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Fridge Brilliance

  • The Dub Name Change to Henry and Suzie actually is a case of the English dub names being more realistic because they're from Hong Kong. It is very common for people from HK to have Western first names since it was a British colony for nearly a century.
    • It's also pretty common for Asians who emigrate to take on a western nickname in order to make socialization with westerners easier.
  • Digimon Tamers is made of this trope; but there is a specific comment for episode 44 that stands out "... T-The way it goes all red here (in the train scene during Takato's confession) The J-Reaper sending a live feed back to the D-Reaper. And now it's listing off chemical compounds the reaper can use to keep Jeri alive while she's in there.
    • In Tamers there is something called "matrix evolution". It's either a reference to a sci-fi movie or to the matrixes in mathematics, especially considering that by multiplying a matrix with its inverse one obtains the so called "identity matrix".
      • One use of matrixes is in physics, namely to model electronic clouds (in short, atoms and molecules). To have such a name associated with a process to convert a digital model to a real molecular structure would be quite a coincidence.
  • Juri/Jeri's Japanese voice can seem quite fake sometimes and not that fitting a ten year old, being too mature, but at other times it fits her really well... this is quite the foreshadowing of her being a Stepford Smiler and actually being more mature than it seems at first.
  • The shows' title as well as the show that the children watched - for an explanation when the children in this series got their d-arcs they immediately refer to themselves as "Tamers". Now as anyone who has actually played the games or owned the V-pets could tell you, "Tamer" is the word they use to refer the child who partners with a digimon in the manuals of the V-pets, and what they also refer to the human player character as in the games. Now consider the theme of this series as well as how Jenrya and Ruki met their Digimon.
  • Why didn't the kids try the digivolution cards earlier? Mid way through the series, the kids try slashing "super evolution" cards; they digivolve, but only to adult. It stands to reason that they had tried before but it didn't work; after digivolving a few times, they were pretty confident that it would work; it is heavily implied that the cards work because of the kids slashing them (thus Juri/Jeri not doing anything to Guilmon despite using Takato's D-Arc), and only Takato would still have the cards with him.
    • Finally, note that the tamers don't have a direct control over digivolution unless they use the cards, unlike the Digidestined/Chosen Children.
  • Why were there some digimon in the city, if the Tamers were killing them? Before they're deleted by Shaggai/Juggernaut, the Tamers had agreed on fighting those that needed to be fought, rather than because they're supposed to. So, they spared those that weren´t violent.
  • In the Tamer's movie Battle of Adventurer's, how could some Digimon be so easily defeated? as Our War Game showed us, Digimon copies are more fragile than real Digimon (which is why only the real Diaboromon/Diablomon survived), likely due to lacking something (a digicore?), but still having its innate abilities.
    • In the aforementioned movie, Guilmon uses a fireball underwater, this was odd, until I realised that the Tamer's digital world has no atmosphere. Thus, the fireball is not dependent on outside air(there is none). Being a chemical fire, it burns until it consumes itself. This also made me realise that Digimon (at least in this season) don't breathe.
      • That also functions on the principal that Digimon even work on any degree of human physical rules. Being a data-based lifeform, they may not even follow that same concept. Their attacks may simply be shaped data, and not follow any conventional logic (fire attacks may not require fuel, etc)
      • Which is shown when Shuichon strangles Terriermon and it doesn't seem to have any effect on him expect being painful at the moment.
      • Guilmon is also a unique case of not-breathing. Guilmon is the chosen name for him in the dub because it preserves the sound of his japanese name, which in romaji is Girumon, but more accurately would be Gilmon. Gil... as in Gila monster or, more likely,gills. Check out the fringes on the sides of our favorite Kaiju's face, guys. Guilmon can breathe underwater.
    • Also in Battle of Adventurers, there's a Funny Background Event when Takato first finds Kai: Takato runs into Kai and the suitcase that has Guilmon in it falls on its side. Second later, it stands up on its own. Just a silly gag, until you remember that the Big Bad of the movie is just a few feet away, disguised as a human. Guilmon was reacting to presence of a Digimon, and they hid that fact right in plain sight during a joke scene.
