History Anime / DigimonGhostGame

* RunningGag: Espimon is LiteralMinded, so he insists Hiro is a fake because Hokuto said his son is a "spitting image" him, which goes on until Episode 62.

* RunningGag: Espimon has no understanding of clothing, so he insists Hiro is a fake every time they meet because he's not a "spitting image" of his dad until Episode 62.

* RunningGag: Espimon has no understanding of clothing, so he insists Hiro is a fake every time they meet because he's not a "spitting image" of his photo until Episode 62.

* TimedPowerUp: Digimon's Perfect forms don't last long and revert back if the fight drags on, justifying using them as last resort.

* ArbitrarySkepticism: No matter how many Hologram Ghosts they defeat, heroes rarely attribute unnatural phenomena to Digimon until they properly investigate, with Kiyo also trying paranormal or biological explanations first. General public also has a habit of forgetting previous incidents.
* BackForTheDead: After swearing revenge, [[spoiler:Dracumon returns as Vamdemon's minion and]] is promptly killed by him for acting out of turn.

* {{Masquerade}}: Heroes decide to keep it a secret between themselves that Hologram Ghosts are hostile Digimon, referring to their partners as AI Holograms in public. Somehow even large scale attacks don't get further publicity than UrbanLegends. Digimon living in Japan don't like getting unneeded attention either.

* NoOntologicalInertia: If victims aren't killed on-screen, beating the hostile Digimon turns everyone back to normal no matter how many people are subjected to BodyHorror.

** After the HeelRealization about how much {{Yandere}} she's being, [[spoiler:Ajatarmon]] decides that if Yuto doesn't want to be a Digimon, she needs to be human instead and uses own poison on herself. It didn't "go well" and she disintegrates.
** Publimon falls to death himself after failing to kill an idol while skydiving for the sake of news.

** [=RareRaremon=] from the episode ''Herd of the Dead''. Notable in that the main cast is largely adverse to killing Digimon unlike previous series. However, they eventually came to the conclusion that while they weren't happy with it, [=RareRaremon=] was [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope so far gone]] at this point and far too dangerous to be left alive that they were forced to kill him for everyone's safety. Ultimately, this act is framed as this.

''Digimon Ghost Game'' is the 9th anime TV series[[note]]and 10th anime series overall[[/note]] in the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' franchise, which premiered on October 3, 2021 as the successor to ''[[Anime/DigimonAdventure2020 Digimon Adventure:]]''.

* NarniaTime: PlayedWith Just like in past settings, [[spoiler:the Digital World runs on a significantly different time as the human world. When [=GulusGammamon=] tells the story of the Endbringer coming after 2,000 years of ''human time'', the humans don't take him with enough seriousness, but all of the Digimon are freaked out instantly because "2,000 years of human time" is a very short timespan for them, though it's not clear if it's a matter of time duration or Digimon basically being seemingly immortal.]]

** The first of such is [[WhamEpisode Episode 13]], which features a massive tonal shift from the other episodes before and after it and the beginning of the show's CerebusSyndrome, with the MonsterOfTheWeek Digimon Sealsdramon being a full-blown Digimon serial killer [[spoiler:who kills Bokomon (Along with '''999''' Digimon before then) via a thrown knife, leading to Gammamon undergoing a Dark Evolution to [[SuperpoweredEvilSide GulusGammamon]], who outright murders Sealsdramon by stabbing him stab straight in the head. Past that point, the scope of destruction or harm that the monsters of the week can do exponentially increase.

* ForWantOfANail: There's a good bunch of incidents that wouldn't even be solved if not for the protagonists incidentally getting involved. One variant is the protagonists going on a vacation only to run into the offending Digimon (or rumors of), and the other variant is someone they know personally, often an acquaintance just happened to be the victim or one of the victims. This includes horrific incidents that would lead to dozens of deaths at best and humanity being wiped out or enslaved at worst, so they did save the world just because they are in the right places at the right time.

** It’s the first ''Digimon'' series where [[spoiler:no [[SixthRanger extra tamers]] join the main team at all]].

** RareRaremon from the episode ''Herd of the Dead''. Notable in that the main cast is largely adverse to killing Digimon unlike previous series. However, they eventually came to the conclusion that while they weren't happy with it, RareRaremon was [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope so far gone]] at this point and far too dangerous to be left alive that they were forced to kill him for everyone's safety. Ultimately, this act is framed as this.

