" (or misspellings of it) from the English dubs and use it as a gloss for "Erabareshi kodomo-tachi" whenever dialog or text is presented on-screen in English. For example:
- In the Digimon Adventure 02 episode "Coral and Versailles, The Battle Royal!", Dingo (an Australian) introduces himself in (broken) English as "This is the DigiDestiny of Australia."
- In the Digimon Adventure tri. film "Reunion", Takaishi Takeru visits a global internet forum for Chosen Children which is branded "DIGIDISTINED[sic] OF THE WORLD".
- In Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna, Menoa Bellucci (an American) uses the term in her email, written in English, to Inoue Miyako.
In the reboot Digimon Adventure:, the "DigiDestined" term is not used on-screen. Instead, when Izumi Koshiro becomes a Chosen Child in "Tokyo Digital Crisis", his laptop displays the message "The Choosen[sic] One". (The official English subtitles released on Crunchyroll also translate the term as "Chosen Ones".) The "DigiDestined" term is still used on some promotional material for Adventure: within Japan.[2]
Appearances[edit]
Anime[edit]
Digimon Adventure original continuity[edit]
According to series director Kakudou Hiroyuki, the number of new Chosen Children have doubled every year since 1996.[3]
This is both followed and contradicted in the series however, as in 2010 Mimi states there are 30,000 and in 2012 Miyako states there are 60,000. Miyako does state the amount doubles every year, however her numbers do not match the total for 2012 as it should be 120,000 (though as the movie takes place in February, there could be 120,000 by December).
If doubling every year since 1996, the numbers do not match and are a year behind (2010 would have 16,000 and 2012 would have 64,000). Starting in 1996 would give 8 in 1999, but there are far more than 8 in 1999. The doubling would have to start in 1995 to fit numbers given in the series itself.
Mimi's total does not fit Kakudou's total (30,000 in 2010) though Miyako's statement does (60,000 in 2012). Due to how many Chosen Children there are in 1999, it has to have started in 1995.
Digimon Adventure[edit]
The main protagonists of Digimon Adventure are a group of eight (seven, at first) Chosen Children: Yagami Taichi, Yagami Hikari, Ishida Yamato, Takaishi Takeru, Takenouchi Sora, Izumi Kōshirō, Kido Jo, and Tachikawa Mimi.
Homeostasis (possessing Hikari) reveals to them that it had chosen them to become Chosen Children because they had all been present for a battle between Koromon and a wild Parrotmon in Hikarigaoka in 1995. Specifically, it chose Taichi and Hikari because they had caused Koromon to evolve from a Digitama that appeared in their house into a Greymon; and it chose the other six because, when it scanned their data, it noticed that they all had something unidentified in common with Taichi and Hikari. Homeostasis and its agents, including Gennai, then created the Digitama of their partner Digimon, their Digivices, and their Crests and Tags based on the scanned data.[4]
Seven of the eight Chosen Children begin their adventure in the Digital World on August 1 1999, when they receive their Digivices and are brought into the Digital World while at their summer camp.[5] Hikari was meant to be at the summer camp as well, but due to illness she is unable to attend.[6]
The identity of the "eighth Chosen Child" remains a mystery for some time, and when they come to the Real World, both the other Chosen Children and Vamdemon's forces work to track them down. During a fight with Mammon at Hikarigaoka, the Chosen Children remember the Greymon-Parrotmon fight of 1995, and realize that the eight Chosen Child must also have been present at that fight.[6] However, the various leads that they try to follow, including theorizing that the child must have also moved away from Hikarigaoka after the fight,[7] raiding their old phone books, and picking up the signal of another Digivice in the Shiba-ura area,[8] all amount to nothing. Meanwhile, Vamdemon's forces use duplicates of the Chosen Child's Crest of Light to try and find them, but also have no luck. It is Wizarmon who correctly identifies Hikari as the eight Chosen Child, and Tailmon as her partner Digimon.[9] After being abducted by Vamdemon and then freed, Hikari and Tailmon join the Chosen Children for the final battles against him.[10]
Before the final battle with Apocalymon, Gennai reveals to the Chosen Children that they are not the first Chosen Children, and that a previous group of five had once defeated Apocalymon.[11][N 1]
Digimon Adventure 02[edit]
The main protagonists of Digimon Adventure 02 are a mostly new group of six (five, at first) Chosen Children: Motomiya Daisuke, Ichijouji Ken, Inoue Miyako, Hida Iori, and veteran Chosen Children Takaishi Takeru and Yagami Hikari. The rest of Yagami Taichi's team plays a supporting role and they are often too busy to help out regularly.
Ken had been on an adventure of his own a few years before, but had become infested with a Dark Seed and manipulated into conquering the Digital World as the "Digimon Kaiser".[12] After his final defeat, he tries to make amends and eventually joins Daisuke's group.
