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1[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/digimontamers.png]]
2[[caption-width-right:250:[[OnTheNextEpisodeOfCatchPhrase Awaken the Tamer in you.]]]]
3
4->''"Three Digimon once met three children. Three children once met three Digimon. They laughed together, fought together, suffered together, and they understood each other... until their hearts became one."''
5
6The third anime series of the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' franchise, ''Digimon Tamers'' was the first installment to set itself in a different continuity entirely.
7
8Takato Matsuda [[DubNameChange (Matsuki in the dub)]] is an ordinary kid who is [[RecursiveCanon a big fan of the Digimon franchise]] and the associated CollectibleCardGame. One day, a strange blue card transforms his card reader into a Digivice, which in turn brings a Digimon of Takato's own creation to life: Guilmon. But having a fire-breathing red dinosaur as a pet is only the start of Takato's problems: the walls between the Digital World and the Human World are beginning to break down, and hostile Digimon are appearing in the real world to wreak havoc.
9
10Furthermore, there are other "Digimon Tamers" who have secured a Digimon as their partners in the real world: Ruki Makino (Rika Nonaka), a [[{{Tsundere}} cold-hearted gaming champion]] who only cares about becoming the strongest Tamer; and Jianliang Li (Henry Wong), who believes that Digimon should be free to choose whether to fight or not. As the three Tamers clash over their conflicting ideals, a mysterious government organization is monitoring the digital invasion and developing counter-measures that could see the trio's Digimon partners ripped from their side forever.
11
12Though it starts out similar in tone to previous installments of the franchise, it gets significantly DarkerAndEdgier as it goes along, with its last acts being conceptually inspired by CosmicHorrorStory and incorporating more philosophical themes. This is due to the influence of head writer Chiaki Konaka, who had largely worked on shows aimed at significantly more mature audiences, like ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'' and ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', and also was influenced by the works of Creator/HPLovecraft.
13
14''Tamers'' got two Audio Drama CD called ''Digimon Tamers 2018: Days -Information and the Unordinary-'', showing the new threats on the rise! Taking place on the year mentioned in the title, organization NYX is formed, recruiting the main tamers but with Takato and Renamon missing from their respective sides, the second in the form of a live reading simply titled ''Digimon Tamers 2021'', featuring a new D-Reaper called Political Correctness that has the ability to censor everything from news to opinions.
15
16Its predecessor was ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', and it was succeeded by ''Anime/DigimonFrontier''.
17
18The dub is now on DVD in the US.
19[[foldercontrol]]
20----
21!!''Digimon Tamers'' contains examples of:
22[[folder:Tropes # to C]]
23* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects:
24** A minor example is Beelzemon's Double Impact bullets.
25** As is series custom, the two main boys' Digimon have their Ultimate and Mega Digivolution sequences rendered in CG. Taomon and Sakuyamon's Digivolution Sequences did not get this treatment, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools which isn't a bad thing]]. Sakuyamon has one of the most beautiful evolution sequences ever.
26** Deliberately invoked with the D-Reaper to show how alien it is and how it really doesn't fit in either the digital or real worlds.
27* AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: Unlike most of the main characters, Takato's first name is not changed in the dub. It's just pronounced with accent on the second syllable instead of the first.[[note]]Except for one utterance by Kazu in the second episode.[[/note]]
28* AccidentalKiss: Hirokazu and Kenta have one that is cut from the dub.
29* ActorAllusion:
30** Possibly to Creator/BridgetHoffman, the voice actress for Juri, also worked on another Chiaki J. Konaka production, voicing the [[Anime/SerialExperimentsLain eponymous Lain]]. Definitely in the case of Creator/YokoAsada, who voiced Juri in ''Tamers'' and Alice in ''Lain''.
31** The German voice actor of Makuramon is Tommy Morgenstern, best known for voicing Son Goku in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. Makuramon is the monkey Deva, Goku is a Saiyajin (some kind of monkey HumanAliens) and both characters are inspired by Sun Wukong from ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest''.
32** Similar goes to Makuramon's seiyuu Creator/RyoHorikawa who voices Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyajin.
33* AdaptationalHeroism: Diablomon, [=MetalSeadramon=] and Mugendramon all respond to the Four Holy Beasts' call to protect the Digital World from the true enemy.
34* AdultsAreUseless: Subverted. The kids are still on the frontline of battle, but if it weren't for help of the adults of this series serving actively as mission control, the kids wouldn't have made it half as far as they did.
35* AliceAllusion: Alice [=McCoy=], the mysterious, possibly dead DeusExMachina. She's also a blonde goth-girl, for extra points. Writer Chiaki J. Konaka [[Anime/SerialExperimentsLain favours]] this trope.
36* AIIsACrapshoot: Averted by the Digimon themselves. Though they've gone far beyond their original programming, the sentient ones are subject to RousseauWasRight and tend to either be good or [[WellIntentionedExtremist act for understandable reasons]]. [[spoiler: The BigBad is an inversion, adhering strictly to its original purpose with nihilistic glee.]]
37* AlienSky: In ''Tamers'', the digital world is a largely barren desert wasteland, but in the sky above the iconic "real world sphere" looms overhead.
38* AllChinesePeopleKnowKungFu: Henry is half Chinese, and he's studying Tai Chi. His father also knows it, and uses it to effortlessly knock out a couple of Hypnos guards when getting out of the building.
39* 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.]]
40** There is one exception, though. Vajramon is revived for no apparent reason after he is destroyed the first time, though he stays dead the second time.
41* AllForNothing: Taking into account [[VideoGame/DigimonWonderSwanSeries Ryo's backstory]], the ending becomes an example of this trope. Since [[spoiler: Cyberdramon was separated from Ryo and there isn't any way to get back into the digital world,[[note]]The hole in the last episode is canonically too weak to do more than send letters through.[[/note]]]] it is extremely likely that [[spoiler: without Ryo to reign him in]] he'll rampage and evolve into his mega form: [[spoiler: [[PhysicalGod Zeed]][[MultidimensionalConquerer Milleniummon]]]]. [[spoiler: [[DownerEnding Unleashing an infinitely greater threat than the D-Reaper and rendering the heroes' sacrifice completely pointless.]]]]
42* AllThereInTheManual:
43** If you accept the producer's claims that the Ryo of Tamers is also the protagonist of the VideoGame/DigimonWonderSwanSeries, you'll need to be familiar with that series to understand Ryo (and even then you'd need to know about it to get the MythologyGag).
44** Furthermore, Chiaki Konaka's website explains virtually everything that went on over the course of the series.
45** Then there's Chiaki Konaka's short story, ''Anime/DigimonTamers 1984'', a quick little bit about the team that created the Digimon.
46* AlternativeForeignThemeSong:
47** The American version uses a remixed version of the rap of the first two seasons.
48** The Korean dub composed its own theme song rather than translate the Japanese theme song. Averted with the dub of "Runaway Digimon Express" which did use a translation of the Japanese theme.
49** Initially the Greek dub again reused their translation of "Butterfly" from their dub of ''Adventure'', but this time, muted the lyrics out of the second half of the song that referenced the chosen children from that season. Later averted when they used a translation of the Japanese theme song.
50* AndThenWhat: The question any Digimon partner who tries to strike out on their own eventually comes to -- first Renamon, and then Beelzemon.
51* AngelsDevilsAndSquid: This features notably in the finale. [[spoiler: The three most powerful entities during the climax are Gallantmon: Crimson Mode, Beelzemon: Blast Mode, and the D-Reaper]].
52* AnimalMotifs: The three key {{Mons}} take their influence from real-life animals (lizard, dog, fox), while the twelve Devas are based on the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The four Sovereigns are also based on [[TheFourGods the animals of the Four Symbols in Chinese astrology]]: vermillion bird of the south; black tortoise of the north; blue dragon of the east; and white tiger of the west.
53* AnimationBump:
54** The StockFootage {{Transformation Sequence}}s from Rookie to Champion, and Taomon and Sakuyamon's sequences.
55** Episodes 30, 38, 44 and especially the Tamers' first movie (Battle of Adventurer's) were all supervised by Naoyoshi Yamamuro and feature some of the best animation on this series. He also supervised the animation of the ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'' movie.
56* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: The D-Reaper will cause a Class 5 or 6, both on the Real World and the Digital World.]]
57** [[spoiler: The D-Reaper has already caused either a Class 1 or 2 in the Digital World, where it's reported that at least 60% of the Digimon in it were killed.]]
58* {{Arc Word|s}}: "Destiny" is used a lot after (and right before) [[spoiler:Leomon's death]]. It applies to not just Jeri's situation, but Calumon as well as he realizes his true nature.
59* ArrogantKungFuGirl: Rika doesn't see Digimon as living creatures, just [[AttackAnimal tools for fighting]]. She quickly grows out of this.
60* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Clockmon constantly lives this trope (in the dub).
61--> '''Clockmon:''' (To Renamon) That's why Megadramon is interested in your data. He's a scoundrel, he's a beast, well he's not all that bad.
62* AscendedExtra:
63** Riley, one of the two virtually interchangeable Hypnos operators is revealed to be Yamaki's live-in girlfriend halfway through the series. Chiaki Konaka [[WordOfGod has stated]] that he took the writing staff completely by surprise when he revealed Riley was Yamaki's girlfriend.
64** Kazu and Kenta, who start out as two [[MuggleBestFriend Muggle Best Friends]], unexpectedly join the gang when they enter the digital world and [[spoiler:eventually get Digimon partners]].
65** Jeri's [[DayInTheLimelight first especially important role]] wasn't until the twenty-first episode. After that, she becomes much more involved in the overall plot.
66* AscendedFanboy: Most of the cast. Guilmon was born from Takato's fanart, Rika is known for her ''Digimon'' TradingCardGame prowess, Henry had a computer game, Kazu and Kenta played the card game with Takato every morning before school. Even Jeri becomes a fan despite her initial disinterest in the card game.
67** Sadly, [[GoneHorriblyWrong things don't work like in their shows]].
68* TheAtoner:
69** Impmon, [[spoiler:after killing Leomon]], spends the last quarter of the series trying [[spoiler:and failing]] to do the right thing by helping [[spoiler:Jeri. She forgives him in the end]].
70** [[spoiler:Yamaki]] starts out insisting that Digimon are [[FantasticRacism dangerous data anomalies that need to be deleted]] lest they cause irreparable harm to the real world, later specifically citing the Tamers as troublemakers since Digimon, both good and evil, were far too dangerous to be left in the hands of children. After [[spoiler:getting fired and having his building collapse around him]], he finally rethinks his position and spends a fair bit of time trying to make up for the fact that his obsession with deleting Digimon from the real world may have done far more harm than good—in fact, it may have been his messing around that [[spoiler:let most of the dangerous ones in in the first place]]. He even repeatedly defends the Tamers and insists that others trust them to handle a problem. [[spoiler:He coordinates efforts to defeat the BigBad in the end]].
71* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Various Digimon (both good and bad) and several of the [[spoiler:D-Reaper]]'s agents fall into this category. Vikaralamon is one of the biggest enemies to attack.
72* AudienceSurrogate: Takato is designed to be like this.
73* BadassAdorable: Guilmon and Terriermon.
74** All the main kids, pretty much. They vary both in cuteness and level of badassery, but they all count.
75* BadassLongcoat: Rika's EstablishingCharacterMoment in Takato's dream famously features her in a trenchcoat. She's never actually seen in this coat when Takato is conscious.
76* BaitAndSwitchCredits: it [[SpoilerOpening is actually quite accurate]] to what occurs in the show. So what's missing? Kenta doesn't appear in the first version, but a hundred random kids with Digivices and Digimon partners do. Ultimately, Ai and Mako get a Digimon of their own, while they don't appear in the updated opening either.
77* BarbieDollAnatomy: The Biomerged Megas are piloted by the their respective Tamers, who appear nude but featureless within them. The original Japanese version succeeded in GettingCrapPastTheRadar by averting this trope with a couple of FreezeFrameBonus shots during certain evolution sequences.
78* BecauseDestinySaysSo:
79** In the English dub, invoked by Jeri on becoming Leomon's partner.
80--> '''Takato:''' Hey Jeri! Are you sure he's your partner?!
81--> '''Jeri:''' Yes!
82--> '''Takato:''' How come?!
83--> '''Jeri:''' 'Cause it's DESTINY!
84--> '''Takato:''' OK, thanks!
85--> '''Jeri:''' You can't escape destiny Mr. Leomon!
86** Becomes a really painful IronicEcho [[spoiler:after Leomon is killed and Jeri is left broken and in the thrall of the D-Reaper]].
87---> Destiny... destiny... destiny...
