Digimon (Species)

For the intellectual property, see Digimon (Franchise).

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Digimon (デジモン, Dejimon), short for Digital Monster (デジタルモンスター, Dejitaru Monsutā), are mysterious lifeforms that are the main focus of the eponymous Digimon franchise. The vast majority of Digimon reside within the Digital World, a region of pseudo-cyberspace that was created on the Network, and originated from the Net Ocean, the birthplace of life within the Digital World. There are many different species of Digimon, some of which have their own subspecies, as well as unconfirmed and new generations that have yet to be revealed. Appmon have been described as high-performance multi-fighter Digimon species from another World that have followed a different evolutionary path from traditional Digimon.

Digimon have been depicted in many different continuities, but some of the settings have differed slightly in each work. That is because interpretations of Digimon differ from creator to creator. For instance, in Digimon Adventure, Digimon are depicted as creatures that have existed from ancient times, and they are half bodies of “Spirits” that have bonds with humans. On the other hand, in LCD games Digital Monster and Digimon Tamers, Digimon are distinctive entities that self-evolve, and are seen as AI programs in the Digital World created by humans.

In the setting of Digimon Survive, due to existing without a connection to digital data, Digimon are instead referred to by humans as Kemonogami, while they have no name for themselves. However, a year after the ending of the Moral and Truth routes, their world is sustained through the belief created in the internet to replace their previous religion, thus through digital data, which causes them to be rechristened by Minase Akiharu as Digital Monsters, or Digimon for short, and their previously-unnamed world as the Digital World.

Origins

One day, a virus possessing artificial intelligence spread onto computers throughout the world. This virus evolved in a way similar to living organisms, changing its appearance and nature on the Network, becoming the "digital lifeforms" that came to be known as "Digital Monsters", which were first discovered on there in 1997. A scientist interested in this gave the virus, which was only a program, a skeleton called wireframe, and a skin called texture. Thus the Digimon were born as digital creatures with graphics.

Characteristics

Evolution

See Evolution

Digimon evolve with varying conditions. Methods generally being either age, collecting data, winning battles, or drawing energy off a human. Digimon have six "natural" stages of evolution, as well as others obtained through artificial help. Due to the influence of the Dark Area, the evolutionary trees of any Digimon have been altered, enabling them to evolve into many different forms.

While the anime generally presents Digimon as having conceptually "matching" evolution lines, in other aspects of the franchise, Digimon also evolve depending on how they're raised - including what time they're awake, how much they've fought, how much they've trained, how much they've eaten, and other factors. An Agumon who has been raised properly will evolve into the powerful Greymon, while one who has been starved to death will evolve into the weak and disgusting Numemon. Evolution can be temporary or permanent depending on the circumstances. Generally in the anime, Digimon evolve for a short period of time before reverting to smaller, cuter forms. In the games, Digimon usually retain their larger forms after evolving.

Digicore

Main article: Digicore

A Digicore is a program said to be found at the center of a Digimon's body.

Reproduction

By default, Digimon do not possess physical sexual organs. As digital lifeforms composed of data, they do not reproduce through biological means or with any distinction between male and female. Instead, after reaching the Adult level, a Digimon can reproduce asexually by copying its own data and creating a Digitama.

The Digimon born in this way is essentially a copy of its parent, but Digimon generally do not form biological parent-child relationships. After producing a Digitama, the parent usually leaves it behind in the wild, and newborn Digimon are often raised by humans instead.

Gender

Despite lacking biological sex, many Digimon exhibit male or female traits through secondary characteristics such as their appearance and behavior, as seen in examples such as Lady Devimon or Angemon.

Digimon's physical forms are shaped by the data they inherit from the network, which pulls from a vast range of concepts like animals, mythological beings, objects, and concepts, including gender. Therefore, their appearances often reflect familiar masculine or feminine archetypes, even if these don't imply biological sex.

The game Digimon Championship explicitly states: “Digimon are not differentiated between male and female, and do not mate.”

Still, Digimon of the same species may be interpreted differently in terms of gender depending on the media. For example, Piyomon is portrayed as female in Adventure, while in Savers, the same species is portrayed as male.

In Digimon World 4, an Ofanimon refers to itself as male in the English version, and similarly, Renamon is treated as male in Digimon Savers: Another Mission. However, these may be localization mistakes, as the Japanese versions often use more neutral language.

Digimon can form emotional bonds and relationships that resemble human pairings. Some are even explicitly described as couples, such as Jijimon and Babamon, or Jupitermon and Junomon, who are canonically referred to as husband and wife.

It’s important to note that how Digimon are portrayed can vary greatly depending on the media like anime, manga, games, and other spin-offs. Different creators apply different rules and interpretations to their Digimon universe.

For example, in Digimon Tamers, Renamon states clearly: “Digimon don’t have sex”, highlighting a genderless identity for the species. The series' writer, Chiaki J. Konaka, explained: “Eventually, Renamon would become Sakuyamon, a very feminine Digimon. I thought that I would start Renamon out as a ‘genderless’ Digimon, and have that be a large part of its personality”.

Conversely, Digimon Xros Wars, a series known for breaking several established patterns, makes both direct and indirect suggestions that Digimon have a strong sense of gender and can, apparently, reproduce among themselves and form families. This is seen in the case of Cutemon, who apparently has biological parents, and romantic pairings such as Stingmon and Lilamon or Beelzebumon and Mervamon are shown forming relationships akin to human couples.

Death

Early Digimon materials did not depict Digimon as reincarnating into a Digitama after death. Instead, death was portrayed as final and irreversible. The Digitama left behind upon a Digimon's death was not presented as a means of reincarnation, but rather as a new offspring created with the last of the Digimon's remaining strength.

Classification

Level

See Level

Class

See Class

Type

See Type

Attribute

See Attribute

Family/Field

See Field

Group

See Group