One of the primary reasons that fans still look to Chrono Trigger as one of the greatest RPGs of all time is the fact that it includes one of the best casts of any game in the genre. In addition to the incredible Crono (who impressively carries a lot of emotional weight for a silent protagonist), players have the tomboy princess, genius inventor, monster knight, and other zany character archetypes as part of their main adventuring party. If there’s one thing Chrono Trigger proves, it’s that the heroes of an RPG don’t have to fall into the traditional high fantasy or swords and sorcery tropes that most associate with the genre.
And, lest we forget, the main villain of Chrono Trigger is both intriguing and terrifying, calling to mind some of the best “alien invasion” science fiction films, instilling dread from the moment of his introduction in the game’s early hours. Supporting the game’s antagonist are several morally ambiguous semi-villains, each of them ranging from sympathetic foes with tragic backstories to megalomaniacal psychopaths bent on world-domination in exchange for power. These main characters of Chrono Trigger aren’t just the foils through which its story is told, they’re the heart and soul of the game itself.
Crono
The hero of Chrono Trigger and most iconic character in the game, Crono is an atypical “silent protagonist” for a Square game, and he’s all the better for it. His lack of dialogue does little to dissuade his place as the game’s hero, and the relationships he forms with his fellow companions and their conversations with him go a great deal toward establishing how great of a leader Crono is for the party while also allowing players to imprint their own identity on the hero.
Ultimately, Crono is an everyman — a normal guy who finds himself in a completely abnormal situation. Crono’s place as an inexperienced apprentice swordsman sees him grow in power throughout the adventure to eventually become the only one capable of uniting the group of heroes that can stop the nefarious Lavos. This journey is reflective of both the player’s place in the game and the ability of Crono to inspire loyalty among his friends.
Marle
Though her real name is Princess Nadia, heir to the Kingdom of Guardia, players meet the young member of the royal family as simply “Marle”. Her desire to leave behind the trappings of royalty for a chance at a normal life lead her to bump into Crono, and it’s clear from her introduction that the two share a special connection. When Lucca’s teleportation display at the Milennial Fair goes haywaire reacting to Marle’s pendant, Crono doesn’t hesitate to jump headfirst into danger to rescue her, and it’s something that Marle never forgets. During Chrono Trigger‘s darkest moments, Marle stands out as both the voice of hope and the voice of reason, and she even serves as the voice for Crono on several occasions due to his presence as a silent protagonist. And, as the group’s resident healer, she’s invaluable in combat.
Lucca
Crono’s best friend and a genius inventor, Lucca is one of the greatest companions of any JRPG party. In addition to her utility in combat with flame attacks and enemy analysis, she plays an important role in the story as the group’s resident thinker, connecting the dots that inevitably lead the party toward success. Her scientific genius and logical approach to finding solutions make her representative of the party’s brain as much as Marle represents its heart, and her connection with Robo is one of the best friendships in a game that has several meaningful connections between its party members on display. Without Lucca’s inventions and ability to decipher the clues left behind by the three Gurus, it’s a certainty that the party would not be successful in their quest to stop Lavos.
Frog
The best friend of the brave knight Cyrus, young Glenn wanted so desperately to be the hero that his friend is. When he challenges Magus, he realizes too late that he is outmatched, resulting in his permanent transformation into a strange looking humanoid frog. Despite this setback, Glenn continues to train and offer his services as a knight to the Kingdom of Guardia, eventually helping Crono and Lucca rescue Queen Leene and return Marle to the timestream. His pure heart, bravery, and loyalty make him the only member of the party capable of wielding the legendary Masamune, which he then uses to challenge Magus once again, kickstarting the turning point in Chrono Trigger‘s adventure. Frog is a hero in every sense of the word, and along with Crono he’s an incredible physical powerhouse that makes a great addition to the party.
Robo
The party’s arrival in the future and discovery of the Day of Lavos leaves them feeling despondent, but a chance encounter with Robo while trying to find a time portal back home once again gives the party hope for the potential to change the future. Robo is a product of a society grown complacent, one that meets its untimely end at the hands of Lavos. And when Crono and his friends encounter Robo initially, he is the subject of ridicule from his fellow robots due to his apparent “malfunctioning”.
Lucca recognizes the value of Robo, fixing him up and inviting him to join the party as a permanent fourth companion. Robo serves as an example of the value inherent in what others might find to be “broken”, reminding us that sometimes all it takes is them having someone to believe in them. After Lucca’s repairs, Robo becomes yet another indispensible member of the party.
Ayla
The last official member of the adventuring party in Chrono Trigger, Ayla accompanies the party in the prehistoric age during the time when Lavos first crash lands onto the planet. Although her primitive mannerisms and appearance make her a bit of comic relief in what’s otherwise a fairly serious section of the game, her presence in combat is no laughing matter. Out of all characters in Chrono Trigger, Ayla is capable of dealing some of the highest damage in encounters, and her combo attacks with Robo stand as some of the most powerful in the game against enemies weak to lightning elemental attacks.
