The Four Holy Beasts are a group of four Mega-level Holy Beast Digimon that are derived from the Japanese myth of the Four Guardian Spirits of Kyoto, itself derived from the Chinese myth of the Four Symbols. Like the Guardian Spirits, they represent and rule over the cardinal points of the compass — Ebonwumon for the north, Zhuqiaomon for the south, Azulongmon for the east, and Baihumon for the west. They are led by Fanglongmon, who represents and is enshrined in the "Center", from which he supervises the others. In turn, each of the four main Sovereigns has three Deva as subordinates. They are difficult to overthrow with the power of ordinary Mega Digimon, as their power is set as the highest authority among other Digimon, with strength that is said to be the epitome of gods. Unlike normal Digimon which only have one DigiCore per body, each of the Sovereigns has twelve DigiCores which float outside their body and channel their immortality and tremendous power. Except for Fanglongmon, who has eight, each of the Sovereigns also has four red, shining eyes.
No matter the continuity, they are in charge of protecting the Digital World in universes where the Royal Knights, Three Great Angels or Olympus XII are not established. In the Digimon Adventure continuity, they are responsible for sealing away the Dark Masters in times past, only to be sealed away in turn upon their release. Digimon Adventure tri. would further elaborate that they are the partners of the original Chosen Children.
Fanglongmon is listed first due to being their leader and fusion, while the Holy Beasts themselves are listed by their clockwise directions: north, east, south, and west.
Tropes that apply to the Four Holy Beasts as a whole:
- All-Powerful Bystander: Each one has the power to stomp most threats into so much dust, but even if they aren't restrained in some way, they just might not help anyway.
- Extra Eyes: All of them. The main four have two pairs of eyes each, though with Ebonwumon it's because it also has two heads. Fanglongmon has four pairs with one being vertically aligned at the front of its snout.
- Kaiju: They are all ludicrously huge by Digimon standards.
- The Four Gods: The Four Holy Beast are clearly based on the Four Gods: Azulongmon (Seiryū), Zhuqiaomon (Suzaku), Baihumon (Byakko) and Ebonwumon (Genbu). Their leader is Fanglongmon (Kōryū)
- The Man Behind the Man: They're the ones the Deva work for.
- Physical God: Even among Mega level Digimon, these guys are in a whole other level, represented by the extra Digicores they keep outside their bodies.
- Power Creep, Power Seep: They were once beaten by the Dark Masters. Back in the day, this was not too much of a stretch as the mere act of being a Mega level was enough to warrant legendary status in and on itself, but since then Mega Digimon have become more common. While the Holy Beasts have kept their legendary and powerful status in spite of the overall Power Creep, the Dark Masters are "just" regular Megas nowadays.
Fanglongmon (Huanglongmon)
Supervising the "Four Holy Beasts" who protect the east, west, south, and north of the Digital World, it is an emperor Digimon who is enshrined in the center and rules the "world". Due to the angel Digimon that descended in the distant past, it was sealed in the deepest, darkest place within the earth. The Four Holy Beasts lost their rule because of this, causing a struggle for hegemony, but an equilibrium is maintained at present. This being is good but also evil, and is called the "Taiji" of light and darkness. It has eight eyes and twelve external Digicores, and its gigantic body is covered in scales of the special "Huanglong Ore" that boasts of absolute hardness, so inflicting even a single wound upon it is impossible.
In Digimon Survive, it's the Master's prior form and the partner of Haruchika Minase. Upon its defeat, Takuma Momotsuka's Agumon gains the ability to achieve this form in New Game Plus.
- Dragons Are Divine: Fanglongmon is essentially a god, and is based on the semi-divine dragons of Chinese myth.
- Gold Makes Everything Shiny: Its entire body is covered in golden Huanglong Ore.
- Inconsistent Dub: Official English materials can't seem to decide whether to keep its name as "Huanglongmon", or dub it as "Fanglongmon". It's downplayed now, as recent materials seem to have settled on Fanglongmon.
