This is a listing of notable characters from the
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
''
Chrono Trigger'', a
role-playing video game
A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
released in 1995 by
Square Co. (now
Square Enix
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...
) for the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...
video game console. In keeping with the
time travel
Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...
theme of the game's storyline, the characters hail from different eras of a fictional history, ranging from prehistoric times to a
post-apocalyptic future.
Creation and influences
The characters of ''Chrono Trigger'' were designed by
Akira Toriyama
is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He first achieved mainstream recognition for his highly successful manga series ''Dr. Slump'', before going on to create ''Dragon Ball'' (his best-known work) and acting as a character design ...
based on sketches from the story planner
Masato Kato. The development team wanted a diverse cast to reflect the various eras visited by the player; while working on the in-battle actions of the game, they decided to include a playable character that was neither human nor robot.
Kato drew sketches for a cast of eight playable characters, comprising a male protagonist, the daughter of a
fairy
A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...
king, a tin
robot
A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...
, a
monster
A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...
man, an inventor girl, a
demon king, a primitive girl, and an old sage.
Pig and monkey characters were also considered.
Six of the initial ideas were reworked by Toriyama, while the old sage character was scrapped and the monster man replaced with Toriyama's own frog man design.
In addition to the artwork for the main cast, Toriyama designed the non-playable characters and the monsters of the game, though
Hironobu Sakaguchi contributed the idea of the singing robot Gato.
The development staff studied all the drawings Toriyama made for the game and tried to be as faithful to his lighthearted style as possible. In particular, humorous names were chosen for several characters. The staff noted that this kind of humor would have been impossible in the ''
Final Fantasy
is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...
'' series.
Some of the names used in the English localization of the game were inspired by
Biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
characters, including
Belthasar, Gaspar, Melchior, and Magus. However, Kato did not especially have the Bible in mind when writing the story and was not aware of the names created by the translator
Ted Woolsey
Ted Woolsey is an American video game translator and producer. He had the primary role in the North American production and localization of Square's role-playing video games released for the Super NES between 1991 and 1996. He is best known for ...
.
Playable characters
Crono
is the red spiky-haired
silent protagonist
In video games, a silent protagonist is a player character who lacks any dialogue for the entire duration of a game, with the possible exception of occasional interjections or short phrases. In some games, especially visual novels, this may extend ...
of the game. He is never shown speaking, using facial expressions to communicate. His name is spelled in Japanese materials. He lives in the village of Truce with his mother. A chance encounter with Marle at the fair begins a series of adventures and uncovers a pre-millennial evil. In 12,000 BC, when the party is confronted with Lavos in the Ocean Palace of the Kingdom of Zeal, Crono sacrifices himself to save his friends, resulting in his death. With time travel, the player can manage to replace Crono at the moment before he dies with a clone received from the Millennial Fair in 1000 A.D, saving his life. The
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
,
Game Boy Advance,
Nintendo DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
,
Apple iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
,
Android
Android may refer to:
Science and technology
* Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human
* Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system
** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
, and
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
/
Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
versions of ''Chrono Trigger'' include an FMV scene at the end that shows Crono and Marle getting married. A second FMV depicts the fall of Guardia Kingdom in the year AD 1005, though it is unknown what happened to him during this event.
Crono uses a
katana
A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...
as a weapon and learns to use "Light"
magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
("Heaven" in the original Japanese version). Most of the game's triple techs require his presence in the battle party if they are to be performed. Though there are triple techs that do not need him, certain accessories are required to use triple techs where he is not involved. In the initial design sketches, Crono was a "bad kid" wearing goggles and a cape.
He is called Chrono in the Japanese version, and Crono in the North American version.
Concerning his death in the game, Kato noted that his policy has always been "to try and create games that run counter to users' expectations, surprise them". Kato and
Yuji Horii
(also written as Yuuji Horii; born January 6, 1954) is a Japanese video game designer and scenario writer best known as the creator of the ''Dragon Quest'' series of role-playing games, supervising and writing the scenario for ''Chrono Trigger' ...
initially proposed Crono's death, though they intended he stay dead; the party would have retrieved an earlier, living version of him to complete the quest.
Square deemed the scenario too depressing and asked that Crono be brought back to life later in the story.
In a special Chrono Trigger Cross Review, ''
Famicom Tsūshin
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' scored Crono a 30 out of 40.