88* TheBerserker:
89** Cyberdramon pretty much all of the time, which is why Ryo keeps a tight leash on him.
90** Terriermon during his first evolution to Gargomon.
91** Also Megidramon.
92* BewareMyStingerTail: Mihiramon's Armor Tiger Tail attack.
93* BewareTheNiceOnes: Sweet little Takato might just make it up there on your list of the nicest, most sensitive kids you've ever had the pleasure of meeting... but if you manage to piss him off, you run the risk of him [[spoiler:''DISINTEGRATING THE UNIVERSE'']].
94* BigDamnHeroes:
95** [[spoiler:Kazu and Kenta]] of all people in the final episode.
96** Also Beelzemon immediately after his [[HeelFaceTurn transformation to Blast Mode]].
97* BigFancyHouse: Rika lives in a large, traditional Japanese-styled home.
98* BirthdayEpisode: Run Away Locomon is set on Rika's birthday. She finds out about and bemoans Jeri throwing her a surprise party from Takato. The movie essentially boils down to the Tamers going to Rika's house for the party and dealing with said Locomon on the way. Rika's DisappearedDad issues are used against her by the Parasimon to control her and attack Takato. She does make it to the party in the end, but she's pretty much the only one not enjoying herself.
99* BishonenLine:
100** Guilmon is a straight example, with his normal evolution line getting bigger and more fearsome until he makes the jump to the humanoid Gallantmon at the start of the final act.
101** Renamon plays with this by literally sliding back and forth along the SlidingScaleOfAnthropomorphism. Renamon starts at the FunnyAnimal level, evolves into the TalkingAnimal Kyuubimon, then the BeastMan Taomon, and finally the fully humanoid Sakuyamon.
102** Downplayed with Impmon, who jumps from a midget CartoonCreature to the overtly humanoid Beelzebumon.
103** Inverted with Andromon, who starts off with a largely humanoid appearance, but reverts to the heftier, stumpier Guardromon and stays at that level for the rest of the series.
104** Also Downplayed with Terriermon's evolutionary line, which gains more and more cyborg armaments when evolving to Gargomon and Rapidmon; [=MegaGargomon=], on the other hand, gets [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking to show off his face and hands]].
105* BitchInSheepsClothing: Subverted by [[spoiler: Jijimon and Babamon]]. In a world where is said that "only the strongest survive", it's ''obvious'' that the nice old couple — who warmly welcome the Tamers in their house, offering food and bed — will just try to kill them at some point. Except that the couple is honestly nice, and sincerely enjoyed the strangers visit.
106** Worth noting that the moment we discover this is [[spoiler: when Kazu and Kenta are freaked out about the possibility of the Mons being actually evil, and then go on peeping the couple reminiscing about their day with the Tamers]].
107* BittersweetEnding: While the world is saved in the end, the series would have a pure DownerEnding if not for the HopeSpot at the last minute.
108** In the anime, [[spoiler:the DeusExMachina that Hypnos and the Monster Makers put together successfully destroys the D-Reaper, but also forces the Digimon to return to the Digital World as well, leaving the children sobbing and Henry demanding answers from his distraught father. After the world returns to normal, Takato discovers a digital world portal in Guilmon's shed]].
109** In the manhwa adaptation, [[spoiler: the story ends with the disappearance of the digimon, and there is no mention of any portal for Takato to discover]]. The best Takato can say is that he'll never forget the experience.
110** The CD Dramas set after the series decide to YankTheDogsChain by implementing a HappyEndingOverride [[spoiler:in which the portal Takato discovered was sealed in with concrete and the matter abandoned]].
111* BloodlessCarnage: There isn't a single drop of blood on this series, making it [[SarcasmMode suitable for 7-year-old children]] and above. Averted for the second movie, where many Digimon are stabbed in the eye and ooze green blood.
112* BloodKnight: Cyberdramon, who seethes with violence and occasionally has to be restrained by Ryo.
113-->"Are you my enemy?"
114* BoisterousBruiser: Terriermon is a midget CartoonCreature with plenty of sass to go around.
115* BookEnds: [[spoiler:One of the first things Beelzemon does after Digivolving from Impmon is slaughter a group of Chrysalimon. At the end of the Digital World arc, another group of them pile onto a guilt-ridden and repenting Beelzemon, draining him of his energy until he's back in Rookie form.]]
116* {{Bowdlerization}}: Surprisingly rare, but there if you look.
117** While the dub was allowed to keep the shots of the Tamers within the Biomerged digimon, it some of the imagery during the evolution sequences was removed.
118** The Disney adaptation of ''Runaway Locomon'' skips over the part where Gallantmon stabs Parasimon [[EyeScream in the eye]]... but, since the last act of the movie is basically the [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence mass slaughter]] of invading Parasimon after Parasimon, certain hands [[SubvertedTrope appear to have been tied]].
119* BrattyHalfPint: Usually the smaller a Digimon is, the more obnoxious it is (Terriermon and Impmon being huge examples). On the human side; Ai and Mako before their character development, and Suzie has one moment in episode 37 that nearly causes Henry to smack her.
120* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:Jeri, meticulously and horribly.]]
121* BridgeBunnies: Riley and Tally, who operate most of Hypnos' central machinery and give status updates to their boss Yamaki.
122* BrokenMasquerade: Hypnos tries to be an enforced WeirdnessCensor, trying to keep the existence of Digimon out of the public sphere (by killing them on sight). Post-Vikaralamon, however, the Masquerade hasn't just been broken, it's been crushed into a billion pieces under a boar the size of a football field. Contrary to Yamaki's fears, however, once the existence of Digimon becomes public knowledge, people adjust to them fairly quickly.
123* ByThePowerOfGreyskull: "Biomerge Activate!"[=/=]"Matrix Evolution!"
124* CallBack: [[Anime/DigimonAdventure02 "Here We Go"]] is on Rika's Platform/MP3 player in the dub. [[Anime/DigimonAdventure "Bolero"]] also happens to be Riley's ringtone.
125* CanonDiscontinuity: Averted. The second movie "Runaway Digimon Express", set after the series' ending, was written without consultation of the series' writing staff, and head writer Chiaki J. Konaka later helped produce CD Dramas also set after the series in which the second movie never happened. This has not actually removed the second movie from canonicity so much as created a diverging timeline.
126* CanonImmigrant: Ryo Akiyama rarely appears in the Adventure universe (not counting the games) but is very important to the story. He literally immigrated to the Tamers universe in Brave Tamer.
127* CarFu: Attempted by Jeri's dad against the [[spoiler:D-Reaper]]. [[TheJuggernaut It doesn't work.]]
128* {{Catchphrase}}:
129** All together now -- [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIgv6PU-MWk "Moumantai!"]]
130** "Aw, nuts!"
131** "Walk all over him/her/it."
132* CastingGag:
133** In the English dub, 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.
134** Makuramon, a divine Chinese monkey Digimon, is played by none other than Creator/RyoHorikawa, the Japanese voice talent for [[Franchise/DragonBall Vegeta]] (who rivaled Goku, the trope-codifying MonkeyKingLite).
135** In both the Japanese and English versions, Terriermon and Leomon are voiced by the same actors as their ''Adventure'' counterparts (Aoi Tada and Creator/MonaMarshall for Terriermon and Creator/HiroakiHirata and Creator/PaulStPeter for Leomon).
136** 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.
137* CatSmile: Suzie, almost all the time.
138* CentralTheme:
139** [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman What is the line between fiction and reality?]]
140** Life's (whether natural or artificial) will to grow and live.
141** And lastly, is humanity ready to confront the consequences of their messing with technology, and the growing possibility of artificial intelligence going far beyond its initial tenets?
142* CerebusSyndrome: The contrast between the first time the Kids go to the Digital world filled of dreams and hope ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBwrAxFh-xM Set to upbeat Shonen music, no less]]) and the later episodes is appalling.
143* ChainOfPeople: When [[spoiler:Takato is chasing after the Ark]].
144* ChromaticArrangement: The song "3 Primary Colors" even references this.
145* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve:
146** This is ultimately revealed to be the basis of [[GreenRocks blue card technology]], which uses emotions and faith to make ideas real.
147** How Biomerging is first unlocked (in episode 35).
148* CoincidentalDodge: In Guilmon's first fight with Renamon, Renamon gains an ArmCannon from Ruki's card and aims it point-blank at a feral Guilmon's head--Guilmon nearly bites it for good when Takato's yelling causes him to snap back to his senses and turn his head just in time for Renamon to miss. The recoil sends Renamon flying.
149* ColorCodedCharacters: Takato and Guilmon are associated with the color red, Henry and Terriermon green, and Rika and Renamon blue; these colors dominate their digivolution sequences and are the color of their respective digivices. The remaining tamers also have specific colors attached to their own digivices.
150* ComicBooksAreReal: Digimon is a well-established franchise in this universe, with nearly all the kids being regular players of the card game, and Jian in particular owning a computer game. There are some strange ontological questions, however, such as how directly the ShowWithinAShow maps to the digital world.
151** Renamon, for example, arrived directly through a portal from the digital world, while Terriermon came to earth from a Digimon computer game. Culumon is introduced narrowly surviving a wild Maildramon when a [=MetalTyrannomon=] kills it, which directly mirrors a card game Takato ([=MetalTyrannomon=]) is playing with Hirokazu (Maildramon).
152* CommonalityConnection: Takato and Henry got along perfectly fine and avoided the RuleOfDrama, the only lead males in the Digimon franchise to do so. On a broader level, all the children were fans of Digimon.
153* ConspiracyTheorist: In "The Messenger", Professor Tetsuo Uchiharato. While being interviewed by the news, he reveals what he knows about Hypnos, and believes that the program was responsible for the [[spoiler:D-Reaper]] and Digimon. Unlike most Theorists, he's not overtly paranoid (though he should be, as he works at ''[[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Miskatonic University]]''), is creditable, backs up his reasoning, and is partly ''right''.
154* ContinuityNod: Several cards Takato and Lee use to assist their partners are throwbacks to Anime/DigimonAdventure and its sequel. Examples include a power up that summons [=WarGreymon=]'s shield and a card that by all intents and purposes is the Digimental of Fate
155* CoolTeacher: Averted with Miss Asaji, Takato's (''et al''.) teacher at school. She's lazy, barely motivated to teach, dozes off when she should be watching the kids on a school trip, and ([[ActorAllusion voice of Lara Jill Miller notwithstanding]]) is basically the opposite of Kari. In the original Japanese, it's an explicit character note of hers that she's doing the job ''because it looks good to the community'' and when the kids tell her they're going to the Digital World, she tries to stop them because it might reflect poorly on ''her''. She has enough of a change of heart at the end of the series to run out and cheer Takato on during the final arc.
156** This is lessened ''slightly'' in the English dub, where it shows on several occasions that [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold she does care about the kids]].
157* CorruptTheCutie: It's brief and temporary, but Takato's UnstoppableRage after [[spoiler:Leomon's death]] has ''very'' serious ramifications.
158* CosmicHorrorStory: Of the ([[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids debatably]]) kid-friendly variety.
159** CosmicHorrorReveal: The D-Reaper turned it into this.
160* CreatingLife: The Monster Makers' research project accidentally lead to the creation of true artificial lifeforms that later became known as Digimon. This comes back to bite them.
161** Takato wished for his own Digimon. The Digignomes were happy to oblige.
162* CruelTwistEnding: The BittersweetEnding can also come across as this, seeing as it was never really foreshadowed, apart from some ''extremely vague'' dialogue from Janyu that he has done something unforgivable.
163* CyberPunk: Most ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' series tend to focus on PostCyberpunk. ''Tamers'' is closer to the flip side of the 'punk spectrum, exploring traditional themes of the genre: A government conspiracy is conducting dangerous experiments and monitoring everything. Young people befriend [[AIIsACrapshoot otherwise-dangerous]] AIs, and do battle in the urban jungle. They end up opposing the conspiracy and other equally dangerous AIs. Society is on the edge of radical change, and questions about "How do we define life?" and "How do we respond [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters if that life turns out to be hostile?]]" arise. While it does still manage to maintain some of ''Adventure'''s themes of [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve "the power of belief can make things happen"]], ''Tamers'' is much more dark and cynical.
164* {{Cyberspace}}: Obviously.
165[[/folder]]
166[[folder:Tropes D to G]]
167* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: The reason [[spoiler:Jeri's father]] acts so distantly towards his daughter is because, after [[spoiler:her mother died]], he was forced to fill in the role of both parents for her and, try as he might, [[ParentsAsPeople he couldn't]]. By the time [[spoiler:he remarried]], the damage had already been done. That said, he does eventually realize his mistake. See MyGodWhatHaveIDone.
