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bethanythebogwitch · 7 months ago

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Digimon 2024 tier list

Like last year, I'm doing a tier list of how much I like each new Digimon released this year. My tiers will be A for Digimon I really like, B for Digimon I like but not as much, and C for Digimon I'm not enthusiastic about. There will also be one S-tier for my favorite of the year and one D-tier for my least favorite of the year. Also I covered Tlalocmon last year, so see that post for my thoughts and I'm not covering the Monster Hunter tie-in mons since they're not in the reference book.

Digimon Liberator has given us a flood of new Digimon so let's start with the mascot's line. Yolkmon, Fluffymon, Pteromon, Galemon, GrandGalemon, and Zephagamon. Yolkmon is my new favorite baby Digimon. A living egg yolk with an eggshell hat is brilliant and adorable. Fluffymon is also a good design. I find it hard to get invested in a lot of the baby Digimon because they're usually just bouncing heads, so having these two stick out of the pack is great. I'll give Yolkmon an A and Fluffymon a B

Pteromon is a great mascot Digimon. It's got that classic mascot look while also looking distinct from all the Agumon expys we tend to get. Archaeopteryx is a great inspiration and we finally get a theropod dinosaur Digimon with feathers, like the real raptors had. A-tier. I'm not as fond of Galemon (B-tier), but GrandGalemon is great. It's a great fusion of the bird/raptor elements and humanoid warrior elements. The armor and weapon look cool and it being one of the vortex warriors (which, as far as I know, were previously only ever mentioned in MedievalGallantmon's reference book entry) is a cool call-back and it even has an indirect connection to Witchelny. An Excellent Digimon deserving an A. Sadly, I can't say the same for Zephagamon. I can't fully explain why I don't really like it. Maybe it's the skinnier design that drops a lot of the bird elements, or its weapons not being as cool as Zephagamon's mace (swords are overdone), or just being tired of Digimon becoming armored humanoid warriors in their final stages, but I can't help but be a bit dissappointed by Zephagamon. The name is also not my favorite. Maybe they went with that to avoid dub name confusion with Zephyrmon/Shutumon. It's gonna be a C-tier.

Debuting alongside Pteromon's line is Shoemon's line. Shoemon is an amazingly adorable Digimon. A patchwork mouse plushy living in a shoe is a cute and very Digimon concept. I love how it uses a sewing needle as a weapon, too. A-tier. Too bad Shoeshoemon isn't as good. A roller-skating plush squirrel should be a fantastic Digimon, but I just don't like the way it looks. It honestly give me Sonic the Hedgehog vibes and I don't care for StH. The name is also really clunky, especially when Skatemon was right there. That being said, it would have been hilarious if each of Shoemon's evolutions just added an extra shoe to the name until we ended up with Shoeshoeshoeshoemon. C-tier.

While I don't care for Shoeshoemon, Chaperomon is another story. A violent little red riding hood doll with a knife, molotov cocktail, and basket-mounted minigun that hunts big bad wolves and turns them into shoes is not only an amazing concept, it is peak Digimon. It may be early in the list, but Chaperomon is my S-tier. Not only is this my favorite Digimon of the year, it is one of my favorite Digimon of all time. Cendrillmon is ok. I do like the design in a vacuum, but I don't really like it as a final form for Shoemon. It loses the patchwork plushy and doll appearance that I like so much and it doesn't really have shoes anymore. I do like the simple yet elegant design and the army of doll familiars. I think if Cendrillmon was introduced as an evolution for a different Digimon, I would like it a lot better. B-tier.

From the web novel side of things comes the new Impmon evolutions: Punkmon, Loudmon, and HeavyMetaldramon. Punk rock variants of the Guilmon line were not something I knew I needed in my life all. They're also a callback to the early planning stage of Digimon Tamers, where Impmon was planned to be the main partner Digimon. I also appreciate the final form being based on Megidramon instead of Gallantmon. Too many Digimon lines end up humanoid at the end. And wings made of electric guitars? Chef's kiss. A for all of them.

Last year, the D-Brigade got an upgrade after years of just being one evolution line, and this year the Royal Base got the same treatment. It was a good choice, too, as cyborg bees is a fantastic concept. ForgeBeemon the construction worker is a great interpretation of worker bees and Vespamon is a much-needed pre-evo to TigerVespamon. It's weird how many times we've gotten an XYmon years before getting a Ymon. Those both get A. QueenBeemon I'm not as fond of. She loses the cyborg elements and just becomes a woman in a bee costume. It's also weird that like half of her reference book entry is dunking on her like she was one of the bad evolution Digimon. The weaponized throne is a cool idea, but I can't give QueenBeemon higher than a B, which I suppose is appropriate.

