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 belong 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 Digimon Adventure, Gennai says that there is no "right" or "wrong" in evolution in and of itself.

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 in the first Digimon Adventure 02 movie, and the two Pawn Chessmon who are partnered with Kurosaki Miki and Shirakawa Megumi in Digimon Savers.

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, although in a lot of these instances Omegamon is stated to be a "Super Ultimate" Digimon, which in those instances is considered to be a higher level). 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 virtually the only way to become a stronger Appmon. An Appmon Chip can be used instead of an active Appmon. It is possible for an AppGattai to fail and result in a weak Appmon (Sukashimon for AppGattai between Standard Grade Appmon, and Damedamon between Super Grade 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 requires 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 require physical Crests to unlock super evolution. Agumon and Gabumon need to be shot with arrows of hope and light by Angemon and Angewomon to fulfill a prophecy and unlock their Ultimate forms, and it takes one of Qinglongmon's DigiCores to grant Paildramon the ability to evolve to Imperialdramon: Dragon Mode, and to enable the original eight partner Digimon to super evolve again after surrendering their Crest power.

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 devolves to Plotmon after Jogressing or other significant expenditures of her power, or Nyaromon on one exceptionally taxing occasion. 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 independent 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 forms (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 independent 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 independent Digimon characters who undergo evolutions, including both regular evolutions and use of Spirits to become Hybrid Digimon.


 * After being hit by Minamoto Kouji, a Pagumon evolves into Raremon to take revenge.
 * A Candmon evolves into Wizarmon after one of its allies was frozen by Himi Tomoki as Chackmon. It devolves into Candmon after being defeated and purified by Kanbara Takuya as Agnimon.
 * The Three Mushmon Brothers evolve together into a single Woodmon after they're beaten by Orimoto Izumi as Fairimon. They return to Mushmon after being defeated and purified by Wolfmon.
 * A Tunomon from the Digimon elementary school is able to evolve into Gabumon at will. However, because evolving scared its classmates, it refused to do so, and stayed on its Tunomon form, only evolving to save Izumi from drowning and then to save its classmate, Caprimon, from getting killed by a log swept by a strong current. After the latter event, the others stop fearing Gabumon, and Tunomon decides to keep evolving until it becomes as strong as the Warrior Ten, though it still stays as Tunomon rather than Gabumon.
 * Cherubimon created four of the five Evil Warriors (Mercuremon, Ranamon, Grottemon, and Arbormon) by bonding Spirits to Digimon. He also tried to bond the Spirits of Darkness to various Digimon, but none of these attempts succeeded.
 * 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 Takuya (as Agnimon) subdues and purifies him and takes the Beast Spirit.
 * A Gottsumon who had befriended 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 independent Digimon, usually enemies, 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.
 * Mercurymon'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. Both protagonists and antagonists have access to DigiXrossing, but antagonists generally force a DigiXros to occur regardless of whether any of the other constituent Digimon want it, and it generally consumes the other Digimon rather than allowing them to return to an individual existence once the DigiXros is over.

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 of the time that is 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).

During the first season of Xros Wars, some Digimon transform into new, more powerful forms. These are not treated by the story as conventional evolutions, but rather as being caused by special circumstances, although both examples are considered normal evolution in both prior and subsequent material.
 * After being mortally wounded and donning the goddess's mask, Baalmon is resurrected as Beelzebumon.
 * After revealing he was truly part of the Bagra Army and a servant of Lilithmon, Lucemon takes his true form, Lucemon: Falldown Mode.

During the Digimon Xros Wars: The Evil Death Generals and the Seven Kingdoms season, only the partner Digimon of the protagonists evolve. In the Digimon Xros Wars: The Young Hunters Who Leapt Through Time season, some independent Digimon evolve as well, mostly those created by Quartzmon. Despite the lack of human element to them, other than the first one, they are still called Super Evolutions in-series:
 * Knight Chessmon absorbs the greed from Hiroya after pushing him towards becoming more and more obsessed with victory, turning from White to Black before Super Evolving into Rook Chessmon. Unlike other Super Evolutions, this one appears to be permanent, as it keeps the form after Amano Yuu captures it.
 * A Tsumemon created by Quartzmon evolves into Keramon, Chrysalimon, Infermon and finally Diablomon during several fights against the Digimon Hunters, making it the only Digimon seen in the series to evolve multiple times.
 * Several Vamdemon created by Quartzmon evolve into Belial Vamdemon, with three of them instead becoming giant Venom Vamdemon.

