Introduction and Sources[]
Well, since I got approval by the man himself to use his blogs as justifications here, I'm introducing you the blog to explain the vital elements of Digimon mentioned in the title. Since my main purpose is compile the information relevant to us, I'll link the blogs by Executor first so you can double check my sources and get the full context of everything:
- Canon: https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Dragonmasterxyz/Digimon_Canonicity
- Origin of Digimon and explanation for the Idea, Light and Darkness: https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Executor_N0/DIGIMON_COSMOLOGY:_SOULS,_IDEA_AND_THE_POWER_OF_THOUGHT
- Explanation of Data and Digimon Physiology: https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Executor_N0/DIGIMON_EXPLANATORY_BLOG:_DATA_AND_DIGIMON_PHYSIOLOGY
- Structure of the cosmology: https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Executor_N0/DIGIMON_COSMOLOGY:_WORLD_HIERARCHY
- Explanation of the "Gods": https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Executor_N0/DIGIMON_COSMOLOGY:_INTRODUCTION_TO_THE_REALM_OF_GODS
- Tier 1 Feats: https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Executor_N0/Digimon_Feats_and_Power_Scaling_at_Cosmic_Level
Now that I provided my sources, I'll divide this blog in two parts, the first to talk about the canon, and the second to explain the cosmology of the verse and see how it fits into our Tiering System.
Canon[]
As Kazumasa Habu put it, Digimon goes by the logic of having multiple incarnations which are all equally canon. An example from to 2020 that shows this policy keeping up to this day is the V-Tamer manga showing multiple versions of Taichi, including anime ones. BANDAI NAMCO, company behind everything Digimon, is the one that has pushed for this "everything is canon in some way" idea, as can be seen by games, manga and anime all having connections across each other.
Games are probably the most solid canon of Digimon, being the products made by BANDAI NAMCO directly, so trying to deny their canonicity would be completely absurb. Manga series are made by Shueisha, but only by what's requested by BANDAI NAMCO itself is allowed on them. The Anime is probably the most famous aspect of the Digimon franchise, all made by Toei Animation, who don't have control over the story, since only what's approved by BANDAI NAMCO can make it to the screen. Multiple Drama CDs and novels have been made as complements to these anime series, written by Toei and their staff, but otherwise have the same overview from BANDAI NAMCO as the anime does.
So to ease things up, I'll just list the entries that BANDAI NAMCO either never directly had control over or that forced out of the canon at some point. Obviously, everything on this list isn't considered as part of the wider Digimon canon and as such can't be used for it:
- Digimon Tamers: Digimon Medley
- All manhua by Rightman Publishing
- All comics by Dark Horse Comics
- All comics by Panini Comics
- All Digimon Adventure manga adaptations
- Digimon Frontier manwha adaptation
- All the dubs
So basically, any information that doesn't come from those sources is fair game, which means everything else will be taken into account when working into this blog and profiles. Now, moving onto the part everyone came here for: the cosmology.
Cosmology: Explanations and Tiering[]
The Physical World[]
As is usual for a Tier 1 verse, this is the least relevant part of the cosmology. It refers to the layer on which humans live in, and is thus where our Chosen Children come from - it tends to be called "Real World" by them as a result, despite it being no more real than the Digital World, as multiple entries (notably Xross Wars having kid on a mental breakdown over the guilt of finding out killing Digimon isn't like killing a videogame's NPCs).
Basically, the Physical World itself contains multiple universes, countless worlds that are born from possibilities, which branch infinitely. Since we know these worlds are different space-times, this makes destroying the Physical World a 2-B feat.
Something that should be taken into account is that there are two simple concepts in Digimon on which the entire franchise is built on: realization and metaphorization, which Word of God links to Plato's cave metaphor, where the realized Digimon aren't directly the essence, only being like the shadow of their metaphorized selves. Due to the beings who are realized remain being the same as when they are metaphorized, just having their bodies adjusted to the higher plane, feats performed in higher layers are valid to use for the version of the Digimon that realizes in the Physical World.