Marle
Marle (), is the princess of Guardia. Her real name is Princess Nadia ( in the original Japanese version), and she is often at odds with her father, the king. Bored of royal life in the castle, she slips out to the Millennial Fair in Truce. Here, she meets Crono and tries out Lucca's teleporter, which reacts with her pendant and creates a time Gate, sending her to the Middle Ages and kicking off the events of the game. Her family line is the victim of two unsuccessful plots to overtake the kingdom: once in the Middle Ages, and once in the Present time by the shapeshifting monster and his descendant Yakra XIII, respectively. In both cases, the monsters kidnap the chancellor and assume his form. The likeness of the latter was perfect to a fault, but he did make one mistake: barring Marle from the courtroom, allowing her to investigate the false claims leveled against her father. The
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
and
Nintendo DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
versions of ''Chrono Trigger'' includes an FMV scene at the end that shows Crono and Marle getting married. A second FMV depicts the fall of Guardia Kingdom in the year AD 1005, though it is unknown what happened to Marle during this event.
Marle uses a
crossbow
A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fi ...
as her weapon. When she gains the ability to use magic, she learns to use "Ice (Water)" elemental magic manifesting as ice and healing spells. In the initial character sketches, she was the daughter of a
fairy
A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...
king and had shorter hair.
In a special Chrono Trigger Cross Review, ''
Famicom Tsūshin
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' scored Marle a 26 out of 40.
Lucca Ashtear
is Crono's childhood friend. Using her intelligence and creativity, Lucca invented many devices, such as a battle-training robot named Gato ("Gonzales" in the Japanese version) and a short-range teleporter. This device caused Marle to go back in time, inevitably leading to the start of the game. Lucca is directly responsible for the playability of another character in the game - Robo, whom she finds and repairs in the future. In the ending FMV scene of the PlayStation and Nintendo DS versions, it is seen that Lucca eventually created a mini-robot modeled after
Robo
Robo may refer to:
*robot, an electro-mechanical device that can perform autonomous or preprogrammed tasks
*Automation (robo-), roboticization
*Robo (musician) (born 1955), Roberto Valverde, drummer in punk bands Black Flag and The Misfits
*Robo ( ...
. In the same scene, Lucca finds an infant with a pendant and takes her in. That child is revealed to be Kid, Schala's daughter-clone and the female protagonist in the sequel to ''Chrono Trigger'', ''Chrono Cross''.
Lucca battles with a
gun
A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, pr ...
and
hammer
A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...
, and when spells become available she learns to cast "Fire" magic. In the initial character sketches, Lucca had a "wilder personality" and wore seemingly-opaque glasses and a bow tie.
In a special Chrono Trigger Cross Review, ''
Famicom Tsūshin
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' scored Lucca a 27 out of 40.
Frog
Frog is an
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...
knight from the Middle Ages era. He is called in Japanese materials. He was born as a human by the name Glenn and a friend of the late brave knight Cyrus. After witnessing Cyrus' death at the hands of Magus and being transformed into a frog, Frog vowed to avenge Cyrus by killing Magus. During the game, he obtains the
Masamune
, was a medieval Japanese blacksmith widely acclaimed as Japan's greatest swordsmith. He created swords and daggers, known in Japanese as ''tachi'' and ''tantō'', in the ''Sōshū'' school. However, many of his forged ''tachi'' were made into ...
(Grandleon in the Japanese version), an ancient sword whose offensive capabilities against magic users is Magus' major weakness. Frog can later put Cyrus' ghost to rest, regaining his courage and clearing his conscience.
Frog wields a
broadsword
The basket-hilted sword is a sword type of the early modern era characterised by a basket-shaped guard that protects the hand. The basket hilt is a development of the quillons added to swords' crossguards since the Late Middle Ages.
In mod ...
and can also learn "Water" and, like Marle, healing magic. His design in the final version of the game replaces that of a monster man character from the initial character sketches.
In
Ted Woolsey
Ted Woolsey is an American video game translator and producer. He had the primary role in the North American production and localization of Square's role-playing video games released for the Super NES between 1991 and 1996. He is best known for ...
's English translation, Frog speaks in a grandiose, pseudo-
Shakespearean
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
manner, using words such as 'thou', 'thee', and 'shalt'. No one else from his era speaks that way, nor does he use it himself as the young or adult Glenn. In the re-translation for the DS version, Frog's manner of speech is closer to modern, yet antiquated English, and no longer adopts the accent of the earlier versions. Likewise, in the Japanese version, he does not speak with the accent and instead talks rather rudely.