PolarBearmon and Skadimon are really fun. I like them as a reminder that not all high-level Digimon have to be ferocious monsters, armored warriors, or women in their underwear. Some of them can be cute and friendly. For Frontier fans, am I wrong in thinking that PolarBearmon with its snowball artillery and being a bear looks way more like a proper unified spirit of ice than Daipenmon? Skadimon actually being a mech suit piloted by what looks like a YukimiBotamon is a fantastic design concept. A for both.

Dinomon kicks absolute ass. Dinosaurs are cool, fire is cool, so a dinosaur on fire is extra cool. This thing is the closest we have to a Digimon Godzilla and I love Godzilla. Plus a new mega for Tyrannomon that isn't DinoRexmon or RustTyrannomon is much appreciated. RustTyrannomon leans a bit evil for a heroic Tyrannomon and DinoRexmon looks too silly for my tastes with that giant claw. A-tier.

Elizamon is too cute not to love. A hot pink frilled lizard in a bowtie is adorable, and its contrast with the edgelord Owen Dreadnought is fantastic. Dimetromon is also really cool, being based on one of my favorite Permian animals, but I feel like it loses some of the frilly feminine traits that Elizamon has and the evolutions will have according to the shadowed shots we've seen of them in Liberator. I give Elizamon an A and Dimetromon a B.

MarineBullmon and Ryugumonbeing nudibranchs makes the marine biologist in me happy. I love nudibranchs and more people being exposed to these spectacular sea slugs is a great thing. Of the two, I definitely prefer Ryugumon more. It's elegant design and referencing Japanese mythology is inspired. I'm going to give MarineBullmon a B and Ryugumon an A.

Espimon has needed a full evolution line for a while. It was always weird that it never got an evolution based level 4 given that it technically is a main protagonist partner in Ghost Game. Oblivimon is a fantastic evolution, doubling down on the spaceship design of HoverEspimon and working in UFO stories with how it abducts Digimon to examine them before releasing them with memories modified. The Kuramon drones are also adorable. A-tier. Sadly, after the highs of Oblivimon, it all comes crashing down with Invisimon. Why, why, why did this line of UFO-themed Digimon have to end with a superhero? I am so tired of Digimon lines ending up as humanoids when the rest of the line isn't, and it's especially bad here. Invisimon sticks out like a sore thumb against the amorphous, spaceship-based, stealth and non-combat elements of the rest of the line. The stealth plane thing is neat at least. I get that Invisimon works with the Liberator Espimon's partner being superhero coded, but it fails as an evolution in any other context. If Invisimon wasn't supposed to be the final form of Espimon, it might be a C or B, but as is, this thing is my D-tier.

As for the new Sunarizamon evolutions, I'll admit that I initially didn't like Landramon, but it's grown on me. I really wanted Landramon to be the land counterpart to Airdramon and Seadramon as a serpentine dragon instead of the silly pile of sand. Once I got over that, I came to enjoy the silliness of Landramon and it is a very fitting Sunarizamon evolution. I'll give it a B. Proganomon is not my favorite and it's another case like Invisimon where I'd probably like it more if it was part of a different evolution line. It's just so out of place in the Sunarizamon line having no sand elements and using technology. I think it would work much better as a Tortomon evolution and a pre-evo to ElDoradimon or even JumboGamemon. I think I'll give it a C. I don't hate it, but I'm not all that impressed either. Pyramidimon, on the other hand, is amazing. It looks like a badass Yu-Gi-Oh monster from when the franchise was still themed around ancient Egypt. I can see it being a great fit with other Egyptian Digimon like Pharaohmon and Anubimon. Pyramidimon almost dethroned Chaperomon's place as my S-tier, putting it as an easy A.

The other big source of new Digimon this year was New Century and it's a crime that game hasn't been released outside of China yet. I covered Takutomon last year and wasn't impressed. I found it visually uninteresting and the armored human is an overused design. Takutomon Wrath Mode has a more interesting design, but I'm still not that interested in it. I think that humanoid armored warrior Digimon have to do something really interesting to stand out from the her and this one just doesn't. He also loses his little Appmon pet. Maybe that's why he's so angry. I'm also surprised that the reference book art is somehow better than the New Century art, which is angled so that most of its body is covered by its leg. C.

