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), Michael Reisz in the English-speaking localizations and Paulo Vignolo in Brazil. Matt is the bearer of the Crest of Friendship.

Prelude to Digimon Adventure
He witnessed the Greymon/Parrotmon fight, and that's how he became a Digidestined.

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 the best friend of the group leader Tai Kamiya, but he was also his rival, which led to a large internal conflict throughout the show which 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 "Hey Mom" to her. This encounter revealed lingering resentments in him that continue even after he returns to the Digital World. In the novelization, it is not because he resents his mother, but because he refuses to betray his father.

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.

Digimon Adventure Original Story Ninenhan no Kyuuka
On the Original Story Music and CD Drama, track 7 "Bass wo Hiki Nagara", set in March 2002, looks at Yamato theme as well as a short story of the creation of Yamato's band. Yamato had a conversation with his father, only to find out he was part of a band in his youth (he didn't sing, though - he only played bass). While Yamato tried to learn more about musical genres, he started playing his father's bass guitar, and they talked about the movie "I Was a Teenage Werewolf", and he reminded his father about Gabumon's evolutions (Garurumon looks like a wolf, and WereGarurumon is the one who looks like a werewolf).

He informed his father that his mother was writing a report about what took place in 1999, although she wouldn't mention the Chosen Children.

Later, Yamato recalled that when his parents separated and couldn't decide who would stay with whom, it was he who choose to go with his father, so that his little brother could stay with his mother. He thought about the way he always liked to make his own decisions, even though that could keep him from making friends. In the end, he concluded that, thanks to Gabumon, he had realized that he wasn't right and that he wasn't alone anymore.

Digimon Adventure 02
After the end of the first season, Matt became the vocalist and bass player for a rock band called the Teenage Wolves. He was very popular and girls were always running up to him wanting his autograph, much to his dismay. One of his biggest fans was the older sister of Davis, Jun Motomiya, who constantly pursued him in the storyline. One time, when Matt was going to tell the Motomiyas that Davis was going to be gone for a little while, Jun said that she knew that he was lying and blackmailed him into going on a date. She also wanted to go camping with him, but he told her to close her eyes and left her behind; she later tracked him down at the campground itself.

His friendship with Tai changed considerably: while there was still a note of rivalry, it was a rivalry based on friendship, with love and mutual respect for each other. At one point when Tai felt he had let Agumon down, Matt punched him in the face to try and get him to snap out of it. Unlike in the previous season; Tai said, "I needed that."

In another episode Matt is spying on the children that have the Dark Spores with the new digidestined and Izzy. Izzy asks Matt if he is comfortable that Sora is spying on another child with Tai and Agumon. Matt answers that he trusts Sora and he explains that Tai is his best friend and already knows his feelings for Sora, so he trust him as well.

Hurricane Touchdown/Supreme Evolution! The Golden Digimentals
He regressed in age thanks to Wendigomon.

Michi e no Armor Shinka
During a plan to distract Boltmon via tap-dancing, Matt confessed that he had romantic feelings for Sora.

Revenge of Diaboromon
Matt and Tai defeat Diaboromon/Armageddemon, with Gabumon and Agumon digivolving together to form Omnimon. He was still good friends with Tai and the rest of the DigiDestined. There was a picture of Matt and Sora on a shopping date. Matt and Tai first travel onto the internet to try to defeat Diaboromon, but the battle moves to earth when the Kuramons escape into the real world. Later, he, Tai, and Sora lift up their Digivices to help give power to Imperialdramon so that he can defeat Armageddemon.

Digimon 02: Epilogue


By the year 2027, Matt has become an astronaut, and he and Gabumon became the first human and Digimon to land on Mars though they were really supposed to land on the Moon. He has married Sora, and the two are parents of a daughter with a Yokomon and a son with a Tsunomon.

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.
 * As seen in episode 41 of Digimon 02, Matt has a French grandfather, Michel, presumably on his mother's side based on appearances. The ethnicity of his grandmother living in France is not known, but judging by his mother's name, Natsuko Takaishi, she could be full or part Japanese. In any case, Matt is at the most half or 1/4 French.
 * Matt has two Japanese image songs, "Walk on the Edge" and "Negai Kanaeru Kagi" ("The Key to Granting Wishes") as well as a third one sung with Gabumon (Yamaguchi Mayumi) called "Oretachi no Melody" ("Our Melody").
 * In addition, a single has been released in Japan, (4/4/2001), of the song "Tobira" ("Door"), which Matt's band sung in a concert in one episode (It was dubbed as "I Turn Around" and was recorded by Michael Reisz), as well as another called "Hitoribocchi no Seesaw" ("Lone Seesaw") as a B-track.
 * Matt's English voice actor also did the English voice of Takuya in Digimon Frontier.