[''Compare original and translation for this line–'' Frog: "P, perish the thought, lass! By the way, whither the blue-haired one?" ''to Japanese–'' カエル「バ、バカヤロー! それより、あお白いツラした マントのヤローは、いなかったか!?" ''to the re-translated version–'' Frog: "D, dumbass! More importantly, that pale-faced caped bastard wasn't there!?" ''Chrono Trigger''. Square, 1995. Translation retrieved fro]
Chrono Compendium
, June 20, 2006.
In a special Chrono Trigger Cross Review, ''
Famicom Tsūshin
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' scored Frog a 39 out of 40.
Robo
is a futuristic
robot
A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...
with serial number R-66Y. He was rendered dormant by the apocalypse in AD 1999 but is found and repaired by Lucca in the year AD 2300. Upon his reactivation, Robo has no memory of his prior mission and joins the party. In a sidequest, Robo is branded a traitor by his maker, , a rogue computer who opposes humans and desires a utopia of robots. Robo learns of his original purpose which was to observe and study human behavior as well as his original name, which is . Robo is then forced to kill his long-lost, brainwashed companion robot because he refuses to side with her before he manages to shut down the computer. In another side quest, Robo can volunteer to spend four hundred years restoring Fiona's forest. During this time, Robo ponders the existence of an "entity", a dying being who wished Crono and his friends to witness its life throughout time. At the end of this side quest, the beginning of another side quest involving Lucca is started.
Robo uses his robotic arm as a weapon and can use laser attacks which mimic "Shadow" magic, as well as other techs that mimic "Fire" and "Light" skills. He is considered unable to use magic because he is not organic, and therefore did not descend from the magic-using people of Zeal. In the initial character sketches, he had a different design and was larger.
In the Japanese version, Robo has a unique speech; he speaks with bits of
katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...
in his sayings and has trouble with pronunciations. Most of the robots talk in katakana, with the exception of Johnny.
In a special Chrono Trigger Cross Review, ''
Famicom Tsūshin
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' scored Robo a 32 out of 40. Destructoid's Chad Concelmo named Robo the best robot in gaming, citing an ongoing connection with the character.
Ayla
Ayla is the chief of a prehistoric tribe. Her name is spelled as in Japanese materials. She is engaged in a conflict with , the leader of the Reptites who leads the effort to destroy the human race to prove their superiority. Ayla and the party eventually defeat Azala at the Tyrano Lair, and Azala dies from the impact of Lavos crashing into the place. At that point, Ayla is revealed to be the person who gave Lavos its name, claiming that "La" means fire, and "Vos" means big. In the ending anime cut-scene of the PlayStation version, Ayla is seen brashly forcing engagement on Kino, her sweetheart, and Marle's ancestor.
She relies on unarmed combat and physical prowess in battle. Ayla cannot use magic because she was born before humans became capable of doing so. Due to her being from the prehistoric era she speaks in a stereotypical
caveman manner, using
broken English
Broken English is a name for a non-standard, non-traditionally spoken or alternatively-written version of the English language. These forms of English are sometimes considered as a pidgin if they have derived in a context where more than one ...
.
Ayla's character seems most likely derived from the blond hair, blue-eyed,
Cro-Magnon
Early European modern humans (EEMH), or Cro-Magnons, were the first early modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') to settle in Europe, migrating from Western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They ...
era heroine of the same name in the
Earth's Children
''Earth's Children'' is a series of epic historical fiction (or more precisely, prehistorical fiction) novels written by Jean M. Auel set circa 30,000 years before the present day. There are six novels in the series. Although Auel had previousl ...
series of novels by the author
Jean Auel
Jean Marie Auel (; ; born February 18, 1936) is an American writer who wrote the ''Earth's Children'' books, a series of novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores human activities during this time, and touches on the interactions of Cro-Magn ...
.
In a special Chrono Trigger Cross Review, ''
Famicom Tsūshin
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' scored Ayla a 29 out of 40.
Magus
Magus is the lord of the Mystics of the Middle Ages. He is called in Japanese materials. Depicted as an antagonist for a large part of the game, Magus is eventually revealed to be the older version of Janus ( in the Japanese version), the young prince of Zeal in 12,000 BC. After an encounter with Lavos as a child, he had been sent through a time gate to the Middle Ages, where he was adopted by Ozzie of the Mystics and became their leader. After the fall of Zeal, the player can choose to fight Magus or spare him, allowing him to reluctantly join the party. As the second fight is to the death, Magus will be permanently gone after this fight plays out.
