Goggles

Aviator goggles (ゴーグル Gōguru) are a traditional symbol for the lead human protagonist of Digimon stories, who are often nicknamed "goggle boys". The majority of lead protagonists from the Digimon and Appmon anime series, manga, and video games wear goggles.

Some species of Digimon and Appmon also have goggles of their own. These species are usually either heroic dragon- or reptile-type Digimon who, like "goggle boys", have goggles purely for aesthetic reasons, or they are militaristic in theme and wear their goggles for practical purposes.

=Overview= Of the ten characters who have been the lead protagonist of a Digimon/Appmon anime production, only Daimon Masaru from Digimon Savers and Amanokawa Hiro from Digimon Ghost Game do not wear goggles as part of their regular attire (and of these two, only Masaru never wears any goggles at all).

In the anime and manga, only male characters have worn goggles so far. The only "goggle girls" currently appear only in video games.

Most of the time, the goggles are purely a fashion item that they wear on the forehead and are not used by the wearer as eye protection. Exceptions include Digimon Tamers and Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01.

Other common traits that "goggle boys" share, especially in the anime and manga, include:


 * They are the leaders of a team of Tamers, Chosen Children, or other human children who are partnered with Digimon
 * Their names start with the phoneme ta (た) or da (だ)
 * They are associated with warm colors like red and orange or, on occasion, blue, and their Digivice is at least one of these colors
 * They are partnered with Digimon who are Dragon-, Dinosaur-, or Reptile Type, and/or have fire attacks

These traits are also often shared with lead protagonists who do not wear goggles.

Production
The goggles tradition originated with Yabuno Tenya, the illustrator of Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01. When V-Tamer 01 entered production, Yabuno conceived of an aerial battle that would be a highlight of the story. This inspired the decision to have the V-Tamer 01 version of Yagami Taichi wear aviator goggles, which Yabuno regarded as critical equipment in aerial combat. Since he and Digimon Adventure character designer Nakatsuru Katsuyoshi had previously agreed that Yabuno's Taichi design would also be used for the Adventure anime out of respect for the fact that V-Tamer 01 would be the first of the two productions to release, the Adventure version of Taichi retained the goggles as well.

Digimon and Appmon with goggles
=Appearances=

Yagami Taichi wears a pair of goggles around his neck. He briefly uses them as a weapon by throwing them at Botamon while it is under the bed, to try to scare it out.

Taichi wears a pair of goggles, together with a headband, throughout the series and in Our War Game!

At the start of the series, Motomiya Daisuke wears a pair of goggles of his own in imitation of Taichi, whom he idolizes. These goggles are destroyed by an Evil Ring-possessed Monochromon in "The Inheritor of Courage", and at the end of the episode, Taichi gives Daisuke his goggles as a symbolic passing of the torch to the leader of a new generation of Chosen Children. Daisuke wears Taichi's goggles for the rest of the series.

Ichijouji Ken's Digimon Kaiser outfit also features a pair of thick tinted goggles that he wears over his eyes. He throws these goggles away when he is defeated in "Goodbye, Ken..." and they dissolve into data.

In the epilogue in "Our Digital World", Daisuke's son wears a pair of goggles which resemble Taichi and Daisuke's. At this point, neither Taichi nor Daisuke are wearing goggles.

In "Reunion", Izumi Kōshirō provides Taichi with a new set of enhanced goggles that visualize distortions, allowing him to track where Infected Digimon are about to appear. When he is not using them, Taichi usually wears these goggles around his neck instead of on his forehead.

In "Loss", when Taichi disappears in JESmon's attack, only his goggles are left behind. Ishida Yamato begins wearing them in Taichi's place, as a symbol of how Taichi would want the group to keep going. When Taichi returns to the group in "Our Future", Yamato returns the goggles to him.

A pair of goggles are part of the Mysterious Man's Digimon Kaiser disguise. These goggles are smaller and significantly different than the original Kaiser goggles, but they are still darkly tinted.

Two flashbacks in "Loss" reveal that Nishijima Daigo also used to wear a pair of goggles when he was a child, during his adventure in the Digital World with Himekawa Maki and the other original Chosen Children. The goggles were knocked off his head in his team's final battle with the Dark Masters. He no longer wears them as an adult.

At the start of the film, Taichi wears another new set of goggles that Kōshirō has enhanced with a targeting heads-up display. However, they are still a work in progress, and an error with their display nearly causes Taichi and Agumon to be unnecessarily hit by Parrotmon, so he stops using them. Later, he gets a pair of regular goggles out of storage along with his old Digivice and starts wearing them again until after the final battle with Eosmon.

Daisuke no longer wears any goggles.

In "You are my Friend - Introducing Terriermon!", Matsuda Takato adopts a pair of goggles that he had found when he declares that he is Guilmon's Tamer, and continues to wear them for the rest of the series.

Unlike other anime series, Takato regularly uses his goggles to protect his eyes against hazards like the fog of Digital Fields in the real world and data storms in the Digital World. His friends, Makino Ruki and Lee Jianliang, use sunglasses as their eye protection.

Kanbara Takuya wears a pair of goggles on top of his hat. He only uses them as eye protection on one occasion, in "Save the Burgamon! Tomoki's Pure Heart", to protect his eyes from a sandstorm in the Burgamon Village.