168* DamselInDistress: [[spoiler:Jeri]] in the third act. {{Justified}}, as she's only ten years old, and suffering an ''intense'' HeroicBSOD.
169* DamselOutOfDistress: Not entirely, but [[spoiler:Jeri ''does'' manage to break open the "Kernel" keeping her trapped inside the D-Reaper]]. Had she not done so, rescuing her would have likely been impossible.
170** Jeri also attempts to get Orochimon drunk when she's captured so she could escape. Unfortunately, he got stronger when drunk...but she does manage to finish the job by giving Leomon a power-up to kill Orochimon.
171* DarkerAndEdgier. You've got to wonder who thought it was a good idea to give a children's show to the scriptwriter of ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' and ''Series/UltramanGaia'', no matter how enthusiastic he was about the project. That said, with some influences from ''Gaia'', ''Tamers'', although very dark for a {{Mon}}s show, still had some general tones of a {{Kaiju}} show.
172** One small sign that this series was different from the others, especially in how it was adapted for English-speaking countries, eventually ballooning to its extreme existential themes: In shows that dealt with mature-for-its-audience topics, [[NeverSayDie nothing pertaining to death would be mentioned on the show]], instead opting to use euphemisims like "destroy" or "lead to demise" or other variations. In episode 6 of the English dub, after Renamon has defeated a rogue Digimon and absorbed its data, Takato explicitly calls out Rika for commanding Renamon to '''kill''' said Digimon.
173** The english dub Zigzags between being this and LighterAndSofter. On one hand the dub tries to follow in the footsteps of the previous two digimon dubs by having a script that [[GagDub inserts random jokes here and there]] and of course, there's censorship of things like alcohol or gratuitous explicit violence. But from the Beelzemon fight onward, the dub arguably manages to feel more dark and serious than its Japanese counterpart due to music choices: The Japanese version of the show usually inserts various Rock/Pop tunes into battle sequences which creates a certain mood of excitement and levity. The English version instead often went with an ominous and suspenseful symphony soundtrack, which completely changes the tone of the scenes.
174* 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. [[spoiler: And unfortunately, this plays a MASSIVE role in the endgame with Leomon’s death at Beelzemon’s hands and Jeri’s resultant depression and kidnapping]].
175* DeadpanSnarker: Renamon has a lot of sass, especially in the English dub.
176* DeathMeansHumanity: [[spoiler:Leomon's permanent death and the knowledge that AllDeathsAreFinal for the digimon makes everyone realize that despite their digital origins, the digimon aren't just digital characters or toys they can use for battle without consequence. Takato in particular has a HeroicBSOD in response and flies into an UnstoppableRage and RoaringRampageOfRevenge that has dire consequences.]]
177* {{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 Website/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.
178* DeconstructorFleet: ''Tamers'' tweaks or suspends many of the conventions previously established in ''Adventure'' and ''02''. Many of these modified tropes are DarkerAndEdgier, but not all of them.
179** "What if Digimon was real?" Well, for starters, they might not be pre-programmed to be loyal protectors. If they're like the original v-pets, they might be pre-programmed to fight and grow stronger to fight even more. So you might end up with violent monsters that don't always act in your best interest who want to grow as big and strong as possible.
180** In ''Digimon Adventure'', the partner digimon were programmed specifically to be connected to their respective human being; in ''Tamers'' the partnerships are voluntary. At one point, Ruki and Renamon have a falling out and Renamon goes solo for a time; Impmon, for his part, abandoned his tamers outright, a couple of brats who yanked him back and forth like a toy.
181** In prior stories, the majority of the Chosen Children were stable people who, while certainly having their own troubles and issues to work through, also still had the benefit of having friends who could help support them through their problems. Even Ken, probably the most morally complicated of the bunch due to his past as the Digimon Emperor/Kaiser, was still able to redeem himself and the destruction he caused could still be healed to an extent. In ''Tamers'' however, not only are each of the Tamers way in over their heads to varying degrees, but one of them (Juri) turns out to be ''[[StepfordSmiler very emotionally inbalanced]]'' and dependent on her Digimon partner Leomon in order to maintain any semblance of normality. When Leomon is murdered however, [[BreakTheCutie his poor choice of final words absolutely breaks her]], making her an easy target for the dangerous D-Reaper.
182** Unlike the protective urges of ''Adventure'''s partner digimon, the digimon in ''Tamers'' have a natural urge to fight, which becomes a problem for Terriermon when his partner Jianliang turns out to be an ActualPacifist.
183** The partner digimon of ''Adventure'' are all small and generally easy to hide or pretend away; in ''Tamers'', Guilmon is big and bulky, and too young to understand the wisdom of hiding. After a while, Takato gives up trying to hide him.
184** Digimon have been threatening to the real world before--Vamdemon took over all of Odaiba in ''Adventure'' and Archnemon and Mummymon kidnapped twenty children for Oikawa's use in ''02''--but ''Tamers'' is the first series to propose Digimon as a cause of brutal injury, as it does when the infant Guilmon burns a few rats to death on impulse.
185** In the world of ''Adventure'', partner digimon can be made to evolve quite conveniently in a crisis and the digimon can devolve at will. In ''Tamers'', nobody quite has the knack for evolution at will (not for Ruki's lack of trying), and even once a digimon evolves, it can't just automatically degrade to the next lowest stage. The built up energy has to be spent, first.
186** In the universe of ''Digimon Adventure'', to kill a digimon was to break it down to its most basic data fragments, which would disperse and later reassemble as a digiegg in Primary Village. There's no Primary Village in ''Digimon Tamers'', and any data fragments are usually consumed by the killer; you know, like ExperiencePoints.
187** As in ''Digimon Adventure'', there is mysterious organization involved directly with the digimon. Unlike ''Digimon Adventure'', it's a GovernmentConspiracy trying to exterminate them.
188** 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]] It's deconstructed even further in that because Yamaki is an adult, he has access to far more dangerous means of getting what he wants...which leads to far more disastrous consequences once he starts meddling in things he doesn't understand well enough because of his paranoia.
189** Like Ken before her, Ruki sees Digimon as a fighting game and like the v-pets tries to get Renamon to evolve by winning fights. But ''Tamers'' is not quite like the v-pets, so Ruki's LevelGrinding is entirely for naught. Not only is she ''not'' the first to Digivolve her partner (that would be Henry), the first thing the new Champion does is destroy a parking garage and [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace nearly shoot her in the face]].[[note]]Oh, Galgomon ''shoots'', alright. He just misses. By inches.[[/note]]
190** Even if the children who gain digimon partners all lived nearby like in ''Adventure'' and ''02'', they may not all be conveniently grouped, get their partners at the same time, or even be on the same side. In ''Tamers'', Jian and Ruki were tamers well before Takato, and Ruki wasn't particularly willing to reach out to them except perhaps for an easy kill against a weakling newbie.
191** In the ''Adventure'' universe, partner digimon evolved to the Adult stage with an ExtremeGraphicalRepresentation of downloading the needed data and transforming instantly; in ''Tamers'', a digimon's evolution was a strenuous if not PainfulTransformation--the digimon's skin peels right off and the wireframe beneath undergoes mutation in fits and spurts.
192** ''Adventure'' and especially ''02'' show partner digimon sneaking around to avoid notice by humans; in ''Tamers'', Impmon goes out of his way to cause a ruckus, even jumping from one car to another, and is confronted with armed police. In the last arc, the government sends in the Self-Defense Force in an attempt to deal with the D-Reaper.
193** ''Adventure'' and ''02'' were in the fantasy adventure genre, where the kids spend most of their time travelling through an eclectic wonderland. ''Tamers'' is sci-fi slice of life, where the kids spend most of their time in the real world; the digital world is a bizarre wasteland. ''Adventure'' and ''02'' had CosmicHorror elements, but these were mostly isolated and reserved for the finale; in ''Tamers'', the entire last arc is cosmic horror.
194** In ''Adventure'', the parents of the children learned about digimon partners in the middle of a greater ongoing crisis, so they had more to worry about than just the partner digimon. In ''Tamers'', the parents learn of digimon partners in times of relative peace, which makes them all the more startling and scary.
195** In ''02'' all visits to the digital world were temporary, and in ''Adventure'' the kids were trying to return home before they were officially appointed to their mission. In ''Tamers'', Ryo left the real world a year ago and has no desire to return; besides, his partner Cyberdramon is too dangerous and violent to really stay in the real world.
196** The mysterious man who the children meet in the digital world is not an arbitrarily human-shaped native of AnotherDimension. [[spoiler:He's a real human being in a coma]].
197** 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 and were far more willing to resort to morally dubious methods to ensure the safety of their realm...even at the expense of the human world.
198** In ''Adventure'' and ''02'' fights in the real world didn't generally cause much damage to the environment; in ''Tamers'' they definitely TrashTheSet--an entire overpass is destroyed in the fight with Devidramon and the fight with Vikaralamon levels a good chunk of the city.
199** In ''02'', Wallace was uncommonly blessed with two digimon partners, a pair of very close siblings; Impmon of ''Tamers'' began with two human partners, a pair of siblings who cannot share for the life of them.
200** In ''Adventure'', Tailmon spent most of the show with no partner and was trained specifically to be a strong and ruthless killer only to complete a HeelFaceTurn [[spoiler:once her best friend was murdered]]. In ''Tamers'', Impmon spends most of the show with no partners and desperately ''wants'' to be a strong and ruthless killer... only to have a HeelFaceTurn [[spoiler:after he murders someone else and his own life is spared]].
201** In the world of ''Adventure'', there are eldritch powers and fantastic locations at work independent of the digital world and its inhabitants. In ''Tamers'', there's really only the Digimon AI and the BlackBox ''entelecheia'' that brought them to life--the eldritch stuff in ''Tamers'' happens when that ''entelecheia'' software interacts with programming less advanced than the Digimon AI, which is how you get yourself a D-Reaper.
202* DeconReconSwitch: The show does work to deconstruct many of the tropes in the previous two Digimon series, such as showing the brutality of owning a {{Main/Kaiju}} as a pet and sending ten year olds to save the world, and yet it still revels in ThePowerOfFriendship, HotBlooded characters, and most of the antagonists have several shades of gray to them.
203* {{Defictionalization}}:
204** While for the most part, the cards that the Tamers use in the anime correspond to actual cards in the Japanese card game, there are some original ones. Those cards were then released in an anime-based booster for the card game.
205** Inverted with the digimon in-universe; officially, Digimon were around in the 1980s, long before they became a franchise.
206* {{Determinator}}: Eh.... let's just go with everybody.
207* DeusExMachina:
208** When Growlmon first evolved, he was unable to de-digivolve for reasons that were never explained or looked into. What finally allows him to return to Guilmon form appears to have been some mixture of Takato's InelegantBlubbering and a rainbow.
209** When the Tamers return to Earth, they lose the ability to biomerge with their digimon partners. The solution to this problem is delivered by a girl named [[AliceAllusion Alice]] and her partner Dobermon, messengers from TheFourGods, who pop out of nowhere and deliver the sovereigns gift--the power to Biomerge in the real world-- to the Tamers.
210** Not only did Ryo get the ability to biomerge offscreen, he gained the ability to biomerge in the real world at the same time, despite his absence during Alice and Dobermon's appearance.
211** While the D-arcs are modified toy scanners, the series also gives them the ability to scan fanart for data as well, like when Guilmon was born from Takato's drawing and Hirokazu's handmade blue card was able to be successfully scanned and help Growlmon evolve to [=WarGrowlmon=].
212* DiabolusExMachina: Growlmon's complete inability to devolve in "Not as Seen on TV", which has no explanation.
213* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Henry and Terriermon, [[spoiler:as [=MegaGargomon=]]], beat the ever-loving daylights out of [[PhysicalGod Zhuqiaomon]] with their bare hands.
214* DiscontinuityNod: As it says under CanonDiscontinuity, ''Message in the Packet'' retconned the movie. However, [[note]]Because the series head writer liked the ideas put forth in the second movie though he outright said that this wasn't the reason why Rika was so cold at the beginning of the series.[[/note]] there's a brief scene of Rika humming the same song she sings at the movie's climax.
215* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
216** In the midst of his struggles to get a freshly-evolved Growlmon back down to the child-stage Guilmon in episode 9, Takato encounters Juri and ends up asking for her advice by mentioning IHaveThisFriend. While his awkward explanation convinces Juri he's having romantic problems with an older girl, the specific language also makes it sound like he has [[https://i.imgur.com/bdPw23C.jpg certain issues with puberty]].
