Fanfic / Tamers Forever Series

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, GOGGLEHEAD!

— Rika Nonaka, on occasion

In May 2002, roughly one year after the end of the Digimon Tamers TV show, fanfiction author Daneel Rush began working on a small Rukato project in an attempt to overcome the writer's block he was suffering over his Chosen series. What started out as a simple romantic comedy side project would soon evolve to become one of his most well known and in-depth series.

Set after the events of Tamers, Tamers Forever begins simply at first, merely revolving around 12-year-old Takato Matsuki, his crush on the icy tamer Rika Nonaka, and the hilarious lengths he is prepared to go to in order to help her. However, upon undertaking the seemingly suicidal task of traveling to the digital world to singlehandedly gather the Tamers' old Digimon, Takato soon finds himself confronted by the mysterious Triad, a group of entities who guard the secrets of the Thread of Destiny, the written record of the entire universe. The Triad gift Takato with the powerful Omnivice, along with its sarcastic A.I program "Ruki", telling Takato of his role as the legendary "Omni-Tamer", the first of the "Enlightened Ones", and the universe's only hope against total annihilation.

But this is not Takato's true power.

Ever since the horrible battle against Beelzemon, Takato has felt a dark force living within him, a ruthless, violent power that threatens to consume him and everyone he loves. A terrifying power that could be reality's only chance at salvation- or the very force that condemns it to extinction.

The scale intensifies as Takato must not only combat the chaotic force within him but also the ruthless Digimon who seek to acquire the power of the Omni-Tamer for themselves.

Meanwhile, in the Eastern Quadrant, the Digidestined are now adults living out their lives in the city of Odaiba, struggling to cope with a cruel and merciless world and find stability in the peace they created. But those who live by the sword die by the sword, and the Chosen soon find themselves caught up in the apocalyptic prophecy, dragged into a vortex of death, abandonment, betrayal, pain and loss.

As the darkness threatens to consume Takato and a sadistic monster from the past rises to take his revenge, both the Tamers and the Chosen must call upon every fiber of strength within them... or burn in the oncoming inferno.

All five books can be found here.

Note: Due to a weird formatting error, the fic has recently been showing up entirely in bold italics. Fanmade e-books of the series made before this error can be found here with some minor edits (The Japanese evolution terms replaced with the English Digivolution terms and all song lyrics removed): book one, book two, book three, book four, book five. Since these were not uploaded by the creator, any comments or criticism should still be sent to the above Fanfiction.net link.

The sequel series, called GOSPEL, has started but is on hiatus.^note He's still busy working on a Universe Compendium, just not posting chapters.

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Provides Examples Of:

• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The Nightmare decides to ignore its creator's orders and instead tries to take over the net. Ironically, it still ends up serving its original purpose: testing Takato.
• Affably Evil: Although it's downplayed in the sense that he's not actually evil, one of the most noticeable things about Chaos is how normal he seems, despite the fact that he's a ten billion year old avatar of destruction and disorder.
• Airborne Mooks: LadyDevimon and SkullSatamon fill this role in Daemon's army.
• All Your Colors Combined: The Trinity Burst attack, which is used to defeat Piedmon.
• Alpha Strike: MegaGargomon uses this twice, unloading his entire arsenal in an ultimately futile attempt to bring down Daemon.
• And Then What?: Blackwargreymon has absolutely no idea what he is going to do after he's killed Takato. Funnily enough, he doesn't seem to mind all that much.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: An unusual example, as Takato doesn't actually say it to the object of his affection:
  Takato (to Renamon): You can help me protect Rika, and that's the only thing I want—
  Renamon: Why?
  Takato: What?
  Renamon: Why do you want to protect Rika so badly?
  Takato: Well, that's— err— well— that's because— ahh— umm—
  Renamon: Why do you insist so much in taking care of her, when she only insulted you and humiliated you in the past? Why do you want to be her friend so badly? Why do you smile every time her name is mentioned? Why, Tamer? I don't understand—
  Takato: Dammit, Renamon, because I love her!
• Anti-Hero: Several examples, including: Noble Demon; Chaos, Good is Not Nice; Takeru and Jerkass Woobie; Rika
• Armour-Piercing Question: Ryo often uses friendly versions of these against Rika to covertly tease her about her relationship with Takato.
  • Chaos is on the receiving end of several from Takato and Ruki.
• Author Avatar: Hypnos technician and agent of the Triad Daneel Randt, although he's a rare example of a Self-Insert that doesn't hog the spotlight and serves as more of a Mr. Exposition character, not to mention getting unceremoniously killed off.
• Awesome, but Impractical: BlackMegaGargomon's Black Moon Flare Technique is insanely powerful, so much so that DC is only able to handle one use of it.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other:
  • Despite constantly mocking Takato, Rika frequently shows genuine concern for him, something that nobody else fails to notice.
    Rika: You HAVE to let us go help him!
    Ms Asaji: If I didn't know you, Miss Nonaka, I'd think you're worried about young Takato.
    Kenta: You know, I was THIS close to saying that!
  • Also, despite their marriage being on the decline, Sora is genuinely horrified when Matt almost get's his eyes cut out by a DarkScubamon.
