Digimon Tamers/Characters

The cast of Digimon Tamers. Chiaki Konaka, the head writer of Tamers, provides a fascinating set of notes concerning the conceptualisation and characterisation of the cast on his website.

Tamers

 * Birds of a Feather: All of the children are fans of the Digimon franchise.
 * Character Development: The difference between each character's initial and final appearance is tremendous; it even gets Lampshaded by Takato in episode 50.
 * The final song heard in the original Japanese Dub Primary Colors lyrics are basically about this.
 * Determinators: Yamaki points this out on more than one occasion.
 * Five Man Band:
 * The Hero: Takato
 * The Lancer & The Smart Guy: Rika/Henry.
 * The Big Guy: Kazu
 * The Medic: Kenta
 * The Chick: Jeri.
 * Sixth Ranger: Ryo
 * Tagalong Kid: Suzie
 * Freudian Trio: The primary Tamers.
 * The Kirk: Takato
 * The McCoy: Rika
 * The Spock: Henry
 * Master Characters:
 * Master Character Heroes/Heroines:
 * Takato: Ares: The Protector, moreso in the latter episodes.
 * Henry: A combination of Apollo: The Businessman and Osiris: The Male Messiah.
 * Rika: Artemis: The Amazon
 * Jeri: Persephone: The Maiden
 * Master Support Characters:
 * Kazu and Kenta: Best Friend
 * Ryo: Mentor
 * Suzie: Joker
 * Ai and Mako: A platonic type of Lover to Impmon.
 * Wise Beyond Their Years: Everyone, either before or throughout the series.

Takato Matsuki (Takato Matsuda)
""Aw, nuts!""

A complete Digimon fanboy, that reacts strongly to his emotions, who watches both the shows and plays the card game obsessively, to the point of creating his own fan-character Digimon partner. And then it comes to life...

"Voiced by: Makoto Tsumura (JP), Brian Beacock (EN)"


 * Audience Surrogate: Was created with this in mind.
 * Ascended Fanboy: He plays the card games quite well.
 * Badass Adorable
 * Beware the Nice Ones: He's a sweetheart and even shy, compared with Tai, Davis, Takuya, Taiki, Tagiru, and certainly Marcus. But when he does get upset?
 * Brown Eyes in terms of personality, since the eyes themselves are actually red.
 * Character Development: Turning from a somewhat sweet kid, to a literal Knight in Shining Armor.
 * Creepy Child: When angry.
 * Curtains Match the Window: His eye color toes a line between brown and a light mahogany, but looks brown in most distance shots.
 * Cross Dressing Voices: Japanese and European Spanish versions only.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu: He actually punched through
 * Expy: Confirmed by Word of God to have many elements borrowed of the other "goggle boys", with a more Audience Surrogate-like personality.
 * Goggles Do Nothing: Subverted, his goggles are very useful when going into digital fields.
 * Heroes Want Redheads
 * Heroic BSOD
 * Horseback Heroism:
 * Last Name Basis In the original Japanese dub he always addressed Jeri as Katou-san,
 * Nice Guy
 * Out of the Inferno: As Gallantmon (who made said inferno), combined with the slow walk.
 * Psychic Link: By the end of the series he was able to hear Jeri's  despite being miles away.
 * Puppy Love: Notable for being the (10 year old in the original) character in Digimon Anime that went further, to the point of confessing himself.
 * Red Eyes Take Warning: Doubly Subverted. Yes, they are red. Takato starts as the most innocent kid in the trio but bad things happen to good people.
 * Rookie Red Ranger: Last of the power trio to get a partner, have it digivolve, or learn to fight effectively. He does try to make up for this by asking the others if he can learn from them.
 * Screaming Warrior: Once in the series, Takato used his connection with War Growlmon to channel power into him with a little primal scream therapy.
 * Spider Sense: He notices faster than Renamon.
 * Tender Tears: Early on in the series he cried often, because he had never even had a pet before, and he was extremely worried of losing the (literal!) dream that came true that was Guilmon.
 * The Kid With the Remote Control: His relationship with Guilmon is one of the best deconstructions of this trope. Its darker consequences are displayed in episode 34
 * The Slow Walk: Clearly channeling Gohan in episode 36, but with a cape.
 * This Is Unforgivable: He really means it.
 * Trouble Follows You Home: To his horror.
 * Unstoppable Rage: It manages to shadow T.K.'s "kill all darkness" side of his personality.
 * For example, in the Cd Drama "Message in a Pocket", he states that he somehow (he doesn't specify) singlehandedly brought down a firewall designed to stop humans from entering the digital world, putting everyone in danger and worrying his parents . Although he stops himself, just to be sure Hypnos cover it with Concrete, enough to make the place not recognizable.

Henry Wong(Li Jianliang/Li Jenrya/Lee Jenrya)
""I always felt that I had to hold back, that fighting was wrong. But this is different, this is a battle that means something.""

Another Digimon fan who prefers the video games, and the more level-headed one of the trio.

"Voiced by: Mayumi Yamaguchi (JP), Dave Wittenberg (EN)"


 * All Chinese People Know Kung Fu: Played with. It's actually Tai Chi.
 * Awesomeness By Analysis: This does save them quite a few times.
 * Ascended Fanboy: Like Takato, though he used to play the video games rather than the card games.
 * Asian and Nerdy: Technically, everyone is Asian, but Henry deserves a special mention for being a smart half-Chinese kid proficient with Computers and Videogames.
 * Badass Normal: First Digimon anime human to take an Hangyomon barehanded and win. Points for doing it under water.
 * Big Brother Instinct: But it bites him hard with Xiaochun's untimely arrival in the digital world. It not only leaves him uncharacteristically stressed out and temperamental, but unable to provide much, much needed emotional support for Takato, Juri, or even Xiaochun.
 * But Not Too Foreign: Half-Chinese, as you may have guessed.
 * In the English dub, most of the characters had pseudo-Japanese sounding names but he and his sister get the obvious American names Henry and Suzie, respectively.
 * Control Freak: Probably his main flaw. Deconstructed when Suzie ends up in the Digital World.
 * Cool Big Bro: Not just to Xiaochun, but to Takato and his own partner Terriermon as well due to being much more emotionally mature.
 * Cross Dressing Voices: Again, Japanese and European Spanish versions.
 * Face Your Fears: Once Suzie entered the Digital World, he became more hasty in trying to resolve all their problems and return home that he was the only human not terrified by Zhuqiaomon at first sight.
 * Freudian Excuse: Before the start of the series, he once baldly wounded another boy and vowed never to use violence as a solution. It doesn't help that later he ended up getting Terriermon injured in the video game.
 * Genius Bruiser: He is a very competent hacker as well as a tai-chi practitioner.
 * Gray Eyes
 * Guilt Complex: A lot. When someone gets hurt in a fight, he puts the blame on his shoulders for not being "competent" enough. See also Control Freak above.
 * Martial Pacifist
 * My God What Have I Done: His reaction to finding out the Terriermon in his video game, that he forced to battle for his own amusement, was in fact a living, sentient creature (very similar to Ken in 02). He swore afterward he would never make him fight again.
 * Heroic Neutral: He mostly wants to ignore conflict but comes around when it's obvious the danger can't be ignored.
 * I Know Karate: Early on he is shown practicing Tai Chi with his master, and since the Mega level is a merger, it also allows him to kick but when he runs out of ammo with some very loud Kiais.
 * Knight Templar Big Brother: Nearly flips when he finds Xiaochun in the Digital World.
 * Spell My Name With an S
 * Tearful Smile: At.
 * Wise Beyond Their Years
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Ruki Makino (Rika Nonaka)
""Walk all over him, Renamon.""

Nicknamed 'The Digimon Queen', she's one of the best Digimon card game players around, to the point where real Digimon seek her out as a partner! It takes her a while to break out of that mentality, especially since her Digimon partner shares it.

"Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (JP), Melissa Fahn (EN)"


 * Action Girl: Unquestionably the best one of the anime franchise.
 * Anti Heroine: Type IV --> Character Development --> Type II.
 * Arrogant Kung Fu Girl: To the point where she has Renamon try to kill Guilmon just to get stronger.
 * Badass Longcoat: According to Chiaki Konaka, an early inspiration for Ruki was Trinity from The Matrix. Still, that coat never appeared beyond a dream sequence in the first episode.
 * Badass Normal
 * Beautiful All Along: Come on, look at her at Episode 18.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: Briefly controlled during the second movie. Damsel in Distress? Ha. Ruki goes bananas.
 * Broken Bird --> Defrosting Ice Queen
 * Cool Big Sis: They're the same age, but Ruki takes Juri under her wing early on, teaching her to use her cards, holding her hand through the digital field, etc.
 * Cool Shades: Wears them sometimes.
 * Cry Cute: The ending, as
 * Disappeared Dad: Konaka makes a point in the character notes that this wasn't a particularly large influence on her character; he appreciates how the Runaway Digimon Express movie made a point of exploring it, in spite of inconsistencies.
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Friend to All Living Things: Ruki and Renamon describe feeling a compassion for all life when they become Sakuyamon.
 * Headphones Equal Isolation
 * Hey Its That Voice: In the European Spanish version, Blanca Rada previously voiced Tai. She also plays Calumon.
 * Ineffectual Loner: Though this changes thanks to her Digimon partner and family.
 * Jerkass: At first.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: To the point that by the end of the series, she wears a new shirt with a full heart on it rather than a broken one.
 * Little Miss Badass: Especially her introduction in the first episode.
 * Little Miss Snarker: From time to time, especially in the dub.
 * Lonely Rich Kid: With shades of being a Spoiled Brat early on.
 * Mommy Issues: She and her mom don't hate each other, but they do clash a lot due to having starkly different personalities.
 * The Ojou
 * One of the Boys: In fact, she is much more willing to fight and upfront about things than any of the boys.
 * Please Don't Leave Me: Shows great care for Renamon by episode six, and flips out in episode 15.
 * Plucky Girl
 * Purple Eyes
 * Redheaded Hero
 * The Stoic
 * Not So Stoic: She can get worried or angry quite easily.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Juri's Girly Girl.
 * Weirdly enough, she also has the same dynamic with her own mom.
 * Tomboyish Ponytail: Some describe it as a samurai cut.
 * Slipknot Ponytail: Most notably whenever she becomes Sakuyamon.
 * Too Many Belts
 * Tsundere: A Type A example. She's rude to everyone else, but eventually warms up to her team mates.
 * What Measure Is a Non Human: Early on, she saw Digimon as just data, including her own partner, and not as thinking, feeling beings. She grew out of it soon enough. Ironically, Renamon is of the data type.
 * When She Smiles
 * Why Couldn't You Be Different? We can see that mom wanted a girly girl. In the original version,  Rika's mom eventually makes her peace with this.

Juri Katou (Jeri Kato)
A sweet girl who Takato has a crush on. Has issues with her mother. Ends up in the end of a lot of bad luck. You can see where this is going.

"Voiced by: Yoko Asada (JP), Bridget Hoffman (EN)"


 * Abusive Parents: An interesting case with her father, who is neglectful not out of malice but because he himself doesn't know how to handle the family problems. And he really, REALLY shows how much he loves Juri by the end.
 * Always With You: Even though, he is always with her.
 * Affirmative Action Girl
 * Ambiguous Disorder: Some people have theorized that it's possible she's mildly autistic. And that's all that needs to be said about it.
 * Break the Cutie: In a really heartbreaking manner.
 * Mind Rape: After she's broken. Comparable to Asuka's, except it lasts weeks.
 * Broken Bird: Juri hides behind an upbeat, cheerful, optimistic persona, but even before the events of the series she had serious issues relating to the death of her mother and how she treated her dad's second wife. The merely shattered this facade and exposed her inner vulnerability, leaving her ripe for . After all this she is completely and utterly broken,.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Funny in action, tragic in retrospect.
 * Consulting Mister Puppet
 * Crucified Hero Shot: Suffers from this (by cables), twice in a row, because she is fighting the aforementioned mind rape. It's only once in the English dub, though.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * The Cutie --> Broken Bird
 * Demonic Dummy: Juri's sock puppet is usually benign, and she uses it entertain her little brother. Yet
 * Five Stages of Grief: Experiences all of them.
 * Four Is Death: Although chronologically, she isn't the 4th Tamer in the series  she is the first addition to the trio and the 4th Tamer that the audience sees getting a digivice.
 * Genki Girl: When she gets really excited about something. See her mad pursuit of Leomon in episode 21.
 * Hair Decorations: She has a green ribbon which she uses to tie her hair up.
 * What Do You Mean Its for Kids indeed.
 * Mommy Issues: Played With;
 * Sexophone: Showed up when she was gushing over Leomon (in the original Japanese). Results in him running away from her.
 * Stepford Smiler: A heartbreaking example of what can happen to you if you repress your traumas for too long.
 * First shown in the mostly comedic episode where she meets Leomon, where her despair for a bit of fantasy is (very subtly) shown.
 * Talking To Herself: With the D-Reaper, naturally.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Ruki's Tomboy.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Brutally subverted. Good lord the girl tries so hard. She wants to toughen up to be worthy of Leomon and it slowly happens. Then it all goes to hell in a hand basket at... well...
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Ruki's Tomboy.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Brutally subverted. Good lord the girl tries so hard. She wants to toughen up to be worthy of Leomon and it slowly happens. Then it all goes to hell in a hand basket at... well...

Hirokazu Shiota (Kazu Shioda)
Takato's best friend and rival playing the Digimon card game. when he discovers Guilmon, he decides to try and help the Tamers in their plight. Mostly used as comic relief.

"Voiced by: Yukiko Tamaki (JP), Brad MacDonald (EN)"


 * Accidental Kiss: Three guesses with who.
 * Ascended Extra
 * Ascended Fanboy: Like, twice as much as everyone else.
 * Big Damn Heroes: In the final battle.
 * Conveniently Timed Attack From Behind Enabling him to save  from Beelzebumon, by disregarding the difference in powerlevels.
 * Cross Dressing Voices: Ad nauseum.
 * Genius Ditz: For about one episode. Figured out how the blue cards work.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Kenta, so much.
 * Nice Hat: A visor.
 * Plucky Comic Relief: The gutso attitude is more of a show though.
 * Those Two Guys: With Kenta.

Kenta Kitagawa
Friends with Hirokazu, he often serves as a straight man to his jokes. He also volunteers to help the Tamers.

"Voiced by: Touko Aoyama (JP), Steve Blum (EN)"


 * Accidental Kiss: Bingo!
 * Alliterative Name
 * Ascended Extra
 * Ascended Fanboy
 * Big Damn Heroes: In the final battle.
 * Conveniently Timed Attack From Behind Similar to the Hirokazu example, he saves  Not to mention that he had to beat up singlehandedly several D-Reaper Agents just to perform said attack.
 * Cross Dressing Voices: Japanese version only.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Hirokazu.
 * Megane
 * Relationship Voice Actor: With MarineAngemon, strangely enough...
 * Satellite Character: Rarely does much of anything besides interacting with Hirokazu.
 * Talking to Himself: With Guilmon more than Yamaki. In fact, at the point when Guilmon is separated from Takato, Kenta wants to become Guilmon's tamer.
 * Those Two Guys: With Hirokazu.

Ryo Akiyama
A mysterious Digimon tamer and former champion of the card game, who has some sort of rivalry with Rika. To everyone outside of Japan, he seemed to come pretty much out of nowhere.

"Voiced by: Junichi Kanemaru (JP), Steve Staley (EN)"


 * All There in the Manual: His entire backstory, including why he was in the Tamers canon to begin with, was told through a series of four Bandai WonderSwan games. For the sake of reference, a summary of said games can be found here.
 * No Export for You: None of these games were released in the west, meaning that's one long manual no-one got to read.
 * Because of this, Chris McFeely of The Digimon Encyclopedia helped create a comic explaining Ryo's origins for Western fans. "Ryo's Story" appeared in Wickid magazine (the UK Fox Kid's magazine) issue #43, on September 28th, 2003.
 * The Ace
 * Broken Ace: Consider his backstory.
 * Blue Eyes
 * Canon Immigrant
 * Energy Weapon / Whip It Good: He can project an energy whip from his Digivice to discipline Cyberdramon.
 * Honor Before Reason: In series, and in his backstory. Choose to be Cyberdramon's partner, even if it meant going to the Digital World and be separated from his parents (since Cyberdramon would attack everyone close to him) . After the Tamers returned he pushed Cyberdramon and himself day after day to fight  to the point of exhaustion.
 * Friendless Background: Throughout his backstory. Also notable is that he is the Tamer that spends most of his time alone, not to mention that he never tries to stick with the group or make it stick together at all, in contrast with Takato.
 * Laser Guided Amnesia: The CD Drama indicates that at the start of the series he didn't remember digimon were real (i.e had forgotten his adventures in the games), but imply that he may have started to remember.
 * Meaningful Name: "Ryo" means "Distant".
 * Ship Tease: Some here and there with Ruki, mostly consisting of him aggravating her. This didn't take off so well in the west, where nobody knew who Ryo actually was.
 * Stepford Smiler: Not once in the series does he lose his cool, but his backstory indicates it's nothing more than a cover-up of deeper issues.
 * Walking the Earth
 * The Drifter: Both in this series and in his backstory.

