T.K. Takaishi

"T.K., Call me T.K. and I'm not as small as I look."

- T.K. Takaishi

Takeru "T.K." Takaishi (高石 タケル Takaishi Takeru?) is a character in the anime and manga series Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02. He is the younger brother of Yamato "Matt" Ishida. He is partnered with Patamon, and embodies the trait of Hope. in Digimon Adventure 01, T.K. is the youngest Digidestened. He is a very sweet kid and very well liked by the other kids.

He hates it when his big brother Matt gets into a conflict or fight with Tai, the leader of the Digidestined. He also begins to have feelings for Kari Kamiya, Tai's little sister and the eighth Digidestined. In Adventure 02 T.K has had a growth sport and joined the school Basketball team.

He is voiced by Wendee Lee in Digimon Adventure, replace to his second English Voice Actor, Doug Erholtz in Digimon Adventure 02 and replace to his third English Voice Actor, Johnny Yong Bosch in Digimon Adventure tri.

Background
In 1995, T.K. lived in Highton View Terrace with his parents, Hiroaki and Nancy, and his older brother, Matt. One night, the brothers witnessed the battle between Greymon and Parrotmon. This event led them to be chosen to become a new DigiDestined. Sometime later, his parents divorced for unknown reasons. Matt was given the decision of who each child should live with, and he decided to stay with his father, while T.K. remained with their mother. T.K. was too young to remember his parents' divorce clearly, and because of his young age, he was not as affected by it as much as Matt at first.

Digimon Adventure
T.K. came to summer camp with Matt by a special arrangement, as he was from a different school than the others. He is the youngest DigiDestined to be transported into the Digital World from the summer camp. However, he is fairly independent on his own, mostly rebuffing his older brother Matt's attempts to comfort and coddle him. However, he enjoys getting to spend more time with his brother, despite the odd situation.

When Devimon separates the DigiDestined, T.K. and Patamon end up landing near Primary Village. They enjoy playing with the baby Digimon, but don't know how to take care of them, and Elecmon, the babies' caretaker, accuses them of being harmful and starts fighting with Patamon. T.K. defuses the situation and settles Patamon and Elecmon's fight with a friendly tug-o-war match, with T.K. as the judge. During the final battle against Devimon, Patamon Digivolves into Angemon when Takeru is in danger. Angemon summons all of the others' strengths and sacrifices himself in order to defeat Devimon. Though Angemon is immediately reborn as a Digi-Egg, this event traumatizes T.K. severely, to the point where he still has nightmares about losing his partner three years later. However, this event causes T.K. to be the first of the team to accept his role as a DigiDestined. After Tai and MetalGreymon disappear following the battle against Etemon, Matt and T.K. stick together even when the other DigiDestined leave. When they reach an amusement park near a lake, Matt and Gabumon cross the lake to check things out, but never come back. DemiDevimon uses this opportunity to make T.K. believe Matt didn't like him and reject Tokomon's friendship. However, Tai and Agumon's return ruin DemiDevimon's plans, and T.K. and Tokomon reconcile, with Tokomon Digivolving to Patamon to fight DemiDevimon. Soon, the DigiDestined reunite and return to the Real World with their Digimon, hoping to find the eighth DigiDestined before Myotismon and his army get to them. On August 2, as Matt accompanies T.K. on the way back to Setagaya, T.K. and Patamon get in an argument, and Patamon leaves the train in a huff in Shibuya. As T.K., Matt and Gabumon try to find Patamon, they encounter two members of Myotismon's army, Gotsumon and Pumpkinmon, who are more interested in having fun with them than attacking the DigiDestined. Myotsimon is unimpressed with Gotsumon and Pumpkinmon's disobedience and banishes them (kills them in the Japanese version), and T.K. and Matt fight Myotismon in their honor. Patamon returns to T.K., and regains his ability to Digivolve to Angemon. Before the DigiDestined go back to the Digital World to fix the distortions once and for all, T.K. gets to see his mother, father and brother together again. Though the atmosphere is tense, T.K. is oblivious, and is happy to see his family as it was before the divorce. T.K. plays a critical role in defeating Puppetmon. While Puppetmon kidnaps him to "play" at his mansion, T.K. taunts Puppetmon, saying that he had no friends and prompting the distraught Dark Master to leave him unattended in an attempt to prove him wrong. This allows T.K. to destroy Puppetmon's twisted playroom and take the dolls he used to control the other DigiDestined. He returns to the other DigiDestined on his own, proving how much he has grown. While fighting against Piedmon, T.K., Patamon and Kari are the only ones left after Piedmon turns everyone else into keychains. However, Gomamon snatches a keychain from Piedmon and throws it to T.K. before turning into a keychain himself. When T.K. and Kari find themselves falling to an almost certain death, T.K. realizes the keychain is Matt's keychain. Knowing his brother is still there and has faith in him fills T.K.'s heart with hope, and this hope causes Angemon to Digivolve to MagnaAngemon. MagnaAngemon saves T.K. and Kari, restores everyone from their keychain state, and is the key to defeating Piedmon once and for all.

