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Angewomon-LadyDevimon Rivalry - Animated Battles Wiki

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History of the Angewomon and LadyDevimon relationship

This post provides a comprehensive overview of Angewomon and LadyDevimon's relationship from the Digimon franchise.

These two have had a long and complicated in-series relationship for more than 25 years! The early encounters that made their rivalry iconic consisted of stereotypical catfights, featuring slapping matches:

And hair-pulling:

LadyDevimon: <laughing> Never did like that bleached look! Angewomon: <screams in pain while swearing vengeance>

But the recent romantic developments in their relationship have also made them the most popular gay/yuri pairing in the series:

What happened along the way? Let's start with their first and most notorious encounter:

Battle 1: The catfight on Spiral Mountain (Digimon Adventure 01 Episode 50)

Outcome: LadyDevimon defeats Angewomon in their one-on-one duel, forcing Angewomon's allies to step in and save her.

Context: The Chosen Children arrive at Piedmon's palace on Spiral Mountain and face LadyDevimon, Piedmon's second-in-command. LadyDevimon's seductive looks and demeanor leave the boys ogling slack-jawed, but the girls are furious at LadyDevimon's mock flirtations and condesending tone.

LadyDevimon turns out to be a dominant foe, capable of simultaneously holding her own against Angewomon, AtlurKabuterimon, Andromon, Angemon, Birdramon, and Agumon. Angewomon turns out to be the only one who can graze LadyDevimon, and the focus of the battle shifts to a showdown between the two rivals.

LadyDevimon: <kicking Angewomon face-first into a cliff> Oops, sorry blondie! Angewomon: Grrrrr ... You dare!? <lunges at LadyDevimon>

Angewomon quickly finds herself outclassed by LadyDevimon's superior battle skills, despite the type advantage that Angewomon should theoretically enjoy over LadyDevimon. In melee, LadyDevimon lands a lot more solid hits, countering Angewomon's punches with martial arts moves like uppercuts, dropkicks, and haymakers.

At range, LadyDevimon is able to dance around Angewomon's Holy Arrows with ease, while Angewomon struggles to repel LadyDevimon's Darkness Wave and finds herself leaving some crucial openings.

AtlurKabutermion: <saving Angewomon> I've got you! Angewomon: Let me go! <kicking off him to launch herself at LadyDevimon> It's on now, bitch! *slap* LadyDevimon: What's it to you?! *slap*

AtlurKabutermion: <saving Angewomon again> Are you all right? Angewomon: Stop interfering! Get out of the way!

AtlurKabuterimon has to save Angewomon's life multiple times, but each time, Angewomon angrily snaps at him to not interfere with her battle with her rival. She does get to land the final hit, though.

Battle 2: The rematch in the human world, during the invasion of the Daemon Corp (Digimon Adventure 02 Episode 43)

Outcome: LadyDevimon overpowers Angewomon again.

LadyDevimon: You'd better stay out of it, blondie. Angewomon: Try to stop me, you witch!

LadyDevimon returns in Digimon Adventure 02, this time as a Daemon's lieutenant, and meets Angewomon again during the Daemon Corp's invasion of the human world. The old rivals immediately get into yet another hair-pulling, slapping catfight:

And end up in a fierce mid-air grapple:

LadyDevimon eventually overpowers Angewomon by twisting the angel's arms against her sides. However, reinforcement arrives just in time to save Angewomon before LadyDevimon can finish her off.

LadyDevimon: This getting boring! <teleports away> Chosen Digimon: Huh, where did she go?!

All in all, the Digimon series portrays LadyDevimon as slightly stronger and significantly faster than Angewomon.

The consistency with which LadyDevimon defeats Angewomon one-on-one is interesting as a part of a larger pattern in the Digimon series in which Fallen Angel Digimon are portrayed as significantly stronger, not only compared to other Digimon of their level, but also their angelic Vaccine-type counterparts who should enjoy a type advantage over them. We see a similar dynamic with Devimon and Skullsatamon, and "falling from grace" in the Digimon Universe probably entails a kind of a corrupting bargain for power.

At any rate, the Angewomon vs LadyDevimon catfights became an iconic element of the series, spawning countless reenactments and tributes. Here's their slapping match as portrayed in the video game Digimon Super Rumble:

And a fight from Digimon Linkzs:

Looks ... intimate.

Anyway, back to Digimon Adventure 02, where LadyDevimon is still at large in the human world.

