Evolution

Evolution (進化 Shinka; Dub: Digivolution) is the process in which Digimon undergo a radical reconfiguration of their body structure data and transform into a new, stronger species of Digimon. Most Digimon can evolve into a wide variety of Digimon, and what they evolve into can be influenced both by the environment they are exposed to and by their various inherent traits. There are many methods by which Digimon can evolve, with many different requirements.

Evolution is measured by a Digimon's Evolution Stage. Most Digimon species belongs to one of six Evolution Stages, and when they evolve, it is typically to a Digimon of a higher Evolution Stage than their previous form.

As part of their life cycle, all Digimon undergo evolution in the wild over time, and they usually stay evolved. However, Digimon can also draw power from the energy, emotions, and/or willpower of humans to evolve much faster. Tamers and Chosen Children use their bonds with their partner Digimon, together with their Digivices (and sometimes, other items), to temporarily evolve their Digimon into more powerful forms.

=Overview=

Natural Evolution
All Digimon naturally consume ("load") data, including the data of other Digimon which they have defeated, to sustain themselves. When they have loaded large enough amounts of data, they may undergo evolution. What a Digimon evolves into is determined by numerous factors. The most common of these factors are:

These factors mean that any two Digimon who start off as the same species can evolve in completely different directions from each other depending on the life that they live. The diversity of evolution pathways is a survival strategy that allows Digimon to adapt and endure the harsh, survival-of-the-fittest environment of the Digital World. In the ending of Digimon Adventure, Gennai says that there is no "right" or "wrong" in evolution.

There can be other factors involved in different stories. For example, in Digimon Savers: Another Mission, the influence of the Dark Area is altering the evolutionary trees of Digimon so that they are evolving into many different forms.

Evolving again gets harder and harder with each Evolution Stage that a Digimon reaches, because each new Stage requires more and more data than the last. There are fewer and fewer Digimon of each subsequent level, and the majority of Digimon in the wild do not evolve any further than the Adult level.

Partner Digimon Evolution


It is common in Digimon media for Digimon to draw strength and energy from humans. For example, many early episodes of Digimon Savers tell stories about Digimon who have infiltrated the Real World and are feeding on the emotions of troubled people. Humans who are partnered with Digimon and have a Digivice, like Tamers and Chosen Children, are able to use their energy to artificially trigger a temporary evolution of their partner Digimon to a higher Evolution Stage. These evolutions are generally short-lived and only last for one or two battles. After the battle, they will usually devolve back to the form that they regularly inhabit when their human partner is not evolving them (almost always of the Child level).

The ability of a human to evolve their partner Digimon is typically based on the bond that the two share, and on the emotional state and maturity of the human partner. When both their relationship and their mindsets are healthy, they are able to evolve, and as they improve, they become able to evolve into stronger and stronger Digimon. It is also common for the human partner to acquire and use items and other powers to facilitate their partner Digimon's evolution.

In Digimon anime productions, there are two traditions relating to evolution. One, the evolution of partner Digimon into their regular evolved forms is usually depicted with reusable stock footage that showcases the evolution process in a long and flashy way that is unique to that particular Digimon series. Two, a partner Digimon who is undergoing evolution will call out to announce that they are evolving. Sometimes, the human partner will also call out something for the process. Only a few partner Digimon do not do this at all: Wallace's Terriermon, and the two Pawn Chessmon who are partnered with Kurosaki Miki and Shirakawa Megumi.

Evolving by Combining
Another way to evolve is for two Digimon to combine together and create a single Digimon of greater power. The concept of evolving in this way was introduced in 1998 in the Digimon Pendulum series of virtual pets. There are several named methods of evolution that work by combining multiple Digimon: Jogress Evolution, fusion, DigiXros, and (for Appmon) AppGattai.

A Monmon Memo!! column from 2018 establishes an official distinction between Jogress and fusion that is based on whether or not the combined Digimon is of a higher Evolution Stage than the two constituent Digimon: if it is higher, it is Jogress. If the Stage does not change, it is fusion. However, it is common for this distinction to be ignored entirely and for the terms to be used interchangeably by different Digimon productions (e.g. Omegamon is frequently referred to as the result of a Jogress). There is often no distinction at all in English media, where both cases are usually just called "DNA Digivolution".

