What is your favorite character in Chrono Trigger?

[captainproton]

Some of them could have used just a few more lines of dialogue here and there. That would have been enough to really gel their storylines and give them motivation for continuing on beyond their initial arc. It's surprising how much a smattering of sentences can dramatically change a character and the plot.

 

[Tai_MT]

Chrono Trigger is my favorite RPG of all time.  As in...  I think it's the best RPG ever made and I've ever played.  Yes, even better than Mass Effect.

However, I am not without objective analysis of the things I love and think are amazing.  No matter what the game is, it does have problems and issues with.  Chrono Trigger, despite being amazingly awesome in my eyes, does have a plethora of issues that as a dabbling game dev I wouldn't make.  The Ayla and Marle have no real motivations or arcs beyond their initial reasons for meeting them are just one of the problems the game has.

I would have to agree that they could use a bit more dialogue in lots of places.  Just little snippets that would give them their own personalities and motivations.  It has always caught me off guard that Ayla was perfectly willing to time travel with you and leave her tribe in the hands of the guy she loves...  And she makes no mention of either of these things.  The game is just like, "oh, now you have access to Ayla 'cause of the Dactyls...  She'll follow you to the end of the game now and give no reason why!".  It also always caught me off guard that Marle's devotion for her father just kind of comes out of nowhere.  She argues with him at one point and then Chrono gets thrown in jail...  And she makes zero mention of him ever again until the Rainbow Shell incident where she's like, "we have to save my father from the trial!".  Maybe some snippets of dialogue where she's worried about him or that things haven't been the same since her mother passed on would have been appreciated.  Saving her dad comes clean out of nowhere and then it's implied that they have this deep understanding and love of each other when the trial is over.  The king himself doesn't even question how Chrono got out of jail or why he'd help you after he imprisoned you.  Marle doesn't even mention in passing that daddy had her future husband thrown in jail after a misunderstanding and then the court railroaded you despite being found innocent.

It all just kind of hangs out there and had plenty of possibilities to give those two some more characterization and motivations.

 

[whitesphere]

Chrono Trigger is also one of my favorite RPGs.  I love how well balanced it is.

As for my favorite character to play?  That would be Ayla --- she deals the most amount of damage, and if you get her up to Level 95 (I think), she gets the Bronze Fist --- which means every Critical hit she gets deals 9999 damage!    In the endgame, Marle isn't too useful as a healer --- a leveled up Robo does a great job as a healer, leaving Ayla and Chrono free to wail on the opponents.

As for my favorite character, story-wise?  I like Magus here --- his being the Redeemed Evil Overlord is a very interesting character arc, which is fleshed out further in the side quests and especially with the Bonus Boss on the DS version (it's available once you've beaten the game on a New Game Plus)...

Chrono is probably my least favorite character, because he never says anything, so to me he has no personality or motivations.   

I never knew the "not speaking" bit was a samurai trait, but it does fit --- doesn't it mean they are completely disposable and interchangable to their master?   Which, for all I know, may be exactly the point.

 

[Seacliff]

This has always been an awkward question for me.

Before I start, I want to at least say Chrono Trigger is one of my favorite SNES games and the following does not mean I hate it.

The problem for me with most characters from Chrono Trigger is that they were pretty bland especially in dialog in my opinion, even compared to Chrono Cross. I mean, lets just start by looking at the characters motivations.

Chrono, Marle, and Lucca: They watch a video of a f*** giant monster destroying the world and the first thing they think of doing is to defeat it? Ummm... didn't they just failed at fighting away a few guards? I get the fact that they want to help the future, but that's REALLY jumping the gun there.

Alya: You help her destroy some dinos and she just joins you... I never really got that.

Robo: He probably had nothing better to do, and I guess he does owe Lucca for saving him.

Frog: Slightly similar to Alya, you help him avenge his friend but he really has no real point to be around after that. I would throw the table altogether if it wasn't for the fact that he was thrown into the time hole along with everyone else after defeating Magus.

