Guilmon

Guilmon (ギルモン)
Voiced by	Masako Nozawa (Japanese) Steven Blum (English)
Partner(s)	Takato Matsuki

Guilmon is a fictional character from the Digimon franchise. Guilmon is featured in Digimon Tamers (and the related movies Battle of Adventurers and Runaway Locomon) and is Takato Matsuki's partner.

Conception and creation

Guilmon was created by Chiaki J. Konaka. As a child, Konaka had enjoyed the television series Ultraman and films involving kaiju creatures. He and his brother Kazuya had dreamt of making a science fiction-oriented kaiju film aimed at children.

“

A young kaijyu meets a young boy. The kaijyu follows him to school, causing all kinds of panic...[1]

”

This scenario went on to provide the basis for the Digimon Tamers canon "without even intending to do so." While the Japanese term kaiju traditionally refers to "behemoths" with a destructive connotation, Konaka recognizes them as a "mysterious fantastic presence." He thus designed Guilmon as "[c]arrying great power within him, while still having some innocent cuteness on the surface." Upon viewing the initial design sketches, he assumed that the character would be roughly the same size as Agumon. However, when he realized that Guilmon would be about the size of a human adult, he realized that "[h]e was nowhere near small enough for a child to hide in his room." Konaka then realized that he could tailor the plot of Digimon Tamers to incorporate this problem.^[1]

Appearance

Guilmon appears to be relatively small, but when standing erect, he is roughly 4 feet tall. Guilmon is a red muscular dragon-like Reptile Digimon who carries the black Digital hazard^[2] symbol on his chest and has wing-like ears. Unlike most other Digimon, when Guilmon Digivolves to champion or ultimate, he retains much of his "rookie level's" personality.

Description

Guilmon is a virus-type Digimon, though his attitude most of the time could lead to thinking that he was a data or even a vaccine-type. His body is adorned with various signs of the net-hazard symbol, as Guilmon is believed to be able to corrupt a large amount of data. His virus typing could possibly explain his first mega form, Megidramon (which Kazu Shioda mentioned). Guilmon's fighting style shows his virus nature, as he fights with much more zeal than Agumon or other digimon protagonists. Guilmon has a very keen sense of smell and possess somewhat of a sixth sense to detect other digimon if around (though the concept of this ability may apply to all digimon, as most in the series could sense the presence of other digimon, if they were around).

Guilmon is a curious and naive, unlike regular Guilmon's who are mostly vicious, the youngest of the partner Digimon, with a passionate love for bread. He was created from Takato's imagination and brought to life by the Digignomes (mentioned later).^[3] At first, Guilmon had not been aware of the differences between humans and Digimon, calling his partner Tamer "Takatomon."

Guilmon is normally depicted as playful and friendly, proving to be quite popular with Takato's classmates for being a real live Digimon. Despite his childlike nature, Guilmon is shown to have wisdom. For example, when Takato didn't want Guilmon to digivolve, in fear that Guilmon would no longer be the same, Guilmon pointed out that Takato has changed over time as well, but he is still the same person.

Guilmon had one of the deepest relationships with his tamer out of the whole series, the two did many things together and conquered many hurdles. Guilmon is very loyal and protective of Takato and would do anything for him. When Guilmon digivolved to Megidramon, it was through their friendship that Takato managed to come back to his senses which allowed him to rescue Guilmon and bring him back, later allowing them to biomerge to Gallantmon to fight Beezlemon.

Guilmon gets along very well with Terriermon and Calumon. His first meeting with Renamon was as enemies, but Guilmon does later acknowledge Renamon's knowledge in combat situations. At first, Guilmon would either ignore or try to play with Impmon.

Unlike previous seasons, Guilmon is not the first Digimon to digivolve into Champion level even though he belongs to the lead character; Terriermon and Renamon digivolved before him. He does digivolve first in both Ultimate and Mega levels however.

Other forms

The name "Guilmon" refers to only the rookie form of this digimon. Throughout the series, Guilmon gains the ability to Digivolve into a number of more powerful forms (each with a different name). The rookie form, however, is his most common and preferred form.

Gigimon Gigimon is Guilmon's In-Training form. The name "Gigimon" comes from the Japanese word "gigi", meaning doubt. Gigimon appeared when Guilmon Degenerated to Gigimon after the D-Reaper was defeated and was forced to return to the Digital World.

Growlmon Growlmon is the Digivolved form of Guilmon. He is an extremly powerful champion and one of the strongest among the champion level digimon. Using his dragon blades on his arms he can cut through almost anything. Guilmon first Digivolved to Growlmon during his fight against Devidramon. In this new form, Growlmon fought a fierce battle against the dark dragon and ultimately destroyed him. As he is in this form, he is also able to retain the personaility as Guilmon. At the beginning of episode 9, Growlmon begins to cry as Takato stands before him afraid he will be eaten. But in the end, Takato realizes that he is the same lovable digimon if not a bit bigger. However, Growlmon's natural nature would be of a virus-type digimon, Guilmon however was trained and concealed his true nature of a fierce, mean digimon.

