Chrono Trigger/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Characters from Chrono Trigger include:

Main Characters

The whole team

Crono

Our hero. A young boy from the village of Truce in 1000 A.D. who lives with his mother and cat. Doesn't say much, but becomes quite the hero after being sucked back in time.

Lucca

One of Crono's friends from 1000 A.D. Lucca is very good with gadgets, a trait she inherited from her father Taban. She discovered small pockets of distortions in time (which she dubbed "Gates") after an accident at Leene Square hurled Marle back in time to 600 A.D.

Marle

The princess of Guardia Castle in 1000 A.D., and daughter of King Guardia XXXIII. Fed up with the trappings of royal life (i.e. not being able to go anywhere without her father's approval), she runs off and bumps into Crono at the Millennial Fair. Her real name is Nadia, but she prefers to be called Marle.

  • Action Girl
  • An Ice Person: Shares the same elemental power as Frog (Water), but hers is associated with ice.
  • The Archer: Uses crossbows: usually firing them but resorting to Pistol-Whipping at melee range.
  • Badass Adorable: Marle is the most feminine member of your squad, and she's the one with the kindest heart. Her kindness doesn't impede her ability to get things done; in fact, doing the right thing is what motivates her into action.
  • Badass Princess:
  • Crash Into Hello: She first bumps into Crono at the Millennial Fair, dropping her pendant.
  • Crutch Character: While she's the main healer for the most part, all her healing techs are single target only unless they're combined with somebody else; for this reason, she tends to get ditched as a healer (and thus just plain ditched) once Frog and/or Robo's magic stats get high enough for their wide-angle heal beams to be worthwhile.
  • Dub Name Change: Her real name was Marledia in the Japanese version.
  • Everything's Better with Princesses
  • Expy: Shares an iconic outfit with early Dragon Ball Bulma.
  • Genki Girl: Her victory sprite is energetically jumping up and down.
  • Hair of Gold
  • Healing Hands: The most notable healer among the party.
  • Hot-Blooded: If she has a fault, it's that she's too impulsive. Her eagerness to try out Lucca's teleporter is what sets the entire events of the game into motion, and her refusal to obey her father goes back even further than that.
  • Identical Granddaughter: Bears an uncanny resemblance to the queen in the middle ages. Naturally, this becomes a plot point.
  • The Medic: Has some firepower, but not really enough to be a Combat Medic.
  • Missing Mom
  • Off-Model: Looks as though she has six fingers on each hand in the cover art.
  • Orphan's Plot Trinket: Marle's pendant.
  • Personality Powers: A notable aversion: Marle is hot-headed, impulsive and passionate, yet her elemental focus is all ice.
  • Pimped-Out Dress: The royal dress she wears in the past, a similar dress she flings off in the present, and a Fairytale Wedding Dress in the good ending cutscenes on re-releases of the game.
  • Rebellious Princess: She fits every single facet of the trope. She runs away from home, takes up Tomboy Princess traits despite his protests, brings home a strange boy her father thinks is a criminal, and hates the cushy and lax lifestyle of the castle.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red Oni to Lucca.
  • Ripple Effect Indicator: Marle serves as this at the start of the game in 600 A.D.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: Upon finding out that her world will end in 1999, she decides that this cannot stand, and starts the heroes' journey to ensure a future for mankind. "Doing something" doesn't get more direct than that. She also doesn't like that her father wants her to stay in the castle and be more distant and dignified with the people.
  • Samaritan Syndrome: She's one of the friendliest people you'll ever meet, puts on no airs whatsoever regarding her rank, and her idealism is what leads her to declare that they should Screw Destiny and change history by opposing Lavos.
  • Screw Destiny: Might as well be her catchphrase.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Officially "Marl" in Japan.
  • Spoiled Sweet: Marle has a few aspects of this. She could hardly be called shallow, but her sheltered upbringing has left her a trifle naïve, she nurses a definite sweet tooth, and she knows how to give orders to get her own way—and, if that doesn't work, how to throw proper tantrums.
  • Squishy Wizard: She can't take as many punches as the others. A funny sort of subversion is that she has the highest natural magic defense of anyone in the party, which makes her one of the easiest characters to keep alive in the final battle against Lavos.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: To the point that she could seamlessly take the place of an ancestor hundreds of years in the past. Even this has its limits though because there's never any comment about her relation to Ayla, Kino or Doan.
  • Tomboyish Ponytail: Although it seemed to be part of her Princess Classic getup too.
  • Tomboy Princess: To the point that her whipping off dresses and transforming into her normal clothes is a common sprite animation.
  • White Mage: The primary healer of the game.

