History
Renamon doesn't remember much of her past in the Digital World, whether by choice or chance. Like all Digimon, she hatched from a digi-egg, lived as her baby form, Viximon, for awhile before naturally digivolving into Renamon. Though her memories are flawed, she would say, however, that you have to fight to survive there, and every day would be a constant struggle. Because, or in spite of this, Renamon became strong, usually so, for a "Rookie," or first-level Digimon. Fighting was her way of life, and she excelled in defeating her enemies and loading their data (absorbing their essence) to become stronger. Time would pass by, and Renamon would realize that if she wanted to become strong enough to digivolve, she would need a Tamer.
At that time, Rika Nonaka was a well-known Tamer. Harsh and abrasive, but surprisingly effective, Rika was dubbed the "Digimon Queen" for her skills. One night portals from the Digital World opened, and multiple Digimon beseeched her to be their Tamer. Overwhelmed and frustrated, Rika yelled that she just wanted one strong Digimon. The rest slowly disappeared from view, and Renamon strode forward to join her Tamer.
Renamon didn't remember how she got to the human world; she was only aware at the time of the bond between her and Rika, even if it was a strained one. Upon meeting the other two Tamers, Takato and Henry, and their Digimon, Guilmon and Terriermon, both agreed that the others were weaklings and worthless, and that their feelings toward each other hindered their strength. The agreeing ended there however, as Rika saw Digimon as fighting machines with no soul or actual consciousness, and Renamon saw humans as tools to become strong and help her to digivolve. Even so, Renamon always stayed invisibly near Rika, ready to come to her aid in a moment's notice. Renamon was the first of the two to actually care about the other, even though it was unrequited for a long time. Rika's cold and uncaring attitude, as well as her harsh words and actions actually hindered the growth that both wanted to achieve. The lack of that growth, and it's subsequent frustration, caused the two to part ways to try and understand why.
Renamon took a walk one night and ran into Impmon, a Digimon who told her that Digimon who were humans' slaves would always be weaker, before leaving. Rika, out looking for Renamon, came upon Dokugumon, a powerful large spider Digimon, who had already started a fight with Renamon. Renamon was severely outclassed, and Rika attempted to draw Dokugumon's attention away. It worked too well, and Renamon had to jump in front of Rika to save her. At that time, a little Digimon named Calumon appeared for seemingly no reason. Rika finally saw Renamon as a living thing for the first time, and cried out in sorrow. Rika's emotional outburst finally allowed Renamon to digivolve into "Champion" level Kyubimon--the four-legged, nine-tailed, blue-fire wielding kitsune, and defeat Dokugumon.
Afterwards, the two moved in awkward sync until Rika again denied that she cared about Renamon, and told her that she didn't need her. Soon after, she was kidnapped by Icedevimon, a fallen angel Digimon, and he tried to force her to become his Tamer. She refused and said that she had Renamon. Renamon tried to rescue Rika and failed, leaving her to be rescued by the other Tamers. Rika, scared and doubting, renounced all Digimon and the two split again, to see if both could become stronger on their own. They separated for a long period of time, with Rika thinking about life and feelings, and Renamon thinking about connections and if Impmon was right. During this time, Renamon couldn't digivolve but continued to fight. One night a Harpymon attacked, and Renamon beat her by willing herself power, but didn't finish her off because she saw Rika, who had been drawn there by Calumon. The Harpymon attacked again, with Renamon at a complete disadvantage. Rika, trying to help, stabbed the Harpymon with a branch. Fueled by Rika's emotions, Calumon helped Renamon to digivolve once again and defeat Harpymon. From that point the two formed a united front, accented by their social inadequacies at times, but for the whole, strong.