In the
DS version of the game, a future version of Magus appears in the new scenario, stating that the player's party may or may not be from the same dimension as his. He finally finds Schala at the Time's Eclipse, integrated into Lavos as the Dream Devourer the early form of Time Devourer from Chrono cross. Failing to save his sister, Magus is sent away by his sister Schala and erase his memories in a fit of desperation. Though he lost his memories, Magus is determined to remember what he had desired to find something. Also in the Nintendo DS version, most NPCs have given him the title of "the Fiendlord."
Magus fights using a
scythe
A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor m ...
, as well as a combination of all magic types, including his own exclusive "Shadow" magic. Contrary to the other characters, he does not learn any dual techs, and accessories must be found to unlock several triple techs. His three main generals in the Middle Ages are Ozzie, Slash, and
Flea
Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...
(called , , and in the Japanese version). In a side-quest, the player can visit the place they took refuge in after the fall of Magus' castle and defeat them again.
In a special Chrono Trigger Cross Review, ''
Famicom Tsūshin
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' scored Magus a 29 out of 40.
Main non-playable characters
Lavos
is the game's primary antagonist, an
alien
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
parasite
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...
with immense destructive powers, which crash landed in the year 65,000,000 BC (65,000 BC in the Japanese version). Lavos slept, gaining power until AD 1999, when he emerged and put the world into an
apocalyptic state. While traveling to AD 2300, Crono, Marle, and Lucca see a video of the Day of Lavos of AD 1999, and decide to prevent it somehow. It is eventually revealed that Lavos came to Earth with the intention of draining its energy so that it could produce genetically enhanced spawn, which would then continue the cycle on other planets.
The DS version adds an optional final boss to the game, the
"Dream Devourer", which is the result of the assimilation of Schala by the defeated Lavos at Time's Eclipse. In the North American version of the game, it is claimed that Lavos directly influenced all technology and life on the planet, evolving the planet's life forms to cultivate it, and make itself stronger. Magus states, "We were created only to be harvested. All people... and all living things..." However, the line is absent in the Japanese version, with Lavos being a more passive parasite instead.
Early in the game, the characters believe that Lavos created the time Gates. However, they come to a different realization in one of the sidequests, in Fiona's Forest: due to the timing of when the gates appeared and their significance, the gates may have been created by some other entity reliving its life cycle, flashing back over important memories in its past, which were tied to Lavos. The original Japanese dialogue in this scene heavily implies that this entity is the planet itself.
Gurus
The Gurus of Life (Melchior), Time (Gaspar), and Reason (Belthasar) are three highly intelligent figures of authority originally living in the Kingdom of Zeal in 12000 BC. Their original Japanese names are , , and . Their English names are taken from the traditional names given to the
Magi
Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin ''magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius th ...
who brought gifts of gold,
frankincense
Frankincense (also known as olibanum) is an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus ''Boswellia'' in the family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French ('high-quality incense').
There are several species o ...
and
myrrh
Myrrh (; from Semitic, but see '' § Etymology'') is a gum-resin extracted from a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus ''Commiphora''. Myrrh resin has been used throughout history as a perfume, incense and medicine. Myrrh mi ...
to the infant Jesus. When Queen Zeal became obsessed with harnessing the energy of Lavos, the Gurus tried to stop her, which ultimately resulted in Lavos sending each of them into different eras of the future: Melchior to AD 1000, Belthasar to AD 2300, and Gaspar to the End of Time.
The player encounters the Gurus in their respective eras or in 12000 BC and receives valuable items and advice from them.
* Melchior's main creation is the
Masamune
, was a medieval Japanese blacksmith widely acclaimed as Japan's greatest swordsmith. He created swords and daggers, known in Japanese as ''tachi'' and ''tantō'', in the ''Sōshū'' school. However, many of his forged ''tachi'' were made into ...
, which has a symbiotic relation with twin magical creatures named Masa and Mune (known in Japan as and ). The two have a "big sister" named Doreen, who has a liking for dreams.
* Gaspar's main creation is the "Time Egg", also known as the "Chrono Trigger", a mysterious item capable of effective miracles. Gaspar lives in the End of Time with , the self-proclaimed "Master of War" who introduces the art of Magic to Crono and his teammates.