• Ax-Crazy: Daemon could be the poster boy for this trope, a nigh unstoppable psychopath who is quite literally fuelled by his own hatred, often exploding into violent rages and laughing maniacally at the sight of others in pain.
• Back Story: In a bid to win their trust, Takeru reveals to the Tamers the true history of the Digital World, as well as the truth about Takato's origins..
• Bad Ass Boast:
  • Takato FREQUENTLY attempts this, though it invariably comes out as Narm both In-Universe and out
    Takato: [moves his right leg forward and clenches his right fist] "What did you do to my friends!"
    Takato (Thoughts): Hey, how did that sound?
    Chaos: Oh, dear God
  • However, he does get one genuinely epic one during his battle against Rika.
    Rika: You're underestimating us Gogglehead!
    Takato: No Rika, you're underestimating me.
• Bad Ass Normal:
  • Tatsu no Houho is able to take on several ultimate level digimon with nothing but a Katana.
  • Takeru has a similar scene later on.
• Bad Powers, Good People: Takato Matsuki is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. unfortunately, he is also the Vessel of Chaos and could potentially wreak untold havoc upon reality.
• Battle Couple: Yolei and Ken during the battle against Daemon's army.
• Battle of Wits: Surprisingly enough, most of the battles in Tamers Forever are quite strategic in nature. The most prominent example would have to be the battle between Piedmon and Gallantmon, which essentially involved Piedmon using every dirty trick he could think of and Takato adapting to and countering these moves, all while engaged in an awesome midair duel.
• Beam-O-War: There is a brief Beam Struggle between Armmageddemon's Ultimate Flare technique and Seraphimon/Magnadramon's Dual Force: Golden Absolution technique.
• Beam Spam: Gallantmon's new "Takato's Star Storm" technique works by firing a barrage of plasma bolts from the small triangles rimming his shield.
• Become a Real Boy: Pauline desperately wants to be human so that she can be with Takeru and also for the simple fact that she doesn't have a body that can express her emotions like humans do, meaning that every feeling she has is bottled up inside her without release.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Pretty much sums up Takato and Rika's relationship.
  • Actually a modified version in that Takato is a Dogged Nice Guy to the much more hostile Rika... well... most of the time.
  • Takato also initially believes Rika's hatred of Ryo is secretly this, but in reality she genuinely does dislike him. Ryo, for his part, just enjoys getting under Rika's skin.
• Big Bad: Blackwargreymon assumes this role in Omni-Tamer
  • In Forget the Y2K, This is Madness!!, the sadistic Nightmare virus becomes the prominent threat to the Tamers,
  • However, the Nightmare itself pales when compared to the overwhelming power of the psychotic Daemon, who sends his agent to weaken the Tamers during Theory of Chaos, before terrorizing them personally throughout Silent Sorrow.
  • Back in Card-O-Rama, Mr. Sagara comes across as this by attempting to rig the tournament, which Takato plots to counter for Rika's sake, but since this doesn't drastically affect the plot until the final chapter, most of Takato's interactions are with the judge/shop owner Sagara bribes, and both men are mere humans anyway, it's not nearly as memorable.
• Big "NO!": The Nightmare does this when struck by Gallantmon and Sakuyamon's Dual Force: Spirit of Chaos technique. Justified in that he was most likely screaming in terror and pain.
• Blessed with Suck: As the vessel of Chaos, Takato is gifted with immense power, but that same power is slowly and painfully killing him from the inside out.
• Blind Seer: The Cherrymon that watches over the Secret Garden.
• Blood from the Mouth: Several times during Silent Sorrow, Takato's deteriorating health is illustrated very disturbingly by his coughing up blood.
• Brain Washed: During Theory of Chaos, all the Tamers except Takato are brainwashed into acting wildly out of character, leading to some of the series most disturbingly hilarious scenes ever.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: a common source of humour, although inverted in that it's often the AUTHOR doing the forth wall breaking with random comments.
• Break the Badass: Renamon desperately tries to warn the Tamers to run when she sees Chaos biomerging.
  Rika: Renamon, if I didn't know you, I'd think you were frightened.
  Renamon: Rika, I'm TERRIFIED!
• Break the Cutie: Daneel Rush is absolutely vicious in his psychological torment of Rika.
  • And even Mimi's detractors would have to admit that what happened to her was absolutely horrible.
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: used in this exchange during OmniTamer.
  Renamon: Takato, are you okay?
  Takato: Well I'm kind of tired, I haven't eaten at all today, and MY HANDS ARE ON FIRE!
• Brick Joke: Takato's bluffs never work.
• Broken Pedestal: This happens to Takeru in the eyes of the Tamers once they find out he plans to allow Takato to die in order to prevent Daemon from acquiring the power of God.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Between his incompetence at the Digimon card game, lack of experience, inability to make effective plans and shy nature, it's easy to write Takato off as weak excuse for a Tamer, but his outward awkwardness masks an astonishing degree of competence. It is actually this weaknesses that make him so dangerous; his lack of long-term thinking is made up for by his impressive skill at using surprisingly effective Indy Ploys, making him an unpredictable and dangerous opponent.