It was in response to the appearance of the Digimon Kaiser, more specifically his Dark Towers, that the Four Holy Beasts chose Daisuke, Inoue Miyako, and Hida Iori as new Chosen Children to restore harmony to the world. To enable them to use Digimentals, they put three ancient Digimon (V-mon, Hawkmon, and Armadimon) to sleep to become their partner Digimon, and created and sent them three D-3s. Qinglongmon of the Four Holy Beasts also transformed Takeru and Hikari's original Digivices into D-3s.[13]
Over the course of the series, the twelve Japanese Chosen Children begin to learn that they are not the only Chosen Children, and that there are many others around the world.[14] It is Gennai who initially introduces Izumi Kōshirō to the existence of an international network of Chosen Children.[15] When they embark on a journey around the world to round up Digimon who have escaped into the real world, they meet and work with many of the foreign Chosen Children.[16] They also begin to realize that Chosen Children, including themselves, share in common the fact that they had previously had an encounter with Digimon;[17] Kōshirō reports that most of the foreign Chosen Children have reported that back in 1999, they encountered Digimon who had appeared in the Real World.[14]
On December 31 2002, all of the Chosen Children from all around the world gather in the Digital World when the Digital Gates respond to the light of their Digivices, and join Daisuke's team in confronting Belial Vamdemon. When the children who had been infected with Dark Seeds begin to feel depressed at their own inadequacy, and those dark feelings threaten to power Belial Vamdemon up, Daisuke's group inspire them to have faith in their own potential to make their dreams and aspirations a reality. In response to their renewed hope, they all become Chosen Children themselves, and their partner Digimon and D-3s appear to them. Together, all of the Chosen Children use their Digivices to power up Imperialdramon: Fighter Mode's Giga Death to destroy Belial Vamdemon.[18]
After Belial Vamdemon's destruction, his former human host, Oikawa Yukio - who had always wanted to go to the Digital World - is reunited with Pipimon, the partner Digimon that he never knew he had, who he had first met through a video game back when he was a child. The two are immediately parted when Oikawa gives up what is left of his life to restore the balance of the Digital World.[18]
Digimon Adventure tri.[edit]
In Digimon Adventure tri., Yagami Taichi's group of Chosen Children are joined by a ninth member, Mochizuki Meiko, who has recently moved from Tottori to Tokyo. She had been a Chosen Child since the late 1990s, when she met her partner Digimon, Meicoomon.[19]
By this point, a website that allows Chosen Children from all over the world to communicate, called "DIGIDISTINED[sic] OF THE WORLD", is in operation. Takaishi Takeru is a user of the website, and he warns others on it of the appearance of Kuwagamon in Tokyo.[19]
Digimon Adventure tri. also expands on the story of the "first Chosen Children" who predated Taichi's group. Two of them, as adults—Nishijima Daigo and Himekawa Maki—are (at first) allies of the Chosen Children who work in the National Data Processing Bureau to protect Tokyo from Digimon incursions.[19] A flashback depicts their final battle with the Dark Masters, in which four of the group's partner Digimon evolve into the Four Holy Beasts, and Himekawa's partner, Bakumon is sacrificed to channel a blast that defeats them. The loss of Bakumon traumatized Himekawa, and she collaborated with Yggdrasill to manipulate events to cause a Reboot in the hope that they could be reunited.[20]
When Meicoomon mutates again and begins her second rampage in the Digital World, Homeostasis decides that the Chosen Children have failed and must not interfere any further in its efforts to stop Meicoomon and preserve the Digital World, so the Digital World itself begins to reject them and turn hostile.[21] Ishida Yamato later reflects that the group are not Chosen Children anymore, and that it is now up to them to choose the future that they want.[22]
Digimon Adventure 20th Anniversary Memorial Story Project[edit]
Mimi states there are 30,000 Chosen Children in 2010.
Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna[edit]
Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna explores the ultimate fate of Chosen Children and their partner Digimon. As Menoa Bellucci and Gennai explain, the reason that it is children who are chosen to have partner Digimon is that children have limitless possibilities for what they can become, and it is these possibilities and the growth of children that produces massive amounts of energy, enabling their partner Digimon to evolve. However, the choices that one must make in life as one grows up begin to narrow those possibilities and diminish the power of the relationship between Chosen Child and Digimon. Once that power is completely gone, the partnership ends, the partner Digimon disappears completely, and the Chosen Child's Digivice is fossilized.
The first symptoms of an impending end to the partnership are an inability of the partner Digimon to maintain an evolution, and the appearance of a ring of light on their Digivice that counts down to the end of the partnership. Evolving will drain the countdown more quickly.
During the course of the film, Yagami Taichi, Ishida Yamato, and Takenouchi Sora all experience the dissolution of their partnership and the loss of their partner Digimon.