* Balthasar lives in the wastelands of the year 2300 and his main creation is the Epoch, a time-traveling machine that works independent of portals.
Schala
is the daughter of Queen Zeal and the older sister of Janus. She was raised in the Kingdom of Zeal in 12000 BC when mankind was separated from the Enlightened Ones, who are able to use magic, and the Earthbound Ones, who are not. She is one of the few Enlightened Ones sympathetic towards the Earthbound Ones. Schala was forced by her power-hungry mother, Queen Zeal, to use her magic powers in order to try and control the energy of Lavos with the Mammon Machine. She disappeared after the Ocean Palace disaster. In the DS version, she is revealed to have been assimilated by the defeated Lavos in the Time's Eclipse, as in the sequel ''
Chrono Cross
is a 1999 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is set in the same world as ''Chrono Trigger'', which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. ''Chrono C ...
''. The creature can be fought, as the "Dream Devourer", which unlocks a new ending.
Dalton
Zeal's
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
and high-ranking adviser of the
magical Kingdom of Zeal, is depicted as an overall inept character, once even breaking the
fourth wall
The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...
when he complains about the wrong music playing in the background while he stole the Epoch. He is not entirely loyal to Queen Zeal, and he wants to have Lavos' power for himself. Dalton has an army of Golems that he uses to attack the party. He also uses the plane, The Blackbird, as a flying fortress. After the rise of the Ocean Palace and the disappearance of Zeal's royal family, Dalton sees himself as the new king of the Dark Ages. He abducts the party shortly after Crono's death and imprisons them on The Blackbird. He is also responsible for modifying The Epoch with the ability to fly for his own purposes. Ultimately, Dalton disappears by accident in a portal he himself opened. However, In the DS remake, Dalton later resurfaces at the Dimensional Vortex and attacks the party one final time. When defeated, he vows revenge and disappears again after stating he will raise the world's greatest army in Porre and defeat Guardia. A caped silhouette is seen briefly during the attack on Guardia Castle in the ending FMV from the PlayStation and DS versions of the game, and Masato Kato has stated that the armies of Porre received assistance from "beyond the regular flow of time" in their invasion of Guardia.
Zeal
is the ruler of the kingdom of the same name in 12,000 BC. Her change from kind and loving to evil and manipulative seems to be linked to her interest in Lavos, whom she wishes to use to achieve power and eternal life. Zeal's court of Enlightened Ones includes her magician and general, Dalton, her young son, Janus, her unwilling daughter, Schala, and the mysterious Prophet (actually Magus in disguise). Zeal becomes the antagonist for a period of the game and eventually becomes the catalyst for the death of Crono. She commissions to have the Mammon Machine built for direct communication to Lavos, as well as to help the creature achieve more power. Eventually, Zeal raises her Ocean Palace and lives in the Black Omen for several thousand years, even into the post-apocalyptic world of 2300 AD. She is eventually killed by Crono and company if they infiltrate the Black Omen.
Other appearances
In ''Radical Dreamers''
Magus appears in ''
Radical Dreamers
''Radical Dreamers'' is a 1996 text-based visual novel adventure video game developed and published by Square for the Satellaview, a satellite peripheral for the Super Famicom. It forms part of the ''Chrono'' series, acting as a side story to t ...
'' as Gil, a shadowy and handsome member of the Radical Dreamers thieving group. He is depicted as masked and mysterious, though gentle and cultured.
He has the ability to slip in and out of the shadows of the night at will.
In the game, Schala's fate is explained as she is seen reincarnated in the present time as a girl named Kid. Gil is mentioned in ''Chrono Cross'' in an
easter egg designating the events of ''Radical Dreamers'' as having taken place in an alternate dimension. In the English version of this easter egg, Gil is referred to as "Magil".
In ''Xenogears''
Early in ''
Xenogears'', Lucca has a brief cameo appearance in the Lahan Village, in which she gives a tutorial about the basics of the game's battle system and explains save points to
Fei.
In ''Chrono Cross''
In ''
Chrono Cross
is a 1999 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is set in the same world as ''Chrono Trigger'', which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. ''Chrono C ...
'', Crono, Marle, and Lucca make appearances as ghost children. Kato stated that Crono and Marle's fate "is not thoroughly explained in ''Chrono Cross''" but that the two were likely involved in "some kind of incident" related to the invasion of their kingdom by the Porre army.
