Memes have become such a huge part of the digital world that it is difficult to imagine a time before they gained prominence. Admittedly, a handful of them are rather annoying and overused, but memes offer a unique and accessible way for fans to comment on their favorite shows. A few of the more creative ones not only deliver a zinger but manage to include genuine criticism of the subject matter. While most memes tend to poke fun at a topic, many people use it to show their appreciation for something they adore. Love or hate them, these images offer an efficient means for members of a community to communicate within the group; and, there is a strange sense of elitist satisfaction that arises from knowing what is being referenced.
There are a handful of anime capable of triggering a wide-spread sense of nostalgia, with Digimon belonging to this group. Alongside Dragon Ball Z, Pokémon, and Sailor Moon; Digimon served as a crash course for children looking to experience something different to Western animation. Born from the desire to sell Tamagotchi toys, Digimon continues to be rather popular, with new shows and games constantly being produced. While 90s kids remember the original Adventure series which aired on Jetix, the franchise got a new lease on life via memes.
Time to tickle those funny and nostalgic bones with 25 hilarious Digimon memes only true fans will understand.
25 Tai Is A Man Of Action
The same criticism can kind of be leveled at Pokémon, as both shows tend to center around children willing to dive headfirst into dangerous situations. Seeing a monster the size of a building would send most people running to the hills, but not Digimon Adventure’s Tai Kamiya, who prefers to look Gigadramon square in the face to see who blinks first. While this would be quite annoying in real life, this brave/stupid trait is one of the reasons Tai is so endearing. This meme could not have picked a better picture to go along with the caption, with the adventurous tamer ready and willing to do anything for the sake of our entertainment. At the end of the day, that hard-headedness helped establish Digimon’s protagonist as someone worth remembering.
24 Never Judge A Book By Its Cover
In most cases, a Digimon gets stronger and bigger with each evolution, although the Mega forms tend to slim down the overall design. Just from looking at the two in the meme, who share a similar anthropomorphic animal aesthetic, someone would naturally assume that Renamon is the stronger of the two. This is not always the case, as the humanoid fox Renamon is only a Rookie, despite being considerably bigger than the average size of other Digimon that level. On the other hand, the puny Gatomon is a Champion and stronger than Rika Nonaka’s partner. While this lesson might not have been intended, Digimon does teach children to not judge something only by its outer appearance. Anyway, Gatomon has those huge claws, which can easily cut Renamon down to size.
23 There Are Certain Lines Which Should Never Be Crossed
Digimon Adventure received a pretty decent English dubbing, especially in comparison to series like One Piece. A few things were lost in translation, due to the tone of the Japanese anime shifting towards a more child-friendly and comedic one for the Western release. Seriously, if you never watched the series in its original language, it is worth revisiting just to take note of all the changes. This meme’s joke would not be out of place in the English dub, as Digimon Adventure contained a lot of silly one-liners. On the other hand, that sitcom-style comedy would stick out like a sore thumb in the Japanese version. Considering the entire world was in danger, Matt probably has better things to worry about than his fantastic hair.
22 Digimon And Gender
Renamon, you kind of stepped into that one. Digimon Adventure did mostly present the digital monsters as genderless unless they happened to belong to a female tamer, then they got a few additional body parts. On the other hand, Digimon are really just sets of ones and zeroes, which cannot be male or female. Think of it this way, if an artist draws a character who happens to be a woman, the canvas does not suddenly become female. It remains a neutral object. Still, Digimon’s digital makeup can be viewed as being similar to DNA, meaning gender is not out of the question. If Digimon can be male or female, then the latter really needs a boost in quantity. We are probably overthinking this one.
21 Beating Pokémon to The Punch
Nowadays, there is barely any point in bringing up this comparison, as history has demonstrated that there is only one winner. Honestly, Digimon versus Pokémon war never much of a competition, as the latter had a few years head start over Toei Animation’s anime. Sure, Digimon arguably had a better cartoon, but neither series are considered as crowning achievements for the industry. Pokémon is primarily known for its gaming franchise, an area were its rival has struggled to compete. Still, Digimon did Mega-Evolutions more than a decade before Pokémon, and some would argue that they did it better. In 2013, Generation VI introduced this new transformation as an exciting new gimmick for Nintendo’s franchise, while Digimon incorporated this transformation from the very start.
