Often considered to be the lesserPokémon,Digimonstarted in much the same way asPokémondid, with its anime series being incredibly popular and running around the same time as its competition. WhileDigimonnever reached the same heights thatPokémonwould go on to reach, it has its dedicated fan base that has stuck by it through the highs and lows.
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There are many similarities betweenDigimonandPokémon, most notably in the creatures themselves, but there are also enough differences in both the games and the anime to make it stand on its own and differentiate it from its more popular cousin.
10Used More Main Characters
Pokémon, for the most part, focuses on the adventures of Ash and Pikachu as they journey across whichever new region they have discovered alongside ahandful of traveling companions, keeping the cast fairly small. InDigimon’scase, the cast is usually much larger, not just in the Digidestined but also their Digimon partners, who are much more fleshed out characters than many Pokémon partners fromPokémon. This isn’t always the case, withDigimonTamershaving a very small cast for the bulk of its run, but it allows for more diversity among the main cast that isn’t shown inPokémon.
9Swapping Out Its Main Characters
A point of contention among somePokémonfans is that, despite the series having run for over 20 years, Ash has only aged by one year, with his last canon birthday occurring in the Kanto region as he celebrated the one year anniversary of his and Pikachu’s adventure starting.Digimontakes a much more realistic approach, actively aging its main characters and swapping them out for new cast members between series, giving new groups of Digidestined time to shine aside from Tai and Agumon.
8Went Super Meta
One of the strangest, and best, series inDigimonwasDigimon Tamers, set in a world whereDigimonwas a popular media franchise not unlike how the creators wish it was in the real world. This meta-narrative not only allowed the show to use some much darker storylines thanDigimon Adventureever did, but also presented the basic premise more realistically.
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It’s easy to think that children would stand in awe as their Digimon partners morphed into huge, powerful dinosaurs with machine guns for arms, but Takato’s reaction to Guilmon’s first digivolution was much closer to home than had been shown before, as he cowers in terror at the monster he has created and set lose on the world.
7Took Major Inspiration From Power Rangers
Digimon Frontieris often looked down on as one of the worst series ofDigimon, but there’s a lot to love about this weird take on theDigimonformula. For one, the Digidestined become the Digimon themselves, allowing the show to focus more on the children rather than needing to spend time on their partners as well. On the other hand, it is incredibly campy at times and not always in a charming way.
6Killed Off A Main Character
Digimon Tamersstarted off quite dark compared to other series, with Henry worried his Gargomon would cause too much destruction, and Guilmon terrifying his tamer on multiple occasions. The darkest moment in the series comes when, after feeling abandoned by his tamers, Beelzemon killed Jeri’s partner, Leomon, who didn’t make a miraculous return like Patamon did inAdventure.Digimonwould do this again inFrontier, with Koichi dying trying to reach his brother, though it was heavily toned down in the English dub to say he was in a coma instead.
5Made Digimon Actual Partners
Probably the biggest difference that separates Digimon from Pokémon in their respective universes is the relationship between the creatures and their partners. While Pokémon often says that their caught creatures are their partners, their relationships rarely stretch beyond that of a loving pet and their owner.Digimon, on the other hand, makes their partners closer to being the Digidestined’s best friends, making a point of making them characters in themselves rather than extensions of their human carers.
4Their Version Of Mega Evolution
One ofPokémon’smost divisive additional features in recent years was Mega Evolution, which added another, more powerful form on top of a final evolution. SinceDigimonisn’t as popular these days as it once was, it’s easy to forget thatDigimonactually did this mechanic first.
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Both versions of a Mega form are vastly different, thoughDigimon’sis much more powerful simply as a result of how digivolution works. Mega forms inDigimonalso usually require not only a close bond between human and Digimon, but also a threat to their lives that forces both of them to break through their perceived limits.
3Has Multiple Mainline Game Series
The gameplay ofPokémon’smainline series of RPG’s may be tried and true,but Game Freakand The Pokémon Companyhave also never really branched out into other kinds of games, usually leaving that for third-party developers to do for them. Bandai Namco has a different approach toDigimon, with there being multiple different alternatives to thecore RPG mechanicsbetween different games.TheDigimon Worldseries is a much different gamethan and theDigimon Storyseries, but both are mainlineDigimongames in their own right.
2Detachment From Nostalgia
Up untilDigimon Adventure tri, Digimon was happy to continue moving forward with its franchise, leaving both human and Digimon characters in the past and never looking back. This is in stark contrast toPokémon, which is continuously appealing to the nostalgia of longtime fans by keeping old favorites like Charizard, Pikachu, and Mewtwo at the forefront of both their anime and game designs. While it’s nice to see old favorites stick around for a while, it would also be nice ifPokémonfocused a little less on a few Pokémon in particular.
1Has Good Storylines
In both the games and the anime,Pokémonhas stuck to a veryconsistent kind of storythat, while not at all bad, is also very predictable and hasn’t changed sinceRed and Blue.AlthoughPokémonJourneysis looking to finally change the old formula, it only comes after decades of playing it safe.Digimon, on the other hand, focuses much more heavily on an overarching story rather than the characters in them, rather than a never-ending journey of self-improvement.
