


Digimon hatch from eggs called Digi-Eggs (デジタマ Degitama?). They age via a process called "Digivolution" which changes their appearance and increases their physical powers. Some Digimon act feral, like wild animals. Most, however, possess intelligence, speech, and personality traits like humans. It was mentioned that, if a partner Digimon were to be separated from their partner, then they would start to become weaker. An example of this is Yolei Inoue's partner, Poromon. When Yolei is away in Kyoto, Poromon begins to feel weaker each day. A Chance Encounter


In the Digimon Adventure universe, this cycle of reincarnation can be interrupted if the Digimon dies in the Real World,[please confirm] although the system-wide Reboot allowed such Digimon to finally be reincarnated. In addition, when a human dies in that universe, any Digimon partnered to it die as well.[please confirm] In the Digimon Tamers and Digimon Data Squad universes, the Digimon's data can be downloaded or absorbed by other Digimon, resulting in a permanent death.[please confirm]

In some media, such as Digimon Fusion, series directed by Hiroyuki Kakudo, and games produced by Kazumasa Habu, Digimon were not born as a result of humans creating computers, and instead always existed, living alongside humans, though in another dimension, becoming visible to humans once they created computers and digital technology. Digimon may have been manifested through magic or sorcery, through the ancient art of Onmyōdō, subjugating them as shikigami, yōkai, or demons, but is now accomplished digitally, making them Digital Monsters.[2]

In Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory, one of Jimmy KEN's fans explains that he is able to change the size of his Digimon, a Varodurumon, manually.[3]


Main article: Digivolution









Unlike in previous series, Digimon Fusion does not depict any real difference between how gender works for humans and for Digimon. Digimon couple and reproduce sexually,[5] form romantic relationships between genders,[6] and have distinct physical genders.[7] When both male and female members of a species appear, they are either depicted with obviously different designs between males and females, as with Beastmon or Mervamon and Ignitemon, or they lack secondary sex characteristics altogether.









Digimon species are classified by their "digivolution level", which is sometimes translated as "generation".



In the anime, most Digimon encountered are of the Rookie or Champion level, with Ultimate and Mega-level Digimon being progressively rarer. Digimon of one Digivolution level are generally far stronger than Digimon of the previous level. There are exceptions where a Digimon has been able to defeat an opponent of a higher level. There are also cases, such as with Lucemon, Arcadiamon and the Awakened forms of the Sistermons, where a Digimon is far more powerful than what its actual Digivolution level would imply. The opposite can also happen, as Sukamon and Numemon are seen as some of the weakest Digimon in existence, despite being Champion level.

For most Digimon, there are six Digivolution levels:

  1. Fresh or Baby (幼年期I Yōnenki I?, lit. "Childhood I")[8], officially translated as "Baby I"
  2. In-Training (幼年期II Yōnenki II?, lit. "Childhood 2")[9], officially translated as "Baby II"
  4. Champion (成熟期 Seijukuki?, lit. "Adolescence"), officially translated as "Adult"[10]

In some media, there is a level beyond Mega named "Level VII" in the virtual pets, Ultra (超究極体 Choukyuukyoku-tai?, lit. "Super Ultimate form") in Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01, certain Digimon Reference Book entries, the card games, and the video games Digimon World Dawn and Dusk, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory, Digimon ReArise, and "Burst Mode" (バーストモード Bāsuto Mōdo?) in Digimon Data Squad and Digimon Masters. The Digimon that fall into this classification are generally considered Megas by other sources.

There are also levels which run parallel to the standard progression, the most notable being "Armor" and "Hybrid". The "Armor" level appeared in the Digimon Adventure 02 series and other media, and is reached when a Digimon uses a Digi-Egg to digivolve into an Armor Digimon. The "Hybrid" level contains several sub-levels and first appears in the Digimon Frontier series for Digimon who are formed by "Spirit Evolution".

In Digimon Fusion and its related media, Digimon have no level. Digimon Masters introduces the "Xros" level for Digimon who are the result of DigiFuses. The Digimon Reference Book give these Digimon the "Xros Wars" level.


Mode Change



Although Mode Changing does not result in a change in a Digimon's species or level, it is considered a form of Digivolution. There are a few exception to this though. Lucemon, In Digimon Frontier, as well as most, if not all of its appearances in other media, the Mode Changes Lucemon goes though alter both his form and level; going from his regular Rookie level, to an Ultimate level in Chaos Mode, and then to Mega Level in Larva and Shadowlord Mode forms. Belphemon Sleep Mode's Mode Change to Belphemon Rage Mode in Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth and its sequel Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory also alter the form and level, as Sleep Mode is a Mega, with Rage Mode being an Ultra. The same applies to Shadowlord Mode, though this time two levels are skipped due to Shadowlord being Ultra as well.



Most Digimon species are classified into five attributes—Data, Vaccine, Virus, Free, and Variable. Most Digimon fall into the first three categories, with "Free" being rarer and "Variable" mostly exclusive to Hybrid Digimon. Some Digimon either have their attributed unidentified or lack them entirely.

The main three attributes serve to classify the personalities of the Digimon. The Vaccine Digimon tend to be crusaders, with a great determination to fight against evil and stop injustice, while the Virus Digimon tend to be violent, with a thirst for power and domination. Data Digimon, meanwhile, are usually neutral and focus on their own issues. These attributes have a Rock, Paper, Scissors arrangement where Virus is generally advantaged against Data, Data is advantaged against Vaccine and Vaccine is advantaged against Virus. However, these attributes don't play a very important role in Digimon fights. A Digimon can generally defeat an opponent regardless of attribute if it is stronger than the opponent in Digivolution level and experience. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth and it's parallel story Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory incorporate the attribute triangle as a major gameplay mechanic, where Digimon deal double the damage against and receive half the damage from the attribute it is strong against while also standardizing Free as outside the arrangement entirely, dealing and receiving normal damage from all attributes. All Digimon outside the main triangle, including Unidentified, Vairiable and Digimon without an Attribute at all are given the Free Attribute, likely for simplification in the two games.


Main article: Family








Notes and references

  1. Digimon Visual Dictionary
  3. Studius Jimiken Fan: It's Varodurumon! It's actually massive, but I adjusted the size and made it smaller so I could show it to you here."
  4. Digimon Reference Book: OmegaShoutmon
  8. Fresh level is named "In-Training I" in Digimon World Championship, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, Digimon World: Next Order, Digimon Links and Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory.
  9. In-Training level is named "In-Training II" in Digimon World Championship, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, Digimon World: Next Order, Digimon Links and Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory.
  10. Seijukuki (成熟期?) is also translated as "Rare" in Digimon Collectors.
