Digimon

Main article: Digimon (creature)

Digimon hatch from eggs called Digi-Eggs. They age via a process called "Digivolution" which changes
their appearance and increases their powers. The effect of Digivolution, however, is not permanent, and
Digimon who have digivolved will most of the time revert back to their previous form after a battle or if
they are too weak to continue. Some Digimon are feral in nature, but most possess large amounts of
intelligence and human speech. They are able to digivolve by the use of Digivices that their human
partners have. In some cases, as in the first season, the Tamers had to find some special items such
as Crests and Tags so the Digimon could digivolve in another stage called Ultimate then Mega.

The first Digimon anime introduces the Digimon life cycle: They age in a similar fashion to real
organisms, but do not die under normal circumstances because they are made of reconfigurable data.
Old Digimon and Digimon who receive fatal wounds dissolve into infinitesimal bits of data. The data
then recomposes itself as a Digi-Egg, which will hatch when rubbed gently, and the Digimon goes
through its life cycle again. Digimon who are reincarnated in this way will sometimes retain some or all
their memories of their previous life. However, if a Digimon's data is completely destroyed, they will die.

Appmon

Main article: Appmon

Appmon are an evolution of the franchise. Digital lifeforms not dissimilar to Digimon, they each
represent an app on a smartphone.

Virtual Pet toy

Main article: Digimon virtual pet

Digimon started out as a digital pet called "Digital Monster", similar in style and concept to
the Tamagotchi. It was planned by Wiz and released by Bandai on June 26, 1997. The toy began as the
simple concept of a Tamagotchi for boys (as Bandai was also the creator of the Tamagotchi). The v-pet is
similar to its predecessors, with the exceptions of being much harder and being able to connect to fight
other Digimon v-pets. Every owner would start with a Baby Digimon, train it, evolve it, take care of it,
and then have battles with other Digimon owners to see who was stronger. The Digimon pet had several
evolution capabilities and abilities too, so many owners had many different Digimon. In December, the
second generation of Digital Monster was released, followed by a third edition in 1998. Now the new
Tamagotchi Digimon is Pendulum that has a total of 9 in the series. Bandai also has released a Non
Related Digimon Tamagotchi.[1]

Animated series

On March 6, 1999, the franchise was given an anime as the first of the Digimon movies aired in theaters
in Japan. On March 7, 1999 they began airing a television counterpart titled Digimon Adventure. 6
further series would follow, but so far not all of them have their own tie-in movies, and the series was
dubbed for release in western markets in the fall of the same year. The show spawned card games,
with Hyper Colosseum in Japan and later Digi-Battle in America, and more video games. The animated
series is easily the best-known segment of the Digimon universe and responsible for the majority of its
popularity.

"Digimon" are "Digital Monsters". According to the stories, they are inhabitants of the "Digital World", a
manifestation of Earth's communication network. The stories tell of a group of mostly pre-teens, the
"Chosen Children" (DigiDestined in the English version), who accompany special Digimon born to defend
their world (and ours) from various evil forces. To help them surmount the most difficult obstacles
found within both realms, the Digimon have the ability to evolve (Digivolve). In this process, the Digimon
change appearance and become much stronger, often changing in personality as well. The group of
children who come in contact with the Digital World changes from season to season.

As of 2012, there have been six series — Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon
Tamers, Digimon Frontier, Digimon Savers, and Digimon Xros Wars. As is obvious from their titles, the
first two seasons take place in the same fictional universe, but the third, fourth, and fifth each occupy
their own unique world (in the case of Digimon Tamers, the Adventure universe is referred to as a
television and commercial enterprise). In addition, each series has spawned assorted feature films.
Digimon still shows popularity, as new card series, video games, and movies are still being produced and
released: new card series include Eternal Courage, Hybrid Warriors, Generations, and Operation X; the
video game, Digimon Rumble Arena 2; and the previously unreleased movies Revenge of
Diaboromon, Runaway Locomon, Battle of Adventurers, and Island of Lost Digimon. In Japan, Digital
Monster X-Evolution, the eighth TV movie, was released, and on December 23, 2005 at Jump Festa 2006,
the fifth series, Digimon Savers was announced for Japan to begin airing after a three year hiatus of the
show.

Digimon is produced by Toei Animation and Bandai of Japan. The first five series were broadcast in
Japan by Fuji Television, and Xros Wars by TV Asahi.

Digimon Adventure (Season One)

Main article: Digimon Adventure

The first Digimon television series, which began airing on March 7, 1999. Its premise is a group of young
humans who, while at summer camp, travel to the Digital World, inhabited by creatures known as
Digimon, where they become the "DigiDestined" and are forced to save both the Digital and Real World
from evil. Each child was given a "Digivice" which selected them to be "transported" to the Digital World
and was destined to be paired up with a Digimon Partner, for example, Taichi "Tai" Kamiya was paired
up with Agumon and Yamato "Matt" Ishida was paired up with Gabumon. The children are helped by a
mysterious man/Digimon named Gennai, who helps them by hologram. The Digivices help their Digimon
allies to "digivolve" into stronger creatures in times of peril. The Digimon usually reached higher forms
when their human partners are placed in dangerous situations, such as fighting the evil forces of
Devimon, Etemon and Myotismon. The group consisted of seven original characters: Tai Kamiya, Matt
Ishida, Sora Takenouchi, Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi, Mimi Tachikawa, Joe Kido, and Takeru "T.K." Takaishi.
Later on in the season, Tai's younger sister Kari Kamiya was introduced as an eighth character.

Digimon Adventure 02 (Season Two)

Main article: Digimon Adventure 02

The second Digimon series is direct continuation of the first one, and began airing on April 2, 2000.
Three years later, with most of the original DigiDestined now in high school at age fourteen, the Digital
World was supposedly secure and peaceful. However, a new evil has appeared in the form of the
Digimon Emperor (Digimon Kaiser) who as opposed to previous enemies is a human just like the
DigiDestined. The Digimon Emperor has been enslaving Digimon with Black Rings and Control Spires and
has somehow made regular Digivolution impossible. However, five set Digi-Eggs with engraved emblems
had been appointed to three new DigiDestined along with T.K and Kari, two of the DigiDestined from the
previous season. This new evolutionary process, dubbed Armor Digivolution, helps the new DigiDestined
to defeat evil lurking in the Digital World. Eventually, the DigiDestined defeat the Digimon Emperor,
otherwise known as Ken Ichijouji, only with the great sacrifice of Ken's own Digimon, Wormmon. Just
when things were thought to be settled, new Digimon enemies made from the deactivated Control
Spires start to appear and cause trouble in the Digital World. To atone for his past mistakes, Ken joins
the DigiDestined, being a DigiDestined himself, with his Partner Wormmon revived to fight against them.