The franchise focuses on the eponymous creatures that inhabit a "Digital World", which is a parallel universe that originated from Earth's various communication networks.

The franchise gained momentum with an early video game, Digimon World, originally released in Japan in January 1999.

[2][5][8][9] In February 1998, the DigiMon fighting game, compatible with Windows 95 and developed by Rapture Technologies, Inc., was announced.

[10] The one-shot manga C'mon Digimon, designed by Tenya Yabuno, was published in the Japanese magazine V-Jump by Shueisha in 1997.

[2] Playgrounds and subways were where the majority of users of the apparatus were concentrated; the virtual pet was banned in some Asian schools, being considered by parents and teachers as very noisy and violent.

[14] The first Digimon were created by Japanese designer Kenji Watanabe, influenced by American comics, which were beginning to gain popularity in Japan, and as such began to make his characters look stronger and "cool."

Other types of Digimon, which until the year 2000 totalled 279,[15][16] came from extensive discussions and collaborations between the Bandai company members.

While some Digimon act like wild beasts, there are many who form small societies and follow governing bodies.

For example, "Jogress" (a portmanteau of "joint progress"; "DNA Digivolution" in most English-language dubs)[24] is when two or more Digimon combine into a single being.

Though evolution can occur naturally, Digimon can progress into stronger forms more quickly, when they are partnered with a human.

[citation needed] Several Digimon featurette films were released in Japan, with some of them seasonal tie-ins for their respective television series.

In the United States, the first three series that made up Digimon: Digital Monsters first aired on Fox Kids from August 14, 1999 to June 8, 2002.

The localized series was produced by Saban Entertainment, which would be acquired by The Walt Disney Company during the show's Fox Kids run.

Reruns of the show would begin airing on the cable network ABC Family on March 4, 2002,[27] while the fourth series, Digimon Frontier, premiered on UPN's Disney's One Too block.

An English version of Digimon Data Squad, produced by Studiopolis, would premiere October 1, 2007, on Toon Disney.

[37][38] In Canada, the English versions of Digimon were broadcast on YTV, with the exception of Data Squad, which aired in Family Channel's Jetix block.

[citation needed] Digimon Frontier was originally announced to be broadcast on Jetix, but the series was later dropped.

The original stories are heavily abridged, though on rare occasions events play out differently from the anime.

When the comic switched to the Tamers series the storylines adhered to continuity more strictly; sometimes it would expand on subject matter not covered by the original Japanese anime (such as Mitsuo Yamaki's past) or the English adaptations of the television shows and movies (such as Ryo's story or the movies that remained undubbed until 2005).

In a money saving venture, the original stories were later removed from Digimon Magazine, which returned to printing translated German adaptations of Tamers episodes.

By March 2001, Bandai had sold approximately 1 million video games worldwide, including 400,000 in Japan.

[59] In February 2023, Bandai announced a web novel titled Digimon Seekers (デジモンシーカーズ, Dejimon Shīkāzu) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the franchise.

The novel will serialize on the Digimon Web website for about a year, starting on April 3, simultaneously in English, Chinese, and Japanese.

[62] In 2020 a new card game was launched to coincide with Digimon Adventure: using a new system, this was released in the West in January 2021.