Chrono Trigger – Chrono Tactics

I promised my players in Chrono Bolt that there would be two major twists from Chrono series canon. The first was just revealed.

That girl merged with the Time Devourer? It’s not Schala.

“Janus. Lucca. Many people came to believe that this girl was you – Schala. That you had merged with Lavos and become this entity that would destroy existence. This girl is probably who encouraged Janus to erase his memory. She would have wanted distance from anyone who knew her.” Gaspar explains slowly, sitting the tea biscuits down on the table forgotten, “Belthasar used FATE to keep Melchior and I from getting involved.”
“That ignores the most obvious explanation of the girl’s identity. There was another Zeal royal who had in fact merged with Lavos before its defeat and who was cast with it into the Darkness beyond Time.” Gaspar continues, “I’m also old enough to recall that your mother’s natural hair color was blond before she dyed it blue to match your father’s.”
“Belthasar shunted Chronopolis from 2,400AD to 12,000BC. Melchior and I believe that his goal was to rescue Queen Zeal from within the Time Devourer and save Zeal from it’s demise. Why else would he select those time coordinates?” The old man continues, “There’s much, much more. Belthasar’s plan is very complex but you should know that core to it is a young woman named Kid and a young man named Serge. Kid is a time clone of the girl in the Time Devourer and Serge…a time clone of your father, the late King Zeal.”
Gaspar, Chrono Bolt Chapter 2: Since BELTHASAR crashed time!

Even though this is a twist from canon I think that it could actually work as canon. It doesn’t actually make a lot of sense that Schala was merged with Lavos and Queen Zeal does just disappear after battle – perhaps being thrown to the Darkness Beyond Time? Chrono Cross also never really explains why Serge as a baby is so important to Schala that, despite being merged with Lavos, she helps him reach Chronopolis from across space and time.

This departure from canon certainly puts a new spin on the Chrono Cross ending where Kid plots to conquer the world!

Warning: Spoilers to follow.

The original Chrono Trigger ended on a bright optimistic note. Squaresoft being Squaresoft could not let that stand. Radical Dreamers and Chrono Cross noted an event that occurred in 1005 AD, the Fall of Guardia. This event was important enough to Squaresoft that they included animation for it in the Playstation re-release of Chrono Trigger. We see the last defender of Guardia fall, Truce is burnt to the ground, and the Masemune was stolen. One hopes that Chrono Break would have let the players do something about this turn of events but…as that was canceled we will never really know.

Chrono Trigger DS included new content that confirmed that Dalton – the gag boss from antiquity who breaks the fourth wall and has a burp attack – was responsible for the Fall of Guardia. Lucca’s fate in Chrono Cross at the hands of Lynx and Harle was unpopular but generally accepted due to the strength of their characters. But Dalton? A boss who the Chrono Trigger group trounced multiple times? How did Dalton, even with an army, defeat Marle and Crono?

An artist named Maggie Karp offered one theory.

By Maggie Karp, check out her Deviant Art page.
https://www.deviantart.com/maggiekarp/art/CTDS-Spoilers-TWIST-108247528

I have my own serious take on this in Chrono Bolt and it starts a long time before 1005 AD. And, yes, the players will have the opportunity to do something about it.

Chrono Tactics

Play by Post and Tabletop Roleplaying System

Category: Chrono Trigger

Time Devourer: That’s Not Schala

Fall of Guardia 1005 AD