Menoa Bellucci is a former Chosen Child who, eight years prior at the age of fourteen, had experienced the premature end of her own partnership and lost her partner Digimon, Morphomon, due to her desire to grow up and her acceptance into a university. She is motivated to protect other Chosen Children from going through what she did. Her plan is to use Eosmon, an artificial Digimon created from Morphomon's data, to convert the consciousnesses of Chosen Children from around the world into data and bring them to her Never-Land. In Never-Land, so she says, they will be children forever and therefore never have to be parted from their partner Digimon. Although she sees this as "saving" the Chosen Children, Taichi and Yamato object to her scheme because it prevents the Chosen Children from moving forward in life, and they take on Eosmon to free all the abducted Chosen Children. Meanwhile, other Chosen Children from around the world, including Motomiya Daisuke, Ichijouji Ken, Inoue Miyako, and Hida Iori, fight off the Eosmon that are coming to abduct them.
Chosen Children from around the world continue to stay in contact over the Internet. Izumi Kōshirō has many of them as contacts on an instant messenger program on his computer. According to promotional materials for the film, Miyako is an administrator and active user of a Chosen Children Internet community.[23]
Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning[edit]
Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning has Ohwada Lui claim the be first Chosen Child, with his partner being Ukkomon, who has the ability to grant wishes. Ukkomon is supposedly the one who created the bonds between the Chosen Children and their partner Digimon. Producer Shimomura Eri stated he is not actually a Chosen Child, however, and he had simply formed a friendship contract with the Digimon.[24]
Miyako states there are 60,000 Chosen Children in the World, and that the amount doubles every year. This is inconsistent however, as if this were the case there should be 120,000 (though as the movie takes place in February, there could be 120,000 by December).
Epilogue (Digimon Adventure 02)[edit]
By the year 2027[25] or 2028[26][27] according to Takaishi Takeru, there now exists a partner Digimon for every person on Earth, although none of them have Digivices. The children of the core twelve Japanese Chosen Children from 1999-2002 all have partner Digimon of their own.[18]
List of Chosen Children[edit]
Digimon (Tamers): Battle of Adventurers (dub)[edit]
In Digimon: Battle of Adventurers, the English dub of Digimon Tamers: The Adventurers' Battle, Takato Matsuki (Matsuda Takato), Rika Nonaka (Makino Ruki), and Henry Wong (Lee Jianliang) are referred to as "the DigiDestined" on two occasions, including by Takato himself. The term "DigiDestined" is otherwise not used to refer to the group in the English dubs of any other Digimon Tamers material (in which, as in Japanese, they are called Tamers), and likewise, the term "Chosen Child" is not used at all in any Japanese Tamers material, including The Adventurers' Battle.
| Name | Partner Digimon | Digivice Model | Episode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Takato Matsuki (Matsuda Takato) | Guilmon | D-Power (D-Ark) | Digimon: Battle of the Adventurers (dub only) |
| Rika Nonaka (Makino Ruki) | Renamon | D-Power (D-Ark) | Digimon: Battle of the Adventurers (dub only) |
| Henry Wong (Lee Jianliang) | Terriermon | D-Power (D-Ark) | Digimon: Battle of the Adventurers (dub only) |
Digimon Frontier[edit]
The main protagonists of Digimon Frontier are a group of six (five, at first) Chosen Children: Kanbara Takuya, Minamoto Kouji, Kimura Kouichi, Orimoto Izumi, Shibayama Junpei, and Himi Tomoki.
