Digital World

The Digital World (デジタルワールド Dejitaru Wārudo?) is a fictional universe featured in the Digimon media franchise. In Digimon anime, manga, video games, and other related merchandise, the Digital World (or DigiWorld for short) is a parallel universe to Earth that was made from computer data originating in Earth's communications networks

In the earliest stages of its existence, this incarnation of the Digital World was little more than a barren desert. As it grew alongside the Earth's communications network, however, it evolved and changed in dynamic ways, with more and more "layers" coming into existence over the top of the old ones. The lowest layer is the original desert plain, and the highest is the home of the four Digimon Sovereigns that rule the Digital World. In between lie many small "mini-verses," self-contained environments specially suited to the Digimon that live there, including (but not limited to) an area of clouds and clockwork; a warped, black-and-white town; an area of forests, lakes and rivers; and a 'world' entirely composed of water. Random packets of discarded data often roam the Digital World like tumbleweeds, and can be used to help repair and heal injured Digimon. Although the Digital World has both night and day, there is no transitional period between the two, with darkness instantly sweeping across the world like a sheet. Visible in the sky no matter what plain it is viewed from is a pulsing globe of code and light, which represent the Earth—from it emanate "data streams", vast columns of energy which reach down into the Digital World and manipulate is digital matter, physical representations of acts performed on computers across the world. Should an individual be caught in a data stream, they will be swept up into it and deposited elsewhere, on any of the Digital World's potential planes. Between Earth and the Digital World is a warped region of inter dimensional space where reality is constantly in flux, and defined only by the perceptions of individuals passing through it.

Digimon are, in fact, not native to this Digital World, having been created by a group of teenage computer programmers in the late 1980s as an experiment into the development of artificial intelligence. When their project was shut down due to lack of funds, their primitive digital lifeforms accidentally found their way into the Digital World, where they began to grow and evolve. One of the programmers, Shibumi, observed this, and wrote an algorithm that allowed the Digimon to evolve beyond their original specifications and truly become individual lifeforms. Four Digimon in particular evolved into especially powerful forms and became the aforementioned "Digimon Sovereign." The Digital World does have some native lifeforms, however, in the form of "DigiGnomes," the first form of artificial life who evolved from the matter of the Digital World itself before the coming of Digimon. The DigiGnomes tend to the welfare of the Digital World, and have mysterious, undefined powers that allow them to grant the wishes of others.

Another definitive feature of this Digital World is that any Digimon that dies is dead indefinitely. While in other Digital World's the death of a Digimon usually results in an infinite cycle of rebirth, Digimon in this Digital World are turned into data upon their deaths. In most cases this data is absorbed by other Digimon in order to obtain power or to digivolve.