after Digimon Adventure. As a point of clarification, the "02" in the title refers to the series being set in 2002, not to its status as a sequel (though yeah, it's obviously that).The original Digidestined have moved on and grown up after saving the Digital World, and T.K. Takaishi (Takeru), the former cute helpless kid of the group turned confident Lancer, has transferred to a new school which fellow former Chosen Kari Kamiya (Hikari Yagami) attends. They meet brash goggle boy Davis Motomiya (Daisuke), girly tech geek Yolei Inoue (Miyako), and stoic Cody Hida (Iori). A distress call from Agumon draws Tai, T.K. and Kari back into the Digital World, taking Davis with them; there, they find that the Digital World is under siege from the Digimon Emperor (Digimon Kaiser), a human child who controls Digimon, blocks evolution, and aspires to conquer the Digital World. With new, stronger Mons, a few new tweaks to the evolution system, and an enemy their own age from their own world, these five have to work on their own few experiences with Digimon and work through having been sheltered at that time as children.Its Distant Finale epilogue is infamous as the subject of much fandom ire, partially for much of what became of the Chosen not particularly fitting their in-series characterization, and partly because Sora married Matt and not Tai. Even so, it was still fairly popular, continuing the phenomenon set by Digimon Adventure. It was succeeded by Digimon Tamers.It was accompanied by a pair of Short Anime Movies, neither of which are canon. Hurricane Touchdown, also known as Transcendent Evolution! The Golden Digimentals, is set before Ken joins the Chosen, and details their adventures in America and dealings with Wallace, a Chosen with twin Digimon; it was dubbed as the third part of Digimon: The Movie, and suffered for it. The second film, Diablomon Strikes Back, is set within a year of the finale and is about the Chosen's response to the resurrection of Diablomon, the antagonist of Our War Game who came dangerously close to defeating them last time; it aired in the US as a television special in the lead-up to the start of Digimon Savers.Official releases of the Japanese version with English subs (of questionable quality) of Digimon Adventure 02 are available from Hulu, Crunchyroll, and Animax, but only to residents of the United States.
Hybrid Monster: Kimeramon is a mix of a variety of fantastic creatures... including Devimon, whose influence over Kimeramon quickly messes up the Kaiser's plans.
Bittersweet Ending: Notably averted as this is the only Digimon anime series to end on a completely positive note. The Digimon and human worlds become closer than ever, everyone gets to reach their dream, and nothing bad happens. The only downer is Oikawa dying, and even he gets a happy ending as his spirit gets to remain in the place he wanted to see his entire life.
Bowdlerization: An entire story arc involving the kidnapping of Ken was pulled from Disney's rotation.
Brick Joke: The last leg of the Digimon Emperor arc has the Chosen pretend to go on a camping trip (with Matt's father as chaperone) in order to stay in the Digital World for as long as necessary to defeat Ken. Jun, learning that Matt will also be on the trip, tries to invite herself along, and they ditch her the first chance they get. The end of the arc has her catching up to the group; cue a collective Oh Crap on Matt, Tai, and Izzy's part.
There was also one in the dub of "His master's voice". Early in the episode, the principal asks over the PA, "Would the person who put the Jelly Donuts in the swimming pool please report to the office?". Later in the episode, a couple kids run by Kari, and one of them says "...and then I put the jelly donuts in the swimming pool".
Broad Strokes: Certain elements of previous episodes were brushed over for various reasons. (EX. Dagomon from episode 13.)
Call Back: Remember the episode where the Digidestined had to pursue Myotismon three years ago?. Well, you remember the nine cards that have to be put to open the way between the Digital World and the Real World, right? Yukio Oikawa plans to do the same thing. If you remember the first one, between the two Vaccine-Type Rookie-Level cards (Agumon and Gomamon), Tai chose the latter. In this season, Oikawa chose the former. And if you remember Gennai's words back at the first season, one is right and the other is wrong. That's why he ended up opening the way between the Real World and the strange world where ideas can become reality.
Changing of the Guard: The two youngest heroes team up with a new group, while the main characters from the first series serve as support on the sidelines.
