Cross Characters

[Thought]

Karsh - He uses a big axe. What's more awesome than that?

Being a compelling and interesting character?

Anywho, my list:

The Chosen Ones

Serge: A terribly interesting weapon and the character with the most potential for having an actual background. For example, why in Lavos' name did Schala give a flying rat's ass about this particular boy who was bitten by a Demon Panther? What IS a Demon Panther? How does his survival destroy the future? Does his continued survival at the end of CC mean that 1999 still has a doomsday?
Kid: Should have had blue hair and a not-Australian accent, but a solid and interesting character. Would have been better if she was the Kid who saved Serge, but meh.
Guile: He floats and uses telekinesis. That's just cool. The Magic Guild bits were interesting and I'm sure some fans could turn that into a beautiful background story.
Lynx: I like the RD version better. He suffers from Darth Vader syndrome, and he is a cat (which alone nearly made me drop him), but he isn't just evil, he's a biological interface for an evil Computer program. One is essentially the other, which is cool.
Fargo: Dunno, maybe because he's a pirate who doesn't talk like a character from a Disney movie? Something about him, from his story to his techs, makes him interesting.
Glenn: Cool character design and his role as the underdog makes him lovable. And those puppy-dog eyes...
Grobyc: Now if only he some exo-frames, he'd be a damn cool character.
Radius: More video games need old geezer's kicking ass.
Sprigg: The female equivalent of Radius.
Turnip: I have a weakness for quasi-medieval-knight-wannabes.

The Not-Quite-As-Chosen Ones (every game has those characters that don't really pull their weight as playable characters but get included because the designers want variety. These are the Jean [BOF II], Gau [FF 6], and Tia [Lufia II] of the CC world)

Harle: Oddly, a better villain than Lynx was, in my opinion, but to be fair, after Kefka I've had a soft spot for evil clowns. While a great character, she didn't benefit from being playable it seemed.
Norris: Porre, the Black Wind, and all that could have made for a wonderful side theme to the game. Too bad it was cut. Norris could have been a great tie in for that.
Pierre: Comic relief. Games generally don't need comic relief. However, as far as it goes, he's one of the better such characters I've seen. Certainly better than Solt and Peppor. And he is a sort of endearing buffoon, too.

[Romana]

Serge - Protagonist.
Kid - Same here.
Guile - He provides a nice early mage for the party and he really stands out. Plus there's the whole might-be-Magus thing. That and he's a popular choice for Viper Manor.
Fargo - He gets a great bit of development and has his uses as a thief while Kid's absent.
Glenn - He's fairly important and developed, most people like him, and he's unique in that he involves the Einlanzer/s.
Grobyc - The party needs variety, and a robot with a backstory and style is a nice addition.
Harle - She's very important and goes without saying.
Karsh - If any of the Devas should join, it's him. He also has some development and is a recurring character, so the excuse is all there. Oh, and cool axe.
Nikki - He has a connection to one of the Devas and there's the optional scenes with his father. I chose him on my first run, so I have a soft spot for him. Plus he's pretty cool.
Norris - He's important, willing to help you, and the party needs someone with a gun, right...? Also interesting to have a Porre guy turn to you.
Pierre - Pierre is interesting and displays the qualities of a CT-style dreamer. He has the Hero's Medal and becomes powerful if you collect his Hero equipment, so he's unique and also provides some comic relief and variety.
Radius - Radius has plenty of development and significance, so he's vital, especially due to Garai and the Masamune.
Riddel - She has the connection to Glenn and Dario, and she fills the role of a typical support mage, although she joins fairly far into the game.
Sprigg - Sprigg is another unique character in the same vein as the examples Thought gave (e.g. Gau). Plus she's intriguing and helps you out of that distortion.
Starky - He helps you get to Terra Tower, he's got more involvement with the party prior to joining than most, and he's an alien! More variety and another White innate.
Steena - Steena's a favourite of mine, and her involvement is arguably justification...? And thank christ she uses a normal weapon.

I wanted to aim for a little less than 16 characters but there we go. Pip, Turnip and Viper are others I'd consider.

[ONSLAUGHT]

Thought! I'm ashamed at your thoughts of Harle! It makes me sad .

Anyway here's my list.

