Obaketchi, the first death screen.
Death is the final stage of the Tamagotchi Life Cycle. Following the sequence and the appearance of the death screen, the user's Tamagotchi is lost. The user can view their Tamagotchi's final age, and then must then restart the Tamagotchi either by pressing A and C together, or by pressing the Reset button on the back of the unit.
Often, the death sequence is changed between Japanese and English releases, and modern releases have included the possibility of the Tamagotchi running away instead. However, the effects of it running away and dying are identical.
Causes
There are several factors that lead to the death of a Tamagotchi:
- Care Mistakes are the most common factor. Mistakes in the Care of a Tamagotchi not only influence what character the pet grows into, but also how long it will live. Allowing too many care mistakes to accumulate would trigger the Tamagotchi's death. The threshold of how many care mistakes are needed has increased with modern releases.
- Sickness is another current common factor. Leaving a Tamagotchi ill over an extended period of time will cause the Tamagotchi to pass away.
- Old Age is a factor limited to older releases. In this case, each Tamagotchi character has a specific life span, and how you care for it will determine if it is expanded or shortened. As the life span grows longer, the Tamagotchi will become much more needy for food and attention, until it finally passes away. This factor has been negated on modern releases; Tamagotchi pets will now live for as long as the user cares for it and prevents Care Mistakes. The average Tamagotchi lifespan is around 7-12 days.
- Predators is a factor limited to the Tamagotchi Ocean, the Mori de Hakken! Tamagotch, and the Gudetama Tamagotchi. In this case, a Tamagotchi can die from being attacked by another creature. The Tamagotchi Ocean features a polar bear, the Morino Tamagotch features a human foot or a frog, and the Gudetama features a pair of chopsticks.
- Lack of discipline is a factor limited to the Tamagotchi Ocean. Kuragetchi, Otototchi and Kingyotchi will die shortly before they are due to evolve regardless of what care they were given if their discipline meter is below 5/7.
- The Grim Gotchi is the penultimate factor of death on many modern Japanese releases. If any of the previous requirements to trigger death happen, the Grim Gotchi will eventually appear, and the user will have 15 minutes to banish it, whether it be by using a previous Tamagotchi's spirit or by bringing the Tamagotchi to the hospital. If the user fails (or is unable), the Grim Gotchi will trigger the death sequence.
Effects
Once the Tamagotchi dies, none of the icons on the screen will be able to be selected, and on some releases, the clock screen will be inaccessible. The user can check the Tamagotchi's final statistics (only its age and sometimes weight for vintage releases, and its name and Generation on modern releases). Pressing A and C together will trigger a new egg to appear.
On releases that count Generations, the tally will revert back to Generation 1. On the Mesutchi and Osutchi, the TMP will return to TMP1, regardless of the previous Tamagotchi's TMP.
On all of the Tamagotchi Connection models from the Version 1 through Version 4.5, all items and Gotchi Points are lost. The Japanese models (Keitai Kaitsuu Tamagotchi Plus onward) all retain items and Gotchi Points. From the Version 5 onward, items and Gotchi Points being retained after death became the standard across all regions. On releases with travel, all locations unlocked will be retained (with the exception of the Gotchi King's Castle on the Tamagotchi Plus Color and Hexagontchi).
On some releases, once the new egg is hatched, a photo of the previously deceased Tamagotchi will appear in the Notebook icon under the "Memory" or "History" section. For releases that include m!xing, including the Tamagotchi m!x and Tamagotchi On, all genetics will be lost.
Preventing Death
For the vintage era releases, such as the original Tamagotchi, death is inevitable. It is possible to extend the lifespan by pausing it through the clock set screen. The Tamagotchi's overall lifespan is based on both what adult it evolves into and how well it's cared for; for example, Tarakotchi will often die within three days of evolving, while Mametchi can live for 20 years or more. As it ages, it will get sick more often and deplete its Hungry and Happy meters faster, making care mistakes more likely.
