While playing Pokemon Scarlet I couldn't help but notice how boring some of the new Pokemon designs are this generation. Yes, I know every generation someone goes off about the new Pokemon designs and how nothing will be better than Red and Blue, maybe Gold and Sliver, back when Pokemon was brand new. Anyway while I mused on this while battling my one millionth flamingo Pokemon, I remembered the Digimon designs and how wild they got throughout the course of their lifetime. Though a lot of them are either pallet swaps or various themes on t-rex, I want to highlight some of what I feel are the most interesting Digimon designs.
*Note: Different sites have different translations for these names so bare with me if you see a name that you're not familiar with associated with a particular Digimon*
Metalgarurumon
I'm not going to go into the Digimon story, since it's.... complicated to put it nicely. Convoluted nonsense that varies from media to media to put it bluntly. Either way fans of the first series will recognize the amazing cyborg wolf as one of the first Ultimate level Digimon in the series. Metalgarurumon is a good puppers built for war, not combat, straight up war. The design is reminiscent of some of the old Beast Wars: Transformers action figures that while never looked practical as a disguise looked amazing as a toy. This is one of the Digimon that when they come on screen you know things just got real.
Arachnemon
What I love about Digimon design is that they can go from extremely cute to extremely terrifying. Arachnemon fits into the latter category (Although I'm the sicko who blurs creepy and cute together in his mind). Looking like an anime Drider from Dungeons and Dragons this thing is a boss monster you don't want to encounter in a dungeon. The red is a great choice since most spider monsters tend to flow into the grey/brown/black pallet, but the red makes the horror of this thing pop.
Toy Agumon
I couldn't avoid the t-rex Digimon forever so let's kind of delay it with the one made out of Legos. This is a fun design as an alternative to Agumon. Unlike Pokemon, Digimon doesn't even have to try to pretend that their monsters exist in some sort of functioning food chain, they can literally be anything and this guy decided to be a Lego model. The different colors make it look like it was built out of spare Legos instead of a dedicated set, giving nostalgia to anyone who used to build stuff out of their Legos and didn't care about matching the colors.
Galgomon
Galgomon is a perfect combination between cute and cool. The thing is a bunny rabbit in jeans with machine guns for hands! Admittedly nobody knows how Galgomon does anything that requires hands while he has his machine guns, but that's for people who think logic needs to apply to anything in this franchise.
Garudamon
Belonging to the Digimon subspecies of "Ripped guy with abs and animal features", Garudamon is the coolest looking fighter in this category. They give off heavy First Nation vibes without turning accidentally racist, and looks like anyone that goes up against it will either lose or if they win will not come out of the fight well.
Machinedramon
As is well documented I have a soft spot in my little black heart for villains, and Machieramon couldn't be anymore villain if you had him stroking a cat and saying sinister thing about Inspector Gadget. In any of the games he's one of the Digimon I always try to get on my team, since nobody wants to mess with the guy with the Mechagodzilla as a pet.
Patamon
Since the first previews of the show came out Patamon has been my favorite. He's just a little tan pig with ear wings. How can I not love him? He should've been the mascot for Digimon instead of Agumon, the generic dinosaur archetype. He proves that while all the extra nonsense they nail to Digimon can be cool, good design can always be done with a simple aesthetic.
Puppetmon
Okay so maybe back in the day I was obsessed with the whole Dark Masters storyline (and the only reason Piedmon didn't make this list is because there's around one billion evil clowns in media). Puppetmon is if Pinocchio was brought to life by Maleficent instead of the Blue Fairy. He's unpolished making him an extra creepy puppet. His gun hammer doesn't make any sense, but it's a cool looking weapon.
Saraphimon
Seraphimon is a placeholder for all the angel Digimon in the franchise, but his design is my favorite. He looks like a quindecinnial knight in shining armor, which we don't see many of without it being a twist on the concept. He's a hero in an amazing suit of armor without it being ironically dark.
Warumonzemon
Last but not least is the evil teddy bear, Warumonzemon. I want this thing to be a bigger villain somewhere, like Lotso in Toy Story 3. The design is a fun take on both stuffed bears and bad guys, looking like something out of a Dickensian nightmare. If they made a stuffed Warumonzemon you can believe I'd have one.
-JOE
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