Redrawing the Scale: A Digimon Dissertation

As of current Digimon lore, there are six different levels of Digimon that exist throughout all the different of Digimon Universes. They are baby, in-training, rookie, champion, ultimate, and mega. However, as time has passed and the Adventure, Tamer, Frontier, and Saver universes have run their course, those six levels have proven to be extremely inconsistent. By the time you finish reading this, I hope that you will see as I have that there are many more levels to Digimon, and that the scale should be redrawn to reflect as such.

As you already know, Digimon get exponentially stronger with each evolution they take. Sometimes their digivolution comes naturally, and sometimes a human catalyst is needed. In the original Digimon Adventure, where the rules were set, they clearly created the different levels. However when the movies came out, that changed. During the first movie, where we revisit the plot of the first Digimon sent to earth, the creators added a new twist known as BigAgumon. In addition to BigAgumon being triple the size of the standard Agumon, its Pepper Flame could reach further and do much more damage than Agumon's Pepper Breath. It was obvious that this was not a Rookie Level. Yet when it digivolved again to RedGreymon, it was on par with the Champion level Parrotmon. If we assume that the series Greymon and the movie RedGreymon are of a similar strength, then BigAgumon was actually a step up from the Rookie level, but didn't make it to Champion. I dub this new level Prime Rookie, a half step between the two.

Now normally, something like that would go by the wayside, classified as an isolated incident. However in Adventure's direct sequel, Adventure 2, it was shown again. The Rookie Level digimon from the new season, in this case we'll use the examples of Veemon and Gatomon, introduced a new Armor Digivolution. The Armor level was never classified before, but I believe it to be the same as the Prime Rookie level. Veemon had two armor evolutions, Flamedramon and Raidramon, neither of which were stronger than another, they just had different features. However he could digivolve into a Champion level Exveemon, which was able to defeat an enemy his armor form couldn't. Also, in Adventure 1, Gatomon was classified as a Champion level until she lost her tail ring in Adventure 2. To become stronger, she used the armor do digivolve to Nephertimon. Once Gatomon's tail ring was restored, she became Champion again, and could digivolve to the Ultimate level Angewomon, hardly ever using the armor form again. Since each digimon had their own Champion level, the armor helped boost their power only slightly, thus making Adventure 2's armor digivolve a Prime Rookie level.

However that only proves of the existence of one extra level. But as the series continued on, many more levels can be classified, all as half-steps from their previous level: Prime Champion, Prime Ultimate, and Prime Mega. The best example of a Prime Champion would be Angemon. Patamon's Champion level was extremely powerful in comparison to the other Champion digimon, and was the only one who could defeat Devimon. Plus he was able to sever one of ViralCherubimon's arms in Digimon Movie 3. Unfortunately Prime Champions are rather rare in comparison with the other levels.

Prime Ultimate levels can be found in Frontier. You would know them as Aldemon and Beowulfmon. If we classify a Human Spirit such as Agunemon as a Champion level, and the Beast Spirit like BurningGreymon as Ultimate level, then what is the Fusion Spirit Aldemon? It can't be a Mega level because the Unified Spirit EmperorGreymon is classified as Mega. Because of its increased strength, the best place to classify it would be under the Prime Ultimate level. This is best proven when Takuya beat ShadowSeraphimon. Seraphimon is classified as a Mega level, however using only a piece of Seraphimon's fractal code did Mercurimon transform, making it a Sub-Mega level, which is basically equal with a Prime Ultimate.

Also Prime Ultimates can be found in Digimon Movie 3, Magnamon and GoldenRapidmon. The Golden Digi-eggs armor provided a kind of Warp Digivolve, having them bypass both the Champion and Ultimate levels. In Digimon Tamers, it was proven that Terriermon's Ultimate level was a green colored Rapidmon. Thanks to Digimon X-Evolution, it was shown that Magnamon was one of the Royal Knights. Putting these facts together, and assuming that both golden armors produce the same level Digimon, it not only shows that they are Prime Ultimate level, but that means that Magnamon is one of the weakest of the Royal Knights. This could also mean that GoldenRapidmon is a Royal Knight too, as there are two still-unidentified Royal Knights, but that is sheer speculation.