If a humanoid armored warrior Digimon has to do something interesting to stand out, Erlangmon does that well. The idea of the warrior fighting alongside a flying wolf head is very unique and fun. Plus, spears are underused as weapons, so it's nice to see one here. Erlangmon is also a shapeshifter, which could be a lot of fun to work with in stories. I have a fanfic in mind that I might use Erlangmon in. I give it an A. Unfortunately, while Erlangmon soars, Erlangmon Blast Mode crashes and burns. Turning the wolf head into a part of the armor loses that cool factor and makes it look so much more generic. Down to C with you.

Nezhamon is also fun. There's a lot of references to the original myth, like turning the wind fire wheel into tires on the ankles and having Nezhamon look young. The merging of the mythology with modern machienery makes for a very Digimon design. Plus, he has a spear and I'm a sucker for weapons where one part floats instead of being attached. I'll go A.

The last New Century Digimon is Jougamon and I like how this one is based on the same moon rabbit origins of Dianamon while still having a totally unique look. The gold coloration looks nice and I love the giant crescent moon blade and dancing fighting style. I'll put it as a strong B.

Our last new entry for the year is Cernumon. Well technically Callismon was added to the reference book this year, but that's not a new Digimon, it's an escapee from V-Tamer jail. Cernumon is such a creative design. A musical instrument, foresty deer god is both very fun and very Digimon. Cernumon comes from the horned Celtic god Cernunnos. Digimon had the opportunity to just make Cernumon a deer man and I'm very grad they decided to get more creative. A-tier.

Here's the final tier list. It's heavily weighted toward the A-tier, which is a good thing. I'm glad that the majority of new Digimon are so cool and likable.

S: Chaperomon

A: Yolkmon, GrandGalemon, Shoemon, Punkmon, Loudmon, HeavyMetaldramon, ForgeBeemon, Vespamon, PolarBearmon, Skadimon, Dinomon, Elizamon, Ryugumon, Oblivimon, Pyramidimon, Erlangmon, Nezhamon, Cernumon

B: Fluffymon, Galemon, Cendrillmon, QueenBeemon, Dimetromon, MarineBullmon, Landramon, Jougamon.

C: Zephagamon, Shoeshoemon, Proganomon, Takutomon Wrath Mode, Erlangmon Blast Mode.

D: Invisimon

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reversemoon255 · 1 month ago

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Digimon Top 10 List (Second Attempt)

I know I’ve done this before, but it’s been several years, and my perspective has changed a bit. I’ve gotten really into designing Digimon, and my appreciation of certain ones and aspects have shifted. Plus I feel like my last list was very aesthetic heavy.

10. Rockmon

Rockmon’s an odd Digimon. It’s been my icon on multiple sites for ages, but mostly because it’s just… generic? And I suppose that’s part of the reason I like it, but I also think its origins are interesting. It was a roster bolster, being an altered Frigimon wireframe, only appearing in 3 early games before it suddenly appeared again over a decade or two later in Adventure:.

It's also one of those Digimon with weird name shenanigans. Nowadays, Golemon is distinctly Golemon, and this is distinctly Rockmon, but their names got interchanged a bit in the early days. I've had more than one conversation about which is which.

It’s just a neat Digimon that I have a weird, personal connection to.

9. Paildramon/DinoBeemon

This is an interesting pair. Digimon Adventure 02 was the first season where Digimon were designed explicitly to be toys, and Paildramon was one of them. It almost feels like a proto-DigiXros, being ExVeemon using Stingmon as armor. Not only that, but it continues the thread of themes started by Veemon.

Armadillomon and Shakkomon’s bodies are fully covered in armor, Hawkmon and Silphymon blend their elements together, and Veemon wears its additions as armor while exposing itself underneath. (It’s why the three of them primarily grow bigger as they evolve so these themes can be further replicated and evolved.)

And just as Veemon might wear Courage or Miracles as armor, ExVeemon wears Stingmon as armor. Wormmon has also been shown to be willing to sacrifice itself to protect others, so having Stingmon become armor works incredibly well thematically. And being able to rearrange these parts to form a second Digimon is very cool.

Not only a great design, but evolves the themes of its component Digimon very well.

8. Bastemon

I considered putting another lady on this list. I’ve been following more artists who draw more cute and wholesome art of Digimon’s divas, but at the end of the day I have to rep my girl.

I think I glossed over Bastemon a bit last time because it’s a little awkward to explain why you specifically like a female design, y'know? I like the belly dancer aesthetic, she has some of my favorite jokes in Xros Wars, she was quite intimidating in Ghost Game. She also has an interesting origin, being one of the few original Digimon introduced in Digimon World 3, I believe. Also, in a franchise produced in Japan by Japanese people, most humanoid Digimon look Japanese. Or some shade of purple. And it’s nice to have some diversity.