Magus
Though Magus stands out as an apparent villain (even having his own climactic boss battle), Chrono Trigger flips the script on the traditional RPG antagonist by allowing the party to befriend and recruit him during a time when the party is hopeless and needing direction. With Crono’s absence, Magus steps in as the new deuteragonist, leading the party on a mission to jump back in the timestream and fix the moment in time where Crono sacrifices himself to save his friends. Magus is Chrono Trigger‘s resident vampire and a clear stand-in for Count Dracula, though his tragic backstory and relationship to the predicament that the world finds itself in help him to be a much more complex and three-dimensional character than most RPG villains.
Belthasar
Though the players never actually meet Belthasar like they do with the other two Gurus of Zeal, he is perhaps the most important of the three and the one responsible for constructing the time machine that the party uses to travel back and forth across the timeline to stop Lavos. The Guru of Reason, Belthasar is also responsible for designing and building the Balckbird and the Ocean Palace. He is also one of the first influential people of the Kingdom of Zeal to speak out against the Queen’s use of the Mammon Machine. When the Mammon Machine activates, Belthasar and his fellow Gurus find themselves in the presence of Lavos. The temporal gates that open in Lavos’ presence send each of the three Gurus to different points in the timestream, and Belthasar ends up in the distant future after Lavos’ destruction of the world.
Gaspar
Gaspar, the Guru of Time, acts as the party’s guide in Chrono Trigger and helps to steer them in the right direction. His introduction to Crono and his companions arrives after the party visits the future for the first time and realizes that the world as they know it will come to an end in 1000 years. Recognizing the potential to use the time gates to try and stop Lavos, the party finds a way out of the future only to end up at The End of Time — the point in the timestream under Gaspar’s tutelage. Here, Gaspar is the guide and mentor to the party, informing them of the potential of their actions to prevent the destruction of mankind. Though he comes off as aloof and detached, his underlying goal is to help Crono and his friends and undo the mistakes of the Kingdom of Zeal.
Melchior
When the Three Gurus of Zeal jump though time to different eras, Melchior ends up in Crono’s present day Guardia. Here, he runs a humble smithing business but eventually comes across Crono and his friends. After the party obtains the broken hilt of the Masamune, he offers to restore the legendary blade as long as Crono can procure some Dreamstone, which then prompts the party to visit prehistory and come into contact with Ayla. The Guru of Life, he is close with the Queen’s daughter Schala and the two of them are among the first to notice the Queen’s descent into madness from using the Mammon Machine. In addition to forging the original Masamune, Melchior is also responsible for creating the mystic pendant Schala wears, the very same that has been passed down through the Guardian Royal Family and is currently worn by Marle.
Schala
Schala is a mystic of great power and the daughter of the Queen of Zeal, the magical kingdom of antiquity. Though her power to tap into the Mammon Machine enables Zeal to reach a state of technological advancement and societal utopia, Schala’s concern over its use leads her to consult with the Three Gurus. Without Schala’s ability to communicate with the Mammon Machine, the Queen cannot receive its power, which eventually leads to Schala’s kidnapping and impisonment at the hands of her own mother. Along with her younger brother Janus, she is presumed to die after making contact with Lavos. Of all the characters in Chrono Trigger, Schala is one whose fate is unchangeable regardless of the party’s actions.
Janus
Janus is the younger brother of Schala who possesses magical powers that set him apart from the normal residents of Zeal. He notices the effect that using the Mammon Machine has on his mother the Queen, prompting him to become sullen and reserved, sulking in the shadows and looking for potential ways to sabotage the machine. When Crono and his party attack the Mammon Machine and make contact with Lavos, Janus is sent to the middle ages where he is able to use his magic powers to gain the following of fiends. Here, he grows to become the fiend leader Magus, vowing to summon Lavos to the year 600AD so that he can get revenge for his sister Schala’s death.
Queen Zeal
Queen Zeal acts as one of Chrono Trigger‘s most important cautionary tales, showing the dangers of putting too much into technology and the power it provides. She uses the unnatural power of the Mammon Machine to bring the Kingdom of Zeal to a state of prosperity but then shuns those who cannot use magic, banishing them to the frigid lands below Zeal’s paradise. Her hubris is ultimately her undoing, as she becomes insatiable in her quest for power and that unquenchable thirst leads to the destruction of Zeal and the death of her own daughter. While Lavos is the game’s primary antagonist, one could make a case that the true villain of all characters in Chrono Trigger and the one responsible for setting the game’s conflict into motion is Queen Zeal.
Lavos
Arriving on the planet 65 million years before Crono’s time, Lavos is an alien organism that follows an evolutionary drive for survival. Parasitic in nature, the being known as Lavos travels from planet to planet in search of sustenance. Once Lavos lands on a planet, it makes a home for itself deep within its core, slumbering and feeding to gain power before eventually rising to the surface to enact one final act of destruction. After finishing its feeding, the creature then takes to the stars once more in search of its next victim. The party learn of Lavos’ existance by watching footage of it destroying their world 1000 years in the future, prompting them to embark on a quest to stop the alien being.
Since its arrival in prehistory, Lavos uses its influence to manipulate people hungry for power to do its bidding, speeding along the rate at which it will be ready to reach the surface and feed on the planet’s population. When Crono and crew finally battle Lavos, they attack its intimidating exterior before venturing into its core and finding a sickly, humanoid-looking alien being controlling the vessel.