The guest characters from prior Digimon series who appear in Digimon Xros Wars: The Young Hunters Who Leapt Through Time all follow the same rules and mechanisms for evolution from their respective original series.

Digimon Universe Appli Monsters has its own version of Evolution Stages, called "Grades", but unlike other Digimon series, there is not quite any directly "evolving" a single Appmon into a single new form. Instead, all progression to higher Grades revolves around two compatible Appmon (or their Appmon Chips) undergoing AppGattai to combine together.

Unlocking a Buddy Appmon's higher-Grade form via AppGattai creates an Appmon Chip of that form, and as the series progresses, that chip (when activated, for instance in an Appmon Band) can be used to Appliarise the Buddy Appmon directly into that form instead of having to AppGattai them again. This basically works how evolution works in other Digimon series.

If a Buddy Appmon is exhausted, they are unable to take their Ultimate Grade form until they have rested and recovered the energy needed to do so.

Several independent Appmon, primarily villains, undergo AppGattai or are Appliarised:
 * Cameramon uses Shotmon's Appmon Chip to AppGattai into Scorpmon.
 * Mienumon uses Sakusimon's Appmon Chip to AppGattai into Warudamon.
 * The completed Seven Code PAD uses Shinkai Haru's Appli Drive to Appliarise Dantemon.

A single Digimon appeared in the series: Agumon. It follows conventional Digimon evolution rules to undergo Warp Evolution, instead of Appmon rules.

Evolution in Digimon Adventure: works similarly to how it does in the original Digimon Adventure. It is generally triggered by the Chosen Children by their emotional responses and willpower, especially as it relates to their Crest.

Unlike the original Adventure, Adventure: explores the idea of multiple routes of evolution for partner Digimon, as four of them have unlocked an second, alternate evolution to a given Evolution Stage. However, most of these evolutions have only been used once.

When an evolution is triggered, the outer central ring of the Digivice: will light up in a specific pattern that corresponds with the Evolution Stage that the Digimon is undergoing evolution into. It also lights up when their partner Digimon is gaining a temporary power boost from the Chosen Child's/their own determination and emotional drive. The lights are in the color of the Chosen Child's Crest.

Several independent Digimon have undergone evolutions, including many of the series' villains.


 * Some Baby II Algomon undergo evolutions into higher levels, including one that evolves into the Ultimate-form Algomon.
 * One of the Eyesmon evolves into Orochimon, and then again into Nidhoggmon.
 * Skull Knightmon Super Evolves into Dark Knightmon.
 * Devimon evolves twice in his final fight with the Chosen Children: first into Neo Devimon using power taken from the Real World, and then into Done Devimon thanks to Dark Knightmon using the power of the dark crystal on him.
 * A Tyumon from Gerbemon's garbage region evolves into Searchmon after Rare Raremon's defeat.
 * Millenniumon is resurrected from its Moon=Millenniumon form when it fuses with an incomplete Chimairamon (evolved from Sephirothmon). When Goddramon and Holydramon destroy it, its soul survives and evolves into Zeed Millenniumon.
 * Several Soundbirdmon fuse together to become Deathmon, which quickly switches from grey to black.

As the series is heavily based on the original V-Pet, evolution works in the same way as in it. However, no normal evolutions are seen during the course of the one-shot, but the concept is mentioned during it. Abe Makoto is shown to be training his Greymon, Hard Armor III, to evolve into the hidden character, Metal Greymon, though his Digimon is killed and his dock is destroyed by Jousaki Shinichirou and his Deathmon before that can happen. Kamon Kentarou's Bun is unable to evolve into the Adult level in spite of training and the passing of time, which Shinichirou realizes is because it's a "damemon", a Digimon born every thousand or so that can't evolve no matter what.

Shinichirou's Deathmon is able to take the form of the Digimon whose data was loaded onto it, taking the form of Death Airdramon, Death Devimon, Death Tyranomon, Death Metal Greymon (its strongest form, born from the data of Makoto's Greymon) and finally Death Meramon during its fight against Bun.

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.

Unlike in the anime series, Tamers in V-Tamer 01 cannot trigger evolution at will. However, Tamers with two Digivice 01, namely Saiba Neo and Fujimoto Hideto, can perform Jogress and Partition at will.

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. He also uses the Digimental to Mode Change into Ulforce V-dramon Future Mode.
 * 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.
 * As the series progresses, Leo the Leomon evolves into Panjyamon and Regulumon.
 * Before the hatching of Arkadimon, 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
 * 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 restore their health.
 * Throughout the series, Arkadimon evolves into each of its forms, from Baby II all the way to Ultimate, by consuming the data of other Digimon. After Arkadimon is defeated in its Ultimate form by Zeromaru, Saiba Neo uses the Digimental to evolve it further into Arkadimon Super Ultimate.
 * Demon evolves into Demon Super Ultimate by consuming Arkadimon Super Ultimate's data from within.

