•• Spoiler Warning: this page contains detailed plot information ••

Common Misconceptions


Table of Contents:

Chapter 01: Guile is Janus/Magus
Chapter 02: Azala summoned Lavos
Chapter 03: Crono, Marle, and Lucca died
Chapter 04: Marle is a descendant of Schala
Chapter 05: Ayla is the only person to have a tail
Chapter 06: Chrono Trigger Player's Guide errors
Chapter 07: Magus saved Kid from the Hydra poisoning
Chapter 08: Porre formed a large military in just five years
Chapter 09: Crono's name should be spelled "Chrono" instead
Chapter 10: The Frozen Flame is in reality a piece of Dreamstone
Chapter 11: Schala traveled to Death Peak despite Belthasar's protests
Chapter 12: Lynx was responsible for destroying Guardia and for stealing the Masamune



Chapter 1
Guile is Janus/Magus

This is a pretty popular rumour these days. Both characters have the same hair and eye color; both make use of shadow/black magic; Guile hovers much like Magus. While I will admit that the resemblance is uncanny, it is never stated that Guile has any relation to Janus/Magus. Guile is modeled after a character in Radical Dreamers who went by the name of Magil. Like Serge and Kid, his basic design was carried over into Chrono Cross. It is said that in the early days of production the Chrono Cross creators intended for Guile to be Janus. As progress was made on the game this idea was completely discarded as the team could not find a good way to integrate him into the story. Instead Guile's role was changed so he was a mysterious traveling magician with an unknown past. As of yet he has no connection to anyone in the Zeal family, but it is very possible for another sequel to fill in some blanks regarding Guile's history. So in summary he is not currently Janus, but who knows what the future holds for him.
 



Chapter 2
Azala summoned Lavos

I don't know where people get the idea that Azala summoned Lavos. That is completely illogical. That would mean that everything the Reptites had fought for - all the battles with the humans, all their advances in technology, everything they had gained over millions of years - everything would be destroyed because of Azala. Unless Azala has totally flipped his mind, there is no way he would willingly destroy his species' entire culture. This would paint Ayla as the Reptites' savior rather than their enemy - she was out to stop Azala, who in turn was out to kill off his own kind? Nonsense. At the end of his death speech it is clear he knows what the consequences of Lavos' arrival will be. Azala knows full well his race is destined to die in this world since he can in no way stop the arrival of Lavos. Still, he fights valiantly to the end and retains his dignity. It's really sad in a way. So in other words, Azala accurately predicted there would be an ice age following Lavos' impact. Being reptilian, Azala's species would not be able to tolerate the drastic change in temperature. Thus, his race had no future. Don't forget that it would be impossible for Azala to summon a space alien from millions of light-years away. How in God's name could he? Even Magus, the most powerful wizard, could barely summon Lavos. Even when he did, it is suggested that Lavos wasn't physically summoned to the surface - if he had been the planet would've been doomed.
 



Chapter 3
Crono, Marle, and Lucca died

Don't worry. Nowhere is it stated that they die. I cannot over emphasize this. People often assume they die based upon a scene added in the Final Fantasy Chronicles release of Chrono Trigger that shows Guardia being attacked in the year 1005 AD. Crono, Marle, and Lucca aren't even in that scene, so we can't even be sure they were present during the fall of Guardia. Though in Chrono Cross it is implied Lucca was killed (between 1010 - 1015 AD) by Lynx, but that was never confirmed. Lynx can say what he wants to ignite rage in Kid, but without further evidence we don't know what happened to Lucca. Her status: missing.

Though people will often use the specters seen in Chrono Cross to justify the characters as being deceased. Keep in mind that it is only in Home World that these apparitions are seen, never in Another World. Also, we cannot even be certain these are authentic ghosts. Do recall that in the Hydra Marshes Serge saw what appeared to be a ghost of Razzly, yet she was still very much alive at the time.  On Opassa Beach Crono and his friends appear much younger than would be expected (around age 10) and could likely be holograms or another form of projection. That said, Lucca's "ghost" will say that she and her friends do not exist in Home World's time line. Yet that does not account for Another World. It is implied that they are missing from only one dimension at the very least. If this is true, then the characters must have vanished after 1010 AD since that is when the dimensions split. But at this point no definitive conclusion can be reached.

