Jeri Katou

Jeri Katou (加藤) is a fictional character from the Digimon Tamers series.

Appearance
Jeri is a preteen girl with brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair which is worn with a ponytail on the left side and a green hairclip. She wears a yellow shirt under a green dress, yellow socks, and white and cerulean sneakers. She usually carries a yellow dog sock puppet with a red mouth, pink ears, black nose, and dark brown eyes.

Description
Usually shown with her sock puppet early on in the series, Jeri is a cheerful and sweet person who is always there to encourage her friends, though later in the series she descends into despair after the death of her Digimon partner. It is made clear that Takato Matsuki has a crush on her, and the feeling is mutual.

Jeri's family owns a small tavern in Shibuya, where she works sometimes waitressing and even helping her father to handle drunk customers, as she says when she's kidnapped by Orochimon in the Digital World. Her father is a good-hearted but very severe person who didn't know how to handle raising Jeri after his wife's death and became distant towards her as a result; at first he's seen as strict and cold, but that facade breaks when he tries to rescue Jeri on his own after she's kidnapped by the D-Reaper. Jeri's step-mother, Shizue, is very kind to her, and she seems to have a very loving relationship with her younger half-brother Masahiko.

Etymologies
Name used in Japanese materials. Officially romanized in Digimon Tamers: Official Encyclopedia IV. Jeri Katou
 * Juri Katou (加藤 樹莉)
 * Ja: Katou (加藤). A common Japanese surname using the characters for "add/include" and "wisteria".
 * Ja: Juri (樹莉). A feminine Japanese name meaning "cultivated white jasmine".

Name used in the English dub of Digimon Tamers.
 * Jeri. Derived from Juri.

Story
At first, Jeri is not very important to the series. She just plays as a school girl Takato has a crush on and won't become a Digimon Tamer until later on. It might be said that she is a sort of perfect child, because of her cheerful and happy personality. However, there was a scene when she had claimed she was not interested in Digimon, but had cards dropping out of her pocket when she fell. She was known for her dog-shaped sock puppet, which she uses to strike-up conversations.

Where Kazu Shioda and Kenta Kitagawa ran away when the existence of was proven, Jeri was quick to befriend the strange Digimon, becoming the first non-Tamer to do so.

Jeri is into the Digimon Card Game and has some very rare cards in her possession. Takato's friend Rika Nonaka gave her some pointers on what cards to use, beginning a friendship between the two. Jeri seeks to become a Tamer, and chases after when he first appears. She eventually becomes Leomon's Partner before she and the other Tamers, as well as Kazu and Kenta, headed out into the in search of.

Jeri proves herself to be a very capable Tamer with potential for greatness, even using the rare and powerful LadyDevimon card on Leomon to destroy the evil Digimon who had kidnapped her, but unfortunately her career is cut short when  destroys Leomon and uploads his data.

Following this Jeri becomes withdrawn, believing that her destiny is to be alone. Some time during their return to the real world, Jeri's cheerful facade is ripped away and through flashbacks and a brief explanation she delivered to Takato, her less-than-cheerful past is revealed. Her biological mother had died a while ago and when Jeri met her stepmother, she didn't give her a chance, as she was still very deeply traumatized by her mother's death. Following this Jeri began to think she was a bad person because while deep down she knew her stepmother was a nice woman, she still felt unable to accept her and couldn't empathize with her. She also thinks over and over about the words that her father said after her mother's death, which Leomon repeated before dying: "it's all because of Destiny."

Jeri showed no sign of caring about what was going on around her and she kept on looking into her now dead Digivice. The only real reaction came when Takato and Guilmon, now fused into Gallantmon, were about to kill Beelzemon after defeating him; she yelled at them to spare him, and when Beelzemon asked her why, she tearfully said she didn't want anyone else to die because of her. She later showed more emotion when Rika returned after becoming, where she said she was afraid she had lost another friend. When she disappeared for a moment and then came back, her eyes were different, as if something possessed her, and she had an evil smile, even after the kids were back in Tokyo.