The word "Jogress" (sometimes spelled "Jogres") is a portmanteau of the English words "joint" and "progress", as in the two Digimon who undergo this evolution can be described as getting stronger (progressing) together (jointly).

Both Jogresses and fusions generally only involve two Digimon, but there are some Digimon who are formed by the combination of more than two other Digimon, such as Ultimate Chaosmon and Omegamon: Merciful Mode. Jogressing and fusing are often portrayed as giving the consciousnesses of the constituent Digimon equal control of the new form, unlike DigiXrossing, where there is one clear leader who is controlling the new form.

The act of a Tamer undoing a Jogress and splitting the combined Digimon back into its constituent Digimon is called Partition (パーティション Pātishon). Similarly, the act of splitting up a DigiXrossed Digimon back into its constituents is called Xros Open (クロス・オーペン Kurosuōpen).

Unlike Digimon combining, AppGattai is basically the only way to become a stronger Appmon. An Appmon Chip can be used instead of an active Appmon.

Mode Change
Mode Change (モードチェンジ Mōdochenji) is an evolution-like ability that is available to certain Digimon species which have multiple forms, or "Modes". When a Digimon undergoes a Mode Change, they transform into another mode of that species. This usually does not change their Evolution Stage, but there are some Modes that do (e.g. Lucemon).

Mode Changes generally do one of three things:

Armor Evolution
Armor Evolution (アーマー進化 Āmā shinka; Dub: Armor Digivolution) is an ancient pseudo-evolutionary process in which a Digimon uses the power of a Digimental to evolve into an Armor Digimon. Digimentals and Armor Evolution are a technology that was developed by ancient Digimon to compensate for their limited evolution options and limited likelihood of ever evolving, but the technology is now lost.

Armor Evolution is less of a strain on a Digimon than regular evolution. Different Digimon have different affinities with the Digimentals, and trying to force a Digimon to use a Digimental will trigger an adverse reaction in the Digimental's power and cause it to run wild. Good affinity between Digimental and Digimon will result in an Armor Digimon of greater power, sometimes even Ultimate-class power. The power of Armor Digimon can vary considerably, so some are categorized as belonging to an Evolution Stage of equivalent power for clarity.

Each Digimental is associated with an elemental type, so using a Digimental results in a Digimon that uses that element.

It is possible to evolve into Armor Digimon without using Digimentals.

X-Antibody and Evolution

 * Main article: X-Antibody

One side effect of the X-Antibody is its ability to cause special evolutions in Digimon. When the levels of X-Antibody present in a Digimon's body reach a second threshold, they extract latent data from the Digimon's Digicore and use that to evolve the Digimon into a new form that expresses that latent data.

Other Types of Evolution
=Appearances=

Digimon Adventure original continuity
In Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Adventure tri., and Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna, the ability to evolve is mostly tied to both the strength of the bond between the Chosen Child and their Digimon, and to the maturity and psychological growth of the Chosen Children themselves. For example:


 * The Crests that are required for super evolution embody a trait that each child displayed when they were younger, and unlocking super evolution required bringing out the best of those qualities in themselves for the right reasons, rather than misusing them.
 * The ability to Jogress requires that each pair of Chosen Children "synchronize" with each other, and truly understand their thoughts and feelings.
 * Agumon -Yuki no Kizuna- and Gabumon -Yujo no Kizuna- are the result of the deep bond that the two Digimon share with Yagami Taichi and Ishida Yamato.

Evolution can also be triggered, especially for the first time, when a Chosen Child is in danger. Their partner Digimon will evolve to protect them. The Chosen Children become aware of this, and on one occasion Yagami Taichi unsuccessfully tries to exploit this to force Greymon to super evolve.

Higher levels of evolution also often require some sort of intervention by some other force. For instance, the Chosen Children initially required physical Crests to unlock super evolution. [{Agumon (Adventure)|Agumon]] and Gabumon needed to be shot with arrows of hope and light by Angemon and Angewomon to fulfill a prophy and unlock their Ultimate forms, and it took one of Qinglongmon's DigiCores for Paildramon to become able to evolve to Imperialdramon: Dragon Mode.