217** When Sakuyamon gives her powers to Justimon to fight the Reaper, she loses her armor and ends up in nothing but her SensualSpandex, while Justimon's LaserBlade grows to twice its size. Subtle.
218* DramaticIrony: [[spoiler:Takato summons up the courage to give Jeri an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove in episode 41, not knowing that it's not really her.]]
219* DubInducedPlotHole:
220** In episode 18, Riley was on the phone apparently turning down a date offer because of work. Though, in episode 24, it's revealed she is Yamaki's girlfriend.
221** "Destiny" became an {{Arc Word|s}} for Jeri during the final act of the series, though the dub missed the actual transition by changing Leomon's dialogue [[spoiler:as he died]], breaking the chain of continuity leading to when Jeri started fixating on the concept (to be fair, the dub had Leomon briefly mention destiny in an earlier episode). In a stroke of luck, the dub's version of Jeri's first meeting with Leomon adds even more resonance to the arc word by having Jeri insist, "It's destiny!" when Takato asked her why she was so convinced she and Leomon were partners, in some ways letting "destiny" overshadow the whole of her relationship with Leomon.
222** In the original Japanese version, the Biomerged Megas only speak with their own voice, which leads to some mystery regarding Takato's disappearance when Dukemon first appeared and Justimon's identity during the latter's debut. In the dub, the Biomerged Megas speaking with the voices of both the Digimon and Tamer, which rather spoils the mystery. (Admittedly in Takato's case it's a matter of DramaticIrony, as the evolution sequence clearly indicates Takato is present within Dukemon).
223** In "Runaway Digimon Express", Ruki has problems trusting ''adults'' -- she's upset that her family is in on her not-so-surprise party before she is, her mother Rumiko is carrying what is heavily implied to be a present for her, the instant Yamaki calls her she passes her phone off wordlessly to Takato, she later declares she doesn't trust adults, and then there's her quite conspicuous Flashback about [[DisappearedDad another certain adult]] to make suggestions about all of this. "Runaway Locomon" changes her dialogue to be that she mistrusts Yamaki specifically, making it look more like ArbitrarySkepticism.[[note]]To be fair, the last time she trusted Yamaki and his allies, she lost her partner.[[/note]]
224* DubSpeciesChange: While Terriermon's evolution line always had dog AnimalMotifs[[note]]"Terrier" and "Galgo" are breeds of hunting dog[[/note]], the trend didn't become obvious until the debut of the overtly dog-faced [=MegaGargomon=].\
225\
226The English dub, mistakenly judging from the fact that Terriermon's evolutions are mostly long-earned {{Cartoon Creature}}s[[note]]Which would invite obvious comparisons to rabbits even before considering Terriermon's counterpart Lopmon, whose evolutionary line is overtly rabbit-themed.[[/note]], referred to Terriermon as a rabbit, though it may have lampshaded the ambiguity at least once by calling him a 'dog-eared bunny'.
227* {{Dubtext}}: In the original version Ruki is ten years old to her mother's twenty-eight, which would be unusual enough, but the dub version of Tamers, [[AllThereInTheManual or at least related official materials from Fox]], bumped the main cast's ages up by three, making Ruki ''thirteen'' years old to her mother's twenty-eight.
228* EasternZodiac: The Devas are twelve antagonistic Digimon, each representing an animal from the eastern zodiac, but are named for warriors from Sanskrit legend. [[spoiler: The rabbit Deva, Antylamon, became the partner of Henry's little sister after devolving into Lopmon]].
229* EldritchAbomination: The [[spoiler:D-Reaper]] is a digital version of this, being a data clean-up program gone [[BlueAndOrangeMorality horribly,]] [[LackOfEmpathy horribly]] [[MindRape wrong]].
230** EldritchLocation: The [[spoiler:D-Reaper]] eventually becomes so massive that it engulfs an entire city block.
231* TheEndOrIsIt: In the final episode, it appears that the kids will be [[spoiler:permanently separated from their Digimon]].The appearance of a red light in a gazebo for the last few seconds at first suggests that there may be a way to change this, [[spoiler:but when they analyze it, they find it too small and not powerful enough to enable the Tamers and their partners to reunite.]]
232* EvolvingCredits: The Japanese opening changes to reveal who the shadowed figures are as they are revealed in the show. The English opening subverts this by consistency using the first version of the crowd shot.
233* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: Generally averted. For example, Takato has an ImagineSpot in episode 8 of the police shooting Guilmon.
234** Beelzemon's weapons don't look that real but quite clearly fire real bullets. Well, except for his Death Slinger, but then again [[spoiler:it's an upgraded form of a toy ray gun given to him by Makoto]].
235** Another shot features police officers with realistic looking guns, but dialogue was added stating that they were not loaded. [[UsefulNotes/KaijuDefenseForce Japanese Self-Defense Force]] soldiers can be seen later on armed with assault rifles (specifically the Howa Type 89 used by the real-life JSDF), but are never shown firing them on-screen.
236* FantasyForbiddingFather: Inverted. Janyuu Wong is perfectly fine with his son having such a big attachment to the ''Digimon'' franchise, right up until [[BrokenMasquerade Impmon takes a shotgun to the Masquerade right in front of his face]], after which he goes running to Hypnos offering to help Yamaki fight back against the monsters. This causes tension between him and his son.
237* FastTunnelling:
238** In Episode 17, Takato used the Steel Drill/Digmon's Drill card to equip Guilmon with one on each hand to quickly get to the enemy below.
239** After the fight with Vikaralamon, the Tamers escape approaching cops before they can arrive in the midst of the wreckage. [=MegaloGrowmon=]'s method of escape is to use his mechanical arms to excavate a tunnel big enough for him to move through, which he does in mere seconds.
240* {{Foil}}: If one thinks about it, Impmon serves as a either a reflection or inversion to nearly every other major character in ''Tamers'' to some capacity, whether they interact or not.
241** Takato - they both lose control of themselves in dark feelings of wanting others to suffer, and create destructive monsters as a result (Megidramon and Beelzemon, respectively)
242** Renamon/Rika - They all held misguided ideas about what it meant to be strong and saw fighting as the only thing that made life worth it, only to realize later that it just leaves them feeling empty and alone.
243** Henry - they both struggled to assert themselves amongst their peers (siblings for Henry, other digimon for Impmon) that culminates in them hurting someone, and their worldviews change greatly thereafter.
244** Jeri - they both deal with loneliness, lack of self worth, and later feelings of guilt, and it takes time for them to realize other people care about them. Although while Impmon mostly externalizes his problems, Jeri directs her negativity inward.
245** Yamaki - they both think they have more power and control than they actually do, and make decisions without regard for how they might affect anyone else only for it to blow up in their face. They become allies to the tamers after seeing the error of their ways.
246** The D-Reaper - both are entities that go FromNobodyToNightmare and end up having way too much power for their own good, absorbing and assimilating what they mindlessly destroy and becoming more monstrous as a result. But the D-Reaper is emotionless and can only do what it was programmed to. Impmon has a conscience and learns from his mistakes.
247** Calumon - they both serve as mascots for ''Tamers'', have green eyes, and have white, purple, and red as part of their color scheme, but while Calumon is childlike and innocent, Impmon's got the personality of an angsty rebellious teenager.
248* {{Foreshadowing}}: Lots of it. Tamers has a lot of moments in the first half of the story that end up becoming relevant later.
249** Takato at one point designs and then scratches out a monstrous looking new digivolution for Guilmon, and then starts worrying about the possibility of Guilmon digivolving into something dangerous.
250** Takato and Guilmon have a conversation about Guilmon one day Digivolving and becoming a different Digimon. Guilmon assures him that will never happen because he will always be the same Digimon in the inside. Takato even says he wishes he could Digivolve in the same conversation...
251** Many of Jeri's scenes and dialog take on new meaning if one knows in advance [[spoiler:that Leomon dies and there's an impending BreakTheCutie session]]; even the end of Leomon's debut episode ends with Jeri in misery and indicates emotional weaknesses that are just waiting to be exploited.
252** Not long after the Tamers arrive in the digital world, Makuramon and Majiramon are shown flying towards the real world sphere within a column of fire. [[spoiler:Their lord, Zhuqiaomon, has mastery over fire]].
253** Gee, Takato sure seems to stress about the possibility of [[spoiler:losing Guilmon forever]] a lot, doesn't he...?
254* TheFourGods: The Digimon Sovereigns are based on them.
255%% * FreudianTrio:
256%% ** Rika as [[TheMcCoy the coolheaded Id]], Henry as [[TheSpock Superego]], Takato as [[TheKirk Ego]].
257%%** The Digimon partners also fit this trope with Renamon as the Data type and Superego, Terriermon being Vaccine and Id, and Guilmon being Virus and Ego.
258* FriendlessnessInsult: In the English dub, Mitsuo Yamaki dismisses Takato's protest that Digimon are sentient and can have friends by coldly commenting that Guilmon, as a Digimon, is [[FantasticRacism "nothing more than a dangerous, artificial life-form"]].
259* FriendsRentControl: The show avoids this trope most of the time, but Jenrya/Henry's house is a little harder to justify; he has a bunch of siblings and his parents’ jobs (never explicitly explained, though WordOfGod states they are a computer programmer and a graphic designer, respectively) don’t seem like they would be able to afford the enormous apartment he lives in.
260* FriendlyTickleTorture: Growlmon gets tickled while being painted in an attempt to hide him. Terriermon also tickles Guilmon during a flashback in episode 16, and in episode 5 this happens to Calumon when Guilmon is sniffing him.
261* FrothyMugsOfWater: All references to alcohol in {{Orochi}}mon's episode were removed from the US dub; instead of being deliberately supplied with too much ''sake'' he's defeated with "warm milkshakes" instead (which Jeri is used to serving at her parents' restaurant and which has a scent that Jeri and Rika recognize at a distance), and Orochimon's special move Sake Breath is instead called "Inferno Blast".
262* FullBoarAction: Vikaralamon, as one of the EasternZodiac-themed Devas representing the pig.
263* FusionDance:
264** Takato, Henry, Rika and Ryo all merge with their partners when it comes to Ultimate level.
265** Gallantmon merges with Grani in the penultimate episode to become Gallantmon Crimson Mode.
266* GenreSavvy: Deconstructed. Most of the main characters all have experience with the card and video games, and have varying expectations of how things are meant to go when it comes to taming Digimon. Which turns out to be a [[WrongGenreSavvy lot harder than they ever could've imagined]].
267** This is lampshaded with the dub episode title "Not As Seen on TV".
268** Tamers treats ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' and ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' as a ShowWithinAShow. The protagonists of ''Adventure'' never had to worry about de-Digivolving their Digimon for example, but in the first story arc of ''Tamers'', it's a recurring problem. Also, Rika [[IdiotBall must already know]] that ThePowerOfLove is needed to Digivolve, but still has to learn this personally.
269* GenreShift: The show starts out as a SliceOfLife with {{Mons}} and becomes a PostCyberPunk {{Kaiju}} CosmicHorrorStory.
270* GentleGiant:
271** [[NotZilla Growlmon]], at least after his fight with Devidramon.
272** Also, Antylamon the Rabbit Deva. In the episode where he/she first appeared, [[spoiler:she played with Henry's kid sister, Suzie. Heck, she even defended her from Makuramon, the Monkey Deva. As a result, Antylamon was stripped of a large portion of her power and dedigivolved to Lopmon, and Suzie was made her Tamer.]]
273* GogglesDoNothing: Takato, of course. Subverted when he really does use them underwater a couple of times, as well as when he enters a digital field (which manifests as a cloud of fog). Henry and Rika usually wear sunglasses to enter digital fields, so it's not just him.
274* GoldColoredSuperiority: Takato's red digivice is destroyed, but his replacement is gold. His and his partner's SuperMode, Gallantmon Crimson Mode, does stick with traditional red, though.
275* GoneHorriblyRight: When Takato, in a fit of rage, orders Guilmon to evolve to Mega, he does exactly that. [[EldritchAbomination Completely understandably]], Takato regrets it almost immediately.
276** All [[spoiler:the D-Reaper]] was supposed to do was delete information that fell under a certain criteria. The only problem was that [[spoiler:the human race ended up falling under that same criteria]].
277* GoodParents: For most of the main characters. Even [[spoiler: Jeri's dad, who told her to find her own way home since she left on her own, breaks down when he sees what's happened to her and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizes his part in it]].]]
278* GoryDiscretionShot: In episode 14, after Growlmon's arm gets bitten by Mihiramon. Takato, who has started to experience Growlmon's pain, passes out and experiences a trippy sequence where he talks to Growlmon. The moment is to encourage both of them to stand and fight, but Growlmon's arm and half of his face are obscured in shadow, and are heavily implied to have been badly mangled.