• Can Only Move the Eyes: This happens to Takato when he becomes paralysed due to his brain cells slowly dying.
• Cerebus Syndrome: The author says it best:
  "When 'Tamers Forever' was originally conceived, it was supposed to be a ten-story series mainly concerning a Takato/Rika relationship. It was supposed to be more of a romantic comedy, however, I realized my strong point wasn't comedy, as I unconsciously deepened and filled the plot with questions and secrets."
  • To give the man due credit, though, he never completely abandons the humour. In fact, several scenes from later books are absolutely hilarious.
  • The drama is taken up to eleven during Silent Sorrow.
• Character Development: Taken even further than the original series.
  • Especially for the Adventure cast.
• Chick Magnet: Despite his cold, cynical personality, Takeru is still very attractive to the ladies.
• Child Soldiers: Deconstructed during Silent Sorrow:
  "What am I supposed to do now?" Henry whispered. His body let go of itself and Henry fell right next to the immense rookie Digimon.
  "I know what they want me to do; they want me to just jump to the front line and take my friends to battle, as if we were soldiers willing to die for our country. Besides, they think it's so easy that in the end, Daemon will be defeated, just like D-Reaper and the Nightmare."
  The sound of Henry's fist crashing against the floor covered Jeri's gasp.
  "Of course! If the kids do it, it's because it's easy, right?"
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Pauline, although she still manages to be a sympathetic character and becomes an outright Woobie later on.
• Combat Commentator: during the battle between Gallantmon and Piedmon, Henry provides this role for the much less experienced Jeri.
• Combat Pragmatist: Along with Piedmon (below), Chaos demonstrates this trope while fighting the Tamers.
• Combat Tentacles: The Nightmare has a set of razor sharp tendrils, which it uses to deadly effect.
• Combination Attack: The Dual Force techniques.
• Comedic Sociopathy: No one ever seems to mind when the author is being strangled during the Stingers.
• Conveniently Empty Building: Averted. Sakuyamon blasts a Diaboromon into a building which collapses on top of Rei Tanaka and kills her. She gets better with the help of Huanglongmon.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: an absolutely hilarious example is used during Theory of Chaos:
  Takato: IF YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE I'LL...
  Chaos: What? What will you do?
  Takato: I'LL I'LL TAKE A PILL OF PROZAC!
  Chaos: You wouldn't dare!
  Takato: OH, YES I WOULD!
  [Chaos' silence was enough of an answer, he had won that one.]
  Ruki: But at what price? Prozac, Takato? That's just sick.
  Takato: Shut up and let me enjoy this victory.
  Chaos: while it lasts.
  Takato: I thought SOMEONE was supposed to shut up!
• Crazy Enough to Work: Every single one of Takato's plans, and I use the word 'plan' in the loosest possible terms.
• Creepy Child: Gabrielle/ Takako and Chaos both fit this trope to a tee.
• Curbstomp Battle: The sovereigns end up on the receiving end of a swift beatdown at the hands of ChaosGallantmon.
  • During the final chapter of Silent Sorrow, Daemon gets the ever-loving crap beaten out of him by Gallantmon Crimson Mode.
• Curb-Stomp Cushion:
  • Although ChaosGallantmon dominates the Tamers for almost the entirety of their fight, he is still on the receiving end of an effective ''Dual Force'' attack from Sakuyamon and SaberLeomon. Even though he still manages to keep fighting, it still proves more effective than anything even the ''Sovereigns'' could do to him.
  • Also, despite being completely outclassed in their fight against Daemon, the Tamers still manage to get a few decent hits in.
• Darkest Hour: Silent Sorrow. It doesn't get a whole lot darker than not only winding up at death's door thanks to your Superpowered Evil Side but having your city invaded by an Omnicidal Maniac and accompanying army seeking the power that is incarnated as said evil side who are so powerful that the only chance of foiling them is by retreating to the digital world so you can finish dying before they get what they want from you.
• Dark Is Not Evil: It is eventually clear that despite his violent tendencies Chaos is not evil.
  • Though Takeru calls him out on the fact that he convinced the Japanese generals to attack Pearl Harbor.
• Dead Guy Junior: The infant Taichi Kamiya is named after his late uncle who supposedly committed suicide.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts: Patamon manages to destroy a wild Cyclonemon by using a barrage of hundreds and hundreds of Wing Slaps.
• Determinator: Takato! If continuing to fight against a hoard of Mega level Digimon despite the fact that your clothes are literally soaked in your own blood, and you are almost paralyzed from your brain cells dying doesn't count as this, nothing does.
  • Daemon also fits the profile.
    Takeru: Daemon is an extremely powerful foe, and his power has increased in the past fifteen years. His anger and desire for vengeance makes him practically invincible, a berserk fighter who will do anything to win.
    Takato: But my friends will never give up! Rika will never give up!
    Takeru: Neither will he.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Rika becomes this by the end of Silent Sorrow, although it takes a LOT of effort.
• Designated Girl Fight: There is one between Sakuyamon and Rosemon, although it's Justified in that they were the strongest conscious fighters in the area.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: In his first appearance, Chaosgallantmon absolutely DESTROYS both Azulongmon and Zhuqaiomon in about ten seconds flat.
