DIGIMON
To-do list as of June 2024:
- Produce and add the original art for this page
- Finish writing up and finalising section about Digimon World.
- Add my Digimon World Iceberg Chart section (possibly as a separate subpage?)
- Generally tighten up and refine the other sections and page as a whole.
Index
Ah, I see you have stumbled into this little earth I've been digging a little further from the central clearing of this digital forest! You've clearly inferred this is a page about Digimon, one of my most beloved and long-enduring pieces of comfort media. If you wanted to hear me, the bugfox custodian of this (rather appropriately, given the topic) digital forest make excited noises that are then converted into text about their love of Digimon, you're in the right place!
So, what is Digimon exactly?
Digimon is a (depending on whom you ask) modestly popular Japanese media franchise, originating as a series of virtual pets (that is still going to this day!) that then splintered off into a multitude of animated media, manga and video games. Created by an individual named Akiyoshi Hongo (who doesn't actually exist-I'll get into that later) at Bandai, it originated in 1997 as a sister-line to the very popular Tamagotchi virtual pet toys. Tamagotchi, as I am fairly sure you will have some familiarity with the basic premise of already, was focused on cutesy virtual creatures that players would care for with said creatures evolving into a sequence of other forms over time, akin to a metamorphosis of sorts. The manner in which players would care for and interact with their Tamagotchi would dictate which forms their creature pet will evolve into.
Digimon worked upon a very similar premise in mechanical terms, but with an introduced core tenant of raising a Digital Monster that could battle other Digital Monsters via linking them with other Digimon devices (known to this day as Digivices). As well as this, whereas Tamagotchi (a media franchise I am to this day extremely fond of too as well, if it wasn't already obvious!) was focused on very distinctive-looking cute, often squishy and soft-looking creatures, the monster designs in Digimon had a distinct edge to them. To demonstrate my point, take a look at the small sample of hand-picked Digimon species below:
(From left to right from the upper row: MetalGarurumon, Devimon, Cyberdramon and Snimon. Image credit to Bandai and the Digimon Reference Book, sourced from Wikimon.)
...Need I say more?
Anyway, the name "Digimon", as you may have likely inferred already, is a portmanteau of "digital" and "monster", and the premise of Digimon was a reflection of this when it first released in 1997; the eponymous entities were first depicted as living computer viruses that appeared in the form of monsters. This was rather pertinent, given that in the latter half of the 1990s, personal home computers and the internet had started to become a lot more accessible in many parts of the world. Nonetheless, this prospect was still quite unfamiliar territory for many people at the time, given that computers were expensive and as such seen as more of a luxury to the average household for many. I do personally rather enjoy this concept, that the international information superhighway was a new frontier that not only brought a truly unprecedented and rapid access to information and connectivity across the world, but within resided a realm in many ways both like our own world and so alien at once, inhabited by ethereal beings...Digital Monsters.
Isn't or wasn't Digimon just an attempt to cash in on the success of Pokémon?
Now, I can postulate that unless you're a fellow critter like me who has an intense autistic hyperfixation on critters both real and imagined (and you may well be, if you're here with me in this digital forest!), you may be raising an eyebrow like a character from the promotional material of a mainstream CG-animated movie. "But isn't Digimon just a rip-off of the more successful Pokémon, you silly bugfox?" you ask, brow furrowed and index digit pointing at me (I'm too busy playing with a Tentomon plush to notice though).
Well, you could argue that there are a number of parallels, perhaps most evidently the fact both Pokémon and Digimon are focused around a premise involving magical monstrous animals and entities that usually undergo some form of dramatic transformation, typically dubbed as some form of "evolution"; though in both cases it is often closer to holometabolous insect metamorphosis than actual evolution or speciation. You could list certain comparisons or differences for some time, but that's not what I'm here to do-especially as both Digimon and Pokémon are two pieces of media that were and still very much are extremely important special interests to me, even as an adult bugfox...though I will say that apart from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Pokémon otherwise died and, like The Simpsons did past season 8 (again, my opinion and a different matter for another time), Pokémon became a zombie in my eyes once Generation 6 began, but I digress...
So, to answer that question-regardless of whether one of these pet-monster media franchises came into existence before the other or is "ripping off" its counterpart, I ultimately care little because Digimon was and (in the case of the older media, at least) still something that thoroughly enchants me.
