Devil Children (Series)

The Devil Children  series is a spin-off of the Megami Tensei franchise.
The Devil Children series is the only series in the franchise whose target audience is children, and as such has a more cartoonish and light-hearted aesthetic despite retaining many of the recurring themes. For the most part, recurring demons appearing in Devil Children do not share their visual design with the other series in the franchise, and were instead given redesigns to better fit with the series' aesthetic.
The protagonists are the titular Devil Children, half-human and half-demon. Leaning more into a "monster collecting" angle, the games are generally released in pairs and contain version exclusives in order to encourage trading. Story-wise, each game in a pair has its own protagonist. Both protagonists exist in the story at the same time, and each game will tell one singular story from the perspective of its protagonist.
The first entries of the franchise were the Devil Children Black Book and Red Book games and the DeviChil anime adaptation, which were produced concurrently. As of date, the only games released outside of Japan are DemiKids Light Version and Dark Version for the Game Boy Advance.
==Entries==
===Games===
*Devil Children Black Book & Red Book (2000, Game Boy Color; 2002, PlayStation)
*Devil Children White Book (2001, Game Boy Color)
*DemiKids Light Version / DemiKids Dark Version (2002 (Japan) / 2003 (America), Game Boy Advance)
*Devil Children Fire/Ice Book (2003, Game Boy Advance)
*Devil Children Puzzle de Call! (2003, Game Boy Advance)
*Devil Children Messiah Riser (2004, Game Boy Advance)
*Devil Children Mobile (2011)
===Anime===
*Shin Megami Tensei: DeviChil (2000)
*Shin Megami Tensei: D-Children Light & Dark (2002)
===Manga===
*Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children (Manga)
*Shin Megami Tensei: D-Children: Light & Dark (Manga)
===Card Game===
*Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children (Card Game)
===Other===
*Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children: DeviChilShot / 真・女神転生 デビルチルドレン デビチルショット (medal game)
==Gameplay==
===Leveling up===
The protagonist does not participate in battle, but they still have a level. As demons do not level up from experience gained in battle, all experience gained is instead given to the protagonist. The protagonist's level determines how strong of a demon they can fuse or recruit, as those demons can only be at most five levels above the protagonist.
===Partner===
All protagonists have a demon partner that stays by their side and cannot be removed from the party. It's possible for the protagonist to ride their partner in demon-infested areas for a faster moving speed at the cost of an increased encounter rate. While riding the partner, the protagonist can overcome obstacles such as jumping over ledges or digging tunnels underground, which may be either necessary to progress in certain areas, be used to access shortcuts, or be used to reach hidden areas.
All demons have an experience value assigned to them. Fusing any demon with the partner will make the partner absorb that experience, which allows them to level up. Furthermore, even if the partner hasn't accumulated enough experience to level up, fusing them with any demon may increase its stats. This increase is based on the level difference between the partner and the second demon: in most cases one random stat will be increased by 1, but multiple points will be assigned to random stats if the second demon's level far exceeds the partner's, and no increase will happen if the second demon is of a much lower level than the partner. This system is highly abusable as one can easily fuse the partner with weak demons to drag out levels and accumulate stat bonuses.
At certain points in the story, the partner will evolve into a stronger form. Each new form has its own base level and stats, but the partner's level and stats won't be overwritten unless they're lower than the new form's.
===Number of Skills===
All demons have six natural skills, but for the most part only the first three are available. The way of unlocking the final three skills (which tend to be stronger) varies depending on the game and its fusion mechanics. Depending on the game, it may be impossible to unlock all natural skills.
Partners start with their first three skills, and learn the remaining ones via level up.
===Fusion===
Except for White Book, each game in the series is released in pairs and has a different fusion system than its counterpart.
Black Book, Light Version, and Fire Book have a system similar to most games of the Megami Tensei franchise, in which the player fuses two demons of different races together to create a stronger demon. Demons created via fusion will gain access to their fourth natural skill, but the remainder two are not available.
Red Book, Dark Version, and Ice Book have a unique fusion system. When fusing two demons:
* If the second demon is of a lower base level than the first demon, the first demon will have one of its stats randomly increased by 1. This increase won't happen if the second demon's base level is much lower than the first demon's.
* If the second demon is of a higher base level than the first demon, the first demon will evolve into the next stronger demon of its race. During this process, the demon's stats won't be overwritten unless they're lower than the new form's.
* If the two demons being fused are the same, it will increase the first demon's maximum HP and SP. There is also a chance of unlocking the demon's latter three skills. Some demons will evolve into a new form after going through this process a few times.
When strengthening demons via this method, their base level won't change. However, the demons will still accumulate experience and "level up," though this level is not displayed to the player. This is done to prevent overt abuse of this strengthening method, tying it to the rule that dictates the player cannot have a demon over five levels stronger than the protagonist. Nevertheless, this system is still just as abusable as strengthening your partner.
White Book is the only game where both fusion method are available, but not at the same time. Most towns will only offer one type of fusion, while only a select few offer both methods.
==Gallery==
Devil_Children_Arcade_Cabinet.jpg|Arcade Machine
==Trivia==
* The given names of all three protagonists of Black Book, Red Book and White Book are expressions of "future" in different extent:
** Setsuna (刹那) - immediate future.
** Mirai (未来) - distant future.
** Masaki (将来) - foreseeable future.
Category:Series
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