Frog/Glenn

A renowned warrior of the kingdom of Guardia, hailing from 600 A.D. He was placed under a Cursed with Awesome by Magus, and has sworn to defeat to avenge his best friend Cyrus.

  • Absurdly Sharp Blade: In one of the most famous examples of an Exaggerated Trope version of this trope, he slices an entire mountain in half with the Masamune. A MOUNTAIN.
  • Badass: And HOW! Probably the most badass out of the heroic characters despite his unassuming form or because of said form!
  • Baleful Polymorph: Utterly annihi-verted. Magus seemed to have been aiming for this trope, but he missed by a wide margin.

Frog:This form has been a blessing in disguise. Without it... (hops and poses with the Masamune) There are things I'd never had obtained!

Glenn: "I cannot hurt another."

Robo/R66-Y/Prometheus

An R-Series robot from 2300 A.D. (serial number R-66Y, real designated name Prometheus) that Crono and friends find in the Proto Dome, abandoned by his creators. He joins the party after Lucca repairs him in order to help them kill Lavos.

  • Arm Cannon: He uses it in several techs. And in one case, "uses it" means "fires Frog out of it."
  • Badass Automaton
  • Beam Spam/Everything's Better with Spinning: Laser Spin!
  • Casting a Shadow: His laser attacks are equivalent to Shadow magic.
  • Defector From Decadence: He wants no part in Mother Brain's plans to wipe out what few humans remain.
  • Distaff Counterpart: Atropos. She has a ribbon.
  • Duel Boss: Not Robo himself, mind you, but his poor friend Atropos.
  • Evil Twin: Six of 'em! They're Palette Swaps, but the principle's the same.
  • Fastball Special: He can throw Frog with the Blade Toss attack and Ayla with the Spin Kick attack. Frog can also throw him with a Bubble Hit attack, trapping Robo in a bubble, moving him over the enemy and then popping it so Robo's heavy metal body lands on the monster.
  • Frickin' Laser Beams: Robo's other type of attack, fired from his body. Strangely, they're shadow-elemental.
  • Healing Shiv: His lasers can be tuned to Shadow-element implements of destruction, or healing rays.
  • I Owe You My Life: To the party, after Lucca repairs him twice.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: No pun intended. Does not initially remember much about his setting.
  • Mighty Glacier: Has the highest HP of any character, yet moves quite slowly (although he has rollers in his feet, used in his Tackle attack). One of the sidequests he can undertake upgrades his speed, however.
  • Pick Your Human Half: Looks very mechanical, but is very human in personality, if perhaps a little subservient and overly polite thanks to his programming.
  • Pinocchio Syndrome: After Lucca asks him what he plans to do after helping them find the Time Gate, he puts thought to it and realizes that he's never considered it before.
  • Plot-Relevant Age-Up: During the Fiona sidequest, Robo spends 100 years re-cultivating the forest. His remains are stored in a chapel built in his honor. Once Lucca powers him up, Robo reveals that he has gained a new perspective on life.
  • Power Fist: He possesses various punching abilities, including a rocket arm and arm cannon.
  • Robo Speak: His text boxes include an electronic noise to indicate this. The Japanese version also has him speak in katakana, a common way to show mechanical speech.
  • Robot Buddy: Particularly to Lucca, but the entire party are his True Companions.
  • Robot Names: His serial number is R-66Y. Lucca thinks it's cool, but Marle rejects it, so the party calls him Robo instead.
  • Rocket Punch: Robo's first special attack, and the wired variant.
  • Situational Sword: His ultimate weapon, the Crisis Arm, deals damage dependent on the last digit of his HP. If it is 0, it does no damage. If it is 9, it deals a lot of damage.
  • The Slow Path: Takes it on purpose to help Fiona grow a forest. This renders him centuries older than the other characters (assuming he wasn't already centuries old to begin with).

