Digimon Sovereigns

The Digimon Sovereigns are a group of fictional characters that appear in the Digimon media franchise. They are derived from the Japanese myth of the Four Gods of Kyoto, itself derived from the Chinese myth of the Four Symbols, and like the Gods they represent and rule over the four cardinal points of the compass — Azulongmon to the east, Zhuqiaomon to the south, Baihumon to the west, and Ebonwumon to the north. There is also a fifth member, Fanglongmon, who represents the center of the compass and rules over the others.

In Japan, the group is known as the Four Holy Beasts (『四聖獣』). They are also known as the Four Harmonious Ones in the Digimon Adventure mythos.

Name Origins
The constellations of the Four Symbols are:
 * Azure Dragon of the East (『青龍』), who represents the element of wood and season of Spring. In Japanese, its name is read as 『せいりゅう』 ("Seiryū").
 * Vermillion Bird of the South (『朱雀』), who represents the element of fire and season of Summer. In Japanese, its name is read as 『すざく』 ("Suzaku").
 * White Tiger of the West (『白虎』), who represents the element of metal and season of Autumn. In Japanese, its name is read as 『びゃっこ』 ("Byakko").
 * Black Tortoise of the North (『玄武』), who represents the element of water and season of Winter. In Japanese, its name is read as 『げんぶ』 ("Genbu").
 * Yellow Dragon of the Center (『黄龍』), who represents the element of earth and changing of the seasons. It is based on the Yellow Emperor, Huang Di, and so is not present in Japanese mythology.

While the Chinese names were used for the Digimon themselves, their Japanese names were used in Digimon World 3 for the four cities at the cardinal points of the map. Furthermore, the elements of Azulongmon and Ebonwumon were changed from wood and water to lightning and wood.

Digimon Adventure 02
The Harmonious Ones are the guardians of the four compass points of the Digital World. Azulongmon is the guardian of the Eastern region, where the Japanese DigiDestined's adventures take place (corresponding to the Real World location of the human partners).

In this series, all four Harmonious Ones were defeated and sealed away by the Dark Masters. It was then that seven of the eight DigiDestined came to the Digital World. Once all of the eight had returned to their own world to fight Myotismon, the Dark Masters dismantled and shaped the Digital World to fit their own needs, forming Spiral Mountain. The eight children and their Digimon returned to the Digital World and were able to defeat the Dark Masters. However, the Harmonious Ones were still trapped beneath the seal. In order to break the seal, they needed to take away the power from the DigiDestined’s Crests (It was the Crest of Light and Hope respectively that broke Azulongmon's seal, Courage and Friendship unsealed one of the four seals, Sincerity and Love released another seal, and finally Knowledge and Reliability broke the last seal - it was suggested that two Crest were needed to break a seal). Unfortunately, it meant that the eight children's Digimon could no longer Digivolve to their Ultimate levels. However, after the Crests' powers were unleashed, they were imprisoned once again thanks to the influence of the Control Spires. When Ken Ichijouji brought his Dark D-3 into the Digital World, the Harmonious Ones were only able to find new Digimon who had the ancient power to Armor Digivolve, thus bypassing the evil powers of the Control Spires that prevented Digimon from regular digivolving. An unseen force then created the D-3 Digivices for the new DigiDestined and selected various Digimon who had the power to Armor Digivolve and sealed them underneath the Digi-Eggs. However, the Digimon (Gatomon and Patamon) belonging to the DigiDestined with the Crest of Light (Kari Kamiya) and Hope (T. K. Takaishi) were also capable of Armor digivolving. Also the Crest of Kindness was hidden from Ken by the powers of darkness, so it was necessary for the Harmonious Ones to rebuild it into the Digi-egg of Miracles.

Later, Azulongmon would drive BlackWarGreymon to destroy the Destiny Stones (Holy Stones), which kept the balance of the Digital World intact, by accident. This is because after a stone was destroyed, it would cause Azulongmon to appear briefly in pain. After BlackWarGreymon saw Azulongmon appear, he decided that he was a worthy opponent and that he would continue to destroy the stones in search of him. Ultimately, Azulongmon would be freed when the DigiDestined of 02 used their D-3's to move the final Destiny Stone, causing him to appear. After Azulongmon dispatched BlackWarGreymon, he passed on his knowledge of the past to the DigiDestined, planted his Seeds of Light (seeds that will sprout and take on the same purpose as the Destiny Stones) in place of the destroyed Destiny Stones, and left.

Later, Azulongmon gave the DigiDestined one of this twelve DigiCores, which he did through Gennai. The power of the DigiCore temporarily allowed the original DigiDestined's Digimon to Digivolve into Ultimate again, and for Paildramon to Mega Digivolve into Imperialdramon. Azulongmon would later give Tai and Agumon more power, allowing Agumon to become WarGreymon once again so that he could fend off BlackWarGreymon.

