Yamato "Matt" Ishida

Yamato "Matt" Ishida (石田 ヤマト) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02.

Matt, one of the original DigiDestined, starts out as a secretive loner whose Digimon partner is Gabumon. His younger brother, T.K. Takaishi, is also one of the eight DigiDestined. He is very protective of T.K., and often acts harshly when he (T.K.) is in trouble. In the English language dub, the two were said to be half-brothers at the beginning of the series in the episode Garurumon, but that was a dialogue mistake, as it was proven during the Myotismon saga that T.K.'s mother is also Matt's mother, and his father was Matt's father. Matt was voiced by Yuuto Kazama (Japan) and Michael Reisz (US). Matt is the bearer of the Crest of Friendship.

Prelude to Digimon Adventure
He witnessed the Greymon/Parrotmon fight.

Matt's parents divorced before the events of Digimon Adventure. His father took him while his mother took his brother, T.K. He and his father moved to Odaiba, where his father works as a consultant at the Fuji TV Network, Inc. building.

Digimon Adventure
Matt served an odd role during the first season. He was one of the best friends of the group leader Tai, but he was also his rival, which led to a large internal conflict throughout the show and climaxed at the end of the season. It was mainly over whether or not Tai was a better older brother to T.K. than he was, and whether he was a better person than Matt. Matt was much more protective and concerned about the group as a whole, causing more conflict compared to Tai's head-first strategy.

He is the holder of the Crest of Friendship (友情の紋章 yūjō no monshō), which activated when Joe risked his life to save T.K. from a Vegiemon and was then being strangled by it. Matt remembered how he had berated Joe earlier for constantly making mistakes and keeping them both stuck working in a diner to pay off the bill for Joe's meal, especially his accusation that Joe was making these mistakes on purpose. Realizing that, he also realized that he could not win his battles alone (a revelation that was finalized in his mind much later in the series) and needed the help of everyone, including Joe.

When the DigiDestined traveled back into the Real World, he had one encounter with his mother, which did not go well. Although T.K. was ecstatic to have his whole family together (if only for a minute), Matt refused to say much more than "Hi Mom" to her. This encounter revealed lingering resentments in him that continue even after he returns to the Digital World.

Upon returning to the Digital World, he became angry when he thought T.K. no longer needed him and decided to leave the group for a while. He was persuaded by Cherrymon that Tai was his enemy, which culminated into a major fight between them. He returned briefly to save the group from Puppetmon before disappearing again. Towards the end of the series, he fell into a pit of darkness and was forced to realize that his parents' divorce broke his heart and made him resort to solitude. He refused to let anyone see him cry, which caused him to push away from potential friends. Gabumon helped him to understand that everything would be alright and that he was valuable. Matt then rejoined the party just in time for the final battle.

In May 2000, Matt arrived in the Digital World and gave up his Crest power to free the Digimon Sovereigns. As a result, Gabumon lost the power to become WereGarurumon and MetalGarurumon.

Our War Game!
When Diaboromon began his rampage over the Internet, Matt was at his grandmother's place. He and T.K. rushed to town and enter a barbershop, the only place that had a computer, and connected to the Internet. With Tai and Agumon and help from Izzy, they both battled Diaboromon. T.K. was by his side, as was Gabumon, in the form of MetalGarurumon. He and Tai entered the Internet unintentionally and with the help of all of the kids over the net, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon were able to DNA Digivolve into Omnimon. Omnimon was able to defeat Diaboromon and Matt and Tai returned back home.

Possible Couples!

 * Matt & Rika

Trivia

 * Matt and T.K.'s given names, Yamato and Takeru, are a reference to Yamato Takeru, a figure in Japanese legend.
 * Matt's father seems to be the only one of the parents who is fully aware of his sons' activities in the Digital World throughout seasons one and two; in several places, he actually helps to cover for them.