20 Nothing A Snickers Cannot Fix
SkullGreymon was born from Tai’s insistence that Agumon digivolve into his Ultimate form. This meme actually reverses how things went down in the anime, as this transformation occurs due to Tai overfeeding Agumon before forcing him to fight. So, the Digimon was definitely not hungry when he evolved into SkullGreymon. In that situation, a Snickers would have just made things worse. Whether reversing the events of the anime was the meme’s point is unknown, but it is hard to not feel nostalgic when seeing these images. After this Dark Digivolution, SkullGreymon goes on a rampage before exhausting himself and reverting back to Koromon. Ashamed at what he did, Tai loses confidence and it takes awhile for Agumon to reach his proper form of MetalGreymon.
19 Warning! This Meme Might Trigger A Nostalgic Overdose
Jurassic World and Digimon Adventure tri. reintroduced the classic two franchises to a modern audience. Jurassic Park was fantastic and deserves its reputation as a classic movie. On the other hand, the sequels are barely anything more than mediocre. Jurassic World made an incredible amount of money at the box office, while critics were slightly more receptive towards it. It brought back a few elements fans loved from the original, including the T-Rex, and tried to take the story in a new and exciting direction. In a few ways, Digimon has a similar history, with Adventure being considered a classic series, while the sequels received a more mixed reaction. Digimon Adventure tri. brought back the original cast and approached the story from a more mature perspective.
18 Forgotten Heroes
If you think about it, Pokémon does not actually feature the most heroic of protagonists. Ash is motivated primarily by his desire to be the greatest trainer of all time, and he barely ever does anything to help those around him. He does occasionally defeat a terrorist organization in Team Rocket, but that is self-preservation rather than an act of outright heroism. In comparison, the Digimon Tamers go through heck to try and protect two different worlds. Although they are driven by a lust for adventure, this selfish desire is not the gang’s only incentive. At one point, they literally save the internet and the entire human world, while Ash continues to dream of becoming a Pokémon master. It really comes down to the games, as Digimon never really compared to Nintendo’s popular franchise.
17 Leomon Is The Sean Bean Of Digimon
Spoiler warning, but Leomon has a rather intimate relationship with death. As one of the more popular Digimon, he is repeatedly brought back throughout the franchise and played an important role in Digimon Adventure and Tamers. The digital monster does possess a pretty intimidating look, but it should be noted that Leomon is only at a Champion level. Therefore, he is going to struggle against some of the more powerful enemies. The courageous anthropomorphic lion is driven by a sense of justice, therefore, he never hesitates to put himself in the line of the fire. Due to his nature, Leomon does not shy away from potentially fatal situations, resulting in quite a few untimely deaths. By this point, it is a surprise whenever Leomon shows up and lives to talk about it.
16 Friendship And Stockholm Syndrome Are Not Interchangeable
Since Pokémon’s anime was released after the games, they could not exactly change how trainers collect their Pokémon. Pikachu and Ash’s relationship would not be out of place in Digimon, as the latter prioritizes the importance of the partners forming a bond by genuinely spending time together. That is far from the standard in Pokémon, as trainers beat wild monsters into submission before trapping them in cages. Once caught, the Pokémon is that trainer’s property, although they do not need to follow their orders. After their spirit is broken, probably due to realizing that escape is impossible, the Pokémon tends to get with the program and starts behaving properly. We are not judging which way is better, but Digimon Adventure tri. shows that Agumon is the only Digimon for Tai, while Ash discards Pokémon on a regular basis.
15 The Twilight Effect
As a punching bag, Twilight has given the internet a great deal of joy. Few pop-culture symbols earned such massive legions of fans, while also being hated upon by anyone with access to a keyboard. This meme was uploaded two years ago, so it was not exactly striking when the iron was hot, with Kristen Stewart getting the blunt end of the stick. Her minimalistic style of acting is rather infamous, despite the young actress demonstrating she is capable of delivering a higher level of performance than what was shown during her time as a Bella Swan. Renamon barely ever shows any emotion throughout the majority of Digimon Tamers, although the writers still did a fantastic job of developing her complex relationship with Rika.