During the crossover chapters with Digimon Adventure 02 (Double Tamer) and Digimon Frontier (Frontier Generation), V-mon and Kanbara Takuya can evolve at will with the same rules and methods (Armor Evolution and Spirit Evolution, respectively) of their own series. The former also shows the ability to remove his armour as Fladramon, devolving to V-mon while leaving the armour behind.

Despite happening in the same continuity as V-Tamer 01, evolution in New Courage is now fully controllable and Zeromaru can go between his Adult and Perfect forms at will, utilizing the former as his base form and the latter to fight. As he explains, whether due to the polyhedron's influence or being rusty after not fighting for so long, he's incapable of becoming Ulforce V-dramon in spite of that being his base form at the end of V-Tamer. Agumon, coming from Digimon Adventure:, works in the same way as he does there, with his Yagami Taichi being able to evolve him into Greymon at will.

During the last fight against the polyhedron, the power of Courage of both V-Tamer and Adventure: 's Yagami Taichi synchronized, creating a massive Crest of Courage in the sky, which Warp Evolved Zeromaru and Agumon into Ulforce V-dramon Future Mode and an incomplete War Greymon, respectively. The forms were lost after the battle, and at the very least, the latter was incapable of evolving into that form normally afterwards.

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

During the fight against the Demons Hackers in their secret base, Aiba Takumi evolves his three Digimon: Terriermon, Hagurumon and Palmon, into their Adult forms: Galgomon, Guardromon and Togemon, all at once. Takumi is shown to be able to execute the evolution at will, but no other details are given of how evolution works in the manga.

Digimon evolve after reaching a certain lifespan. Baby I Digimon can only evolve into a single Baby II Digimon, but afterwards, Digimon will have several possibilities for their evolutions. Which Digimon they will evolve into, if any, depends on specific conditions they meet, such as their stats, how many moves they have, how many care mistakes they have, how many attacks they've learned, how many battles they've had, etc.

Beyond the normal evolution lines, some evolutions can be obtained through special means.
 * If a Baby II-level Digimon sleeps in Kunemon's Bed, it'll evolve into Kunemon.
 * If a Digimon poops too much outside of the toilet, they'll evolve into Scumon.
 * If a Child-level Digimon fails to meet any evolution conditions when the evolution time comes, they'll evolve into Numemon.
 * If an Adult-level Digimon is at least 15 days old, has a Discipline below 50%, and is then scolded, it may evolve into Vademon.
 * If the player interacts with the Monzaemon plush in Toy Town with a Numemon as their partner, said Numemon will evolve into Monzaemon. Unlike the previous examples, Numemon can also naturally evolve into Monzaemon.

Furthermore, evolution items exist in Digimon World. Upon using one, a Digimon will evolve into the Digimon of that item.

Evolution is one-way in Digimon World. The only exception is Scumon, who can be returned to its previous form by talking to Great King Scumon in Trash Mountain.

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Evolution is not possible in these games. Instead, Digimon can learn Variable Moves which let them call upon the Special Moves of other Digimon of higher Evolution Stages, and the player can use Yagami Taichi's Digivice to convert Digimon of any Evolution Stage to be their ally.

An evolution does exist in the game's story, however: before the start of the game, the Dark Master, Mugendramon Jogress Evolved with a Chimairamon to become Millenniumon, who'd then kidnap the Chosen Children and their Partner Digimon except for Agumon.

Digimon can be evolved into their next level in the Evolution Phase of a player's turn. To do so, the evolved card is set on top of their currently-in-play Digimon card. However, they must have at least as much DP as the evolved card needs, as well as being the same colour. Option cards can be used to bypass these requirements, however.

Evolution cannot be undone normally. However, Regression (退化 Taika), an Option Card that discards the top card of your Digimon and returns it to its previous stage, with doubled HP, can be used to do so.

Digimon can be evolved by talking to the Evolution Operators. A Child Digimon may evolve to Adult Digimon at LV 11, an Adult Digimon may evolve to Perfect Digimon at LV 21, and a Perfect Digimon may evolve to Ultimate Digimon at LV 31. One level after evolving, the Digimon will learn every technique of their level that their current form, as well as the Digimon that were Jogressed into them, can learn. What Digimon will be born from an evolution is decided by both the previous Digimon and their current EP (Evolution Points).