Evolving requires a great amount of energy, and higher levels require higher amounts of energy. As a result, when partner Digimon super evolve to Perfect or higher, it is common for them to devolve to their Baby II forms when they are finished, and when they Jogress to Perfect or higher, they usally revert to their Baby I forms. The exception is Tailmon, who usually just devolves back to Tailmon and only rarely devolves to Plotmon. She attributes this to her having greater self-discipline than the other partner Digimon. The energy requirements also mean that generally, the Digimon cannot evolve if they are hungry, and that they must rest to recover the energy needed to evolve the next time.

Several Digimon who are not partner Digimon also undergo evolution in the various series:


 * As foretold in a prophecy, Vamdemon is resurrected in the evolved form of Venom Vamdemon after his defeat in "All Perfects Attack! Sparkling Angewomon". In the climax of Digimon Adventure 02, his spirit (possessing Oikawa Yukio) evolves again into Belial Vamdemon after he consumes the Dark Seeds implanted in several children.
 * After his defeat by Yagami Taichi and Metal Greymon, Etemon is eventually reborn as Metal Etemon.
 * Leomon gains the ability to Warp Evolve into Saber Leomon due to his repeated exposure to the light of the Chosen Children's Digivices. However, he has poor control over his evolution and cannot maintain the Saber Leomon form for long.
 * A Kuramon that hatched on the Internet evolves by eating data and causing havoc worldwide, going through the forms of Tsumemon, Keramon, Infermon (skipping the Adult level), and Diablomon. That Diablomon is later reborn, and the many Kuramon that it spawns all fuse together in the real world to evolve into Armagemon.
 * Huckmon is able to freely evolve into Jesmon and devolve back into Huckmon.

In Digimon Tamers, the source of all evolution is the Digi-Entelechy, or "light of evolution". The existence of the Digi-Entelechy is what enables Digimon to evolve. Before the start of the series, the Digi-Entelechy is transformed into Culumon by the Digignomes in accordance with the wishes of Qinglongmon, who wanted to prevent any evolution from occurring to avoid provoking the D-Reaper. As a result, normally no Digimon evolve at all, but sometimes Culumon accidentally causes evolutions to occur around him just by emotionally reacting to events around him (sadness, curiosity, etc.)

As the series progresses, the Tamers become able to trigger evolutions at will by Slashing certain cards. They use the "Super Evolution Plug-In S" card (St-100) to evolve their Digimon to the Adult level, and Blue Cards to evolve them to the Perfect Level. Sometimes, when they do this, it is shown that the slashing of the card has triggered Culumon into using his powers on the partner Digimon.

Devolution is also significantly harder in Tamers. Unlike in other series, where a partner Digimon is likely to devolve as soon as the action is over, it is common for the Tamers' partner Digimon to remain in their evolved for ms (mainly Adult) for hours at a time afterward with no way to force themselves to devolve, even if their Tamer is no longer present. Lee Jianliang theorizes that it is entirely possible for their Digimon to remain evolved indefinitely, but that after a while it becomes too hard to maintain an evolved form, so they devolve into a more stable form.

Several wild and/or Tamer-less Digimon evolve in the series. This is usually caused by Culumon's power.


 * A Dark Tyranomon in the Digital World evolves into Metal Tyranomon and destroys a Maildramon that was chasing Culumon. The cause of this evolution is unknown, although it coincides with this exact evolution and fight outcome occurring in a Digital Monster Card Game match played between Matsuda Takato and Shiota Hirokazu.
 * A Wild One Goblimon who Realizes in Shinjuku evolves into Fugamon when Culumon unintentionally activates some of its power.
 * Impmon evolves into Beelzebumon for the first time when he makes a deal with Caturamon to be endowed with Zhuqiaomon's power, in exchange for eliminating the Tamers and their Partner Digimon. The next time that Impmon takes this form, he does it through the power of his rekindled bond with his Tamers, Ai and Makoto.
 * While playing with some Digignomes, Culumon unintentionally causes three Woodmon to evolve into Jyureimon.
 * Culumon unintentionally causes hundreds of Chrysalimon who are fighting Beelzebumon to fuse into one giant Infermon.
 * With the assistance of the Digignomes, Culumon intentionally uses its to cause many Digimon around the Digital World to evolve to the Ultimate level to help fight the D-Reaper. These Digimon include three Diablomon (from the fusion of hundreds of Chrysalimon), a Metal Seadramon, a Mugendramon, a Gran Kuwagamon, a Griffomon, at least five Pukumon, a Hououmon, a Boltmon, a Plesiomon, and a Marin Angemon (who becomes Kitagawa Kenta's partner Digimon).