Ayla

A strong, burly, female tribal chief from 65,000,000 B.C. As one of the first humans, she is on-hand to discover Lavos' terrible destructive power.

  • Action Girl
  • All Amazons Want Hercules: Averted. Ayla's love interest is Kino, who is most certainly NOT a Hercules.
    • Then again, considering that official art makes her look mid-20s and him look barely teenaged, her attraction to him might suggest a different trope altogether...
    • On the other hand, she first shows interest in Crono because he kicks tons of Reptite ass. And by "shows interest in", we mean "pushes him against the cliff wall and starts dry-humping him." However, she later says that she prefers Kino, so...
    • But on the gripping hand, she does say that she became chief because she's the strongest, and if she dies, then Kino will be the chief, so he may actually be the second-strongest member of the Ioka tribe.
  • Badass Normal: The only human character without magic. Also the only character to not equip weapons. Her "weapons" slots are her fists, which are periodically upgraded at level milestones.
  • Bare-Fisted Monk: Her powerset is like this.
  • Bi the Way: Seen by some in this line: "Me like strong person. Man, woman, both like!" and her Kiss and Charm abilities work on allies and enemies (respectively) regardless of gender.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: She's actually pretty serious when the situation is, but boisterous at other times.
  • Boobs of Steel: The bustiest and strongest character.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: At a sufficiently high level, her fists deal 9999 damage on every critical hit.
  • Desperation Attack: Her Dino Tail tech.
  • Dumb Muscle
  • Extreme Omnivore: A good chunk of her lines.

Ayla: "Big frog present? For Ayla eat?."
Frog: "P-perish the thought!"

  • Fastball Special: She throws Crono in the Falcon Hit attack, while Robo and Crono throw her in the Spin Kick and Drill Kick attacks. Frog is a borderline example with the Bubble Hit attack, as he traps her in a bubble, directs her over the enemy, and pops it so she can land on the monster.
  • Fur Bikini: Ayla's outfit. Official artwork shows her with a fur scarf as well, but in-game, it looks more like a tail.
  • Gainaxing: In her walking animation (but done subtly).
  • Good Old Fisticuffs: Despite wielding a club in cutscenes and official art, she fights using her fists in the game.
  • Hot Amazon: Emphasis on hot.
  • Hulk Speak: Depending on the translation and the individual line, could be this or You No Take Candle. Either way, her speech is incredibly primitive.
  • Intimate Healing: Her "Kiss" ability heals party members.
  • The Ladette
  • Lightning Bruiser: Ties for fastest player character with Magus, and has the highest strength of any character.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Aside from her outfit, several of her abilities openly trade on her sex appeal. An early prerelease version of the game even gave her "Kiss" ability the name "Arousal"!
  • Nature Hero
  • Nubile Savage: Already attached, but otherwise...
  • Pregnant Badass: Some of her comments, and her throwing up after Nizbel is defeated, implies that she is in the very early stages of pregnancy during the game. There is a debate, however, if the throwing up was because of morning sickness or if she was just hung over from the party the previous night. If she was pregnant, the fetus is now dead from alcohol poisoning. Yes, Fridge Horror is a dish best served cold.
  • Running on All Fours: Her running animation is this.
  • Shout-Out/Name's the Same: Shares her name with the protagonist of Jean Auel's Earth's Children series, who was also a prehistoric woman. She lived less than a million years ago, however (you know, because there were no humans around in 65,000,000 B.C. in the real world).
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Officially "Eira" in Japan.
  • Summon Magic: Dino Tail.
  • Thanks for the Mammary: Does it unabashedly to Marle during Marle's Sidequest. Ayla claims that Marle isn't "ready" to have her own kids yet (of course, Ayla was comparing Marle's chest to her own, so the bar is a little high...).
  • Wild Man: Even wild for the standards of primitive humans. Ayla values strength and Asskicking Equals Authority, which several people don't agree with (they'd rather hide and live in peace).