Jogress Evolution is also in the game, and can also be done by talking to the Evolution Operators. Child-level Digimon cannot be Jogressed. Upon Jogress, a new Digimon will be created. The newly-created Digimon will be one evolution level lower than the lowest evolved Digimon that created it (for example, if two Adults are Jogressed, a Child will be born, as well as if an Adult and a Child are Jogressed). The newly created Digimon will have a higher max level than its parents, based on their own levels, as well as 1 more EP than the highest EP of both of them. Furthermore, the newly born Digimon will be able to learn every move of its parents once it hits certain levels.

Evolution is completely one-way in Digimon World 2.

Evolution is mostly identical to how it works in Digital Card Battle. However, a new addition to the game is Armor Evolution. Usable only by Partner Cards who have obtained at least one Digimental, they can be immediately evolved into an Armor-level Digimon the moment they're played on the field. Armor Digimon cannot evolve further without the use of two Option Cards that devolve Armor Digimon into their Child stage and allow them to become Perfects. Every Partner Card has two Digimentals, and thus two possible Armor Evolutions, except for V-mon, who has three; which will be used can only be chosen outside of battle.

NPC Digimon who originate from Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02 will evolve over the course of the game. Upon evolving, they will have different, stronger decks, and are counted as different characters for wins/losses. The Digimon Adventure 02 partner Digimon specifically have Extra Arenas in which they battle the player using all their evolution stages. Wormmon does not have an Extra Arena, but he can still be fought in all of his stages except Gran Kuwagamon in Dark City's Battle Arena.

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Playable Digimon can temporarily evolve by touching Culumon, who appears halfway through each match. As long as they are evolved, they are entirely invincible and are able to use much more powerful attacks. Culumon only appears once per battle, thus only one evolution can happen per match.

In the original Digimon Tamers: Battle Spirit, Impmon is unable to evolve, and if he touches Culumon, Culumon is forced to despawn. Ver. 1.5 adds in an evolution for him: Beelzebumon: Blast Mode.

Ten playable Digimon are able to evolve during matches: Agumon, Gabumon, Patamon, Tailmon, V-mon, Wormmon, Guilmon, Renamon, Terriermon, and Impmon. Each of these Digimon has one evolved form, which gives them a new, stronger set of moves. Their evolved forms can also be unlocked as separate playable characters by clearing the 1P Mode with the respective base Digimon.

All playable Digimon possess an Evolution Gauge that fills as they deal damage in a match. Once the gauge is full, Digimon who can evolve undergo evolution. The Evolution Gauge slowly depletes over time while they are evolved. Once the Evolution Gauge empties, the Digimon devolves to its previous form. The evolved Digimon can also expend the gauge at any time to use their most powerful attack technique, but devolve immediately upon the technique's completion or interruption. Digimon who do not evolve can use their most powerful attack technique only when their Evolution gauge is full. This expends their entire Evolution Gauge, but does not devolve them.

Digimon have two different kinds of evolutions in Digimon World 3: their natural evolutions, and optional evolutions. Natural evolutions are obtained by hitting certain levels: LV 5 for Adult, LV 20 for Perfect, and LV 40 for Ultimate. Optional evolutions are obtained by levelling up certain evolutions (for example, levelling up Greymon would give you Metal Greymon if your partner isn't Agumon, who obtains them naturally) or by increasing a Digimon's nature resistances or stats (for example, Agumon will obtain Skull Greymon by increasing its darkness resistance).

A Digimon can equip up to three evolutions that they have learned at a time. They can switch between these and their base form at any time in-battle by using a turn, and one form can be assigned as their "Battle Evolution" so that they will start all battle encounters in that form. Evolutions can be equipped and unequipped by talking to Dr. Kadomatsu in the Asuka City Digimon Lab, or to Piccolomon in other locations.

Certain compatible pairs of Digimon can Jogress Evolve, which in this game just acts as a powerful attack that requires an MP cost from both participating Digimon. It can be activated in the Tag menu, as an alternative to just tagging out, and any Digimon that can be Jogressed with are marked with a red orb icon in that menu. When activated, a cutscene will show the two Digimon Jogressing and performing one technique in their Jogressed form, before switching to the Digimon that was part of the pair that was not in-battle when the Jogress was activated. The majority of Digimon that can be Jogressed are also available as regular evolution options, but there are three who only appear by Jogressing, all of whom are from Digimon Frontier.