Digimon: The Movie
On March 4, 2000, T.K. is with Matt visiting their grandmother out in the country. Tai and Izzy manage to get a hold of them and warn them about Diaboromon. Following this, the brothers search the surrounding town for a computer to help fight in the Internet. T.K., however, cannot do much to help in the battle and can only watch in horror as Patamon falls to Diaboromon. He is one of the many viewers around the world who watch the final battle between Omnimon and Diaboromon.

When T.K. and Kari visit Mimi in New York, they encounter Willis, his Digimon, Terriermon, and Wendigomon. While on a train for Colorado, their train is hindered by Wendigomon, so they have to continue on foot. They manage to join up with the others during the fight with Cherubimon. Angemon and Angewomon Digivolve to their Mega forms to release the powers of the Golden Digi-Eggs so Veemon and Terriermon can golden armor digivolve.

Digimon Adventure 02
On May 2000, T.K. arrives in the Digital World and gives up his Crest power to free the Digimon Sovereigns. As a result, Patamon loses the power to become MagnaAngemon.

On April 2002, T.K. and his mother move to a new apartment building in Odaiba. On his first day in Odaiba Elementary School, T.K. meets his new neighbors, Yolei Inoue and Cody Hida, and starts attending Odaiba Elementary School, where he finds out he is in the same class as his old friend Kari. Another boy in his class is Davis Motomiya, who immediately singles him out as a rival due to his good relationship with Kari. On the first day of school, he finds out that the Digital World is in trouble due to a human boy who calls himself the Digimon Emperor. He also discovers Davis, Yolei and Cody are new DigiDestined, whose Digimon are capable of Armor Evolution. T.K., like Kari, has a slight advantage compared to the new kids because he has had the most experience with Digimon, though at first he feels like a burden because Patamon can't evolve, due to the Digimon Emperor blocking evolution with his Control Spires. However, he soon finds the Digi-Egg of Hope, which turns his Digivice into a D-3 and allows Patamon to Armor Digivolve into Pegasusmon. When Kari begins to act strange and starts fading out in class, T.K. becomes worried, and is distraught when Gatomon tells him that Kari disappeared into thin air. He goes to look for her on the beach with Patamon and Gatomon, and they are surprised to see Kari calling to them through a portal. They enter the portal to the Dark Ocean, a strange dark world that Kari has been pulled into. Pegasmon destroys a Control Spire in this world, allowing Gatomon to digivolve into Angewomon and save Kari. The four then return to the Real World. While T.K. and Cody infiltrate the Digimon Emperor's base, T.K. realizes Ken is using Devimon's data to complete his secret project. Enraged by Ken's abuse of the powers of darkness, T.K. throws his hat to the floor in anger and seeks out Ken. when he confronts Ken, he taunts the other boy for thinking he could control the forces of darkness, and gets in a fistfight with him, which is only halted by the uncontrollable Kimeramon attacking the base. After the debut of Paildramon and Silphymon, Cody realizes that he and T.K. would become partners and have their Digimon DNA Digivolve. As he tries to understand T.K. better to become a better partner to him, he realizes that there are two sides to T.K.: The kind and cheery T.K., and the fierce and serious T.K. that only surfaces in the matters of villains of pure evil like Devimon, Kimeramon or BlackWarGreymon. He sees this side clearly during a battle to protect one of the Destiny Stones, when T.K. is increasingly angered by BlackWarGreymon's existence as a construct made of darkness. When BlackWarGreymon grabs Angemon by the throat, T.K. becomes upset until Angemon uses the Stone's power to Digivolve into MagnaAngemon, though this isn't enough to save the Destiny Stone. Cody decides to talk to Matt, who explains how darkness hurt T.K. three years ago. When Matt informs T.K., he comments that Cody could have asked him, but is glad Cody made the effort to understand him. After he helps Cody relax and assures him that he is sure they can achieve DNA Digivolution together, Angemon and Ankylomon finally DNA Digivolve to Shakkoumon. On Christmas Day, T.K., Tai and their Digimon go to Paris to help the DigiDestined of France round up the wild Digimon who had appeared in the Real World as a result of Arukenimon opening all the Digi-Ports. They are aided by T.K.'s grandfather, Michel, a proud Frenchman. When he returns to Japan, he is forced to admit to his mother that he is involved in Digimon-related business again. He is surprised but grateful when Nancy uses her connections as a journalist to give him a list of the children Yukio Oikawa kidnapped and seeded with Dark Spores. During the battle against MaloMyotismon, T.K. is paralyzed with fear after witnessing MaloMyotismon's cruelty. While he is subjected to MaloMyotismon's illusion, he experiences his desire for his family to be together again. Patamon appears, making T.K. realize that the effect was not real, and Davis appears to break him free of the illusion, after which he joins with the other kids to help Ken break out of his illusion. Cody uses the power of the dream dimension against MaloMyotismon, making his desire for justice come true, with Angemon, MagnaAngemon, Pegasusmon and Shakkoumon appearing all at once. He then helps defeat MaloMyotismon once and for all with the light of his Digivice.

