History YMMV / DigimonTamers

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: [[TheAtoner Beelzemon]] keeps up with the main cast in terms of importance and plot relevance... until [[spoiler:his near-fatal injury at the hands of the D-Reaper. After that, he's completely side-lined, and [[BaseBreakingCharacter Ryo]] takes his spot in the final battle, which for some is just rubbing salt in the wound.]]

* WhatAnIdiot: Takato forcing War Growlmon to digivolve, especially in light of the suggestion (explicit in the dub) that he's an AscendedFanboy of ''Anime/DigimonAdventure''.
** '''You'd Expect:''' That having watched ''Adventure'' and maybe even its sequel Takato would be aware that any attempt to force an evolution from impure motives would either have been unsuccessful or, worse, have GoneHorriblyRight and produced a SuperpoweredEvilSide.
** '''Instead:''' He goes ahead and does it anyway[[note]]To be fair, he clearly wasn't thinking at the time, and the show never makes any real overtures to Adventure, so Takato's awareness of any ''Adventure'' aesops is debatable[[/note]].
** '''The Result:''' War Growlmon evolves to the EldritchAbomination Megidramon, who immediately loses his mind and starts producing an ApocalypseHow.

** When it first aired, many Western fans of the ''Adventure'' series were disappointed and confused by the lack of relation between the stories, and much of the themes and subtext were lost on younger viewers. This is even the case in Japan, as viewership had dropped off considerably during the show's initial run. Over a decade later, thanks to both access to the Japanese version in the west and a higher demand for more cerebral, deconstructive series, ''Tamers'' has gained a large amount of popularity, and is easily the second most popular ''Digimon'' series on both sides of the Pacific (not so much of the Atlantic, but it's still one of the ever-popular "Big Four" seasons in the European side). To put it into perspective, ''Tamers''' 20th anniversary saw it getting ''two'' sets of promotional Dim Cards for the Vital Bracelet; that's quite the far cry from how the show's reception started.

** While ''Tamers'' is held in high regard in United States, opinions towards it in Spain (a country where the ''Digimon'' franchise used to be a juggernaut) tend to be very polarized. However, Takato is unambiguously counted as one of the ''least'' liked human characters in the franchise, with Spaniards putting him under any of his cast mates and even leads from less successful seasons (like [[Anime/DigimonAdventure02 Davis]] or [[Characters/DigimonFrontier Takuya]]).

** When it first aired, many Western fans of the ''Adventure'' series were disappointed and confused by the lack of relation between the stories, and much of the themes and subtext were lost on younger viewers. This is even the case in Japan, as viewership had dropped off considerably during ''Tamers''' original run. Over a decade later, thanks to both access to the Japanese version in the west and a higher demand for more cerebral, deconstructive series, ''Tamers'' has gained a large amount of popularity, and is easily the second most popular ''Digimon'' series on both sides of the Pacific (not so much of the Atlantic, but it's still one of the ever-popular "Big Four" seasons in the European side). To put it into perspective, ''Tamers''' 20th anniversary saw it getting ''two'' sets of promotional Dim Cards for the Vital Bracelet; that's quite the far cry from how the show's reception started.

%%* UglyCute: Guilmon.

** When it first aired, many Western fans of the ''Adventure'' series were disappointed and confused by the lack of relation between the stories, and much of the themes and subtext were lost on younger viewers. Over a decade later, thanks to both access to the Japanese version in the west and a higher demand for more cerebral, deconstructive series, ''Tamers'' has gained a large amount of popularity, and is easily the second most popular ''Digimon'' series on both sides of the Pacific (not so much of the Atlantic, but it's still one of the ever-popular "Big Four" seasons in the European side).

* DeathOfTheAuthor: [[http://www.konaka.com/alice6/tamers/characters/ruki-e.html Konaka's notes]] indicate that Jian [[ButNotTooForeign being half-Chinese]] and Ruki living in a fatherless home is merely character trivia based on contemporary demographics, and explicitly denies that Ruki's lack of a father has anything to do with her twisted personality[[note]]That particular denial may be a response to the ''Runaway Digimon Express'' heavily implicating Ruki's father in her fragile trust[[/note]]. Many fans, notably including WebVideo/JesuOtaku, cry foul on this stance. Indeed, between her icy facade, mommy issues, and fear of abandonment, Ruki is ''pitch-perfect'' [[https://www.womansday.com/relationships/family-friends/q-and-a/a56444/fatherless-daughters/ for a fatherless girl]].