279** The most common edits in the english dub broadcast version are this, presumably in order to keep the rating appropriate for kids. Examples can be seen as early as the first episode when the camera pans out before a Digimon get ''crushed alive''. Most close up shots of digimon getting directly impacted or injured are either spliced out, or out of focus, such as the scenes where Renamon rips holes in enemy digimon with tiny white shards. Other examples include episode 19 having about half of the sequence of Impmon being gratuitously beaten to a pulp in a CurbStompBattle snipped out, and the audience is also spared from the sight of military personnel getting [[CruelAndUnusualDeath sickled by]] the [[spoiler: D-Reaper]]'s agents. Naturally, this makes the few times that the series averts this and shows the violence in all its glory, (like episodes [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice 34]] and [[YourHeadAsplode 35]]) especially memorable.
280* GoshDangItToHeck:
281** Gallantmon got a moment in the dub before soaring off to help free Jeri from the Kernel Sphere. It would have been pretty badass if he hadn't said it in ''Guilmon's voice'':
282---> '''Dukemon[=/=]Gallantmon:''' [[Film/{{Network}} We're mad as heck, and we're not going to take it anymore!]]
283** Beelzemon had a {{downplayed|trope}} PrecisionFStrike version in the same episode
284---> '''Beelzemon:''' I'm gonna get you outta here, Jeri, if it's the last thing I ''freakin''' do!
285** Impmon/Beelzemon in general has dialogue in the dub that is frequently peppered with G-rated stand-ins for swearing, as part of his BrooklynRage characterization.
286* GratuitousEnglish: In Japanese, most of the Digimon shout out their attack names in English, with Renamon and all her (digi-)evolutions being the exception to this.
287* GreenRocks:
288** The blue cards, which can be used to create d-arks, evolve digimon beyond champion, summon digital life forms into the real world, you name it. Ordinary cards can be transformed into blue cards when you ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve.
289** [=DigiGnomes=] have similarly vaguely-defined but powerful abilities, being essentially capricious genies.
290* GutPunch:
291** 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 frightening scenes--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.
292** 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.
293[[/folder]]
294[[folder:Tropes H to M]]
295* HairColorDissonance: Brown-haired Jeri is sometimes mistaken for a redhead.
296* HairTriggerTemper: Impmon is so tightly wound he actually ''[[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed sounds]]'' like ''Joe Pesci'', an actor famous for his pyrotechnics.
297* HarmlessVillain: Impmon tries really her ally hard, but he mostly just comes off as an annoyance at best, petty bully at worst. When he Digivolves into Beezlemon, he becomes a NotSoHarmlessVillain.
298* HeadCrushing:
299** Cyberdramon lifts Majiramon into the air with one hand and crushes his head with the other.
300** Majiramon meets his end when Beelzebumon grabs his head and crushes it in order to absorb his data.
301* TheHeartless: The J-Reaper (also called the ADR-01: Jeri Type or just “Evil Jeri”) is this to the D-Reaper, being both a seperate being and it’s first agent and part of it’s AI.
302* HeelFaceTurn: Several, but mostly notably [[spoiler:Beelzemon]] and [[spoiler:Yamaki]].
303* HellishPupils: Whenever Guilmon senses a Digimon or is fighting, his eyes do this. Also happens to ''Takato'' on the one occasion that he loses his temper. when [[spoiler:Beelzemon kills Leomon]]. Needless to say, he goes out of his mind with anger.
304* HeroicBSOD: Pretty much every major character has gone through at least one. In case you can't tell yet, it's [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids one of those kinds of shows]].
305** Special mention goes to Jeri, who plunges into a [[EmptyShell terribly depressing one]] after [[spoiler:losing her Digimon partner]], and doesn't make it out until the ''end of the series''.
306* HeterosexualLifePartners: Hirokazu and Kenta, to the point that the AccidentalKiss was almost superfluous.
307* HypocriticalHumour: Terriermon's reaction when someone else tells ''him'' to 'Moumentai'? "That's a really irritating thing to say!"
308* AnIcePerson: There are three cards used in this series that augment the Tamers' Digimon with ice powers. They are [=YukiAgumon=], [=MetalGarurumon=] and Yukidarumon, used by Ruki, Takato and Jianliang respectively.
309* IgnoranceIsBliss: Takato and his friends enjoy a relatively peaceful time in the beginning. An utter ignorance by their side, that there exists a [[spoiler: secret organization trying to wipe out their partners]], also the everliving nightmare that is the [[spoiler:D-Reaper]], and finally the harsh reality that [[spoiler: tamers would have to say farewell to their Digimon, once and for all.]]
310* IHaveThisFriend: When trying to ask Juri's advice about how to devolve a freshly-evolved Growmon while still keeping digimon a secret, Takato's awkward explanation leads Juri to think that Takato has a crush on a teenage or adult woman, prompting her to launch into [[ThinksLikeARomanceNovel largely useless romantic advice]].
311* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: The Tamers' fight with Beelzemon is initially this, with the kids and digimon desperately trying to get him to see reason and remember his time as the Impmon who played with them. That is, until it reaches its climax with Leomon. [[WarriorTherapist Leomon pleads with Beelzemon to realize he is being used and his reasons to fight for evil are meaningless]], but Beelzemon ends up [[spoiler:killing Leomon]]. Having crossed the MoralEventHorizon, the Tamers stop sympathizing for Beelzemon. It’s not until [[spoiler:Leomon’s partner Jeri]] convinces Takato to stop that they spare Beelzemon, and the latter begins to see the fault to his actions.
312* ImageSong: Three for each pairing (a solo by each partner and a duet) for a total of 24 songs from the eight ''Best Tamers'' [=CDs=], plus a whole bunch of others scattered through various discs.
313* ImagineSpot: Takato is prone to these.
314* TheImp: Impmon, naturally enough, starts out as this.
315* ImprobableAge: Lampshaded by Yamaki, ''Deconstructed'' in Impmon's case, and Justified in that Digimon is mostly played by children, so only they [[IWishItWereReal got the real ones]].
316* InterruptedSuicide: [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids How they got that scene to air is still anyone's guess...]]
317* IronicEcho: [[spoiler:Even in the dub, Jeri was talking about how it was destiny for her and Leomon to be together. About 15 episodes later, she's wondering if it's her destiny to be ''alone''.]]
318* IronicEchoCut: (Digivice beeps) "There's never a dull day around here."
319** Another example in episode 39.
320-->'''Kazu:'''(Calumon)'s about as tough as butterscotch pudding.
321-->'''Calumon:''' It's not like I'm butterscotch pudding or something.
322* IWishItWereReal: Guilmon was born from Takato's imagination and a disastrous amount of AppliedPhlebotinum.
323* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Rika, Yamaki, and Impmon, all post-character development. Impmon in particular is a JerkassWoobie.
324** Kazu is painted as a mild version of one in the dub.
325* JerkassHasAPoint: Yamaki was right about Digimon being dangerous and children probably being too irresponsible to be wielding sentient weapons of mass destruction.
326* JobTitle: ''Digimon Tamers'' basically translates to trainer and caretaker of said {{Mon}}s and {{Kaiju}}.
327* {{Joshikousei}}: Rika, though she's in elementary school.
328* TheKidWithTheRemoteControl: Unusually for the genre, this is actually one of the major themes of Tamers, and it is Takato and Guilmon who better explore this trope.
329* JumpedAtTheCall: Every Tamer in this season (except Ryo, it's complicated) got a Digimon because they wanted one, but unlike the previous two seasons nothing was expected of them -- the kids made the active choice to involve themselves further and ultimately save the world.
330* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Leomon]].
331* KnightOfCerebus: Two of them. The first of these is [[spoiler:Beelzemon]], who's the first character to really show how [[DarkerAndEdgier dark and serious]] the series is by permanently killing off [[spoiler:Leomon]]. He is then done one better, however, by the EldritchAbomination that is [[spoiler:the D-Reaper]], which takes the serious out of "dark, but still appropriate for most children" territory and into the WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids realm its most known for.
332* LadyOfWar: Renamon and her evolutions.
333* LandmarkingTheHiddenBase: Hypnos, inside the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Metropolitan_Government_Building Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building]].
334* LastEpisodeThemeReprise: The second verse of ''The Biggest Dreamer'' plays in the penultimate episode when the protagonists square off against the [[spoiler:D-Reaper]].
335* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: DubText. With less than three and a half minutes to go in episode 15, Renamon tells Guilmon that their team doesn't have much time and needs him to digivolve.
336* LeapOfFaith: Rika and Renamon have no idea how they will beat the [[spoiler:D-Reaper]], but they leap down to it anyway, becoming Sakuyamon in the process.
337* LetsGetDangerous: When Guilmon's pupils [[HellishPupils shrink]], you know something's going down.
338* LightningFireJuxtaposition: Qinglongmon and Zhuqiaomon, but this specifically applies when they clashed in #38. The Foil between is revealed further from there:
339** Zhuqiaomon, believing humans to be irredeemable, wanted to destroy the Tamers for killing the Devas, while Qinglongmon intercepted and pointed out that they were the ones attacking the Tamers first and they fought back in self-defense.
340** Zhuqiaomon believed that evolution was the key to defeating their true enemy, while Qinglongmon believes that Digimon evolving was the one that strengthened them in the first place.
341* LimitedWardrobe: Everyone has winter clothing and school attire, but everyone usually wears the same thing day in and day out.
342* TheLittleDetecto: The D-Arc.
343* LittleMissBadass: Rika, whose debut has her rocking a BadassLongcoat and CoolShades. [[WordOfGod according to Chiaki Konaka]], she ''was'' originally modeled after [[Film/TheMatrix Trinity]].
344* LoadBearingBoss: Inverted with Megidramon, whom threatens to collapse the Digital World by merely existing. Things only stabilise when he's defeated.
345* LoveBubbles: When Takato tries to tell Jeri that Growlmon won't devolve back to Guilmon, she thinks he's talking about a girl he likes. Cue pink bubbly background as she envisions this.
346** [=MarineAngemon=]'s Kahuna Waves releases 'bubbles' in the shape of hearts. They also heal [[spoiler:D-Reaper affected data]] and allow [[spoiler:travel within it]] as well.
347* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: The ([=WarGreymon=]'s) Brave Shield Card, used by Jianliang a few times to equip his partner Digimon with protection.
348* FillingTheSilence: The American dub inserts dialogue in scenes that don’t have any, as in the previous seasons.
349* MadnessMantra: When [[spoiler: the D-Reaper]] analyses Jeri's father Tadashi [[spoiler: it]] gets stuck on the word 'father', repeating it over and over again. When Guilmon wonders whats wrong, Renamon says it's because [[spoiler: D-Reaper]] doesn't understand the word. Being born from data rather than biology, [[spoiler: it]] has no concept of parents or what a 'father' even is.
350* MacrossMissileMassacre: [=SaintGalgomon=][=/=][[DubNameChange [=MegaGargomon=]]]
351* MalignantPlotTumor: ''Runaway Locomon'' has ''two''. The introduction sets up a storyline about the tamers trying to put on a surprise party for Ruki (which Takato has already given away by the time he enters the story), only for Locomon to seize all the attention and immediately make the story be about trying to get rid of the latter. The second is when the Locomon problem is HijackedByGanon and suddenly the plot turns into an AlienInvasion.
352* {{Mascot}}: Calumon can be considered to be this for ''Digimon Tamers'', and arguably the concept of Digivolution as a whole.
353* MeaningfulEcho: In the original Japanese, when Rika goes out right after coming home, she says she's coming home soon. Her mother asks, "When is 'soon'!?" When Renamon [[spoiler: reverts to her baby form and leaves for the digital world]], Rika asks the same.
354** [[spoiler:Leomon's last words]] in the dub get repeated in a more positive light in the penultimate episode by Gallantmon after [[spoiler:Grani's sacrifice]].
355--->'''Gallantmon:''' A PART OF YOU WILL ALWAYS BE WITH US, [[spoiler:GRANI]]!
356* MechanicalMonster: [=MegaloGrowmon=] ([=WarGrowlmon=]), Rapidmon, [=SaintGalgomon=] ([=MegaGargomon=]), Guardromon
357* TheMenInBlack: The entire Hypnos organization.
358* MetaSequel: Instead of being set after the earlier Digimon stories, it's set in a world where the earlier Digimon stories are only fictional, which allows for commentary on how the franchise usually works.
359* MilitariesAreUseless: During the D-Reaper arc, the Japanese Defense Force attempt to destroy the D-Reaper and its Agents, but fail miserably. Several choppers were destroyed by a lone Pendulum Feet Agent whom they couldn't even scratch.
