Written by Jonathan Wojcik with the aid of With the Will, Digimon Wiki and Wikimon
TRAILMON AND LOCOMON
ADULT(????): TRAILMON
So the "Trailmon" are kind of an oddity, as they've appeared in more than one digimon manga or anime, but have no known abilities, no official profile, basically no consideration as true digimon in any other media. They seem to be nothing but sentient train cars, and each one has a completely unique appearance. Obviously, I think the coolest one we've ever seen is that four-eyed "worm" Trailmon, but the pink mole is also pretty interesting, and goes to show that whatever a trailmon is, it can look like almost anything.
RATING:
RATING:
Case in point, one Trailmon later seen in Digimon Frontier and eventually a single TCG card is just...this. Just a youkai-like spherical cyclops that pedals its own wheel with its goofy little arms. This is the only trailmon to ever get a TCG card, and it can evolve from Hagurumon or Toy Agumon, which are fine choices. Trailmon, then, should logically be the adult stage of the "line" we're looking at today, but sadly, nothing would ever officially connect them to our next digimon.
RATING:
RATING:
PERFECT: LOCOMON
Locomon does enjoy full-fledged digimon status, and was actually introduced before the Trailmon in a Digimon Tamers movie that we'll be talking about again in another ten reviews, so, sit tight for that.
The concept of a digimon in the form of a train, even limited to traveling a railway system, is a very cool and interesting idea. Apparently all it does is transport "data" from one end of the digital world to the other, but of course, "data" in the digital world can take literally any form, so, it really is a train that might transport resources and passengers. It also has such a sweet, lovable face on it, doesn't it? And with nothing but a pair of eyes! Compare with the eerie doll-mask of Thomas the Tank Engine and it really goes to show that when it comes to cartoon facial features, less is almost always more.
I guess Frontier came up with Trailmon under the notion that they'd be not only Locomon's unevolved form, but function as cars pulled along by this steam engine creature, hence "trailmon," as in "trailing behind." That's my interpretation, anyway. Seems kinda obvious, but was never fully canonized.RATING:
The concept of a digimon in the form of a train, even limited to traveling a railway system, is a very cool and interesting idea. Apparently all it does is transport "data" from one end of the digital world to the other, but of course, "data" in the digital world can take literally any form, so, it really is a train that might transport resources and passengers. It also has such a sweet, lovable face on it, doesn't it? And with nothing but a pair of eyes! Compare with the eerie doll-mask of Thomas the Tank Engine and it really goes to show that when it comes to cartoon facial features, less is almost always more.
I guess Frontier came up with Trailmon under the notion that they'd be not only Locomon's unevolved form, but function as cars pulled along by this steam engine creature, hence "trailmon," as in "trailing behind." That's my interpretation, anyway. Seems kinda obvious, but was never fully canonized.
RATING:
ULTIMATE: GRAND LOCOMON
Locomon's Ultimate evolved form isn't something the gentle mechanoid generally wants to evolve into, because it goes from a peaceful data transportation system to a rampaging beast, capable of generating its own rails to go wherever the heck it wants...and demolish it.
I really enjoy the idea of a friendly train digimon evolving into a more violent "runaway" form, which highlights the fact that some Ultimate stages really are just meant to be temporary transformations under unusual circumstances.RATING:
I really enjoy the idea of a friendly train digimon evolving into a more violent "runaway" form, which highlights the fact that some Ultimate stages really are just meant to be temporary transformations under unusual circumstances.