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Beelzemon vs. Megidramon. There's a little bit of grappling, then Megidramon is anticlimactically knocked out by a few punches.

* FanPreferredCouple:
** The closest thing Ruki has to a LoveInterest is Ryo, but she's more commonly paired in fandom with Takato or Jianliang, though which one of her best friends she ends up with generally tends to be determined by which side of the Pacific you're on. The Japanese fans tend to enjoy pairing her off with Jianliang, while Westerners prefer her with Takato. (The Ruki-Takato pairing also overrides Juri's status as Takato's LoveInterest).
** For the actual Digimon themselves, people are very fond of Impmon/Renamon, thanks to the chemistry and ShipTease that came with their OddFriendship. Some people even ship their [[AngelDevilShipping mega forms]] together.

** Vajiramon and Pajiramon gulping down [=CDs=] to power up.
** Dukemon/Gallantmon's voice in the English dub meshes Guilmon's goofy voice with Takato's, making the otherwise imposing Digimon much more hilarious than intended.

** Just like with ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', Creator/FoxKids had a "Digibowl" special with ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' to crossover with the Super Bowl promotions, where Terry Bradshaw would comment on action scenes in the show while communicating to Hikari and Lee's dubbed video clips.

** Reika's line in Episode 44 about people trying to control the network brings to mind the 2017 fight against the FCC's repeal of Net Neutrality or the controversies over censorship by social media at the dawn of TheNewTwenties.

** Juri chased Leomon around the park passionately, claiming that it's their destiny to become partners, much to Leomon's horror and confusion. Watch as they ''do'' become partners, and Leomon does a complete 180 on his view of her.
** Pajiramon's voice being a homage to Kate Mulgrew. Fans of WebSite/SFDebris should get a kick that [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation one of the villains]] sounds like [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Captain]] [[ComedicSociopathy Janeway]].
** Creator/LexLang, the English dub voice actor for Cyberdramon, sounds as if he is channeling [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy Christian Bale]].
** Renamon being called a "guardian angel" in the dub is now this thanks to "The Fox" by Ylvis.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reJH5MvegRo Beelzemon's Japanese image song]] bears a striking resemblance to Uptown Funk and Treasure by Music/BrunoMars.
** Beelzemon himself predates the "edgelord" meme by years, yet perfectly fits the "trying too hard too be cool" mold with the leather biker clothes, guns, and motorcycle that would later become the signature of the face of the meme, ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog''. It helps that Beelzemon came about out of Impmon's desire for power through Digivolution, and thus canonically comes off as Impmon's edgy OC.
** Guilmon's evolutions, particularly Dukemon (Gallantmon), are [[Manga/DragonBall yet another]] manly warrior character with VocalDissonance courtesy of Creator/MasakoNozawa. Only this time, said VocalDissonance applies in the dub too, due to Creator/SteveBlum still using his Guilmon voice for ([[VoiceOfTheLegion half of the]]) character. On a related note, [[Creator/SeanSchemmel the regular English voice actor]] for Nozawa's most famous character (Son Goku) would go on to voice another iconic [[{{Mons}} mon]] in [[Anime/PokemonLucarioAndTheMysteryOfMew Digimon's rival franchise]].
** In ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork3WhiteAndBlue'', the FinalBoss is a big red BlobMonster in {{Cyberspace}} that was sealed away long ago. Once free, the mass starts consuming the world around it and spawns a ZergRush of ever stronger agents from its own body. That is to say, it's a ''blatant'' CaptainErsatz of the D-Reaper--even one of its final forms, a mountain of red with fins on each side of its head and a CyberCyclops eye, is a direct clone of the Mother Reaper.
** Creator/MaryElizabethMcGlynn (the voice behind the English dub of the Digivice UI, responsible for the "Digivolution", "Matrix Digivolution", and "Biomerge Digivolution" transformation introductions) would later become associated with a [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse show that was heavily inspired by anime, and also heavily involved fusions between two characters, much like those found in this series.]]

** [[Creator/MichelleRuff Mitchelle Ruff,]] Lopmon’s voice actress, would voice [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Cream the Rabbit,]] who is basically Lopmon’s tamer as a Sonic character.

** Ruki begging [[spoiler:her partner not to leave her at the end]] twists the knife even further if you interpret her character as having abandonment issues from her missing father.

** Undoing the BitersweetEnding by reuniting the tamers and digimon or writing stories dealing with the separation is also common.

* FanficFuel: Amusingly, Rukato fans have produced a great number of fanfics that involve an Alternate Ending to "Runaway Digimon Express", where Renamon doesn't [[MomentKiller come between Takato and Ruki]] at the end of the movie.