360* MindRape: [[spoiler:Boy, did poor Jeri suffer a lot...]]
361** [[spoiler:J-Reaper]] partially ''succeeds'' using her "mind scan" attack [[spoiler:on ''Takato'', just before deploying her wings in the park, in episode 45.]]
362* MissionControl: The Monster Makers, along with Yamaki and his coworkers from Hypnos, end up serving as this through the Digital World Arc into the finale, supporting the children in missions and in battle with their technological expertise.
363* 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, which features the Digimon in the style of Lego minifigures and jaunty music, can also result in this.
364* {{Mukokuseki}}: Zigs and zags all over the place. Henry and his dad are drawn with obviously chinese features, but they have blue hair, and that's before you learn Henry's younger sister's hair is... purple. Kazu and Kenta look Japanese enough, and Takato is even passably -- but there's no telling what Jeri and Rika are supposed to be. The adult secondary characters don't help swing it one way or another, either. Averted with the Monster Makers who are very clearly each of different ancestries and nationalities, and are drawn to look the part.
365* MultipleHeadCase: Ebonwumon, a colossal turtle with two heads. The dub amuses itself by having one head speak Irish and the other Scottish.
366* MundaneMadeAwesome: Nearly every main character has a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSYIwS3NK9c different, epic, method to slide a card through their Digivice]], complete with fancy card spinning and flipping, and kung-fu moves. The payoff comes in the form of two sequences which come close to being actually epic, including a split-screen triple slash, and the final one where all four mains slash the same card.
367* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Takato's reaction to [[spoiler: forcing Guilmon's evolution, resulting in Megidramon]].
368** [[spoiler: Beelzemon]], after having his life spared in a lost battle by [[spoiler: Jeri, whose partner he murdered, goes through a HeelFaceTurn and spends some time wandering the digital world aimlessly and in a stunned state of regret for the atrocities he's committed]].
369** Jeri's father, after discovering that [[spoiler:his daughter has been taken by the D-Reaper]], feels terrible guilt for [[spoiler:treating her coldly ever since he lost his wife]], and then makes a very desperate attempt to save her.
370* MythologyGag:
371** In an early episode of the dub, a couple mistakes the digital fog for the Northern Lights. The original [=DigiDestined=] of Anime/DigimonAdventure mistook the lights they saw before being taken to the digital world as the Northern Lights as well.
372** Kari/Hikari from ''Adventure'' and ''Adventure 02'' wanted to be a teacher (and became a Kindergarten teacher in the epilogue). In ''Tamers'' Takato's teacher bears a striking resemblance to an adult Kari, and in the American dub is even voiced by her actress Creator/LaraJillMiller.
373** In both versions, Henry/Jianliang became a Tamer through playing a Digimon video game. In the Japanese version, when Yamaki first meets Takato and Jianliang, he mispronounces Jianliang's name (due to the difference in how to pronounce the characters between Chinese and Japanese) as Lee [[VideoGame/DigimonAdventure02TagTamers Kenryo]].
374** During the assault against the Gatekeeper, Megumi uses Miyako's CatchPhrase "Bingo!" once she successfully connects Hypnos and the Wild Bunch to Takato inside Dukemon [[Recap/DigimonAdventureMovieOurWarGame via Satellite]].
375[[/folder]]
376[[folder:Tropes N to S]]
377* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: The cards used by the kids are mostly used for producing whatever DeusExMachina will get the kids out of the immediate pinch they happen to be in. Beelzebumon, who has no cards, instead taps into the data of digimon he's consumed for the same reason (at at one point he suddenly develops ExtendableArms to seize Makuramon from a distance).
378* NeverSayDie: Surprisingly, largely averted in the english dub. There's still an effort made to avoid using words like "die" and "kill" where possible, but due to how high the stakes in the story become, especially in the final story arc, in certain situations the words are used to help emphasize their seriousness.
379* NiceJobBreakingItHero: With the exception of [[spoiler: Antylamon]], Zhuqiaomon and the Devas, particularly Caturamon, are responsible for the [[spoiler:D-Reaper's empowerment and rampage in the real world]]. [[spoiler:Indramon's curb-stomping of Impmon leaves him so desperate he accepts Caturamon's bargain to kill the Tamers in exchange for power]], which led to [[spoiler:Leomon's death and Jeri's ensuing breakdown, which fed and accelerated the D-Reaper's evolution after it captured her]]. Worse yet [[spoiler:the combined assault on Hypnos by Makuramon, Vikaralamon and Zhuqiaomon crippled Hypnos's system, leaving them unable to help the Tamers while they rebuilt their infrastructure, and ultimately left them wide open to the D-Reaper's initial attack on the real world]].
380* TheNicknamer: Ebonwumon, Mr. Analyse [=McTroperton=] (in the dub, anyway).
381** Impmon in the dub too, ain’t that right, Pineapple Head?
382* NightmareDreams: Jeri has one after Leomon dies, reliving the trauma of her mother’s death. It’s quite [[NightmareFuel terrifying]].
383%%* NinjaMaid: Renamon, Lopmon
384* NoAntagonist: Downplayed. Unlike ''02'', ''Tamers'' isn't specifically ''about'' defeating a villain but about dealing with the surprising reality of Digimon and clashes of opinion that occur. In a sense, it's more like ''Adventure'', in which an ArcVillain emerged only partway through--but unlike ''Adventure'', where Devimon's fingerprints were all over the place even before he appeared thanks to the black gears, ''Tamers'''s ArcVillain Hypnos only causes a few incidents.
385* 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. Not only that, but the dub still uses gendered pronouns.
386* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Guilmon, Renamon, and Impmon get one each at some points in the series. The cast as a whole gets it even more.
387* NonSerialMovie: As stated above the second movie was made without the involvement of the original staff, and aired in theaters weeks before the last episode aired on television in Japan.
388* NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech: The Tamers reflect upon their histories and adventures before their first Biomerges in the physical world. All three speeches have elements of this trope, but Henry's speech in particular has him come to the realization that he has to stop holding back if he wants any chance of winning.
389* NotQuiteDead: Vajramon manages to hold on after what looked like death.
390* NumerologicalMotif[=/=]RuleOfThree: The number three:
391** This is the third television season of ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}''.
392** There are three main human Tamers.
393** There are three backup human Tamers [[spoiler:before and after Leomon's death]] ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And Ryo]]).
394** There are three core members of Hypnos.
395** Yuggoth is conceptualized as three interlinked spheres.
396** The Devas all have three horns on their heads.
397** The three main Tamers and their digimon take on Mihiramon, one team at a time. Takato and [=WarGrowlmon=] go last, and they win.
398** Beelzemon has three eyes.
399** The three main Digimon have a team attack called Trinity Burst.
400** The Crystal Matrix on Calumon's forehead and Rapidmon's Tribeam attack are both triangles. Not to mention the triangular shape of the Digital Hazard symbol on the chest of Guilmon et al.
401* OffingTheMouth:
402** Beelzemon does this to the Deva [[spoiler:Makuramon]].
403-->'''[[spoiler: Makuramon]]''': What are you doing? If you continue this fight, not only will this domain of our gods be destroyed, but the whole world!\
404'''Beelzemon''': Shut up...\
405'''[[spoiler: Makuramon]]''': Foolish Chatsuramon... Why did he allow you to evolve?\
406'''Beelzemon''': I said shut up! ''(Grabs [[spoiler: Makuramon]]'s head and crushes it.)''
407** Dukemon Crimson Mode gets to dispatch the mouth of the D-Reaper when flying to rescue Juri.
408* OhCrap: The Chrysalimon against Beelzemon after the latter fires a few shots at them.
409* OlderSidekick: Yamaki, Riley, and Tally (Post HeelFaceTurn), and the Wild Bunch/Monster Makers. Hilariously enough, once he's convinced of their maturity, Yamaki seems to get along better with the kids than most other adults.
410* OlderThanTheyLook: For Rookie level Digimon, Renamon and Guilmon are much larger and developed than the norm. They could be easily confused for Champion-levels. Guilmon of course, was born ''as'' a Rookie, rather than in a baby form the way other digimon are.
411* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: In the Japanese version, Impmon exclusively calls Makoto "Mako-chan". This result in the englis dub is that he's ''only'' known as Mako.
412* {{Orochi}}...mon.
413* OutOfClothesExperience: The Tamers were completely naked when merged with their Digimon and during a soul-searching experience before Biomerging in the real world for the first time. The dub, surprisingly, retained these moments.
414* OutOfFocus: Ai and Mako show up in person in a total of four times in the show, two times without dialogue.
415* PapaWolf: Don't even try to hurt Henry, not even indirectly by hurting somebody he loves. [[IKnowKungFu His dad knows martial arts]].
416** Upon discovering that [[spoiler:his daughter]] has been taken, Mr. Katou ''drives his car into the D-Reaper at full speed''.
417* ParentsAsPeople: While it's extremely common in children's media for a kid to lose a parent, [[DeconstructedTrope it's extremely]] ''[[DeconstructedTrope un]]''[[DeconstructedTrope common to show what the realistic consequences would be]]. See DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou.
418* PhantomZone: The Digital World.
419* PlotHole: How Juri fell into the clutches of the BigBad; her puppet comes to life after Culumon triggers the Shining Evolution, starts talking on its own, and then leads Juri away from the group [[spoiler:only for her to be replaced]]. How the puppet came to life and why it talks like or practically serves the BigBad are never explained.
420* PoliceAreUseless: When Impmon is held at gunpoint by some police officers, one of them asks "Should we tell him we weren't issued any ammo, sir?"
421* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The [[spoiler:D-Reaper]] is scary enough even before you realize that ''it runs on the misery of a depressed little girl''. It does everything in it's power to ''increase'' said misery, going (arguably) beyond [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion NGE]] levels.
422* PowerCopying:
423** A human running a Digimon card through a digivice results in his or her partner temporary gaining the attacks of the Digimon depicted on the card.
424** Beelzemon can steal attacks from the Digimon he kills if he is also able to absorb their data. [[spoiler: That's how he's able to use Fist Of The Beast King after killing Leomon]]
425* PrecisionFStrike: An unusual GoshDangItToHeck example in the dub:
426-->'''Beelzemon''': "I'm gonna save you Jeri, '''''IF IT'S THE LAST THING I FREAKIN' DO!'''''"
427* PreviouslyOn: Davis explicitly does the dub narration, to the point that's how Brian Donovan is credited. Rika would do the same for ''[[Anime/DigimonFrontier Frontier]]''.
428* PropheticNames: Ai's name means love and she gives Impmon a good luck kiss before he heads into battle. His new digivolution ''Blast Mode'' sprouts black wings, meaning that love ''literally'' gave him wings.
429* ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges: Zigzagged.
430** Takato, Henry and Rika, as the main trio, have their Digimon reach Mega level. The highly promoted SixthRanger Ryo also gets to reach the level, but Takato and Guilmon are the only ones whose Mega gets a SuperMode.
431** ThoseTwoGuys member Kenta's [=MarineAngemon=] is a Mega by default, though not good for fighting.
432** The Digimon of the other outliers, Jeri, Kazu and Suzie, never reach Mega.
433** Like the leaders and rivals before them, Takato and Jianliang get the CGI evolution sequence when evolving to Perfect and Ultimate, while every other evolution sequence is animated traditionally. However, only the main trio have evolution sequences at all, so Renamon keeping the traditional animation actually makes her higher stage sequences ''more'' unique than the Guilmon's or Terriermon's.
434* PunctuatedForEmphasis: In both the dubbed and original versions, Beelzemon [[spoiler:[[CallingYourAttacks calls]] Leomon's Beast King Fist in such a halting manner. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis "Juu! Ou! Ken!"/"Fist! Of! The Beast King!"]]]]
435* PutOnABus: Renamon does not speak in the Digimon Tamers 2018 drama cd, due to her seiyuu needing time off for her family. [[spoiler:What exactly happened to Renamon is not answered and the CD ends on a CliffHanger.]]
436* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: Yamaki reunites the Monster Makers, sans Shibumi, after twenty years in hopes of learning of a way to contain the Digimon. The group is happy about the reunion.
437* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The Devas. They run the gamut from laughably pathetic (Kumbhiramon, Pajiramon), to credible threats (Vajramon, Indramon, Vikaralamon), to outright [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bastards]] (Makuramon, Caturamon), and one [[HeelFaceTurn Heel Face Turner]] (Antylamon).