Additionally, an example was shown for a short amount of time in Tamers. WarGrowlmon was forced to digivolve to Megidramon in a battle against Beelzemon, a Mega level, and was still defeated. The result shows that Megidramon was not a Mega level, but a Sub-Mega, since Guilmon's true Mega level of Gallantmon defeated Beelzemon.

Thus we get to the most complex level, and the one that needs the most revision, the Mega classifications. I believe by now it's obvious that some Megas are far superior to others, while some are far weaker than they appear. The first example of that would be Digimon Movie 2, where Agumon and Gabumon Warp DNA Digivolve to Omnimon. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon were defeated quite handily by Diaboromon due to their lack of processing resources, however Omnimon managed to wipe out all of the Diaboromon copies, only leaving the final one to be simply speared in the skull. Omnimon, one of the first recognized Royal Knights, can be classified as a Prime Mega because of how easy it was for him to destroy all of the Diaboromon within less than ten minutes.

In Digimon Movie 4, Revenge of Diaboromon, it was proven again that Omnimon was easily stronger than Diaboromon. However when he was reborn as Armageddemon, Omnimon was defeated. Armageddemon had moved a step up. When reinforcements arrived, Imperialdramon's standard form wasn't enough to harm the enemy, and he was forced to change to Fighter Mode, which was supposed to be more powerful. Even then, Imperialdramon was severely wounded by Armageddemon's Destiny Destroyer. Only when Omnimon transformed his main body into a sword did Imperialdramon change into its final mode, Paladin. In a swift irony, a spear of the Omnisword to the head was what defeated Armageddemon, showing that Paladin Mode was a step up from Armageddemon. Also according to Digimon lore, Imperialdramon Paladin Mode was the one who created the roundtable of the 13 Royal Knights. So how does one classify Imperialdramon's strength? Standard Imperialdramon was not even able to make a dent in Armageddemon's armor, and was considered a Mega Digivolve, so he is a Mega Level. However Fighter Mode has proven itself to be more powerful in battle and let them fight equally with the enemy, so I would classify Imperialdramon Fighter Mode as a Prime Mega. But Paladin Mode was proven to be the most powerful of them all. A classification for this level can't be put as a Sub or a Prime. I believe that a new level should be created, the Legend Level.

The Legend level consists, as its name implies, of Digimon so strong that they are the stuff of legend. The best example of that is the Legendary Warriors in Frontier. The ten Legendary Warriors that started their names with Ancient and their enemy's final form of Lucemon is a battle of just that, Legend. Not even Soosanomon, a Prime Mega level could defeat Lucemon's final form, and the Ancient warriors had to be summoned one last time to defeat him. Also AncientGreymon and AncientGarurumon had to defeat Onismon on the Island of Lost Digimon, which was also a legend.

The final proof of existence of Prime Levels is Digimon X-Evolution. The X-Antibody obtained by some Digimon add a prime to their levels even though their name stays the same. MetalGarurumon obtained an X-Antibody that made him a biped and a Prime Mega level. Omnimon and Gallantmon (Dukemon in the untranslated Japanese dub) obtained the X-Antibody, making them Legend level, and Alphamon himself, the leader of the Royal Knights, was a Legend level which possessed the X-Antibody.

As the Digital World has expanded, the original level chart can't hold all the classifications. With the Prime sublevels, each Digimon can be further and more accurately defined. The Mega level has been blurred between Prime Ultimate and above, being classified across the board even though it's obvious that some are far stronger than others. To help further classify them, a new tier on the evolutionary scale, the Legend level should also be created. We need to redraw the scale, so that all the Digimon can be placed in their proper group.

I realize that this article will draw up much discussion and questions. Please e-mail these questions to me, be it if you agree, disagree, or want to find out what the classification of a Digimon under the new scale would be. I would be happy to answer any and all questions about the topic. I hope you now see just how we've deviated from the simple system that the first Digimon series set up. It's time to change the old rules and update the system.