Reunion
Kari asks T.K. if he can go Tai's game, but he says he's already taking a friend to Matt's concert. Kari susses out that the friend is a girl, and the two tease each other about relationships before parting ways. T.K. meets with Matt at the concert venue, where the amplifier starts to malfunction and produce weird sounds. Greymon is beginning to lose. At the lowest moment, the other DigiDestined appear, all with their partners--save for Mimi, who just landed in Narita Airport, and Joe, who is wandering the streets while depressed. As Greymon degenerates, two more Kuwagamon appear, so the DigiDestined split up into pairs to prevent escape. Before Kuwagamon can attack the defenseless team, Alphamon's arm emerges from a portal and drags it back through. In the aftermath, the DigiDestined now begin to question the circumstances, as they all had been herded to the airport by a very professional group, who is also taking care of the post-handling of the matter with the same professionalism. They are then escorted home without answers, though Mimi reveals that she's returning to Japan for a while. Izzy and T.K. go shopping together, where Izzy displays his online outfit simulator and T.K. pokes fun at Izzy's very obvious attraction to Mimi. The DigiDestined, save for Matt and Joe, meet the next day at Izzy's office, where he helps out his American friend's firm. Tai updates the others on the Infected Digimon. DigiDestined, save for Matt and Joe, meet the next day at Izzy's office, where he helps out his American friend's firm. Izzy then displays his new development: a virtual cyberspace that allows the Digimon to evacuate in a hurry through monitors connected to the internet and also allows them to communicate via text. They decide to meet again on Saturday. At home, T.K. updates a blog that the DigiDestined around the world use to communicate with each other about the Kuwagamon sightings, warning them to be careful. The DigiDestined spend the day searching and then meet Meiko, who is looking for her cat. They help out, and though they fail, they have fun together. They single out Odaiba's ferris wheel when Matt joins them, and the others force the two into a single car to sort out their differences. They do not get very far into their conversation when Tai then puts on the goggles and sees a massive distortion in the sky. The distortion triggers an abnormal weather event and forces an evacuation. Alphamon. Alphamon attacks Meiko and Meicoomon when they reunite, drawing the DigiDestined to the scene. The DigiDestined attack to protect them. Meiko introduces Meicoomon as her partner, revealing her status as a DigiDestined, and is immediately welcomed into the fold.