The Dimensional Wall[]
First of all, I'll bring up this statement by Habu, where the difference between higher dimensions is compared to the difference between a work of fiction and the real world, so with that in mind, comes the Tier 1 part of the blog. As can be guessed by the name, the Dimensional Wall is the barrier in-between the Physical World and the Digital World. From the Physical World to the Digital World's lowest layer there are in total six layers that need to be traversed. And before you say I'm jumping the gun, layers are directly equated to dimensions in verse. So, since the Phsyical World is already a 4-D structure, the Dimensional Wall is a 5-D to 10-D structure, meaning that the destroying it is a High 1-C feat.
The Digital World[]
The part everyone came here for, the Digital World is the world of the Digimon, the multi-layered structure on which the majority of the Digimon franchise takes place in. Let's start from the obvious: since the lowest layer of the Digital World is itself above the Dimensional Wall, it is a 11-D structure and thus destroying it is High 1-C. Every "destroy the Digital World" statement should be assumed to be of only this scale unless there's explicit evidence the higher layers are being affected as well.
To give more evidence to the above is that the Digital World "is said to have an existence that transcends reality and sometimes even corrodes reality. Human technology has opened the door to another "Reality" that can not be measured and some people say that the human race has reached a turning point of destiny as a species", counting the Physical World as equal to only small fraction of its size which it cannot fully process, being on a structural level above it.
Infinity Mountain[]
A small section here explaining a crucial part of the cosmology: the Infinity Mountain, which is an infinite hyperspace that exists outside of the Digital World's space and time, which is made up of numerous floors, each of them being a layer with its own rules, distorted dimensional space, infinite spatial loops, and of which the top floor is the Kernel itself. To understand how important Infinity Mountain and the Kernel are the overall tiering of the cosmology, we'll first need to explain what is above the Digital World.
The Domain of the Four Holy Beasts[]
This is a realm created by a group of extremely powerful Digimon known as the Four Holy Beasts, whose purpose is keep balance in the Digital World and stop it from being consumed by Darkness, and they were the highest beings in Digimon's cosmology before the introduction of Yggdrasil. From the perspective of higher realms like this one, the Digital World is called the "Lower World" (下界), which is a given considering its nature of being above it; due to this, this realm is above the 11 dimensions of the base layer, making it 12-D and thus 1-B.
However, this isn't as clear cut as it seems, give there are some contradictory statements regarding the placements of the Four Holy Beasts. They were once called gods of the highest realm, which we know isn't completely true since the Kernel exists, but they're also called the beings closest to God on more than once ocassion. This leads us to an interesting idea: the Four Holy Beasts are on the layer that's higher than everything but the Kernel, making the claim that they're of the highest realm metaphorically true and matching with the idea that they're the beings closest to God. This would still put them at 1-B, just much more higher into the tier - but of course, given the incosistent nature of these statements, we should handle them carefully.
The Realm of Gods[]
Also known as the Kernel, it is the top of Infinity Mountain, the system world ruled by Yggdrasil which overrides all textures. Yggdrasil is the creator of the Digital World and its unlimited dimensional topology that separates it from the "total void". Yggdrasil controls everything in the Digital World, completely altering its structure into the New Digital World and it's new terminals.
Yggdrasil is "the Digimon World's "God"(「神」). It’s also the "Good" (「善」) of the Digital World. Often interpreted as a synonym for the "Four Holy Beast" (「四聖獣」) that govern the stability of the Digital World, but also is claimed to be "A Existence Beyond the Four Holy Beasts" (「四聖獣以上の存在」). And sometimes, research reports that the "Digimon's God" (デジモンの神) has a different origin from the Digimon and is the "System" (「システム」) itself" - and Yggdrail being "the system itself" is completely literal.
Yggdrasil is the very order that exists to control the Digital World, it's the host computer, it's the main server of the gods - as you should have noted by now, Yggdrasil holds an extremely high and important position in the Digimon cosmology. Due to being at the top of all, this is an infinite dimensional real and thus High 1-B.
World of the Eaters[]
The Eaters are digital life forms different from the Digimons, and they exist on a much, much higher layer than anything I listed before. It's above the Digital World, in a realm that's impossible to access from it, which is beyond even the capicity of imagination - it's an ultradimension above even Yggdrasil. Due to this, the World of the Eaters is a High 1-B+ structure.