Battle 3(ish): LadyDevimon vs Silphymon (Digimon Adventure 02 Episode 44)

Outcome: LadyDevimon defeats Silphymon after an intense aerial dogfight. But Miyako (!) saves the day by whacking LadyDevimon with a Skateboard

Context: After two consecutive one-on-one defeats at the hands of LadyDevimon, Angewomon finally has to swallow her pride and ask for help. Tailmon/Angewomon tells Hawkmon that even though she'd love to fight LadyDevimon herself, she doesn't have enough energy to Digivolve back into Perfect level (JP) and just not strong enough to handle LadyDevimon on her own (EN). So the two jogress-evolve into Sylphimon to face LadyDevimon.

Silphymon does fare better, and unlike Angewomon, seems able to match LadyDevimon's speed. Instead of a catfight, the two end up in a grueling aerial dogfight that lasts the better part of a day. However, the final energy beam battle between LadyDevimon's Darkness Wave and Silphymon's Top Gun ends in LadyDevimon's victory, sending Silphymon crashing into to earth. Fortunately, Miyako shows superhuman gall of directly attacking a Perfect level Digimon, providing just enough of a distraction for Silphymon to land the decisive blow.

Battle 4: The Slapping Match at the Pink Garden (Digimon Crusader)

Outcome: Unknown

The next official battle takes place in the somewhat obscure Digimon Crusader trading card video game. LadyDevimon has apparently eaten the cherry on Angewomon's parfait, and the enraged Angewomon lunges at LadyDevimon for another slapping match. Lilithmon tries to intervene, but the animosity between the two blows over into an all-out rumble among all the assembled female digimon. We don't get to see the final results of the battle, though.

Later works in the series, including Digimon Jintrix and Digimon New Century, continue portraying the two as archnemeses. However, the stories of their conflict usually have a comical edge which emphasizes their intensely personal, feminine rivalry and plays to gendered stereotypes and tropes (fights over desserts, banter about fashion and hairstyle, slapping, hair-pulling, etc.).

However, then comes Digimon World Re:digitize

Here, the two appear as allies for the first time, both as Digimon partners to a single human tamer, Mirei Mikagura.

LadyDevimon and Angewomon turn out to be an excellent team that punches way above their respective levels when they work together--capable of holding back BlackWarGreymon (X-Antibody) and outright defeating ChaosDukemon.

This display of teamwork got the fans excited and precipitated a lot more shipping, but the pivotal moment came in the sequel, Digimon Cyber Sleuth. There, the two get the jogress evolution form of Mastemon:

Catapulted by Angewomon and LadyDevimon's enormous popularity, Mastemon immediately becomes a fan-favorite in the series. In 2024 Digimon Con, she was ranked as the 3rd most popular Digimon overall, just behind Wargreymon and ahead of Agumon!

More importantly, the romantic contact and the kiss between the two that complete the jogress sequence elevated the relationship between Angewomon and LadyDevimon into the canon.

Subsequent works featuring Angewomon and LadyDevimon universally allow them to jogress into Mastemon, with their fusion dance featuring varying degrees of lesbian subtext.

Digimon Evolution and Digimon Super Rumble:

Digimon Card Game:

And that's not to mention the tens of thousands of fan works pairing Angewomon X LadyDevimon. The catfight/rivalry dynamic does persist, though, even when the two eventually cooperate/fuse together. Case in point, the two get into another tiff in Digimon ReArise over who gets to buy the last piece of dessert from Digitamon before it sells out:

Battle 5: The Brawl at Digitamon's Cake Shop (Digimon ReArise)

Outcome: LadyDevimon wins the in-game battle. Story-wise, all that happens is that Angewomon is down just long enough for LadyDevimon to race ahead to Digitamon's Cake Shop before Angewomon.

However, the two end up having to team up when a rampaging Darkdramon threatens to destroy the cake shop. Later, the two again jogress into Mastemon to save the Digital World from Lucemon and Millenniummon.

As a final thought: The evolution of the Angewomon/LadyDevimon relationship is interesting partly because it tracks the arc of various social norms re: gender in anime. Angewomon and LadyDevimon became extremely popular largely because they're Digimon with stunning designs that take the form of conventionally attractive women.

The series was always going to capitalize on their popularity/dynamic. In the early 2000s, this took the form of "catfights," because that stereotype were more commonplace and acceptable. These days, with queerness being much more visible and popularly portrayed, pairing the two together romantically became the go-to move. It speaks simultaneously to how much things have remained the same and how much they've progressed.

On a very shallow level, I think their character designs are awesome, especially in the contrast/symmetry between the two. So I'm glad their relationship remains a staple of the series, whatever form it takes.