Magus: He has the best motivation out of everyone, he wants revenge on Lavos but you end up defeating him. He offers to join your team because he kinda realizes he needs help to reach his goal.

Also Magus gets a scythe, epic magic, and gloves... so that makes him my favorite. I also like him because he continues to develop as a character in the satilview game: Radical Dreamers.

 

[TheRiotInside]

I think the game's been around long enough to not worry about spoilers, but I'll try to be mindful just in case.

I was pretty young when I played Chrono Trigger, so my favourite characters ended up being the non-humans, Robo and Frog. From a young person's perspective, Frog's mannerisms and noble dialogue were very entertaining, along with his critical hit animation looking hardcore awesome. I remember feeling very bad for Robo when you first encounter him getting railed on and rejected by the other robots, so I rooted for him quite a bit.

I was fine with Crono being the silent-protagonist, up until he WENT AWAY FOR A WHILE. Once he rejoined your party, I felt a little weirded out by him, and the fact that he didn't speak just made matters worse.

 

[EtphTheElephant]

Robo.

Need I say more?

 

[Diretooth]

I was fine with Crono being the silent-protagonist, up until he WENT AWAY FOR A WHILE. Once he rejoined your party, I felt a little weirded out by him, and the fact that he didn't speak just made matters worse.

Well, now I can't unsee that.

Though, if you think about it, that fridge horror isn't very horrific, as you can create a stable time loop in which he survives, which becomes fridge brilliance.

 

[Probotector 200X]

Ayla! Powerful cave-woman who punches and bites and kicks and charms and kisses! There's really no one else like her.

I have a strange inkling to include a "cave-woman" or "savage woman" type character in most of my RPG ideas, and it's largely due to Ayla.

 

[orochii]

Ayla! Powerful cave-woman who punches and bites and kicks and charms and kisses! There's really no one else like her.

I have a strange inkling to include a "cave-woman" or "savage woman" type character in most of my RPG ideas, and it's largely due to Ayla.

Everyone needs a savage woman on their lives. Even women.

 

[ShinGamix]

My favorite character in Chrono Trigger isn't any of the playable characters!!! Even though the art for her being one was started.

Schala is my favorite only followed secondly by Janus' fun loving cat Alfador! I always heard rumors of how to unlock her but never happened.

Then Dalton is awesome! Tata and even the legendary hero Toma!

 

[Seacliff]

Dalton is awesome, he should have his own spin-off.

 

[Matseb2611]

As a character, Robo is my favourite. I am usually into non-human characters more. For gameplay reasons, Crono, since he is easily the most overpowered.

I used every character at some point (I like to try all characters in RPGs before I pick my favourites), but my favourite and most used setup was Crono, Marle, and Robo. Crono and Robo for damage, and Marle for magic and healing. And when needed, Robo could take a secondary healing role, so essentially it's 2 healers in the party.

 

[Tai_MT]

Magus and Frog don't get much love.

EDIT:  No, don't direct me to fanfiction in which they do get love...  Especially with each other...  That's about 50 flavors of squick I don't want to think about.

 

[captainproton]

I like Frog, and Magus is interesting, but its always harder to get invested in late-game characters.

 

[whitesphere]

@Matseb2611

I agree Chrono is powerful, but I think Ayla takes the crown for overpowered.  If you get her up to Level 96 (hint: Grind in the Geno Dome side quest --- get 10,000 XP every run through the conveyor belt entrance), her Bronze Fists do 9999 damage every time she scores a critical hit.  Then, do the Saurian side quests and give Ayla the Dragon Tear which increases her crit hit rate further...

She works wonders against the bosses, and her damage output tends to reduce everyone else to a supporting role. 

Also, she's indispensable in the late game "party is in prison" quest, since she's the only character who can do ANY damage with no equipment.  Apparently even Robo's fists need his equipment to use...

 

[Probotector 200X]

From what I've seen, on the internet at least, Crono, Frog, and Magus are the three most popular Chrono Trigger characters by a very large margin. Just generally, not necessarily every website or whatever.

 

[Mog the Moogle]

Ohmygodilovethisgamesomuch

Lucca