DIGIMON COSMOLOGY: WORLD HIERARCHY

The Digital World map of Digimon Tamers, one of the few official descriptions of the structure of the hierarchy between worlds

INTRODUCTION OF THE CONCEPT

The concept of a "World Hierarchy" was definitely introduced to Digimon through the anime "Digimon Adventure" in the platonic ideas that were used as the origin of the Digimon within this story. Although not worked in a more specific way, the origin of the concept of soul adopted in Digimon was based on neoplatonic emanationism. This idea can be understood as the principle of the existence of a hierarchy of worlds, where there are superior and perfect worlds in contrast to inferior and imperfect worlds, all of which derive from a single unit that would be the Absolute being.

“	Emanationism, philosophical and theological theory that sees all of creation as an unwilled, necessary, and spontaneous outflow of contingent beings of descending perfection—from an infinite, undiminished, unchanged primary substance.	„
	~ Encyclopædia Britannic

• See this for more information.

Then in Digimon Tamers, although not using the same base as Adventure to explain its structure, the idea of a World Hierarchy is again used based on the existence of at least 3 ~ 4 level divided between layers, with layers between them. The diagram used in Digimon Tamers was later used in a more generalized form with explanations for the franchise cosmology, being used in stories like the storyline of the L&R Wars.

With the coming of Xros Wars and Re:Digitize with the reestablishment of the lore of Digimon Adventure, the explanation of the Hierarchy of World was transmitted again with the metaphysical sense that had in its origin.

Although the idea of a World Hierarchy already existed since of Digimon Adventure and later was used in other works, the term itself was only used directly in the artbook of Digimon Story being defined exactly as World Hierarchy (世界階層).

The purpose of this blog is to present the most important data of the World Hierarchy and how it is presented in the Digimon franchise.

PHYSICAL WORLD

The Physical World (Also called the Physical/Material Universe ~ 物質宇宙) is the Platonic term for referring to the world of space, time and matter in which we humans exist. The term most commonly used to refer to this layer is “Human World” (人間界/人間世界), or more ambiguously Real World (リアルワールド/現実世界). This is the world that was created by Demiurge, it is a world of time and space that was created as having its base in the higher worlds. The Physical World is composed of the universes where humans exist, these exist through the dimensions of time and space. The worlds exist infinitely and in parallel, following the infinite possibilities described by quantum mechanics, where each action can generate infinite different worlds where something has occurred or has not occurred. The story of a world, its timeline, is defined by the Wheel of Destiny, so that the life that someone lives is the result of a certain set of actions that through the Wheel of Fate put it in one world instead of another.

DIMENSIONAL WALL (METAVERSE)

The "Dimensional Wall" is the name given to the barrier that exists between the Digital World and the Real World. The wall exists to keep the worlds apart, in case the barrier fails the worlds begin to merge, which could lead to the total destruction of all worlds (You can understand more about this [goo.gl/prpyMJ here]). In some products of the franchise, the Dimensional Wall is also referred to as the Network on which humans work, ie it would be the computer network itself. In these conditions one of the functions of the network would be the means by which information flows from the Real World to the Digital World and vice versa. Just after the level of the Real World is this "Dimensional Wall" that is divided into six layers, after crossing these 6 layers it is possible to reach the lowest layer of the Digital World, referred to as "Physical Layer". The Network is the main means of transport within the franchise, making it practically impossible to travel between the Real World or the Digital World in case the Network is disconnected. The Network is a region closer to Humans than the Digital World, and humans using their technologies have already been able to use much of the potential of Network creating several services such as the EDEN Network.

“	The Digital World in this series is not the same as the Network (as we understand it), but is a world beyond the Network. However, as in previous series, the network lies between the connection between the worlds. I would just like to make the Network more realistic. Ideally, a mock "network" would be able to tie the child audience to the world of the TV series through toy products and special events.	„
	~ [goo.gl/7TfNZB Konaka]

DIGITAL WORLD

Above the level of the Network, there is the Digital World. This world exists above Network and the Physical World, existing on a higher structural level so that the very existence of the lower worlds would be unable to support the existence of the Digital World. Like the Dimensional Wall, the Digital World consists of several layers, an unknown number of them. Through the layers there are several worlds, universes that are accessed through "Addresses", such as the Training BOX, these worlds are accessed by humans through Digital Devices (Digivices / V-Pets) and there is at least one of them for each Digital Device. The worlds that exist between the layers of the Digital World are separated from each other, in fact there are beings in these worlds who do not even know that there are other worlds like the one in which they live. These worlds are known as "Servers" in the same way as the Servers that were created by humans through the Dimensional Wall. The truth is that the events where we see the characters occur in Servers of the Digital World, only a small world compared to the true nature of the Digital World. Still, the scenarios we see contain planets, stars, galaxies, and more. Even Human-Managed Servers (As of the EDEN Network) demonstrate a colossal and literally infinite size.

