Ichijouji Ken

At the start of the series, the Digimon Kaiser has upset the balance of the Digital World enough that Homeostasis calls on three new Chosen Children, Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori, and recalls Takeru and Hikari to defeat him. This proves incredibly difficult because he is a genius and ruthless due to the fact that he thinks the Digital World is a game and Digimon just data.

Ken meets the Chosen in person when the Tamachi FC soccer team plays a game against Odaiba Elementary. Ken is late but wins the game, only to be tackled and injured by Daisuke in the final seconds. Later, in the Digital World, Ken, as the Kaiser, humiliates Daisuke and reveals himself to be Ichijouji Ken.

Not long later, Ken runs away to the Digital World and begins a slow evolution into insanity. He develops the Evil Spiral to control Perfect Digimon, including Taichi’s Agumon as a dark MetalGreymon until the Chosen Children are able to free their friend.

Then, Ken starts to work on creating Chimeramon, a synthetic Digimon who he believes will be his true partner. He doesn’t realize that he is creating this Digimon because Millenniumon’s Dark Seed is trying to recreate Millenniumon and Chimeramon is one of two Digimon required to do that. In any event, Chimeramon is beyond his control, and Daisuke uses the Digimental of Miracles to Armor-evolve V-mon into Magnamon and defeat him. To do this, though, Wormmon sacrifices himself to give Magnamon his power.

Only then does Ken realize that Digimon are real and he has made a terrible mistake, but it is too late to save Wormmon. Ken sheds his Kaiser persona and goes home to figure out who he is and how and why he did something so terrible. He reflects on his childhood and his relationship with his brother, and after much introspection and an eerily comatose state, Ken returns to the Digital World to find Wormmon’s DigiTama.

Together, Ken and Wormmon work on destroying the Dark Towers to try to make up for what he did. Slowly, they become part of the team, although Daisuke wants him to join them immediately. Part of that process includes Stingmon Jogress-evolving with XV-mon to become Paildramon.

Ken opens up as he becomes more and more a part of the group and even invites everyone over for a Christmas party, which goes well aside from getting interrupted by rogue Digimon. Not long later, the group receives power from Qinglongmon, and Paildramon evolves to Imperialdramon. Then, the Chosen travel the world to return a bunch of Digimon to the Digital World, and Ken joins forces with Yamato in Mexico, where Ken is able to show off his Spanish skills.

When they return to Japan, the team fights a group of evil Digimon run by Demon, and Imperialdramon uses power from the other Digimon to change to Fighter Mode. Both Oikawa and Demon want the Dark Seed inside Ken’s neck, and Ken is forced to get on Oikawa’s truck to try to save a group of kidnapped children who want to be smart and athletic like Ken. Oikawa scans Ken’s Dark Seed and implants copies in the children, and not long later, the truck is stopped by Demon in Hikarigaoka. Daisuke, Lighdramon, and Wormmon rescue Ken, only for the team to have to fight Demon. Ken must open a gate to the World of Darkness and banish Demon there.

After a week of following the Dark Seed children around, the Chosen Children follow Oikawa and the children into the World of Dreams, where they discover Oikawa has been possessed by BelialVamdemon, who uses the power of the Dark Seeds to gain corporeal form. BelialVamdemon kills Archnemon and Mummymon, and everyone but Daisuke is too scared to fight him.

BelialVamdemon sends the Chosen Children into an illusion that is supposed to trap them in their greatest desires. In Ken’s vision, he sees his Kaiser persona punished and murdered for his crimes against Digimon and then his brother Osamu, who tells Ken he has already paid for his sins. But Wormmon helps him realize it is just a dream, and the rest of the Chosen Children arrive to support him.

Once the group is free of the illusion and motivated to fight, they blast BelialVamdemon into the Digital World and use the light from their Digivices to power Imperialdramon: Fighter Mode’s Giga Death cannon to defeat him.