The Chessmaster: Myotismon. He was behind everything that happened to the Digital World for the last three years, and he would had won if it wasn't for the last battle's Ass Pull. Almost like that he had the king in checkmate in Chess, only for his enemy to literally turn around the board and then declare victory.
The Chosen Many: Adventure 02 reveals that the twelve Japanese Chosen are not the only ones, and there are groups of them operating all around the world.
Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: All the Chosen have colors that correspond to them, based on their Digivice (for the current ones) and Crest (for the old ones).
T.K. has two colours. His Crest of Hope is yellow, but his new Digivice is green. The full list:
Tai - Crest of Courage - orange
Matt - Crest of Friendship - blue
Sora - Crest of Love - red
Mimi - Crest of Sincerity - green
Izzy - Crest of Knowledge - purple
Joe - Crest of Reliability - black
T.K. - Crest of Hope - yellow; Digivice - green
Kari - Crest of Light and Digivice - both pink
Davis - Digivice - blue
Yolei - Digivice - red
Cody - Digivice - yellow
Ken - Digivice - black; Crest of Kindness - violet
Cool Boat: Because none of V-mon's armor forms can fly or swim, during the assault on the Kaiser's base, Daisuke thinks to try and make a raft out of a nearby palmtree to follow the others, as it's the only thing around to work with. Resting his hand against it, he accidentally throws the lever and he and V-mon are suddenly riding a small island.
The Conscience: Wormmon plays a badly mistreated and loyal conscience to Ken.
Continuity Snarl: Digimon 02 attempts to tie in events form the WonderSwan games with the Drama CD and the Digimon Movie.
Conspicuous CG: ExVeemon and Stingmon's DNA Digi-volving sequence, as well as their evolution sequence to Imperialdramon. Just like with MetalGreymon and WereGarurumon, no-one else got CG evolution sequences.
Convection Schmonvection: Averted; Kimeramon's Heat Viper attack is actually very hard to dodge because it generates massive heat. Now, granted, you could still say the heat level was unrealistic, but it's a start.
Dead Sidekick: Even though he's alive and well now, Angemon's sacrifice in Adventure is the source of Takeru's anger towards evil Digimon. Wormmon sacrifices himself to help beat Kimeramon, and is resurrected two episodes later.
Depending on the Writer: With two producers and at least seven writers, inconsistencies are unavoidable.
Deus ex Machina: A literal example with Azulongmon ending the conflict in episode 37.
Up to Eleven with the last episode where with very little explination Davis and Veemon managed to break into Myotismon's Illusions for the Digidestned Snapping them out of it and bringing them back to the fight and they do it Simultaneously at that by splitting into multiple selves.
Ridiculously Successful Future Self: Most of the Chosen end up in glamorous positions, and those that don't end up in nonetheless highly satisfying positions; for example, Davis is a millionaire food-chain owner, Sora is a Fashion Designer, Tai is the Digital World's ambassador, Mimi has her own cooking show, and Matt is an astronaut; on the slightly less ostentatious side, Kari is a Kindergarten Teacher, Ken is a detective, and Yolei is a housewife (and with her and Ken's three children, the most, ah, productive mother in the show).
Don't Ask: The Digidestined, when they are found in a pile on the computer room floor, after returning from the Digital World.
Dub Induced Plot Hole: In creating Digimon: The Movie, the dub shoehorned the events of Hurricane Touchdown into continuity, which confuses people as to why Seraphimon and Magnadramon don't appear in the penultimate episode.
Establishing Character Moment: The first thing MaloMyotismon does upon emerging from his host is brutally murder Arukenimon and Mummymon in cold blood in such a way the Chosen, who were the two's enemies, cover their eyes and can't bear to watch. This shows that not only is MaloVamdemon still as horrible as he used to be, he's even worse
Everything is Online: The Digidestinted are able to use their school's computer club as an alibi for their work in the Digital World.
Executive Meddling: Jeff Nimoy stated that Digimon: The Movie was supposed to just feature the first two movies, but higher ups demanded he add the third movie in, which he wanted to be shown as a TV special.
Davis — Tai's successor. Pretty much in-universe, since he basically worships Tai and really wants to be as good as him, as established in the first episode.