Another DigiCore was used in New York, America, letting Palmon digivolve to Lilymon. It also gave Veemon and Betamon energy to digivolve into ExVeemon and Seadramon respectively. If this was the same DigiCore, or a different one is unknown.

It was also suggested that BlackWarGreymon got to the human world inadvertently because of Azulongmon. Agumon explained (During the episode Duel of the WarGreymon, also known in Japanese as BlackWarGreymon vs WarGreymon) that when Azulongmon gave the Digidestined the power to fight in the real world (by use of the DigiCore) that the Digital Worlds defenses were weakened, meaning that not much was able to stand in the way of BlackWarGreymon. There was also a portal leading to Mt.Fuji in the digital world, to which BlackWarGreymon used to confront Oikawa. Due to the Digital World defenses being weak, it could be suggested that BlackWarGreymon was powerful enough to open the gate to find Oikawa, or that the gate may have opened itself because the Digital World was weak as it is, and BlackWarGreymon happened to find it and went through it. If Azulongmon had not donated his DigiCore, perhaps BlackWarGreymon would've never made it to the human world, but it was necessary, this led to BlackWarGreymon's coming to the Human World. It seemed that the Digital World's defenses was connected to the Harmonious Ones collective power, and donating the power or sealing it effectively weakens the Digital World.

Digimon Adventure 02: D-1 Tamers
In this game, which serves as a prelude to Adventure 02, the four Harmonious Ones draw Ryo Akiyama into the Digital World, and organize a tournament under false pretenses, so that Ryo may grow in power so that he will be strong enough to defeat Millenniummon. This was most likely done in the time between their release by the powers of the Crests, and their resealment by the Control Spires.

Digimon Tamers
The four Sovereigns played an important role in Digimon Tamers. In this series, the most prominent of the four is Zhuqiaomon, but unlike Digimon Adventure 02 (season 2), all four Sovereigns make an appearance.

The Digimon Sovereigns live on the 6th, highest plain of the Digital World, along with the Catalyst, or Shining Digivolution. They were some of the first Digimon to reach their highest form, and in an attempt to distance themselves from humans, they ironically took the appearance of the humans' gods.

When the D-Reaper began to re-emerge, the four Sovereigns could not agree on a strategy. Zhuqiaomon believed that they should use the Shining Digivolution to allow Digimon to digivolve and fight back, while Azulongmon believed that it was the Digimon's ability to grow in strength that had brought the D-Reaper out in the first place. He had the DigiGnomes transform the Shining Digivolution into Calumon.

With the loss of the power to Digivolve, Zhuqiaomon, thinking that the Digimon could instead grow stronger by defeating humanity, sent his Devas into the Real World. Soon, his servant, Makuramon, discovered Calumon and attempted to return him Zhuqiaomon, causing the Tamers to follow him in an attempt to rescue their friend. Makuramon, however, lost Calumon and the Tamers found him, and Chatsuramon recaptured him.

After being separated, and a long, difficult trek across the Digital World, The Tamers arrived at Zhuqiaomon's domain. As they battled him, Azulongmon made his appearance. Meanwhile, Ryo Akiyama encountered Ebonwumon and Baihumon in the latter's domain, and soon, they all gathered in Zhuqiaomon's area, just as the D-Reaper was beginning to make its appearance. Here, a compromise was made, and the Sovereigns implored Calumon to release the power so that Digimon could digivolve and fight back. Thus, it was Zhuqiaomon's plan that prevailed in the end, even though that does not excuse his methods in attacking the Tamers.

The Sovereigns would lead their new army of Mega Digimon (made up of MetalSeadramon, Machinedramon, three Diaboromon, a Digimon that might be Pukumon, Gryphonmon, Hououmon, Boltmon, Plesiomon, GranKuwagamon, Jijimon, and Babamon) to fight the D-Reaper in the Digital World. Later, they would travel to the Real World, and help the Tamers by removing the Cable Reaper from the battle.

Digimon World DS
The four Digimon Sovereigns challenge the player for the first four Tamer ranks (Normal, Bronze, Silver, and Gold).

Trivia
While all four Harmonious Ones appear in Digimon Adventure 02: D-1 Tamers, and even talk to Gennai and the Adventure Digidestined, only Azulongmon appears in Adventure 02, and one of the Audo CD Dramas has Gennai claiming that he only knew of Azulongmon.

All of the sovereigns have twelve Digi-Cores and, except Fanglongmon, four eyes. Fanglongmon has eight eyes.

Qinglongmon and Xuanwumon's names were changed in the dub to Azulongmon and Ebonwumon, which essentially mean the same thing ("Azul" is Spanish for blue, and "Ebon" is English for black).