* MonsterOfTheWeek: Similarly to the earlier parts of ''[[Anime/DigimonTamers Tamers]]'' and ''[[Anime/DigimonDataSquad]]'', ''Ghost Game''[='s=] plots revolve around a Digimon stirring up trouble and needing to be dealt with. Unlike them, Digimon usually concede long before they can be seriously injured - and unlike previous cases - they can contain just about anything. This varies from Digimon you'll expect to appear, Digimon that were former bosses in previous series, or even anime debuts for brand-new Digimon. The only common ground between them all is that they've been mysteriously spirited away from the Digital World - some like Mummymon are only accidentally causing strife and repent when they're talked down, while others are intentionally terrorizing humans like Clockmon (before he reforms), or refuse to reform altogether as was the case with Dracumon.

* BodyHorror: This happens quite often in the show. Over half of the MonsterOfTheWeekVillains will mutate or modify the bodies of humans or Digimon in every sort of way imaginable. Bizarre mutations, {{Forced Transformation}}s into the Digimon's minions, or object transformations happen frequently, most of which are shown in detail. Even the protagonists themselves routinely become victims to these forced transformations on a regular basis.

** A blink-and-miss it example: Hiro's phone is connected to a 7G network, which is two generations further than in real life.

* BaitAndSwitchCredits: The opening shows Kyoshiro seeing a Pumpmon in the mirror, but in the show itself Pumpmon appears before Kyoshiro even meets his partner Digimon. It also has Piemon hiding in a sewer as a ShoutOut to ''Literature/{{It}}'', but in the episode where he actually shows up, he doesn't attack people that way.

* BloodierAndGorier: There's little to no "blood", but compared to before where most very unsettling ColdBloodedTorture or brutal murder are either not depicted in gross detail or left-off screen, such scenes are portrayed in a much more detailed and/or heinous manner here. Just compare Archnemon's death in the hands of [=BelialVamdemon=] in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' with her equally brutal murder in the hands of [=GulusGammamon=] here.

* BodyHorror: This happens a lot. Over half of the Digimon of the Week will mutate or modify the bodies of humans or Digimon in every sort of way imaginable. Bizzare mutations, {{Forced Transformation}}s into the Digimon's minions, or object transformations are not off the list, most of them which don't even have a transformation discretion shot and the horror and mayhem caused by such conditions are displayed in full detail. Even the protagonists themselves routinely get hit by this on a regular basis.

* BornAgainImmortality: Dead Digimon in this series reincarnate into Digi-eggs and are technically immortal, but [[DeathOfPersonality any traces of their previous life vanish]]. A Nanomon was finding a way to defy this in Episode 47 by planting a dying Shadramon on a human to see what happens, although the end of the episode implies that it doesn't work.

** Starting from Episode 25 where the party gets their first Perfect, the threat levels of Digimon they encounter seemingly skyrockets and they often find themselves [[JustEatGilligan falling victim to the Digimon's powers before any battle can commence]].

** Ruli has a habit of picking up random hobbies (like photography) and dropping them after. In Episode 22, when a Morphomon-possessed Angoramon attacks her, she uses sports equipments like a golf club to defend herself from him.

* DisguisedHorrorStory: ''Ghost Game'' does bill itself as a horror anime, but initially it still adheres to its SpookyKidsMedia premise mixed with a SliceOfLife anime. The setting is fittingly a LighterAndSofter post-modern urban setting rather than the usual war story or alternate world adventure, and the protagonists are just a tad too adorable for a ''Digimon'' anime, which can easily lull the audience into a false sense of security when the first few Digimon incidents don't look too awful. It doesn't take long for the show to drop the "kids-friendly" from the horror entirely and throw [[BodyHorror horrific body transformations]], physical and mental torture and {{Jump Scare}}s to degrees where they are only ''barely allowed'' on a 9 a.m. Sunday morning.

*** In a similar tangent, [[spoiler:Regulusmon]] does ''earn'' his title as the "Jet-Black Conqueror". He [[spoiler:really intends to destroy everything through a group of apex predators who survived in the DeathWorld he created that he calls an "invincible army".]]

