Difference between revisions of "Real World Influences"

Latest revision as of 14:53, 21 November 2021

by the Chrono Compendium
August 21, 2004

with contributing discussion by countless analysts

Introduction

The creators of the Chrono series wrote a unique history for their world, and borrowed several elements of the real world.

Real World Parallels

History

The Chrono series shares many parallels with our own history. 65000000 B.C. and onward to the age of Zeal is an amalgamation of the Pleistocene Epoch and the Mesozoic Era; within the former, humans began to reach a fully evolved state, and the latter witnessed the rise and fall of the dinosaurs, made extinct in this case by Lavos. 65000000 B.C. was probably chosen as this is the date given by Luis Alvarez, a famous researcher, as the rough estimate of the Cretaceous extinction, when a large meteorite is theorized to have landed at the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and caused the extinction of numerous animals. In the Chrono series, this extinction comes in the form of a millions of years long Ice Age. Though there have been several Ice Ages on Earth, none can so closely correspond with that of the Chrono series.

While there is no wondrous catalyst for human evolution on our planet such as the Frozen Flame, the history of the Chrono series nonetheless coincides with our own theoretical evolution by suggesting a cranial expansion; this can be seen in Chronopolis.

12,000 B.C. yields further parallels. The last glacial age ended after 12000 B.C. in Earth's history (see this Wikipedia chart). Zeal can be considered symbolic of Atlantis, the supposed island off the coast of Europe that held an advanced society and was famed to have been chronicled by Plato, whose book was supposedly destroyed in the library of Alexandria. Plato's surviving mentions date the fall of this civilization at roughly 9,000 years before his time, playing it around 9300 B.C. Like Zeal, it was an idyllic place, where fruit is ripe year round, as recorded by the ancient Diodorus. Additionally, the Greek historian Theopompus recounted a conversation with King Midas and one of his advisors as describing this far land as full of rich cities of gold and silver. The most linking aspect, however, is that Atlantis, in nearly all its incarnations, meets a similar fate as Zeal -- it is torn asunder by a force of nature, and sinks beneath the surface of the sea. The Roman historian Marcellus cites from Druids and Gauls that the survivors of Atlantis settled in Western Europe, similar to the integration of Zealian survivors with the laborous, unwashed Earthbound. Recent theorists and authors have proposed that Atlantis was a highly-evolved, advanced society.

One of the more controversial authors, Edgar Cayce, also reports strange crafts powered by some form of energy crystal; this smacks of the Sun Stone and the Blackbird. He specifically wrote of one great crystal in particular, the Firestone. This is similar in name to the Sun Stone. This great crystal was housed in a special building, and exposed to the sun and stars at times that were most appropriate. This crystal collected solar and elemental forces. Though Cayce was probably a crackpot, an idea or two may have been borrowed for Zeal. On the other hand, Squaresoft's flagship series is based on crystals (Final Fantasy), so the idea is not new. Cayce also wrote that those conquered by Atlantis were made to be slaves, like the Earthbound.

On a more simpler note, Zeal strikes Persian notes with the name Kajar (resembling the name "Qajar" of the Persian dynasty) and the mode scale of its music which shares similarities with Persian works. Zeal also features three Gurus; their religious inclinations will be discussed below in the appropriate section. Historically, they may have significance closer to Chrono Trigger's "home."

Chrono'99: About the 3 gurus giving Chrono's party 3 gifts like the Mages, I always though these 3 gifts were more in relation with the Japanese mythology:

The japanese Emperor received 3 gifts from the gods:

a sword taken from a devil's body (Masamune)
a magical jewel (Time Egg?)
a mirror with 8 faces (ok there is only 7 time periods in CT but...)

1stoftheLast also offers a bit of commentary on the titling of the Gurus:

1stoftheLast: You see, the Gure of Life makes weapons, the Guru of Time goes to a place where time either doesn't exist or has no meaning, and the Guru of Reason goes crazy. Oh, the Irony.

Lastly, Zeal's cities have Persian sounding names; upon closer inspection, Zeal can mirror the first Persian Empire, which was swift and mighty in its rise and fell due to decay and decadence. Its achievements were legendary, as the city of Persepolis is still under review as to how it was constructed -- such is the quality of its architecture.