In battle, Digimon have a Blast Gauge that fills up as they take damage. Once it is full, they will immediately undergo Blast Evolution: a temporary evolution into a more powerful form that lasts for several turns. While Blast Evolved, they will have automatic access to that form's Special Move, and all techniques (both Special and loaded) can be used without any MP cost. If a Blast Evolved Digimon is switched out or evolved into another form, the Blast Evolution state ends. Most of the time, a Digimon will Blast Evolve into their next natural evolution that they have not yet unlocked until Level 39, when they unlock their Ultimate form; after Level 39, they will Blast Evolve into other Ultimate Digimon.

There are two types of evolution that Digimon can undergo in battle. When their Evolution Gauge is filled, they can enter a state where, whenever they attack, they will temporarily Slide Evolve into their Beast Form Hybrid form and perform a stronger attack. The Evolution Gauge slowly decreases over time, and Slide Evolution ceases once it is empty.

When a Digimon collects five gold crystals, they are able to perform an Ancient Spirit Evolution. If they make contact with the enemy while initiating the evolution, they will evolve into one of the Warrior Ten (or Susanoomon for the Extra Agnimon and Wolfmon) and unleash one immensely powerful attack, at the cost of emptying the crystal gauge.

Fourteen playable Digimon are able to evolve during matches: Agumon, Gabumon, Piyomon, Tentomon, Patamon, Tailmon, Gomamon, Palmon, V-mon, Guilmon, Flamon, Black Agumon, Black Gabumon, and Black Guilmon. Each of these Digimon has two evolved forms, which each give them a new, stronger set of moves.

All playable Digimon have an Evolution Gauge that fills as they collect orbs of energy, that are dropped by all fighters in a match when they are hit. Each time it fills, they are able to evolve to their next form. Their evolution lasts until they are KO'd, at which point they will respawn in their previous form.

When the Evolution Gauge is filled while a Digimon is fully evolved, or if the Digimon cannot evolve (like the rest of the playable fighters), they become able to use an "Ultra" finishing move.

Digimon can evolve by filling their evolution gauge, which can be done by driving over data patches. Evolution is automatic whenever the gauge reaches particular thresholds. All Digimon begin races in their Child forms (or as Agnimon), with their evolution gauge half-full (1 1/2 bars). If the gauge reaches 2 bars full, they evolve into their Adult forms (or Vritramon, in Agnimon's case); if it reaches a full state (3 bars), they can spend part of their gauge to use their Special Move. Every time a Digimon takes damage, their evolution gauge is depleted. If it falls below one full bar, they devolve to their Baby II form (or Flamon, in Agnimon's case).

Digimon can be evolved upon reaching specific conditions. While Digimon must be first evolved in-battle, the player can then choose which of their evolutions they'll use outside of battle. Obtaining a new evolution will trigger a cutscene where the Tamer of the evolving Digimon performs a Digisoul Charge. If said Tamer is Daimon Masaru, he'll also punch an enemy Digimon and deal some damage.

Digimon can evolve by reaching certain levels: level 11 for Adult, level 25 for Perfect and level 41 for Ultimate. Evolution is temporary, and consumes the player's Digisoul. Some Digimon have stronger stages known as Blast Modes, these need specific items to be unlocked. Other Digimon have alternate Ultimate levels that also require specific items to be unlocked. Jogress Evolution is also possible between specific Digimon.

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Evolution in Re:Digitize is similar to how it is in the original Digimon World, but the Ultimate level has been added.

Evolutions are unlocked as the player proceeds through the game and reaches the points in which they were obtained in the Digimon Adventure anime. During the first appearance of each evolution, a cutscene will play, adapting their evolution sequence from the anime with in-game graphics, and afterwards, they'll remain evolved for free for the battle. Afterwards, the Digimon can evolve in-battle by paying an SP cost, which is 5 SP for the Adult level, and will remain evolved for the rest of the battle afterwards. Evolving increases stats, resets lowered stats, removes status effects, and changes the Digimon's moves for stronger ones with a higher SP cost.

Digimon start at the Child level. While the Baby II to Child evolution of the first episode of Adventure, "Adrift? Island of Adventure!" does happen in the game, it is purely a cutscene, and the Baby II-level Partner Digimon are not playable.

Every playable Digimon has two evolutions. Obtaining enough EP will allow a Digimon to evolve into their next stage. While the first and second stage are unique for each character, some of the thirds are shared between two characters (for example, Agumon and Gabumon both evolve into Omegamon).