WarGrowlmon WarGrowlmon is Guilmon's Ultimate form. He is an extremly powerful Ultimate in which his appearance echos MetalGreymon's from Digimon Adventure, and his name is shared with WarGreymon. WarGrowlmon first appeared when Mihiramon of the Devas appeared. Since Mihiramon was so much stronger than other Digimon, Takato had to use a Blue Card. Swiping this card allowed Growlmon to Digivolve into WarGrowlmon, who was then able to defeat Mihiramon. Growlmon later digivolved again to defeat the Devas Indramon and Vikaralamon in the real world and to fight both Beelzemon and Zhuqiaomon in the Digital World. WarGrowlmon also fought against the D-Reaper when the tamers returned from the digital world, due to their temporary inability to bio-merge.

Megidramon Megidramon is Guilmon's natural Mega whose name comes from the word "Megiddo", the place where Christians believe the final battle between good and evil will take place; and "dramon", meaning "dragon monster". Megidramon is a muscular dragon, with a vicious appearance and amazing strength. Guilmon digivolved to his legendary mega after the death of Leomon by Beelzemon which caused Takato to become enraged with blood lust. He later became horrified by Guilmon's transformation (which also destroyed his D-Arc). In this form the full destructive power of the Digital Hazard is released, which begins to shake apart the Digital World (in other words, he could destroy the digital world merely by existing). This plus Megidramon's vicious fury makes him at the top of the list of digimon. When fighting Beelzemon, Megidramon overwhelms Beelzemon and attempts to devour him. However, Beelzemon gets lucky and absorbs lingering Makuramon's data which gives him a lot more power and allows him to beat Megidramon unconscious (which saves the digital world).

Gallantmon Gallantmon redirects here. This section refers to the Gallantmon featured in Digimon Tamers. A Gallantmon is also a member of the Royal Knights Gallantmon is the Mega form of Guilmon. To digivolve into Gallantmon he had to biomerge with Takato. He has amazing arm strength which surpasses Wargreymon and allows him to hit with amazing power and is able to hold his shield high to protect himself and others around him. Gallantmon was the first Mega Digimon to appear on the tamer's side. He is armed with the holy lance Gram and the spartan shield Aegis. Gallantmon appeared after the fight between Megidramon and Beelzemon. Gallantmon defeated Beelzemon, but was stopped by Jeri from killing him. Gallantmon's power was later proven to be a major asset in the battle against the D-Reaper. Gallantmon played a key role in confronting the D-Reaper and in obtaining the ARMS "Grani" as his mode of transportation. This section refers to the Gallantmon featured in Digimon Data Squad A Gallantmon is one of the Royal Knights in Digimon Data Squad. He along with the others were commanded by King Drasil to destroy the Real World. ShineGreymon, MirageGaogamon, Ravemon and Rosemon tried to stop Gallantmon, but were easily overpowered by his strength and were nearly destroyed. Gallantmon later realised King Drasil was wrong and helped Marcus and the others fight King Drasil by holding up the Digital World from falling on the Real World. In the original Japanese, Gallantmon possessed a speech pattern remniscent of a humble knight serving under a lord, always referring to himself as "I, Dukemon,...". This isn't present in the dub but applies to all Japanese incarnations of Gallantmon.

Gallantmon Crimson Mode Gallantmon Crimson Mode is the mode-changed form of Gallantmon. Gallantmon Crimson Mode appeared towards the end of Digimon Tamers. After Gallantmon had found himself overwhelmed in his battle against the D-Reaper, Grani, in a final act, gave the last of his power to Gallantmon triggering a mode change. In this form, Gallantmon's armor is coated with a crimson metallic coloration and his cape is replaced by angelic wings. As his arsenal, Gallantmon Crimson Mode is armed with the holy sword Blutgang and the celestial spear Gungnir. With this newfound power, Gallantmon Crimson Mode was able to defeat the D-Reaper's Agent-01. Gallantmon Crimson Mode is one of the most powerful Digimon seen in the Digimon Seasons. Gallantmon assumes this form again during the fight against the Parasimon in which he uses his Crimson Light attack to destroy all of the Parasimon in one shot.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Konaka, Chiaki J.. "Guilmon". http://www.konaka.com/alice6/tamers/characters/guilmon-e.html. Retrieved July 8, 2010. 
2. ^ http://digimon.net/cat-digimon-dictionary/02-ka/guilmon/index.html
3. ^ "Guilmon Comes Alive". Digimon Tamers. Fox Kids. 09-01-2001.