“	Data-linked eggs are transferred to an address assigned to each device known as "Training BOX" (「育成 BOX」) located in other layers of Digital World. After that, you can train digital monsters in the isolated space by device operation (The portable device is a device to access the "Training BOX" within the Network, the Digital Monster is not directly stored in the device).	„
	~ [goo.gl/qdJLt6 Training Box]

A World Different than Reality, The Digital World !! A huge world exists in a different dimension than the Reality in which human beings live. It is assumed that the all existence is reduced to data in this huge digital space. In any case, there has not been anyone who can see, profoundly, all the pieces, many of which are involved in mystery, of this existence. There are a variety of Digital Worlds that are full of life, though digital. They 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.

Various Worlds in the Digital World (デジタルワールド内のさまざまな世界): Such as the Underwater World and Gear World, various landscapes spread. These worlds together make up the Digital World. It seems that the connection between the worlds is thin and the residents do not observe what is outside.

With respect to time, the timeline of the Digital World is constantly flowing, mainly because of the existence of the Chronicle Layer System (クロニクルレイヤーシステム). During the events of Digimon Chronicles, Yggdrasil created the New Digital World where the servers are divided between terminals: Ulud Terminal, Versandi Terminal and Skuld Terminal. Each of these terminals are representations of the Past, Present and Future and in each of them, the events are controlled by the terminals. Specifically, the future is referred to as a result of calculations produced by Host Computer being manifested in the Present (In relation to the Past) and in the Future (In relation to Present and Past). The events of the Past branch out by creating the events in the Present, and these also branch out to create the events of the Future. For this there are terminals known as Memorial Stela, they are located through the Digital World and aims to collect all the information available through the flow of data around. This information is stored and used to construct calculations, literally endless possibilities of worlds through a "bottomless pit" of data where all of this is manifested. The possibilities are manifested through Ulud, Versandi and Skuld where there are the possibilities of Servers that exist through the Past, Present and Future. Just as there are layers for the Servers through space, the Three Terminals are also arranged in the form of layers being Ulud the lowest layer, Versandi the intermediate and Skuld the highest.

Chapter Three: A New Digital World that is composed of three levels: the 'past', 'present', and 'future'!

Past [Ulud Terminal] (過去 ~ウルドターミナル~): A layer that controls the "Past", It is the terminal from which it was. It is an environment of rich nature and the Digimon of the so-called Ancient Species live here. Ulud is the lowest layer, events here will affect Versandi and Skuld

Present [Versandi Terminal] (現在 ~ベルサンディターミナル~): A layer that controls "present", it’s the terminal from which it is. It is the most similar to the former Digital World, it is a place developed to a certain extent with the human hands and the Digimon that are here. It reflects the events that occurred in Ulud and is the intermediate layer that will affect Skuld

Chapter Eleven: In the world that rules over the "Present", new species continue to be born!

Future [Skuld Terminal] (未来~スクルドターミナル~): A layer that controls the “future”, is the terminal from which it goes. It is based on the result of simulating the future of the Digital World of Yggdrasil. It is the highest layer reflecting what occurred in Ulud and Versandi.

Chapter Seventeen: This world of the 'Future' developed to include many artificial varieties of evolutions.

Mirei: Don't worry about me…Taiga…The Digital World has infinite possibilities…

Memorial Stelas, the terminals that continue to record everything in the island. A giant storage that records all data that flows on File Island, as well as the Digital World. It is the months and years that passed in the Digital World manifested as a stela. It is said that if someone can look inside of one of these, they can control the world's entire data flow, and at the moment the balance of this overwhelming data volume is disrupted, it'll receive an amount of data that normal life simply can't endure. The Memorial Stelas monitor the overwhelming possibilities and bottomless abyss of information as they stand inconspicuously in the corners of the Digital World.

REALM OF GODS

Beyond the various layers of the Digital World there is the Domain of the Four Holy Beasts, a realm created by them that exists beyond the various worlds of the Digital World. While residing at this top of the hierarchy, they maintain the balance of the Digital World preventing it from being consumed by darkness. Despite all this, this world is only "close" to the true God’s Kingdom.

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A Perfect Digimon which has the appearance of the "Rabbit" from among the twelve holy beasts of oriental legends. These twelve holy beast Digimon are called the "Deva", and serve "beings" close to the gods.

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Reigning since the age of myth, its existence has passed into legend, andit 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.

„

“

It is a legendary being like the other Four Holy Beast Digimon, and its strength is said to equal that of a god.

„

A member of the Four Holy Beasts that protects the West of the Digital World. It boasts the strongest power among the Four Holy Beasts, and while it is said to possesses strength rivaling even that of gods, it usually maintains a neutral stance.

