In Pokémon, Ash must wait until he is 10 years old to become a Pokémon trainer, and in Yu-Gi-Oh! Yugi and his friends are 15 years old when they start their journey to the Duelist Kingdom. Similarly, Digimon's first four seasons, Digimon Adventure, Adventure 02, Tamers, and Frontier, featured a main cast that included mostly 10 or 11-year-olds. While the fifth season, Digimon Data Squad, aged the characters up to 13/14.

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However, while the main cast was in middle or even high school, each season had a character or two who represented the many young kids watching the show. These characters often brought a level of innocence to the team and though the other characters seemed to be fearless, these youngsters showcased the real fear of what it would be like to enter into a strange new world. From Matt's younger brother T.K. to Keenan Crier, the boy raised in the Digital World, they revealed that becoming a great Digidestined/Tamer isn't about age, but about heart and courage.

9 Cody Is Both The Youngest & Smartest Member Of The Digimon Adventure 02 Team

Cody in Digimon Adventure 02 - Armadillomon

Digimon Adventure 02 introduced three new Digidestined in Davis, Yolei, and Cody. Cody Hida is 9 years old and while he is the youngest of the new generation he is also the smartest. After his father died, Cody was raised by his grandfather who is often seen teaching him the martial art of Kendo.

Cody’s partner Digimon is Armadillomon and like Davis and Yolei, Cody awakens the Digi-Eggs that bear the crest of the original Digidestined. Cody’s eggs share the Crests of Knowledge and Reliability, which further emphasize Cody’s similarities to both Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi and Joe Kido, the smartest and most serious members of the original team.

8 Tommy Himi proves You’re Never Too Young To Be A Legendary Warrior

Digimon Frontier - Tommy, Kumamon and Korikakumon

Like Cody, Digimon Frontier’s Tommy Himi is 9 years old when he and the other Digidestined get taken to the Digital World. Tommy is depicted as a spoiled child who relies heavily on his parents and whose childish attitude often clashes with his older brother's. Once in the Digital World, Tommy’s behavior persists as he is often seen clinging to the older kids, namely Zoe, the only girl on the team.

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However, when Tommy gains the power to Digivolve into Kumamon and Korikakumon, he learns to be brave and uses his powers to be an essential member of the team. Later in the series, it’s revealed that Tommy was actually bullied and it was the bullies who pushed Tommy onto the Locomon that took him to the Digital World in the first place. Tommy is able to confront his bullies and even saves them in the episode "The Bully Pulpit," revealing his growth and maturity.

7 Ken Ichijoji is The Secret Ninth Digidestined & The Crest Of Kindness

Digimon Adventure 02 - Ken Ichijouji

Ken Ichijoji is already 11 years old when he is introduced as the Digimon Emperor in Digimon Adventure 02. It’s revealed that he entered the Digital World as a child and even was meant to be a part of the original Digidestined team as the holder of the Crest of Kindness. When Ken was about 8, the same age as T.K. and Kari from the original series, he was also given a Digivice and entered into the Digital World, meeting Ryo Akiyama, a media-hopping character in the Digimon franchise who has appeared across several games as well as Season three’s Digimon Tamers.

After Milleniummon was defeated at the end of Digimon Adventure, he released Dark Spores, which infected Ken and turned him into the evil Digimon Emperor, making him the main antagonist for the first half of Adventure 02.

6 T.K. shows Children Are The Best Hope For The Future

Takeru (TK) and Matt, MagnaAngemon

Takeru, a.k.a. T.K. in the English Dub, was the youngest of the first Digidestined that appeared in Digimon Adventure. Takeru is Yamato/Matt’s younger brother and is 8 years old at the start of the series. He is partnered with Patamon who Digivolves into the celestial Digimon Angemon, and possesses the Crest of Hope. As Yamato’s younger brother, many storylines involved Takeru needing rescuing or being treated as a helpless child. But by the end of the first season, Takeru was brave enough to stand up to Piedmon, the leader of the Dark Masters, and ultimately defeated him by harnessing his Crest of Hope and Digivolving Angemon into MagnaAngemon.

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Along with Kari, Takeru joined the second season as a main character with classmates Davis and Yolei, and was aged up to 11 years old. Takeru’s experience in the Digital World made him a somewhat leader of the team, though Davis was the one to wear the iconic goggles.