- Nigh-Invulnerable: Its entire body is made from Huanglong Ore, which is an essential component of Chrome Digizoid. As the result, Fanglongmon can't really be hurt by anything.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Four-legged, wingless, covered in metallic scales and divine.
- Our Gods Are Different: As powerful as the other Four Holy Beasts are, Fanglongmon is even stronger. The only Digimon known to be stronger is Lucemon.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Its attacks are on the scale of natural disasters.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Lucemon sealed him away long ago. Zigzagged in that he's a strange mixture of good and evil himself.
- Spikes of Villainy: Or Spikes of Neutrality, which cover its body.
- Takes One to Kill One: The only thing that can pierce its scales is Huanglong Ore, but it's pretty lousy for making weapons and armor, so there's not much chance of that.
- Time Abyss: It was around at the beginning of the Digital World, and it takes "more years than there have been since the age of myths" for a Digimon to fuse with Huanglong Ore, to the extent only Fanglongmon is known to have merged with it.
- Yin-Yang Bomb: Fanglongmon is both good and evil, light and dark. Fittingly, it has no attribute, and in the card games is part of both the Nightmare Soldiers and the Virus Busters.
Fanglongmon: Ruin Mode (Huanglongmon: Ruin Mode)
A form of Fanglongmon that went berserk after being imbued with malice energy. Having lost its goodness and light, it became a being inclined to evil and darkness alone, and rampages to bring the world to ruin. According to records, the Four Holy Beasts joined forces and succeeded in subduing the rampant Fanglongmon. Its special moves are causing everything in the Digital World to be swallowed up by nothing but darkness, devoid of any light, and generating a tornado with black flames on the scale of a natural disaster.
Fanglongmon Ruin Mode debuted as the True Final Boss of Digimon Survive.
- Blow You Away: Its Kaimeso attack is generating a tornado made of flame to destroy everything in its path.
- Burning with Anger: Powered by hatred, the twelve DigiCores it has are now constantly on fire.
- The Corruption: It went berserk from being imbued with malice energy.
- Dark Is Evil: A fallen Fanglongmon whose body has turned dark purple, and even its attacks are imbued with darkness.
- Dragons Are Demonic: Among the changes in its shift to villainy is looking a lot more demonic than regular Fanglongmon.
- Godzilla Threshold: Fanglongmon's falling proves to be the threshold for the Four Holy Beasts, including the usually neutral Azulongmon and Baihumon.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Mercifully, Fanglongmon's rampage was stopped, and it has been sealed away by the Four Holy Beasts. For now.
Four Holy Beasts
Ebonwumon (Xuanwumon)
One of the Four Holy Beasts who protect the Digital World, it guards the North and uses phantasmagoric water techniques. It is a legendary being like the other Four Holy Beast Digimon, and its strength is said to equal that of a god. It is the oldest of the Four Great Beast Digimon, and possesses a gentle personality. Common to the Four Great Beast Digimon are the possession of four shining eyes, and twelve Digicores floating outside of their body. Normally there is one Digicore per body, and it is not exposed outside of the body except with the Undead types or the greatest of the Ultimate class.
As a partner, it is one of the Mega levels for Saki Kimishima's Floramon.
- Gemstone Assault: One of its attacks involve making huge blocks of crystal raining over his enemies.
- Gentle Giant: The eldest and probably the nicest of the four. It's also the only Vaccine type, surprisingly enough.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Ebonwumon has both a turtle-head and a snake-head in a nod to the Xuanwu
of Chinese Mythology, who is sometimes identified with the Black Tortoise of Chinese astrology. - Multiple Head Case: While the other members of the Holy Beasts have a single head with four eyes each, Ebonwumon subverts the pattern by having two heads with two eyes each.
- Ominous Fog: It's able to cast a mist that can generate illusions.
- Turtle Island: An enormous turtle with an oversized tree in its shell. In Digimon Tamers it is briefly mistaken for a section of a forest moving on its own.