He further explained that an intervention "from outside the original flow of history" had helped Porre build its military, though the details were left out of ''Chrono Cross'' as they did not directly relate to the sequel.
On the other hand, Lucca plays a role in the backstory of ''Chrono Cross'', being involved in the "Project
Kid
Kid, Kids, KIDS, and K.I.D.S. may refer to:
Common meanings
* Colloquial term for a child or other young person
** Also for a parent's offspring regardless of age
* Engage in joking
* Young goats
* The goat meat of young goats
* Kidskin, leath ...
" central to the game's plot and presumably killed by the antagonists
Lynx
A lynx is a type of wild cat.
Lynx may also refer to:
Astronomy
* Lynx (constellation)
* Lynx (Chinese astronomy)
* Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory
Places Canada
* Lynx, Ontar ...
and
Harle. An artificial intelligence named Prometheus also plays a part in the plot and is eventually erased by
FATE
Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual.
Fate
Although often ...
, a supercomputer based on Mother Brain. Masato Kato implied in an interview that this character is the same as ''Chrono Trigger''
's Robo, whose real name was also Prometheus.
Magus was slated to appear in ''Chrono Cross''. Several designs were considered for his appearance, including one close to his ''Chrono Trigger'' design, one as a teenage boy, and one as a masked magician called
Guile. However, as development of the game progressed and the number of playable characters increased, the staff decided it would be too difficult to integrate his complex relationship with Schala into the plot. Consequently, Guile's backstory as Magus was removed and his design was altered to look paler. Kato noted that Magus' non-appearance in the game is "in a way,
a pity".
Though he died in ''Chrono Trigger'', Balthazar reappears alive and well in ''Chrono Cross'' due to the changed future created by Crono's actions. Belthasar initiated "Project Kid", a complicated series of events that would lead to the saving of Schala and the annihilation of the Devourer of Time, thus saving the universe. The Devourer of Time is the result of the defeated Lavos assimilating Schala in the darkness beyond time. In "New Game+" mode, Ozzie, Slash, and Flea also make an appearance as hidden bosses, nicknamed the "mystical knights".
In other media
Gaspar and Johnny appear in the board game ''Koi Ha Balance: Battle of Lovers'' released on the
Satellaview system. The promotional anime ''
Dimensional Adventure Numa Monjar'' centers on the adventure of a Kilwala and a , a mysterious type of creature which in ''Chrono Trigger'' was found in all time periods, usually sleeping. Gato and Johnny also appear in ''Dimensional Adventure Numa Monjar''.
In the spiritual successor game of ''Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time'', there is a character that is in the starting village of Baruoki that is named Ashtear that has a heavy resemblance to Lucca Ashtear from ''Chrono Trigger'', which is not surprising, as several former Square Enix employees also worked on that game. Moreover, she is also the one to help Aldo and his party with getting through the game, much as a similar house in the village of Truce served a similar purpose for Crono and his party in ''Chrono Trigger''.
Reception
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
described the cast of characters as one that players "immediately fell in love with, and helped "Chrono Trigger" become one of the most beloved RPGs ever released.
Games Radar
''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and ''Computer ...
praised the depth of the characters’ sub-plots, which gave the game a deeply "personal" feel.
In a retrospective,
Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
noted that the characters still felt "fresh and interesting" even two decades since the game's original release.
Venture Beat
Venture may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
*The Ventures, an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958
*"A Venture", 1971 song by the band Yes
*''Venture'', a 2010 EP by AJR
Games
* ''Venture'' (video game), a 1981 arcade ga ...
described the more realistic proportions of the characters than previous games, which helped give characters a more "human-like" appearance and thus more relatability.
The dialogue lets the characters express the emotions they would rather hide, and the game's emphasis on character interaction leads to great emotional investment in Crono and Marle's relationship, Frog's struggles for redemption, and even Magus's eons-long fight for revenge against Lavos.
GamePro
Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...
ranked Lavos the 34th most diabolical video game villain of all time.
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
ranked Lavos 75th in the "Top 100 Videogames Villains" saying "Despite Crono's victory, being the perpetrator of humankind's annihilation while at the same time napping makes Lavos a pretty good candidate for the Top 100 Villains, wouldn't you think?". Magus was also ranked 52nd.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chrono Trigger
Lists of Square Enix characters