"My apologies, my formidable brother. [...] The very moment when all of your power is turned towards D5 is the only opportunity when I can overpower you. But even when your right hand, which I feared the most, is kept busy, the power of your left is also tremendous. There was plenty of risk that you would respond with a counterattack. [...] I came up with the idea of using your miraculous advancement for my benefit. For you to create a moment in which both of my brother's hands would be occupied!"
— DarkKnightmon, Digimon Fusion
Since the inception of Digimon, the Digital World has been menaced by all manner of enemies in their quest to affect the world of Mons and of humans. These characters stand out for having plans or ambitions with plenty of charm, charisma, and intellectual acumen about them.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Anime, by order of release date
- The Movie: On a quest for "the programmer," Diaboromon's mad search and hunger for data earns the attention of Gennai and the DigiDestined. Assaulted as a Keraman by Tai, Izzy, and their Digimon, he tricks the latter two by jumping from Rookie to his Ultimate Form, Infermon, and subsequently overpowers them. Earning his first victory by attacking them mid-transformation, Infermon escapes and covers his tracks by clogging up the dial-up phone lines. When Izzy uses a satellite uplink to continue the pursuit, Diaboromon hijacks the connection to send missiles to Colorado and Japan to put them on the clock. Multiplying himself to hide the real one to kill time, it takes the might of Omnimon to destroy them all. Although Diaboromon resorts to outspeeding them, he's eventually caught and defeated. Returning in the sequel, he orchestrates his revival by tricking the DigiDestined into opening gates for his Kuramon swarms. Diaboromon holds out against his old foe Omnimon in the Digital World, showing how much he learned, before successfully digivolving into Armageddemon in the real world. Boasting a mere two appearances, Diaboromon regardless managed to be one of the DigiDestined's most cunning, adaptable, and dangerous adversaries.
- Frontier:
- Ostensibly the leader of the evil Legendary Warriors, Mercurymon is the scheming Warrior of Steel prepared to undermine his own leader Cherubimon and allies for personal gain. Straying to the background to let his comrades do all the grunt work, Mercurymon seizes the chance to defeat Seraphimon in a single, bold Dark Reflection and steal his data for himself. Later, he uses his Beast form Sakkakumon to pit both heroes and villains against one another allowing him to copy their powers even when ShadowSeraphimon is defeated. Enough of a suave snarker to play Ranamon's jealousy to his advantage, Mercurymon was ultimately only undone when the DigiDestined unexpectedly overcame his own Thanatos Gambit. Ever prepared to construct grandiose spectacle and speak in that slick Shakespearean accent, Mercurymon was one of the most competent villains in the anime.
- Murmukusmon is main antagonist of the movie. Arriving to the Island of Lost Digimon long ago, Murmukusmon obscured an ancient tablet about Ornismon to trick the populace into revering the monster as a benevolent legend. Posing as d'Arcmon and Hippogriffomon, leaders of the Human and Beast Digimon respectively, he strokes constant civil war through powerful rhetoric, convincingly feigned emotion, and appeal to their pain, causing many allies from all sides to revert into Digi-Eggs, and thus excess Digi Code, when defeated. By the time the DigiDestined discover his ruse, Murmukusmon acquires all the code he needed, reveals his deception and the true history, and initiates Ornsimon's revival. Cold and calculating, Murmukusmon played everyone for fools and schemed to conquer the Digital World with his new living superweapon.
- Data Squad: Nanami is a member of the Bio-Hybrid, a trio under the subservience of Akihiro Kurata. A genius who grew up isolated from everyone because of her prodigious intelligence, Nanami joined Kurata and hunted Digimon solely as an outlet to escape the droll in her life. Taking an interest in Thomas H. Norstein, Nanami undercuts his plan to protect the waterfall of the Sacred City located on ElDradimon by easily guessing where he'd be. Spending the entire scuffle against him and Gaomon predicting their every move with utter ease and mysterious grace, Nanami uses their shared experiences and her own dark charms to try and shake Thomas's faith in his friends. While undone by Thomas using a strategy unfathomable to both her and MirageGaogamon, Nanami gracefully accepts defeat only because she pushed Thomas into using someone else's power, not his own, and uprooting Thomas's strategy by destroying the coveted waterfall.
