Lavos, The Red Star!

[Hadriel]

Perhaps when his children had reached a stage of growth to be able to conquer their own planets.  But if you want Lavos to blow up Earth, you're looking at Death Star-scale power -- billions of trillions of trillions of joules, and then some.  That alone doesn't make it completely unfeasible considering that the series deals heavily in magic, but it does make it awfully difficult to believe that Crono and the crew could have beaten him.

[chronotriggerfreak]

I have an idea.  Maybe it's an immature form of Lavos, ie the phase after Lavos Spawn, but before the Lavos that you face.  Maybe after Lavos absorbs the planet's energy, he also changes color.  It's sort of like beetles, when their in adult form, but still in the ground gaining strength for the outside world.  There aren't any blatant contradictions to this within the game, so I think it's pretty plausible.

And I just called this kid a newb.

We know that Lavos spent quite some time gathering the planet's power and energy before rising to the surface from his Pocket Dimension, right? Who's to say that Lavos, just like the Lavos Spawn in 2300 A.D. seem to be feeding off the residual energy from the destruction that rained from the heavens in order to grow (and, presumably, eventually leave the planet), wasn't spending some of that time to grow and change into the form that we fight in the Pocket Dimension from 12000 B.C. and in 1999 A.D.?

[Peaceman]

Hey, I'm only trying to contribute, okay.  I'm sorry if my 14 year old mind isn't sophisticated enough for you.
That said, I do have to comment that you have a good point there.  

[chronotriggerfreak]

I'm fifteen, first of all, and second of all, I just complimented and supported your idea. But I may have to rethink that...

[V_Translanka]

Ha! I'm 20! And that makes me...sad...ahhhh...

I think Lavos is all glowy-red in space because of the energy it's using in guiding itself to a suitable planet...Makes sence, huh? Right? That's RIGHT i'm right, because I'm older than you!

[Peaceman]

I didn't mean it to come out that way.  I also you were sarcastic or something.  I'm not used to people complimenting me on this forum.  I'm such a newb...

[GrayLensman]

Perhaps when his children had reached a stage of growth to be able to conquer their own planets.  But if you want Lavos to blow up Earth, you're looking at Death Star-scale power -- billions of trillions of trillions of joules, and then some.  That alone doesn't make it completely unfeasible considering that the series deals heavily in magic, but it does make it awfully difficult to believe that Crono and the crew could have beaten him.

Magic allows the creation of elemental effects which exceed the "brute force" of the user.  Attacks like Luminaire are likely a semi-crontrolled release of the caster's elemental energy, but Magus was able to summon Lavos through magical means, even though his elemental power could not compare to Lavos.

Lavos' destruction of the surface of the earth may be the extent of its raw elemental power, but Lavos could cause the planet to explode or disintigrate through magical manipulation of the laws of physics.

[Hadriel]

As far as manipulating the laws of physics go, the world of Diablo has an interesting take on it.  The magical knowledge of the Diablo universe holds that magic spells are in fact ruptures in normal space-time where the mortal plane and the ether, which obeys different laws of physics than the material world, collide.  These rifts take various forms for different types of magic.

About Janus not being able to compare to Lavos, that strikes me as odd. It's perfectly possible, though difficult, to beat Lavos with Crono alone, and his magic attacks aren't nearly as strong as Janus' repertoire.  However, I suppose almost any character at level 99 could do it.  Perhaps the reason one needs a Chrono Crew for the main storyline as opposed to a singular hero of time in New Game+ is because all the genes necessary for victory over Lavos caused some kind of a conflict in human physiology when put together.  Realizing this, the planet would move to create time gates to unite the potentially most powerful humans ever.

[V_Translanka]

Yes, but in essence that would leave out Frog, Ayla & Magus as you can defeat Lavos the first time you get to the EoT with Crono, Marle, Lucca, and Robo.

[Peaceman]

Right, but at least when you play the game the first time around, you're not going to be able to defeat Lavos until at least after the Ocean Palace disaster.

[Leebot]

Well, in theory you could do an insane amount of leveling...

[Peaceman]

That's right...
Oh yeah, I guess you could use the game genie codes for all stats maxed out, all techs, level 99.

But then again, since you're not that far into the game, you wouldn't have good armor, weapons, etc.  Your attacks wouldn't do as much damage, and you'd receive more damage, i.e. you'd get pwned.

[Hadriel]

There are codes to get every item and weapon, as well.

[Peaceman]

Right, forgot about that.  Speaking of that, I have a question.  Let's say you start off the game with every single item.  This includes the Masamune.  Therefore, couldn't you skip the whole Forest Maze part in the Prehistoric?  You already have the sword, so you don't need dreamstone to reforge it.

[The Arbiter]

I've never tried, but I still don't think you could skip any parts of the game regardless of any codes you may be able to use. Also if you ever do try any of those Game Genie codes you may notice inconsistencies and erased game data. I know because my friend had a "code" that would allow you to play as Dalton and one that would allow you to play as Schala. But these codes produce enormous instability and the game will freeze whenever you encounter an enemy. He also erased my maxed out game files at the time in one shot.
Don't let people borrow your games!