Anyone who knows me and my fandoms well enough shouldn't be surprised to hear that I essentially always have one Digimon series or another in my watch queue at all times. Most recently, I've been working my way through the Digimon Adventure saga, just finished up Tri (only Last Evolution to go after this). As I've been finishing up Tri (again), I figured it would be fun to spotlight the new Digi-Destined partner/unwitting villain: Meicoomon. So let's get into some background and speculation on this cute little terror (that makes her sound like my toddler).
Flashback Time
Circa fall 1999 (only a month or two after the eight Digi-Destined defeated Apocalymon and about a year before Ken met Wormmon) a Digivice and Meicoomon (already at the champion level) appeared to Meiko in southern Japan. It was revealed by Hackmon years later that a shard of Apocalymon's data was in Meicoomon, leaving her infected.
It wasn’t long before that infection started manifesting. As Meiko’s father was a Digimon researcher, he looked into the infection. But when Meicoomon was away from Meiko things got worse. She always seemed to be able to calm down her Digimon partner, even in the midst of the infection. And it seems, from what we learn from the seemingly all-wise Homeostasis during Tri, that this was the plan: give Meicoomon a partner to keep the infection in check. If only it stayed that way...
Digimon Adventure Tri
Somewhere in the realm of 2005-2006 (depending on whether you're looking at the dub timeline or original Japanese), Meiko and her family move to Tokyo and things start going nutty. So the distortions start appearing and Meiko met the Digi-Destined. Everyone is one big happy family right? Sure... until Meicoomon mutates and kills Leomon (he couldn't catch a break until Adventure 2020).
So things started going crazy. Meicoomon ends up dark digivolving to Meicrackmon Vicious Mode in fighting the partner Digimon. But then the Digital World is rebooted leaving everyone memory-wiped (except Meicoomon). And then everyone is reunited and everything is great, right? Nope. With Meiko tortured by Dark Gennai, she dark digivolve again, finally reaching mega level Raguelmon.
In a fight against Omnimon, Alphamon, and Jesmon, she ends up fusing with Kari's Ophanimon Falldown Mode into Ordinemon, who basically ushered in the end of the worlds. Izzy manages to unlock Ordinemon's memories as Meicoomon, but they're unable to save her...
Final Digivolution and the Future
Years later when Eosmon is trapping the minds of Digi-Destined, we see Meiko and Meicoomon in his Neverland. Despite her appearance here, I suspect it's too much to hope that Meicoomon was reborn, having died in the Real World. If there were any Digi-Destined that deserved to be in that Neverland, it would be Meiko.
Analysis
Meiko and Meicoomon (and Tri in general) have been the subject of much criticism in the Digimon fandom. But Tri launched me back into Digimon (as if I needed a reason) and to me it told a compelling story. A tragedy for sure. I've heard it said that Meiko and Meicoomon's arc is too similar to Willis and Lopmon in the Digimon Movie. While they're similar, the fact that their story ends in tragedy (unlike Willis, who got Lopmon back) brings more of a mature air to the series.
I'll admit, sometime I struggled with Meicoomon. Despite being a Champion-level Digimon (known as Adult in the original Japanese), she acts like a child (which is what the Japanese version calls Rookie-level). She and Gatomon ought to have acted more mature than the Rookies, more like Leomon. Though, to be fair, there are plenty of human adults I know who act like kids. But I suppose in the end, she did the most mature thing, as she was willing to sacrifice her life because of how much she loved Meiko and the others. Childish or not, she was a true friend.
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