Dragomon — Basically, Cthulhu makes a brief cameo in one episode.
Family Unfriendly Death: MaloMyotismon's brutal murder of Arukenimon and Mummymon. It's so horrible that even the heroes can't bear to watch and cover their eyes.
Foreshadowing: A very subtle clue to the identity of the real Big Bad was present from the first episode: the symbol on the Digimon Emperor's visor had also appeared on Myotismon's coffin in Season 1.
Gag Dub: Much more so than Adventure, but similar to it, it was perfectly capable of being serious when necessary, as in the last 8 episodes.
Gambit Pileup: The main participants are the Digimon Sovereigns and their Digidestined warriors and Malomyotismon's gang. The first groups wants to protect the worlds from the second one, who wants to conquer them for themselves to rule. Through the series, other potential players enter the scene in attempts to conquer the worlds as well; players such as the Daemon Corps, Dragomon of the Dark Ocean and a somewhat-back-to-life Devimon. Too bad they didn't got more screentime or development.
And if you see the movies as hour-long episodes rather than as regular films taking place in the same universe, count in Diaboromon and the virus-infected Kokomon.
Gambit Roulette: All of 02's villains' actions prove to be part of the mon behind the mon's greater scheme - even the ones that would have made his greater scheme impossible.
Heel Face Turn: Ken was the first major enemy in the series; after suffering a Villainous Breakdown following Wormmon's death, he slowly recovers from the hold the Dark Spore had over him.
High On Catnip: In the dub, Gatomon picks some catnip to heal Hawkmon. A few scenes later, Hawkmon is alert and active.
Gatomon: I found Catnip; it cures it all!
Hijacked by Ganon: Guess who's responsible for all the crap that goes on in the series? Myotismon—that's right, the guy who died in the last series by taking it to the crotch.
There Was a Door: Somehow, the mons get away with ripping a hole in the Palace of Versailles, and this was after T.K.'s grandfather objected strongly to enemies desecrating it just by occupying it.
Sensual Slavs: Yuri is green eyed and blonde, and both Yolei and Sora think he's attractive. They're visibly upset when they can't take him up on his offer to get them dinner.
Digimon Emperor: [turns to Wormmon, speaking in a much weaker voice than before] There's only one Digimon suitable enough for me...
Wormmon: H-huh...?
Digimon Emperor: AND THAT'S KIMERAMON!
Hot Dad/Hot Mom: All the kids are shown to have grown up well in the epilogue.
I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: In the dub, the Forbidden Valley Of No Return - though Cody points out that with a control spire there, it wouldn't be any safer even if it were the "Valley Of Duckies and Bunnies".
Idiot Hero: Davis. Unlike Tai, he doesn't really grow out of this, but admittedly it pays off in the end.
Lampshade Hanging: In the dub, Digmon indirectly pokes fun at the translators' incorrectly making his title "Drill of Power".
Digmon: Digmon, the Drill of Knowledge! ...I used to say the Drill of Power, but I think this makes me sound smarter!
Large Ham: Most people in the dub, much more so than any other Digimon series. One particularly funny moment has Davis saying "Digi-Armor Enerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgize!" with the consonant held out and the "gize" said so quickly and abruptly it almost didn't exist. Actually, this is the case every time he uses the DigiEgg of Courage.
Last Minute Hookup: Sora and Matt get together in episode 38, but other than this, they fit the trope - especially considering that no hint whatsoever was given of a previous romantic relationship between them. This applies to Ken and Yolei, as well.
Lighter and Softer: Digimon 02 definitely qualifies when compared to its successor and predecessor. Considering only one ally dies, the DigiDestined never truly get shaken up for more than one episode,all the lasting villains were Anti Villains working for one guy or barely made any mark at all [Daemon and Dragomon] and no large-scale damage is done to the world, let alone the city.
Lip Lock: Most notable in the "Digi-Armor Energize!" sequence.
Living With The Villain: Subverted. Davis and Ken do cross paths in the real world as enemies, but because they live in separate school districts and play on rival soccer teams, this only happens once.