I just think she’s cute.

7. Hackmon/Huckmon

Our 15th anniversary Digimon, Hackmon is the one Digimon to make the jump directly from Digimon to Appmon. And as someone who enjoys the concept of design and redesign, I really enjoy both versions of Hackmon. Don’t get me wrong, they’re both very edgy, try hard, “we want you to like this Digimon” Digimon, but I do enjoy an edgy design now and again. And I also enjoy how different both versions evolve, with Digimon Hackmon becoming a knightly dragon, and Appmon Hackmon leans much more into an eldritch dragon motif with extra mouths and lots of spikes, yet both still feel like natural evolutions of their starting point.

Going back to their first forms, however, something I really like about these two as redesigns, is that apart from the colors being reversed, there isn’t much difference. Appmon Hackmon’s hood has teeth and drawn eyes while Digimon Hackmon’s has goggles. Digimon Hackmon’s limbs are a bit longer and sharper. There’s the App Links. But really? The biggest difference is just that Appmon Hackmon always wears his hood, and just using that subtle change really makes it feel very different.

It’s something that only a franchise like this can do, and I think that’s very cool.

6. Shoutmon X7

On my last list I put both Shoutmon X3 and OmegaShoutmon X on a higher and lower placement than this, but there are just more designs I’ve grown to appreciate since then, and after getting all of the toys, I just appreciate the engineering we didn’t get but was still fully designed to be a toy.

So while you might not be able to tell from the show alone, Xros Wars seems to be rife with issues and late development based on some of the concept designs we’ve seen, promotional images, differences between designs and toys, etc. Cyberdramon and Tuwarmon have subtle design differences between their artworks and toy releases, OmegaShoutmon and ZeigGreymon were different colors up until their debuts, and if we go back to our topic at hand, Shoutmon X7? Was not originally supposed to include MailBirdramon or ZeigGreymon. Greymon and SkullKnightmon were supposed to DigiXros to become SkullGreymon, and SkullGreymon was supposed to combine with Shoutmon X5 to become Shoutmon X7. It’s just such an interesting history. And while I like what we got, there’s this part of me that really wants to see what could have been as well. Maybe I’ll try my hand at recreating it myself one day…

This design has a tumultuous history, but I still really like it in spite of that.

5. Tyrannomon

Tyrannomon is the first mascot of Digimon, eventually overshadowed by Agumon and Greymon. And even though he still gets some love, I do feel for the guy and wonder what the franchise would be like if they retained that status. But part of the fun of Tyrannomon is its variation game, which is pretty big and feels more diverse than Greymon because they’re willing to take more risks:

We’ve got the classic Tyrannomon from the first VPet, Tyrannomon X (which we’ve also seen the concept designs for, and they are all fire), a dark variant in DarkTyrannomon before Greymon Virus or GeoGreymon ever showed up, a DarkTyrannomon X that borrows from some of those unused Tyrannomon X concepts, a MetalTyrannomon to mimic MetalGreymon, MetalTyrannomon X, the until recently underappreciated MasterTyrannomon who's my usual ace in DDCB, the silly Raremon filled ExTyrannomon, RustTyrannomon who has some silly and crazy cards, and Dinomon who brings in a lot of elements from the original VPet into its design.

Not to mention Tyrannomon also has connections to Mugendramon/Machinedramon, the first Mega, and Chaosdramon, which is a pretty stacked roster of boss characters.

While Tyrannomon doesn’t have as much attention as Greymon, there is definitely a lot of love put into their bevy of designs.

4. Gaioumon Burst Mode/Gaioumon: Itto Mode

Returning to the list at a slightly lower place is Gaioumon Burst Mode. An unofficial design by As’Maria, who designed the original Gaioumon. Gaioumon was originally supposed to be BlackWarGreymon X, but the team liked it so much more than WarGreymon X, and thought fans would too, so they made BlackWarGreymon X a recolor (I think the only one in the X lineup) and made Gaioumon its own Digimon. And then, when we revisited X Antibody Digimon a few years ago, Gaioumon actually did get a Mode Change, bringing this unofficial design to some official capacity as it shares a handful of ideas. Like a few of the Digimon on this list, it’s one with an interesting design story behind it, which seems to be a trend with me.

And even then, it’s just a really interesting pair of designs to compare and contrast. To see what similarities they have and how much they differ. To speculate on what changes were As’Maria’s development as a character designer, which were company mandates, which were recommendations from other designers working on the project, etc. It’s a pair of designs you can just have a lot of fun looking at side-by-side.

