Touhou and Digimon

[Shiina Tamai]

I've been thinking about Digimon lately and I decided to give some Touhou characters digimon partners. The last time I've seen Digimon was the last episode of Tamers (IIRC early or mid-2002), so correct me if I screw something up.

Chen: Gatomon
Yuuka: Floramon
Seiga Kaku: Tsukaimon?
Flandre: Puppetmon?*
Tenshi: Patamon?
Cirno: SnowAgumon?
Daiyousei: Betamon?
Suwako: Frogmon??
Mystia: Biyomon
Ran: Renamon
Rin: Blackgatomon?


*:

Spoiler:

I have the feeling the two would be good playmates.

?:

Spoiler:

I bet Tai and Cirno would make a good crossover couple.

?:

Spoiler:

Frogmon is only obtainable by Armor Evolution, but he's the only frog-themed Digimon I could come up with.

[Failure McFailFace]

explain digimon for the uninitiated

like pokemon, but digital? and more wacky design origins (afaik there's a train digimon)

[haoreos2]

Spoiler:

Frogmon is only obtainable by Armor Evolution, but he's the only frog-themed Digimon I could come up with.

Gekomon yo

[Raikaria]

explain digimon for the uninitiated

like pokemon, but digital? and more wacky design origins (afaik there's a train digimon)

Long-time Digimon fan explaining:

Digimon's origins are V-Pets; specifically designed to be a 'manlier' version of the Tamagochi. It's also a complete misconception due to this that one 'Mon' cloned another. Pokemon started as a GB game. Digimon was a Tamagotchi spin-off.

Of course; Digimon is now more well-known for it's anime. Which focuses heavily on character interactions and bonds; especially the original anime. It also tends to be more mature than Pokemon covering sometimes some pretty heavy stuff like death [Every season]; referencing Cuthulu [02]; basically having an entire arc where a character was mentally tortured [Tamers]...

Key thing about Digimon which is often overlooked in the anime is that unlike Pokemon; digimon evolution is not fixed, and often overlaps. This is mostly in the V-Pets; where raising choices leads to evolution changes in a large tree; but also the card games and it's touched in the anime [For example; Season 1 has Biyomon -> Birdramon -> Garudamon. Season 2 has Hawkmon -> Arquilamon. Season 5 has Biyomon -> Arquilamon -> Garudamon.]

Due to this; I find it very hard to match digimon with Touhou characters. Even harder thinking up entire evolution trees a Digimon paired with a Touhou character would have. For example; would Youmu have a sword-based digimon [Pretty mch anything that digivolves from Kotemon] or something like Bakemon?

Also another thing about Digimon is that a lot of the designs, attacks, or names are heavily steeped in mythology or lore. For example; we have the Seven Deadly Sins; numerous references to Norse Mythology [The god is outright called Yggdrasil]; the 4 mythical beasts of Chinese Legend; The 13 Knights of the Round Table; the Olympians... which is a major reason I like Digimon. And I like Touhou. I like me some mythology.

It's like attempting to pair a Touhou put with a 'perfect' Pokemon. OK you might get the occasional fitting one but those are few and far between.

[ふねん1]

I suppose one could argue that the elaborate evolution trees could allow one to tailor certain Digimon and their evolutions to a particular Touhou character, though I can't think up any examples of that right now. Also, would we have to be restricted to a Child Digimon or even assume that their partner would evolve with them? For instance, Wizarmon is more famous than any Digimon it evolves from (Candmon being the main one that does) or into, but he's the first one I think of as a partner for Marisa. Wizarmon's main attacks suggest an electrical theme, but his profile claims he also knows fire magic and his main goal is to train his powers, in line with how Marisa is portrayed. The prevalence of youkai in Touhou should also make it somewhat easier to pair certain characters with their equivalents in Digimon, i.e., Doremy Sweet with Bakumon or Remilia with Vamdemon. Then again, Digimon does include a lot of references to western lore, whereas Touhou focuses a bit more on eastern mythology, so the connection is far from perfect.

[Shiina Tamai]

Sorry that I couldn't reply sooner, I've been busy recently.

referencing Cuthulu [02]

That was pretty wierd. What was wierder for me at the time was that it seemed like they just dropped the whole thing and never mentioned it up until the end of the season.

Gekomon yo

I thought of that, but he's not really suited for a goddess. Besides, he also could be good for the Prismrivers considering their prowess in music.

For example; would Youmu have a sword-based digimon [Pretty mch anything that digivolves from Kotemon] or something like Bakemon?

I would say that Youmu would use a sword-themed digimon, Bakemon seems more suited for Yuyuko.

Also, would we have to be restricted to a Child Digimon or even assume that their partner would evolve with them?

I would generally say that it should be either child or weaker adult like Gatomon or Gekomon (which reminds me to find a new partner for Flandre because Puppetmon is a mega-level digimon). As for the second, I assumed that it would work like it did in Digimon Adventure (the partner does not evolve with their digimon). Also, what I had in mind is that they could not (initially) use their magical powers (it wouldn't exactly be the same if they could just use their spell card attacks to get out of a situation.

[haoreos2]

I thought of that, but he's not really suited for a goddess. Besides, he also could be good for the Prismrivers considering their prowess in music.

I'd argue Suwako's hat isn't really suitable for a goddess insert oh snap reaction gif of choice, but fair enough.