• Disney Death: Takato's death is a rare example of a Disney Death that still manages to be a Tear Jerker.
• Disc-One Final Boss: While we know from the beginning of Theory of Chaos that the Digimon that curses the Tamers is working for another, this is played completely straight when Chaosgallantmon comes out halfway through and offs Doumon before forcing the Tamers to deal with him, leaving Daemon for the next story.
• Distracted by the Sexy: G-rated example. Takato wins a staring contest against Rika because he ends up lost in her eyes!! Yes, you are allowed to laugh. First ever case where being Distracted by the Sexy has actually worked in the distracted person's favour.
• The Dragon: Doumon. An ironic inversion to the trope, as she is physically weaker than Big Bad Daemon and focuses more on manipulating and spying on the Tamers.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Subverted. While Takato certainly does want Rika to like him, he is also fully aware that iit will probably never happen and is often nice to her simply because he likes seeing her happy.
• Door Stopper: The last book, Silent Sorrow, would be over 800 pages long if it was published, and yet it reads like a comic book.
• Dramatic Deadpan: Takeru delivers one of these when he calls the other Digidestined to fight once more and Kari and Yolei, only knowing that Gennai has summoned them, bring along their children, hoping it will be a simple reunion, which leads to this:
  Takeru: I will hold no responsibility for those children's deaths. Understood?
  Davis: Damn, TJ, are you insane!
  Takeru: If those two stay in this world, I assure you that they will die, as well as their parents. And if you call me that again, I will break your jaw so hard that you'll have to swim to the bottom of the lake for the pieces.
• Dueling Shows: the Dimensions series seems to be getting more attention despite this series being the first to use many of the plot points and characters found in Dimensions.
• Dying Declaration of Love: Takato has always known that Rika would kill him if he told her he loved her but he figures since he's dying anyway, he's got nothing to lose. A rare instance of this trope that actually works.
• Eldritch Abomination: The Nightmare virus, which later evolves into a...
  • Humanoid Abomination: Once it assumes Takato's image.
• Electric Torture:
  • A swarm of Kurisarimon do this to Takato while he is being beaten to death.
  • Takato, Rika, Henry, Terriermon and Renamon are also on the receiving end of Azulongmon's Wind Electricity technique.
• Elite Mooks: Armaggedemon, Diaboramon, Infermon, LadyDevimon and SkullSatamon all serve this role in Daemon's army.
• Enemy Within: He's not exactly evil, but Chaos is a bit headstrong and has his own idea about things.
• Everyone Can See It: The only person blind enough not to notice Takato's "secret" crush on Rika, is Rika herself.
• Evil Is Hammy: Daemon, justified in that he's completely out of his mind.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Played for Laughs during Theory of Chaos:
  Chaos: How is it that I'm supposed to do your schoolwork? I'm CHAOS!! Not some sort of encyclopedia!
• Expanded Universe: Daneel Rush has put a lot of effort into expanding the digimon mythology, creating a mythos that combines computer programming codes with real world mythology and religious beliefs.
  • The first glimpse comes in the form of Takeru's exposition during Silent Sorrow, but even more info can be found in the wiki linked above for GOSPEL (curious tropers should beware heavy unmarked spoilers when browsing these notes)
• Extra Eyes: The D-Nightmare is absolutely covered in eyes, further enhancing its Eldritch Abomination status.
• Eye Scream: Matt narrowly avoids having his eyes cut open by a DarkScubamon.
  • Ryo is also on the receiving end of this, all though it is Played for Laughs:
    Ryo (after a major crisis has just been averted): So what's for dinner? Owww, Rika! Stop it, it hurts! Ouch, my eye!
• Family-Unfriendly Death: Takato's death. Not because it's super violent, but because of how long the author draws it out and makes the readers desperate for Takato to survive by making it clear exactly what he has to live for
• Freudian Trio: Takato, Ruki and Chaos all form one.
  • The Id: Chaos, the living embodiment of disorder and thus the most impulsive of the trio.
  • The Superego: Ruki, a sentient A.I and thus the most intellectual of the three.
  • The Ego: Takato, the balance between the two.
• From Bad to Worse: Silent Sorrow, the final story in the series. As it opens, Takato is already dying thanks to his Superpowered Evil Side overloading his body. Then, Shinjuku is invaded by a Digimon army led by Daemon, who is after the power of said evil side and is so insanely powerful that the only way anyone can even think to foil him is to let Takato escape to the digital world- so he can die before Daemon gets him.
• Funbag Airbag: During the battle against the Nightmare, Gallantmon ends up falling face first on Sakuyamon's breasts.
• Godzilla Threshold: Daemon is considered to be such an unbeatable opponent that the Tamers' only hope is for Takato to die before Daemon can absorb the power of God.
• Good Is Dumb: This is essentially Piedmon's reaction when Gallantmon saves him from The Nightmare, despite the fact that Takato knows Piedmon is planning to kill him.
• Good is Not Nice: Takeru, especially when he criticizes the other Digidestined.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: The Nightmare Virus is much more sadistic and power-hungry than its programmer ever intended it to be.