After a time period, strong Digimon called the Devas, ones based on the Chinese zodiac, who believed humans and Digimon working together were an abomination, started to appear. Rika and Renamon fought alongside the other two Tamers and their Digimon to try and destroy the threat. One such Deva, Vajramon, admired Renamon and courted her in an attempt to convince her to join them. She spoke with him at length to gain information, then denied his request, which caused him to angrily attack her. The others showed up, along with Calumon. Rika, desperate, searched for something to help Renamon, and in response, found a Blue Card, which unlocks the next level of digivolution. Using the card, and all of Calumon's strange power, Rika helped Renamon digivolve into Taomon, the anthropomorphic fox dressed in the robes of Taoism and wielding a giant paint-brush. Vajramon was disgusted by her humanoid appearance, but even so, Taomon quite easily dispatched the proud Deva.
After a few more large scale attacks by the Devas--the last almost leveled their city, and resulted in Calumon being kidnapped--the Tamers and their Digimon decided to try to enter the Digital World, rescue Calumon, and confront the threat issued to their world. This was easier said than done, and while they searched for a way, each of the Tamers "came out" to their family. In Rika's case it was accidental, and her grandmother stated that she knew Rika had a close friend, though she was surprised to see it was a talking fox. Renamon had been trying to convince Rika not to go to the Digital World, but when Rika's grandmother called Renamon Rika's "guardian angel," and asked her to protect Rika, Renamon stopped fighting and agreed. Soon after, a portal was found deep inside a sewer pipe, and with preparations complete, they set off.
Upon entering the Digital World, Rika and Renamon were separated from the rest of the group. Gradually they found the others and faced off against Beelzemon, the forced Mega (or last and most powerful) form of Impmon, who had gone over to the Deva's side. They fought against him unsuccessfully with losses on their side until Guilmon and Takato were able to ascend to that same level and defeat him. A god-like Digimon called Azulongmon descended from the sky then, to explain that the Devas were misguided in their belief that Tamers weaken Digimon, and that Calumon is actually the Catalyst, a being that makes Digivolution possible, put into Digimon form to protect him from being used wrongfully. Azulongmon also told of an AI program called the D-Reaper, which was designed to erase bugs and viruses, but went out of control and started to eliminate any artificial life. He also said that the D-Reaper is preceded by "Chaos," a red substance that breaks down all digital matter.
Still searching for Calumon, the Tamers and Digimon found a deep cavern filled with ever-increasing Chaos. Rika and Renamon started downwards, and found Calumon. Both then realized that they were surrounded by Chaos, and if they simply escaped, it would overtake the others. They passed Calumon off, and both, in a moment of peace, told the other that they trusted each other, and jumped into the chasm. That moment of emotional clarity and Calumon's power allowed them to Bio-Merge, or combine together, to form Renamon's Mega form, the armored priestess Sakuyamon. Her cleansing spells and seals of protection destroyed part of the Chaos and restrained the rest while everyone escaped. Afterwards Renamon and Rika went to find the defeated Impmon who Renamon sensed was still alive, while the others found a way to leave before the Chaos overtook the entire Digital World. Using Renamon's connection to Impmon, they found him, and barely making it back in time, joined with the others to finally go home.
Going back home wasn't the respite that they had imagined though. The D-Reaper had infiltrated the human world, and it had decided that humans, like digital life, had to be exterminated. The Chaos that covered the D-Reaper was an ever-regenerative gelatinous mass, and even the Digimon's Mega forms were no match. They eventually realized that they needed to destroy the core of the D-Reaper, and so the Tamers and Digimon, along with Beelzemon, allowed themselves to be absorbed to fight against it. Henry and Terriermon started a black-hole program to swallow the D-Reaper, which had been installed by the original creators of Digimon and the D-Reaper. In a moment of unity, Rika and Renamon gave their power to Takato and Guilmon, which allowed them to strike the fatal blow.
What wasn't known was that the black-hole program wouldn't allow any digital life to stay in the human world. All Digimon found themselves in their "In-Training," or baby forms, and were forced to say good-bye to their human partners. Renamon had finally found a bond important enough to protect, and she wasn't allowed to keep it. A light from the Digital World came down to take them back, and the last thing Renamon knew was Rika finally saying, "I love you," before everything brightened to a blinding shine.