Beyond the age of the new world lie similarities closer to home; the period of 600 A.D. yields visions of knights, squires, magnificent castles, crusades, and battles with magic-wielding, mythical (to Earth) monsters. Guardia is lifted straight out of Western European history and the Middle Ages; a cathedral exists, presumably with monastic and holy orders as seen in the various Nuns of the world, and knights preserve the law and follow a code of chivalry best exemplified by Cyrus and Frog. Sealing the comparison is the presence of the Knights of the Squaretable in the Chrono series, an order present in English legend -- originally, the Knights of the Roundtable, presided over by the legendary King Arthur. Workers seem to till the land, and the world contains cafes and inns where much merrymaking occurs. It is important to note that the Squaretable title was invented by Ted Woolsey; in the Japanese version, they were merely "royal knights."

The Muslim element first appears in this era as well, as Magus bears striking resemblances to the prophet Muhammed who founded the religion. Muhammed was born in Mecca, which, unsurprisingly, bears a relation to Zeal, the birthplace of Magus: Muslim pilgrims revere the Black Stone, a meteorite which fell in the time of Adam; this is reminiscent of Zeal's obsession with Lavos, who fell from the sky in early human history and whose fragment, the Frozen Flame, has been sought after through the ages and was rumored in Radical Dreamers and Chrono Cross to have been used in Zeal, perhaps in the Mammon Machine. Muhammed was also recorded to have been born in 570 A.D.; this coincides with Magus's given age in Radical Dreamers as 'in his thirties,' which means Magus was transported away from Zeal around that date in the Chrono series. When Muslims mention Muhammed, they usually follow his name with the phrase "Peace be upon him;" Magus is also honored in several vocal ways -- in the Cathedral, he is quoted by the Mystics as "Our Hero;" in Medina, he is "the almighty," and to his followers at Medina Square, his name is preceded with the title Sir.

Magus's introduction to the Mystics, in all probability, served as the primary cause of their rise to power; his castle later became the site of Medina, the city of the Mystics. Like Magus, Muhammed, though being born into the richest clan of Mecca (i.e. the royal family of Zeal), he was repeatedly persecuted for his religion, and suffered excessively -- Magus too endured "the darkness" to realize his life's goal. Muhammed eventually took his followers to Medina, where he became leader of the city, and was known as the Prophet -- the title also given to Magus as he revists Zeal in the Keystone Timelines, and also his status over the Mystics.

Much like in our own Middle Ages, the forces of Christendom, represented by Guardia, and the Muslim civilization of the Mystics clashed, though the offensive roles may have been somewhat reversed. The Muslims took the Holy Land of Palestine in a time when Western Europeans had little care for such a far off region, especially since the Muslims permitted pilgrimage. However, attitudes changed once stories circulated of violence towards Christians and the destruction of a shrine (though it was later rebuilt). Unlike our own history, in which Christendom launched the bulk of offense against the Muslims, the Mystics of the Chrono series lead an effort to wholly conquer the nation of Guardia, which spends most of its efforts on defense. However, similar to the crusades of Christendom, the Mystic assault on Guardia stopped short and failed to permanently achieve its objective.

Lastly, Magus shares a simple relation with Genghis Khan, who had gotten as far as Europe when he died and the Mongols were suddenly stunted in their advance (Magus perished, ending the Mystic war).

Beyond the Middle Ages, 1000 A.D. offers a combination of 18th century settings with later technology and even science that is still being developed (e.g. Lucca's teleportation device). For example, Guardia now has a trial system, and engineers are starting to become common (Lucca and the Dragon Tank).

The eras beyond, 1999 A.D. and 2300 A.D. offer common futuristic visions: domed cities, teleporation technology, mastery of time, space, and quantum mechanics, and the progression of religion towards a more secularly humanistic phase -- faith in science, and man's powers to reason. Nanotechnology may also be a feature of the future. Additionally, Nostradamus predicted the world would end in 1999 A.D.; the Chrono series parallels this via the apocalypse.

Unifying the history of the Chrono series is a familiar calendar system of A.D. and B.C., though this does not necessarily mean a Christ existed in the Chrono series (see the Religion section below for an extensive debate on this subject).

The Chrono series also parallels mythology, as presented by Chrono'99.