This legendary thunder dragon lowers its cool-headed judgement from its domain near the gods!

As the being closest to god, this holy dragon calls upon the thunder of judgment!

The true God’s Realm is the Kernel, the core of the Digital World. Just as Yggdrasil is the Digital World system, its core, its true existence, is the Kernel itself. The Kernel exists beyond the Digital World itself, in a way that the content of the Digital World does not occupy the space of the Kernel. The Kernel is inhabited by Yggdrasil, the Angel Digimon and the Royal Knights. The Kernel has several names, Paradise, Eden, Holy Kingdom, System World and also Heaven. Like the Four Holy Beast realm, the Kernel exists above the normal levels of the "Digital World" with this being referred to as a "Lower World " (下界). The existence of this world overlaps all the textures / appearance, which guarantees to this world the characteristic of being able to easily have any form what explains the diverse appearances that this world already had. In the diagram of the entire Digital World, this is the Plane of Existence that is at the top of all others.

Host Computer Yggdrasil (ホストコンピューターイグドラシル): Putting itself beyond the New Digital World, it has adopted a structure that does not accumulate data in itself. In addition, it has designated the 3 layers (Chronicle Layer System ~クロニクルレイヤーシステム~) to distribute the data and manage the Digimon efficiently.

I am in the Lower World (下界) for the first time after a long time

The final form of female-type Angel Digimon, who imparts love and compassion. Together with Seraphimon and Cherubimon, it protects the Kernel (God's domain), the core of the Digital World.

One of the Three Great Angels Digimon, it governs over love and all life in the Digital World. It acts as a holy mother that spreads God's love and compassion, and splits its duties with the other Great Angels. Eden's Javelin: Uses the javelin in its right hand to purify the enemy and lead them to Eden.

This holy mother of benevolence protects God's castle, purifying evil and leading them to paradise!!

It was originally an Angel-species Digimon, but it committed a crime and was turned into this form by Ofanimon, then banished from heaven. It has an optimistic personality, but also took on a ferocious personality with matching hunger.

WORLD OF THE EATERS

The Eaters exist in a special kind of world, residents of a superior dimension, indeed a Hyper Dimension (超次元), that exists even beyond the Digital World. Being the Digital World a world of concepts, the World of Eaters exists beyond such concepts existing for example, without any kind of concept of time or limits, thus they exist in an eternal state of presence simultaneously throughout the past, present and future. The World of Eaters exists in an higher dimension that is theoretically inaccessible and impossible to understand, and only Yggdrasil would be able to at least detect its existence. Eaters not only exist in this world, but also throughout the Hierarchy of Worlds. Their purpose is to collect data through the worlds and send through the higher dimensions to their own world, this movement is coordinated by Mother Eater who oversees all Eaters through the Hierarchy of Worlds.

It is an entity that oversees Eater in this world hierarchy and accumulates the eaten data.

OTHER WORLDS

There are even more worlds within the franchise, in fact on the same level as the Digital World there are still places like the Dark Area and the other worlds that make up the Dark World, but since these have a big difference from the Digital World, I decided to leave it to an upcoming blog.

There are still other worlds like the "God of Death World" mentioned in Digimon Tamers, another dimension that the D-Reaper made contact that allowed that it could evolve beyond the expected one and could threaten the Real World and the Digital World. Little is known of this world, apart from being located beyond the Realm of the Four Holy Beast (Which shows a doubt that if this world would be above the Yggdrasil’s Realm, and thus above all the Digital World, or above the Four Holy Beast, but still below Yggdrasil. It is important to remember that the notion of the Yggdrasil’s Realm began to be established only in the storylines of Digimon Frontier and then were complemented, so it is not yet known if this notion was already being used in the development of the D-Reaper that was of the era of Digimon Tamers) and if perhaps this world was a reference to the Dark Area, since this world has concepts that are very complementary to D-Reaper.

In Digimon Adventure Tri. was established the notion of the "Quantum Sea" being the origin of the Digital World and Real World, both of which arose from the Quantum Sea and due to developmental differences, both worlds that should be parallel ended up becoming differentiable through different layers. This concept is possibly a reference to Idea, which was also established at the beginning of Digimon Adventure Tri. The idea is that the Quantum Sea being the primordial form of the world, then as humans were developing, the Quantum Sea gave rise to several worlds according to human development, and through the development of the computer network, the Digital World would have been formed by the Quantum Sea. This explanation goes according to the concept of "Idea and the Physical World" that had been introduced previously.

