Was Crono Supposed to Die?

[Acacia Sgt]

Wait, there's been no translation for that?

Hmm...

[ThatGuy]

Well here's google translate for you, which I find amusing, I think they were talking about the game box cover though:

Was it difficult to make the same scene as the illustration in the game?

Sakaguchi: Although the composition changes somewhat, as an image, I brought it closer to the level that can be associated with this illustration as a game screen if it can be associated with it. If you are a forest you draw illustrations on the front of the background designer when drawing the background of the forest. It was an order that "make it a forest that can make this scene eventually".

Toriyama: Does not that make it a fool?

Sakaguchi: It's just not all scenes. Is it about 1/3 of the whole? This snowy field is a little difficult. It seems there is no snowy mountain.
(* There was no mountain of death at the time of dialogue)

Toriyama: This was the opposite of ordering. Actually, I was ordering "with a sword of ice", but since the sword was originally like ice, it was difficult to make it to ice. That's why I turned it into a flame.

[Razig]

That's strange. I always assumed when Toriyama drew the picture used for the box art, he was working from an early build of the game in which Marle used fire magic. Check out the top left screenshot: https://www.chronocompendium.com/images/wiki/b/b3/Chronotriggeregmpage2.jpg

But if the artwork was already finished before Death Peak was added, and Toriyama's orders had been to draw an ice sword, then the developers must have already decided early on to give Marle ice magic. Yet that screenshot must have been taken some time after this interview, since the scene is clearly happening on a snowy mountain. So why is Marle shown casting a fire spell if she had already been assigned ice? Was this screenshot just a promotional mockup made to match the artwork, rather than the other way around?

[ThatGuy]

Seems that's exactly it- he did it for the looks, not the accuracy.

[Acacia Sgt]

Hm, now I wonder about Arc/Frost Impulse...

I mean, the artwork is clearly the tripple tech. Even the in-game animation uses flames, despite Ice II being one of the components.

[Razig]

Ah, that probably explains it. The triple tech uses flame sprites which flicker between blue and red, and the screenshot was taken while they were red. So it probably was an actual in-game shot rather than a mockup, but was taken some time after Toriyama had already finished the drawing, so neither was an influence on the other.

In 22 years I've never noticed the blue/red flicker. Thanks for pointing it out!

[Acacia Sgt]

Well, not quite.

At least, in the finished product, the flames only appear on Crono's sword. Marle sends a sparkle instead that turns into the flames. Also, that screenshot has Frog unconscious, so it can't be the tripple tech anyway. If anything, it looks more like the Flame Sword double tech.

[Razig]

At the beginning of the attack, Frog lays down to allow Crono to jump off his back (at least that's how I interpret it—maybe he falls down from the effort of throwing Crono instead?), which uses his unconscious sprite. However, he stands back up well before the flames appear, so it doesn't completely match the magazine screenshot. At this stage of development, they were probably still using lots of placeholders while they ironed everything out, so Marle's contribution to the attack might have used Lucca's Fire Sword animation. I'm guessing the picture does represent an early version of Arc Impulse, though.

We'll probably never know for sure, but I think it's fun to speculate on stuff like this. 

[ThatGuy]

Whoa, look at that fire there... interesting...

[Vehek]

That alpha screenshot was actually translated (as seen on the supporting material translation page), confirming it's supposed to be Arc Impulse. Meanwhile, accompanying images on another page of the V-Jump interview (page 158) pairs a screenshot of Crono and Marle using of the Ice Sword techs on Krakker with an uncolored version of the artwork.
This is the side description for the latter:

坂口さんが「難しい」といっていた雪山のシーンも、スタッフの努力により、ここまで同じ雰囲気のもが作られたのだ。

Seems to just be talking about the snowy environment, not the battle.

[Razig]

Somehow, simply translating the screenshot's text never occurred to me. 

[Nangbaby]

Back to the original topic, I don't know if killing off Crono permanenly would be a gpod idea,  but I will admit that having him die and not be replaced would serve as an interesting meaning of the title itself.

Instead of the Chrono Trigger being the egg, Crono would be the trigger for the party to go on.

[Random Factor]

I remember reading once that Kato planned to have Crono die for good. I finally found the source.

Originally, Chrono Trigger writer, Masato Kato, wanted to keep Crono dead. To continue the mission, the party would actually have to recruit a younger version of Crono. But Square deemed it too depressing and requested that the rest of the story be written in a way that he can still be saved.

Is there a source for that, however? Some interview with Kato that I'm missing where he addresses this?

Anyhow, I figure that, if true, this could be good justification as for why Crono appears to be dead in Radical Dreamers; i.e., it's how Masato Kato wanted it, and being a "spin-off" he didn't have Squaresoft looking over his shoulder as closely.

All great warriors have enemies that try to kill them off for good. It's a hard thing to do if the warriors fate is greater than those that attempt to kill them, even supposed creators of supposed fantasy realms.

[EgyLynx]

I remember reading once that Kato planned to have Crono die for good. I finally found the source.

Originally, Chrono Trigger writer, Masato Kato, wanted to keep Crono dead. To continue the mission, the party would actually have to recruit a younger version of Crono. But Square deemed it too depressing and requested that the rest of the story be written in a way that he can still be saved.

Is there a source for that, however? Some interview with Kato that I'm missing where he addresses this?

Anyhow, I figure that, if true, this could be good justification as for why Crono appears to be dead in Radical Dreamers; i.e., it's how Masato Kato wanted it, and being a "spin-off" he didn't have Squaresoft looking over his shoulder as closely.

All great warriors have enemies that try to kill them off for good. It's a hard thing to do if the warriors fate is greater than those that attempt to kill them, even supposed creators of supposed fantasy realms.

I think youre right... MAYBE?

[xcalibur]

I remember reading once that Kato planned to have Crono die for good. I finally found the source.

Originally, Chrono Trigger writer, Masato Kato, wanted to keep Crono dead. To continue the mission, the party would actually have to recruit a younger version of Crono. But Square deemed it too depressing and requested that the rest of the story be written in a way that he can still be saved.

Is there a source for that, however? Some interview with Kato that I'm missing where he addresses this?

Anyhow, I figure that, if true, this could be good justification as for why Crono appears to be dead in Radical Dreamers; i.e., it's how Masato Kato wanted it, and being a "spin-off" he didn't have Squaresoft looking over his shoulder as closely.

I'm not surprised. Kato in general took a darker, more somber approach to the story. iirc Kato was responsible for the Zeal arc, in which the main character is killed and an entire civilization is destroyed. He was also a major influence on Chrono Cross, a game which completely lacks the upbeat character of CT.