Li Xiaochun/Li Shuichon/Lee Shuichon (Suzie Wong)
Jianliang's younger sister who winds up dragged into the digital world with the others. Lucky for them, as her power of cute helps convert one of the Big Bads to their side.

"Voiced by: Ai Nagano (JP), Peggy O'Neal (EN)"


 * Annoying Younger Sibling
 * But Not Too Foreign
 * Cheerful Child
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Japanese Sibling Terminology: Calls Jianliang/Jenrya "Jen-niichan."
 * Spell My Name With an S: Like all the other members of her family, this is in full effect. The dubbers more or less gave up the internal debate about what it was and went with Suzie instead. Fandom sometimes adds to this by calling her 'Shuchun', because the Japanese VAs pronounce her name that way sometimes.
 * Sixth Ranger: Over Jianliang's objections, she is this.
 * Technical Pacifist: After becoming a Tamer, she develops a bit of her brother's old attitude.
 * Throw It In: Terriermon-torture and even becoming a Tamer in the first place. See Chiaki J. Konaka's character notes.

Ai & Mako (Makoto)
The youngest humans partnered to a Digimon in any Digimon canon, these toddlers turn out to be the Tamers of Impmon, and are part of the reason behind his disdain for humans.

"Ai is voiced by: Haruhi Terada (JP), Rebecca Olkowski (EN)

Mako is voiced by: Miwa Matsumoto (JP), Wendee Lee (EN)"


 * Age Appropriate Angst: They react to Impmon leaving them by learning to share and being the best they can be, and they apologize profusely to him when he returns. Given that they were three or four when he left, this is probably all the angst they're capable of.
 * Bratty Half Pint: Both of them, at first.
 * Character Development: A surprising amount given how little screen time they got.
 * Children Are Innocent
 * Eleventh Hour Rangers: They become Tamers in the final episode; sadly, they don't have a chance to do anything. (Unless it was them that healed Impmon of course, but then it happened off-screen.) This is justified due to their ages.
 * Hair Decorations: Ai's pink hair bobbles.
 * Family Theme Naming: Ai means love, while Makoto means truth. This is a common Japanese sibling name combo.
 * Girlish Pigtails: Ai has her hair up in ponytails.
 * Hey Its That Voice: Wendee Lee, who voices Mako, is T.K. in Digimon Adventure and MarineAngemon in this series.
 * Inconsistent Dub: Their age in any given dub suffers from this. The English dub avoids this by just not stating it.
 * Imaginary Friend: The English and German dubs imply their parents think Impmon is/was this.
 * Improbable Age: Younger than any other Chosen or Tamer on record, bar none. Though they are admittedly bad at it at first and at least act their age.
 * It May Help You On Your Quest: Mako's toy gun actually morphs into a sentry gun as Beelzemon heads into battle.
 * Kid Appeal Characters: They're even younger then Xiaochun.
 * Love Redeems: Platonic love, as the case might be.
 * Japanese Honorifics: Both refer to each other without any. In the past this was part of their fighting. In the present it's simply part of their characterization that they're close enough to each other to do so. Not present in the English version because it would have been nigh-impossible to do in this language.
 * Noodle Incident: Their grandma mentions something about Mako having once been glued to the floor, presumably by Ai.
 * Only Known By Their Nickname: "Mako" (or "Mako-chan") is Impmon's term of endearment for Makoto, but the dubbers must not have realized this since everyone, whether they know Makoto personally or not, calls him "Mako" in the dub. Impmon even introduces him as "Mako" to Takato and the gang.
 * Parental Abandonment: In flashbacks, they live with their parents, who spoiled them rotten. In the present they live with their grandmother and no explanation is given for why.
 * They are next seen with their grandmother because their families have evacuated due to the D-Reaper, though that still doesn't explain where they were during Impmon's visit.
 * Pet the Dog / Morality Pet: They're this for Impmon.
 * Pink Girl Blue Boy: Ai wears a pink dress and Mako has blue overalls.
 * Power of Friendship: How they cause Impmon to digivolve.
 * Redemption Promotion: Impmon gets a lot stronger once he makes amends with Ai and Mako, and his actions inadvertently made them grow up enough to be the people they are today.
 * Satellite Characters: They barely interact with any relevant character other than Impmon or themselves.
 * Sibling Yin Yang: Played far more realistically than most uses of this trope; they're different but not night and day different, and get along very well now.
 * Spoiled Brat: Due to their parents showering them with gifts. They get better, though.
 * Tagalong Kids: Averted. Impmon makes them stay home where they're safe since they're even younger than the already young main characters, and they're smart enough to obey him.
 * Those Two Guys
 * Vague Age: Word of God says they're younger than Xiaochun. Other than that, fandom can only guess. Different dubs have said different things about them.

Guilmon
""Takatomon...I need a new box.""

Quite literally a fan character drawn and named by Takato and brought to life. A red dinosaur-like Digimon who is bigger than a human, very powerful, very innocent and completely lovable. Has a bit of trouble distinguishing between humans, animals and Digimon.

His digivolutions are as follows:
 * In-Training: Gigimon, a blob resembling Guilmon's head, but with a tail protruding from him.
 * Rookie: Guilmon, his default form
 * Champion: Growlmon (Growmon), similar to Guilmon but taller.
 * Ultimate: WarGrowlmon (MegaloGrowmon), a giant dinosaur with a robotic upper half, akin to Adventure's MetalGreymon.
 * Mega: Gallantmon (Dukemon), an imposing white knight with a red cape. Achieved by Bio-Merging with Takato.
 * Crimson Mode:, giving him Wings and a red-and-gold makeover.
 * Megidramon, a vicious and mindless winged serpent who embodies the apocalyptic end of the Digital World. A dark evolution born of Takato's Unstoppable Rage.

"Voiced by: Masako Nozawa (JP), Steve Blum (EN)"