** In Episode 45 ''Ghost Newspaper'', Publimon attempts to kill Anna because she said his [=PubliNews=] was "boring" and to bolster his "journalism's" popularity, only for him to be the only one dead in that incident because he was too distracted trying to kill Anna and cut his parachute by accident.
** In Episode 48 ''The White Bride'', the Chamblemon turn women into living mushroom logs and torture them for food, only for a large group of Geremon to arrive and dispose of them. It's implied that the Geremon want to turn the Chamblemon into mushroom farms like the latter did with all the victims they kidnapped and tortured.
** Episode 58, ''Pyramid'', after spending most of the episode turning humans into stone blocks to build a pyramid for [[spoiler:Pharaohmon]], [=AncientSphinxmon=] attempts to kill Diarbbitmon with Necro Eclipse, only for Diarbbitmon to send [=AncientSphinxmon=] into the black void.

** The first of such is [[WhamEpisode Episode 13]], which features a massive tonal shift from the other episodes before and after it and the beginning of the show's CerebusSyndrome, with the MonsterOfTheWeek Digimon Sealsdramon being a full-blown Digimon serial killer [[spoiler:who kills Bokomon (Along with '''999''' Digimon before then) via a thrown knife, leading to Gammamon undergoing a Dark Evolution to [[SuperpoweredEvilSide GulusGammamon]], who outright murders Sealsdramon in return, in a heavy FamilyUnfriendlyViolence attack with a stab straight into the head.]] Past that point, the scope of destruction or harm that the monsters of the week can do exponentially increase.
** The second time it happens is Episode 25, where Vamdemon is encountered and the party receives their first Perfect. The danger levels of Digimon get jacked up further, literal boss Digimon from past seasons like Splashmon and Gigasmon were found casually walking around and wrecking havoc, dark subjects otherwise played very seriously in ''Digimon'' as a whole are played liberally for the sole reason of horror, and in one case, a Sepikmon technically ''killed'' Kiyoshiro out of nowhere. The Digimon incidents ultimately go straight into flat-out creepypasta or horror territory, with gruesome incidents shown bare leaving little to the imagination, many psychotic Digimon who have no remorse whatsoever gleefully torture or attempt to kill their victims. There's even one notable case where a Piemon staged a mass abduction incident with at least 52 victims that happens before the main trio's Digimon even have their own Ultimate levels.

* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: {{Justified|Trope}} as this is usually their ''only'' option against the MonsterOfTheWeek especially early on where they are leagues above the Digimon protagonists in power meaning that a straight-up fight will just get them defeated quickly and in some cases the Digimon are only antagonistic because they don't realize their actions are harmful. Later Digimon are usually so persistent that they need to be defeated in combat, but depending on the situation, even Ultimate levels keen on killing hundreds can be open for a bargain after getting beaten.

* ThouShaltNotKill: Despite Digimon being portrayed as the most dangerous than they have ever been in the franchise, the core cast is extremely adverse to killing Digimon unless there's no choice. This is largely because [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman the main cast view Digimon as sapient, living creatures]], and the troublemakers [[HanlonsRazor might not even be necessarily acting out of malice]]. The number of times they outright had no other option and were forced to kill a Digimon can be counted on one hand, and the experience ''always'' leaves the core trio deeply disturbed by it.

* BodyHorror: It's an almost universal horror trope in the show, with about 80% of episodes featuring a MonsterOfTheWeek that mutates or modifies the bodies of humans or Digimon in every sort of way imaginable. Body transformations include deformation, ForcedTransformation into the Digimon's minions, or into objects. In fact, the protagonists fall victim to the BodyHorror on a regular basis.

* DisguisedHorrorStory: ''Ghost Game'' is a horror-adjacent kids' anime, but a sizable portion of the episodes have SliceOfLife sections that are LighterAndSofter than the adventure stories the franchise usually has. However, many Digimon are portrayed more seriously and as dangerous threats, with many episodes featuring J-horror clichés and other horror tropes. Many Digimon act out of [[BlueAndOrangeMorality skewed morality]] rather than malice, early episodes incidents have scopes of harm only limited to at most a building or two, and the protagonists look generically cute. However, 80% of epispdes feature Body Horror and [[ForcedTransformation forced transformations]], along with other surprisingly creepy J-horror clichés, which includes one episode featuring a MonsterOfTheWeek eating humans. Just about every episode also has a few Jump Scare moments, and other surprisingly creepy episode premises include another MonsterOfTheWeek drowning a city and some of the villains are [[SerialKiller serial killers]]. Plus, the protagonists themselves often fall prey to forced body transformations themselves on a regular basis.