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Evolutions are managed at Mikagura Mirei's DigiLab. Almost every Digimon has a list of Digimon that it can evolve from and evolve into. To evolve into a particular Digimon, a Digimon must first meet that Digimon's minimum evolution requirements such as level, stats, Ability, and Camaraderie all meeting certain thresholds. The only requirement to devolve is that the player has previously encountered the Digimon to be devolved into. Every time a Digimon evolves or devolves, its Ability stat increases, which makes it easier to evolve into forms that require higher minimum Ability.

Jogress Evolution can be performed between certain pairs of Digimon. This works the same way as regular evolution, except that the the player must also have the other component Digimon for the Jogress and both Digimon must have maximum Camaraderie. Once the Jogress has been performed, the Jogressed Digimon is treated like any other Digimon in terms of further evolution or devolution: that is, the Jogress cannot be "undone" to get both component Digimon back, and instead, the Jogressed Digimon can only be devolved into either one of the component Digimon forms.

Some Digimon, specifically Armor Digimon and Hybrid Digimon (although the latter are treated as regular levels in this game) also require that the player obtain a matching Digimental or Legendary Spirit item before they can evolve any Digimon into them. These items are not consumed by the evolution process, so once they have been obtained, the Digimon can be evolved into as many times as the player wants.

In the original version of Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, Digimon can only evolve into members of the Royal Knights after completing specific late-game quests that each unlock the ability to evolve into one to three of these Digimon. Additionally, in Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Complete Edition, there are some Digimon who can only be evolved into if Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Hacker's Memory has been completed first.

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Evolution in -next 0rder- is similar to how it is in Re:Digitize, but streamlined. Less time is required for each stage, and it is easier to evolve. Furthermore, Paildramon's dojo allows the player to block certain evolution paths, which helps to evolve a Digimon to the specific one the player wants, and can allow a Digimon to evolve into forms it does not properly fulfill the requirements of. Furthermore, Jogress Evolution is possible in Paildramon's dojo, which will evolve one of Takuto/Shiki's Digimon to the Jogressed stage while devolving the other one one stage.

A new form of evolution added to the game is ExE, short for Extra Cross Evolution. ExE allows the player's Digimon to fuse together in-battle, getting them a major power boost. ExE can be triggered by the player by spending 150 Order Points from both Digimon when they have max friendship with each other, or after both of their Digimon fall in battle randomly. However, ExE can only be used once per day.

During the story, Takuto/Shiki's friends, Hirose Kouta and Oofuchi Himari, have their partners, Yukimura and Rikka, evolve from their Child-levels to their further levels, all the way to Ultimate. As well, Yukimura evolves incorrectly into Skull Greymon at one point, due to Kouta forcing the evolution, expecting him to become Mugendramon instead and thinking he could control said Digimon, only for Yukimura to lose control and having to be taken down instead. Several other Digimon also undergo alterations to become Mugendramon during the story, much like how it happened in the postgame of the original Digimon World.

During the final part of the story, Analogman possessing Tsuzuki Shoma evolves Omegamon Zwart D into Omegamon Alter-B, a process he calls Altered Super Evolution (変性超進化 Hensei chō shinka; Dub: Ultimate Altered Digivolution). As he explains, he accomplished this by breaking Omegamon Zwart D's mind, as he realized such a process could bring forth altered forms of Digimon other than Mugendramon by watching Kouta's Yukimura evolve into Skull Greymon.

As well, as the game progresses, Takuto/Shiki fight the pair of Digimon known as Kurorin and Kurocchi (only in the International Edition). In MOD Ship Cave, they fight as Gabumon (Black) and Agumon (Black). In Great Fault Ex Machina, they've evolved to Garurumon (Black) and Greymon (Blue), and then they evolve even further into Were Garurumon (Black) and Metal Greymon (Virus). Their final encounter is in Infinity Cauldron, where they've become Metal Garurumon (Black) and Black War Greymon. After losing, they Jogress into Omegamon Zwart for a moment, only for them to immediately separate.

The concept of Digimon evolution was introduced in the original Digital Monster virtual pet series. All Digimon undergo evolution through up to five Evolution Stages, ending in Perfect. What a Digimon evolves into, and whether it is able to evolve, depends on several different criteria based on Evolution Stage:


 * Baby I to Baby II: Automatically occurs after approximately 60 minutes of real time have passed since the Baby I Digimon hatched.
 * Baby II to Child: Each Baby II Digimon can evolve into any of the device's Child Digimon depending on how many care mistakes have been made in raising it.
 * Child to Adult: Each Child Digimon can evolve into one of four Adult Digimon, depending on four factors: number of care mistakes made, how many times it have been given training, how often it has been overfed, and how many times its sleep has been interrupted. All models of the Digital Monster feature one "dud" Adult Digimon that is evolved into when the Digimon does not meet the criteria of the other Adult evolution options (respectively: Numemon, Vegimon, Scumon, Nanimon, and Raremon).
 * Adult to Perfect: All Adult Digimon are bound by the same requirements to evolve to Perfect: having fought a minimum of 15 battles, with a minimum win ratio of 80%. Each Adult can only evolve into one particular Perfect. Evolving into Perfect is not guaranteed.