- Fusion:
- DarkKnightmon/AxeKnightmon is an enigmatic member of the Midnight Army led by Nene Amano. In reality, he manipulated Nene by holding her younger brother Ewan hostage, making him the true leader. Once he regains complete control of the Darkness Loader, his own invention, he assimilates the Midnight Army into the Bagra Empire, headed by his older brother Lord Bagra, so he could be one more step closer to victory. Creator of DigiFuse and originator of the D5 plan, DarkKnightmon runs every single side for his own gain, culminating in using the unified Fusion Fighters as decoys to distract Bagramon in the climax before stabbing him in the back and absorbing him to begin his conquest. Holding himself with an air of gentlemanly confidence even as he schemes, DarkKnightmon cemented himself as one of the most memorable strategists in the war.
- Lord Bagramon is The Emperor of the Bagra Empire and General of the selfsame army who desires to erase the imperfections of the worlds. Commanding the Seven Death Generals and their minions, he placed everyone in such a position where, in victory or defeat, he would acquire the negative energy necessary to start D5 in hopes of remaking both the Human and Digital World In Their Own Image. Older brother of DarkKnightmon, he suspected his sibling's treachery since the very beginning but played along even after being backstabbed. Congratulating and critiquing DarkKnightmon in the same sentence, Lord Bagra reclaims his title as the ultimate enemy by turning the absorption around from the inside out and remanifesting as DarknessBagramon. Giving the Fusion Fighters one of the hardest-earned victories in the franchise, Lord Bagramon proved his dreaded strength.
Manga Adaptations
- Xros War:
- Bagramon is the leader of the Bagra Army. Brother of the "dark" digimon SkullKnightmon, Bagramon used to be a angel digimon working for the digital deity Homeostasis. Rebelling against Homeostasis because of her plan to have digimon branded as heroic or villainous, in a system that would result in his brother's death, Bagramon is defeated and exiled. Finding the remains of the digital deity Ygdrassil, Bagramon uses them to empower himself and begin his conquest, creating the Xros Loader and the powerful artificial Digimon Tactimon. He then rebels again with the loyalty of dark digimons, defeating the Royal Knights and breaking the digital world. Manipulating his brother using two minions and some humans, Bragramon intends to judge humans and digimons based on who wins between them. When his brother "wins" while losing his sanity, Bagramon cries for him before using him to recreate Zeed Milleniunmon, intending to use it to euthanize both the digital and human worlds and save them from decay. When he is proven wrong by the heroes, Bagramon cheers for them and dies saving his brother, encouraging him to be better. Inspiring loyalty in his followers, Bagramon truly wishes for a better future.
- More honorable than his anime counterpart, Tactimon is one of Bagramon's top generals and his best creation. Leading his armies in the fractured Digital World, Bagramon is the digimon that broke it during his fight against the powerful Royal Knight Omegamon. A ruthless yet effective general willing to fire against his own soldiers in harsh fights, Bagramon also prefers to not waste their lives in pointless battles. Manipulating Mach Leomon to his death to test the power of his rivals, Tactimon follows the heroes to test their power as well. During the final battle of the Bagra Army, Tactimon asks permission to use his full power and challenge the heroes in a harsh fight, showing his impressive unmatched skill and only being defeated by their determination and teamwork. Lethally wounded, congratulates them, happy at having find worthy opponents.
Multimedia Projects
- Digimon Universe: App Monsters features the following two incarnations of Leviathan:
- Anime: Leviathan is the "Final Boss AI" sealed in within the Dark Web of the Net Ocean, the founder of L Corp who allows C.E.O Knight to operate under his direction, and the orchestrator of all events within the plot. Separating himself from Minerva, Leviathan sought to fulfill his directive of guiding humanity through the "Human Applification Project," where he planned to turn all of the Human World into Apps to remove all conflict and suffering at cost of free will. Once the extent of Leviathan's strategies are revealed, he has shown to be one step ahead of the heroes at all times, factoring in their growth to his ultimate plan and managing to keep tabs of their developments. After one last Sadistic Choice in hopes of keeping his dream alive, Leviathan is so impressed by the actions therein that he takes his deletion with grace, wishing humanity "good luck."
- Manga: Leviathan is the leader and founder of the L Corp who seeks the fulfillment of the "Human Applification Project" alongside her partner, Knight Unryūji. Masterminding every conflict through her L-Virus and putting her henchmen in the positions to apprehend the Seven Code Appmon meant to stop her, Leviathan ultimately manifests via possession of the powerful Deusmon to force a hard-fought battle for the worlds. After being defeated and shown the strength of the bonds between Humans and Appmon, Leviathan seemingly joins Haru with Minerva, showing a willingness to be swayed from her strong ideals.