The Movie: Two both short, non-canon affairs. The first is basically a showcase for a few of the digimentals; even going so far as to worfSeraphimon and Holydramon to make room for Magnamon and Rapidmon. The second is a sequel to Our War Game which features Imperialdramon Paladin Mode.
Multiform Balance: The various armor forms: at mostly two to a person, there are two major categories: combat and transport (though the latter can be used in specific combat situations; mostly aerial). Combat forms include Flamedramon, Digmon, and Shurimon, while the Transport forms are Raidramon, Halsemon, Submarimon, Pegasusmon, and Nefertimon. Interestingly, Angemon and Angewomon are grouped with the other combat forms, and Shurimon was unlocked after Halsemon.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Michi e no Armor Shinka established that the children could, in fact, swap Digimentals; each of the main six digimon has an armor form for each of the digimentals, including the TCG-only digimental of kindness, and the digimental of Miracles. V-mon specifically can also use the digimental of Fate, which has only one other user in Terriermon. In the actual series, the Chosen only ever use their specific -mentals, highly likely for cost reasons.
Nice Hat: T.K.'s nearly ever-present Gilligan hat. Also, Kari and Yolei get berets when winter sets in.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Done to Veemon by RedVegiemon in episode 4. Gabumon gets one earlier in the episode as well.
No Kill Like Overkill: The destruction of Myotismon's soul becomes this when you realize just what they shot it with. The light of millions of Digivices from every Chosen on Earth. To put this in perspective, eight were able to use said light to completely contain an explosion meant to destroy two worlds in one blast. Myotismon's spirit was hit with the combined light of millions of Digivices all at once fired out of an extremely powerful Digimon's dark-matter cannon. Though given the fact the guy just wouldn't stay dead, this was probably the wisest thing the Chosen could've done.
Non-Serial Movie: Both movies were for some time out of continuity with the series, with the main characters' Digimon only able to Armor Digi-volve and Ken not being a member of the team, not to mention Seraphimon and Magnadramon. Subsequent drama CDs shoehorned Hurricane Touchdown into continuity, which resulted in massive inconsistencies: Gatomon is able to become Angewomon when she shouldn't at this point, Seraphimon and Magnadramon are accessible forms for Patamon and Gatomon, and the children are visiting New York right in the middle of the Digimon Emperor arc. Diablomon Strikes Back remains non-serial with no attempts to incorporate it, but interestingly its incorporation wouldn't have caused any continuity problems.
Not Even a Digimon: The Digidestined were reluctant to kill the new threat until they learn this.
Odd Friendships: DNA evolution depends on pairs of children who are very different, and their attempts to reach an understanding.
Older and Wiser: Although the age gap between Yolei and Mimi or Izzy is only one year.
Prophetic Names: As with Adventure (but not played up as much), Kari is the bearer of the Crest and Digi-Egg of Light (hikari in Japanese) and has the ability to release a pink aura beneficial to Digimon.
Reincarnation: For the Digimon; even if they die, they eventually are reborn again in Primary Village. Humans, on the other hand, are a different story.
She's A Friend: Mimi randomly shows up at the start of episode six, and the new kids freak when they see her. Then...
Mimi: TK? Kari?
TK and Kari: (beaming) Yep!
TK: Everyone, this is Mimi. She's a member of the DigiDestined who moved to America.
Ship Sinking: Every ship other than Ken/Yolei & Sora/Matt after the Distant Finale. The former is explicitly stated in the narration, while the latter is left to visual cues and inference ( the fact that the little girl who looks like Matt has a Yokomon and the little boy who looks like Sora has a Tsunomon, plus the fact that they were together in the series proper), with a later Word Of God confirmation in V-Jump magazine. Die-hard TK/Kari fans take solace in the fact that no one said they weren't.
Ship Tease: The dub teases TK and Kari in episode 13.
Also, Veemon is shown to have a crush on Gatomon in a couple of episodes (in the dub, anyway; it was a one-episode thing in the original).
Diablomon Strikes Back has Armageddemon, whose appearance is reminiscent of an Angel. Furthermore, when Omegamon is severely wounded in the battle, he is left standing up with his arms having fallen off in a pose that echoes Unit 02 after being defeated by Zeruel.