Myth and Legend

Chrono Theogenia Chrono'99

Chrono Plot, by Chrono'99

a) Gaia, goddess of the Earth, was oppressed by Uranus, god of Space.
b) The Entity (Planet) was oppressed by Lavos.
a) Gaia sends her son Cronos to kill Uranus.
b) The Entity sends Crono to kill Lavos.
a) Cronos castrates Uranus.
b) Crono sends Lavos to the Darkness Beyond Time.

a) Cronos devours each of his children each time one of them is born.
b) Crono's party (see Lucca's letter in CC) feels that they 'killed' the people of the former future, even before they were born, by creating the new time-line.
a) Zeus, one of his son, kills Cronos.
b) ??? (maybe FATE somehow kills Crono)
a) Gaia sends the Giants (who are actually giant reptiles) to defeat Zeus.
b) The Entity sends the Dragonians to defeat FATE.
a) Their chief Typhon is sealed in the Tartarus.
b) The Dragon God is sealed in the Darkness Beyond Time.

a) Prometheus steals the Fire from Zeus to give it to the Humans.
b) Prometheus requisitions the Frozen Flame from FATE to 'give' it to Serge.
a) The Humans gain some powers against Zeus.
b) Serge defeats FATE.
a) (a late Orphic sect belief) The Humans can manage to fuse with the Universe by meditating.
b) Serge defeated the Devourer of Time and merged back the dimensions.

SilverEagle: if you think of the militaristic Porre which was created by the change in time as crono's "son" and if porre conquered guardia then crono may have died in the process.

Chrono'99 makes a convincing argument in comparing the Chrono series to classic mythology; it can be compared to Xathael's effort to view the Chrono series as an allegory for Christianity.

~

Another legendary parallel concerns the Will o' the Wisps, which are strange lights that occasionally appear over swamps. Thought to be the product of gaseous reactions, they've long been part of folklore concerning the afterlife. Blue flames often appear in literate and also in games. For instance, the Northern Ruins' torches are colored blue; another example consists of the many ghostly flames present in the Goemon itinerations. These may actually come from the Japanese take on the Will o the Wisps, called the Hitodama.

Hitodama (人魂) is the term for a ghost-like creature in Japanese mythology. It is normally depicted as a floating blue or green fireball, and it is said that it likes to play tricks. The origin of the legend of the Hitodama comes from flourescent gases that can sometimes be seen above human graves. "Hito" is Japanese for "human", "dama" means "soul".

A Note on the Gurus

In the travels of Marco Polo, the following account appears.

In Persia there is a city which is called Saba, from whence were the three Magi who came to adore Christ in Bethlehem; and the three are buried in that city in a fair sepulchre, and they are all three entire with their beards and hair. One was called Balthasar, the second Jaspar, and the third Melchior. Marco inquired often in that city concerning the three Magi, and nobody could tell him anything about them, except that the three Magi were buried there in ancient times. After three days' journey you come to a castle which is called the Cala Ataperistan, which means the Castle of the Fire-Worshippers; and it is true that the inhabitants of that castle worship fire, and the following is given as the reason.

The men of that castle say, that anciently three kings of that country went to worship a certain Prophet who was newly born, and carried with them three offerings, namely, Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh; in order to ascertain whether that Prophet were God, or an earthly King, or a PHysician. For, said they, if he take the Gold, then he is an earthly King; if he take the Incense he is God; if he take the Myrrh, he is a Physician.

When these Magi were presented to Christ, the youngest of the three adored him first, adn it appeared to him that Christ was of his stature and age. The middle one came next, and then the eldest, and to each he seemed to be of their own stature and age. Having compared their observations together, they agreed to go all to worship at once, and then he appeared to them all of his true age.

When they went away, the infant gave them a closed box, which they carried with them for several days, and then becoming curious to see what he had given them, they opened the box and found in it a stone. This was intended for a sign that they should remain as firm as a stone in the faith they had received from him. When, however, they saw the stone, they marvellled, and thinking themselves deluded, they threw the stone into a certain pit, and instantly fire burst forth in the pit.

When they saw this, they repented bitterly of what they had done, and taking some of the fire with them they carried it home. And having placed it in one of their churches, they keep it continually burning, and adore that fire as a god, and make all their sacrifices with it. And if ever it happen to be extinguished, they go for more to the original fire in the pit where they threw the stone, which is never extinguished and they take of none other fire. And therefore the eople of that country worship fire.

Marco was told all this by the people of the country, and it is true that on eof those kings was of Saba [Savah], and the second was of Dyava [Avah], and the third was of the castle where they stikll worshipped fire.* Now we will treat of the people of Persia and their customs.

The ruins of this castle are said to exist in a place about twenty miles from Kashan in which city fire is still worshipped by a small sect. See monograph on The Magi in Marco Polo by Prof. A. V. Williams Jackson. Journal of the Am. Oriental Soc., 1905.

Dante's Divine Comedy

Thanks to Dain

While looking over some material in the Inferno of Dante's Comedy, I noticed some parallels that struck me as signifigant to Chrono Trigger.

