D-Reaper



The D-Reaper, also known as the "True Enemy", is a digital lifeform which appears as the central antagonist in Digimon Tamers. It is referred to as "Matador" in Brazilian Digimon Tamers materials.

Unlike most inhabitants of the in Tamers, it is not a Digimon; while Digimon descend from the virtual wildlife system created by the "Monster Makers", the D-Reaper was allegedly created in the late 1970s by the, as an antiviral program for the "Creeper" virus. It is possible it is only a descendant of this program, though, which was then known as the "Reaper", and other theories place its origin with the security program used by the in the 1980s for their "" project. The D-Reaper's only purpose is to purge the Digital World once the number of lifeforms within it surpasses a certain number, and it pursues this goal with deadly efficiency. It is in hibernation deep beneath the Digital World as Tamers begins, but it is reawakened and begins to ravage the Digital and Real Worlds by the end of it. Though it began in an extremely primitive state, it is thought that its ability to become powerful enough to overcome the Digital World was due to its hibernation being so far beneath the Digital World that it actually connected with another dimension.

Despite being a fictional character, the D-Reaper's backstory is linked with real-life events and organizations, such as the outbreak of the, one of the first to spread significantly, and ECHELON, a real, highly secretive worldwide intelligence-gathering network.

Design and conception
When designing the D-Reaper, the head writer Chiaki J. Konaka was looking for an enemy for the show's final story arc that was "an entity that is neither Digimon nor human". In order to create such an entity, he brought together the three foremost designers that worked on Digimon Tamers.

"There was Mr. Kenji Watanabe, originator of the Digimon virtual pet and game. There was Mr. Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, designer of the human characters. There was Mr. Shinji Aramaki, CG Designer as well as a mechanic and character designer. I believed that if these three were to use their imagination and construct the D-Reaper in competition with each other, an enemy character unlike any ever seen before would be born."

Each of the various forms of the D-Reaper was created by one of these artists, except for "Reaper" who was worked on by both Watanabe and Nakatsuru. The general design aesthetic of the D-Reaper was that of a "Digital creature", exemplified in such details as the jigsaw-like fringes of the Agents, and the optic fiber/telephone wire construction of the Reaper and Mother D-Reaper. Konaka remarked that he was especially fascinated by details like the wings on ADR-02. Aramaki was also responsible for the design of the D-Reaper Zone as it appears on Earth.

Digimon Tamers
The Reaper program was created in the late 1970s, allegedly by the United States Department of Defense, before Digimon and even the DigiGnomes, which appeared in the early 1980s. Though this is only set 30 years in the past of Digimon Tamers, in the fast-growing Digital World it is comparable to the period (542-488 ). It was designed so that whenever the number of digital lifeforms surpassed a set amount, it would delete them to return the Digital World back to a state of nothingness, in order to prevent the Digital World from being overloaded. However, when it was written, the Digital World had a very small size, and while the network has grown exponentially, the D-Reaper's threshold is still based on that early, tiny figure. With nothing to do at the time, the D-Reaper program went dormant and remained deep within the recesses of the Net.

At about this time, the "Creeper" virus infected, the network belonging to the Department of Defense. It was deleted by the "Reaper" program, which was allegedly created for only this purpose.

In 1980, the Artificial Life research project "" began operations. However, the Reaper program causes mass genocide of Tierra's virtual lifeforms whenever they multiplied beyond a certain amount of memory. Throughout the 1980s, the system known as "ECHELON" began operations under the leadership of the, which built communications bases in various nations across the globe. It is thought that the self-defense program used by ECHELON was a forerunner of the D-Reaper, or the program itself.

By the 2000s, the network had expanded exponentially. This created a huge influx of data into the Digital World, which the Digimon used to "digivolve" and change. Though the system was large enough to handle this load, the  sensed that it could reawaken the D-Reaper, and with the help of the DigiGnomes he transformed the "Catalyst" program into the form of a Digimon,. Though this greatly slowed the growth and Digivolution of Digimon, it was not enough to stave off the D-Reaper, which soon reactivated. At the time, though, it was still in an extremely primitive state, and the Sovereigns attempted to find solutions before the problem became too huge.

The D-Reaper kidnapped Jeri in order to learn more about humans, creating its first Agent to lead it to the Real World. The main part of D-Reaper followed the Tamers to the Real World through the Hypnos system and immediately began to spread over Shinjuku, keeping the Kernel Sphere high between the two towers of the Hypnos building, with Jeri sealed inside as its source of energy due to her grief. Only the Biomerged and Mega-Level (like Beelzemon) Digimon were able to fight it until it evolved into the Mother D-Reaper. Eventually, the D-Reaper began a global attack on Earth's electronic communication and most of the Digital World was destroyed by the D-Reaper. It deemed that both races were inherently destructive and therefore unsuitable to live. It called the Cable Reaper from the Digital World to assist it in its work. However, through the combined effort of everyone in Operation: Doodlebug, the D-Reaper was regressed back into its original, harmless state, no more complex than a simple calculator. MegaGargomon reversed the pull of the wormhole the Cable Reaper came through and was dragged back down by the, exceeding the speed-of-light, as the Mother D-Reaper and all the chaos got sucked into the hole.

Digimon Rumble Arena 2
The D-Reaper is represented in the Chaos Wasteland stage, in which it forms the backdrop of the area. The flies around in the background of the area.

Forms
The D-Reaper encountered by the Digimon Tamers is considerably different from the simple computer program it originates from. In the Digital World, the D-Reaper appears in the form of a large, red chaotic mass of slime. Any data contacting the D-Reaper is immediately absorbed and disintegrated. Despite this, Digimon are able to fight the D-Reaper.

In the Real World, the D-Reaper still appears as a crimson mass. However, it can not absorb objects in the real world as quickly. It works slower and adapts to the situation by studying the real world. Furthermore, conventional weapons such as missiles have no detectable effect on the D-Reaper.

Agents
To accomplish its goals, the D-Reaper utilizes a variety of forms known as "ADR's", or "Agents of the D-Reaper". Unlike humans and Digimon, ADR's are not individuals, and they all act according to the single consciousness of the D-Reaper. When they operate outside of the D-Reaper Zone, they are connected to it by red wires, similar in function to umbilical cords. When these cords are severed, the Agent becomes much weaker and easier to defeat, and weaker Agents will dissipate completely. Once the D-Reaper creates a new type of ADR, it will continue to use it until it is no longer useful and efficient. The various ADR's are named by the order they are created in, though they also possess codenames based on their appearance and function. The D-Reaper eventually absorbs its Agents as a last line of defense against it's attackers, becoming the "" and "".

Similar concepts
Chiaki J. Konaka, the head writer for Digimon Tamers, is also one of the writers for the, and the D-Reaper is primarily based on the ancient horrors of 's work, sleeping until they wake and destroy the world. It also draws from the Rei/ fusion in Neon Genesis Evangelion; like the Rei/Lilith fusion, it seeks to absorb the world in order to eradicate humanity's illogical emotions and negative feelings. Furthermore, the Mother D-Reaper's mask resembles that of Lilith, and at one point it even materializes a giant replica of Jeri's head to attack while the real Jeri is held inside of it, similar to how the Rei/Lilith fusion's mask falls off to reveal Rei's face.