If you had to...

[V_Translanka]

You could also argue the point that Ozzie kind of paints him into a corner there. If he didn't change his form, he might have lost face...I think it's most important to him to keep his standing within the ranks of the Mystics so that he can carry on with his eventual summoning of Lavos...It's more than likely that Magus just wanted to kill him to get him out of the way (though it's also possible that he simply didn't think he was enough of a threat especially without the Masamune).

Then again, with a name like Kaeru, he was practically asking for it.

[x_XTacTX_x]

Kaeru also means "Hero", doesn't it?

[V_Translanka]

Does it...? I think it's just "frog" & "change"...I'm no Japanese translatatronix machine or anything, though...

[mav]

Yeah, I was under the impression that Kaeru meant Frog and change, but if it means hero, then he's totally the greatest named character ever.

And holy crap, I didn't realize there were so many Marle haters until I came to this forum. I suppose killing her off could drive Crono and by extension, the story, but Marle is what got him into this mess. Until he met her, he was just some spiky-haired kid at the fair.

I've never been a fan of Lucca or Ayla, if anyone should be offed it'd be one of them two. Of course, I'm speaking merely from the parts of the story I liked...Both characters have their advantages in battle, but CT was never challenging enough for me to get over my in-game sexism (I rarely used any of the girls in the game: my team would be Crono, Frog, and Robo, until I got Magus, thus Robo gets the boot).



And did someone mention that Magus may just simply be a title? I've always agreed with that, and I believe the re-translation supports that theory: at one point Ozzie introduces his fort as "the Great Magus Vinnegar's place" or something.

[V_Translanka]

Maou is his untranslated name & it means, like Demon King...So, yeah, that certainly sounds like a title...I don't know if I'd say it's "simply" a title, though as he uses it primarily as his name. Janus/Jaki probably didn't strike the fear or impress very much...or possibly it could be seen as him shedding his prior life by getting rid of his name (which he seems to do again in Radical Dreamers)...

[ONSLAUGHT]

All the mystics were snickering behind his back about Jaki so he told them "Fine! From now on I am Maou!!!!"
 "Maou? What the f*** kinda name is that?"
Magus incinerates them in a fire.
"That kind of name."

And so, he didn't feel the need to change it again because Maou/Magus actually caught on instead of Jaki/Janus. Plus, anyone who'd dare to question his title became Medina's next meal.

[mav]

Yeah, I agree that Magus or Maou are far more intimidating than Janus or Jaki, but both Maou and Magus can be titles, which he then took up as his name. I always assumed Ozzie and co. bestowed the name Magus on him, but the idea that he was just shedding his prior life, as V said, sounds pretty Magus-like to me.

[ONSLAUGHT]

I stand by he just got fed up with them and then when they still made fun  of hm he tortured them without end.

[maggiekarp]

He takes them as names and titles. Nobody called him Bob the Prophet in Zeal, it was always "Prophet" or "The Prophet". He's referred to as "The Magus" in the original localization a couple of times.

He doesn't really go into his own identity so much...

[mav]

That sounds pretty accurate--I don't recall every line from the game word-for-word, but now that I think about it, I think I recall them calling him The Magus, and that being his title, up until you met him. Or maybe they referred to him as "the great Magus", or something.

[maggiekarp]

[Young Man]
   The Magus's army destroyed Zenan
   Bridge, so the south continent is
   inaccessible.

FIONA: Many trees were destroyed in
   the war with the Magus's Army.

   I try to maintain the forest by
   replanting trees, but they all die.

These are in a script I downloaded though, so unless anyone has a save state to confirm, this is speculation...

[V_Translanka]

Well...there are the Compendium's scripts...

[Quenditar]

It's interesting that in the Japanese script and retranslation, Magus loses some of his nasty sense of humor (or, more accurately, it was put into the NA script).  The line "There's always time for a little fun" replaced "No act of defiance goes unpunished."

Referring to someone by title only is not uncommon in Japanese, where there are about half a dozen ways to say "you" and they're all rude when talking to a superior so titles are the only recourse.

Another significant change in the Japanese version is that when Magus and Ozzie meet for the last time at Ozzie's Fort, Ozzie said that he wanted to create a "world of the Mystics," not a "world of evil."  After reading that, I wondered what Magus gets out of his own sidequest.  I doubt he's much of a human/Guardian patriot, and he could have just gotten his gear and left.

[Nickolz]

I voted on Magus. Yeah!

He may be an incredible badass character and stuff, but still seems like a useless brat to me.

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

I voted on Magus. Yeah!

He may be an incredible badass character and stuff, but still seems like a useless brat to me.

Whoa.  Now that's honesty.