Determination
Mimi organizes a large trip to Ooedo-Onsen Monogatari to welcome Meiko to the team as well as try to help Tai and Matt patch things up. Kari slips and is saved by a mostly naked T.K., and Sora and Meiko find their partners, though not before coming across Tai and Matt. With their trip a success in that Meiko is welcomed into the group, though Tai and Matt remain at odds, they return to their homes. Reunited, everyone wonders what has happened to Ken to make him take the persona of the Digimon Emperor again. As the fully reunited DigiDestined discuss their next plan. Meicoomon tears Leomon apart to the DigiDestined's horror, though Himekawa has a smirk unseen by the others. The DigiDestined try to deal with what they just witnessed.

Confession
T.K. and Kari try to find Ken Ichijouji, who appears to have become the Digimon Emperor once again but cannot find him. T.K. arrives, however, Joe has managed to finally get Izzy to rest. Seeing their opportunity, the Digimon come out to play, but Patamon shows signs of an infection and bites T.K.'s arm. T.K. then takes Patamon home with him, intending to quarantine Patamon from infection but unable to tell the others.

When Meiko returns to school and is reunited with the others who have called an emergency meeting. Because of Patamon's absence, the other Digimon want to roam freely too, but their partners fear an infection and realize bunching them up runs the risk of a mass infection. After an agreement is made, T.K. confesses to Meiko that Patamon is fighting an infection, causing her to lose her renewed vigor. At home, Patamon recognizes his infection and makes T.K. promise to "finish him" should he go completely infected like Meicoomon. Both partners break down crying and hug even as it turns dark. When Matt and Gabumon arrive to try and probe T.K., who deflects. At Odaiba Middle School, T.K. contemplates his and Patamon's situation as Kari gets a call. T.K.'s attempts to stop him, Patamon digivolves to Angemon. The others fight off the infection just long enough to force them all back into the distortion as the reboot occurs. All of the DigiDestined break down into tears at the loss.

DigiDestined cannot help but remember their partners even as they return to their daily lives. Everyone decides that they're sick of waiting. With the resolve to move forward, they resolve to make their way into the Digital World. As the others tell Nishijima and Himekawa their plan, T.K. meets with Meiko, who reveals that Meicoomon was the source of the infection. Though T.K. is angry, he remembers his own hesitation to tell the others and uses that empathy to forgive her. T.K. tell her to join them to Digital World but Meiko rejects the offer to join them, too sick with guilt. T.K. tells them where they're meet and meets up with the others. Using the power of their Crests as well as Ken's D-3 and D-Terminal, they are able to force a portal to the Digital World, through which they enter.

In the Digital World, the DigiDestined admit something feels off. They're interrupted by Alphamon and Hackmon, clearing Mega-level Digimon, fighting. They escape and then hear a familiar whistle. They follow the sound to see their partners playing around in their In-Training forms. Tokomon and other Digimon do not remember the humans, but the DigiDestined decide to befriend them from scratch.

Loss
Coming soon!

Quotes

 * "Patamon, help!"
 * "Matt! Matt, help me!"
 * "Help me! I can't swim good, Patamon!"
 * "Hiya, Matt!"
 * "Matt, somebody! Get me down!"
 * "Matt, I'm going to tell Mom that you were fighting!"
 * "Joe! He's caught!"
 * "At least kids make up pretty fast. My parents are still mad at me. For the time I painted our kittycat."
 * "I don't know, my mom said never to take candy or rope from strangers."
 * "Come on, DemiDevimon, let's go ride the roller-coaster!"
 * "Is that a train? If it is, it's the most silentest, most invisibelist train I ever saw!"
 * "But that was then, and this is now!"

Similar Heroes

 * Nightwing (Young Justice)
 * Ben Kirk (Neighbours)
 * Andy Barclay (Child's Play)
 * Gohan (Dragon Ball)
 * Tony Thompson (The Little Vampire)
 * Peter Shepherd (Jumanji)
 * Lucas Kendall (Power Rangers Time Force)
 * Todd Flanders (The Simpsons)
 * Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles)
 * Newt (The Maze Runner)

Trivia
T.K. is 8 years old in Digimon Adventure, 11 years old in Digimon Adventure 02 and 14 years old in Digimon Adventure tri.
 * Young TK's voice actress in Adventure, Wendee Lee voices Alpha 6 In Power Rangers Turbo, Power Rangers in Space and Power Rangers Lost Galaxy while TK's voice actor in Adventure 02, Doug Erholtz voices Squall Leonhart in Dissidia Final Fantasy and kingdom Hearts 2.