Bit-Beast

Bit-Beasts or Sacred Spirits (聖獣 Seijū) are powerful spirits that dwell in Beyblades (Bit-Chips). Bit-Beasts were utilized in the Original Series, consisting of Beyblade: 2000, Beyblade: V-Force and Beyblade: G-Revolution and in the Bakuten Shoot Beyblade Manga.

Information
The Bit-beat overall represented the joint "Fighting Spirit" of Blader and Beyblade (in other words it is an "avatar"). Despite the English dub saying they were "trapped" within the Beyblade, in the Japanese version they simply manifested when Blader took on the spirit of the Sacred Beast. That spirit then would reside within the Beyblade. When the fighting spirit was strong, the Bit-Beast's spirit would influence the Beyblade, enhancing attack and signature moves. By unleashing them, the flow of a battle can shift dramatically even when the Beyblade parts haven't changed. It also expands the range of strategic possibilities. Because they represent the link between Blader and Beyblade, they are effected by a Blader's emotions and state of mind, mental distraction or physical conditions such as tiredness can impact them and effect the Beyblade in return, so focus is required to maintain the fighting spirit.

Bit Beasts may not only be sealed inside a Beyblade. Dragoon was originally inside a sword before entering Tyson's Beyblade and becoming his Bit-Beast. Draciel was also found within a locket, said to have a "protective spirit" on it. In short, the Beylade was the modern means to access an ancient spirit that had previously manifested in other implements. When facing Lupinex, Ray also had placed a silver dollar over his bit, causing Driger to take on a silver-based property which allowed him to fight against Lupinex's bit-beast who was based on a werewolf.

Bit Beasts seem to be sentient. Dragoon has also been shown to be able to talk. There are many characters who have Bit Beasts, and sometimes there seems to be a bond between the Bit-Beast and it's owner. It seems that some Bit Beasts do care about their masters, such as during Tyson's first battle with Enrique when Amphilyon tried to attack Tyson, and Dragoon got in the way. This was also shown during Ray's battle against Bryan in the World Finals, when Driger put his existence on line to save Ray who had been badly injured by Falborg's attacks. When Draciel was first placed in Max's Beyblade, the other Bit-beasts sensed the new fighting spirit of Max and his Draciel.

As most Bladers lacked the fighting spirit of a sacred beast, attempts were seen in the anime to manufacture them. This was seen with the Team Psykick "Cyber series" beasts, then later the re-discover of the ancient fighting spirits that were seen used by Team Zagart. Stealing them was also another option as seen with Kai and Black Dranzer, as thief then had access to another's fighting spirit. When a Blader lost their Bit-beast, the blader would have their own fighting spirit impacted, which is why many bladers had periods of doubt after loosing theirs.

On top of this, though it was known by Bladers that they had fighting spirits between them, the majority of the general audience could not see the Bit-beasts, as demonstrated by Hilary Tachibana. To these on looking who cannot see the spirits of the Beyblades, the Beyblades in question simply looked like they were behaving erratically during the events that the Bit-beasts were being used. As demonstrated by Ozuma and the rest of the Saint Shields, bit-beasts sometimes could not even be seen by other bladers. Bit-beasts were also not equal in size and strength because of their reliant on the Fighting spirit of the blader. Bit-beasts can appear dominating in size when facing a lesser union of Blade and Blader; Dragoon was originally dwarfed by the giant Griffolyon bit-beast when the pair first met due to Robert Jürgens' superior fighting spirit.

Of the Bit-beasts, the 4 considered the potentially most dangerous are the series 4 main bit-beast Driger, Dragoon, Dranzer and Draciel. The 4 together have the potential to destroy the world due to their combined power and in the wrong hands are considered highly dangerous. This is why several teams chased after these 4 specifically and why there were attempts to even create copies of them (the "Cyber series" of Team Psykick) in an attempt to use the fakes to capture the real versions. In the manga they were also said to bring back the dead while in the anime, turn a non-living person into a real person, which was the goals of Dr. Zagart.

In the Japanese version, all bit-beasts are referred to using genderless pronouns, which usually translates to it. They were officially genderless a they are "spirits". However, overseas translations have often assigned gendered pronouns to the Bit Beasts, such as Dragoon being referred to with male pronouns like "he".

Developement
The bit beasts went through a series of development stages and were originally much different to what many fans came to know.

The original intention of the bit featuring a beast was that it was another way to win Beyblade in real life battles. By successfully managing to knock off or destroy the "bit-chip" on a beyblade, the player would instantly win, regardless of the outcome of the two beyblades battle. Since the bit-chip was placed on top of the Beylade, it was a difficult task, as the only time it could occur is if the beyblade leaned to the side while the other Beyblade remained upright.

Bit-chip protectors were later supplied as players didn't always enjoy seeing their bit-chips destroyed, spare bit-chips were also supplied often with Beyblades as a stand in for the main chip.

Jisedai Bēgoma Battle Beyblade (1999)
In the original Jisedai Bēgoma Battle Beyblade video game released in 1999, bit-beast first appeared. Several even would evolve and change much like the monsters of the Pokémon games, which was not a surprise as many aspects of the game were directly inspired by the Pokémon games. Each bit beast had its own unique attack and would affect the way the player fought in the arena (such as leaving a giant hole directly in the center of the disk creating a instant death zone for any Beyblade who fell in). This game shows many early beyblade ideas in prototype form. While certain concepts survived to the main series, none of the bit beasts seen survived.

Some features would be carried over into future parts of the franchise, even if small. For example, Kai's "Dranzer" and Tyson's "Dragoon" get their names from Spin Dragoon and Ultimate Frostic Dranzer. Both appear in Jisedai Begoma Battle Beyblade. Both are the final metamorphosis of their "signature" bits of the game (while Kai's is a set as part of his team, Tyson's bit, however is optional). For the most part, the bit-beast system was later reworked to make it far less complex and less Pokémon-like in all future aspects of the Franchise.

