This is a listing of notable characters from the video game Chrono Trigger, a role-playing video game released in 1995 by Square Co. (now Square Enix) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. In keeping with the time travel theme of the game's storyline, the characters hail from different eras of a fictional history, ranging from prehistory to a post-apocalyptic future.
Creation and influences
The characters of Chrono Trigger were designed by Akira Toriyama 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 king, a tin robot, a monster 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 series. Some of the names used in the English localization of the game were inspired by Biblical 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.
Playable characters
Crono
is the red spiky-haired silent protagonist 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, Nintendo DS, Apple iOS, Android, and Microsoft Windows/Steam 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 as a weapon and learns to use "Light" magic ("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 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 scored Crono a 30 out of 40.