[pearlearworm]

History of the Angewomon and LadyDevimon relationship

This post provides a comprehensive overview of Angewomon and LadyDevimon's relationship from the Digimon franchise.

These two have had a long and complicated in-series relationship for more than 25 years! The early encounters that made their rivalry iconic consisted of stereotypical catfights, featuring slapping matches:

And hair-pulling:

LadyDevimon: <laughing> Never did like that bleached look! Angewomon: <screams in pain while swearing vengeance>

But the recent romantic developments in their relationship have also made them the most popular gay/yuri pairing in the series:

What happened along the way? Let's start with their first and most notorious encounter:

Battle 1: The catfight on Spiral Mountain (Digimon Adventure 01 Episode 50)

Outcome: LadyDevimon defeats Angewomon in their one-on-one duel, forcing Angewomon's allies to step in and save her.

Context: The Chosen Children arrive at Piedmon's palace on Spiral Mountain and face LadyDevimon, Piedmon's second-in-command. LadyDevimon's seductive looks and demeanor leave the boys ogling slack-jawed, but the girls are furious at LadyDevimon's mock flirtations and condesending tone.

LadyDevimon turns out to be a dominant foe, capable of simultaneously holding her own against Angewomon, AtlurKabuterimon, Andromon, Angemon, Birdramon, and Agumon. Angewomon turns out to be the only one who can graze LadyDevimon, and the focus of the battle shifts to a showdown between the two rivals.

LadyDevimon: <kicking Angewomon face-first into a cliff> Oops, sorry blondie! Angewomon: Grrrrr ... You dare!? <lunges at LadyDevimon>

Angewomon quickly finds herself outclassed by LadyDevimon's superior battle skills, despite the type advantage that Angewomon should theoretically enjoy over LadyDevimon. In melee, LadyDevimon lands a lot more solid hits, countering Angewomon's punches with martial arts moves like uppercuts, dropkicks, and haymakers.

At range, LadyDevimon is able to dance around Angewomon's Holy Arrows with ease, while Angewomon struggles to repel LadyDevimon's Darkness Wave and finds herself leaving some crucial openings.

AtlurKabutermion: <saving Angewomon> I've got you! Angewomon: Let me go! <kicking off him to launch herself at LadyDevimon> It's on now, bitch! *slap* LadyDevimon: What's it to you?! *slap*

AtlurKabutermion: <saving Angewomon again> Are you all right? Angewomon: Stop interfering! Get out of the way!

AtlurKabuterimon has to save Angewomon's life multiple times, but each time, Angewomon angrily snaps at him to not interfere with her battle with her rival. She does get to land the final hit, though.

Battle 2: The rematch in the human world, during the invasion of the Daemon Corp (Digimon Adventure 02 Episode 43)

Outcome: LadyDevimon overpowers Angewomon again.

LadyDevimon: You'd better stay out of it, blondie. Angewomon: Try to stop me, you witch!

LadyDevimon returns in Digimon Adventure 02, this time as a Daemon's lieutenant, and meets Angewomon again during the Daemon Corp's invasion of the human world. The old rivals immediately get into yet another hair-pulling, slapping catfight:

And end up in a fierce mid-air grapple:

LadyDevimon eventually overpowers Angewomon by twisting the angel's arms against her sides. However, reinforcement arrives just in time to save Angewomon before LadyDevimon can finish her off.

LadyDevimon: This getting boring! <teleports away> Chosen Digimon: Huh, where did she go?!

All in all, the Digimon series portrays LadyDevimon as slightly stronger and significantly faster than Angewomon.

The consistency with which LadyDevimon defeats Angewomon one-on-one is interesting as a part of a larger pattern in the Digimon series in which Fallen Angel Digimon are portrayed as significantly stronger, not only compared to other Digimon of their level, but also their angelic Vaccine-type counterparts who should enjoy a type advantage over them. We see a similar dynamic with Devimon and Skullsatamon, and "falling from grace" in the Digimon Universe probably entails a kind of a corrupting bargain for power.

At any rate, the Angewomon vs LadyDevimon catfights became an iconic element of the series, spawning countless reenactments and tributes. Here's their slapping match as portrayed in the video game Digimon Super Rumble:

And a fight from Digimon Linkzs:

Looks ... intimate.

Anyway, back to Digimon Adventure 02, where LadyDevimon is still at large in the human world.