Later, it was revealed that "Jeri" was the D-Reaper's first Agent, who assumed Jeri's form to learn all she could about the Tamers. The real Jeri had been taken away and placed in a space within the D-Reaper. The Agent 1 said that Jeri was the perfect being for the D-Reaper as it used her sadness to strengthen itself. During this time, Calumon somehow sensed her presence and made an attempt to rescue her along with Impmon, who after wallowing in guilt for what he did to Jeri became determined to save her. Impmon Warp Digivolved to Beelzemon Blast Mode to defeat a bunch of Bubbles Agents and managed to open a hole big enough in the Kernel Sphere (the place she was trapped in) for Calumon to enter but was captured himself. He was eventually released and thanks to Gallantmon and Grani who managed to defeat the Agent guarding the Sphere, tried desperately to break Jeri free from her prison. He finally broke through when somehow he was able to tap into Leomon's data and use his Fist of the Beast King. Unfortunately this had an adverse effect, as it was a harsh reminder to Jeri that Leomon was dead and that the perpetrator who caused that was right in front of her. Terrified, she backed away from her would be savior. In the urgency of the situation and encouragement from Takato, Jeri did eventually accept Beelzemon's good intentions, but alas by then it was too late; the Sphere closed up again, trapping her along with Calumon once more.

Meanwhile, Jeri's puppet was being controlled by the D-reaper and it was trying to convince Jeri that humans don't deserve to live. D-Reaper was able to feed off her negative emotions, but gradually, thanks to Calumon she decided to speak up and reject the idea of real death. She spoke what Leomon had spoke (while he was destined to die, she still had a lot to live for, and so did the others) and was rescued by Takato after the D-Reaper was defeated. During the battle Gallantmon and then Gallantmon Crimson Mode attempted to reach the Kernel Sphere and rescue her. Gallantmon Crimson Mode defeated and destroyed many Agents in his attempt to rescue her including the immensely powerful Jeri Type Agent. During this time Jeri managed to break the Kernel Sphere with her D-Ark but it began to become flooded with Chaos Mass. Calumon somehow protected them with a force field and got them out of the Kernel Sphere. Gallantmon Crimson Mode reached the Sphere but she wasn't there but nearby but before he could reach her he De-Biomerged back into Takato and Guilmon. Takato finally rescued her by having Guilmon fling him to her with his tail.

By the end of the series, Jeri snaps out her depression thanks to Takato and Calumon, and realizes that humans can make their own destiny and that she was never meant to be alone. She also allows herself to forgive Impmon, much to his relief.

During the D-Reaper Saga; Calumon seemed to become a sort of second partner to her coming to her rescue with Beelzemon, cheering her up and protecting her somehow with a force field during the final battle before Takato managed to rescue her. Also when everyone said their goodbyes to their partners at the end, Calumon was the one she said goodbye to, thanking him for helping her out.

In the drama CD "Message in a Packet", which takes place roughly a year after the finale, she had messages for both Impmon and Calumon.

For Rika's birthday, Jeri and Calumon helped Seiko decorate for the party. When pressed, Takato claimed the party was her idea.

Music
Jeri has two Japanese image songs, "Sayonara dake ga Shitteta" ("Only Goodbye Knew") and "Itsuka no Iro" ("The Color of Someday"), sung by Yoko Asada. She has an additional image song, a duet sung by Asada with Hiroaki Hirata as, called "Owaranai Monogatari" ("Neverending Story"). Asada also participates in the female Tamers and their Digimon's rendition of "My Tomorrow" in the Digimon Music 100 Title Memorial Box.

Cards
Jeri has some very rare cards in her possession although she doesn't know how to play the game. She Grants LadyDevimon's "Darkness Wave" (Poison) technique to use against.

Digimon Masters
Jeri was introduced as a usable Tamer on January 26, 2021.

Notes and References
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