Digimon, as a franchise, was able to separate itself from its monster-capturing contemporaries thanks to its designs. Whereas other monster-collect franchises like Pokémon center more on cute aspects of the designs, Digimon allow its monsters to be cool. The Digimon franchise never bothered keeping the designs grounded and realistic, instead focusing more on creating digital monsters with an edge. Some detractors would criticize this edge as being over-the-top and silly, yet for long-time fans of the series, it gives the franchise its identity. What other series has a cat turn into an angel, or a dinosaur fusing with a metal wolf to make a knight?
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There’s a lot of variety within Digimon designs, with some ranging from purely primal to straight-up cheesecake. Digimon is the only franchise where a beautiful woman with fanservicey rose clothing would be on equal footing with a dragon. Nonetheless, we love this variety and think the franchise works best when it’s allowed to embrace its contradictory aesthetics. Here are our personal ten favorites from across the franchise!
10) Agumon
The de facto mascot of the franchise, Agumon is easily the most recognizable Digimon among the layman. The orange dinosaur is a deceptively simple design; he is essentially a baby T. Rex with longer limbs and big eyes. However, you understand the entire Digimon aesthetic by simply looking at him. Agumon proves the quintessential truth about humanity in that, no matter what, dinosaurs will always be cool.
9) Rosemon
For a franchise aimed primarily at younger audiences, Digimon would often push what’s considered appropriate for its monster designs. The women-presenting Digimon are especially known for their cheesecake design and appeal, with Rosemon being one of the most fan service-y designs in the franchise. Nonetheless, the design elements do work for Rosemon, conveying the idea of a rose, beautiful yet dangerous, perfectly. It’s also the perfect Digimon for the glamorous tamer Mimi from Digimon Adventure.
8) Machinedramon
Machinedramon may have clear inspirations from other mechas like MechaGodzilla, but there is something oddly unique about its design. The Digimon’s blocky head, cannons on its back, and bipedal limbs make Machinedramon stand out from the other machine-like monsters. Machinedramon is also the perfect antithesis of more primal Digimon, making it a great recurring villain Digimon for the franchise.
7) Sakuyamon
Sakuyamon stands out for being the first female-presenting protagonist Mega Digimon to appear in the anime. In the earliest Digimon seasons, Mega Digimon were considered extremely rare and were only reserved for a handful of heroes and villains. Digimon Tamers changed that by allowing the three core protagonists to digivolve into Megas, including Renamon into Sakuyamon.
Renamon, as is, was already one of the coolest-looking Rookie-level Digimon, but Sakuyamon enhances the cool-factor and adds in some shrine priestess aesthetics to the design. Even though the skin-tight leather and chest armor add a lot of cheesecake to the Sakuyamon’s design, it still really works for the Digimon.
6) Angewomon & Angemon
The angel Digimon remains one of the most recognizable icons from the franchise. Besides Agumon, Angel Digimon like Angemon and Angewomon are some of the most acknowledged monsters from the franchise. The eyeless helmets, body shapes, wing designs, and striking colors make the characters pop in the anime.
Patamon’s digivolution into Angemon at the climax of the first arc in the original Digimon Adventure anime remains one of the most memorable moments in the entire franchise. It’s a moment that has stuck with fans for over 20 years. Furthermore, Angewomon serves as a nice contrast to Angemon, having one of the prettiest designs in the series.
5) Beelzemon
Some people criticize certain Digimon designs for being too edgy, and Beelzemon is the edgiest of the edgy. With its leather clothes, black coloration, aggressive face, and metal-covered boots, Beelzemon’s core aesthetic theme is being the edgiest Digimon to ever exist. Although his design should’ve been too much and silly, it somehow works out to be a cohesive whole. It also helps that the character’s arc in Digimon Tamers is one of the best in the series, and Beelzemon’s fight with Gallantmon remains one of the most exciting in the entire franchise. He also rides a motorcycle, and that’s always rad.
4) Gallantmon (Dukemon)
There’s a disconnect between how Guilmon, the red dinosaur Digimon, digivolved into a knight. His previous evolutions were a giant dinosaur and a cyborg-dinosaur, so his transformation into a humanoid knight in his Mega form feels like a left-field. Nevertheless, Gallantmon remains one of the best-designed digital monsters in the franchise, rivaling and even surpassing the popularity of most of the most iconic Digimon from the classic series. Gallantmon’s armor looks great, and his weapons, the lance and shield, are amazing inclusions. His red cape makes him look heroic, enhancing the character’s nobility and power. Gallantmon is one of the franchise’s most popular monsters for all the right reasons.
3) Omnimon (Omegamon)
If there’s one Digimon that stands out as the most popular within the franchise, then that Digimon would, without question, be Omnimon. From the moment when Omnimon first appeared at the end of Our War Games, fans couldn’t get enough of him. He is the fusion between Wargreymon and MetalGarurumon, the mega-evolutions of the two main protagonists of Digimon Adventure.
Omnimon’s arms are designed after Wargreymon and MetalGarurumon, a strong artistic choice that sells the idea of it being a fusion monster. The Digimon’s long, limber body hammers home the character’s stature and strength, whereas his cape further cements his knighthood and heroism. The way Omnimon moves his blade to strike is so imposing and cool. Omnimon is one of the most recurring and marketed monsters from the franchise. Many viewers believe he is overexposed, but most fans still can’t get enough of him.
2) WarGreymon
WarGreymon is the original Mega-level protagonist Digimon, serving as the final form for Agumon. WarGreymon has always been distinct from other similar heroic monsters, containing both humanoid and animalistic characteristics. Its limbs and body proportions are clearly human, but its dinosaur-shaped head, large claws, and monstrous feet paint it as an animal.
WarGreymon’s armor is also uniquely Digimon, featuring massive gauntlets that WarGreymon always grips and a wings-like shield on its back with the Crest of Courage. After all these decades, WarGreymon remains one of the most recognizable and popular Digimon in the franchise, enduring many years as one of the poster boys for the entire series.
1) Magnamon
Magnamon’s striking gold armor makes the monster pop on the screen. It’s very few appearances in animation has only made the character more desirable as everyone wants to see more of it. Magnamon’s design is uncomplicated, presenting a small, blue bipedal dragon with gold armor. The armor isn’t even overtly complex, featuring simplistic shapes and sizes. Nonetheless, it’s Magnamon’s uncomplex aesthetic that sells the character. The gold coloring and brightness add to the character’s gravitas. While the armor designs are simple, they are also undeniably cool, especially with their helmets.
Magnamon’s esteem within the franchise has only grown over the decades, with the monster now ranking among the most popular in the series, including Omnimon, Gallantmon, and WarGreymon. Magnamon may be one of the Digimon with the shortest screentime, but that only adds to the character rather than subtracts from him. He is always a Digimon we’re happy to see anytime he appears in anything.
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image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