 * All Animals Are Dogs: He acts more like a puppy than a digital dinosaur.
 * Art Initiates Life: Rather than being an existing Digimon who chose to join a human, Guilmon was created when Takato scanned his hand-drawn fan art through his digivice.
 * Ascended Fanon: In-universe, being thought up by Takato. This extends to Growlmon and WarGrowlmon.
 * Badass Adorable
 * Badass Cape: Gallantmon.
 * Balloon Belly
 * The Berserker: Megidramon
 * Big Eater: He's always hungry.
 * Bishonen Line: His forms get steadily more monstrous until Gallantmon, at which point he switches to a regal knight.
 * Chest Blaster: WarGrowlmon
 * Character Development: Necessary because he was quite literally newborn at the start of the series.
 * Children Are Innocent: A nonhuman example, but still fits the trope.
 * Cross Dressing Voices: In the Japanese version, per typical.
 * Dark Is Evil: Megidramon
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Growmon is a Demon Dragon type. Also, Guilmon himself is of the Virus attribute, generally associated with villains in the anime (though an exception already existed previously with Wormmon).
 * Deadly Upgrade: Megidramon. Most villains would take an entire game/series/film to deploy their plan to destroy the world. Megidramon? It exists, shines red, and the entire universe (both digital and real one) start being destroyed. Oh, and he also drools acidic saliva.
 * Dinosaurs Are Dragons
 * Dumb Muscle: Very childlike, but is the strongest of the main three Digimon. In his fight with Renamon he was beating her despite Rika using a modify card.
 * Elemental Rock Paper Scissors: Through the data "attributes" assigned to Digimon. Guilmon is a virus type.
 * Everythings Better With Dinosaurs
 * Evil Detecting Dog
 * Expy: Takato was specifically thinking "Agumon, but better" when designing Guilmon, so his entire evolutionary line (minus crimson mode) has many parallels with Agumon's.
 * Eyes of Gold: More of a yellow, but the animation changes the color to fit the lighting much like how Serial Experiments Lain would for main characters.
 * Gentle Giant
 * Goo Goo Godlike: He's the youngest, but most powerful of the three main digimon.
 * Hard Head: When Guilmon was possessed by the motorcycle and Leomon knocks him off with the blunt edge of his sword.
 * Hellish Pupils: He used to go feral whenever he fought, but grew out of it.
 * Horseback Heroism: Gallantmon with Grani.
 * Hulk Speak: He started like this as a newborn, but soon became more articulate.
 * Jousting Lance
 * Knight in Shining Armor: Gallantmon.
 * The Kirk
 * Law of Chromatic Superiority
 * Light Em Up: As Gallantmon
 * Light Is Good: Gallantmon
 * Luckily My Shield Will Protect Me: The fact that it can fire energy beams certainly helps. Shield... OF THE JUST!
 * Made of Iron: Has weathered attacks capable of taking down champions.
 * No Range Like Point Blank Range: As Wargrowlmon, often uses Atomic Blaster this way.
 * Power Gives You Wings: Crimson Mode.
 * Not to mention that Takato owns a modify card that when used allows Guilmon to grow Angemon's energy wings.
 * Playing With Fire: All of his forms, save Gallantmon, use fire-based attacks.
 * Poor Predictible Paper: This gets exploited.
 * Our Demons Are Different: Growmon and Megidramon
 * Refuge in Audacity: Takato eventually figures out that he can take him on the street by claiming that he's just some guy in really good cosplay.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Even Steve Blum admitted Guilmon was way too cute.
 * Not so much in looks, but his personality makes up for it.
 * Sky Surfing: While riding Grani.
 * The Slow Walk: As Dukemon (with the background in flames).
 * Talking to Himself: Steve Blum also voiced both Kenta and Yamaki, which means he also scared himself away and snarled at himself in this series.
 * Tap On the Head: This is the only way that Leomon can free Guilmon from a demonic motorcycle. Justified due to the sheer toughness of his hide.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Bread. Later on,
 * Unstoppable Rage: Leading into his evolution to Megidramon.
 * Story Breaker Power: Has the greatest raw power between the Digimon partners by a large degree.
 * Verbal Tic: "-giru"
 * The English version might be calling Takato "Takatomon".
 * Winged Humanoid: Gallantmon Crimson Mode.

Terriermon
""Moumantai~""

Jianliang's partner. A pretty mild mon, but initially has trouble controlling himself when he Digivolves. Resembles a plush toy with big, floppy, ears.

His digivolutions are as follows:
 * In-Training: Gummymon, a green blob-like Digimon with a horn.
 * Rookie: Terriermon, his default form.
 * Champion: Gargomon (Galgomon), a bipedal terrier wearing jeans and has miniguns for hands
 * Ultimate: Rapidmon, a giant green flying robot with long ears.
 * Mega: MegaGargomon (SaintGalgomon), a Humongous Mecha with a dog-like face. Achieved by Bio-Merging with Jianliang.

"Voiced by: Aoi Tada (JP), Mona Marshall (EN)"


 * Beware the Cute Ones: Squishiest Blood Knight ever.
 * Big Eater: To wit: "Buns and beans and saurkraut / I'm gonna eat till I pass out!"
 * Blood Knight: He loves a good fight, much to his partner's annoyance.
 * Blow You Away: As a rookie.
 * Brutal Honesty: His first line towards Takato is pointing out how bad a Tamer he is for losing his Digimon.
 * Catch Phrase: "Moumantai!"
 * When someone else uses it: "That's a really annoying thing to say!"
 * Cross Dressing Voices
 * The Cynic: A lighter version, but he often shows signs of being one. He never hesitates to speak his mind whenever and wherever and to whoever he feels like – normally, he doesn’t mean any harm, but just can’t seem to stop himself from saying something out of place, be it a quip he thinks is amusing, or an unintentionally insulting observation. All very possibly the result of being a wild Digimon, fighting by the rules of survival of the fittest in the Digital World before meeting Henry.
 * Deadpan Snarker: At every available opportunity!
 * Elemental Rock Paper Scissors: He (and his evolutions) is of the vaccine attribute.
 * Gatling Good: Gargomon has two gatling guns instead of hands.
 * Half Dressed Cartoon Animal: Gargomon
 * Happy Dance: After Jianliang orders him not to absorb Gorillamon's data, he at least wants to do a happy dance.
 * Head Pet: Tends to sit on Jianliang's head or shoulder. Since he's pretending to be a stuffed animal, this results into some rather amusing stares from people Jianliang walks past.
 * Kid Appeal Character
 * Light Em Up
 * Lightning Bruiser: Rapidmon
 * Macross Missile Massacre: MegaGargomon
 * The McCoy
 * More Dakka: The entire point of his evolutionary line. Taken to ridiculous extremes with Megagargomon's seemingly endless array of hidden weapons.
 * Pint Sized Powerhouse: He's the smallest of the main digimon, but still able to fight Champions on fairly even ground.
 * And, funnily enough, subverted with his final form, who's a good ten times larger than all the other Mega-level partners.
 * Running Gag: A strong tendency to run out of ammo, with various results.
 * Talking to Himself: Aoi Tada voices him and Lopmon.
 * Unorthodox Reload: Until Jianliang swipes the Recharge card, he's basically stuck when he runs out of ammo.

Renamon
""As you wish, Ruki.""

Ruki's partner, a tall and powerful fox-like Digimon who joined up with her to become even more powerful. Originally ruthless and standoffish, and one of the first partners who has to learn about friendship even more than her human partner.

Dear digi-god, the furries can't get enough of her.

Her digivolutions are as follows:
 * In-Training: Viximon (Pokomon), a small ball-shaped fox.
 * Rookie: Renamon, her default form.
 * Champion: Kyuubimon, a mythical nine-tailed fox.
 * Ultimate: Taomon, a humanoid fox with Taoist garb.
 * Mega: Sakuyamon, a Miko Digimon with ceremonial armour in the shape of a fox. Achieved by Bio-Merging with Ruki.

"Voiced by: Yuka Imai (JP), Mari Devon (EN)"


 * Badass
 * Barrier Warrior: As Taomon and Sakuyamon.
 * Big Never: When Vajramon keeps trying to get her to join the Devas.
 * Bling of War: Sakuyamon.
 * Cunning Fox
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Not only she is strongly associated with the night, but Taomon is a Demon Man type.
 * Detached Sleeves: The only clothing she wears as a rookie.
 * Elemental Powers: Throughout her evolutions, she manages to use all four classic elements.
 * Elemental Rock Paper Scissors: She is of the Data attribute.
 * Extreme Doormat/My Tamer Right Or Wrong: In a sense, her absolute devotion to Rika makes her this since Renamon almost never objects Rika's commands even if she's on the wrong side.
 * Fan Service: If just Renamon is foxy, then Sakuyamon is that times Over Nine Thousand, at least to some people.
 * Impmon even hits on her.
 * Some of the dialogue in the English dub doesn't help matters either, as early episodes have Renamon taunting her opponents in a way that almost sounds like she's flirting with them.
 * Friend to All Living Things: Ruki and Renamon describe feeling a compassion for all life when they become Sakuyamon.
 * Gratuitous Foreign Language: Renamon is one of the few lead Digimon in the franchise as a whole to avert this with her attacks.
 * Icy Blue Eyes with black whites, which practically give her a permanent, built-in Death Glare and subvert Black Eyes of Crazy along the way.
 * I Have the High Ground: She has a penchant standing and/or leaping from tall objects whenever she can, which was very often early in the series.
 * Lady of War
 * Mama Fox: Towards the kids, particularly Ruki.
 * Miko: Sakuyamon. Her alternate costume, seen only in the Japanese card game, reflects this.
 * Older Sidekick: After Rika melts out of her Ice Queen persona (pun intended), Renamon's relationship with her mostly follows a "big sister/little sister" dynamic, with Renamon as the big sister. Reinforced in the CD Drama Message In The Packet, where Rika explicitly calls Renamon a big sister several times.
 * Our Demons Are Different: Taomon
 * Purple Prose: Sakuyamon's defense spells in the dub.
 * Religious Bruiser: Taomon, what do you think Tao stands for?
 * Roof Hopping: Her preferred method of transport in urban areas.
 * She's A Man In Germany
 * Interestingly, Word of God and a few comments from Renamon suggest that she originally didn't consider herself as having a gender, only gaining an understanding of the concept and settling on a feminine gender through her relationship with Rika.
 * "Suggest"? When the subject comes up, Renamon states outright that the distinction of gender does not exist among Digimon.
 * Sitting On the Roof: Frequently does this during her downtime.
 * Silk Hiding Steel: One of the most mature tame Digimon in the series, fiercely loyal to her tamer and a big major in graceful feminine badassery.
 * The Spock
 * Stealth Hi Bye: She can easily appear or disappear as Ruki needs her despite being seven feet tall and bright yellow.
 * The Stoic: Not entirely, but definitely has a few traits and does give the impression.
 * Talking To Herself: Japanese: Yuka Imai voices Rika's mother and grandmother, as well as Renamon.
 * Which must have been fun when, in one episode, all three of them have a lunch together.
 * Tall Dark and Bishoujo: Sakuyamon, despite being white haired.
 * This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Seems to hold this belief. Renamon refused help from Guilmon and Terriermon when she fought Allomon. When Guilmon was fighting Devidramon, she informed Ruki she wouldn't interfere. When Impmon chose to fight Indramon, Renamon only saved him when it was absolutely necessary. Finally, in a desperate moment, Renamon wouldn't even consider helping Gallantmon against Beelzemon, Gaurdromon does anyway.
 * Youkai: she's styled after a kitsune, and other Japanese style magic