Antagonists

Magus/Janus/The Prophet

An evil wizard from 600 A.D. but actually from 12,000 B.C., worshiped by the monsters of Medina Town, and wielder of many forms of dark magic. He plans to summon Lavos, the being destined to destroy the world.

  • Adaptive Ability: First battle only.
  • Anti-Hero: Type V.
  • Arch Enemy: To Frog.
  • Badass: He seems specifically designed to be as awesome as possible.
  • Badass Cape: A cool red one (blue in the game sprites), which he can drape himself into as one of his animations.
  • Barrier Change Boss: The Trope Namer. At various times in the battle, Magus will cast a spell that changes what element he's weak against. Crono and Frog are required to fight him, so Light and Water are covered, but the third party member is a crucial bit of strategy to mull over.
  • Black Mage: He only ever learns offensive spells, all of which are multi-target.
  • Black Magic: His spells are mostly Shadow-based, but he also starts off with Lightning 2, Fire 2 and Ice 2, making him able to cast any element.
  • Casting a Shadow: He's the only magic-user in the game explicitly stated to be shadow-elemental. His ultimate spell, Dark Matter, is a particularly notable example of the trope and his SECOND strongest spell is a black hole.
  • Climax Boss: Complete with theme music!
  • Conqueror From the Future:
    • Inverted Trope in that Magus doesn't hail from the the future, but the ancient past. He's a magically-enhanced Precursors.
    • After Lavos dumps him back in 12,000 BC, he assumes the mantle of the "Prophet". Averted in that while he is in fact manipulating the queen, he's just doing it to kill Lavos.
  • Crutch Character: Magus joins very strong, and his stat growths are top notch (indeed, he'll max most stats before anyone else, even the non-magical ones), but he has no healing abilities or double techs, and very few and usually Awesome but Impractical triple techs.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Although not immediately.
  • Disc One Final Boss: Defeating him reveals that Magus didn't create Lavos; he was just summoning the beast to do battle with him. Considering what we see later, it was a good thing he didn't succeed.
  • Duel Boss: The second time around, if you choose to confront him with Frog in your active party.
  • Early Bird Boss: The first fight with him, it's an elemental magic reliant brawl, at which point few if any of your party members has their level 2 spells. Frog and Crono are forced for this fight, so Lightning and Water are covered, but you can't possibly cover all of the elements, since only Lucca can use Fire magic and only Robo can hit with Shadow element (and it's a rather weak spell against a boss to boot). Taking either could leave your healing a bit weak, and Magus can be a very hectic boss requiring constant healing, but taking Marle to better cover your healing will leave you only able to cast Lightning and Water magic. And God help you if you forgot to take Frog to meet Spekkio.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": In the SNES translation and Japanese version, "Magus" and "Maoh" (literally "demon king") are his names, respectively. Averted in the DS translation: "Magus" is a name he gave himself, while his title is "Fiendlord".
  • Expy: Of Piccolo and Kibito Kai.
  • Fangs Are Evil: Best seen in the animated cutscenes, but his fangs do add some menace to his already evil appearance.
  • Fire, Ice, Lightning: He uses these as his barriers, along with a shadow one he very rarely uses, and you probably won't be able to damage. When he joins you, his three starting techs are the level 2 spells of these elements.
  • Foreshadowing: When we see him kill Cyrus and turn Glenn into Frog in Frog's flashback, the theme of Zeal Palace plays for the first time in the game. Later on, it's revealed that Magus originally lived in Zeal Palace as the child prince of Queen Zeal.
  • Four Is Death: Guess how many bosses you fight in his castle. Come on, guess. Four.
  • Hair Color Spoiler: His Zeal heritage.
  • Heel Face Turn: You get to choose whether or not to let him join your party after Crono's death.