For the Tamagotchi Connection toys (including the Tamagotchi Connection Version 1 through Version 4.5, Tamagotchi Music Star, Tamatown Tama-Go, Tamagotchi Friends, Dream Town Digital Friend, and the 2005 version of the Tamagotchi Mini), the unit can be paused by pressing the A and B buttons together. The Tamagotchi will stop in place and the word "PAUSE" will appear above its head (the Mini will show an exclamation mark instead). This does not work on any Japanese release; the clock screen method must be used instead.
For the Version 5, or V5 Celebrity, the user can use the Travel Channel as a pause function. The channel is free to use on all English versions, while the Japanese versions require Gotchi Points to use it. Additionally, pressing the A button 100 times during the first part of the death sequence will stop the Tamagotchi from dying or running away.
If a Tamagotchi has previously died on the Keitai, Akai, Entama or Uratama, a portrait of them will appear in the "Memory" section of the Notebook icon. Selecting them will allow the current Tamagotchi to pray to them. If the user's current Tamagotchi is about to die, the user can have it pray again, and the spirit of the previous Tamagotchi will appear and save the current Tamagotchi from death. This can only be done once.
On the color releases, if the player selects the clover icon during this part of the death animation, they will be able to summon an ambulance to drive the Tamagotchi to the hospital and save it. This can be done an unlimited amount of times. From the Tamagotchi iD to the 4U+, if the Tamagotchi is an adult and is planning to run away, they will stop packing up and flowers will appear in the backyard. On the Tamagotchi 4U and 4U+, if a Tamagotchi tries to run away, choosing "Scold" will cause it to leave immediately, while choosing "Talk to" three times will prevent it from leaving. If it does leave, the user is given 24 hours to find it. If "No" is chosen, or if 24 hours have elapsed, a letter will appear on screen and the Tamagotchi cannot be brought back. However, if "Yes" is chosen, an animation will play of the neighborhood being searched before the Tamagotchi is found camping in a tent at the park and returning home.
On the Tamagotchi On, the Tama can be sent to the hotel from the hours of 7AM to 7PM, or visit their parents' house from the second generation on from 7 AM to 5 PM. Like the Travel Channel on the Japanese V5, it costs Gotchi Points to use the hotel, and the Tamagotchi will become unhappy if not picked up from the hotel before it closes. The parent's house is free and does not cause unhappiness if not picked up by the user.
In the Anime
Episode 9 of Anime TV de Hakken!! Tamagotchi shows the passing of a Ginjirotchi, surrounded by his friends in the hospital. His spirit leaves his body as an Obaketchi that's invisible to everyone, and he is shortly after escorted by Chestnut Angel through the gates of the Tenshitchi Capital, where it becomes Ghost Jr, and then Ginjirotchi Angel.
Trivia
- Some releases contain more than one death sequence, most commonly one earned from good care and one from bad. For example, on the original Tamagotchi, it will show the Tamagotchi laying an egg just before it dies if it was cared for well through its adulthood, while no egg is laid if it was neglected. The Gudetama tamagotchi bounces before it dies after good care and bad care leads it to instantly being taken away instantly.
- On the Mothra Tamagotchi, the pet will never lay an egg in its death sequence if it dies from Sickness, but has also been known to lay an egg if neglected to death while it is of a sufficient age. Currently, only Mothra and Ghogo have been shown laying an egg.
- On the Keitai and Akai, purchasing a special tomb (高級墓) for 5000 Gotchi Points will trigger an alternate death sequence, where Chestnut Angels appear and escort the Tamagotchi to the afterlife, and the standard tombstone is replaced with the special tomb.
- The 2017 rerelease of the Tamagotchi Mini was the first English Tamagotchi to not alter the death sequence and screen from the Japanese version. This was followed by the Tamagotchi On, the first color screen in the USA, retaining the original death sequence and screen from the Meets.
- Despite heavy alteration in English-language releases, the programming of death remains the same in all releases.
- Tamagotchi cannot die in My Tamagotchi Forever; instead they graduate and leave home, making it the only game to lack this sequence.