Leomon
""Fighting isn't everything, you have your own destiny.""

Juri's partner, who's pretty much exactly like his original series counterpart.

"Voiced by: Hiroaki Hirata (JP), Paul St Peter (EN)"

"Leomon: To have power is not to be strong."
 * The Big Guy: He even outclasses Renamon at one point.
 * Cool Sword
 * Dub Induced Plot Hole: The dub fumbles his
 * Fluffy Tamer: Juri's got this dynamic with him.
 * Gentle Giant
 * Huge Guy Tiny Girl: With Juri.
 * King of Beasts
 * Mega Neko
 * Mr. Exposition: During the Digital World arc.
 * Older Sidekick
 * Panthera Awesome
 * Papa Wolf: "Do what you must, Beelzemon, but I will not let you harm these children!"
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy
 * Warrior Therapist: His fight with Beelzemon and pleas for him to stop is this trope.
 * Panthera Awesome
 * Papa Wolf: "Do what you must, Beelzemon, but I will not let you harm these children!"
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy
 * Warrior Therapist: His fight with Beelzemon and pleas for him to stop is this trope.
 * Warrior Therapist: His fight with Beelzemon and pleas for him to stop is this trope.

Guardromon
Hirokazu's partner. A slightly small but sturdy mechanical Digimon who doesn't say much. He first appears as Andromon, but is reduced to his Champion level after a beating from an ultimate named Orichimon shortly before partnering up with Hirokazu and...stays that way for the rest of the show.

His digivolutions are as follows:
 * In-Training: Kapurimon (Caprimon), a fox-like blob with metal casing on his top half.
 * Champion: Guardromon, his default form
 * Ultimate: Andromon, a tall android with bits of casing exposed.

"Voiced by: Kiyoyuki Yanada (JP), Richard Cansino (EN)"


 * Ascended Extra: In previous incarnations, Andromon was just a supporting Mon and Guardromon were just robotic Mooks.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: No, Andromon, the cyborg with mechanical parts resemblng a skeleton and flesh parts resembling rotting flesh, is not evil.
 * Only Sane Man: More reasonable than his partner. In the time Kenta, Hirokazu, MarineAngemon and he are together, he fits this role in their group dynamic.
 * Plucky Comic Relief
 * Purple Prose: Does this aloud in some dubs.
 * Robot Buddy
 * Robot In Shining Armor: He wants to be this.

MarineAngemon
"Kahuna Waves, puu~"

Kenta's partner. A small pixie-like Digimon that swims in water and packs a big punch, although he prefers to deal with things without violence. Talks even less than Guardramon, only saying Puu. "Voiced by: Ai Iwamura (JP), Wendee Lee (EN)"


 * Accessory Wearing Cartoon Animal: a little ring.
 * In Name Only: Supporting material confirms the obvious: that he has absolutely nothing to do with the proper Angemon family aside from name.
 * Intelligible Unintelligible: Kenta can understand him better than anyone else.
 * Love Bubbles: Used for recovery and offensive.
 * Pint Sized Powerhouse: Being a Mega with the size and appearance of an In-Training, he pretty much is this trope.
 * Light Is Good
 * The Medic
 * The Power of Love
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Kenta was stunned that someone so small and cute was a Mega. Though he's certainly not the only Mega of such stature and design, most of them are quite huge and have complex designs by comparison.
 * Speech Impaired Animal

Cyberdramon
Ryo's nearly fully evolved partner who likewise comes out of nowhere. He resembles one of the demon-type Digimon, but is apparently a Cyborg.

His digivolutions are as follows:
 * In-Training: Hopmon, a purple, scaly blob
 * Rookie: Monodramon, a small, fairly unthreatening dinosaur.
 * Ultimate: Cyberdramon, his default form.
 * Mega: Justimon, a Kamen Rider-inspired Digimon. Achieved by Bio-Merging with Ryo.

"Voiced by: Ikkei Seta (JP), Lex Lang (EN)"


 * All There in the Manual: As with Ryo.
 * Blood Knight: He's more violent than most of the villains.
 * Catch Phrase: "Are you my enemy?"
 * Canon Immigrant:
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: He's a puppy on the inside.
 * Instant Awesome Just Add Dragons
 * Light Is Not Good: He's of the light-aligned Vaccine attribute. You wouldn't know that listening to his Blood Knight tendencies.
 * Scarf of Asskicking: As Justimon, as part of the Kamen Rider shoutout.

Lopmon
Xiaochun's partner, and a counterpart to Terriermon (a distaff one in the dub). Originally known as Antylamon, the rabbit Deva, she is forced to regress to her Lopmon form when she becomes Xiaochun's partner.

Her evolutions are as follows:
 * In-Training: Kokomon (Chocmon), a chocolate-coloured blob with spikes protruding from her head.
 * Rookie: Lopmon, her default form after her Face Heel Turn.
 * Ultimate: Antylamon (Andiramon), a tall bipedal rabbit with enormous hands. One of the Deva.

"Voiced by: Aoi Tada (JP), Michelle Ruff (EN)"


 * Badly Battered Babysitter: Antylamon when she first meets Xiaochun. Not only does she have to put up with her antics, but she also gets injured by Makuramon when he tries to kidnap Xiaochun. This sets the tone for later Antylamon interactions with Suzie, while Lopmon is more of a lovingly battered pet.
 * Cross Dressing Voices: Japanese version only.
 * Heel Face Turn: Was originally a Deva.
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Japanese version only.
 * Scarf of Asskicking: Antylamon has a small purple one.
 * She's a Man In Japan
 * Talking to Himself: Aoi Tada voices him and Terriermon.

Impmon
A rogue Digimon that resembles a court jester, content to run around the city and annoy everyone. He had a strange relationship with Renamon. Then he gets a power boost, and it kind of goes to his head...

His digivolutions are as follows:
 * In-Training: Yaamon, a mischievous-looking blob.
 * Rookie: Impmon, his default form.
 * Mega: Beelzemon, a menacing humanoid in leather with a long tail. One of the Seven Great Demon Lords, though none of the others have anything to do with Tamers.
 * Blast Mode: Gains an Arm Cannon and wings, and his colours lighten up a bit.

"Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (JP), Derek Stephen Prince (EN)"


 * Anti Hero: Prior to Jumping Off the Slippery Slope, he's type III. Later on, after his flirt with evil, he Heel Face Turns and becomes a type II.
 * All Bikers Are Hells Angels: Beelzemon
 * The Atoner: Post face-turn.
 * Ax Crazy: As Beelzemon.
 * Badass Biker: The first thing he did as Beelzemon was take control of a motorcycle that had, until then, possessed anyone who tried to ride it. Gallantmon vaporised it during their fight, but it showed up again in the second movie.
 * Berserk Button/Freak Out: As Beelzemon, do NOT refer to him as Impmon. Post Heel Face Turn he won't hurt anyone over it, but he'll lose his composure and start gesticulating and stamping in indignation.
 * The Berserker
 * Big Damn Hero: Swooping in and saving the day when the D-Reaper is about to mop the floor with the other Digimon following his transformation to Beelzemon Blast Mode.
 * Bilingual Bonus / Fluffy the Terrible: Although it's never mentioned in the series itself, Beelzebumon's guns have a name: Berenjena. It means eggplant.
 * Blond Guys Are Evil: Well, Beelzemon is very blond.
 * Crucified Hero Shot: Oddly enough, Beelzemon gets one. When he and Culumon enter the D-Reaper Kernel Sphere to save Juri, the D-Reaper ensnares him in its cables and he ends up in crucified position. Symbolic? It's doubtful.
 * Dark Is Evil: Beelzemon
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Post face-turn.
 * Deal With The Deva: The dog deva (Caturamon) gives him the power to digivolve into Beezlemon halfway through the storyline.
 * Demon Lords and Archdevils: Beelzemon
 * Don't You Dare Pity Me
 * Early Bird Cameo: In the original intro there's a very ominous shadow walking behind Impmon that's later revealed to be Beelzemon. However, the silhouette can actually be seen just a few seconds ahead if one pays close attention.
 * Evil Is Hammy: As Beelzemon before his Heel Face Turn, he often would scream out the last word of his sentence to get his point across. See Power High.
 * Evil Overlooker: He was shown in this fashion in the early promos for the show, except he was underneath the Tamers rather than above.
 * Expy Put Beelzemon next to Apocalymon's main body.
 * Freudian Excuse
 * From Nobody to Nightmare: When he evolves to Beelzemon.
 * Guns Akimbo
 * Shotguns Are Just Better: Pair of mini shotguns, oh ya.
 * Bullet Time: When he fires at the Chrysalimon. The bullets even stay perfectly whole.
 * Double Tap: "How about a DOUBLE IMPACT!"
 * Improbable Aiming Skills: A whole herd of Chrysalimon are killed from just a few shots. Justified in that a Mega level Digimon wouldn't be using normal bullets.
 * More Dakka: Beelzemon Blast Mode upgrading from akimbo double-barreled pistols to a huge arm cannon in Blast Mode (though he keeps his previous weapons as backups). Even moreso when said arm cannon started out as a harmless toy ray gun.
 * Good Wings Evil Wings: Black angelic ones in Blast Mode.
 * Hair Trigger Temper: Even sounds like Joe Pesci.
 * Heel Face Turn
 * Hell Bent for Leather: Beelzemon.
 * Hellish Pupils: Somewhat naturally for Beelzemon, but it was more obvious when he was angry.
 * Hero Killer:
 * Humans Are Bastards: He felt this way for a long time due to his Tamers treating him like a possession. It isn't until Jeri convinces Gallantmon to spare him, that he drops this trope.
 * The Imp: Well, duh...
 * Its All My Fault: Damn right it was.
 * Jerkass: Pre-Face Heel Turn.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: With a little more jerk pre original Heel Turn, and with a little more gold Post-Face Heel Turn.
 * Kick the Dog: Quite literally when he proceeds to beat on an already-wounded Kyuubimon.
 * Knight of Cerebus: Even though the series wasn't exactly cheerful and light-hearted before Beelzebumon comes along...
 * Laughing Mad: After defeating.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Beelzemon.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Beelzemon.
 * Not to mention the original Japanese name for his Blast Mode arm cannon; "Death Slinger". So scary that they changed it to "Corona Blaster" in the English dub.
 * The Nicknamer: In the dub, at least. The most common one he used was "Pineapple Head" for Guilmon, but he occasionally used "Fox Face" for Renamon (or something having to do with her being a fox) and "Cream Puff" for Calumon. These became almost like Terms of Endangerment when he first became Beelzebumon. "Pineapple Head" doesn't sound as silly and innocent when it's said with a gun in your face.
 * Noble Demon: Kinda a bully, but not too deadly; after his Face Heel Turn he becomes a literal one. Despite his Heel Face Turn, he's still not horrible when compared to the other Demon Lords, especially that Lucemon.
 * Not So Harmless Villain: Oh boy.
 * Odd Friendship: With Calumon during the D-Reaper arc.
 * Power High: Thinking over his actions, “At last, I was the one in control. The power was intoxicating, it was addicting, I couldn’t get enough. I had to have more and I would do anything for it. ANYTHIIING!!!!
 * Psycho for Hire: Caturamon manipulates him into this.
 * Psychotic Smirk: Very frequently sported one as Beelzemon, pre-Heel Face Turn. He'll sometimes wear one as Impmon too, but then this is a lot less frightening than this.
 * Redemption Equals Death:
 * Redemption Promotion: Blast Mode, see Ai and Mako.
 * Red Eyes Take Warning: As Beelzemon. His eyes turned green in Blast Mode as a sign of his Heel Face Turn.
 * Screwy Squirrel: As Impmon.
 * He looks more like a cat than anything else...
 * Take My Hand: Fails this with Jeri, as she is reminded of
 * In the manga version of that scene, Jeri attempts to take his hand, but he is cut down before she can.
 * That Man Is Dead: Impmon is nuttin' more than a bad memory, an' don't you fergeddit!
 * Took a Level In Badass: As Impmon, he's harmless, even towards the main Digimon in their Rookie forms. When he becomes Beelzemon, oh boy...
 * Too Many Belts: Beelzemon
 * Villainous Glutton: Beelzemon is, within the Digimon franchise, the Demon Lord associated with gluttony. Namely in Tamers, his goal, at least up until his Heel Face Turn, becomes that of killing strong opponents to devour their data and increase his own power.
 * Villainous Harlequin: As Impmon
 * What Could Have Been: Word of God. states that he was originally conceived as the main character. He was also at one point planned as the series' Big Bad (a fashion in which early promotional material depicts him), but this was later changed.
 * Wing Pull: Blast Mode.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity

Calumon (Culumon)
"Hello hello hello hello hellooo!!"

A goofy little critter who befriends Guilmon and turns out to be the most important Digimon of all. Him/her (opinions vary) getting captured/lost sets off the digital world portion of the series.

"Voiced by: Tomoko Kaneda (JP), Brianne Siddall (EN)"


 * Ambiguous Gender: Even though Digimon themselves aren't divided by genders,.
 * Children Are Innocent
 * Determinator: he does everything he can so that Juri won't succumb to her depression.
 * Deus Ex Machina: On a few occasions...
 * Expressive Ears: They grow and shrink depending on his mood.
 * Facial Markings: The red triangle on his forehead is in fact.
 * Green Eyes
 * Incorruptible Pure Pureness
 * MacGuffin Critter
 * Naive Newcomer
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: He's alot more perceptive than he lets on.
 * Opposites Attract: His treatment of Ruki counts, though she initially seems unsure how to react to someone so innocent and sweet.
 * His bond with Impmon also counts.
 * Partner Substitute: Even before he's often in the company of Juri. It becomes really noticable during the final arc.
 * Puppy Dog Eyes
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Likely the cutest one in the franchise... before Cutemon.
 * Tareme Eyes
 * Third Person Person
 * Verbal Tic: "-culu"
 * Verbal Tic Name: Chiaki Konaka's notes suggest that Calumon, not being a real Digimon at first, gave itself its name and adopted a Verbal Tic from it.
 * Verbal Tic Name: Chiaki Konaka's notes suggest that Calumon, not being a real Digimon at first, gave itself its name and adopted a Verbal Tic from it.

Janyu "Tao" Wong (Li "Tao" Jiang-yu)
Jianliang and Xiaochun's father, and one of the Monster Makers, a 1980s group of programmers who created the Digimon. Helps get together the rest of the creators to help the kids save the world.

"Voiced by: Yoshiyuki Kaneko (JP), Jamieson Price (EN)"


 * A Friend in Need: Henry's mother once told Jianliang that Janyu went to great lengths to help a friend that hit rock bottom.
 * Good Father
 * I Know Karate: He demonstrates how it's really done (not the showy stuff) on two police officers, by knocking them down in a few seconds!
 * For reference, the martial arts demonstrated is a variant of Tai Chi, which is rather popular in some areas of China.
 * Odd Friendship: With Yamaki.
 * Papa Wolf
 * The Professor

Goro "Shibumi" Mizuno
A member of the Monster Makers, who continued to work on the project after the others left. After an accident, his spirit project itself into the Digital World, where he met Takato and Henry.