  • He Who Fights Monsters: As a child, he blocked out his magical power because he hated what it was doing to his mother and sister. After he was sent to 600 A.D., he embraced that same power in order to destroy Lavos, becoming much like his mother in the process.
  • Hidden Agenda Villain: His whole vendetta against Lavos is revealed much later in the game.
  • Hidden Villain: Doesn't rear his head until roughly halfway into the story, and then only in Flash Back.
  • In the Blood: Power-lust definitely runs in the Zeal family line.
  • In the Hood: As the "Prophet".
  • Jerkass: It's a matter of much debate whether he's truly one or simply adopting a Jerkass Facade. On the one hand, he was just a little kid when his mother went insane and caused him to be sucked into a time gate, which does not seem necessarily like jerkass-spawning experiences. On the other, he was raised by fiends since then, and they might have had some negative effect on him.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Strong with Magic, definitely not a Squishy Wizard, and no slouch with a scythe either.
  • Magic Knight: Somewhat, while all of his techs are magic, unlike Lucca and Marle, his basic attacks are worth using.
  • The Man Behind the Monsters: His title of the Fiendlord in 600 A.D. has him control the most brutal monsters.
  • Master of None: In terms of his non-Shadow magic anyway. He starts with the level 2 versions of lightning, fire and ice magic, making him very versatile for some of the endgame bosses. However, Crono, Frog and Lucca will eventually learn stronger spells of their own elements. He's still party's the master of Shadow magic, mind you.
  • Number of the Beast: His HP (as a boss) is 6666.
  • One-Hit Kill: Black Hole. Like most spells of this type, it only works on regular enemies.
  • Optional Party Member: After Zeal is destroyed, you have the option of fighting him a second time. Refuse, and the active party leader says that fighting him would be pointless, since it won't bring back Crono (and if Frog is the party leader, Cyrus). Seeing the party as the only way for him to get his revenge now, Magus joins them.
  • Pet the Dog: After he joins your party, Alfador recognizes him, indicating that he hasn't changed so much that he'd seem like a different person to his cat.
  • Pointy Ears: Never explained.
  • Power Floats: He does this instead of running.
  • Prophetic Name: "Janus" is named for the two-faced Roman god, implying dual identities.
  • Redemption Demotion: Magus is still very powerful all around, especially compared to Lucca and Marle, your other two dedicated mages, but he's weaker when compared to his boss fight. Justified in that Lavos drains his power when he tries fighting it at the Ocean Palace.
  • Purple Is Powerful
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Best seen in official artworks and animated cutscenes, as well. Part of his menacing look comes from these.
  • Retroactive Precognition: Magus is able to disguise himself as a great prophet after some accidental time travel knocks him over twelve thousand years into the past. It also helps that he landed in his home time period.
  • Right-Hand-Cat: Alfador.
  • Sinister Scythe: His weapon of choice. He seems to keep it hidden under his cloak, since we never actually see him hold it outside of his official artwork.
  • Sixth Ranger: Only joins the party long after the player is lead to believe the party is full.
  • Skippable Boss: Only the second time around.
  • Token Evil Teammate: His motives don't align with those of the other heroes beside "kill Lavos". He only joins up with them because, at the time, he had no other option.
  • Villainous Widow's Peak
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Even though Janus was kind of a Royal Brat, it's hard not to feel sorry for a child thrown tens of thousands of years into the future and adopted by literal monsters.
  • The Worf Effect: Gets rather thoroughly defeated when he takes on Lavos solo.
    • This happens every time: implied in the original timeline in the middle ages, on-screen in the Ocean Palace, and on-screen in the DS version's bonus ending against the "Dream Devourer".

Lavos

An Eldritch Abomination that has destroyed the world several times over. It was first spotted (and named) in 65,000,000 B.C.

