History ANime / DigimonTamers

* BornAgainImmortality: The Tamers eventually stop having their Digimon absorb the data of the Digimon they are forced to kill, in hopes they'll potentially be reborn in the Digital World. [[spoiler: In a rare instance for the franchise, this is notably ''[[SubvertedTrope subverted]]''. A Digimon that is killed is flat out ''[[FinalDeath dead]]'', regardless if they have their data absorbed or not.]]

* CatSmile: Suzie, almost all the time.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/digimontamers.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[OnTheNextEpisodeOfCatchPhrase Awaken the Tamer in you.]]]]

* BoisterousBruiser[=/=]CuteBruiser: Terriermon is a midget CartoonCreature with plenty of sass to go around.

* CallBack: [[Anime/DigimonAdventure02 "Here We Go"]] is on Rika's UsefulNotes/MP3 player in the dub. [[Anime/DigimonAdventure "Bolero"]] also happens to be Riley's ringtone.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Henry and Suzie's Chinese names, Jiànliáng and Xiǎochūn Lǐ.

* RedemptionPromotion: Not a "redemption" per se, but when Impmon agrees to serve the Sovereign, he recieves a Betrayal Promotion. A bit more involved than [[PowerOfFriendship If Friendship Then Upgrades]].

** Sadly, [[GoneHorriblyWrong things don't work]] [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome like in their shows]].

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: As a series that intentionally plays up the angle of 'what if your favorite kids franchise was actually real', the story has many examples of things subverting audience expectations, both in-universe and out.
** Takato, Rika, and Henry all get rude awakenings at how scary and dangerous digimon can be, as well as the consequences of the fact they're living creatures. Takato especially, who starts out ecstatic when Guilmon comes to life, but very quickly realizes that a fire breathing dinosaur might not automatically be friendly.
** While the kids already had mostly recognized that dealing with Digimon was not just a game, Beelzemon's rampage shatters any remnants of fantasy for them. They're left traumatized, with even the most gung-ho and adventure hungry member Kazu having no desire to fight anymore. Kenta even stops actively seeking a partner digimon, only becoming a Tamer because a ''digimon'' desired it.
** An entire episode is dedicated to Beelzemon's desperate mission to rescue Jeri, recognizing that her capture was in part his fault. The drama and tension is played up ''hard'', making the audience feel for his anguish. But, no matter how much he wants to help her, he ultimately fails [[spoiler: because of course it makes sense that she wouldn't trust him, when the last she saw him, he had just ''murdered her partner'' and was planning on doing the same to her and all her friends]].

** The English dub has several other Digimon voiced by the same actors as their ''Adventure'' counterparts, including Dave Mallow as Gekomon and Creator/PeterSpellos as Meramon.

** The English dub has several other Digimon voiced by the same actors as their ''Adventure'' counterparts, including Dave Mallow as Gekomon and Peter Spellos as Meramon.

* AllDeathsFinal: The only ''Digimon'' continuity (except, maybe, the games) where '''nothing''' comes back from death. There isn't a Village of Beginnings. Also, Digignomes, Digimon, and humans (military, bystanders, car drivers) '''die''' both in the series and in the movies. [[spoiler: Not even partner Digimon are exempt from this rule, as one of the Tamers’ partner is brutally murdered right in front of her.]]

** Nami Asaji, Takato's teacher, is voiced by Creator/LaraJillMiller, who voiced Kari Kamiya in the previous two series. Kari became a teacher when she grew up, and Ms. Asaji bears a striking resemblance to her.

* AllDeathsFinal: The only ''Digimon'' continuity (except, maybe, the games) where '''nothing''' comes back from death. There isn't a Village of Beginnings. Also, Digignomes, Digimon, and humans (military, bystanders, car drivers) '''die''' both in the series and in the movies.

** In ''02'', Ken was a bitter, smart, and lonesome kid who thought Digimon weren't people, so he did what a such a kid might do and played toy soldiers with video game characters. In ''Tamers'', Yamaki is a bitter, smart, and lonesome adult who thinks Digimon aren't people, so he does what such a man might do and tries to eradicate them like buggy AI from infected computer systems. Indeed, Yamaki ''fears'' the kids associating with such dangerous creatures might just see it all as a game; as Ruki proves, [[JerkassHasAPoint he's not far wrong]].