  • When the Tamers Biomerge, they lose all their clothes, and are... missing something. Sure, probably just Barbie Doll Anatomy, right? Then in a later episode, Renamon says that digimon don't have genders. When the Tamers Biomerge, they become digimon themselves. There is no Barbie Doll Anatomy. What you see is exactly how they look throughout the time of the Biomerge. They've lost their genders, so there's no need to censor anything, because there's nothing there.
    • Though in the original Renamon actually said something closer to "Digimon aren't divided by gender", implying that there are male and female digimon, but gender has no bearing on their position in society.
      • Hope no one minds me going Sociological on this topic, but it is worth mentioning that in Sociology there is difference between Biological sex (whether you are born male and female) and gender identity (what one identifies themselves as). Thus it can be said that while Digimon are biologically asexual, but can still have Gender identities as male or female.
    • I think they have both Sex and Gender, however their society simply doesn't perceive those two things as relevant. Thus the existence of both Angemon and Angewomon. There are different sexes of Digimon, however, societally, they make no difference to how those Digimon are seen. What matters is strength
  • Those who want another reference to a certain sci-fi movie, remember that the D-Reaper is an antivirus data deletion program, and that it attacked humans and digimon; i.e, considered that they were inherently destructive. Now which villain from "The Matrix" said so specifically, like D-Reaper Agent 01? Bonus: Both resemble what they are trying to eliminate.
    • Considering that the Matrix was an acknowledged inspiration for one of Konaka's own characters (Trinity for Rika), that's not really stretch. However, I would also think this is more Hilarious in Hindsight considering the whole plot with Smith trying to multiply/expand himself to carrying out an omnicide against humans (much like the D-Reaper seeking to do much the same) didn't occur until the Matrix Reloaded, which came out in 2003 almost two years after Digimon Tamers had aired.
  • "takatomon"? Guilmon's nickname for Takato early in the dub? Extremely subtle foreshadowing for matrix evolution?
    • It's meant to show how Guilmon doesn't know to distinguish between humans and Digimon.
  • Culumon is the catalyst of evolution given form in order to be sent to digital world. Of course, it wouldn't make sense for the Digimon to make themselves weaker and send their own power where themselves couldn't reach... unless (and note this is the only logical reason) there was something that would attack the digimon if they got too strong. The fridge hits when you realize that the very first scene of the series Foreshadows the D-Reaper's appearence and nature, solely through Culumon's very existence.
  • When one thinks about it, Ryo's presence in Tamers actually makes sense; Both Tamers and the WonderSwan games make a point of noting how Harmful to Minors the digital world and it's inhabitants can be.
    • Not only that, but his ability to Bio-Merge without the Sovereign's intervention is justified by the WonderSwan games. It's impossible for the other Tamers to biomerge in the real world until Dobermon uses some of the power of the Sovereign to make it possible for them to biomerge. In the Japanese, the Sovereign are gods, so the ability to biomerge is literally miraculous, something only made possible by divine intervention overruling the normal laws of physics. In the games, Ryo's power as a Digidestined is explicitly 'the power to make the impossible possible.' Just like the other Tamers, he wouldn't have known that biomerging wasn't possible into the real world until he tried it, but while the other Tamers' biomerge attempts failed, Ryo's power would have kicked in and made it possible for him to biomerge. He probably doesn't even know that biomerging in the real world isn't normally supposed to happen.
    • When Cyberdramon goes looking for worthy opponents to battle, he ends up zeroing in on the Sovereign and the D-Reaper. This makes additional sense if you know that by Digimon Adventure standards, the Sovereign and the D-Reaper are gods.
      • Cyberdramon goes berserk so easily because he and Ryo are beginning to slowly regain their memories of the WonderSwan games. Cyberdramon ended up with the feeling that there was an incredibly powerful being out there that wanted to hurt Ryo and is attempting to find it and kill it dead. That Digimon is an 'Evil God,' so Cyberdramon found the Sovereign and D-Reaper by trying to sense divine power. Of course, as Ryo points out in the Drama CD, the enemy that Cyberdramon wanted to fight was inside him all along.