Serge: Loads of potential, I prefer the RD one but this one was very cool in his own right and could be a lot more if it weren't for the fact all these extra guys make him seem whipped what with his sucking up and doing favors for everyone for the whole game. He doesn't get a chance to be himself in all his chores.
Kid: As everyone's said, gem. Amazing, duh. Why NOT include her?
Guile: I suppose with his magic guild he could have more to him. Plus the wondering of just whether or not he's freaking Magus, put an end to that bull and beating around the bush!
Lynx: I thought that twist on the story was an amazingly well done one. For some reason I think Breath Of Fire during the scene but, eh, it's still unforgettable. Plus it helps with the story itself. Kepp the Serge as Lynx thing I say.
Draggy: You deal with the dragon thing at the very begining. Variety, and I just like Draggy. Plus c'mon, who can say they hate playing as a dragon?
Glenn: This one should be self explanatory but just in case, TWO swords at once. Already a great character with an unbelievable amount of potential. Why not?
Grobyc: He's Robo, with improvements. And how awesome is laser hair of death? In a way I feel like he's Terminator for Chrono. And he kicks ass.
Harle: Of course this would be here. Harle deserves it as in my opinion the best part of the whole game. Beautiful, witty, and deadly. Harlequins just get me after Harle.
Karsh: He had a lot of potential that just remained untapped. Also he helps the Dario story. Although honestly I never got into Karsh as much. It was either him, or naked, veiny, disgustingly ripped man Zoah.
Leena: She starts off as your girlfriend. Sure, bitchy as she is in your homeworld, she's supposed to be one of the bigger characters. With all the extras she doesn't get that chance and if she was just an NPC, imagine how much time she'd actually get in. Begining of the game. Nothing else.
Mojo: I found him funny. Also a little variety. Plus a little more original. I'll admit, he barely made it. Last one picked and I had to flip a coin on yes or no.
Razzly: Razzly's a great character for her character. Reason I say yes to being on the team is honestly, everyone she knows is dead in her world. I don't think Serge and friends woud be exactly the proper heroes if they saved her miserable life just to leave her to rot and probably die. Only option left is to take her in!
Sprigg: Doppleganger. Not entirely necessary since it's Harle that gets you out the the trippy dimension. But I suppose Sprigg still offers up some orginality. Plus it's fun when you can be a really old person fighting. And not like how Lost Oddysey did it either, your age actually shows.
Starky: Starky allows your ship to fly! Plus, cute little alien, some variety for elemnt wise,Plus the possibilities of Chrono In Space!!!!!!!!!!
Turnip: First off, how many games have important characters that are vegetables? Exactly. Chrono hit a new level of original with Turnip. He behaves exactly like Frog in Trigger. Plus in a technical way, Lucca's freeze gun, putting that to use Turnip is almost like Lucca's last Hurrah! Plus if he were just an NPC, what point would there be to him?

And that's my pick.

[kid123]

Serge - Are there any other excuses for him to be out of the game? Besides that ,some improvement over his character development and more reaction are my number one in list. There are more that could be add to his backstory and most importantly his relation with Schala. I don't get it why Schala choose her among gazillion people of different era, under IMO stereotypical reason, hearing his cry.
I would love to see him talking and has more motivation throughout  Chrono Cross. I have yet  to play RD, but his RD counterpart seem loved by several people. So ditto on maggiekarp's suggestion on Serge.

Kid - She play an important role, cute, lovely, sometime troll  , but I don't like her skimpy outfit......
My complaint about her, why the heck she still love Serge after all the stuff he has done? Stab her, neglected her in majority of the game, leave her alone and many more, despite the subtle hint of her love along the game event. And more Schala-ish plz. I love how she had some of Schala's
character after healed from poison, she is nice toward Mel even though she stole her Element grid.

Guile - He is Magus, what more I could say ? I don't like his love of alcohol and majestic value but love to see he as an enigma person like Magil.

Last but not least, I love to see Serge and Guile join the Radical Dreamer before intruding Viper Manor as reference to RD.

Norris- Gun armed, high ranking officer of Porre and the leader of fearsome elite unit of Blackwind. This excuses should be enough.

Karsh - Ditto Zephira.

Lynx - Catputer, and an interesting villian if using the concept of Darth Vader more splendidly otherwise. I would love if he receieve more hate from bystander.Because when Serge switch body wih Lynx, Serge will have a more hard time communicating with other people.

Harle - Agree with Thought, for her being a better villian. A more story about her fate should be enough.

Riddel - Daughter of Viper and love her nobility.

Fargo - Captain Obvious is not obvious enough. Who doesn't like pirate?

Glenn - Double wielder of the rival of Masamune, Einlanzer. Should have some character development though.

Leah - Yeah for Ayla chibi! Add more her backstory and more tech that resemble prehistoric.

Sprigg - Same reason as the other,Doppleganger

[Lord J Esq]

Kid has a perfect streak going so far. Not even Serge got a vote from all 18 voters. (WTF?)

And I forgot about Orlha! I might have to up my cap to eleven. That's right...we're going to eleven!