What Digimon means to me
There's no question at all about the fact I have always been intensely hyperfocused on monster-collecting (though I prefer the less popular term "pet monster") media since I was a tiny critter, but something about Digimon has resonated with me for such a long time and, as aforementoned, it thus remains one of my dearest hyperfixations. The monster designs in Digimon, as aforementioned, had a feel to them that was not just distinct but conveyed such a strong sense of character and visual coherency. Further to this, there's a certain willingness to take risks evident from many of the monster designs in Digimon, which I namely say in reference to the more bizarre or grotesque species designs and indeed tailored evolution lineages.
An excellent example of this would be the Champion-level Sukamon1, which is quite literally a large anthropomorphic pile of excrement with a seemingly detachable clam shell-hinged mouth, a pair of arms adorned with leather belts and rings and a very toothy face. This is without even then addressing the fact that this Digimon attacks primarily by throwing feces as projectiles! Perhaps best of all however, is the fact that this cartoonishly repulsive creature is known (in many of the earlier pieces of Digimon media, at the very least) to specifically evolve into a Digimon known as Etemon, an anthropmorphic monkey puppet Digimon with the personality and mannerisms of Elvis Presley and every self-absorbed rock star to ever live.2
This, I feel, is an excellent example of what I would describe as the organised chaos of the specially-tailored evolution lineages comprising the monsters in Digimon; whereas in other pet-monster media such as Pokémon the monster designs usually maintain a fairly overt sense of a coherent thread in the designs of the monsters comprising the evolution lines (with motifs such as their morphology and colouration frequently subsuming this coherency), Digimon on the other hand often accomplishes this in a more subtle, thematic sense in my view. It is not uncommon for Digimon to use the successive forms of certain Digimon species as a method of conveying a narrative.
A particular instance of this coherency that feels much more thematic than comestic in terms of Digimon lineages is Gabumon's canonical evolution line (as it was presented in Digimon Adventure and a number of other pieces of Digimon media in the years that followed). Starting out, Gabumon is a Rookie-level Digimon species that appears as a sapient yellow reptile that cloaks their body with a pelt resembling the wolf-like Garurumon...which they then evolve into as their successive Champion-level form. As described in the lore of the Digimon Reference Book, Gabumon is a timid and reclusive Digimon who does not like to fight, and they survive through gathering scraps of data left behind by Garurumon to produce the pelt they wear over their body, as a deterrent aimed towards potentially hostile Digimon. How fitting it is that the shy little reptile then becomes the grizzly wolf they mimic and have a deep reverence for!
There's more to my love of the often-incredibly charming and clever visual design of Digimon, monster designs and other aspects of its art direction, of course. When I mentioned earlier that Digimon often felt like it had much more of an "edge" to it than its perennial contemporary Pokémon, which I think back then seemed to be an intriguing contrast to me. As a larval bugfox, I think Digimon resonated with me in some ways that other media I enjoyed from that time, comparable or otherwise, were unable (and in a few cases of said media, still do).
But...?
Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of things I am critical of with Digimon as a franchise. For example, despite the English dub of the original Digimon Adventure anime from 1999 being magical to me as a preteen, rewatching it (or attempting to, anyway) as an adult was insufferable3. Or the fact that in recent years, a number of the newer monsters, namely the Mega-level Digimon especially, are sadly at-best often painfully dull neon-coloured armoured humanoids or at worst, weird uncomfortable "sexy" human designs that outright put me off all modern Digimon media entirely; I don't think I need to elaborate about why this bores, unsettles and disgusts me all in variable measure.
This is half of the (in my view terrible) majority of the Mega-level Digimon summarised, and that makes me sad.
The early eras of Digimon from the late 90s and early 2000s, however? Golden. I cannot get enough of the media from this era that I can get my hands on, whether it's the original TCG from the early 2000s (which was sadly very short-lived in the western hemisphere of the world) or the earlier virtual pet toys. That said, I feel it is worth mentioning here that the PlayStation title Digimon World, first released in 1999, is to this day not just my favourite piece of Digimon media, but one of my all-time cherised pieces of comfort media or art. This leads me to the next point of discussion...