      • Cyberdramon is made up of two Digimon. One of them is literally impossible to defeat. This means that the only people who can put up an actual fight against him are people who can make it possible to defeat him. This means that if Cyberdramon wants an actual challenge instead of just loading the data of Digimon who can't win, he needs to find some gods to fight. In Digimon Tamers that means the Sovereign, the D-Reaper or Megidramon.
    • The veteran Ryo is absolutely casual about most threats, for instance a Knightmon that might want to decapitate him in his sleep, but views the threat of the D-Reaper as a deadly serious one, fighting the D-Reaper's agents solo for days while the other Tamers relaxed. It also really doesn't occur to Ryo to ask for help from either the Tamers or Hypnos, and while he helps them he doesn't really expect them to help him. This is because he's fought a god that wanted to conquer/destroy the world four times before, and three out of the four times he had no human help whatsoever (and then it was Ken, who was a little kid and it really didn't end well). He's been pulled right back into the mindset of those wars, and the idea of being part of a team doesn't occur to him because it was never an option before.
      • Also, he may take the D-Reaper much more seriously specifically BECAUSE it's so different from anything he's faced. It's not a Digimon, not some evil deity, but an entirely unknown entity. Not a creature of the Digital World, but an aberration created by humanity. It's less fighting an evil being, more facing the very essence of unlife
    • It's been remarked that despite being a card game champion, Ryo's digi-modifications are very cheap tactics: he basically just uses OP cards to deliver beat-downs that are as brutal and efficient as possible. This absolutely makes sense for a veteran of four wars who's been wandering around in the Digital World getting constantly attacked by Digimon that want to go to the real world for over a year. This is not a game to him, there are no points for style, nobody cares about fighting fair; there is only overkill and not enough kill. When Rika wants to make Jeri stronger, she starts teaching her the rules. When Ryo wants to up the odds that Suzy will live through this, he hands her one of the more OP cards in existence so she can kill anything that looks at her funny (of course, Suzy is too young for elaborate tactics). It makes him visibly uncomfortable when Kazu and Kenta talk about using digi-modify cards in real Digimon battles as an extension of the card game.
      • He also claimed earlier that the Radiant Form/Queen Device card he gave to Suzie could only be used safely by powerful Tamers. This could indicate that Ryo sees a lot of potential in Suzie, and even if she were to use it incorrectly, Antylamon should have the necessary experience to resist any negative side-effects.
  • In Runaway Locomon, Beelzemon shows up on his motorcycle, Behemoth. This would be weird as it was destroyed in the digital world, until you realize that Ai and Mako have a Digivice & Behomoth is an actual card in the card game.
  • Zhuqiaomon wanting to destroy the humans, thereby destroying the Digital World as well in the long run might seem literally suicidally stupid, except we know that there are other Digital Worlds out there. Accessing one would hardly be difficult, given how we see them capable of traversing dimensions under their own power both in Tamers and in 02.
    • That's an invention of the dub. Zhuquaiomon thinks that interacting with humans is 'blasphemy' and generally doesn't want anything to do with us. Given the backstory of the Digimon species in Tamers, this makes sense. Unfortunately, the Light of Digivolution appeared in the human world, and the Digimon need to get it back in order to not be exterminated by the D-Reaper. Hypnos and the Tamers are getting in the way of their attempt to save the worlds (the D-Reaper is everyone's problem). Unfortunately, their dislike of humans means they don't just explain why they need Calumon until all but one of them are dead.
  • A bit of research reveals why Operation Doodlebug was chosen as a name for the plan to dispatch the D-Reaper: Doodlebugs are the larvae of antlions. When mature, they sit under the ground waiting for an ant to slip on their loose-grained dirt pit, with their mouths acting as the hole in the bottom. Guess how the Tamers, Digimon Sovereign, and the Wild Bunch/Monster Makers defeat the D-Reaper and all of its Eldritch Abominations...
