"What ARE you two doing?! I thought you said something about a nice little slide show?" — Crono |
Crono (as クロノ?, Chrono in Japanese media) is the silent protagonist in Chrono Trigger. He lives with his mother in Truce in the Present. His personality matches that of the conventional hero archetype and he is willing to place his life on the line for the sake of others.
Appearance
Crono has spiky red hair. He has blue eyes and wears a short sleeved green shirt underneath a light blue tunic. He also wears a black belt, along with yellow pants, a pair of dark brown boots and bracers, a white headband around his forehead, and an orange ascot around his neck. He always keeps a katana close at hand. He wields his katana with his right hand, but in the FMV and official artwork, he is seen using his left.
Biography
Chrono Trigger
Born in 983 A.D. to Gina and an unnamed father in the city of Truce, Crono quickly befriends a girl named Lucca. Seventeen years later, on the day of the Millennial Fair, Crono met his bride-to-be, Marle, though he did not know it at the time. Together, they enjoy the fair's festivities until the unveiling of Lucca's new invention, the Telepod. Always faithful to his friend, he agrees to test the device despite all dangers. The transportation is successful. However, when Marle tests it, she is sent back in time. Following her, Crono returns her to the Present and rescues her lost ancestor Queen Leene to ensure Marle's birth in that time period.
Crono in the FMV.
Returning Marle to Guardia Castle, her home, Crono is accused of kidnapping her in attempts to thwart the throne. Represented by Pierre in a trial, Crono is sentenced to death by the Chancellor, regardless of whether he is found guilty or not guilty. Lucca frees him seconds before he is brought to the Guillotine and together, they flee the Prison Towers. On their way to Guardia Forest, Marle tags along and the three travel to the Future via an open Gate. Investigating the area in search of a means to return home, Crono and his friends find food supplies for the inhabitants of Arris Dome, where he also meets his descendant Doan and learns that the ruined future was caused by Lavos. He vows to save the planet from destruction through the use of time-travel. Shortly after, he assist a robotic man named Robo in deactivating a Derelict Factory to find a way home.
Entering the Gate, he arrives at the End of Time where he receives magical abilities. With the aid of these powers and the powers of his allies, Crono successfully reforges the Masamune by acquiring Dreamstone in Prehistory and attempts to slay the Fiendlord, Magus, whom he believes is the root of Lavos's presence in the time line. This leads him back to Prehistory where helps the Iokans destroy the Reptites, thus securing the evolution and prosperity of the human race whose lives were jeopardized by these sentient lizards. Directly afterward, he realizes Lavos was not summoned by Magus, but is an alien species who fell from the sky in this time period. Attempting to follow the beast to the crater it created by landing, he is transported to the Antiquity era.
Crono's soul is eaten by Lavos in the FMV.
In the Antiquity era, he rescues Melchior from the Mountain of Woe and subsequently attempts to rescue Schala, the innocent Zeal Princess who is being exploited by her mother, Queen Zeal. When Crono confronts Lavos in the Ocean Palace of the Kingdom of Zeal as a result of the rescue mission, he sacrifices himself to save everyone present. With time travel, his friends manage to replace Crono in the moment before he dies with a clone received from the Millennial Fair in 1000 A.D., saving his life. While the other six playable characters have many lines of dialog, Crono's responses to events are usually implied only through reaction and gesture, often for comedic effect, which wrongfully depicts him as insincere at the moment of his resurrection. Returned to normal, Crono and two others confront Lavos, destroy it, and return peace to Guardia. After, Crono travels back in time to rescue his mother who haphazardly stumbled into a Gate.
There are some points where he's shown to have romantic feelings for Marle. At one point where he's knocked out, he has a dream where Marle is his wife. The PlayStation and DS versions of Chrono Trigger include an FMV scene at the end that shows Crono and Marle getting married. While a second FMV depicts the fall of Guardia Kingdom in year A.D. 1005, it is unknown what happened to Crono during this event. It is probable that he and Marle are alive during the events of Chrono Cross, as Doan (Crono and Marle's descendent) still exists in the new timeline of 2300 A.D. Although it's also possible that both of them perished in the fall of Guardia, but were survived by any children that they may have had during their five years of marriage.
Chrono Cross
Crono as a Ghost Child.
Crono's fate is alluded to in Radius's statement about the Kingdom of Guardia no longer being peaceful. Like Marle, he is very likely alive as referenced in Lucca's letter about her friends. Three times in this time line, a version of him appears as one of the Ghost Children along with Marle and Lucca. The first time, he states that the future in which Earth is ruined by Lavos is going to be brought back into being due to the interference of Serge, who caused the Home World and Another World split. The second time is in an illusory space at Terra Tower, in which Belthasar enlightens Serge's party about some of the affairs of the Dragons. Crono's final appearance in Chrono Cross comes immediately before the final battle of the game. Crono tells Serge that Wazuki was turned into Lynx by FATE, and along with his fellow "Ghosts," the other two members of the original time-traveling group, implores Serge to destroy Lavos once and for all.
Abilities
Crono in the FMV.
Crono wields katanas as his weapon of choice. Typical among many other silent role-playing game main protagonists, Crono is a well balanced character with no major weakness, and is very useful in battle. His physical damage is respectable, along with his speed, health, and defense. Because he can equip some very strong weapons (including the Dreamseeker, the strongest weapon in the game overall), he is one of the main damage dealers. Crono possesses a variety of techs, which include offensive and support techs. He can cast Raise on allies to revive them, and for offensive techs, he can inflict both physical damage and magical damage, and his higher level magic techs hit all enemies.
In the original Japanese version of the game, Crono's element was Ten (天?), which means "heaven". In the Nintendo DS version of Chrono Trigger, Crono's element is translated to Light, which is more in line with the original Japanese translation.
As Crono's element is Lightning/Heaven/Light, he takes extra damage from Shadow element attacks.
His base critical hit rate for most of his weapons is 10%, with the exceptions of Swallow increasing it further to 30% and Rainbow increasing it to 70%.
Single Techs
| Tech (SNES/PS1 Name) | Japanese Name | MP | TP | Element | Target | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyclone | 回転斬り | 2 | 5 | N/A | Circle of enemies | Whirl about enemy, striking others nearby. |
| Wind Slash (Slash) | 鎌鼬 | 2 | 90 | Light | Line of enemies | Slash enemies with wind gusts. |
| ☆Lightning | ☆サンダー | 2 | N/A | Light | One enemy | Attack an enemy with lightning. (Light) |
| Cleave (Spincut) | 全力斬り | 4 | 200 | N/A | One enemy | Deal double damage to an enemy. |
| ☆Lightning II (Lightning 2) | ☆サンダガ | 8 | 500 | Light | All enemies | Attack all enemies with lightning. (Light) |
| ☆Raise (Life) | ☆レイズ | 15 | 400 | N/A | One ally | Revive KO'd ally. |
| Frenzy (Confuse) | 乱れ斬り | 12 | 800 | N/A | One enemy | Strike enemy 4 times in succession. |
| ☆Luminaire | ☆シャイニング | 20 | 1000 | Light | All enemies | Attack all enemies with holy light. (Light) |
Trivia
- Crono is the only character confirmed to be left-handed.
- Crono has no dialogue in the game (although in one ending he has a few lines of dialogue).
- Crono is a condensed form of Chrono, a Greek prefix for time. Since Chrono Trigger has time travel as a prominent theme, this name is very appropriate.