"Voiced by: Taro Suwa (JP), Bob Glouberman (EN)"


 * Bunny Ears Lawyer
 * The Chessmaster
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Due to being in a coma.
 * Ditzy Genius
 * Mr. Exposition
 * The Professor

Rob "Dolphin" McCoy
The creator who started the Digimon project, and the first person to create artificial life.

"Voiced by: Masami Kikuchi (JP), Tom Fahn (EN)"


 * Dead Little Sister: Or better said, Dead Little.
 * The Professor

Alice McCoy
A mysterious girl in black, who comes to give a gift to help our heroes, and may or may not actually be a ghost.

"Voiced by: Yuka Imai (JP), Philece Sampler (EN)"


 * Alice Allusion
 * Creepy Child
 * Cute Ghost Girl: Maybe
 * Dark Is Not Evil
 * Dead All Along: Maybe...
 * Dead Sidekick
 * Elegant Gothic Lolita
 * Fluffy Tamer: Her Digimon is a giant Doberman who stands at least five feet tall at the shoulder. They're still friends regardless.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Her partner, Dobermon
 * I Did What I Had to Do: Dobermon's sacrifice invokes this.
 * Shrug of God: Chiaki Konaka notes that, after hearing Masami Kikuchi's portrayal of Dolphin and the way he called Alice's name, it occurred to him that Alice might--heavy emphasis on might--be dead. She's never seen interacting with anyone but the Tamers and Dobermon, and she seems to vanish before their eyes.
 * The Stoic: Until her Digimon dies.
 * Zettai Ryouiki

Grani
Grani, formerly known in a different form as "The Ark", is the name of an ark that was created by the reunited Monster Makers to bring the Tamers back from Digital World to the Real world. It is later upgraded to be used against the fight against the D-reaper.

"Voiced by: Masami Kikuchi (JP), Dave Mallow (EN)"


 * A Friend in Need: He goes out of his way to help the heroes several times.
 * Big Damn Hero: He sure does have an impressive track record.
 * Cool Horse: Described as a loyal steed to Gallantmon by Yamaki.
 * : With Gallantmon.
 * Military Mashup Machine
 * Odd Friendship: Grani and Guilmon.
 * Sentient Vehicle: The monster makers were initially surprised that the Ark could make decisions for itself when it chose to stop and wait for Takato in the Digital World. It's later explained that it was created using the same program to make the Digimon.
 * The Voiceless
 * The Voiceless

Mitsuo Yamaki
A mysterious man in black who tends to stand around watching the kids and their Digimon, absently and creepily flicking his lighter. Is researching Digimon and capturing the weakened ones for reasons unknown...

"Voiced by: Susumu Chiba (JP), Steve Blum (EN)"


 * The Atoner: A stoic version post-Heel Face Turn.
 * Badass
 * Badass Bookworm: He's also a programmer.
 * Badass in A Nice Suit
 * Big Bad Wannabe: For half the series
 * Blond Guys Are Evil
 * But, Sir, Juggernaut's Not Ready! "SPARE ME YOUR THEORIES! DO IT!"
 * Cool Shades
 * The Glasses Come Off: Very rarely. Used to very dramatic effect when he orders Juggernaut activated.
 * Evil Is Hammy: Whenever he gets emotional during his "bad guy" phase.
 * Fantastic Racism: Against Digimon at first. He eventually changes his views entirely.
 * Hair of Gold / Blond Guys Are Evil: Until he switches sides.
 * Heel Face Turn
 * Hey Its That Voice: Spike Spiegel
 * Hoist By His Own Petard: Prior to his Heel Face Turn, his downfalls were mainly caused by his own projects. He learns from this eventually.
 * Kick the Dog: Had quite a bit of these before his Heel Face Turn. How he used the Juggernaut program was horrifying. It leads directly to My God What Have I Done
 * Knight Templar
 * The Men in Black
 * My God What Have I Done: When Juggernaut is activated the first time and the first Deva appears, triggering a Villainous Breakdown. It doesn't really sink in though for several more episodes as more Devas use the portal he opened to cross over.
 * Neck Lift: He does this to Henry after he starts breaking down. Who is a 10 year old kid, by the way.
 * No Plans No Prototype No Backup: Averted. They had all the above, but he ordered the usage of Juggernaut too early regardless.
 * Not So Stoic: Was originally intended as The Stoic, but stress began to change this early on, making him also Not So Above It All.
 * Obliviously Evil: Take into account What Measure Is a Non Human below and the fact that digimon really are dangerous, and his behavior suddenly makes perfect sense.
 * Perpetual Frowner
 * Smug Smiler
 * When He Smiles: He is in fact capable of smiling with sincerity.
 * Villainous Breakdown: When he realizes Juggernaut is allowing the most powerful Digimon yet an express ticket to the real world, he walks away from the scene ranting about "Digimon-loving freaks" and threatens Henry when they cross paths seconds after. In the original version, he's actually throttling Henry!
 * Villainous BSOD: His second major failure causes this and it leads to his Heel Face Turn.
 * Well Intentioned Extremist
 * What Measure Is a Non Human: Believes Digimon are just data at first.

Riley Otori & Tally Onodera (Ootori Reika & Onodera Megumi)


Two young women who operate the Digimon detection thingy that, well, detects Digimon.

"Reika is voiced by: Ai Nagano (JP), Tifanie Christun (EN)

Megumi is voiced by: Fumiko Miyashita (JP), Peggy O'Neal (EN)"


 * Ascended Extra: Riley actually gets to do stuff oustisde of Hypnos once it's revealed that she's Yamaki's girlfriend (Tally, however, is still just "that blond that works at Hypnos").
 * Bridge Bunnies
 * Cuteness Proximity: Megumi, for Culumon
 * Heterosexual Life Partners
 * Subordinate Excuse: Reika, to Yamaki

The Deva
Twelve Perfect-level Digimon based on the twelve heavenly generals of Eastern mythology, and on the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. They serve the Sovereign Zhuquiaomon and try to invade the real world. Later the surviving Deva focus on capturing Calumon and manipulating Impmon instead.

The Twelve Devas are, in order of appearance: "Mihiramon (tiger), Sandiramon (snake), Sinduramon (rooster), Pajiramon (sheep), Vajramon (ox), Indramon (horse), Kumbhiramon (mouse), Vikaralamon (boar), Makuramon (monkey), Majiramon (dragon), Caturamon (dog) and Antylamon (rabbit)."


 * A Load of Bull: Vajramon is the Ox Deva.
 * Animal Jingoism: Of a sort - the Devas hate Tamer Digimon.
 * Animal Motifs: The twelve heavenly generals are lined up with the twelve signs of the Chinese Zodiac.
 * Beware the Silly Ones: The dub makes repeated jokes about Vikaralamon being a 'big pig', but it's pretty obvious that the 'big pig' is a serious threat.
 * Bullying a Dragon: Makuramon, an Ultimate, taunts Beelzemon, a Mega, in the middle of a battle that could destroy the Digital World. Unfortunately for Makuramon, Beelzemon does retaliate.
 * Canis Major: Caturamon is the Dog Deva, and fairly large.
 * The Corrupter: Caturamon to Impmon.
 * Dirty Coward: Makuramon.
 * Dogs Are Dumb: Averted with Caturamon, who comes close to being a Magnificent Bastard.
 * Everythings Better With Chickens: Sinduramon is the Rooster Deva.
 * Everythings Better With Monkeys: Makuramon is the Monkey Deva, and like Caturamon is more cunning than the average Deva.
 * Full Boar Action: Vikaralamon.
 * Giant Flyer: Sinduramon.
 * Instant Awesome Just Add Dragons: Subverted with Majiramon who was the least impressive out of the Devas, due to getting minimum screentime with no lines or characterization, only serving as Makuramon's transport before being defeated by Cyberdramon.
 * More like Negated Moment of Awesome. He was easily beating the Tamer's Champion level digimon and did get Cyberdramon on his knees. He just had the bad luck of going up against Ryo.
 * Interspecies Romance: Because of all the flirting that goes on during the battle, Vajramon appears to be enamoured by Renamon during their first encounter. He later singles her out to persuade her to join him. Renamon, however, is only pretending to be interested so that she can extract information about him.
 * Killer Rabbit: Kumbhiramon looks pathetic, but he can give Leomon a hard time (at least at first).
 * Light Is Not Good: Several of them are Vaccine types. They're still the bad guys.
 * Maniac Monkeys: Makuramon does some weird things even before his reveal.
 * Messy Pig: Vikaralamon is the Pig Deva, and easily the most destructive of the nine Devas who bio-emerge, causing massive amounts of damage during his rampage.
 * Not Evil Just Misunderstood: Even though almost all the Devas held a disgust for humans, over the course of series Henry has a few conversations with his sensei concerning if the Devas are evil or not. His sensei mentions from legends that they only serve their God and fight for what they believe is right. In the end, they conclude that this was right and the Devas only fought to protect the Digital World. Within the Digital world they were unheard of by the inhabitants and the Heroes were often surprised they didn't hold some kind of jurisdiction.
 * Panthera Awesome: Mihiramon is the Tiger Deva.
 * Rodents of Unusual Size: Kumbhiramon is the Rat Deva (though still quite small).
 * Sliding Scale of Anthropomorphism: They range from souped-up animals (Mihiramon, Majiramon) to strongly humanoid beasts (Vajramon, Indramon).
 * Smug Snake: Two of them. Sandiramon (a literal snake) tries to break the Tamers' confidence with his last words, and Indramon repeatedly taunts and laughs at Impmon and the Tamers.
 * Though he completely gets the best of the heroes in his formal introduction, Makuramon quickly barrels into this after losing Culumon, leaving the fighting to Majiramon, trying to go after a little girl, and meeting his end after taunting Beelzebumon.
 * Vertebrate With Extra Limbs: Pajiramon, Vajramon and Majiramon have six limbs each.

