Does the Entity exist?

[DeweyisOverrated]

It seems like the Entity is brought up a lot.  Pretty much every topic has a mention of "her", tying "her" into the topic either very strongly, or quite vaguely, despite the enormous lack of information we have on "her".

Tons of huge events are tied into the Entity.  Some people speculate the only true "plot hole" of Mare disappearing in 600 A.D. is due to the Entity interfering.  Some people say Marle disappeared through Lucca's telepod due to the Entity having a say in it.  People say the Entity made the gates.

My question is, is there even enough evidence to support that the Entity exists?  Here is the only dialogue we have with the Entity in the game:

Robo: I have come to think that
   someone, or something wanted us to
   see all this.

   The different events over time, that
   we have witnessed.
   It is almost as if some entity wanted
   to relive its past.

Frog: Lavos playeth an integral
   role in the fortunes of this Entity...

Magus: ...so who is this Entity?

Robo: It is unknown, whose
   memories these are. It may be
   something beyond our
   comprehension.

   Our journey may come to an end
   when we finally discover the identity
   of the Entity.
   ... ...shall we turn in for the night?

Lucca: Do you remember that talk
   we had?

Marle: You mean about whether
   our lives flash by before we die?

Lucca: Yeah. I get the feeling that
   the «Entity» is finally at rest.

Marle: Yes, I feel that too...

Lucca: I thought Lavos made the
   Gates...
   But I guess I was wrong.

Marle: What do you mean?

Lucca: I think a greater force
   wanted us to experience those
   events.

The Entity is brought up quite suddenly, with no real trigger for it.  There's no specific hints leading up to it, its just brought up, out of nowhere, on a sidequest.  None of them find any more evidence of an entity during the course of the game.

Now, the way I see it is, this was put in to serve as a parallel to how many people think nowadays.  Is there a God?  Did He put me here, on Earth, for a specific reason?  What's the purpose of life?

In my opinion, I don't think there is neccessarily an Entity, but rather, this is just showing how the characters "are jsut like us", in that they don't understand what's going on, why they're the ones doing all of this, and how they're not sure if there's a greater power out there watching over them.[/quote]

[teh Schala]

I tend to agree with you...  It did seem rather sudden and kind of half-baked for a piece of plot, so I figured that it was probably something just kinda thrown in for that purpose.  (Others may notice I have stayed decidedly out of debates/discussions about the Entity, as, like Dewey here, I'm not real sure about the logic that the Entity exists in the game.)

[Syna]

That's an interesting thought.

I do tend to think the Entity exists, but I also think that it was brought up in that fashion because it's more peripheral in terms of plot. CT, like most RPGs, is full of little mysteries embeded in the dialogue, like the Black Wind; there's no true answer to what these things are unless another sequel is made that tells us, so we're left to speculate.

I don't think there's any definitive canon identity for the Entity (forgive the silly rhyme), but it does make for good speculation. After CC, I'd say I like the Planet explanation best, but I do believe it's completely up to intepretation.

[V_Translanka]

The Entity is brought up quite suddenly, with no real trigger for it.

Perhaps this is because you forgot to put in all of what Robo said...?

After 400 years of experience, I have come to think that Lavos may not be responsible for the Gates.

I mean, at the Moonlight Parade, Lucca mentions that the Entity is probably at rest now that Lavos is defeated...I think that the Entity is mentioned at the end of the quest has far greater relevence than the fact that it isn't mentioned prior to the 400 Year Reunion...

Also...I don't remember that dialogue after Marle says "Yes, I feel that too..." How do you trigger that other stuff that they say???

[kazmaka]

im very much with dewey here, the first time you hear about the entity is through a side-quest, so you can complete the game without ever hearing about it, and apart from what robo and the others say, there is no evidence that is does exist.

[V_Translanka]

Again, you can say that, but really, how much of a side-quest is it? I mean, looking at the 400 Year Reunion as a sidequest is practically like saying reviving Crono is a sidequest...and if you go that far, you might as well say everything after you have access to the bucket is a sidequest...

I think that what Robo (especially a Robo w/400 years of thinking behind him) & the others say has at least some relevence to the point that the Entity exists...

[kazmaka]

reviving the forest isnt a side-quest... but gaspar tells you to either do these things that he points out or go fight lavos, doing the other things barely affects the story in anyway, so they are by definition side-quests, unless they do affect the story significantly which im not aware of.

[V_Translanka]

Call me circular, but I think the Entity is a bit more than significant.

[Legend of the Past]

The Entity is the Planet. I'm pretty sure it's the Planet dying and seeing it's life flash by, and trying to defend itself. They did the same with FF VII, so why not with CT\CC?

[kazmaka]

thats not the point i was trying to raise, but okay, and still, our only physical evidence is a robot's crazy thoughts that took him 400 years of farming to derive.

[V_Translanka]

Oh yeah, calling Robo crazy and acting as if 400 years of robotic retrospection is nothing totally makes it seem like there's hardly any relevent evidence supporting the Entity at all...

[kazmaka]

Oh yeah, calling Robo crazy and acting as if 400 years of robotic retrospection is nothing totally makes it seem like there's hardly any relevent evidence supporting the Entity at all...

but robo is crazy isnt he? i mean not crazy, but he "malfunctioned" kinda thing didnt he? when lucca fixed him... and anyway, how reliable are a machines thoughts?

[Zaperking]

He's not crazy, he's not even a part of the mother brain generation. He was designed to study humans. Atrapos tells him to kills the humans because Mother Brain installed that feature to all the robots after 1999AD. Robo was knocked out, and Lucca simply tinkered with him to make sure he didn't go rouge on them.

As for the Entity, I tend to not care about it, since it's not really in the game. But if it had to be said, I'd say the Planet, and the Planet is the real power behind fate.

[DeweyisOverrated]

Not sure how I left the 400 years part out... but even with that it seems rather sudden.

As for the sidequest thing, I'm not arguing that it makes it irrelevant, I just think that if something was supossed to be a huge deal, it would've been in the main plot a little more, as supossed to inside of a single sidequest, and then a small mention at the end of the game.  

Also...I don't remember that dialogue after Marle says "Yes, I feel that too..." How do you trigger that other stuff that they say???

I think that if you DON'T do Fiona's sidequest, that's the dialogue that comes up.  I'll re-edit it so that its in a separate quote box to clarify a little more.  This quote could be interpreted on either side of the argument.  

Entity Exists Argument - They said that, because if you didn't do the Fiona sidequest, they want you to know that something else really caused the whole game.

Entity Doesn't exist Argument - Once again, going back to how the developers wanted to create one of those "why are we here? what's the point of life?" type things since you missed it before.

On a side note, I posted this thing at probably 1 am last night, and I wake up at 9:30 and there's already a good amount of discussion about it, I like that.

[DeweyisOverrated]

Oh, one more thing I forgot.  There's nothing about The Entity in Chrono Cross.  Now, once again, this doesn't prove "she" doesn't exist.  However, I would think that something this big would be explained, or at least expanded upon.