Yamato "Matt" Ishida

Template:Infobox Digimon character Yamato "Matt" Ishida (石田 ヤマト Ishida Yamato in the Japanese version) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02.

Matt starts out as a secretive loner whose Digimon partner is Gabumon. His younger brother, T.K. Takaishi, is one of the eight DigiDestined. He is very protective of T.K., and oftentimes acts harshly when he (T.K.) is in trouble. In the English language dub, the two were said to be half-brothers at the beginning of the series in the episode Garurumon, but that was a dialogue mistake, as it was proven during the Myotismon saga that T.K.'s mom is also Matt's mom, and his father was Matt's dad. Matt was voiced by Yuuto Kazama (Japan) and Michael Reisz (US).

Prelude to Digimon Adventure

He witnessed the Greymon/Parrotmon fight.

Matt's parents divorced before the events of Digimon Adventure. His father took him while his mother took his brother, T.K. He and his father moved to Odaiba, where his father works as a consultant at the Fuji TV Network, Inc. building.

Digimon Adventure

File:Matt Ishida.jpeg

Yamato "Matt" Ishida (Yamato Ishida) in Season 1

Matt served an odd role during the first season. He was one of the best friends of the group leader Tai, but he was also his rival, which led to a large internal conflict throughout the show and climaxed at the end of the season. It was mainly over whether or not Tai a better older brother to T.K. than he was, and whether he was a better person than Matt. Matt was much more protective and concerned about the group as a whole, causing more conflict compared to Tai's head-first strategy.

He is the holder of the Crest of Friendship (友情の紋章 yūjō no monshō), which activated when Joe risked his life to save T.K. from a Veggiemon and was then being strangled by it. Matt remembered how he had berated Joe earlier for constantly making mistakes and keeping them both stuck working in a diner to pay off the bill for Joe's meal, especially his accusation that Joe was making these mistakes on purpose. Realizing that, he also realized that he could not win his battles alone (a revelation that was finalized in his mind much later in the series) and needed the help of everyone, including Joe.

When the DigiDestined traveled back into the Real World, he had one encounter with his mother, which did not go well. Although T.K. was ecstatic to have his whole family together (if only for a minute), Matt refused to say much more than "Hi Mom" to her. This encounter revealed lingering resentments in him that continue even after he returns to the Digital World.

Upon returning to the Digital World, he becomes angry when he thinks T.K. no longer needs him and decides to leave the group for a while. He was persuaded by Cherrymon that Tai was his enemy, which culminated into a major fistfight between them. He returned briefly to save the group from Puppetmon before disappearing again. Towards the end of the series, he falls into a pit of darkness and is forced to realize that his parents divorce broke his heart and made him resort to solitude. He refused to let anyone see him cry, which caused him to push away from potential friends. Gabumon gets him to understand that everything would be alright and that he is valuable. Matt then rejoins the party just in time for the final battle.

In May 2000, Matt arrived in the Digital World and gave up his Crest power to free the Digimon Sovereigns. As a result, Gabumon lost the power to become WereGarurumon and MetalGarurumon.

Our War Game

When Diaboromon begins his rampage over the Internet, Matt is at his grandmother's place. He and T.K. rush to town and enter a barbershop, the only place that has a computer, and connect to the Internet. With Tai and Agumon and help from Izzy, they both battle Diaboromon. T.K. is by his side, as is Gabumon as MetalGarurumon. He and Tai enter the Internet unintentionally and with the help of all of the kids over the net, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon are able to DNA Digivolve into the Royal Knight Omnimon. Omnimon is able to defeat Diaboromon and Matt and Tai return back home.

Bass wo Hiki Nagara

On the Original Story Music and CD Drama, track 7 "Bass wo Hiki Nagara", set in March 2002, looks at Yamato theme as well as a short story of the creation of Yamato's band. Yamato has a conversation with his father, only to find out he was part of a band in his youth (he didn't sing, though - he only played bass). While Yamato tries to learn more about musical genres, he starts playing in his father's bass guitar, and they talk about the movie "I Was a Teenage Werewolf", and he reminds his father about Gabumon's evolutions (Garurumon looks like a wolf, and WereGarurumon is the one who looks like a werewolf).

He informs his father that his mother was writing a report about what took place in 1999, although she wouldn't mention the Chosen Children.

Later, Yamato recalls that when his parents separated and couldn't decide who would stay with whom, it was him who choose to go with his father, so that his little brother could stay with his mother. He thinks about the way he always liked to make his own decisions, even though that could keep him from making friends. In the end, he concludes that thanks to Gabumon he had realized that he wasn't right and that he wasn't alone anymore.

Digimon Adventure02

File:02matt4.jpg

Matt in Season 2

Matt has since become the vocalist and bass player for a rock band called the Teenage Wolves. He is very popular and girls were always running up to him wanting his autograph, much to his dismay. One of his biggest fans was the older sister of Davis, Jun Motomiya, who constantly pursues him in the storyline. One time, when Matt was going to tell the Motomiyas that Davis was going to be gone for a little while, Jun said that she knew that he was lying and blackmailed him into going on a dinner. She also wanted to go camping with him, but he told her to close her eyes and left her behind; she later tracked him down at the campground itself.

His friendship with Tai has changed: while they are still rivals, it was a rivalry based on friendship, with more of a mutual respect for each other. At one point when Tai felt he had let down Agumon, Matt punched him in the face to try and get him to snap out of it. Unlike in the previous season; Tai said, "He needed it."

But near the finale, Matt developed a relationship with Sora and there are also signs that show this; for example when Matt asks if he should be jealous of Yuri because Sora kept talking about how Yuri was going to take her and Yolei out for lunch.

By the year 2027, Matt has become an astronaut and is married to Sora. He and Gabumon became the first human and Digimon to land on Mars (even though they were only supposed to go the moon). He has two kids: a daughter with a Yokomon and a son with a Tsunomon.

Michi E No Armor Shinka

During a plan to distract Boltmon via tap-dancing, Matt finally declared his feelings for Sora.

Diaboromon Strikes Back

Matt and Tai defeat Diaboromon/Armageddemon, with Gabumon and Agumon digivolving together to form Omnimon. He was still good friends with Tai and the rest of the DigiDestined. There was a picture of him and Sora when they were still dating but, apparently, they had a little spat. However, as a joke in the movie, he annoyed Tai when he told Izzy she was at her Tennis Club meet by saying, "Can't you remember your own girlfriend's appointments?"

Trivia

• Matt and T.K.'s given names, Yamato and Takeru, are a reference to Yamato Takeru, a figure in Japanese legend.
• Matt has two Japanese image songs, "Walk on the Edge" and "Negai Kanaeru Kagi" ("The Key to Granting Wishes") as well as a third one sung with Gabumon (Yamaguchi Mayumi) called "Oretachi no MERODII" ("Our Melody").
• In addition, a single has been released in Japan of the song "Tobira" ("Door"), which Matt's band sung in a concert in one episode (It was dubbed as, "I Turn Around"), as well as another called "Hitoribotchi no SHIISOO" ("Lone Seesaw") as a B-track.