Digimon Demiurge

The existence of the Hierarchy of Worlds is something that until now has not been explained very well, at the end of Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth, Suedo explains that "infinitely branched space-time" can be a consequence of the actions of God (Or Gods, Suedo is vague in these terms) and that even the World of Eaters would only be a part of the vast system known as Great Intention or Works of the Gods. So far, if the Divinities that created the entire World of Worlds exist is still a mystery. The initial calculations of Yggdrasil have not been able to prove if the Gods exist, but other calculations are still occurring then the final result is still open.

THE STRUCTURE

With each region of the Hierarchy of Worlds explained, here is where I will put the meaning of each part of this structure so that it is simple to understand from the point of view of a common reader of this Wikia.

• Physical World: A general term to refer to the Multiverse region where humans exist. It is a world made up of matter (atoms, molecules, etc.), time, space as well as a convectional universe. In this layer there is an infinite multiverse, where each action contains an infinite number of consequences according to Quantum Mechanics and each consequence is real in some universe of the multiverse.
• Dimensional Barrier: It is also used as a synonym for Network in some works. It refers to an intermediary layer that exists between the Physical World and the World of Ideas. This barrier is actually a multi-layer world, 6 layers in all, that exists so that the worlds do not connect. If the barrier fails, the worlds can begin to collide and as a consequence, they could be destroyed. Sometimes the barrier weakens, and this allows the worlds to connect and the regions where the worlds overlap are called distorted regions. Depending on the intensity of the distortion the consequence of them can have varied results.

• Idea: Possibly the same as the Quantum Sea. It is a primordial world that gave birth to all worlds, these worlds may be similar or different and exist side by side in a multi-layered structure. Idea originated as a chaotic world where primordial souls and concepts existed without any established law, in the midst of this chaos some entity gave birth to Demiurge who unconsciously used Idea as a basis for creating the Physical World. Later it is known that the order arose in Idea, which divided it between the World of Darkness and World of Light. The interaction between Idea and the Physical World would generate the various interpretations of humans about the true nature of Idea, which would eventually correspond to these interpretations allowing all of them to be real in some way. In this way multiple worlds representing interpretations of Idea ended up appearing.

• World of Darkness: It is the side of Idea that represents death, nothingness and negative feelings. This side consists of such things as sins, malice, erasure, and the like. It is what resembles the original form of Idea being a primordial void without order. Worlds like the Dark Area and the Dark Ocean are part of the World of Darkness.

• World of Light: It is the side of Idea that corresponds to life and positive emotions. By the human interpretation of this world, it has already had several forms including the Digital World.

• Digital World: It is the current interpretation of the World of Light being a cause of distortions between worlds being very well noticed through electronic devices which led to the interpretation that such distortions would be computer bugs and souls would be computer viruses that would be spreading through network. The Digital World is a multi-layered world with several other worlds, known as Servers, existing through the layers. This world is coordinated by a system of Terminals that is responsible for simulating the concepts of Past, Present and Future. Thus a set of events X in the Past would be calculated by the Stela Memorials to find all possible possibilities and the results would be expressed in the Present which in turn would also have its composition computed to find more possibilities that would be expressed in the Future. In this way we can define the Digital World as an infinite world of multiple layers, with other worlds within them and these worlds would lead to the existence of unlimited possibilities that would be expressed through the Terminals as other worlds.
  • Realm of the Four Holy Beasts: One of the highest layers of the Digital World, possibly being just below the Yggdrasil Realm. It is where the Four Holy Beasts reside with their devas. Originally a group composed of Xuanwumon, Zhuqiaomon, Qinglongmon, Baihumon, and originally supervised by Huanglongmon. These Digimon had the power to maintain the balance of worlds, without their power the worlds begin to collide, the initial connections are just a few distortions that may be imperceptible, but the distortions can grow to the point where all the worlds are destroyed resulting in a return to the primordial state of the darkness nothingness.
  • Yggdrasil Realm: Also called Paradise, Heaven, Eden, Kernel, God’s Kingdom, Holy Kingdom, God’s Domain, Center of the World, etc. This World is where the very essence of Yggdrasil, God of the Digital World, is located. It is the highest layer of the Digital World, putting itself beyond all others. It is in this layer that the Celestial Digimon and the Royal Knights reside receiving direct orders from Yggdrasil.
• World of Eaters: A world above even the Digital World, is in this world in which beings known as Eaters reside above concepts like time. The Eaters usually manifest themselves in the lower worlds causing distortions (Digital Waves), their purpose is to analyze the data through the Hierarchy of Worlds, to send the data to its original dimension and to use them as a basis for advancing the evolutionary process in an instant. The Eaters are overseen by a main unit, Mother Eater.
• Great Intent: Also known as the "Work of the Gods", it is the name that Suedo gives to the system of existence from which everything we have seen so far is only a "part". It is not yet known who are the divine entities that created all this, in fact it is not yet known if at least such deities do exist.