Digimon Frontier focuses on the use of the twenty Legendary Spirits to transform into Hybrid Digimon in a process called "Spirit Evolution". Both human Chosen Children and ordinary Digimon are capable of Spirit Evolution. The series focuses on six human Chosen Children who use Spirits.

In addition to the human cast's use of Spirits, there are several supporting Digimon characters who undergo evolutions, including both regular evolutions and use of Spirits to become Hybrid Digimon.


 * Cherubimon created four of the five Evil Warriors (Mercuremon, Ranamon, Grottomon, and Arbormon) by bonding Spirits to Digimon.
 * On one occasion, Mercuremon also fuses with the scanned data of Seraphimon to evolve into Black Seraphimon, in a process that he announces as "Advent of the Fallen Angel" (「堕天使降臨」 Datenshi kourin).
 * A Shamamon finds the Beast Spirit of Fire in the temple where he works as a fortune teller, and is involuntarily bonded to it and evolves into Vritramon. He runs wild until Kanbara Takuya (as Agnimon) subdues and purifies him and takes the Beast Spirit.
 * A Gottsumon who had befriended Minamoto Kouji evolves into Insekimon so that he can help Kouji (as Magna Garurumon) fight Lord Knightmon. He devolves back to Gottsumon when Lord Knightmon severely injures him.
 * Murmukusmon is able to Slide Evolve between the forms of Darcmon, Hippogriffomon, and Murmukusmon at will.

A key theme of Digimon Savers is the influence of human emotions on Digimon. Digisoul is a power that comes from human emotion, and Digimon respond to that power. Tamers must learn to focus their emotions and Digisoul, and direct it toward a clear purpose, in order to evolve their partner Digimon. Evolution is initiated by manifesting their Digisoul as an aura around themselves, and then charging it into their Digivice iC.

Savers also features a high number of enemy Digimon who evolve. Many of these are Digimon who have infiltrated the real world and are feeding on the negative emotions of humans, whose dark wishes they are often trying to fulfill.


 * A Kunemon uses Takashi's resentment of having to look after the chickens at Daimon Chika's school to evolve into Flymon.
 * Agumon's attack accidentally causes three Petit Meramon to fuse together and evolve into Meramon.
 * A Drimogemon evolves into Digmon in the Digital World.
 * An Elecmon that has fed on power lines evolves into a black Garurumon.
 * A Keramon that was manipulating chart data for Hanamura Neon evolves into Chrysalimon when Neon is enraged.
 * When Mercurimon tries to force Piyomon to forget about Chika, he evolves into Aquilamon and runs wild. He evolves again into Garudamon in his mad desperation to find Chika. Later, after being reborn, Piyomon's bond with Chika allows him to evolve into Garudamon again.
 * Mercuriumon's servant, Gottsumon, is able to evolve into his "true form", Insekimon.

The primary focus of Digimon Xros Wars is on its main gimmick of DigiXrossing. The series features DigiXros combinations of more and more Digimon as it goes on. Later in the series, it is common for both Super Evolutions and DigiXrossing to be used together to create even stronger composite Digimon.

Xros Wars does not use the concept of Evolution Stages. Instead, evolution is described as a permanent growth into new forms that Digimon undergo as they age, which takes a very long time. Unlike other Digimon series, evolution as a power available to the human cast and their partner Digimon is entirely absent from the series until "A New Journey!! The Great Tokyo Showdown!!", where Super Evolutions are introduced as the ability to skip over all the years normally needed to evolve and immediately become the mature form that the Digimon will have in the future. As a result, each partner Digimon only has one conventional evolved form (not counting Mode Changes).

In Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01, evolution follows similar rules to the virtual pets. Evolution is generally one-way and relatively permanent, although it can be undone if the Digimon is heavily wounded, and some Digimon can suppress the power of their evolved form and exist in a lower-level form.

A key plot point is the Digimental, an item which has the power to evolve a Digimon into a Super Ultimate form.


 * Zeromaru, the partner of Yagami Taichi, was born as a Botamon and later evolved into Koromon, Agumon, and V-dramon. As the series progresses, Zeromaru evolves twice more into Aero V-dramon and Ulforce V-dramon, and stays evolved.
 * Three Agumon from Holy Angel Castle evolve off-screen into Centalmon, Meramon, and Greymon.
 * Lord Holy Angemon is able to assume the evolved form of Seraphimon at will. He usually seals away his ability to evolve to the Ultimate level, as the power that the form radiates is disruptive to others around him. However, after being defeated by Arkadimon Adult, his reduced Winning Percentage means that he is unable to become Seraphimon again, and he instead evolves into Dominimon.
 * Leo the Leomon is able to evolve into Panjyamon and Regulumon.
 * Before the hatching of Arkadimon, Saiba Neo frequently uses random Digimon that he Jogresses together. He also uses repeated Jogressing and Partitioning of the same Digimon as a tactic in battle, as both processes completely restore the health of the Digimon involved. Digimon that he has Jogressed include:
 * Orgemon + Devimon → Skull Satamon
 * Kuwagamon + Cockatrimon → Megadramon
 * Megadramon + Jyureimon → Deathmon
 * Fujimoto Hideto regularly Jogresses his two partners Warg and Melga to form Omegamon. Like Neo, he also uses repeated Jogressing and Partitioning as a tactic to resotre their health.

Like Digimon Savers, evolution in Digimon Next revolves around the use of Digisoul.

RPGs
In Digimon role playing games, evolution is usually based on a Digimon's stats. All Digimon have a set list of what they can evolve into, and each form has a set of criteria that must be met before the Digimon can evolve into it. These criteria include the Digimon's level stats that meet or surpass a minimum threshold, and their camaraderie (relationship with the Tamer).

Fighting Games
In the various Digimon fighting games, evolution is usually a power-up that players can use by filling an evolution gauge, then pressing a button. The Digimon will devolve to their previous form when this gauge is emptied again. Depending on the game, once a Digimon is evolved, their gauge either slowly depletes over time, or it loses a little bit every time the Digimon takes damage. The gauge is also filled by scoring hits.

The exception is Digimon Tamers: Battle Spirit. In this game, Culumon will appear about halfway through a match, and the first fighter to touch Culumon will evolve for a twenty-second period, then devolve. Culumon does not reappear, so only one evolution can occur in each match.

Virtual Pets
Evolution is a key part of the life cycle of all Digimon virtual pets. Each day, a Digimon undergoes a cycle of evolution through every form available to it as it is raised. What a Digimon evolves into, and whether it can evolve into higher forms like Perfect and Ultimate, depends on how it is raised: how much it is trained, how well it is cared for, and its ratio of battles that it has won.

Jogress Evolution was introduced in the Digimon Pendulum series. Jogress compatibility, and the resulting Digimon, are based on the combination of attributes of the Digimon being used in the Jogress.

In the Digital Monster Card Game, every Digimon card of the Adult level or higher lists a series of prerequisites for evolving a Digimon into that card. Usually, this is a list of up to three select Digimon which can evolve into it, as well as the various costs that need to be paid to do so; this includes both evolving a single Digimon, and Jogressing Digimon together. Some cards have other costs, like requiring specific cards to be played to facilitate the evolution (for example, some Omegamon cards require the use of an "Invisible Connection!" card together with the player's War Greymon or Metal Garurumon).

In the Digimon Card Game, evolution is determined by card color. Any Digimon of a given color can evolve into any other Digimon of a higher Evolution Stage that shares its color. Many Digimon cards also have an Evolution Base Effect, which is a special effect that the card passes on to any Digimon cards that subsequently evolve from it, so as a Digimon evolves, they can acquire more Evolution Base Effects. Together, these two traits allow for a lot of customization in how a Digimon evolves and the stats and abilities that they acquire in the process.

=Additional Information=