• Gratuitous Japanese: The characters all start using Japanese honorifics during Silent Sorrow. Fortunately, the author is one of the few fanfic writers who actually knows what these words mean.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: It is very easy to piss off Rika.
  • This is Lampshaded at one point.
    Takato: I thought you were mad at me?
    Rika: Do you think I'm the kind of person who gets mad at silly things like that?
    Takato: Ummm...
    Ruki: Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a dilemma here!
    Takato: Ah, Rika, do you want the right answer or the nice answer?
    [THWACK!!]
    Takato: Ow!
  • As the Avatar of Wrath, Jeri makes Rika look like a pacifist in comparison.
• Hand Wave: The absence of Takato's crush on Jeri from the original series is off-handedly referenced and attributed to him never truly having been in love with her.
• Hannibal Lecture: DC manages to do this to Daemon of all people, turning the monster's own threats and sadism against him:
  Daemon: You know I could kill you right now, you pitiful human...
  DC: [Psychotic Smirk] Oh, but you won't... You want to kill me, yes... but you won't do it just yet. Only after you have drained every single bit of information, and only after you have rejoiced in my screams of pain... only after you put me through the most hellish tortures... only then, you'll kill me. Oh, yes, I know you. I understand you. You're so devoured by your own hatred that you can hardly think before you act. After years of horror and solitude in this place, the only thing that keeps you alive is your hatred for those who imprisoned you here. Well, I'm sorry but I hate to tell you that I'm not one of those.
• Happily Married: Yolei and Ken are shown to be Happily Married in Forget the Y2K, This is Madness!!.
• Hearing Voices: all of the Enlightened Ones/ Archangels can hear the voice of their Omnivices speaking to them
  • Takato can also hear Chaos' voice in his head.
  • Additionally, DC, Tai and Takeru are contacted mentally by Gabrielle, though she only bothers to whisper random comments in the latter's mind.
• Heroic BSoD: A Particularly nasty version of this happens to Takato once he finally merges with Chaos. Having achieved the full power of God, Takato is overwhelmed by the vastness of creation and suffers a crippling form of identity crisis. Why should he care about himself, his loved ones or existence at all, when each and everyone of those things can be destroyed and remade on a whim? Needless to say, it's rather disturbing to see Takato go from Nice Guy to Dr Manhatten Expy.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • Kazu receives a Flame Inferno attack meant to kill Suzie.
  • Takato sacrifices himself to kill Daemon.
  • Takato receives a "Trump Swords" attack meant for Taomon.
• Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Chaos always takes the simplest solution to any problem. E.g., Love Interest is a bitch >> Love Interest is dead >> Love Interest is not a bitch.
• How Dare You Die on Me!:
  Rika: Damn you, Takato, I have cried more in these last few days than in my entire lifetime, and it's all your fault!
• Idiot Ball:
  • Oh no Takato's in danger! Oh no the teacher won't allow us to leave the class! Why they did not simply knock her unconcious and run to the rescue anyway is baffling.
  • Ms. Asaji herself as well, for putting "rules are rules" above the threat of rampaging Digimon. Considering she turns out to be an agent for Takeru, it may have been a deliberate move to force Takato to handle the situation alone and gain more control of his powers.
• I'm Not a Hero, I'm...
  Daemon: Why can't you be a good boy and give up!
  Chaos: I'm a Virus, Daemon. I'm not a good boy.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Takeru is impaled through the chest by Daemon's claws; thankfully, he manages to survive.
  • Earlier on, Takato is impaled by Piedmon's Trump Swords technique.
• Implacable Man: Daemon will NOT. STAY. DOWN.
• Indy Ploy: Takato is exceptionally good at this, to the point where it crosses the line into Xanatos Speed Chess territory.
• Insufferable Genius: Daneel Randt is a bright but arrogant young technician.
• It Amused Me: Chaos's primary motivation for his long term goals.
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Takato can strongly attest to this. At first he's happy in his role as the OmniTamer, but soon comes to realise that being the vessel of Chaos comes at a terrible cost
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • Despite acting like a total jackass most of the time- make that all of the time- Chaos still has some moments where he shows that he genuinely respects his other half, and that he can actually be a nice guy when he wants to.
  • Ryo also fits the bill, or as Takato puts it:
    he knew Ryo was just trying to be a friend;a crazy, narcissist, extremely annoying friend, but a friend, after all.
• Kamehame Hadoken: ChaosGallantmon's Judecca Prison technique.
• Killer Rabbit:
  • In a literal version of this trope, Daneel Rush does a very convincing job of showing BlackTerriermon to be a far more competant fighter than one would assume given his harmless-looking appearence.
  • Then there's the original Terriermon going toe to toe with Daemon during the second to last chapter.
• Knight of Cerebus: ChaosGallantmon. Before his appearence, the series was a lighthearted romantic comedy series. However ChaosGallantmon's appearance kicks the series Myth Arc into high gear by triggering the series first Wham Episode. And his second appearance is the catalyst for the series Darkest Hour.
• Large Ham: Takato seems to have a fondness for melodramatic speeches.
  • Chaos also has his moments.
    '"Join me at the darkness of the eternal abyss! JUDECCA PRISON!"''
