Taichi "Tai" Kamiya

Taichi "Tai" Kamiya, known as Taichi Yagami (八神　太一) in Japan, is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01, Digimon Adventure, and Digimon Adventure 02. Although his first name is "Taichi", in the English version, he primarily goes by his dub-given nickname, Tai.

Tai first appeared in the manga Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 in 1998, but was re-imagined for the Digimon Adventure television franchise. After appearing in the film Digimon Adventure (1999), Tai has made regular appearances in the television series as a main character and also in other supplementary medias.

As the leader of the DigiDestined, Tai is partnered with Zeromaru in the V-Tamer 01 manga, and Agumon in Digimon Adventure. He is also the rightful holder of the Crest of Courage (勇気の紋章). He is the older brother of fellow DigiDestined Kari Kamiya.

Description
Tai is adventurous, athletic, and charismatic, which easily makes him the leader of the DigiDestined. However, his aggressive, impulsive personality often puts him in danger. He eventually learns empathy and compassion are key to success instead of reckless courage. Back at his home in Odaiba, Tai is the star player on his school's soccer team. He is best friends with Sora Takenouchi.

In the sequel, Digimon Adventure 02, Tai remains close friends with Agumon and a powerful soccer player, but has also become more patient.

Manga
Tai first appeared in the 1998 manga Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 as its main lead. He was a boy whose V-Pet had a Digimon thought to be a glitch, which turned out to be Zeromaru. After meeting Lord HolyAngemon, he was brought into the Digital World to fight Daemon. After he and Zeromaru defeated Daemon, he and the other children returned to the Real World. Despite the fact that this is the earlier appearance of the design, the character of Tai in V-Tamer is separate from the character of Tai in the anime and video games. It is noted by Davis, in a crossover chapter of the manga, that V-Tamer's Tai looks completely identical to the one he knows.

Pilot film
Tai made his first appearance in the Digimon Adventure television franchise in the short pilot film Digimon Adventure (1999), which was combined as the first part of Digimon: The Movie (2001) was localized. Unlike the V-Tamer 01 manga, he was given a new background and origin. The film depicts his first encounter with a Digimon as a young child.

In the television series
Succeeding the film, Tai is one of the main characters in the television series Digimon Adventure (1999). In this series, Tai is in fifth grade and is eleven years old.

In the sequel, Digimon Adventure 02, Tai appears less frequently due to relinquishing his abilities to Davis Motomiya, and even hands him his leadership title along with his goggles. He still volunteers when needed. Taking place roughly four years after Digimon Adventure (three years in the original version), Tai is now in tenth grade and fifteen years old (eighth grade and fourteen years old in the original version). In the epilogue, he has son who is partnered with a Koromon. He has also become a diplomat for the Digital and Real Worlds with Agumon.

In the video games
Tai makes a cameo as a non-playable character in the WonderSwan game Digimon Adventure: Anode/Cathode Tamer, where he is captured by Milleniummon and until Ryo Akiyama comes to his rescue.

Tai appears in D-1 Tamer, where he is a contestant in the D-1 Tournament Ryo must battle against.

In the game Digimon Tamers: Brave Tamer, Tai and Agumon are attacked by Shellmon, and Ryo has the option to save him over Davis and Takato. Following the end of the battle, he allows Agumon to join his party.

In other films
In the film Our War Game! (2000), the second part of the localized Digimon: The Movie, which takes place on the spring break after Digimon Adventure, Tai engages in battle with Diaboromon and enlists the help of Izzy, Matt, and T.K.

When the film featurette release of Digimon Hurricane Landing! and its second part, ''Supreme Evolution! The Golden Digimentals, which also made the third part of Digimon: The Movie'', Tai is captured by Wendigomon during his search for Willis and is de-aged until Davis and Willis defeat him. Due to ''Digimon Hurricane Landing!/Supreme Evolution! The Golden Digimentals being heavily cut when the movie was localized for Digimon: The Movie'', this subplot was removed in the English version.

The sequel of Our War Game!, Revenge of Diaboromon (2001), takes place on the spring break after Digimon Adventure 02. After being targeted by Diaboromon, Tai battles him with Matt and their Digimon, only to fail. However, he lends his power to Davis and Ken to combat the threat.

In the CD dramas
Tai is featured in supplementary audio dramas released on CD during the television series' run, most of which consist miscellaneous adventures with the other DigiDestined that do not relate to the overall plot of the show. These include a mystery adventure Tai and Sora go on and tap dancing to distract Boltmon on Valentine's Day.

In an audio drama released years after the end of Digimon Adventure 02, which takes place between Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02, Tai is heard talking to Agumon after a Digiport briefly opens.

Development
Tai's character was designed by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru. In an exclusive interview released with the Digimon Adventure DVD box on December 21, 2007, producer Satoru Nishizono revealed that as the staff decided on Tai's name using kanji that related to "luck."

In Japan, all of Tai's appearances were voiced by Toshiko Fujita. In the English dub, Joshua Seth provides his voice. However, by the time the film Revenge of Diaboromon was dubbed in English, he had retired from the voice acting industry in 2005, causing casting director Jeff Nimoy to cast Jason Spisak as his replacement, remarking how similar he sounded to Seth.

Merchandise
During the run of the television series Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02, Tai was included in merchandise such as trading cards. In Japan, his character was also given three theme songs: "Yūki wo Tsubasa ni Shite" (勇気を翼にして), "Atarashī Taiyō" (新しい太陽), and "Towa ni Tsuzuke!" (永久に続け!!). All songs were performed by his voice actress, Toshiko Fujita. His character CD single, Atarashī Taiyō: Best Partner 1: Taichi Yagami & Agumon (新しい太陽 ベストパートナー① 八神太一&アグモン), which also included Agumon's (Chika Sakamoto) solo "Agumon Ondo" (アグモンONDO) and their duet "Team", was released on June 21, 2000. It debuted at #77 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and stayed there for one week.

Reception
In a series of online polls conducted on Toei Animation's Digimon website, Tai was ranked 3rd by Japanese voters as their favorite DigiDestined. When the same question was asked three more times, his rank fell to 6th, rose to 4th , and finally landed at 5th.