5 Kari is The Legendary Eighth Digidestined

Kari in the finale of Digimon Adventure 02, woth Wizardmon, Digimon the Movie

While Kari is the same age as Takeru, she wasn’t introduced until midway through Season 1 as the legendary Eighth Digidestined. Kari is Taichi "Tai" Kamiya's soft-spoken younger sister. She is partnered with Gatomon and possesses the Crest of Light. Kari is portrayed as kind-hearted, often putting herself in harm's way in order to save helpless Digimon. While it’s revealed in the Digimon: The Movie that she and Tai saw their first Digimon as children, she didn’t become a Digidestined until soon after the other children, 4 years later.

Kari joined the cast of Digimon Adventure 02 and even narrated the series. The series takes place 3 years later and features a more mature Kari who is often fighting for what she believes in within the team dynamic while being the object of Davis’ affection. At the end of Digimon Adventure 02, she grew up to become a Kindergarten teacher and has a son who also wears a whistle around his neck as Kari did back in the original series.

4 Henry’s Young Sister, The Digimon Deva Tamer

Suzi Wong and Lopmon, Suzi with Antylamon

Similar to Takeru and Kari who were both younger siblings to a main character, Suzi is Henry's younger sister, one of the main characters in Digimon Tamers. She is a 7-year-old girl who in the first half of the series is depicted as Henry’s annoying sister, often poking and prodding Terriermon when he pretends to be a stuffed animal. However, after she is kidnapped by Makuramon and brought to the Digital World, she receives a Digivice and becomes partners with Antylamon, the Rabbit Deva.

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Suzi grows up a bit in the final arc of the series when her partner, Antylamon, explains the gravity of the situation and like the other Tamers, she is devastated when Lopmon is forced to go back to the Digital World after they defeat the D-Reaper.

3 Willis is The First DigiDestined from the U.S.

Willis in Digimon the Movie - Terriermon

Willis was a new character introduced in Digimon: The Movie (Digimon Adventure 02: Digimon Hurricane Touchdown!! / Transcendent Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals). He is the second Digidestined introduced from the U.S. after Mimi’s friend, Michael, showed up in the episode “The Samurai of Sincerity.” The start of the film explains that Willis received a Digi-Egg at the same time as Taichi and Kari did 4 years before the original series. Only unlike the Agumon that showed up to Taichi and Kari who returned to the Digital World, Willis’ egg hatched into twin Digimon who stayed with him, making him the youngest Digidestined in the original Digimon Adventure universe at 4 years old.

Willis goes on to be the main focus of the movie with one of his twin Digimon, Kokomon, being corrupted by a virus and turning into the evil Wendigomon. With the help of his other Digimon, Terriermon, along with the Digimon Adventure 02 Digidestined including Takeru and Kari, he is able to defeat his corrupted Digimon partner.

2 Ai and Mako are Twin Tamers Who Lost Their Digimon

Anime Ai and Mako and Impmon - Digimon Tamers

Ai and Mako are the youngest Tamers to appear in Digimon Tamers at just 4 years old and are partners with Impmon, who later becomes Beelzemon. The two siblings regularly fight over Impmon who ends up running away and hating all humans.

He later returns to the children who both apologize and tell Impmon that they miss him. Before Beelzemon heads off to fight against the D-Reaper, Ai gives him a kiss for good luck and Mako gives him his toy gun which Beelzemon uses to transform into a blaster to become Beelzemon Blast Mode.

1 Keenan Crier is The Boy Raised By Digimon

Keenan Crier with his parents and Falcomon in Digimon Data Squad

Easily the youngest Human-Digimon Partner is Keenan Crier from Digimon Data Squad. While he is 10 years old in the series, it’s revealed that as a baby he was accidentally transported to the Digital World by his parents and was raised by Frigimon and Merukimon. After the death of Frigimon at the hand of scientist Akihiro Kurata, Keenan grows to have a strong hatred of humanity.

Falcomon, who protected Keenan as a child, became his Digimon partner when Keenan received a Digivice. Keenan is able to Digivolve Falcomon into Peckmon when they are first introduced, and later into Crowmon, Ravemon, and Ravemon Burst Mode in the fight against the Royal Knight Craniamon. At the end of the series, Keenan decides to stay in the human world, having a tearful goodbye from Falcomon and the Digital World that he once called home.

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