  • On a second watch, each of the main mons' evolution line make perfect when you consider who are they partnered with. Takato, who was written to be the self-insert for the kids in the audience, is given the Digimon that evolves into stereotypical things boys like: robots, dinosaurs, and superheroic figures (Gallantmon has a red cape much like Superman). Jenrya, who's more tech-savvy and has his father involved with the creation of the Digimon in this verse, gets the Digimon that gets more mechanized with each passing evolution. Finally, Ruki; who lives in an antique Japanese house, gets the Digimon that most embraces Japanese culture in her design and personality.
  • At first watch, in the original Japanese dub, it seems random in episode 27 to mention the story of the Red Shoes, considering it's not a very popular fairy tale (compared to Snow White or Little Red Riding Hood), and a Japanese local folk-tale or even an invented story would've serve the same purpose. Yet many scholars who have analyzed the tale have concluded that the story has a theme of temptation and religious redemption. Seems strange...Until you consider that this is the same episode where Impmon is tempted by Catsuramon to make his own Deal with the Devil!

Fridge Horror

  • Mixed with Fridge Brilliance. When they are preparing to go to the Digital World, it's presented like they are going to commit Group Suicide. Like Takato and his classmates writing notes that they are going far away together to their teacher, Ruki finally wearing the dress her mother chose for her, Terriermon suddenly being thankful to Shuichon, Jen being relieved and somewhat happier, Takato's parents different reactions to where he's going, Kenta leaving just a note, Juri not saying anything, etc.
  • In Digimon Tamers, D-Reaper is basically a giant recycle bin. So every time you delete something, you're FEEDING AN ELDRITCH ABOMINATION! Now, consider the contents of the average Internet dweller's hard drive. D-Reaper may get the occasional innocent lolcat or text file, to be sure, but by dataweight, you've got to conclude that it's made up mostly of discarded porn. Eldritch indeed.
    • This just makes D-Jeri all the more creepier.
    • Programs like D-Reaper are called "Garbage Collectors" and are actually quite widespread - nowadays almost any computer has at least one. Any of them can potentially eat the world!
  • There is the possibility that the D-Reaper cannot be defeated. It can be reset to a smaller form, but as long as we use data, it will exist to keep it from getting to big, and once it gets too big for the data, it can escape the digital world and assault the real one. If we stop using data, we have quarantined the digital world to die, and of course cannot use technology ourselves. If we do, we could run into the same problem down the line, without any way to fight it. It's basically Sin from Final Fantasy X, only there is no other way.
    • YMMV on how horrifying this really is. The primarily reason the D-Reaper had gotten so powerful was because it had been inactive, and thus no one knew to take steps against it until it was (almost) too late. Now that they know about it, humans and Digimon alike will likely be looking for ways to reset it BEFORE it wakes up again. Within a few years they could very well have the means of doing it on a monthly basis.
      • Depending on what that "reset" could take, it could well be EVEN WORSE. Imagine if said process, say, caused a wide scale reset in the Digital World, or "purged" data...
      • As a comforting alternative, synthesis with the D-Reaper may actually improve the function of the Digital World by helping to scrub junk data (things like waste or junk fragments of code), and being able to scrub corrupted data (if such a thing exists there).

  • When Takato first had Guilmon digivolve into Wargrowlmon, we find out that his and Guilmon's Psychic Link has grown to the point where he can feel Guilmon's pain. Near the end of the series, it's established all the other Tamers who can Matrix Evolve can also feel their partner digimon's pain. There has also been several instances with ALL of the Tamers that suggest that they all have some form of Psychic Link with their partner, only with differing degrees of strength. What do you think that means for Juri [whose partner was killed and absorbed by Beelzemon?
    • This can actually lead to even worse observation; after watching the scene, one has to conclude that Juri's shock is so great, it even makes the physical feeling of getting impaled through the stomach insignificant.
    • The change in the psychic link only occurred after biomerging. Juri never biomerged with Leomon, thus if she had one (and it doesn't look like anyone did before then) it would have been at it's lowest level.
