Analogman



Analogman is a fictional character from the Digimon franchise, the final boss in the first of the Digimon World games. Not to be confused with Analog Man who makes guitar effects pedals now, after tiring of programming and hacking computers for a living.

Background
Analogman is a brilliant (if slightly arrogant) computer genius and skilled hacker, who sees Digimon as potential slaves rather than friends.

Believing that Digimon should act as slaves to serve humans, Analogman plotted to take over File Island and control all of its Digimon inhabitants, setting up the premise of the first Digimon World game.

Analogman's name is derived from the word "Analog" (sometimes written "Analogue"), which, in the Digimon sense of the term, means anything that exists outside the Digital World (in the "Real World"), and is therefore the polar opposite of the word 'digital'. Throughout Digimon World, there is a strong sense of dislike among many of the Digimon for beings from the analog world.

Digimon World
Analogman is the ultimate villain of the original Digimon World. His lair is located in the upper core of Mount Infinity (named the "Last Room" in the game), where he is guarded by three brainwashed Digimon stationed throughout Mount Infinity - Devimon, Megadramon and MetalGreymon. When the player eventually reaches Analogman, he calls Machinedramon and the Digimon is fought in the final boss fight of the main storyline of the game.

At the end of the first game, he is presumed dead when the program which he is trying to use to destroy File Island fails and apparently feeds back on his system. It is not known what exactly happens to cause the failure, but it causes the explosive device which he set under Mount Infinity to cause only a minor explosion instead of wiping out the entire island, and causes the screen which he uses to taunt and communicate with the Digimon to corrupt and fade, apparently wiping him out. The game appears to hint that the feedback was sent through the portal which he used to escape back to the Real World, possibly interfered with because Airdramon was creating a wormhole as Analogman fled the island.

However, in the FMV following his defeat, Mamemon informs the player that Analogman has returned. An incarnation of him does appear when the player passes through the Back Dimension, before promptly vanishing into thin air and leaving the player to challenge a pumped-up Machinedramon, which ultimately turns out to be another Digimon (depending upon location, Soulmon, Penguinmon or Agumon) who had been unprecedentedly corrupted and transformed into the Machinedramon entity. Whether the Analogman seen here is a manifestation of the real Analogman's conscience (as explained in Digital Card Battle) is not revealed.

Digimon Digital Card Battle
Analogman re-appeared in Digimon Digital Card Battle for the PlayStation, revealing that, while he presumably physically perished in the accident, his consciousness lived on in digital form. He appears under the name "A" (although the word "ANALOGMAN" does still appear on the screen while his program is running).

He then takes control over the defeated VenomMyotismon (ironically, Machinedramon is serving under VenomMyotismon in this game) and he challenges the player to a match. Since he is a hacker, he uses a 'shuffle cheat' that allows him to download-digivolve to Apocalymon right at the beginning and sends all the digimon partners to the deck's end. When defeated, a part of the Security System that takes the shape of Rosemon traps him in a temporary holding state in a program which renders him unable to do anything but repeat an endless stream of mathematical equations. The security system then sends him to the "Deep Net" before he can escape, and what happens to him then is not confirmed.

So far, Analogman has not returned in the series, although Akihiro Kurata from Digimon Savers may have been inspired by him.