Digimon Sovereigns

The Digimon Sovereigns are a group of fictional characters that appear in the anime series, Digimon: Digital Monsters. There are four, Azulongmon (Qinglongmon), Zhuqiaomon, Baihumon, and Ebonwumon (Xuanwumon). There is another, final member, named Fanglongmon (Huanlongmon).

In Japan, the group's name is "Shiseijuu", or "Four Holy Beasts", they are also known as "The Four Harmonious Ones".

Name Origins
The Sovereigns each rule over a quarter of the Digital World. This ties into the mythological figures that they are all based on, which which are from Chinese astronomy. In Chinese, the four quadrants of the sky (east, west, north, and south) are known as Celestial Temples, and are individually called Qinglong, Zhu Que, Bai-hu, and Xuanwu. Qinglong means "Blue Dragon," Zhu Que means "Crimson Bird," Bai-hu means "White Tiger," and Xuanwu means "Black Tortoise." The beasts are known as the Ssu Ling.

The Japanese based the Four Gods of Kyoto on the Chinese Ssu Ling, deriving the names Seiryu, Suzaku, Byakko, and Genbu from them.

In the dub, Qinglongmon was changed to Azulongmon and Xuanwumon to Ebonwumon, but the names essentially mean the same as their Japanese incarnations.

Fanglongmon is based on the fifth Ssu Ling, Huang-long, which is in turn based on the Yinglong- The Yellow dragon, Qilin ,Huang Di- The Yellow Emperor.

Digimon Adventure 02

 * In this series, the dub refers to the group as the Harmonious Ones.

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. And once the seven had returned to their own world, the Dark Masters dismantled and shaped the digital World to fit their own needs - 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. Unfortunately it meant that the Digimon could no longer Digivolve to their Ultimate levels. However, when the Crest power was unleashed, they were imprisoned again thanks to the influence of the Control Spires. In anticipation, they created a force to defeat Ken Ichijouji, the Digimon Emperor, by creating the D-3 Digivice, selecting various Digimon, and sealing them underneath the Digi-Eggs. In addition, they transformed the Crest of Kindness, which would later be found by Ken himself.

Later, Azulongmon would drive BlackWarGreymon to destroy the Destiny Stones (Holy Stones, which kept the balance of the Digital World intact) by accident, as when one was destroyed, it caused Azulongmon pain. Ultimately, Azulongmon would be freed when the Digi-Destined themselves used their D-3's to move the final Destiny Stone, and he revealed himself. After dispatching BlackWarGreymon, he passed on knowledge of the past to the DigiDestined, planted new seeds of light in place of the destroyed Destiny Stones, and left.

Later, Azulongmon would grant a boon to the DigiDestined, by giving them one of this twelve DigiCores, which he did through Gennai. It temporarily allowed the original DigiDestined to Digivolve into Ultimate again, and for Paildramon to Mega Digivolve into Imperialdramon. Later, Azulongmon would give Tai and Agumon more power, allowing Agumon to become WarGreymon once again.

The other three were not seen in the show. In one of the Audio CD Dramas, Gennai admitted that he did not know any of them besides Azulongmon.

Digimon Adventure 02: Tag 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 enough to defeat Millenniummon. This was most likely done in the time between their being released and their being resealed by the Control Spires.

Digimon Tamers
The four Sovereigns played an important role in Digimon Tamers. Here, the most prominent is Zhuqiaomon, but unlike Season 2, all four 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 lost Calumon, the Tamers found him, and Chatsuramon recaptured him.

After being separated, and a long, difficult trek across the Digital World, they 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, 3 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.