The Sovereign / Holy Beasts
The four supreme Digimon in this version of the Digital world. Alluded to (or shown in Azulongmon's case) in Digimon Adventure 02, in this version of the story, they are the supreme Digimon of the digital world, and live in the highest plane. Ironically, they are the closest physically to the human world this way, though in Zhuquiaomon's case, not emotionally.

The powers of the sovereign include overseeing the Light of Digivolution (Calumon's power), and it is this capacity that starts the plot of the season.


 * Extra Eyes: All of the sovereign have four eyes. Ebonwumon is the only one to have two eyes on two heads.
 * The Four Gods
 * Large and In Charge: They're by far the largest Digimon in the series.
 * Physical God: The Sovereigns are Digimon who digivolved to such an advanced level that even multiple Mega level Digimon have a hard time beating them. They act as protector Gods to the Digital World.
 * Power Glows: Each Sovereign glows their own color, and has 12 orbs of their glowing color encircling their bodies.

Zhuqiaomon
A giant phoenix and one of the four Holy Beasts. He sent the Devas into the real world in order to fight the humans, and then later has Calumon imprisoned in the belief that Calumon will help the Digimon evolve fast enough to face the "True Enemy".

"Azulongmon: (To the Tamers) It's time for you to leave. This is not your battle. We will stay to defend our world.
 * Big Bad / The Man Behind the Man: The Big Bad of the Deva arc, though his existence isn't revealed until Sandiramon, Pajiramon and Vajramon speak of him. He later reluctantly does a Heel Face Turn when it is clear that destroying the humans will not help defeat the true Big Bad of the series.
 * Badass Boast: The guy is full of these.

Zhuqiaomon: And we will fight to the bitter end!"

"Zhuqiaomon: Trespassers, you have disturbed the lair of Zhuqiaomon, Sovereign of the Digital World and protector of it's inhabitants. Look upon my countinant and tremble with fear, for within my eyes you see your own undoing!"
 * There is also his introduction.


 * Determinator: He fights Megagargomon, Azulongmon, and Gallantmon each in the same day. After the Tamers return to the real world they take a look into the digital world, and Zhuquiaomon is the only digimon seen fighting the D-reaper.
 * Fantastic Racism: Hates humans, especially Tamers and their Digimon. Even when he joins the good guys later, he still feels disgust for the Tamers.
 * Feathered Fiend
 * Good Is Not Nice: Yeah, he's a Virus type alright, but you sure as hell would not expect a Digimon reffered as a "Holy Bird Digimon" to be evil. Not that he or his peers think he is. He's going his own route to stop the True Enemy.
 * Playing With Fire: Two of his attacks are fire-based: Blazing Helix and Phoenix Fire.
 * Well Intentioned Extremist: Zhuquiaomon wants to protect the Digital World, but is misguided into thinking that the best way to do so is to destroy the humans, especially the Tamers.

Azulongmon
A giant dragon and one of the four Holy Beasts. He believes that it is digivolution that brought about the True Enemy. He saved the tamers from Zhuquiaomon's attack. Also, the only of the Sovereign to have appeared in another series, Digimon Adventure 02.


 * Its All My Fault: believes that digivolution is responsible for the reawakening of the True Enemy.
 * Instant Awesome Just Add Dragons: Gigantic Asian dragons
 * Shock and Awe: His attacks are all electrical based.
 * Mr. Exposition: carrying over from Adventure.

Baihumon
A giant tiger and one of the four Holy Beasts. He was the last to be seen, as he was the first known to be confronting the True Enemy directly.


 * The Worf Effect: He is the strongest of the four sovereign, but is quickly defeated by the D-Reaper.
 * Panthera Awesome

Ebonwumon
A giant two-headed turtle and one of the four Holy Beasts. For all the Darker and Edgier of the series, he brings a little bit of comic relief. At least, one head does.


 * The Nicknamer: As early as Ebonwumon's second line, he's giving out nicknames.
 * Talking to Themself: one head does most of the talking, including on behalf of the other.
 * Turtle Power
 * Turtle Island
 * Scottish English: Ebonwumon is also the only Sovereign to have a peculiar accent in the English dub. Specifically, one of his heads speaks in a rather stereotypical Scottish accent, while the other one is Irish. Try not to think too hard about that.

The D-Reaper / True Enemy
""...That way, this twisted world would never have existed.""

A simple data cleanup program, its purpose is to delete other programs before they get too big. Like other digital beings, it has evolved into a more advanced and powerful state, but its parameters on what constitutes "too advanced" haven't changed, transforming it into an Omnicidal Maniac which attempts to delete everything. After it gets worse. Much, much worse.

"Voiced by:"


 * Adaptive Ability
 * AI Is a Crapshoot: The only artificial intelligence to remain a villain the whole series. Unlike all the others, it's doing exactly what it was created to do, just on a larger scale than its creators intended.
 * Big Bad: Of the final arc, and of the entire series due to being at the heart of the conflict between the Digital and human worlds.
 * Conspicuous CGI: The D-Reaper is a three dimensional mass in a two dimensional world. Deliberately invoked for a similar reason to the Mugann of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: it shows just how alien, how much of an Eldritch Abomination, and how plain wrong this thing is.
 * Creepy Child: D-Reaper Agent 01 is this.
 * Creepy Monotone: With the voice of a 10-year-old girl. This is what makes J-Reaper terrifying.
 * Eldritch Abomination: Meeting us puny humans actually makes it worse or at least a good deal crazier.
 * Elemental Rock Paper Scissors: Naturally, this program breaks the rules by having an unknown type that has advantage over all others.
 * Evil Counterpart: Its link with Jeri is something of a corrupted version of Matrix Evolution.
 * Evil Redhead: J-Reaper.
 * From Nobody to Nightmare: As programs go. Its original self was no more complicated than a calculator.
 * Fighting a Shadow: The D-Reaper's agents.
 * Gone Horribly Right: It does exactly what it's programmed to do. Apparently, the original programmers forgot to account for the fact that Technology Marches On.
 * The Heartless
 * The Juggernaut: Even after seven series, it is still likely the most powerful being ever to appear in the anime.
 * Manipulative Bastard: J-Reaper.
 * Powered By a Forsaken Child: Literally.
 * Mind Rape: What the thing does to Jeri to get more power.
 * Non Standard Character Design: Invoked by Chiaki J. Konaka, the head writer for a show. He had Kenji Watanabe (the originator of Digimon), Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru (the human character designer), and Shinji Aramaki (the CGI designer) have a competition with each other while designing this thing for the expressed purpose of getting this. And it worked; there's certainly never been anything like this before or after it.
 * Omnicidal Maniac
 * Talking to Himself: With Jeri, naturally. That was kind of the point.
 * Who Needs Their Whole Body?: The Horn Striker Agent in episode 46.
 * Who Needs Their Whole Body?: The Horn Striker Agent in episode 46.