• The Last Dance: The entire plot of Silent Sorrow, is one epic Last Dance for Takato.
• Last Stand: Every combatant in the series- willingly or not- is forced to make a last stand against Daemon's forces during the final chapters of Silent Sorrow.
• Laughably Evil: Even if he's not technically evil, there is no denying that Chaos is absolutely hilarious.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Terriermon drops his goofy attitude right before opening up a can of whoop-ass on Daemon.
• Lightning Bruiser: ChaosGallantmon, Daemon, Gallantmon Crimson Mode, the Nightmare and Terriermon are all lightning fast Mega digimon capable of some of the most utterly devastating attacks in the series.
• Love Hurts: Read as: "love is a surgical scalpel used to subject the main characters to unimaginable suffering".
• Love Triangle: One exists between Takeru, Kari and Pauline. You'd be surprised by how many people are Takeru/Pauline shippers.
• The Man Behind the Man: The mysterious programmer who created The Nightmare.
  • There's also the mysterious entity that restarted "Project: Asmodeus".
  • Daemon is this for Theory of Chaos as far as the Tamers are concerned, though the reader is aware of his existence (though not his identity) from the start.
• Moment Killer: Takeru during Rika and Takato's First Kiss. The author even lampshades it.
  But if we know something about these kinds of stories, it's that someone always ruins things when they get interesting.
  • Takeru's perfect delivery.
    "What are you two doing? We've been waiting for...holy shit."
• Monster Delay: Lampshaded by the author:
  Episode five and Daemon hasn't arrived to Shinjuku... *sigh* Oh well, I just hope I actually get him in there before chapter eight, and I expect to finish this story in twenty chapters in the worst case scenario.
• Mr. Exposition: Daneel Randt and Takeru
  • Despite her small role, Gabrielle reveals more information than the previous two characters combined.
• Ms. Fanservice: Eclipse and Pauline, although they're both fully developed characters beyond just being sexy.
• My God, What Have I Done?: When Chaos first emerges, but before Takato realizes he's a separate entity. From his perspective, he destroyed a significant part of the Internet just by having his Berserk Button pressed. You'd be a bit scared of yourself too.
  • This is also Takato's reaction when he uses the Omnivice to remove the pain from Azulongmon's Wind Electricity technique, only to find out that he'd transferred the pain to Rika, Henry, Renamon and Terriermon. His horror, frustration and grief combine to send him over the edge, unleashing the power of ChaosGallantmon.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Nightmare
  • The Son of Destruction
• The Nicknamer: Rika seems to have a nickname for everyone, something that Henry lampshades.
  • During one of the chapter openings, Terriermon lists every single one of the nicknames in order to make up for the last chapter being rather short.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Most of the fights against Big Bad Daemon end up like this.
• No One Could Survive That!: BlackWarGreymon make this mistake twice regarding Takato.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Despite their small size and low level, the Kurisarimon and DarkScubamon are vicious and numerous digimon whose predatory and opportunistic natures make them a threat even to Mega level Digimon.
• Oblivious to Love: Rika. Justified in that she is completely unable to believe that anyone could possibly even like her, much less love her.
• Oh, Crap!: Multiple examples:
  • From Takato when he accidently grabs Rika's backside.
  • From Takato and Terriermon when they realise Devitamamon is standing right behind them.
  • From Henry when he opens his door to see an extremely pissed of Rika.
  • From MegaGargomon whenever their Mighty Glacier status turns against them.
  • As beffiting their status as Knights Of Cerebus, Daemon and ChaosGallantmon tend to inspire this reaction on a regular basis.
• One-Hit KO: Chaos easily kills Doumon by crushing her skull in his hand.
• Order vs. Chaos: The millenia-old conflict between the Archangels and the Archdemons.
• Original Character: Mr Sagara, Mr. Sato, Ken Sagara, Ruki, Chaos, Pauline, The Nightmare, Ayla, Goddramon, Piedmon (he is different enough from his canon counterpart to count as this), Helena, Gabrielle, DC, Blackterriermon, Tatsu, Eclipse and Rei Tanaka.
• Our Angels Are Different /Our Demons Are Different: Daneel Rush combines both real world mythology and computer programming language to create his own versions of the denizens of Heaven and Hell.
• Outside-Context Problem: The Triad never considered Daemon returning as part of their plan. Naturally, this proves to be a catastrophic error.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: The Digidestined from the Eastern Quadrant might have saved their version of both worlds, but they simply aren't up to the task of fighting the likes of Daemon again. The Tamers have a lot of advantages that the Digidestined don't: their setting lets them absorb the data of slain digimon to grow stronger, they have the tactical option to scan trading cards to give their digimon more power or new abilities, and as such they needed to get a better and more active understanding of battle strategy than the Digidestined ever needed to learn. Takeru, the only one strong enough to contribute as he'd become a Tamer himself, calls the others useless to their faces and says the only remotely helpful digimon they could bring to bear is unavaillable because one of its four pieces is presumed dead. When they want to help anyway, he gives them a crash course, and they Take a Level in Badass in time to hold their own on one front of the Final Battle.