On a similar note, many will also say Robo has "died" during the time of Chrono Cross.  There is no conclusive evidence to tell us whether the Prometheus Circuit is merely a copy of Robo's intellect or if it is in fact a remodelling of Chrono Trigger's Robo.  If it is the latter then we can assume Robo is no more as he was assimilated into FATE and later destroyed. If this is not the case then it is very probable Robo is still functioning in the future with his body fully intact. Both Glenn and Ayla are presumed dead merely because they returned to their respective time periods at the end of Chrono Trigger so they would have died natural deaths by 1020 AD. There is of course the possibility they once again returned to the present (1000 AD) via time travel, but there is no evidence for that as of yet. Though it is rumored Magus returned to the present age.  The only clue to this is given in Lucca's letter to Kid wherein she mentions Janus and how he might possibly be with Kid as she reads the letter.  Lucca would not have proposed this if she believed Janus to be completely out of the picture.  Again, all we have now are individual's speculations, but people are still divided on the answer.
 



Chapter 4
Marle is a descendant of Schala

Despite owning the same pendant, chances are more likely than not that Marle is in no way related to Schala. In the original timeline it is not unreasonable to think Schala survived the Ocean Palace disaster. Instead of having to use the last of her pendant's power to transport Crono's party out of the Ocean Palace, she might have used the power to transport herself and her mother out of harm's way. From this point on she may have had children - we can't be sure. However, as Crono re-wrote history we know that Schala did not escape the Ocean Palace. Instead, Schala disappeared into a Gate and became encased within Lavos. If Schala is an ancestor of Marle, how in the world is she supposed to have offspring since she's now confined to the Darkness of Time? This scenario was already played out with Queen Leene. Once a descendant is out of the picture Marle disappears. After Schala's disappearance Marle did not disappear (again). Thus the two cannot be related.  

Though some may say Schala returned to the Dark Ages upon being freed from Lavos.  I don't consider this to be the case. It is very probable that Schala returned with Serge from the Darkeness of Time and continued to live the remainder of her life on El Nido during the Present. We see this is the case since she is standing on Opassa Beach at the end of Chrono Cross. But even if she had returned to 12,000 BC, we could still expect Marle to vanish - at least until the point when Schala would be freed - just as she temporarily vanished in the Middle Ages until the threat of Yakra was gone.

For those wishing to find a relation between the Guardia and Zeal family trees, only one option remains. This is to assume Queen Zeal survived the fall of the Black Omen and eventually produced more offspring, furthering the family line. We cannot say with certainty that she did remain alive at the end of Chrono Trigger. Gaspar tells us that she had been freed from Lavos' control and can now rest. Some interpret this to mean she did indeed die and can finally "rest in peace". Oddly enough, we never see Queen Zeal in any time period after destroying the Black Omen. No conclusion can be reached whether she survived, let alone procreated.
 



Chapter 5
Ayla is the only person to have a tail

This misconception is more common than you may think. Many people now insist Ayla has a tail. This boggles my mind as it can clearly be seen in the official Squaresoft character artwork that Ayla's "tail" is nothing more than a piece of her clothing. It is not the color of her skin, but rather the grey of the hides she is wearing. Some say it appears her in-game sprite has the ability to control the "tail". Since it is wrapped around her neck, I have no reason to believe it is not being affected by the wind, or when she runs, the movement of her body. Put simply, saying that Ayla is part monkey is completely ridiculous.

Though some will also say Ayla is not even human, based mainly upon Azala's remarks calling Ayla an "ape". This may be partly true, but let us be clear on terminology. Chrono Trigger's "apes" are not to be confused with those of our world.  We know apes as being small primates - chimpanzees and the like. Clearly Ayla does not resemble these animals.  We have every reason to believe Azala calls her an "ape" in a demeaning manner since Ayla and her tribe are physically human. Azala clearly regards early humans as a lesser species (evolved from real apes, no doubt), meant to be either dominated by, or obliterated by, the Reptites. This is no surprise considering both races are competing on the evolutionary stage and the winner will remain the dominant species until far in the future. If nothing else, we can use the term "ape" to distinguish between the humans existing before Lavos' influence compared to those that exist after. Yet for this reason we cannot quite classify Ayla a "human". Crono is a human, as is Lucca and Marle. We know for a fact that Ayla is not as evolved as Crono simply because humanity didn't come into contact with the Frozen Flame until 3 million BC. This event started an artificial process of evolution causing the affected species' brain to triple in size over the next three million years. Though this does not mean Ayla is in any way sub-human, and certainly not to the point of being an on the level of lower primates. She, and those of her time, have just not been exposed to the effects the Frozen Flame will bring, and so do not yet have the higher intelligence of later, modern humans.
 



Chapter 6
Chrono Trigger Player's Guide errors

While the Nintendo Player's Guide for Chrono Trigger is aimed more toward providing a basic walkthrough one should follow during the game, it also intermingles with this a few brief comments regarding the story. For the most part these are accurate but two of the passages skew the truth which could mislead the player.