What Digimon World is, and what it means to me
Digimon World is a PlayStation title first released in Japan in January 1999, the international versions being released between 2000-2002, with a South Korea-exclusive Windows PC port released in the latter year. Digimon World is an RPG-virtual pet hybrid game with open-world exploration elements. The premise entails a young human being transported to the Digital World, finding himself in an area known as File Island after he is called upon by a mysterious Digimon known as Jijimon. Together with a beloved Digital Monster companion, the player must explore File Island and save the Digimon that lost their memories and left their homes at the once-prosperous File City, many becoming feral and hostile in the process. All the while the player looks after their Digimon companion (through feeding, taking them to the toilet, making sure they are healthy and training them for battle, much akin to the actual Digimon virtual pet toys) and developing a bond with their Digimon friend, meeting many strange and wonderful beings across File Island along the way.
I first played Digimon World as a tiny bugfox, almost 20 years ago as of writing. There is a certain resonance that struck me when I first played the game back then, one that I can genuinely say had never left me (and I am sincerely glad it remained). It's difficult to articulate this in words, and I feel (as with many of these feelings one has when they feel they resonate deeply with a piece of art or media) that attempting to do so would in some cases detract from the points I'm trying to illustrate. Nonetheless, I'm going to endeavour to sing my stridulated love song for Digimon World here.
One of the plethora of gorgeous pre-rendered 3D backgrounds from the game, upon which native Digimon species patrol their territory, which along with the player character and other 3D objects would be rendered in real-time. Above is the northernmost screen in the Gecko Swamp area of the game, where the player encounters the frog-like Digimon species Geckomon, as well as the dragonfly-like Yanmamon.
Foremost, I feel that there is a genuinely mysterious and heavily atmospheric feel to the realm Digimon World takes place in. Across File Island are many lavishly-detailed naturalistic landscapes akin to those in this world, but the game never allows the player to comfortably assume that the similarity to our own is a more than an increasingly thin cosmetic veneer; often environments such as forests, plains, swamps and tundras are invariably dotted with elements such as electric plug sockets, cables running along the landscape and even patches of ground with circuitboard segments peaking out from small indentations.
As the game progresses the environments past a certain point become more industrial or inorganic (with the later game area Factorial Town, a metal-coated settlement inhabited primarily by robot and cyborg Digimon being an great example). By the end of the game, taking place at the final dungeon, Mt. Infinity, the environments become an ethereal landscape of luminescent wireframes that no longer try to conceal the fact the Digital World is an extremely unearthly realm.
This majorly contributes to a certain alien feel that the game has, because of this delightful aesthetic and the organised dissonance of the world it takes place in-something that is a constant in just about every other sense in the game. From the moment the player arrives in the Digimon World at the very start, they are greeted by Jijimon, the mysterious, lofty elder of the derelict and run-down File City, in addition to the few other Digimon who had not lost their memories and left File City behind. These Digimon are all friendly and personable to the player, with some providing crucial help at the start of the game, but the manner in which they are all so nonchalant about the perceived oddities of their world (and in turn, the very vocal Player character sometimes expressing confusion about some of what they are witness to) is very charming.
For example, behind Jijimon's house in the north of File City is a farm where the heterotrophic plant Tanemon ploughs and sows fields to provide food for the inhabitants of File City...with said food being cuts of meat on the bone that grow from the soil. When the Player first meets Tanemon, a brief exchange ensues between the two characters, with the former baffled by the sheer absurdity of what they are seeing, then dropping the notion of questioning it when it becomes very apparent through speaking to Tanemon that this is very much a normal, mundane fixture of life in the Digital World. The game is dotted with these occurences, with an especially memorable example for me being when the Player is told of rumours about an alleged invisible bridge leading to the arid Great Canyon area, and them turning out to be completely true as they and their Digimon partner seemingly walk through the air into the inner reaches of the aforementioned valley. In many ways the landscapes themselves across File Island almost feel as though they are living entities themselves, just as much as the Digital Monster inhabitants are as well.