      • Takato was special, since he actually created Guilmon and so their connection was deeper right from the start, to the point where he felt the link right since episode 14 even as guilmon was still a champion. And he isn't the only case; even though his link is stronger, in the fight against Indramon (even before they get to the digital world) the trio get noticeably winded due to their partners, making it obvious that biomerge is a result of a deep link rather than the other way around. Of course, the argument that Jeri's bond with Leomon simply wasn't deep enough still stands, since she was never specifically shown to share his pain.
      • Well, thank God the strength of the "link" varies, because the second I read that...well, remember that we have three Tamers (Suzi, Ai, Makoto) who are little kids. Imagine how it'd be for them if the link was as strong as it was for the main trio, the twins especially!
      • While Juri's link with Leomon must have been strong since they understand and try to help each other in the four months they've spent together, I'm absolutely sure the twins didn't physically feel a thing (although watching Beelzemon on TV getting shredded mustn't have been pleasant) since they didn't have a digivice yet. On another note, we've also found yet another reason for Antylamon not going to the final battle.
      • A digimon's link strengths as they grow together. Juri didn't develop much, if at all, while with Leomon so their link didn't deepen so she wouldn't have felt anything. Her link wasn't even strong enough to get him to digivolve, her emotional development was stunted due to her trauma from losing her mother.
  • Food for thought, Guilmon wasn't originally designed with the digital hazard sign on his chest, but it appeared somehow during the transition from idea into reality. This ties in with him being a virus type, so it's quite possible that Guilmon wasn't intended to be a virus type but ended up becoming one. Now, think back to that dub Digimon movie, where the plotlines were mashed together so that Willis became the "creator" of Diaboromon because he tried to create a digimon, only for it to get infected with a computer virus and mutate. Yes, this plotline didn't exist in the original Japanese, but it does make this troper wonder if whenever someone tries to create a digimon in the real world, because it's not "natural", it leads it to being virus typed. Not necessarily evil, but virus typed. This didn't happen with the original digimon that were programmed because they weren't yet an established species, perhaps not even really sentient.
    • As an alternative, Guilmon could have been digitized as a Virus-type by the will of the Digital World itself. Both as a balance (Renamon is a Data-element, Terriermon a Vaccine), and possibly as a check against the internal foes (the Devas)
  • How many Digimon did Beelzemon kill before meeting the tamers?
  • If you thought Vikaralamon's presence in the real world was destructive, imagine how much damage Majiramon, a freaking dragon Digimon would cause if he entered and what it would cost to bring him down ...
  • Why don't we ever see Ruki's father? Her parents might be divorced, but it should be pretty well known by the end of the series that the kids are going to risk their lives to save the city. It's just a little disturbing that he doesn't show up, not even ONCE, to maybe see his daughter off one last time. If I were Ruki I might be slightly traumatized by this. Both parents of every other Tamer (with the possible exception of Ryo?) show up except for hers.
    • While not outright stated, Runaway Locomon heavily implies that her parents didn't just get a divorce, but that her father walked out on them when she was very young. The canon status of Runaway Locomon is debated but its explanation for her father's absence makes a lot of sense.
  • Janyu unleashing the Juggernaut program was just about the worst thing he could've done, as not were the Tamer's Digimon gone, which was the primary line of defence against the D-Reaper, and other digimon-related, but Cyberdramon was affected by it as well, meaning that best-case scenario, he regresses into Millenniumon, which is a much greater threat to that particular digital world, than the D-Reaper ever was, dwarfing the Sovereign and Deva in power. Far more realistically, he'll be regressed into the evil god ZeedMillenniumon, which is much, much worse, as that way, no Digital or Real world, or anyone in them, are safe. Fortunately, they did return.
  • It seems that even Runaway Locomon can't avoid some of this: Gallantmon reaches Crimson Mode, yet Grani is dead at the time, so how is it possible? Simple, Takato and Guilmon unknowingly expended what little of Grani's energy and coding there was left.
    • A more optimistic alternative is that Grani's coding has integrated itself into Gallantmon's, and now can be accessed by Takato and Guilmon at any time they need, pulling on the strength of the two to replicate itself when it dire straits.