Kudou Taiki wears a pair of goggles. He has a habit of snapping his fingers on his goggles whenever he has an idea for a tactic in battle.

In "Xros Heart, Burn!", Tsurugi Zenjirou temporarily wears Taiki's goggles while, after Taiki has been incapacitated by exhaustion, he temporarily commands Xros Heart in the last battle of Lake Zone.

Taiki wears a new pair of goggles for most of the season. Akashi Tagiru wears another pair of goggles of his own in imitation of Taiki, claiming that he needs them if he is going to surpass Taiki and become a "superstar".

In "A Heart-throbbing Horror Experience! The Spirit Hunter Roars!!", Hinomoto Akari wears Taiki's goggles while Taiki rests after winning the city basketball championship.

The "heroes" Yagami Taichi, Motomiya Daisuke, Matsuda Takato, and Kanbara Takuya all still wear their goggles from their original series when they make their crossover appearances in "The Great Hunter Gathering! The Digimon Competition at South Island!", "The Golden Insect! The Mystery of Metallife Kuwagamon", "The Gathering of the Legendary Heroes! The Digimon All-star Showdown!!", and "Burn Up, Tagiru! The Glorious Digimon Hunt".

In "Burn Up, Tagiru! The Glorious Digimon Hunt", Astamon destroys Tagiru's goggles when it betrays the group. Taiki, who had been injured badly by Astamon, gives Tagiru his goggles when he asks Tagiru to fill in for him as the one to wield the Brave Snatcher.

Shinkai Haru wears a pair of goggles throughout the series. In "I Will Have You in Costume! Cameramon's Halloween Scandal!", he briefly puts them over his eyes when he tries to blend in with a crowd of people in costume to avoid detection by Cameramon, but takes them off when he realizes that there are cameras everywhere so there is no point.

Yagami Taichi wears a pair of goggles, together with a headband, throughout the series.

Like the real Taichi, all of the identical fake Taichis created by Algomon in "Contact from the Catastrophe" also wear goggles.

Amanokawa Hiro does not wear goggles as part of any of his regular outfits.

However, when he goes go-karting with Tsukiyono Ruli in "Nightly Procession of Monsters", Hiro does wear racing goggles, together with a helmet. When their go-karting turns into an investigation of Sistermon Ciel's "nightly procession" Digimon races, Jellymon gives Higashimitarai Kiyoshiro a helmet-and-goggles set as well when she makes him join the race. (Ruli wears a full racing helmet with a visor instead of goggles.)

Yagami Taichi wears a pair of goggles, together with a headband, throughout the series. "Goggles..." reveals that the goggles are a gift from his grandfather, who had them as a memento of a deceased pilot friend. When Taichi was young, his grandfather gave the goggles to him as a symbol of the courage to act to protect one's friends, like his pilot friend used to do, after Taichi witnessed a friend being bullied. From "Butter-fly" onward, Taichi sometimes wears these goggles over his eyes when he is flying on Zeromaru (as Aero V-dramon).

The anime protagonists who make crossover appearances in the special issues (Motomiya Daisuke, Kanbara Takuya, and the Digimon Adventure: version of Yagami Taichi) all also still wear their goggles from their native series.

Doumoto Kouta wears a pair of goggles.

Lóng Zhìguāng wears a pair of goggles.

Tatsuno Tsurugi wears a pair of goggles.

Kudou Taiki wears a pair of goggles.

Doumoto Kouta wears a pair of goggles.

Kodou Ritsu wears a pair of visor-like goggles. Wakamiya Jo also wears a pair of goggles around his neck.

Akira wears a pair of goggles.

Atsushi wears a pair of goggles.

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Both player avatar options, Koh and Sayo, wear goggles.

Both player avatar options, Shū and Kizuna, wear goggles.

The protagonist wears goggles.

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Taiga and Shinomiya Rina both wear goggles.

Both player avatar options, Aiba Takumi and Aiba Ami, wear a pair of goggles that serve as their Digivice. The game's pause menu is the Digivice's interface.

When Lord Knightmon traps Takumi/Ami in Chapter 17, "Recollection", their goggles are left behind and found by their allies. Shiramine Nokia temporarily uses the goggles for the duration of Chapter 18, "Lost, Lost Memories", but she does not actually wear them and her access to its Digivice functions is restricted. She can command Takumi/Ami's Digimon, but cannot use their DigiLine chat or Hacking Skills. She returns the goggles to Takumi/Ami when they reappear for their final fight with Lord Knightmon.

Kamishiro Yuuko also has a pair of goggles that she wears around her left arm.

Both player avatar options, Takuto and Shiki, wear goggles.

Both player avatar options, Kazuki and Itsuki, wear goggles.

Amazawa Keisuke wears a pair of goggles that serve as his Digivice. The game's pause menu is the Digivice's interface. He uses his goggles as the interface through which he enters EDEN, and the goggles can project a holographic screen which he uses to perform hacking tasks.

Two NPCs in the entrance to EDEN imply that goggle-style Digivices are sold as sought-after consumer goods and that they come in many styles, including both Keisuke's visor-like ones and Takumi/Ami's smaller ones.

The protagonist wears goggles.

Sakamoto Satoru wears goggles.

Momotsuka Takuma wears a pair of goggles.

One of the three player characters in the D-Spirit's "Quest" game mode wears goggles.

=Additional Information=