A fascinating story of an unofficial design becoming official years later.

3. Zephagamon/Medusamon

It’s probably a little early to put either of these two on a list, but I just want to talk about them, as I find them both to be excellent pastiches of the typical “Hero” Digimon, but in different ways.

Your typical Hero Digimon come in the standard primary colors: red, yellow, and blue, with the majority of them being red or having red in their evolutions. Gammamon is the one exception, but it plays with the concept of color, and has both a red and blue evolution. Additionally, Hero Digimon are always reptilian, with their evolutions being either saurian or draconian in design, and ending off very humanoid. These are the most basic concepts Hero Digimon follow.

And then we get to Pteromon, who is green. And that may be a very basic take, but when you consider that red is the most popular Hero color, and that green is red’s opposite, it is an important choice. Yet they still have that bit of red in their design as well. Furthermore, Pteromon is a bird. Reptiles and birds are intrinsically linked through their ancient origins, putting Pteromon on a separate but parallel path to a lot of the Hero Digimon. Quite a few birds are also famously known for their mimicry, so having a bird Digimon mimicking the motifs of the shows’ reptile protagonists is very on point. And then we get to its evolutions, which perfectly follow the typical routes, starting with getting bigger, then becoming armored and more masculine, and ending up very humanoid and knightly. It’s just such a well thought out design for a spinoff protagonist.

Then there’s Elizamon, who takes a path both similar yet opposite to Pteromon. Elizamon is, and importantly continues to be, a reptile, keeping true to its trope’s origins, yet also avoiding the saurian route of its predecessors while also keeping on that parallel path to Pteromon. (Dimetrodons, while they lived at the same time, were not dinosaurs but giant reptiles.) Elizamon also sticks to the color themes of the Hero Digimon, being redish. The thing that makes Elizamon stand out the most is that its designs are inherently feminine, while everyone who has come before has been very masculine. And then as it evolves it deviates slightly from the norms. It’s supposed to signify that their owner, the rival character, is the true protagonist, only to have the rug pulled out from under us, and is done expertly.

They’re just two very well thought out and thematic designs.

2. DarkKnightmon

DarkKnightmon was not on my original list, yet has risen to second place, superseding Shoutmon even. And I think this is in large part to me finally getting the toy and experiencing the engineering first hand. It’s just such a well done design. DeadlyAxemon isn’t much to look at at first, but being able to turn into a giant axe and fill out SkullKnightmon’s proportions both go to show how well thought out it was. It’s the reason I undertook trying to make a new partner for SkullKnightmon myself with PiercingBowmon, just to see if I could even come close to this level of design. And while SkullKnightmon requires a bit of parts forming, almost every removed part reveals a new element that’s incorporated into DarkKnightmon. The united color scheme, and being in some of my favorite colors also give it a few points. It’s also a popular design, being the only of the Xros Partners to appear in multiple seasons, with DarkKnightmon appearing as an evolution of Gatomon in Adventure: and as a one-off in Ghost Game.

There really isn’t much else to say about this design; it speaks for itself.

1. MetalGreymon/WarGreymon

MetalGreymon topped my list last time, and my love of this design hasn’t changed. It’s actually quite similar to DarkKnightmon in a lot of ways, but with a few key differences that make it stand above. First is that Greymon doesn’t need to transform to combine with MailBirdramon, while SkullKnightmon does require a bit of partsforming. And second is that this is a redesign, which it may be apparent that I enjoy those quite a bit.

That all being said, I’ve also tested my hand at more partners for this design, designing several, but most importantly being WaruMonzaemon and WarGreymon. I spent literal years trying to find both figures so I could have a full understanding of how the design worked before wanting to commit to it, and all that mental attention has made me consider WarGreymon my de facto choice of partner, despite all the original Digimon I’ve designed.

It’s a design I already liked, and through thinking about it and reiterating on it, it ended up cementing itself as first place.

And that is the end of our updated list. There’s some pretty significant change-ups, with only 4 of the original list still being here, but this feels… better to current me. It’s much more design based, many more interesting stories attached to them, and more personal connections to quite a few. But I think writing this list also helped me get a perspective on what it is I like as a designer, what I can focus on, what I want to achieve, that sort of thing. In a way it was mostly for me, but it wouldn’t be fun if I didn’t also share it with you.

#Digimon #Top 10 #Rockmon #Bastemon #Hackmon #Huckmon #Shoutmon X7 #Tyrannomon #Gaioumon #Gaioumon Itto Mode #Zephagamon #Medusamon #DarkKnightmon #MetalGreymon #WarGreymon

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