  • Antylamon pulling a Heel–Face Turn, and joining Suzie, might seem a bit out of left field, but take a look at her species description for a moment. "It likes small things, and because it attends to them with profound tenderness, if anything appears that tries to tread on them then its personality is completely reversed,". She was merely following her coding: ''She didn't have a choice!'' At least, until she become a Lopmon.
    • Antylamon is a rabbit, and there is a rabbit in the Chinese zodiac, which does make her a deva, but the rabbit represents peace therein, so Lopmon's coding gave her a predisposition to goodness, and her making a Heel–Face Turn isn't surprising at all.
  • In Digimon Tamers: Brave Tamer, we see Monodramon and ZeedMillenniumon undergo a Jogress, leaving Monodramon as the Rookie-level, and Mille as the Mega. Cyberdramon, the Ultimate-level is a Blood Knight, while Monodramon is much less aggressive. Try not to think about what'll happen, when Cyberdramon reaches Mega.
    • We do see when Cyberdramon reaches mega...Justimon.
      • I defer to the Megidramon/Gallantmon duality.
  • This needs to be said Guilmon's first three forms have no profile until Takato scans him. The two exceptions are Gallantmon and Megidramon. If it was just Gallantmon it would have been a nice bit of foreshadowing that Guilmon might have a bit of backstory as a reborn royal knight but Megidramon also has a profile that shows that AN ABOMINATION THAT TORE APART REALITY existed before but it is toned down when you remember Gallantmon is a alternate form
    • Perhaps a bit of Brilliance here, since Takato didn't design mega levels for Guilmon - he just defaulted into the strongest pre-existing megas.
  • Guilmon attempting to digivolve in the subway to impress a terrified passenger..funny at first. But if he succeeded? Two humans & a giant dinosaur in a narrow subway car...not good.
  • The D-Reaper is impossible for the Tamers to really damage or defeat until a way appears/is created to make it possible. Causing this to happen is explicitly Ryo Akiyama's ability, and why he got dragged in to save the Digimon Adventure universe four times even though he didn't even have his own digivice or partner Digimon and got his ass kicked by Mimi in the probably-canon route of the third game. In Digimon Tamers: Brave Tamer there is a timeline where Takato has never heard of anyone named Ryo Akiyama, because Ryo doesn't go to the Digimon Tamers timeline until the end of that game. That means that in the original Digimon Tamers timeline, the D-Reaper may have remained invulnerable, erased the digital world and continued slowly engulfing the earth until someone showed up in 2004 and one-shotted it... so he could first conquer and then destroy the Digimon Tamers universe himself in order to replace it with a new history.
    • A brainwashed clone of Takato, along with a copy of Guilmon, is one of ZeedMillenniummon's minions in Digimon Tamers: Brave Tamer. That would imply Takato survived to 2004 and was part of the resistance, only to end up captured or killed and his remains experimented on.
  • On a lighter note—for a given value of lighter—there's the fact that hacking into the D-Reaper's signal televised the final battle to everyone in Japan, including from inside the Tamers' biomerged forms. In other words, potentially millions of people—including friends and relatives—have seen our heroes naked.
    • Further, remember the dub changed their age from 10 to 12.
  • On the note of the dub age up, Rika was aged up two years without changing her mother's age, making her the result of a Teen Pregnancy instead of just the child of an absurdly youthful looking woman.
  • The scene where Henry runs into Yamaki in the park while alone is insanely creepy the first time you watch it since you can't know that he won't actually hurt the (openly terrified) kid and doesn't lose the Fridge Horror in subsequent rewatches since you realize that even if Henry did fight back in a scenario where Yamaki actually was the villain he appeared to be, it's likely he'd lose the fight since he would be a kid with PTSD about hurting people with his martial arts fighting an adult who had every reason in the world to hurt him.
  • Tamers 2018 Takato went on a journey and vanished off the face of the earth that Hypnos's successor had to create a digital copy of him just to find out what the hell happened.
  • The D-Reaper's invasion of Earth screams Inferred Holocaust. The outclassed soldiers that fought its agents and given how fast it spread from the Hypnos building in the span of a few hours at least, the people who were living inside the affected area likely couldn't evacuate on time and are pretty much deleted.

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