Unlike later virtual pets and other Digimon products, the Digimon that can be evolved into are generally rather random and have no real link to each other (similarities in species or element, etc.)

The Digimon Pendulum virtual pet series introduces three important new evolution concepts, all of which became standard for both subsequent virtual pets and the franchise as a whole: the Ultimate Evolution Stage, Jogress Evolution, and Fields. Each version of the Digimon Pendulum is themed around one Field, so almost all featured Digimon within each have some elemental or species trait in common. Evolution requirements are otherwise similar to those of the Digital Monster series.


 * Baby I to Baby II: Automatically occurs after approximately 60 minutes of real time have passed since the Baby I Digimon hatched.
 * Baby II to Child: Each Baby II Digimon can evolve into any of the device's Child Digimon depending on how many care mistakes have been made in raising it.
 * Child to Adult: Each Child Digimon can evolve into one of several Adult Digimon, depending on two factors: number of care mistakes made, and how many times it have been given training.
 * Adult to Perfect: Adult Digimon become able to evolve into one particular Perfect Digimon if they meet a minimum set of criteria: minimum win ratio of 40%, particpating in a minimum number of battles, being given training a minimum number of times, and making as few care mistakes as possible. Higher win ratios improve the odds of being able to evolve to Perfect. Alternatively, Digimon may undergo Jogress Evolution to evolve into certain Perfect Digimon.
 * Perfect to Ultimate: Certain Perfect Digimon become able to evolve into Ultimate Digimon if they meet a minimum set of criteria: minimum win ratio of 60%, and no care mistakes have been made. Alternatively, Digimon may undergo Jogress Evolution to evolve into certain Ultimate Digimon.

In the Digimon Pendulum, Jogress Evolution works based on the participating Digimon's attributes. Jogressing together two Digimon of a particular combination of attributes will result in each participating Digimon evolving into an appropriate Digimon from their respective virtual pet's roster. The actual identity of the particpating Digimon generally does not matter, with one exception: Jogressing War Greymon and Metal Garurumon in the Digimon Pendulum ZERO will form Omegamon.

The Digimon Pendulum Progress introduces time of day as a determiner of what a Digimon will evolve into: training the Digimon in morning, mid-day or evening results in different evolutions. Evolution lines are much freer, and excluding cases where Jogress Evolution is required, any Digimon on the device can evolve into any other Digimon of the next Evolution Stage as long as it meets the evolution criteria.


 * Baby I to Baby II: Automatically occurs after approximately 60 minutes of real time have passed since the Baby I Digimon hatched.
 * Baby II to Child: Each Baby II Digimon can evolve into any of the device's Child Digimon depending on what time of day it is trained in.
 * Child to Adult: Each Child Digimon can evolve into any of the device's Adult Digimon, depending on two factors: what time of day it is trained in, and how many care mistakes have been made in raising it.
 * Adult to Perfect: Each Adult Digimon can evolve into any of the device's Perfect Digimon (excluding Jogress exclusives), depending on three factors: what time of day it is trained in, how many care mistakes have been made in raising it, and how many battles it has participated in. Alternatively, Digimon may undergo Jogress Evolution to evolve into certain Perfect Digimon.
 * Perfect to Ultimate: Each Perfect Digimon can evolve into any of the device's Ultimate Digimon (excluding Jogress exclusives) if it meets their respective combinations of these minimum requirements: what time of day it is trained in, how many care mistakes have been made in raising it, how many times its sleep has been disturbed, how many battles it has won, and its battle win ratio. Alternatively, Digimon may undergo Jogress Evolution to evolve into certain Perfect Digimon.

The rules of Jogress Evolution are somewhat different from the Digimon Pendulum. This time, players are required to Jogress together specific species of Digimon to get a particular Digimon, rather than accepting any Digimon of a given attribute. Many of the Digimon required come not only from other models of Pendulum Progress, but even from the D-Scanner. Also, some Digimon who are obtainable through Jogressing can also be evolved into by non-Jogress ways.