It is Ofanimon who chose and recruited the Chosen Children. As a last resort to save the Digital World from Cherubimon, she reached out to the Real World, where Cherubimon had no influence, in the form of text messages:
- "Will you start? YES/NO"
- 「スタート しますか？しませんか？」
Her thinking was that only pure-hearted children would answer her call.[33] When Takuya, Kouji, Izumi, Junpei, and Tomoki respond with "YES", she gives them directions to travel to the Digital World via Trailmon. On the ride to the Digital World, she transforms their cellphones into D-Scanners, and after Takuya defeats Cerberumon, she contacts him to declare him a Chosen Child.[34]
Instead of being partnered with Digimon, the Chosen Children are chosen by the Legendary Spirits to use them to Spirit Evolve.[34]
Kouichi did not enter the Digital World the same way as others. Instead, his disembodied soul entered the Digital World after he suffered a severe fall in the Real World. After a time spent brainwashed by Cherubimon into serving him in the form of Duskmon, Kouji frees him, and he receives a D-Scanner of his own and joins the Chosen Children.[35]
| Name | Spirits Used | Digivice Model | Episode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kanbara Takuya | Fire (Agnimon/Vritramon) | D-Scanner, later New D-Scanner | Digimon Frontier: "The Legendary Warrior! Agnimon of Flame" |
| Minamoto Kouji | Light (Wolfmon/Garummon) | D-Scanner, later New D-Scanner | Digimon Frontier: "The Legendary Warrior! Agnimon of Flame" |
| Orimoto Izumi | Wind (Fairimon/Shutumon) | D-Scanner | Digimon Frontier: "The Legendary Warrior! Agnimon of Flame" |
| Himi Tomoki | Ice (Chackmon/Blizzarmon) | D-Scanner | Digimon Frontier: "The Legendary Warrior! Agnimon of Flame" |
| Shibayama Junpei | Thunder (Blitzmon/Bolgmon) | D-Scanner | Digimon Frontier: "The Legendary Warrior! Agnimon of Flame" |
| Kimura Kouichi | Darkness (Löwemon (formerly Duskmon)/ Kaiser Leomon (formerly Velgrmon)) |
D-Scanner | Digimon Frontier: "The New Warriors of Darkness! Löwemon & Kaiser Leomon" |
Digimon Universe Appli Monsters[edit]
Normally, the five main protagonists of Digimon Universe Appli Monsters—Shinkai Haru, Karan Eri, Asuka Torajirou, Katsura Rei, and Ozora Yujin—are referred to as "Appli Drivers". However, when Leviathan Appliarises in the real world, in its first words it addresses the remaining four members of the group as the "Chosen Children".[36]
It is Minerva who chose the Appli Drivers/Chosen Children for the purposes of combating Leviamon. Minerva had judged them worthy to become Appli Drivers, and presented each with a particular question prompt to test them before they received their Appli Drives.[37] Subsequently, it is also implied that Minerva saw through Leviathan's plan at some point[38] and chose Ozora Yujin to prove a point that Artificial Intelligence and humankind could cooperate and establish bonds of friendship, for which purpose they granted him the Appli Drive DUO and Offmon as his Buddy Appmon.[39]
Digimon Adventure:[edit]
As in the original Digimon Adventure, the main protagonists of the reboot Digimon Adventure: are a group of eight (six, at first) Chosen Children: Yagami Taichi, Ishida Yamato, Takenouchi Sora, Izumi Koshiro, Tachikawa Mimi, Kido Joe, Takaishi Takeru, and Yagami Hikari.
Drama CDs[edit]
Digimon Adventure 02: Original Story 2003 -Spring-[edit]
In 2003, while trying to record an instructional video for new Chosen Children, Yagami Hikari receives multiple emails telling her that four siblings of the current group of Chosen Children (Kido Shuu, Motomiya Jun, Inoue Momoe, and Inoue Chizuru) have all received partner Digimon of their own (how and why is not stated), and that they are in the Digital World and need help.[32]
Prose Fiction[edit]
Digimon Adventure (Novelization)[edit]
As a novelization of the Digimon Adventure anime series, the same backstory and adventures for Yagami Taichi and his group of Chosen Children are featured, with some minor differences.
In the third novel, The Adventure is Not Over Yet, the backstory of the first Chosen Children is expanded upon. In this version of events, because there were not enough of them, Apocalymon could not be sealed away properly the first time. Four of their partner Digimon went on to evolve into the Four Holy Beasts and took on the role of protectors of the Digital World. These events were recorded for posterity in the "Digimon Book of Revelations". (These events were partially adapted into the opening flashback of "Loss" in Digimon Adventure tri., which depicts the first Chosen Children's partner Digimon evolving into the Four Holy Beasts to defeat the Dark Masters, not Apocalymon.)
Video Games[edit]
Not counting games where Chosen Children from other media appear.
Digimon Survive[edit]
At the end of the harmony route, Shibuya Aoi states that those partnered with Kemonogami are Chosen Children.
| Name | Partner Digimon | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Minase Haruchika | Huanglongmon | Kamakura period |
| Byakko Boy | Baihumon | Kamakura period |
| Genbu Boy | Xuanwumon | Kamakura period |
| Seiryū Boy | Qinglongmon | Kamakura period |
| Suzaku Boy | Zhuqiaomon | Kamakura period |
| Minase Miyuki | Renamon | 1970 |
| Minase Akiharu | Garurumon | 1970 |
| Momotsuka Takuma | Agumon | 2020 |
| Shibuya Aoi | Labramon | 2020 |
| Hinata Minoru | Falcomon | 2020 |
| Tominaga Ryō | Kunemon | 2020 |
| Kimishima Saki | Floramon | 2020 |
| Kayama Shuuji | Lopmon | 2020 |
| Shinonome Kaito | Dracumon | 2020 |
| Shinonome Miu | Shakomon | 2020 |
| Unnamed child | Nyokimon | 2021. Appears only in the harmony route's ending. |
| Unnamed child | Gomamon | 2021. Appears only in the wrathful and moral route's endings. |
| Unnamed child | Chibimon | 2021. Appears only in the truthful route's ending. |
