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While often unfairly labeled as a mere imitation of Pokémon, the Digimon franchise actually predates its Nintendo counterpart. For nearly thirty years, Digimon has thrived, continually expanding its universe through new anime series and video games. With ten distinct anime series under its belt, Digimon offers a diverse array of narratives, each introducing fresh concepts that take the franchise into exciting, uncharted territories.
The franchise now boasts a staggering roster of over 1,400 unique Digimon, making it challenging for some lesser-known creatures to capture fans’ attention. While iconic figures like Agumon, Beelzemon, and Leomon remain central to the series’ identity, many Digimon fade into obscurity, struggling to leave a lasting impact on audiences.
The process of censorship and localization is a fascinating aspect of adapting anime for different audiences. Digimon has experienced its fair share of edits, particularly in the names of certain Digimon. A notable example of this can be found in Digimon Data Squad, where a unique case of censorship led to the creation of Citramon, a character that exists solely in the English-dubbed version of the series.
Citramon Is A Dub-Original Creation Who Exists To Solve A Problem
Censorship and localization changes are such a fascinating element of anime dubs. Digimon is no stranger to this process, and it’s a franchise that’s undergone multiple edits, usually with regard to certain Digimon names. A particularly unique instance of censorship in Digimon Data Squad actually led to the creation of an original Digimon — Citramon — who only exists in Digimon Data Squad‘s English dub.
Digimon Data Squad Episode 7, “A Birthday Kristy Will Never Forget!,” involves bombs being detonated at an amusement park in the real world. This touchy subject matter prompted an ultimatum where the episode needed to have the bombing references removed, or the episode would be completely cut. Considering that the episode features important character development, the team opted to create a new Digimon to mask the original intent. BomberNanimon becomes Citramon, a Digimon who swaps the original bomb aesthetic with a fun, fruity tangerine design.
Citramon and his “fruit bombs” are obviously ridiculous and perfectly represent some of the oddest examples of anime censorship. That being said, it’s still a rather clever solution to a problem that kept the episode intact. Digimon could have brought back Citramon with a curious meta take, but it’s instead been swept under the carpet and turned into a forgettable one-off anomaly.
Yo!Yo!mon Is A Creative Champion-Level Digimon Who Never Got The Chance To Grow
Digimon is a franchise that was born out of digital V-Pets, and it’s continued to have some sort of presence in the space of physical devices that replicate the Digimon experience. The DigiWindow, for instance, is a database and companion for other Digivice iC Toys that can be used to unlock additional Digimon. The DigiWindow even unlocks exclusive Digimon if it communicates with specific Digimon software.
Digimon‘s DigiWindow device is responsible for many obscure and forgotten fringe Digimon who rarely show up elsewhere, such as SantaAgumon. Combining the DigiWindow with the Digimon Pocket Wars cell phone game has the chance of unlocking Yo!Yo!mon (also known as Yoxtu!Yoxtu!mon). This Champion-level Puppet Digimon is an anthropomorphic yo-yo whose hands are also different styles of yo-yos that are designed to deliver maximum punishment.
Little is known about Yo!Yo!mon other than the fact that this Digimon was born out of the image data of impressive yo-yo techniques. This makes Yo!Yo!mon naturally conditioned for creative combat. Out of all the DigiWindow original creations, Yo!Yo!mon has the most potential, and it’s egregious that he didn’t get a terrifying showcase in Digimon Ghost Game.
Fujitsumon Are Helpful Digimon Who Hide In Plain Sight
Digimon have a very complex existence that occasionally requires codependent relationships that draw from nature. There is no shortage of plants and animals that work in tandem with each other in order to survive, and the Digital World is no different, which leads to the obscure partnership between Octomon and Fujitsumon. Octomon is a creative Mollusk Digimon who has shown up in multiple Digimon series, with Digimon Ghost Game being the most recent, but many fans are unaware of the fact that the foreboding barnacles that cover the pot that Octomon wears on its head are actually different Digimon in their own right — Fujitsumon.
Fujitsumon’s existence is first revealed in the Digimon Pendulum 2.0: Deep Savers V-Pets. Fujitsumons are never seen without being latched onto Octomon, but they are independent creatures who form a hive-mind of sorts with each other. The Fujitsumons help protect Octomon and alert the Digimon when they sense danger, acting as a “Spidey Sense” of sorts, yet most people don’t even know that these helpful Digimon exist.
Snowballmon & Snowmanmon Are Gag Characters Left In Limbo
Fox Kids was Digimon‘s North American home during its first several seasons. There was a lot of enthusiasm surrounding Digimon, which led to some creative cross-promotions and cases of network synergy between Digimon and other Fox properties, such as Fox Kids’ “Digi-Bowl” or the Angela Anaconda short before Digimon’s first movie. To celebrate Digimon‘s successful first season, Fox Kids aired special commercials during the winter holiday season. These commercials actually create two original Digimon — Snowballmon and its digivolved form, Snowmanmon — who proceeds to instigate a snowball fight.
These two Digimon are designated as spoofs, but Fox Kids still took the effort of giving them names and putting them through the Digimon Analyzer. It’s not surprising that these Digimon never made appearances in future anime, manga, or video games, but they never even got used by Fox Kids again after their first appearances. It’s extremely easy to forget about Snowballmon and Snowmanmon or not even know they existed in the first place.
HiMachinedramon Is An Obscure Soldier In The Bagra Army
Machinedramon is a Mega-level Digimon who made waves as one of the four Dark Masters, and the original “strongest Digimon” in the video games. No one is ever going to forget about Machinedramon, but the Digimon also has some significantly more obscure forms that are easy to forget about. The most forgotten of these forms is HiMachinedramon from Digimon Xros Wars/Digimon Fusion. HiMachinedramon just makes a lone appearance in Digimon Fusion as one of the dutiful members of Lilithmon’s Bagra Army.
HiMachinedramon is created when Machinedramon absorbs the energy of an entire army of Scorpiomon. In this stronger state, HiMachinedramon has Cosmic Cannons that help him hold his own against Shoutmon X4K before he’s ultimately defeated. There’s plenty of potential in HiMachinedramon, but the Digimon’s singular appearance has turned the powerful player into a deeply obscure individual.
This Digimon hasn’t even shown up in video games or the Trading Card Game. It’s likely that Machinedramon will return in some capacity in future Digimon series, but fans shouldn’t hold their breath for a HiMachinedramon redemption arc.