* BodyHorror: Almost every episode features a MonsterOfTheWeek that mutates or modifies the bodies of humans or Digimon in every sort of way imaginable. Body transformations include deformation, ForcedTransformation into the Digimon's minions, or into objects. In fact, the protagonists fall victim to the BodyHorror on a regular basis.

** This is the first Digimon series since ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' (with the exception of [[Anime/DigimonAdventure2020 its 2020 remake]]) where the Digivices aren't given individual colors whatsoever, through even ''Adventure'' still had the digivices change to the color of the crests when evolving with them. [[spoiler:It may or may not be a coincidence how it's later shown that partnerships aren't strictly exclusive to a single Tamer and Digimon pair.]]

* ChekhovsGunman: The opening displays silhouettes or cameos of various Digimon, including Vamdemon, [=MetalSeadramon=], Arachnemon, [=LadyDevimon=], Pumpmon, Lucemon, Piemon, Mugendramon and Etemon. Pumpmon shows up in episode four, and a few others show up much later.

* DisguisedHorrorStory: ''Ghost Game'' is a horror-adjacent kids' anime, but a sizable portion of the episodes have Slice of Life sections that are Lighter and Softer than the adventure stories the franchise puts usually has. However, many Digimon are portrayed more seriously and as dangerous threats, with many episodes featuring J-horror clichés and other horror tropes. Many Digimon act out of [[BlueAndOrangeMorality skewed morality]] rather than malice, early episodes incidents have scopes of harm only limited to at most a building or two, and the protagonists look generically cute. However, almost every episode features Many episodes feature Body Horror and [[ForcedTransformation forced transformations]], along with other surprisingly creepy J-horror clichés, which includes one episode featuring a MonsterOfTheWeek eating humans. Just about every episode also has a few Jump Scare moments, and other surprisingly creepy episode premises include another MonsterOfTheWeek drowning a city and some of the villains are [[SerialKiller serial killers]]. Plus, the protagonists themselves often fall prey to forced body transformations themselves on a regular basis.

* MasterOfUnlocking: Hiro displays this skill in the first episode by picking the lock of the door to the auditorium which has been closed off due to being a crime scene, while certain Digimon can telepathically hack digital locks to bypass them. [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness This however, is rarely shown in later episodes]].

** Rareraremon from the episode ''Herd of the Dead''. Notable in that the main cast is largely adverse to killing Digimon unlike previous series. However, they eventually came to the conclusion that while they weren't happy with it, Rareraremon was [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope so far gone]] at this point and far too dangerous to be left alive that they were forced to kill him for everyone's safety. Ultimately, this act is framed as this.

* MonsterOfTheWeek: Similarly to the earlier parts of ''[[Anime/DigimonTamers Tamers]]'' and ''[[Anime/DigimonDataSquad Savers]]'', ''Ghost Game''[='s=] plots revolve around a Digimon stirring up trouble and needing to be dealt with. ''Unlike'' them, the Digimon in ''Ghost Game'' usually concede long before they can be seriously injured - and unlike previous cases they can contain just about anything, arranging from Digimon you'll expect to appear, former bosses or even anime debuts or brand-new Digimon. The only common ground between them all is that they've been mysteriously spirited away from the Digital World - some like Mummymon are only accidentally causing strife and repent when they're talked down, while others are intentionally terrorizing humans like Clockmon (before he reforms), or refuse to reform altogether as was the case with Dracumon - and a few of them have made appearances after their focal episodes.

* UrbanFantasy: ''Digimon Ghost Game'' leans far more heavily into this than it does into the ScienceFantasy of previous series, with Digimon acting more like {{youkai}} and some later episodes even having outright supernatural elements.

** Episode 38 "The Diviner": [[SixthRanger Espimon]] debuts, with Episode 40 later revealing that he was looking for Hiro due to advice from Hokuto. Additionally, the episode reveals that genuine supernatural events actually exist, despite [[AbortedArc never following up]] on this information.

** For individual episodes in general, if you see Gammamon looking ''exceptionally deranged'' and not like TheCutie he usually is, expect the BlackEyesOfCrazy to happen next...then [=GulusGammamon=] emerging out to try killing the troublemaker.