Beyblade Fighting Tournament (late 1999 - mid 2000)
In Beyblade Fighting Tournament (2000) they were more closer to the final bit beast styles as seen in the series. They were divided into a series ("Kid", "Knight", "Dark", "Master", "Thunder", etc) and would appear as one of 4 archetypes (Dranzer, Driger, Draceil or Dragoon).

At the start of the game, the player entered a code. If the code was correct, they would have one of the 4 archetypes. Each series was released in the games shop. Over the course of the game, stronger bits would be released of their selected choice as they won each tournament. At first, this kind of introduction to bit beasts is briefly touched upon in the manga, with the bladers bits upgrading and changing in the very early chapters on a few occasions.

In relation to the game, during this period all bit-chips had codes on them, such as Driger's "GER4", which allowed that bit to be unlocked. Bit-beasts often were found on Beyblades that didn't bare resemblance to their name, with exceptions of the original "Driger", "Dragoon", "Dranzer" and "Draciel", whose Beyblades always bore their bit-beasts name.

Bakuten Shoot Beyblade (late 2000-2003)
Bakuten Shoot Beyblade marks the start of the bit-beasts as many came to know them. Carrying on with the 4 main bit-beasts of Dranzer, Dragoon, Draciel and Driger, more diversity was added to further parts of the franchise. The newer bit-beasts were based on a wide of variety of animals, often from myth and legend. This gave Bladers and thei blaeds more self-identity.

When the Bakuten Shoot Beyblade video game (2001) was released, the manga had already began production. The TV series was also released by the time the game had came out. Bit beasts were more closely related to their status as seen in the anime and later manga. The focus this time was just on Daichi's bit-beast. Since Daichi had no canon bit at this point, he was given a substitution. He started out as a Kid Dragoon and over the course of the game would upgrade as he won tournaments up to the American tournament, as this was how far the manga had reached. At this point, he had a cyborg-looking Dragoon. This Dragoon also appeared in Bakuten Shoot Beyblade 2002 Team Battle! Kiryū no Akira Daichi / Takao Hen, although that was the last appearance as Strata Dragon debuted at this point.

As time progressed, the beyblade and bit-beasts were separated, making them less notable as a feature of the series. By Beyblade: G-Revolution they had become more of a background effect in the anime and were barely referenced at all in the anime for that season. After 2003, most Beyblades would lack on entirely on the beyblades themselves. The franchise focused more on the Blades and Bladers and almost completely abandoned the idea of both being influenced from mystical spirits.

2003-2016
By the end of the original Beyblade series, the pictures of the bit beasts were changed to just symbols representing the beasts. These symbols had often appeared on decorations on the beyblades since the 2000 era, but had only been decorations that sat next to the name of the Beyblade.

While the anime ended before the manga reached this point, even the main characters were seen with this style of bit on their Beyblades by the end of the manga. This tradition carries on even with the new beyblades. "Bit-Chips" themselves were replaced with a new style of circular bits called "Bit-protectors".

Strange visions of Bit Beast like characters appear in the Metal Saga, Beyblade Burst, Beywarriors: BeyRaiderz, and BeyWheelz during battles, but aren't acknowledged by the characters or referred to as Bit Beasts. Like bit-beasts before them, they likely represent the fighting spirit" of the blader.

Bakuten Shoot Beyblade: Rising (2016)
The return of the Bakuten Shoot Beyblade: Rising manga series saw the return of beyblades featuring the Bit-beasts on them. A tie-in with the manga, some of the older Beyblades, such as Dragoon Storm, were re-released, modelled on the new Burst System Beyblades. These re-makes bore their original counterparts Bit-chip sticker on them (minus the original Beyblade Fighting Tournament codes of course), officially seeing the return of Bit-beasts to the franchise.

List of Bit-Beasts
See here for more information.

Trivia

 * Excluding the Cyber Bit-Beasts, since they are man-made, alternative versions of Bit-Beasts have been seen in the Anime: Black Dranzer, Metal Driger and Strata Dragoon. These are call backs to the 2000 period and Beyblade Fighting Tournament Bit-beasts.
 * Thunder Pegasus and Torch Pegasus are also variants of the original "Pegasus" Bit used in Bakuten Shoot Beyblade - Gekitou! Saikyou Blader. While the Beyblade "Pegasus" was never released, the sticker for its bit was.
 * There is recurring theme in the Anime where Bit-Beasts from the same team start with the same prefix or end with the same suffix:
 * Bladebreakers (Four Sacred Bit-Beasts): start with Dr-
 * White Tigers: starts with Gal-.
 * All Starz: starts with Try-.
 * Majestics: ends with -lyon.
 * Demolition Boys: ends with -borg.
 * Dark Bladers: ends with -lor.
 * There are at least three examples of bladers changing their bit beasts;
 * Daichi's Bit-beast was not Strata Dragon in the early video games, but as a cyborg-esque Dragoon instead.
 * Takao's Dragoon appears in both manga and anime as the image of Master Dragoon.
 * In the Jisedai Begoma Battle Beyblade Kai, Tako and Hiro Granger (as Jin) are shown using several different bits. Though Takao's is based on player choice.
 * Dizzi was a bit-beast added to the English dub. She took over much of the dialogue Kenny was suppose to have.  It was the same as how the commutators AJ Topper & Brad Best were introduced, taking away some of Blader DJ's dialogue.  She was removed in G-Revolution due to the fact Kenny was less reliant on his computer, giving less options for the dubbers to put her in.  However, because of Dizzi, Kenny's Bit on his Beyblade illustration in G-Revolution was removed to prevent confusion.