14 There Are No Rules In The Digital World
The design of the Digimon was always rather interesting, with quite a few starting off as relatively simple animalesque creatures before getting a heap of metal thrown on them. This was not always the case, but some of the strongest Mega-Evolutions are equipped with missiles and armor. Considering that Digimon are the result of technological advancement, rather than nature, it makes sense their appearance reflects society’s appreciation for scientific and military research. MetalGreymon is what would happen if a five-year-old child was allowed to design their own monster. He is a flying dragon, with missiles that shoot out of his nipples, and a massive claw for a hand. He can also breathe fire, because, why the heck not?
13 Enough Is Enough
It might be a cliché, but it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Myotismon was first introduced in the original series, and quickly became one of the more memorable villains due to his elegant design and unnerving mannerisms. Created during a period of chaos within the Digital World, this gothic menace played mind-games with the Tamers and proved to be a genuine threat. As he was popular enough with the fanbase, the writers decided to bring Myotismon back for the sequel, with a less than satisfying outcome. In Digimon Adventure 02, he possessed a human and went around brainwashing children, but this version lacked the appeal of the original. In some form or another, nearly every incarnation of the franchise references the vampire, completely stripping Myotismon of any of his original mystique.
12 Someone Get Ken An Aspirin!
11 Well, No Argument Here…
A few memes just work on their own, without requiring prior knowledge of the source material. This “Your Agumon is Invalid” meme is an example of one of those cases, although it might come across as rather random if someone has no clue of what is an Agumon. This probably has nothing to do with this little tidbit, but the PlayStation Vita of Digimon Story Cuber Sleuth offered a BlackAgumon for those who picked the Digital Bundle upon release. Unfortunately, paying for the game was apparently not enough, as a Japanese PSN account was required to access the DLC. If a customer tried entering the code on any other account, they were informed that they are out of luck. In those cases, their Agumon was literally invalid.
10 Card Power
9 Irony, Thy Name Is Spelling
Yes, we are going to point out the spelling mistake - the temptation is just too great. The caption should read “when you prove someone wrong,” not “proof.” For future reference, maybe try typing the sentence in Grammarly first? To be fair, the meme is pretty funny on its own, as they could not have chosen a better image to capture that sense of self-gratification felt after getting the last laugh. This scene comes from Digimon Fusion, one of the more recent incarnations of the franchise. The kid ripping off Tai’s look is Mikey Kudo, a child prodigy who excels in sports and strategic planning. So, going back to that spelling mistake, it is kind of ironic that it is written over an image of a genius who probably would have noticed the error.
8 Digimon World Makes A Comeback
Sony’s original PlayStation was a beast for its time. It was home to countless of great JRPGs, including Final Fantasy VII and The Legend of Dragoon, and offered something for everyone to enjoy. The Digimon World trilogy was not exactly well-received, with the franchise struggling to earn an aggregate score of 50% on Metacritic. Despite the lackluster reception, fans of the series definitely exist, and they have waited a long time for a new game to be released on a home console. Earlier this year, Digimon World: Next Order finally arrived on the PlayStation 4, which is a spiritual successor to the franchise’s first game. Was it worth the wait? Probably, since Next Order earned better reviews than any of the previous PlayStation Digimon World titles.
7 Occasionally, Even Digimon Got Serious
6 Taking Things At Face Value
If this article did not make it abundantly clear, memes love to compare Digimon and Pokémon. After all these years, maybe it is time to let things go. Pokémon destroyed Digimon, at-least in terms of relevance and sales, and no amount of funny captions are going to change that fact. Also, this one is kind of cheating, since Nintendo introduced Mego-Evolutions recently, so there is hardly a shortage of cool new designs. Considering Nunemon was part of Digimon’s first generation, fans should probably think twice before bringing up this argument. In terms of unique species, Digimon has a whopping 1000 creatures, while there are about 800 Pokémon. After nearly two decades, it is natural for both teams to occasionally hit a creative drought when designing new monsters.
