View source for Lavos Paradox (Reasons for)

==Answer==

This paradox is negated partially by Chronopolis, and partially by gameplay. Firstly, even if Lavos were defeated in 1999 A.D. after a failed eruption, Chronopolis would still be unable to glean any data from the resulting magmatic hole in the ground. Lavos predated Chronopolis and the fact that he's no longer in his Pocket Dimension would prevent the time research facility from obtaining any hard evidence of Lavos, short of time traveling to points like Magus's summoning or the eruption itself. And Belthasar is the only one who can do this in the future, as he alone has the Neo Epoch. Next, the handling of the game is also skewed and can invoke gameplay negation. If you complete the Black Omen in 12000 B.C., Lavos seems to erupt from the ocean. But if you lose to Lavos at this point, the ending scene in 1999 A.D. plays with Lavos already erupted in that era! Due to the way the game handles the myriad ways you can approach the Lavos fight and the "game over" ending, it's tenuous to try and pass off these actions as canon. In this case, Chrono Cross can simply establish what actually happened, and in this case, Lavos's defeat can still canonically occur in 1999 A.D. without error or Pocket Dimension negation. If further justification is needed, one can assume that the party defeated the Black Omen and retreated to face Lavos in 1999 A.D., or that they entered Lavos's Pocket Dimension at the time of his eruption.

One can simply suppose that Lavos exited his Pocket Dimension in 1999 A.D. or dissolved it at that point. We know that the Pocket Dimension theory is sound because Lavos does not change in strength no matter what era he's faced via the Black Omen; players still fight the same Lavos. Granted, that's a gameplay corollary, but this is a problem of gameplay regardless. One may think that if one believes Lavos has really been around for sixty five million years, the 0.02% of that time the heroes can face him wouldn't make much of a difference in his strength. However, that 0.02% of time witnessed the birth of human civilization and knowledge, whose intelligence (and use of magic in Zeal) would provide him with much better DNA than millions of years of plants ever would. It would stand to reason that Lavos gained more strength in the human period than in the millions of years of apes.

===Misconceptions===

Originally, this was listed as a plot hole before truth regarding Chronopolis became evident. The following Gameplay Negation of Pocket Dimensions attempted to explain the occurrence.

The framework could work if the rule of Pocket Dimensions granting Time Traveler's Immunity were negated. Lavos's destroying Zeal would still be preserved since he is defeated after the event, and he would not be guaranteed emergence in 1999 A.D. Nonetheless, this causes a number of problems. Firstly, it hampers the notion of Time Error, which is clearly demonstrated by the End of Time. Secondly, it is known that time traveling to the End of Time is a protected act, as Gaspar remains there even though canned by the Prophet in the Keystone Timelines. If one argues that Lavos simply didn't have a Pocket Dimension, the problem of his shell comes into play. Which leads us to the supposition that this paradox is simply a result of gameplay mechanics. The developers did not plan to force the player to defeat the shell twice, and Lavos's shell only utilizes one location within the game's data -- meaning regardless of where it is defeated, it will remain that way if accessed again. With this gameplay excuse, one can make a case for Lavos's not having a Pocket Dimension at the cost of the plot inconsistency of his shell. In any case, an attractive solution is impossible.

''From'': [[Common Questions]]