** The audio drama released in 2018 with the Blu-Ray boxset, which reveals that [[spoiler:Jenrya became a researcher, Ruki became ''a motorcycle stuntwoman'', and that the kids still haven't reunited with their Digimon after nearly '''twenty years'''.... then again, the Drama makes use of time travel so its canonicity is heavily debatable]].

** Despite its many divergence from ''Adventure'' and ''02'', ''Tamers'' still runs on [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve franchise-standard wish magic]] (just with extra {{Technobabble}}), so many of the plot devices and how they work can seem arbitrary and forced. The D-Reaper, as such, is ultimately defeated by a DeusExMachina put together by Hypnos and the Monster Makers, [[spoiler:but there is only some weak, last-minute {{Foreshadowing}} for the CruelTwistEnding that demands the Digimon have to go away along with the D-Reaper]].

** The audio drama released for the 2021 Anniversary festival entered this to some [[spoiler: as the entire story deals with the kids facing the personification of “Political Correctness” who literally uses Cancel Culture as an attack.]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Also]], [[https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/interest.2/175872/digifes.jpg promotional art]] shows Yamaki with a cigarette instead of his iconic lighter after the original series heavily implied he was trying to quit.

** In ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork3WhiteAndBlue'', the FinalBoss is a big red BlobMonster in {{Cyberspace}} that was sealed away long ago. Once free, it starts an AssimilationPlot and spawns a ZergRush of ever stronger agents from its own body. That is to say, it's a ''blatant'' CaptainErsatz of the D-Reaper--even one of its final forms, a mountain of red with fins on each side of its head and a CyberCyclops eye, is a direct clone of the Mother Reaper.

** The D-Reaper is a rogue program taking the form of a red BlobMonster, which was sealed away in the backstory and, now that it's free, intends to assimilate other things into itself and grow more powerful. To this end, it creates agents to act as its proxy by breaking and mutating parts of itself. ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork3WhiteAndBlue'', released one year after ''Tamers'' concluded, features a D-Reaper {{Expy}} called Alpha.

* MisaimedFandom: Ruki made a very strong first impression as a sharp {{Foil}} to the girls of ''Digimon Adventure'' and ''02''; her IceQueen ActionGirl and LittleMissBadass tropes led to her being lauded by some Western fans for being a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_female_character Strong Female Character]]. These same fans lost interest when her CharacterDevelopment led to her actually [[DefrostingIceQueen Defrosting]] and becoming kinder, friendlier, and more emotional[[note]]A development that was long premeditated, since Ruki's ruthless violence was a coping mechanism and her rejection of her femininity hinged on her MommyIssues, both of which she eventually let go.[[/note]]. None of this development caused her to lose agency, and she remains one of the core Tamers for the whole series.

** '''Instead:''' He goes ahead and does it anyway[[note]]To be fair, it's very likely he wasn't thinking straight at the time; the show also doesn't make an real overtures to Adventure, so how conscious Takato actually is of it is up for debate[[/note]].

* WhatAnIdiot: Takato nearly causing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. [[AscendedFanboy He's a Digimon fan]]. He's seen the series. He wears the goggles. He made his own Digimon that looks like a bigger, stronger, cooler version of Agumon.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Him to be careful not to go overboard forcing Guilmon to digivolve since he saw the episodes where Agumon was forced to digivolve by an angry, irrational person for all the wrong reasons, and should remember how that [[GoneHorriblyRight Went Horribly Right]] each time, resulting in massive danger and destruction for all involved.\\
'''Instead:''' He screamed in rage and '''ORDERED''' [=WarGrowlmon=] to digivolve anyway, [[RevengeBeforeReason to get revenge on Beelzemon]]. Okay, yeah, Takato isn't the sharpest tool in the shed and was likely not thinking straight in the heat of the moment, but how did he expect that to turn out well?

* GutPunch:
** The first thing Guilmon does after Takato finds him is to burn a few rats to death with his SpecialAttack, a much more brutal scene than anything from ''Adventure'' and ''02'' even at their darkest. The predecessor series were perfectly capable of NightmareFuel--Myotismon's invasion of the real world and the Dark Ocean were plenty scary--but they never had anything as outright visceral as this scene.
** The fight with Beelzebumon [[spoiler:and particularly Leomon's death]], which not only sees the birth of Megidramon but clearly establishes the permanence of death--and just in time for the final act to introduce an EldritchAbomination called the D-Reaper.