There is a quick blink-and-you-miss-it shout out in episode 15; when ShogunGekomon sees the dark tower erected, he cries out "GeGeGe no Ge!"
TK and Kari hit it earlier on, each only receiving one usable Digimental; Angemon and Angewomon were grouped in the "combat" group with Flamedramon, Shurimon, and Digmon; though they were unable to be used for the duration.
Left the Background Music On: Audio drama: a Digimon Analyzer screen is read off, as always, prompting Yamato's dad's coworker to ask if Yamato's dad said something. Naturally, he answers, "Idiot, that's the narration, isn't it?" Of course, both Yamato's dad and the narrator are voiced by Hiroaki Hirata.
Spoiler Opening: The series' second Japanese ending, which started at the time of Paildramon's introduction, was arguably one of the franchise's most egregious examples. It showed Silphymon, Shakkoumon and even Imperialdramon, in both Dragon and Fighter Mode! And one episode later, the opening was revised, which in case you hadn't already seen the ending, showed the then-unintroduced Silphymon, Shakkoumon and Imperialdramon Dragon.
Stock Footage: The evolution sequences, as usual. Also, there was a set of stock footage for the partner Digimon using their attacks, but it wasn't used as much as in Adventure. A bit of it also shows up during battles; notably in repeat Bakemon fights within the Kaiser's base.
Storming The Castle: The chosen board the Kaiser's floating fortress out of necessity in order to bring a faster halt to Kimeramon's country-ravaging destruction. While eventually successful, it remains poignantly bittersweet.
Synchronization: DNA evolution between the partners of two chosen can only be achieved if the Chosen's hearts are beating in synchronisation, characterised by a deep understanding of each other's motives and beliefs.
Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: Zigzagged; this is the only Digimon series where things happen in other parts of the world, but the bulk of it does happen to Tokyo.
Too Dumb to Live: Episode 16, trapped inside an offshore Oil platform, running out of Oxygen. So what do the kid do? They start digging up the floor. Both using up precious oxygen and risking creating a leak.
In episode 22, Davis attempts at making Veemon evolve to win Kari's heart, leading to a scene of Davis destroys a bridge that he is standing on.
Episode 28 has the children entering Arukenimon's trap without thinking of telling anyone.
Chasing after Oikawa through the gate in episode 48 even after seeing him fatally wound BlackWarGreymon.
Takeru definitely took one between Adventure and 02, best evidenced when he stops the Digimon Emperor's whip attack WITH HIS BARE HAND and then proceeds to beat him senseless. And that's after he took a whip strike to the cheek without flinching or changing expression.
Trap Is the Only Option: In an aptly named episode "The Insect Master's Trap", the chosen children enter into Arukenimon's trap to find out what she is up to.
Two-Headed Coin: Davis attempts to pull this on T.K. when deciding who will go to rescue Kari. Since Davis has a crush on her, he uses an American quarter with tails on both sides. After Davis has supposedly won and is gloating to T.K., T.K. swipes the coin back and calls him on it, noting that he knows where they sell such quarters.
Villains Never Lie: Oikawa says that the Dark Spore is what gives Ken his talent, and uses a similar line to get a bunch of kids to go along with his plan. Everyone, including Ken, seems to believe him. Ken's marks at school do take a drop after his stint as the Emperor, but nobody seems to consider that this may be because of trauma, or some related, but entirely normal, psychological problem.
Voodoo Shark: The explanations for why the original chosen children could not use the power of their crests.
Wendigo: Yes, there's a Digimon based on this; though he's not named onscreen, Kokomon spends most of Hurricane Touchdown in his corrupt Champion form, Wendigomon.
What Could Have Been: The Dark Ocean was introduced by guest writer Chiaki Konaka and was originally supposed to be used as a larger plot point. The rest of the writers then proceeded to mostly ignore it.
What Happened to the Mouse?: The Dark Ocean, and Dragomon and Daemon therein; the mysterious flashbacks of how Ken got infected with the Dark Spore.
In the original version, Gennai's newly youthful form is never really explained. In the dub, this is handwaved by a throwaway line about him taking some "Digi-Vitamins."
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