Battle 3(ish): LadyDevimon vs Silphymon (Digimon Adventure 02 Episode 44)

Outcome: LadyDevimon defeats Silphymon after an intense aerial dogfight. But Miyako (!) saves the day by whacking LadyDevimon with a Skateboard

Context: After two consecutive one-on-one defeats at the hands of LadyDevimon, Angewomon finally has to swallow her pride and ask for help. Tailmon/Angewomon tells Hawkmon that even though she'd love to fight LadyDevimon herself, she doesn't have enough energy to Digivolve back into Perfect level (JP) and just not strong enough to handle LadyDevimon on her own (EN). So the two jogress-evolve into Sylphimon to face LadyDevimon.

Silphymon does fare better, and unlike Angewomon, seems able to match LadyDevimon's speed. Instead of a catfight, the two end up in a grueling aerial dogfight that lasts the better part of a day. However, the final energy beam battle between LadyDevimon's Darkness Wave and Silphymon's Top Gun ends in LadyDevimon's victory, sending Silphymon crashing into to earth. Fortunately, Miyako shows superhuman gall of directly attacking a Perfect level Digimon, providing just enough of a distraction for Silphymon to land the decisive blow.

Battle 4: The Slapping Match at the Pink Garden (Digimon Crusader)

Outcome: Unknown

The next official battle takes place in the somewhat obscure Digimon Crusader trading card video game. LadyDevimon has apparently eaten the cherry on Angewomon's parfait, and the enraged Angewomon lunges at LadyDevimon for another slapping match. Lilithmon tries to intervene, but the animosity between the two blows over into an all-out rumble among all the assembled female digimon. We don't get to see the final results of the battle, though.

Later works in the series, including Digimon Jintrix and Digimon New Century, continue portraying the two as archnemeses. However, the stories of their conflict usually have a comical edge which emphasizes their intensely personal, feminine rivalry and plays to gendered stereotypes and tropes (fights over desserts, banter about fashion and hairstyle, slapping, hair-pulling, etc.).

However, then comes Digimon World Re:digitize

Here, the two appear as allies for the first time, both as Digimon partners to a single human tamer, Mirei Mikagura.

LadyDevimon and Angewomon turn out to be an excellent team that punches way above their respective levels when they work together--capable of holding back BlackWarGreymon (X-Antibody) and outright defeating ChaosDukemon.

This display of teamwork got the fans excited and precipitated a lot more shipping, but the pivotal moment came in the sequel, Digimon Cyber Sleuth. There, the two get the jogress evolution form of Mastemon:

Catapulted by Angewomon and LadyDevimon's enormous popularity, Mastemon immediately becomes a fan-favorite in the series. In 2024 Digimon Con, she was ranked as the 3rd most popular Digimon overall, just behind Wargreymon and ahead of Agumon!

More importantly, the romantic contact and the kiss between the two that complete the jogress sequence elevated the relationship between Angewomon and LadyDevimon into the canon.

Subsequent works featuring Angewomon and LadyDevimon universally allow them to jogress into Mastemon, with their fusion dance featuring varying degrees of lesbian subtext.

Digimon Evolution and Digimon Super Rumble:

Digimon Card Game:

And that's not to mention the tens of thousands of fan works pairing Angewomon X LadyDevimon. The catfight/rivalry dynamic does persist, though, even when the two eventually cooperate/fuse together. Case in point, the two get into another tiff in Digimon ReArise over who gets to buy the last piece of dessert from Digitamon before it sells out:

Battle 5: The Brawl at Digitamon's Cake Shop (Digimon ReArise)

Outcome: LadyDevimon wins the in-game battle. Story-wise, all that happens is that Angewomon is down just long enough for LadyDevimon to race ahead to Digitamon's Cake Shop before Angewomon.

However, the two end up having to team up when a rampaging Darkdramon threatens to destroy the cake shop. Later, the two again jogress into Mastemon to save the Digital World from Lucemon and Millenniummon.

As a final thought: The evolution of the Angewomon/LadyDevimon relationship is interesting partly because it tracks the arc of various social norms re: gender in anime. Angewomon and LadyDevimon became extremely popular largely because they're Digimon with stunning designs that take the form of conventionally attractive women.

The series was always going to capitalize on their popularity/dynamic. In the early 2000s, this took the form of "catfights," because that stereotype were more commonplace and acceptable. These days, with queerness being much more visible and popularly portrayed, pairing the two together romantically became the go-to move. It speaks simultaneously to how much things have remained the same and how much they've progressed.

On a very shallow level, I think their character designs are awesome, especially in the contrast/symmetry between the two. So I'm glad their relationship remains a staple of the series, whatever form it takes.