  • Big Bad: The entire time travel plot kicks off because of this thing. Zeal and Magus both have goals centered around it too. That said, Lavos doesn't have any spoken lines or interactions, and doesn't really advance the plot, with other antagonists like Magus and Queen Zeal doing that.
  • Bishonen Line: If by "bishonen", you mean faceless alien pod-thing.
  • Colony Drop: The X factor which wipes out the Reptites, ushering in an ice age. Thus the reign of man begins. It's like a cooler version of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs in Real Life.
  • The Corruption: Lavos doesn't interact with individuals or take any notice of them, it just makes its power available to be drawn upon, and its power warps those who use it (both humans and entire civilizations) into wickedness (and in one case, physically as well as mentally).
  • Diabolus Ex Nihilo: It fell from the sky in ancient times and no one knows its true origins. But it probably came from another planet.
  • Eldritch Abomination: Has all the hallmarks as the tropes here show.
  • Evil Is Not a Toy: Trying to harness its power is always a bad idea (except for the Pendant, using that is fine, probably because it's made of dreamstone).
  • Final Boss Preview: Getting pummeled by Lavos in the Ocean Palace. In the first playthrough, you will likely have no chance to attack before he kills you instantly. Or, alternatively, skipping ahead to the Day of Lavos.
  • Final Exam Boss
  • Flat Character: There really isn't much to it. Kinda like how there's not much to a slug, only slugs probably have a fear response.
  • Hero-Killer: It kills Crono at the Ocean Palace. Actually, it kills your whole party, and then kills Crono For Real.
  • Humanoid Abomination: Subverted. Its True Final Boss form looks like an alien astronaut with combat pods on either side, but the humanoid part isn't its true core body.
  • Monster Is a Mommy: The party encounters several "Lavos Spawn" on Death Mountain. The characters don't talk about it (except Belthasar in his sparkly-light-diary-thingy but it is definitely played more for horror than for sympathy: Lavos is planning to hurl its children into space so they can destroy more worlds.
  • Outside Context Villain: A giant world-destroying parasite monster with magical powers falls from the sky in a massive fireball that causes an ice age. Not something that anyone on the planet was expecting. Same thing when it emerges in the future to destroy the world.
  • Planet Eater
  • Reality Warper: Capable of warping time and space by its very existence.
  • Sequential Boss: Battling Lavos consists of three phases: the outer shell, inside the shell, and the core. The outer shell can be skipped if you go to the Day of Lavos using the Epoch, and if you don't use the Epoch, you can still travel to other time periods and do sidequests before triggering the final stages of the battle.
  • Spikes of Villainy
  • Starfish Aliens: Looks like a giant tick from Hell on the outside, with some more humanoid-looking components on the inside. And the actual piece that must be destroyed in order to defeat it is one of the Lavos Pods, rather than the humanoid thing in the middle that's dealing most of the damage.

Azala

Leader of the Reptites of 65,000,000 B.C., a race of lizard creatures that consider themselves the natural enemies of the earliest humans.

  • Ambiguous Gender: In the original SNES version, Azala's gender is never brought up (mostly since all Reptites look the same). Nizbel II identifies Azala as female in the DS remake.
  • Lizard Folk: Which she believes are superior to humans. She's right, at least in terms of intelligence (compared to prehistoric humans), but humans are still stronger.
  • Master Race: She absolutely hates humans, calling them "apes".
  • My Death Is Just the Beginning: According to Azala, the coming ice age will make the "apes" wish they had perished along with the Reptites.
  • Parrot Pet Position: Inverted with the Black Tyranno fight. Azala leaps up on her pet's shoulder and commands its attacks.
  • Pink Means Feminine
  • Psychic Powers: Specifically because Magic doesn't exist during her time.
  • Right-Hand Attack Dog: Black Tyranno.
  • Save the Villain: Attempted by Ayla. As Lavos falls from the sky, Ayla tells Azala to come with them to safety by flying away on Dactyls, but Azala is resigned to her fate and refuses.
  • Skeletons in the Coat Closet
  • The Social Darwinist: She ultimately decides that if Reptites are doomed to die, so be it. Her asking Ayla to "take care of this world" may indicate that the Reptites opposed humans because they thought that the humans' primitive mannerisms made them unsuitable as the dominant species. Ironically, Lavos, the most primitive-minded character of all, compensates for this by placing humanity on the evolutionary fast-track.