438* RealPlaceBackground: The iconic Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building. Also, many other locations from Digimon Tamers exist in real life Shinjuku, such as [[http://www.konaka.com/alice6/tamers/loction/SJ_082.jpg Guilmon's hideout]], [[http://www.konaka.com/alice6/tamers/loction/SJ_107.jpg Henry's apartment building]], [[http://www.konaka.com/alice6/tamers/loction/SJ_059.jpg Takato and Henry's school]], [[http://www.konaka.com/alice6/tamers/loction/SJ_114.jpg The street Takato lives on]], and [[http://www.konaka.com/alice6/tamers/loction/SJ_051.jpg the park Takato, Kazu and Kenta played in]].
439* RedEyesTakeWarning: When Beelzemon first appears, he has red eyes and is bent on eliminating the Tamers and their Digimon (though later gets the green eyes of his Rookie form after Mode Changing to Blast Mode). Somewhat subverted with Takato; while he's generally the kindest and most innocent of the three main tamers, God help you if you ''do'' make him mad...
440* RedHerring: Impmon factors ominously in the early promotional material (as seen above), but proves to be rather pathetic as a villain...until he [[TookALevelInBadass Takes A Level In Badass]] [[spoiler:and became Beelzemon]].
441** Further [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the fact that Impmon [[spoiler: as Beelzemon]] was originally planned to become the BigBad of the series.
442* RedemptionDemotion: When Antylamon turns against her master, the Sovereign, she de-Digivolves to Lopmon. However, in the face of a mutual enemy, she is allowed her Digivolution back. In the midst of getting over HonorBeforeReason, when Andromon becomes Kazu's partner, he de-Digivolves to Guardromon.
443* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Almost for [[spoiler:Beelzemon. While desperately trying to save Jeri to atone for killing Leomon, he suffers a fatal attack to his back. His data disintegrates, and he plummets into the D-Reaper mass. Grani manages to save him, and he instead reverts to Impmon]].
444* RedemptionEqualsLife: Antylamon turns against Zhuqiaomon, and is the only Deva to not be destroyed.
445** [[spoiler: Beelzemon, who as mentioned above averts RedemptionEqualsDeath, although this sort of works the opposite way as well in which he does his HeelFaceTurn BECAUSE his life is spared.]]
446* RedemptionPromotion: Not a "redemption" per se, but when Impmon agrees to serve the Sovereign, he receives a Betrayal Promotion. A bit more involved than [[PowerOfFriendship If Friendship Then Upgrades]].
447** Then he gets a true Promotion after making amends with his Tamers.
448* RefugeInAudacity: How does Takato take Guilmon out for walks around the city? He just does, he walks around with him. ''Right next to him. In plain view.'' He tells a couple of curious kids that Guilmon's actually [[ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself just a really good cosplayer]]; other then the occasional odd stare, nothing ever comes of this.
449** Subverted in the case of Jen and Terriermon, due to the latter's insistence on being a HeadPet. In one episode Jen remarks that people are giving him weird looks due to Terriermon being on his head.
450* RememberTheNewGuy: In part because [[NoExportForYou the games detailing his backstory never left Japan]], Ryo. Some may have remembered him in Adventure 02 (If you blinked, you probably missed it) but outside of that, he has no foreshadowing and comes completely out of nowhere while the characters react to Ryo like he was always there.
451* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Sandiramon is the only Deva who uses his last words to taunt his enemies. Guilmon gets a pass from this trope by being a dinosaur, although he is a virus-type nonetheless.
452** Orochimon is particularly nasty even by enemy digimon standards, being a bullying alchoholic who manipulates a tribe of Gekomon.
453* RescueArc: The second major arc begins with the Tamers entering the Digital World to get Calumon back from the Devas.
454* RewatchBonus: There's a ''lot'' that happens in Tamers that's more meaningful (or more emotionally taxing) on a second viewing.
455** Takato's original design of Guilmon doesn't have the Digital Hazard symbol on it, which makes its appearance that much more of an ominous mystery when one knows exactly what it signifies.
456*** In Takato's notebook, we briefly see the scratched out doodle of a scrapped evolution for Guilmon that looks particularly monstrous... perhaps it wasn't entirely an accident that Megidramon happened.
457** Pretty much everything regarding Jeri on her journey from wanting to become a Tamer and then getting partnered with Leomon is painfully tragic upon rewatch.
458*** Additionally, the glimpse of the photograph of Jeri with her mother on display in her bedroom is ''much'' more noticeable once one is aware of her family situation.
459** The story of the Red Shoes, which is compared to the out of control motorcycle, Behemoth, bears a vague but unsettling parallel to what happens to [[spoiler: Beelzemon. Sure, he's able to control the motorbike no problem, but his selfish desire to be the strongest puts him on an uncontrollable PowerHigh that ends in nothing but terror and regret. It is also perhaps symbolic, that it was Jeri who brought the story up (and ends up getting interrupted before she can relay how the story ends), because it's ultimately Jeri who decides Beelzemon's fate]].
460** A line added in the dub makes a pretty hilariously ironic bonus: At one point Impmon chides Terriermon for protecting Henry's father with a disgusted 'One master's not enough? You hafta have ''two'' of 'em?' and yet, it's Impmon who ''literally'' ends up with two partners.
461* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Culumon, Guilmon, Terriermon, Lopmon, and [=MarineAngemon=].
462* RocketJump: Gargomon uses his vulcans to do a RocketJump to the top of a skyscraper, although this causes him to run out of ammo in the ensuing fight.
463* RuleOfSymbolism:
464** When Takato first becomes Dukemon, his original red d-ark is replaced with a shiny new golden one (something only Takato possesses). [[spoiler:He lost the red one when he dropped it after creating Megidramon, which caused it to utterly shatter]].
465** Juri's d-ark deactivates during the WhamEpisode at the start of the final arc [[spoiler:when Leomon is murdered and she enters her HeroicBSOD]]. It reactivates when she finally escapes her funk and starts rejecting the D-Reaper.
466* RunningGag: Guilmon or Takato wondering if Takato can/should have redesigned him whenever a problem occurs (ie, needs longer legs so he can run faster).
467* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Leomon is this, both metaphorically and literally, meeting his end at the hands of a crazed Beezlemon trying to save the others]].
468* SadlyMythtaken: Renamon's final form, Sakuyamon, is named for ''Konohanasakuya-hime'', the cherry blossom princess who keeps Mount Fuji from erupting. Sakuyamon is a humanoid clad in fox themed garments that makes use of Onmyodo magic, neither of which Konohanasakuya-hime was associated with.
469* SaveBothWorlds
470* SayMyName: [[spoiler:Just as Beelzemon's about to kill Takato and Megidramon, the other Tamers friends shout Takato's name in slow motion as Beelzemon's bullets approach him.]]
471* ScaryShinyGlasses:
472** This is Yamaki's defining trait through out the first half of the season.
473** Takato's googles make him scary (really!) when they shine. Just watch one of his card-slashes (or digimodify) closely, or even in slow motion.
474* SequelHook: [[spoiler:The Digimon Tamers 2018 Drama CD ends with one.]]
475* ShapeshifterModeLock: A recurring plot element in the Hypnos and the early Devas arcs is the difficulty of returning to Rookie stage after evolving to the Champion stage. It's inconvenient enough with Galgomon, whom Henry puts through a rigorous workout to burn off the energy, but in episode nine, "Not As Seen On TV", Growlmon's [[DiabolusExMachina sheer inability to devolve]] leaves Takato and Henry to try to camouflage him until whatever DeusExMachina that will devolve him occurs. Kyuubimon does not appear to have this problem.
476* ShesAManInJapan:
477** Lopmon in the US dub, presumably. Lopmon's a gender-ambiguous example who in Japanese uses a completely neutral dialect but at one point Xiaochun tries to get Lopmon to use a soft-masculine pronoun that is usually (though not exclusively) used by boys.
478** Renamon is voiced by a man in Germany, except for in the Mega-level. She is also referred to as a male in the Filipino dub.
479** Calumon/Culumon sounds distinctly more boyish in the English dub than the original, though both are fairly ambiguous.
480* ShipTease:
481** While the show has no OfficialCouple, ''per se'', Takato has a big crush on Juri from the word, "Go," which she starts reciprocating after they both go on the trip to the digital world. Starting around Sakuyamon's ''debut'', Ryo and Ruki have some downplayed BelligerentSexualTension--Ryo teases Ruki, who is annoyed to one extent or another about it.
482** After Ruki receives a new shirt from her mother, she and Takato prove TwiceShy when they fumble over an attempt to give and receive a compliment for it.
483** The second movie has several scenes between Ruki and Takato; including Takato's conversation with Ruki in the intro and Takato helping rescue Ruki from peril multiple times.
484** The later CD Drama ''Message In A Packet'' (which completely ignores the second movie) has extended conversations between Takato and Juri on the one hand and Ryo and Ruki on the other.
485** Saban bumped up the shipping with some DubText:
486*** There appears to be a slight but long-running one between Renamon and Impmon in the series' second half; early on, Impmon also used flirtier language and nicknames like "Foxy" and "Toots".
487*** During Takato's first visit to Ruki's house, her grandmother Seiko finds them and offers Ruki's "friend" hospitality and an invitation to return when Ruki claims he's leaving. The dub makes Seiko a ShipperOnDeck, suggesting Rika brought ''a boy'' home, and her invitation is more coy. Rika also attempts to get rid of Takato earlier, which makes Seiko's hospitality a ploy to keep Takato around despite Rika's wishes. The dub also gives Takato a joke about Rika being his literal "dream girl", for what it's worth.
488*** The dub has an alternate take on Takato and Rika's TwiceShy fumbling over the compliment and immediately beforehand gives Terriermon some teasing dialog when Guilmon agrees with Renamon on the severity of the D-Reaper threat.
489---> '''Terriermon''': "Renamon and Guilmon, sittin' in a tree..."
490*** In the original Japanese version, after Sakuyamon first confronts the D-Reaper she asks if everyone is okay. In the dub, Sakuyamon (who uses the voices of both Renamon and Rika) asks if Takato is alright, instead.
491* {{Shout Out}}s: See the [[ShoutOut/DigimonTamers subpage]] for details.
492* ShowWithinAShow: Tamers vaguely implies that the Digimon franchise in the ''Tamers'' world is, in fact, ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' (the in-universe anime is likely responsible for Takato deciding to pick up a pair of goggles and Takato's concept for Guilmon is explicitly "Agumon, but Cooler"). The dub made this trope explicit, and in later franchise cameos and guest appearances, Takato can recognize Taichi and Daisuke.
493* ShownTheirWork: And how! There's more details on the ShownTheirWork main page, but you can also look at GeniusBonus in ''Tamers''' YMMV page and the lead writer's [[http://www.konaka.com/alice6/tamers/ minisite on the show]].
494* SigilSpam: The [[http://wikimon.net/Zero_Unit Zero Unit]][[note]]A pattern of three smaller triangles surrounding a larger fourth triangle arranged to have their sides run parallel.[[/note]] and [[http://wikimon.net/Digital_Hazard Digital Hazard]][[note]]A pattern of four equally sized triangles in which the three outer triangles connect diametrically to the central triangle by their corners, which are connected by a circle.[[/note]] both debuted with this show and appear with some frequency. The zero unit is most commonly seen as the symbol on Culumon's head, and the digital hazard is Guilmon's ChestInsignia, but they do appear in several other locations.
495* SilenceOfSadness: Following [[spoiler:the death of Leomon]], Juri sinks into a deep depression that leaves her in a borderline catatonic state. Seeing his friend go from talkative and enthusiastic to mute and distant is enough to make Takato cry tears of despair.
496* SilentWhisper: Subverted in episode 14: "Grow Mon Grow". When Terriermon whispers to Henry, the words are actually intelligible to the audience before Henry repeats them aloud to Takato.
497* SixthRanger: Ryo
498* SliceOfLife: This ''is'' what [[WordOfGod Chiaki Konaka wanted]], and succeeded spectacularly, at introducing in the series.
499* TheSlowWalk: Gallantmon comes marching OutOfTheInferno during his fight with Beelzemon to kill Chatsuramon.
500* SmartBall: Subverted in episode nine, where Takato has to figure out how to devolve Growmon back to Guilmon and comes up with several strategies to diminish Growmon's energy level in the vein of Jian making Gargomon work off the energy. None of these work, because the RuleOfDrama won't let them.
501* SpoilerOpening: The main trio digimon's full evolutionary lines all appear in the opening ''from the very first episode'', with only their mega forms Gallantmon, [=MegaGargomon=], Sakuyamon [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen obscured by shadows]] but still clearly present, until their proper debuts. This also includes Impmon's eventual mega form, Beelzemon, who is even ''further'' spoiled than the others because the shadowed form hovering behind him is very clearly his ''Blast Mode''. Jeri, Kazu, and Suzie are shown with Digivices--again, this would eventually happen; Beelzemon is teased as a major threat--[[KnightOfCerebus and boy-howdy is he ever]]; right after his appearance, a pink shadow is also shown taking over the Hypnos building, clearly representing the [[spoiler:D-Reaper]]. It even spoils Jeri and Kazu getting Leomon and Guardromon as Digimon partners.