The meat farm is very modest at the start of the game, with Tanemon stoically plowing the fields and providing the Player with 3 pieces of meat a day to feed their Digimon. As the game progresses however, the Player will later recruit fellow plant-like Digimon Palmon and then Vegiemon to assist with running the meat farm, resulting in yields of much larger meat for the Player's Digimon companion. An adorable detail is that when Palmon is recruited, Tanemon then spends the rest of the game happily resting and photosynthesising in the soil of one of the planters by Jijimon's House (which Palmon later follows suit with after Vegiemon arrives)!
Yet, in spite of the very clear demonstration that the Player character is an anomalous entity that is very much alien to the Digital World, I cannot help but feel there is such a genuine feeling of warmth and comfort that pervades the game, which I feel only increases in magnitude as the gameplay progresses. As aforementioned, when the Player is transported from the Real World to the Digital World by Jijimon, File City is a dilapidated and lonely-feeling place, with areas such as the central plaza being so empty and desolate; even the electronic sign posts in the surronding Native Forest won't attempt to conceal this fact, dolefully referring to the settlement simply as "Jijimon's House".
However, as the Player and their Digimon partner travel around File Island and fulfil the mission of recruiting the Digimon back to File City, the settlement begins to take a new form, incrementally filling up with signs of life. A number of the Digimon that arrive back at File City will open shops or provide services to assist the Player (or provide upgrades or additions to said establishments once recruited), such as the Item Shop, the Restaurant or the Clinic.
Even with the Digimon that do little more than appear around certain areas of the City once they are recruited, there is a sense of a whole tangible community being built as the game progresses. Even as an adult bugfox, I can't help but smile and feel warm inside whenever I play the game and see the Digimon inhabitants going about their lives at File City. There's many cute details that appear as the City develops (which I could list for quite some time), such as the fact that after a certain point a water fountain appears in the central plaza of File City, with the amphibian Betamon later seen relaxing in the water.
Another endearing instance of this being when the as earlier discussed faecal monster Sukamon, wherein though they don't outright end up living in the City (instead visiting intermittently whilst remaining a member of the Sukamon Tribe living atop Trash Mountain), they will be found sitting near the toilet and commenting on how they like File City but dislike the toilet...which makes sense given the species is literally a poop monster!
A Digimon World iceberg chart for your delectation...
This is coming soon, I'm still finalising my text and sourcining images for this section!
Still a WIP. Last update: 21/06/2024
(This is all a WIP, and will be updated in due course.)
References and appendix
(This is all a WIP, and will be updated in due course.)
Footnotes
1Sukamon is a species that was often a "penalty" evolution that would be the product of raising Digimon poorly, with said evolutions often being very weak in battle. In Digimon World, the Player's Digimon will evolve into Sukamon if they end up pooping on the ground too many times due to not reaching a toilet in time (which is indicated by the in-game "Virus Meter" increasing with each instance of this, becoming full if these instances continue). Despite Sukamon being the bane of many Digimon World players due to stats being lowered when a Digimon evolves into them, Sukamon is capable of learning some powerful attacks in the later portions of the game, such as the hilariously-named Ultimate Poop Hell. The fact that this choice of wording somehow made it into the North American English version of the game is perennially funny to me.
2The US English dub of the Digimon Adventure anime from 1999 portrayed Etemon (voiced by Richard Epcar) with a voice similar to Elvis Presley, complete with his vocal mannerisms (which I assume are accurate, though the extent of my familiarity with Elvis Presley more or less predominantly comes from watching Digimon Adventure as a larvalkit because of this, haha). I will admit that for all of the (in my opinion) questionable decisions made with the US English dub, I can't get enough of Epcar's delivery of the line "I'm sure you all remember the battle I had with MetalGreymon, I tell ya he's one tough dinosaur, honey!"
3I've yet to watch the original Japanese version of Digimon Adventure (despite the fact I don't watch anime, I still really want to watch the original subtitled version of the show!), but I feel the US English dub by Saban Entertainment really didn't do the show justice based on what I watched, especially in light of the clips I’ve seen of the original Japanese show. I tried watching the dub in more recent years and I recall getting very annoyed with how every other line of dialogue is some unfunny and immediately forgettable one-liner, including during the scenes that were supposed to be more serious and dramatic. The way the US English dub handled Puppetmon's death in contrast with the original scene especially is a striking example of a number of (in my opinion at least) odd or rather poorly placed decisions made in the US English localisation.
References
Still collating these, WIP.