Queen Zeal

Leader of the magical civilization that thrived (and was eventually destroyed) in 12,000 B.C. She used the Mammon Machine to draw upon Lavos' power to keep the floating city alive. Has two children, Janus and Schala.

  • Abusive Parents: Extremely abusive and neglectful to Janus and Schala. Thanks entirely to Lavos' influence. As Janus says, "She's not our mother", indicating that she may have been less of a bitch before.
  • Climax Boss: She's the last boss you have the option of facing before the Final Boss. In fact, beating her in the Black Omen makes the player go straight to the final battle with Lavos.
  • Dark Action Girl: The queen's not above getting her hands dirty and fighting you herself, and she's no pushover either.
  • The Dragon: After the defeat and possible Heel Face Turn of Magus, she becomes the primary human enemy and Lavos' main servant. Interestingly, Lavos does not seem to even acknowledge her because Lavos is a force of nature, not a human enemy.
  • Evil Matriarch: To Magus/Janus.
  • God Save Us From the Queen: The nation of Zeal is an oppressive government towards all non-magic users that's focused solely on acquiring as much power from Lavos and delivering it to the hands of Queen Zeal. While it's hinted that she wasn't always like this, her lust for power has driven her to be antagonistic towards anyone who'd try to stop the Mammon Machine. Unfortunately for you, that's exactly what you need to do.
  • HP to One: Queen Zeal is fond of casting her Halation spell on your party, which makes this happen to everyone. Less commonly used when she transforms.
  • Immortality Immorality: She manages to achieve her desire for eternal life, at the cost of her sanity... and the lives of her children and most of her subjects... and the magic powers of the ones who survived... basically, everything but her body and her powers.
  • Laughing Mad: Half the time you see the Queen, she's got a Noblewoman's Laugh going.
  • One-Winged Angel: After you destroy the Mammon Machine, she transforms into a disembodied head with Cognizant Limbs.
  • Sequential Boss: Your first fight with her is inside the Black Omen. Then she goes One-Winged Angel, and you teleport up to the roof for the final confrontation.
  • With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Naturally, given the power source.
  • You Are Too Late: If you try to enter the Black Omen in 2300 A.D., Queen Zeal appears and mocks you, saying that Lavos has already won.

Dalton

Queen Zeal's right-hand general. Capable of summoning Golems.

  • Adaptive Ability
  • Bad Boss: After his defeat, two of his soldiers can be found along with the survivors, and when talked to, they will mention that Dalton was a "terrible master" and "stingy with the coin too."
  • Cool Airship: The Blackbird.
  • Dragon Ascendant: Briefly, as King Dalton.
  • Dragon Their Feet: Abandons the Ocean Palace and Zeal itself aboard the Blackbird when the power of Lavos proves more than he expected. Turns out doing this was a very good call on his part.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: Attempts to become king after the Fall of Zeal, then vows to raise an army in vengeance. As Chrono Cross shows, he succeeded.
  • Egopolis: His first action as king? Renaming Zeal to the Kingdom of Dalton. He also modified the Epoch and turn it into the Aero-Dalton Imperial.
  • Enigmatic Minion
  • Eyepatch of Power: Somewhat: he has an eyepatch, but he's not particularly difficult in boss fights. Though he does end up ruling an army that conquers Guardia.
  • Fartillery: Belching, actually.
  • Large Ham
  • Laughably Evil: He's the sole human villain without any redeeming characteristics, but we love him all the same.
  • Left the Background Music On: "No, no, no, and no! Stop the music!!"
  • Not-So-Harmless Villain: He himself isn't too dangerous, but he does have his unique Summon Magic. He also utterly destroys Guardia and possibly kills the protagonists between Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, according to the DS port.
  • Smug Snake: He gives off a rather pompous attitude to those he meets.
  • The Starscream: When the Queen is believed to be dead after the Floating Continent crashes and floods the world, Dalton quickly establishes himself as "King Dalton". It doesn't last very long.

