Key Takeaways
- Etemon, a goofier villain in Digimon, surprises viewers with unpredictable power and ego.
- Despite his comical appearance, Etemon manages to be one of the most intimidating villains.
- Etemon’s ability to handle stronger foes subverts audience expectations, making him a standout character.
Although often overshadowed by more popular franchisesthe originalDigimonseries,DigimonAdventurehas stood the test of time. Featuringthefun and vibrant digital world and a marketable group of creatures called Digimon, the show captured the hearts of plenty of young anime enjoyers after its 1999 release.Digimonhas grown much larger since then, but for many, the original series is still one of the best parts of the entire franchise.
In this original series, Tai, Agumon, and friends must face off against some fierce foes, ranging from adorable to downright terrifying. However, onevillain of the seriesseems a bit odd compared to the rest. Etemon, a monkey-like Digimon, features very few intimidating qualities, especially compared to the previous villain of the series. Despite this, Etemon still manages to be one of the mostintimidating,yetfunniest, villains in the original series.
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Etemon is a Goofy Elvis-Impersenating Digimon
Dark Network!
After theDigiDestined defeat Devimon in an epic confrontation, the groupthensets out to new continentsin order todiscover more about the secrets of the interesting Digital World.Here, they confront Etemon for the first time. Looking more like a humanoid monkey inPajamas,and a penchant for singing, Etemon seemsatfirst, to be a gag villain more than anything. In the dub of the showespecially, with Etemon putting on his best Elvis impression and often monologuing aboutthose,“darn DigiDestined,”it’shard to take someone like this seriouslyat all.
Quit standing there clapping like a trained seal!
However, Etemon sports someinterestingpowers inDigimon,the non-Pokémon creature collecting franchise. Etemon is a technical genius and can pinpoint any location with his Dark Network. Additionally, he can use his Dark Network to launch destructive attacks from his guitar. However, even with his dangerous attacks, compared to other Ultimate Digimon, like Myotismon and Devimon,Etemon’sfear factorcomes uplacking. Despite this, the character has amajorego and hates when others fail to acknowledge his greatness.
Etemon is a Serious Threat in Digimon
Thank you very much!
One of the things that makes Etemon such a terrifying villain is his unassuming appearance and dangerous ego. While watching the original Digimon series, one may think that something like Greymon should be ableto easily walk over the much softer-looking Etemon. Even with the size difference between the characters, Etemonwas able to easily lift Greymon over his head with one hand, dispatching the threat. It took Metal Greymon and the destruction of the core of the Dark Network to take him down for the first time.
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In this first encounter, seeing the juxtaposition between a goofy Elvish impersonator and an arrogant maniac that Etemon goes through, in somewaysmakes him more intimidating than both Devimon and Myotismon. While those two villains are upfront and almost regal about their evil schemes, Etemon seems moreunhinged,and potentially more destructive. This culminates when Etemon, now returned as Metel Etemon,actuallydeals a lethal blow to an ally of the DigiDestined, Leomon. Although Leomon has died plenty of times in the franchise, this first moment was stillextremelyshockingto see.
The Writing of Digimon Makes Etemon Unpredictable
Don’t forget to tip your waitress
From a story-telling perspective,Etemon’svillain arc in Digimon Adventure, one of the best adventure anime,in the storytakes place directly after Devimon. With Devimonbeingsuch an intimidating threat, the story builds theaudience’sexpectations for the next villain to surpass him. When Etemon is revealed, his design once again subverts our expectations into thinking he is weak.However, after he is shown to be able to handle much stronger foes than Devimon, once again, theaudience’sexpectations of the character are flipped on their head.From a writing perspective, Etemon is an absolute wildcard,with an unpredictable nature that leads viewers to underestimate his true power.
Is that the best you’ve got? I’ve seen sharper needles in granny’s knittin’ bag!
Despite being just a small part of the Digimon universe, while Etemon is most likely just a goofy villainthat wasintroduced to offset the more serious tone of Devimon inDigimon Adventures,the character remains inthe minds of fanstoday.Discussion ofEtemon’strue power still exists, with some arguing that he may be the most intimidating villain in the series. A funny character like Etemon is terrifying due to hisunpredictability,rather than his raw strength. Being a wildcard among villains, Etemon hascertainlyleft a lasting impact onDigimonas a whole.