** In ''Adventure'' and ''02'', the enemies were either {{Card Carrying Villain}}s or human beings with a FreudianExcuse; the powers that be of the digital world were generally benevolent to humans and concerned with the digital world's protection. In ''Tamers'', the powers that be are also concerned with the digital world's safety and protection... but not necessarily benevolent.

* CentralTheme: What is the line between fiction and reality? and What is the price of technology?

* MoodWhiplash: Despite the dark tone, the series can sometimes skip over into jokes, normally involving the characters [[DeadpanSnarker snarking.]] The [[EyeCatch eyecatches]] in the Japanese version can also result in this.

* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Leomon]].

* DeaderThanDead: Digimon in this series can absorb the data of the Digimon they defeat in order to get stronger. If this happens to a defeated digimon, they are KilledOffForReal and don't experience the rebirth as a digi-egg as in previous seasons.

* OffModel: In general, the animation of ''Tamers'' is more off-model than the others where faces are concerned. In particular, out of the nine animation teams, the one directed[[note]]In most anime, the animation director is responsible for drawing all key frames with in-betweens being left to the other animators.[[/note]] by [[http://digitalscratch.pmsinfirm.org/?p=3059 Toshio Deguchi]] (also responsible for many off-model ''Manga/OnePiece'' episodes) consistently pumps out subpar animation. The most glaring examples are episode 15 as well as the ''last'' episode. This is especially obvious when compared to the best animation teams, which are noted for smooth animation and having realistic shading everywhere (see AnimationBump above).
** In the last episode, the left half of Takato's face ''visibly wobbles''.
** In one episode, Beelzemon was missing his tail twice.

* AnimationLeadTime: The second movie, ''Runaway Digimon Express'', was released on March 2, 2002, while the final episodes weren't released until March 24 and March 31. Despite being ostensibly set after the series, the movie doesn't even seem slightly aware of the finale [[spoiler: or how the Digimon were sent back to the Digital World]].

* TheyLookLikeUsNow: Happens twice. The first time is [[{{Gonk}} Makuramon's human disguise]]--it doesn't really pass muster, and falls into UncannyValley territory, even in-universe. The Tamers know there's something wrong with him, they just don't catch onto ''what'' is wrong until it's too late. The second time is even worse. [[spoiler: The D-Reaper's copy of Jeri]] was perfect except for being very pale and having creepy mannerisms, which are written off as her simply being broken with grief. Takato doesn't clue into what's really going on until [[spoiler: she sprouts wings and nearly {{Mind Rape}}s him]].

* NoBiologicalSex: During the final arc, Rumiko asks Renamon whether she's a boy or a girl, and Renamon claims that 'digimon aren't divided into gender', which has most commonly been interpreted to mean this trope. The statement requires some interpretation, as there are digimon like Jijimon and Babamon[[note]]"Jiji" and "baba" are taken from the Japanese ''kanji'' for "old man" and "old woman".[[/note]] who live as husband and wife.

* BerserkButton:
** Impmon is a bundle of issues to begin with, and gets worse as the series repeatedly dishes him a HumiliationConga.
** Bad stuff happens when [[BewareTheNiceOnes Takato]]'s friends are hurt. Remember [[Anime/DigimonAdventure SkullGreymon]]? The giant skeletal Dark Evolution of Greymon without a mind with a nuke on his back? Meet [[spoiler:Megidramon, whose ''mere existence'' causes the Digital World to begin to collapse]]. The one time we see him is when Takato's outright ordering [=WarGrowlmon=] to evolve to Ultimate/Mega level. [[GoneHorriblyRight He does]]. Beelzemon has to absorb so much power to defeat this thing that he almost explodes.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Zigzagged. While ''Tamers'' is a deconstruction in the sense of a work in which each of a work's internal elements are tweaked or have their sense altered (see DeconstructorFleet below), ''Tamers'' does ''not'' fit the Wiki/TVTropes definition of the trope, which is a work in which nothing in the RuleOfIndex is at play--''Tamers'' has multiple examples of the RuleOfSymbolism.