502* SpoilerTitle:
503** The Japanese title of episode 34, "The Kind-Hearted Hero, [[spoiler: Leomon Dies]]".
504** The images behind the titles also spoil new developments every few episodes. With the help of the SpoilerOpening, you can figure out which of the main characters' digimon will be reaching the next level that episode.
505* StarfishAliens: The [[spoiler:D-Reaper]] and Digignomes.
506* StationaryWings: Judging from the visuals, it would seem that Digimon with flight abilities can accelerate air across their skins.
507* SwirlyEnergyThingy: One episode featured an anomaly of the Hypnos mainframe that manifested in a tunnel and abducted Guilmon, keeping him bound in web-like strands in a [[WhiteVoidRoom white void]] inside itself.
508* {{Synchronization}}: The tamers experience the same exhaustion and pain that their perfect-level digimon do, and Takato notably felt it when Mihiramon took a nasty bite out of Growmon. During the Vikaralamon fight, Takato hits on the idea of invoking this in reverse to send [=MegaloGrowmon=] power, which he does successfully by screaming. With the matrix ultimates, the tamers not only feel the effort of their digimon but direct their movements from within by using their own arms and legs.
509[[/folder]]
510[[folder:Tropes T to Z]]
511* TacticalRockPaperScissors: You know how Digimon are supposed to have either vaccine, data, or virus attributes that behave this way? In most of the TV shows they're completely ignored, but in this season it actually makes a noticeable difference in battles, though it's [[GeniusBonus only obvious if you're a really dedicated fan]]. For example, when vaccine attribute Rapidmon uses an attack against two devas at once, virus attribute Pajiramon is deleted instantly, while fellow vaccine attribute Vajramon is only badly injured and is able to reform later. Soon after, data attribute Taomon proceeds to defeat him with ease. Before that near the beginning, data attribute Renamon attempts to one-hit virus attribute Guilmon, but her attack literally bounced off him harmlessly.
512* TakeMyHand: Culumon, when [[spoiler:Takato is struggling to get on the Ark]].
513** Then later, Beelzemon to [[spoiler:Jeri]], in one of the most emotional scenes in the whole season.
514* TakeThat: The final episode is a TakeThat to StatusQuoIsGod and [[ShaggyDogStory "everything is back to normal" endings]].
515** In the dub version of episode 21 ("Jeri's Quest"), both Jeri and Takato make comments on how over-designed and bizarre-looking Kumbhiramon looks. Since these lines were not in the original version, we can assume it was the translators poking fun.
516* TailSlap: Mihiramon's Samurai Tiger Tail, which he nearly kills Renamon and Terriermon with.
517** Renamon does this to a Flybeemon, and as Kyubimon she does this to Vajramon.
518** Also Allomon does this to Renamon.
519** Horn Striker does this to Justimon as well.
520* TeamTitle: The title refers to the three protagonists and their friends and allies.
521* TearApartTugOfWar: Impmon observes this happening when he watches Ai and Mako, a pair of siblings that Impmon once stayed with, who are both 5 years old ''at most'', fight over a doll they both want. It serves as the impetus for him to run away, declaring be doesn't need a tamer to get strong. When Impmon eventually returns to the children during the latter half of the series, he's surprised to find the children have repaired the doll. It seems in the interim they'd come to realize their constant fighting is what drove their digi-friend away, and they were determined that, should he return, they would prove they were capable of getting along.
522* TenderTears: In the first act or so, Takato can barely go two episodes without crying for one reason or another. He toughens up a bit after CharacterDevelopment, but still remains the series' most sensitive major character.
523%%* TermsOfEndangerment: [=IceDevimon=]. It's scary.
524* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler:Beelzemon about Impmon]].
525* TheyLookLikeUsNow: Happens twice. The first time is [[{{Gonk}} Makuramon's human disguise]]--it doesn't really pass muster. 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]].
526* ThisIsADrill: The Steel Drill/Digmon's Drill card.
527* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: Renamon will routinely cite this reason for not participating in some battles. The most plot-relevant example is her standing back and letting Impmon fight Indramon alone. Rika has to goad her into intervening out of concern for Impmon's life.
528* ThoseTwoGuys: Kazu and Kenta.
529* TimeTravel: Such an effect occurs during the final arc, produced by Operation: Doodlebug. [[spoiler:By installing the [=Shaggai/Juggernaut=] program into Terriermon and having [=SaintGalgomon=] reverse the spin of the wormhole connecting the digital world and earth and accelerate the reversal beyond the speed of light, Operation Doodlebug is able to make time flow backwards and force the D-Reaper to be reduced to its original state]].
530* TokyoTower: Actually it's Tokyo's ominously-designed city hall that's featured prominently throughout the series.
531* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Rika is the cool-headed and serious tomboy and Jeri is the more bouncy and dreamy girly girl.
532* ToyDisguise: Terriermon masquerades as a plushie when other people are in the room because of his cute appearance. Unfortunately for him, this makes him the butt of many of Suzie's antics, such as getting dressed up in girly clothes.
533* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: In Japanese, episode 33's OnTheNext spoiled [[spoiler: Leomon's death]].
534* TransformationNameAnnouncement: Whenever one the Digimon evolves, mostly.
535* TroubleFollowsYouHome: When the main cast left the Digital World, [[EldritchAbomination the D-Reaper]] followed them out. This proves to be a ''very'' bad thing.
536* TrueCompanions: The main cast and their Digimon become this by the series end [[spoiler:, which makes their parting all the sadder]].
537* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: One of the underlying themes of the show (particularly in regard to the adult characters) is the responsibility that comes with creating life, and what happens if that life you created turns against you, of which Zhuqiaomon and the [[spoiler:D-Reaper]] are [[GoneHorriblyRight examples]].
538* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: According to Konaka, the series is set in 200X. However, a set year of 1984 for the Monster Makers project (said to be 20 years ago in-series) would more specifically set the events of Tamers around 2004.
539* TheUnchosenOne: [[http://www.konaka.com/alice6/tamers/plan-e.html According to the early planning notes on Konaka's website,]] this was a very important thing he needed to emphasise:
540--> ''In Season 3, the main characters Realize[[note]]'Bio-emerge' in the English dub.[[/note]] the Digimon out of their own will, and leap into adventure under their own will. This is something important that the children of today, who passively accept and enjoy what is given to them, need to gain from fiction.''
541* TheUnfought: Technically speaking, although he plays the largest villainous role of all the Devas, the Tamers never fight Makuramon, aside from Leomon charging after him and taking the force of his attack, and Antylamon fighting him off to protect Suzie (before she becomes Suzie's partner). The only damage Makuramon ever receives [[spoiler: before Beelzemon kills him]] is when Suzie bites him.
542* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Takato eventually decides that keeping Guilmon hidden is too impractical and unfair for the Digimon and tries taking him out for a walk in a crowd and in broad daylight. Takato discovers that nobody bothers them about it, so he starts going almost everywhere with Guilmon, though they do get the occasional odd look, making the trope downplayed.
543* UnwittingPawn: The Monster Makers to Yamaki. The Makers think they're being brought together to help study the Digimon, and find a way to contain them. What they don't know is Yamaki is using their knowledge to ''wipe all Digimon out''.
544* VerbalTic:
545** In the english dub, Guilmon adds "-mon" to everyone's names at some point (mostly Takato's). Lampshaded by his voice actor, Creator/SteveBlum. Guilmon actually does this in the Japanese version but only for a scene or two. Instead, he speaks in childishly in third-person and occasionally makes sounds like "giru".
546** "Culululu~"
547** As per usual for Gekomon in the Japanese version, they say 'geko'.
548** In the english dub, Impmon has a tendency to end his sentences punctuated with a 'ba-boom!' or 'bada-boom!'.
549* VictorGainsLosersPowers: Beelzemon could perform the attacks of the Digimon he absorbed, including [[spoiler:Leomon's Fist of the Beast King, which he uses to try to break Jeri out of the D-Reaper Kernel Sphere.)]] It's implied that any Digimon could do this, but Beelzemon's the only one who does it on-screen.
550* VillainousBreakdown: Yamaki gets closer and closer to this as the series goes, culminating when Juggernaut does not work as planned and he actually grabs Henry by the throat before stumbling away and yelling at himself. He does not, however, go through one [[spoiler: when he's fired after his building is destroyed. Instead he mopes in his apartment until Riley says something that snaps him out of it enough to do a HeelFaceTurn.]]
551* VillainousRescue: Makuramon shuts down Hypnos when Juggernaut is about to destroy [=WarGrowlmon=], Rapidmon, and Taomon. Granted, his intent may have been to save Vikaralamon, who was also under attack from Juggernaut, but [=WarGrowlmon=] killed Vikaralamon shortly after.
552* VocalDissonance: In the dub, Biomerge Megas speak in two voices, both their Tamer's and their own rookie form's. Renamon's the only one with a voice deep and mature enough to pull this off. The original Japanese version merely has them speak in the base Digimon's voice with different inflection (such as Dukemon/Gallantmon having a deeper, more formal version of Guilmon's voice), and they still apply for this trope.
553* WakeUpCallBoss: In the beginning, Guilmon, Renamon, and Terriermon were able to defeat any wild Digimon coming into the real world as themselves or at adult level if need be. Then comes the Deva story arc, where they encounter Mihiramon, who [[CurbStompBattle easily one-shots Kyubiimon and Gargomon in rapid succession]]. He almost does the same to Growlmon, until he evolves to the perfect level, [=WarGrowmon=].
554* WalkIntoCameraObstruction:
555** "Digimon, Digimon Everywhere" with Takato when Kazu yells for him to hurry up because they're late for class.
556** "Boar Wars" where Jeri is chasing after the weird kid in the red hat.
557* WalkingAwayShot: In the movie ''Runaway Locomon'' after a fantasy of Rika singing, "You promised that you'd stay for the sunset."
558* WeakButSkilled: Compared to its predecessors, in ''Tamers'' a stronger emphasis is placed on how well a Rookie-level digimon can fare in a fight, with boosts from cards, along with battle strategy, allowing them to defeat digimon at higher levels without having to immediately jump into digivolving.
559* WellIntentionedExtremist: Zhuqiaomon and Yamaki. Both of them are individuals who want to protect their respective worlds, but use extreme methods to do so, and display hatred towards the life forms that they aren't - human and digimon, respectively.
560* WhamEpisode: "Lionheart". The kids are on an adventure in the Digital World! They've fought some bad Digimon along the way and have gotten separated, but everything always turns out all right. [[spoiler:Then Beelzemon kills Jeri's partner Leomon, Takato's rage causes Guilmon to Digivolve into the mindlessly destructive Megidramon, and Jeri suffers an HeroicBSOD that will take her the rest of the series to snap out of]]. The group's innocence is quite violently lost.
561** Then it gets worse when they introduce [[spoiler: the D-Reaper, a simple data cleanup program GoneHorriblyRight.]] Just when it appears that our heroes have defeated it and returned home, it turns out not only has it survived [[spoiler: it's hitched a ride to the human world.]]
562* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Data vs. DNA is a major theme in this series.
563* WhiteAndGreyMorality: The worst antagonist the series has is ultimately a corrupt A.I. with no real sense of malice. Most bad Digimon have their reasons and moral codes despite their antagonistic position, and the scary/unapproachable adults are really just paranoid or overprotective at worst.
564* WickedStepmother: Inverted; Jeri's stepmother is actually an extremely kind person, it's ''Jeri'' who doesn't want anything to do with her. The fact Jeri is a aware that her stepmother doesn't deserve the cold shoulder, yet she can't bring herself to open up to her, is a source of guilt for her.
565* WorthyOpponent: Guilmon to Renamon, as he was the first Renamon failed to beat upon first encounter.
566* YankTheDogsChain: After Dobermon's sacrifice, Alice begins to feel glum. The light show that was once Dobermon reforms into its head, licks her face, and sticks around long enough to hear her say "Oh Dobermon, you came back?" before ''exploding again''.
567** [[spoiler:The Digital World portal that appears in the final episode is covered up by concrete in the ''Message in the Packet'' audio drama and protected by a firewall to prevent the worlds from crossing again.]]
568* YouAreNotAlone: One of the main themes of Tamers, particularly in Jeri's case.
569* YouWouldntBelieveMeIfIToldYou: What the main characters say to their parents in the American dub.
570[[/folder]]

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