  • This is actually suprisingly accurate to the original canon. The protagonists of Tamers each individually have the raw power to compete with Digimon that can destroy the entire multi-dimensional digital world by their mere existence, and while the Digidestined HAVE defeated such entities, it's been through a group effort, or empowerment by Homeostasis, or the use of a Weaksauce Weakness rather than being individually at that level of raw power.
• People Jars: In the Apex, the core of the four Quadrants. There's the first five failed Takato bodies, a spot for the sixth one: Takato Matsuki, the seventh one: Gabrielle/Takako, and a spot for the eighth one: Takato Tachikawa.
• Phrase Catcher: "Shut up Chaos!"
  • And of course the unforgettable page quote. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING GOGGLEHEAD!!"
• Physical God: Chaos.
  • Takato becomes one after fusing with Chaos.
  • And then of course you have Goddramon and the Sovereigns including Huanglongmon.
  • And 'The Saviour'/ Terriermon
• Playing with Fire/ Pyromaniac/ Hellfire: Daemon uses this as his primary technique. He seems to enjoy immolating people a bit too much.
• Please, I Will Do Anything!: Played for Laughs. Takato will only forgive Ruki for sleeping through his battle with Chaos if she kisses Chaos. She takes a third option and instead kisses Takato, since they're the same person.
• The Powers That Be: The mysterious Triad that guards the Thread of Destiny.
• Precision F-Strike:
  Takeru (T.K): Do you understand now? We're not going to a fucking walk in the park. This is not a goddamned picnic.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Apparently, this is Takato's secret weapon. (Now with more glimmering!)
• Really 700 Years Old:
  Takato: So you're older than the Big Bang, huh?
  Chaos: Yeah, pretty much... hard to believe, huh?
  Ruki: Yeah, anyone would think you'd have matured by now.
  Chaos: Hey!
  • Ryo is also really 28 years old, despite the fact that he looks only 14.
  • Gabrielle is also much older than her apparent age of twelve.
• Really Dead Montage: One of these plays when Rika is greiving over Takato's death.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gallantmon Crimson Mode combines all these tropes to lay a verbal smackdown on Daemon, whilst beating the everloving crap out of him.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The dynamic between Chaos and Takato is an interesting inversion of this trope. ChaosGallantmon has blue highlights on his armour, while Gallantmon has red highlights, and Chaos is also much more ruthless than Takato, but surprisingly enough, Takato is actually the Blue Oni, being much more subtle and thoughtful than the impulsive Chaos.
• Retcon / Alternate Universe Fic: The events of Adventure 02's epilogue, the CD drama, and Runaway Locomon never happened.
• The Rival: After Takato takes a level in badass, Rika becomes determined to prove herself the better Tamer no matter the cost.
• Sadistic Choice: During his fight against Gallantmon, Piedmon launches his Trump Swords in seperate directions, two going for Rapidmon and the other two for Taomon, forcing Takato to choose which Digimon to save. Takato Takes A Third Option by using his shield to knock Rapidmon out of the way of the first two swords, then allowing the remaining two swords to gut him instead of Taomon.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Daemon. Subverted in that he breaks himself out.
• Seven Deadly Sins: During Theory Of Chaos, all the Tamers except Takato are bewitched into portraying these sins.
• Shipper on Deck: Pauline ships Ruki and Takato together.
• Shoot the Dog: Takeru's plan to allow Takato to die in order to prevent Daemon from aquiring the power of God.
• Shout-Out: To Neon Genesis Evangelion
  Gabrielle: Anyway, it seems things are getting pretty messed up in the Eastern Quadrant. The Second already got her Omnivice.
  D.C: The second? The second Archangel?
  Gabrielle: No, dummy, the second EVA pilot. Of course I mean the second Archangel!
  D.C: You know, for someone who has been inside a glass tube for thirteen years, you certainly know your anime stuff.
• Smug Snake: Doumon is a manipulative, condescending and arrogant bitch who casually dissmisses Takato as a threat, treating him like a small child who needs to learn his place. Which makes it all the more satisfying when Takato calmly points out to her just how completely and utterly screwed she is.
• Smug Super: Ryo is one of the best Tamers around and he damn well knows it.
  • Chaos is an even more noticeable example.
• Spit Take: Ryo does a truly epic one when he finds out that Takato kissed Rika.
  "How are you still alive!?!??!?!!?!!"
  • Bonus points for the fact that he wasn't actually drinking anything at the time!!
• The Starscream: The Nightmare has no wish to follow its original programming once it believes itself powerful enough to take over the Internet.
• The Stinger: The beggining and end of almost every chapter has a short hilarious scene that involves the Author and characters disscussing the previous and following chapters. These frequently involve the author being strangled for what he's written.
• Strange Minds Think Alike: Ruki and Rika. Which makes sense considering that Ruki was based on Rika's personality. Still doesn't make it any less hilarious though.
• Suicidal Overconfidence: Skullgreymon demonstrates this when, surrounded by ten ultimates and a mega, his only thoughts are "Yay! I can kill them for data!" Granted, it works, but it's a close thing.
  • Rika also demonstrates this, refusing to surrender even when continuing to fight puts her partner and herself in mortal danger.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Chaos is Takato's superpowered evil side, and the reason why pushing Takato's Berserk Button is a very bad idea.