[V_Translanka]

The Not-Quite-As-Chosen Ones (every game has those characters that don't really pull their weight as playable characters but get included because the designers want variety. These are the Jean [BOF II], Gau [FF 6], and Tia [Lufia II] of the CC world)

If you thought Gau wasn't pulling his weight you were using him wrong.

Guile - He provides a nice early mage for the party and he really stands out. Plus there's the whole might-be-Magus thing. That and he's a popular choice for Viper Manor.

idk if it's that he's the "popular" choice so much as he's the closest to the entrance to Termina and also the easiest to recruit of the 3...I got Nikki my first go too though.

Turnip: First off, how many games have important characters that are vegetables? Exactly. Chrono hit a new level of original with Turnip.

I'm pretty sure I mentioned the Breath of Fire series...Spar/Aspara Gus (BoF2) and especially Peco (BoF3)...

I still don't think Lynx should be separate on the list from Serge...I mean, you don't get to play Lynx, you get to play Serge AS Lynx. If you don't want Serge to transform into Lynx, that's a whole 'nother story, isn't it and has nothing to really do with which playable characters you think should or should not be cut. It's only an argument against story elements, really...and the option only leaves people confused and voting thinking they ARE voting for playable villain or something...

[utunnels]

The Not-Quite-As-Chosen Ones (every game has those characters that don't really pull their weight as playable characters but get included because the designers want variety. These are the Jean [BOF II], Gau [FF 6], and Tia [Lufia II] of the CC world)

If you thought Gau wasn't pulling his weight you were using him wrong.

FF6 is another game I've played that have MANY characters.
But yeah, sometimes you have to split into 2/3 groups, that somehow gives a reason to have more than 3 characters.

[anonymouse]

Not to mention that the FF6 characters had distinct personalities and backstories, some more developed than others. Even having played FF6 many years ago and Chrono Cross only this year, FF6's characters remain a lot fresher in my mind.

[Lord J Esq]

That's definitely how I see it, too. FFVI's characterizations were amazing; to this day they remain my favorite of any RPG. Fourteen playable characters was pretty huge, too, and only one of them (Gogo) fell completely flat. Hell, even Mog and Umaro (who doesn't even speak) had some life to them.

In contrast, characterization always struck me as Chrono Trigger's major weak spot. Chrono Cross was even flatter. These games have a lot going for them, but not this.

[Shee]

First half of FFVI was damn sweet.  But I think it weakened at the end, while Chrono Trigger grows stronger as the game progresses.  As for Cross, I haven't finished it yet!  So I can't really comment too much.  But a gripe I have, about halfway, 2/3 through the thing, is htat I feel some scenes/emotions are too rushed.  Could use some fleshing.  That's just me.

[V_Translanka]

I thought Crono & Co. were better on par than FFVI's characters. There was just more interaction with them comparatively...Though you might have to NG+ and switch your party around at various points to see it all...Some in FFVI (the oft pointed at losers in character development: Mog, Umaro and Gogo barely ever say anything...Umaro DOES speak btw, Lord J) only had a small opening scene and then they'd say something on the airship...and maybe a vs. Kefka quote...They both did an amazing job with Character Development.

[Lord J Esq]

Umaro DOES speak btw

Golly, I don't remember that at all. Whatever lines he had must not've been Hamlet material.

[Shee]

Lord J that could be the biggest understatement ever.  Dude makes Ayla look like Ophelia.

[Thought]

The Not-Quite-As-Chosen Ones (every game has those characters that don't really pull their weight as playable characters but get included because the designers want variety. These are the Jean [BOF II], Gau [FF 6], and Tia [Lufia II] of the CC world)

If you thought Gau wasn't pulling his weight you were using him wrong.

Depends on what you mean. As a fighting character, Gau could be one of the most powerful characters. But he joins the party in the World of Balance because Sabin gave him jerky or bait or whatever. And he rejoins in the World of Ruin because there is room in the party at the time. Hardly commendable motivations. Though to be fair, he still had a better reason to join than a lot of the CC characters (the Kitchen Sink as a playable character was just barely cut from the final product, I hear). And his comic relief was relatively well done for a video game (easily out distancing Solt and Peppor, in my opinion).

It isn't that Gau, same with the Not-Quite-As-Chosen-Ones, was a bad character. Just not my first string picks. They can be endearing, but remove them from the game and not much changes.

[V_Translanka]

By the WoR Gau is already the party's friend though (the Veldt just makes him a lil loopy in the head)...and he IS a child and very innocent at that. He joins because Sabin & Cyan are nice to him where he's had to live in the wild, among monsters his entire life with everyone else fearing him (even his own father!)...But yeah, I mostly was thinking power-wise...I guess he's not necessary, but his WoR scene with his father is one of the game's most touching (that brave lil guy!) and I wouldn't want the game w/o it or him.