Yakra

One of a long line of monsters that has opposed the Guardia royal family since 600 A.D.

  • Chekhov's Gunman: After you defeat him in 600 AD, odds are you'll forget all about him. His descendants won't though, and the thirteenth member of his lineage attempts to frame the King in 1000 AD.
  • Evil Chancellor: He becomes one by impersonating the real chancellor. His descendant in 1000 AD does the same thing.
  • Generation Xerox: His descendant that appears in 1000 A.D. is a mere Palette Swap.
  • Shapeshifter Default Form: The Chancellor of Guardia, for whatever era Yakra appears in.
  • Unknown Rival: His family apparently spent thirteen generations preparing for a second encounter with the party. Crono and friends, however, consider him an afterthought. Ending his revenge scheme is even completely optional.

Ozzie, Slash and Flea

A trio of fiends who serve directly under Magus.

Flea: Man or woman, it's all the same. Power is beauty, and I'm deliciously strong!

Mother Brain

Mother Brain was the central computer that linked the domes and factories together. After the planet is ruined by Lavos, Mother Brain becomes responsible for the uprising of robots over humans.

  • Kill All Humans: Her ultimate agenda. Not that there are many left, but...
  • One Bad Mother: She wants to kill Robo after he refuses to help her.
  • Skippable Boss: She's totally optional, with her as the last boss of Robo's arc.

NPC Characters

Princess Schala

Spekkio

The master of war. He gives Crono, Lucca, Marle and Frog their magic abilities.

  • Bonus Boss: His last form (a pink Nu) can only be fought if at least one member of the party is level 99, and is the hardest enemy in the game (at least in the SNES version).
  • Leitmotif: This.

The Zealian Gurus

The Guru of Life (Melchior, The Guru of Time (Gaspar) and the Guru of Reason (Belthasar) who originally lived in 12000 BC. They try to stop Queen Zeal harnessing the energy of Lavos. When Lavos is summoned, it sends the three of them along with Janus to different periods in time.

The Gurus in general

  • Badass Grandpa: Melchior in particular, since when you meet him at his home in 1000AD, it's sandwiched between a town full of hostile monsters, and a cave full of hostile monsters. And this guy makes frequent trips to the mainland.
  • Badass Mustache: All three of them sport dignified moustaches.
  • Chokhov's Gunmen: All three of them, if you traversed the Abandoned Sewers and entered Keeper Dome before you needed to. Twice for Melchior, though the second time, it's already become clear that he's not ordinary.
  • Fish Out of Temporal Water: All of them hail from 12,000 B.C., but each are sent to different eras when Lavos awakened.
  • Hidden in Plain Sight: You'll have seen at least two of them and not thought much of them before you realize who they really are.
  • Mr. Exposition: All three give quite a lot of information on backstory and/or mechanics.
  • Nice Hat: The three each have one.
  • Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: At least in the English translation: their names are based on the three wise men who travelled to see the newborn Christ.
  • Rule of Three: Three Gurus in total.

Guru of Life/Melchior

  • Cool Shades: He sports a pair.
  • Crystal Prison: When imprisoned on Mt. Woe.
  • Dude in Distress: After attempting to stop Queen Zeal from finishing the Ocean Palace, she had him locked up on Mt. Woe, which the party goes to at Schala's request.
  • Intrepid Merchant: You meet him early on at the Millennial Fair as a sword merchant, and you can buy swords from him at his home too.
  • Ultimate Blacksmith: He's an expert at crafting swords, having created powerful weapons for Zeal and the Masamune (which he is called upon to reforge in 1000 A.D.). He is even the one to provide Crono with his Infinity+1 Sword.

Guru of Reason/Belthasar

"Wouldn't make it very far, anyway... It has to be the right time, and... and it has to be them, or... or the way is shut! Yes, yes..."

Guru of Time/Gaspar

Back to Chrono Trigger
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Chrono_Trigger/Characters?oldid=1977508"