• Supporting Leader: Henry and Takeru lead the main offensive againgst Daemon and his army respectively while Takato is dying.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Ruki tends to show aspects of this when Chaos and Takato do something moronic (which is pretty much all the time).
  Oh I can't believe you two
  • Takato also acts like this when confronted by Ruki and Chaos's nigh constant bickering.
    "Sometimes I wish my mind showed me something other than the two of you"
• Taking the Bullet: Gallantmon receives a Trump Sword meant for Taomon and later, Kazu receives a Flame Inferno attack meant for Suzie
• Taking You with Me: Gallantmon Crimson Mode uses up his remaining life to unleash a massive explosion that wipes out Daemon.
• Team Mama Bear: Even as an Action Girl, Jeri is still the most protective of the Tamers.
• Teleport Spam: Piedmon is a serial abuser of this trope.
• That Makes Me Feel Angry: Parodied in Theory of Chaos:
  Takato was exhausted.
  Takato: God, I'm exhausted!
  Yes, Takato, I already said that, thank you! Ahem, anyway, Takato was exhausted
  Takato: God, I'm-
  SHUT UP TAKATO!!
• That Man Is Dead: Inverted; Chaos will always insist that he is Takato- the real Takato. The worst part is, it's essentially true.
• Took a Level in Badass: After the events of Omni-Tamer, Takato becomes the strongest Tamer by far. Unfortunately for him, the one person whose respect and praise he truly desires instead becomes aggressive and spiteful to him out of jealousy, forcing Takato to finally snap.
  • Jeri also grows from being The Cutie into a true Action Girl.
  • And if you thought TK Took a Level in Badass during Adventure 02, just look at him now.
  • Daemon was already strong enough that the Digidestined couldn't beat him, just seal him away. It's been years since then, and his anger, resentment and ambition have given him more power, and most of the Tamers working together can't stop him.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Takeru is much more blunt and cynical than he was as a child.
• To the Pain: DC manages to invert this trope. When Daemon threatens to kill him, DC casually calls the monster's bluff, saying that he knows that Daemon won't kill him until he's extracted every last scream of agony, because he knows that deep down, Daemon is a slave to his own hatred. Managing to turn this trope into a Hannibal Lecture.
• Villainous Rescue: Gallantmon is saved from the Nightmare by Piedmon.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Rika seems to treat Takato with contempt most of the time, but she will eviscerate anyone who even tries to hurt him.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Eclipse is able to take the form of any Digimon of Champion level or lower.
• The Watson: DC fills this role around Gabrielle during Silent Sorrow.
• Weak, but Skilled: Renamon (Rookie level) manages to briefly waylay Daemon (Mega level, and extraordinarily powerful for one) to buy the fleeing Tamers time, exploiting the fact that she is a lightning-fast martial artist, while Daemon for all his power is still the size and weight of a human and doesn't have skill like that.
• Wham Episode: Daneel Rush seems to love this trope.
  • First we have Omni-Tamer chapter 8 with the introduction of ChaosGallantmon.
  • Then there's Forget The Y2K This Is Madness!! chapter 4 with the fight between Takato and Rika, and the moment when Takato just snaps.
    • Then you have Chapter 5 where Takato coldly tears apart the Nightmare and Chapter 7, where it's revealed that Takato's powers are slowly killing him from the inside out.
  • Then there's Theory Of Chaos chapters 2, 6, 7 and 8, which showcase Takato's slowly deteriorating health.
  • Then there's Silent Sorrow, which is just one massive Gut Punch after another.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: DC briefly questions whether it's right for him to kill a wild Cyclonemon, seeing as how it's only trying to survive. However, he soon decides "it's either him or me".
• White Mage: MarineAngemon, whose talents lie in healing and support.
• Worf Had the Flu: As the Final Battle progresses, Daemon is confronted with ChaosGallantmon, the last book's final challenge who previously curb-stomped two of the Sovereign. Daemon probably would have still won, but seeing as his opponent is actively dying and can barely move his body or sustain the Biomerge, it's a short and one-sided battle.
• Xanatos Gambit: Daemon excutes a minor one when he uploads a virus into his troops. which means that either A) the Tamers/Digidestained try to absorb the fallen troops' data, and are infected by the virus or B). They don't absorb the data, allowing his own troops to absorb the data and thus grow stronger. Thus making a battle of attrition impossible for his enemies to win.
  • He manages another one earlier, perhaps inadvertantly, sending Doumon to obtain the power of Chaos so he can break out of the Dark Ocean and take revenge on everything. Though it inevitably fails, Doumon's own data is enough when added to the rest he's been collecting to allow him to escape the Dark Ocean and go after Takato himself.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Every time it looks like Takato and Rika are becoming closer, something happens to drive them apart. Good thing Takato's an Iron Woobie.
• You Can Barely Stand: several people say this to the dying Takato, right before he does something insanely badass.
• You Shall Not Pass!: Beelzemon, MegaGargomon and SaberLeomon and SlashAngemon try to hold off Daemon while Rika, Renamon and the dying Takato escape to the Digital World.