 * Main article: Digital Monster Card Game

In the Digital Monster Card Game, every Digimon card of Level IV (Adult) or higher lists a specific set of Evolution Requirements that includes the Digimon (usually 2-3) that it can be evolved from, and the required costs ("Evolution Requirements") to evolve each Digimon into the new card. Once every turn, players have an opportunity to evolve their current Digimon. This is done in their turn's Preparation Phase by playing the Digimon card to be evolved into their Evolution Box, face-down, and then playing all of the stated costs for that card in the Evolution Requirements Box.

The types of Evolution Requirements that are asked for depend on the card's level.


 * Level IV: For each Digimon to evolve from, the card will typically list a combination of ● ("Regular Growth", played oriented horizontally) and × ("Irregular Growth", played oriented vertically). This means that, for the total number of symbols listed, you draw that many cards from your Net Ocean and, without looking at their faces, play them face-down in the Evolution Requirements box in the right combination.
 * Perfect and Ultimate: These cards typically have one of two Evolution Requirements:
 * A "Winning Percentage!" Option Card. There are three "Winning Percentage!" types - 40%, 60%, and 80% - and, as stated in these cards' Effects, the type listed by the card is the minimum winning percentage that can be used. That is, you can use a "Winning Percentage: 80%" card to evolve into a Digimon whose Evolution Requirement asks for "Winning Percentage: 40%!" or "Winning Percentage: 60%!" The effects also require the user to send one card from their hand to the Dark Area (discard it) after evolution is completed.
 * Jogress Evolution. The card will list several pairs of Digimon who can be Jogressed into the card, and in each case, either one of those Digimon must currently in the Digimon box, while the other is played in the Evolution Requirements Box.

On occasion, Evolution Requirements will mandate that a given Digimon card can only be evolved from a Digimon card that belongs to a specific Field, Attribute, or Level. For example, Starter Ver. 6 mostly features Digimon cards that belong to the Virus Busters Field, and many of these require that they be evolved specifically from Digimon cards that also belong to the Virus Busters field, instead of any other field.

There are Option cards that can circumvent standard Evolution Requirements, such as "Aim for the Strongest Evolution!" (St-56), which can be used instead of all other Evolution Requirements to evolve a Digimon. However, some Digimon cards have a special ability that prevents ignoring Evolution Requirements like this.

Some cards have Appearance Requirements or Fusion Requirements, instead of Evolution Requirements. Fusion Requirements work similarly to some Evolution Requirements and ask for specific Option Cards, such as cards that feature Digimentals or Legendary Spirits, to fuse with the player's current Digimon. Appearance Requirements have unique effects that sometimes do not require a specific current Digimon at all.



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. Certain cards, such as BT3-027 Paildramon, also allow for evolution from another color in addition to the card's own color, increasing the amount of Digimon that can evolve into them. Furthermore, some Digimon can evolve from Digimon of the same level (for example, BT5-029 Were Garurumon: Sagittarius Mode can evolve from a Level 5 Digimon like itself).

While Digimon can be played from the hand regardless of their level, evolving them properly gives some benefits over just playing a card from the hand:
 * Evolving a Digimon has significantly lower Memory cost than directly playing it. The cost is even lower if evolving from a Digimon of the same level, whenever possible.
 * Upon evolving a Digimon, the player that evolved must draw a card, increasing their options. This can be done as many times in a turn as the player's Memory, deck and hand allow.
 * 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.

Digimon cards can normally only evolve from other Digimon cards. However, cards that depict characters from Digimon Frontier allow Tamer cards to evolve into Digimon as well. Some Hybrid Digimon (such as BT4-011 Agnimon) have effects that treat Tamer cards as Level 3 Digimon cards. Some Tamer cards that feature the Chosen Children of Frontier even have their own effects that allow them to evolve into specific Hybrid Digimon, such as BT7-085 Kanbara Takuya, whose effect lets it evolve into Kaiser Greymon by treating itself as a Level 5 Digimon card in the process.

ST-9 and ST-10 introduce Jogress Evolution to the game. Digimon who possess the Jogress Evolution keyword (such as ST10-06 Mastemon) can be evolved in one of two ways, either through the normal evolution method, or by stacking cards that fit specific requirements (in ST10-06 Mastemon's case, a Yellow Level 5 Digimon and a Purple Level 5 Digimon), and then stacking the Jogress Evolved card itself on top of them, for no Memory cost. Digimon may have extra effects that trigger if Jogress Evolved, making it more valuable as an evolution method despite the cost of using two Digimon cards instead of one.

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