"Truce: Lucca meets her grandfather, a craftsman who made the legendary Leene's Bell by hand." (pg 20)

Firstly, even if we were to accept this statement, we would need to interpret "grandfather" in the less literal sense and take it to mean "forefather" since clearly Banta lived much too far in the past to qualify as the immediate father of either of Lucca‘s parents. That said, while it is plausible Banta is Lucca’s ancestor there is nothing in the American release which explicitly states this. Neither Lucca nor her parents divulge any information on the matter and I would be hard-pressed to believe any other character would have either the knowledge of the family’s lineage or any reason to even broach the subject.

Regardless, there are some similarities Banta shares with Lucca’s family. Foremost is the fact that his name is an anagram of Taban. One can take either name and arrive at the other merely by switching the first and second syllables. So, too, does he look like Taban since they both share the same sprite image. Furthermore Banta’s building prowess may be looked upon as a precursor to Taban’s inventive skills. Lastly Banta’s wife mentions their desire to have a daughter that is both smart and beautiful (but then again who wouldn’t). Whether these details are meant to allude to a blood relation, or if we are merely reading too much into them, I cannot say. However, all my efforts to see if more is revealed in the Japanese version have proven futile.
 

"If Magus hadn't sent Lavos to prehistoric times from the Middle Ages, he [Lavos] would never have gained his
frightening power, and if Crono hadn't tried to destroy the Mammon Machine, Lavos wouldn't have awaken.
" (pg 114)

The error here should be obvious to anyone who has completed the game so I won’t dwell on it except to say Magus took no part in either creating Lavos or transporting it through time. Lavos is an extraterrestrial who arrived without aide on Earth during the prehistoric age and remained dormant under the planet’s crust until 1999 whereupon it wreaked havoc after rising to the surface. I assume what the authors were intending to say was something in regard to Magus’ summoning of Lavos in 600 AD, but this ritual did nothing to increase the beast’s powers. Furthermore Crono’s actions in the Ocean Palace only replicated those which Melchior performed in the original timeline; Lavos briefly awoke to destroy Zeal well before Crono was even born (further details on the Conjecture page). In the end I cannot attempt to explain what the authors of the guide thought when making this statement, but it should be disregarded as it is erroneous on many levels.



Chapter 7
Magus saved Kid from the Hydra poisoning

I'm sorry, but Magus did not deliver the Hydra Humour to Doc. As seen in one of Chrono Cross' endings, it was Norris who saved Kid. Norris, as leader of the Black Wind, can't run the risk of being fatally poisoned. The humour/antidote was probably standard issue for someone of his rank. After the incident at Viper Manor, word was likely spread throughout the mansion that an intruder was poisoned by Lynx. While working undercover in the kitchen Norris would have heard this news and discovered that someone in Guldove needed the humour.
 



Chapter 8
Porre formed a large military in just five years

It is never stated that Porre became a super-power within five years. Having Chronopolis and Dinopolis thrown into the past 10,000 years prior allows for history to easily change. Porre sailors had discovered El Nido around the year 900 AD and shortly began colonization. And what's of value in El Nido? Elements brought over from the Reptite dimension! Porre was the first (and likely only) mainland community to have access to a form of magic they didn't originally possess. Then figure they had 100 years to build a military wise in the way of Elements and it's no wonder the Porre soldiers held an advantage. Even if Crono had turned Porre's mayor from a greedy old man into a sharing one, the last century's worth of events likely re-wrote what Crono had done so the kind mayor was no longer in power. See the Essays section for a more detailed piece on this subject.
 



Chapter 9
Crono's name should be spelled "Chrono" instead

Though not an error in understanding the plot, this is still noteworthy as many people still cannot agree as to how the main character's name should be spelled.  We know that in the English version of Chrono Trigger the name was spelled "Crono" - without the letter "h".  Many will argue that the "h" was included in the Japanese version and that is the way the name should be spelled.  Quite frankly, this is absurd.  No "h" was even present in Crono's name to begin with. If we look to the Japanese version we can see the name spelled in katakana is (pronounced "ku-ro-no").  Proof lies in this screen capture in which the player is given the chance to re-name Crono. Note that the letter "h" (and all other Roman characters) are absent from the list of choices. The name as it appears in kana can be Romanized in a number of ways, both as "Crono" and "Chrono" as the "h" is silent causing both to have the same pronunciation.  It will further be argued that Squaresoft was unable to include the silent "h" in the English version due to character limitations that allowed only five letters to be used in each name. Again I say this is absurd.  Squaresoft is the creator of the game.  Had it wished for the name to really be "Chrono", Square could have easily altered the code to allow one extra character to fit in the name. Rather the name was translated as just "Crono" making this the official name of the main character.
 