Azulongmon (Qinglongmon)
One of the Four Holy Beasts who protect the Digital World, it guards the East and releases intense lightning strikes. It is a legendary being like the other Four Holy Beast Digimon, and its strength is said to equal that of a god. Also, it is counted as one of the Four Great Dragons alongside Holydramon, Goddramon, and Megidramon, and is the most deified existence among them. However, although it is a divine being, it will not easily cooperate with humans and the weak, and it is not likely to lend help to its allies unless there is something serious.
Azulongmon is notable as the first Holy Beast to show up in the anime, appearing in Digimon Adventure 02 to stop BlackWarGreymon from destroying the last Destiny Stone. As a partner, it is one of the Mega forms for Miu Shinonome's Syakomon.
- All-Powerful Bystander: Its own profile describes it as this, which is most likely due to it being a Data type. That said, its anime appearances contradict this stance, as it is portrayed as the Holy Beast that is the most friendly to the humans.
- Chained by Fashion: The chains seem to contain its body, which doesn't look too solid on its own.
- Dragons Are Divine: He's a member of not one but two groups of holy Digimon.
- Giant Flyer: He is a quite large dragon, sporting two wings on its back.
- Heavenly Blue: It's an all-powerful dragon god and has the colors to match.
- Our Dragons Are Different: This one is made of energy and has a long mustache.
- Physical God: He serves as a protector god of the Digital World.
- Shock and Awe: Most of his attacks involve lightning.
- The Worf Effect: He's one of the most powerful Digimon around, so naturally, he had to get sealed away by a small handful of upstarts.
- Yellow Lightning, Blue Lightning: Has an attack called Blue Lightning.
Zhuqiaomon
One of the Four Holy Beasts who protect the Digital World, it guards the South and manipulates incandescent flames. Reigning since the age of myth, its existence has passed into legend, and it is extremely difficult to track down. Also, it is difficult to overthrow with the power of an ordinary Ultimate, and its power is set as the highest authority among other Digimon, so it is surely the epitome of a god. Zhuqiaomon's temperament is the roughest among the Four Holy Beast Digimon, and it burns anything insignificant which approaches it to cinders.
In Digimon Tamers, it was Zhuqiaomon who sent the Deva to the human world to retrieve Culumon. As a partner, Zhuqiaomon is one of the Mega forms for Minoru Hinata's Falcomon.
- Feathered Fiend: A common problem with bird type Digimon, and Zhuqiaomon is no exception.
- Hot Paint Job: Its wings have a flame pattern and the stripes on its back are patterned after flames..
- Jerkass Gods: It has the worst temperament of the Four Holy Beasts, and tends to burn anyone who comes near it. Not surprisingly, this attitude has passed to the Deva who serve under it, who are all arrogant jerkwads themselves.
- The Phoenix: Evokes this with his appearance and fiery attacks.
- Playing with Fire: Its main element. Its signature attack, Kouen, fires a swirl of flames comparable to the prominences of a solar eruption.
- Shrouded in Myth: It's considered a legend in the Digital World, and is hard to find.
- Token Evil Teammate: The most bad-tempered of the Holy Beasts, and also the only Virus type.
Baihumon
One of the Four Holy Beasts who protect the Digital World, it guards the West and possesses the attribute of steel. Reigning since the age of myth, it is a legendary being like the other Four Holy Beast Digimon, and its strength is said to equal that of a god. Also, although it is the youngest of the Four Holy Beast Digimon, its power is the greatest among the four. Its immortality and tremendous power are brought forth through its twelve Digicores. Baihumon is a neutral being just like Azulongmon, and it isn't someone who will generally become an ally.
Baihumon is the final form of Daigo Nishijima's Bearmon, as well as one of the Mega forms for Aoi Shibuya's Labramon.
- All-Powerful Bystander: It doesn't tend to help others, no matter what.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Baihumon may be the youngest of the four, but it's also the most powerful.
- Panthera Awesome: A giant tiger god.
- Purple Is Powerful: His stripes are a deep purple, and he has the strength to more than match it... if he feels like using it.
- Taken for Granite: It can turn its opponents into metal.
