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Common Misconceptions
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Chapter 01: Guile is Janus/Magus
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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 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.
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.
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. |
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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
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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.
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. |
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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. |
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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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(pronounced
"ku-ro-no"). Proof lies in this
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