Chapter 10
The Frozen Flame is in reality a piece of Dreamstone

Some people believe the Frozen Flame and Dreamstone to be the same substance, based mainly upon an excerpt in the Chrono Cross Ultimania Guide which claims as such. This idea is somewhat controversial and has lead to much debate, so use the following information to come to your own conclusion.

We know the Frozen Flame is a piece of Lavos, broken off his shell upon impact and buried within the Earth. Dreamstone, on the other hand, was present in Prehistoric times well before Lavos' arrival. Ayla notes that it is plentiful around her village. Nearly everyone will agree that Dreamstone is inanimate. On the other hand, the Frozen Flame is a living shard of Lavos which is able to react to those with whom it comes into contact. The Frozen Flame allows one to directly link with Lavos; the Dreamstone does not. The Frozen Flame has the ability to heal severe wounds and grant any wish. Again, Dreamstone has not been shown to do this. The Flame seemingly exerts a limitless supply of power, while the Dreamstone can only magnify existing energies. Even the appearance of each object is drastically different (see comparison). Regardless, each object is very powerful in its own right, but the two should not be confused.

Though despite this there is some truth to a connection. It is worth noting that in Radical Dreamers the object known as the Frozen Flame looks nearly identical to dreamstone (see comparison). In fact not only do the appearances match, but nearly all of the other properties previously listed for dreamstone are shared by this version of the Frozen Flame. As far as Radical Dreamers is concerned, the Frozen Flame was almost certainly meant to be a piece of dreamstone. However we cannot deny the fact that this idea was eventually abandoned when work was begun on Chrono Cross, since the Flame's design was altered so drastically all hope of a connection was lost. Perhaps the comment in the Ultimania Guide was in regard to the preliminary design stages of Chrono Cross, before the history of the Flame had been finalized. Or perhaps it could refer to Radical Dreamers, for it is only in that game that this theory can work.
 



Chapter 11
Schala traveled to Death Peak despite Belthasar's protests

Shortly after arriving in the ruined future of 2300 AD, Crono and his team will have to option of traveling through the sewer access and visiting Belthasar inside the Keeper's Dome. He is diligently working on a computer terminal but will respond if questioned. He will ask if Crono has seen his inventions, the Blackbird and the Ocean Palace. Then he will reminisce by saying: "Schala, how I've missed you so...." Which will be followed with: "No! You must not climb Death Peak! It isn't the right time, and they have to show you the way..." And therein lies the problem. Many a player has interpreted this statement to be in reference to Schala. Let us, for a moment, examine Belthasar's condition when this conversation took place. We know that he arrived via a time gate in (or shortly before) 2300 AD. After spending time in this ruined world he became isolated, malnourished, and depressed. We can see he looks fondly on his previous inventions as he is clearly thinking back to the time when he lived in the Kingdom of Zeal. A big part of his life during that era was Princess Schala. Yet with his deteriorating condition Belthasar has become a frail, bumbling old man that can barely keep sane in such a world (as he will say). It is no surprise then that his speech is erratic and disjointed. Halfway through his dialogue Belthasar snaps out of reminiscence and bluntly changes the topic to the arrival of Crono. Given this, I see no reason to link his last statement to Schala.

Not only that, but we see absolutely no evidence in the game to even suggest Schala was present in 2300 AD. We know that during the Ocean Palace disaster Belthasar was pulled into a Gate, but it is likely that during the original timeline Schala managed to escape the collapsing palace with her mother, Queen Zeal. After Crono's intervention Schala no longer had the strength to save herself as her remaining energy was put into rescuing Crono's allies. At which point, Schala was pulled into a Gate - though not one leading into the future. Instead, this Gate lead to the Darkness Beyond Time, whereupon she came into contact with Lavos. From this point the two merged into the Time Devourer, who rests inside the Darkness of Time until its defeat in Chrono Cross. At no point does Schala ever make contact with the ruined future, let alone attempt to climb Death Peak. Instead, Belthasar was referring to the time Crono's team would need Belthasar's help in scaling the mountain.
 



Chapter 12
Lynx was responsible for destroying Guardia and for stealing the Masamune

Completely false. While Lynx does have connections with Porre, recall that the fall of Guardia and the disappearance of the Masamune took place in the year 1005 AD. Now jump ahead to Chrono Cross and you will see that the earliest Lynx could have existed would have been 1006 AD - one year too late. In fact, the earliest we ever see of Lynx was in the year 1010 AD when he killed Serge, causing the dimensional split. This is also the earliest that Lucca's house could have been attacked, since she didn't become a target until after Serge's death. At this time it remains a mystery as to who the mastermind behind the attack was, though rest assured that it was not Lynx.
 


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