In the last Canto of the Inferno, Dante and Virgil approach the Great Worm (aka Lucifer, Satan, Dis...), who is frozen in a huge ice sheet located where he originally fell, the center of all mass. Lucifer's fall was so great that it pushed up a mountain on the opposite side of the world named Purgatory. Although Death's Peak (wasn't created just as Lavos fell as we don't see it until 2300, it seems Lavos did eventually create it.

The sinners surrounding Lucifer are so frozen that they cannot move. In CT, when the party is rescuing Chrono from death, they are teleported to a spot in time that has been frozen, and all who surround Lavos are frozen as well.

The Great Worm is depicted as having three faces as a hellish parallel of the divine trinity (Lavos core and the two bits). Each of these faces eternally bites into the the three greatest sinners (Judas with the most punishment, and then Brutus and Cassius). Remember that Queeny is the closest to Lavos in that frozen scene, and she is mostly to blame for Crono's death, as was Judas for Jesus' death.

As Dante and Virgil leave hell, they climb Satan's flanks to reach the island where Purgatory is located. In CT, the party must climb the shell of a Lavos spawn (Lavos by proxy) in order to proceed further on Death's Peak (which is also located on an island).

Other various things I noticed which may be too much of a stretch:

Nine Circles of Hell - Nine Gates total at the End of Time
Dante and Virgil reach Purgatory by Easter Sunday (and so does Jesus) - the gang ressurects Crono using an egg (which Xathael notes in his Testament).
Magus joins the party right after Crono dies and helps the party on Death's Peak as well as against *Lavos - He could represent Virgil (Virgil was widely seen as a magician and prophet in the middle ages, and Virgil assists Dante in his climbing Purgatory as Magus helps the party climb Death's Peak).
King Arthur's sword is described in the Inferno as cutting through the shadow of Modred (it's described this way in the Arthurian legend as well I believe) - Frog's sword cuts through Magus' shadow magic, leaving him vulnerable.
At the top of Purgatory, Dante meets with Beatrice - At the top of Death's Peak, Crono is met by Marle.

Name Origins and Topical Analysis

Section initiated by BLaCKOmeN34

Contributors: Blackomen34, Chrono'99, CMKTacTican, Daredevil34, DarkBear33, Duke Darkwood, FeralCats, geekboyzero, Guardian of Ages, Hyena20, John Mark, Swordmaster, Tenkostar17, utunnels, V Translanka, ZeaLitY

Note that the name origins here and in the Encycylopedia shall become identical. We'll smooth out those edges once we get all the name origins listed themselves.

Acacia Dragoons

This organization is named after the Acacia tree, as evidenced in Radical Dreamers:

A beautifully decorated gold ring sits in the palm of her hand! It's adorned with a slender set of leaves, like those of a fern, decorated with five small rubies around it.

"The Acacian coat of arms," Magil says.

The symbol was changed to a dragon in Chrono Cross, but the name origin remains. Deus Chisa adds an unlikely, but interesting idea behind the name:

Well, I was reading Dante's Divine Comedy the other day, and one of the annotations referred to an "Acacian heresy." Well, my Chrono senses started tingling, so I looked it up. Apparently, Acacius was one of the Patriarchs of Constantiople, and in trying to forge a compromise between those who believed Christ was purely divine and the orthodox opinion that He was also human, he got himself excommunicated. This led to a sizable schism in the Church thanks to a deacon named Photinus advising the Byzantine Emperor to go along with Acacius, although the heresy seems to have mutated into denying divine paternity for some reason. Don't ask me, I'm no religious scholar. Of course the Church gets angry and brands them heretics. Eventually the Church won, but it was the first step toward the break between Orthodox and Catholic, or so the internet tells me.

Now, I see parallels here, but they might not be very good ones. The first is the thing with Photinus and the Emperor paralleling Lynx's advice to General Viper regarding Serge and the Frozen Flame. And since the goal of this is FATE regaining control with the Flame's power and becoming a god, that would nicely go under "denying divine(Lavoid) paternity." The more tenuous connection is to Serge himself, and his role as Arbiter of the Flame. Serge was "excommunicated" from his world, and later his body, for his association with the schism between Home and Another worlds. Also, Acacius' heresy was resolved with orthodoxy winning out, and Christ being declared both divine and human. The Time Devourer is both Lavos and human, being part Schala and all.

Aeon Blade

Aeon can signify an indefinite period of time, or, in Gnosticism, emanations from the Supreme Being.

Alfador

Norse for all-father, often used as a title for the great god Odin.

Anemetor

Aneme is the Latin root of life or soul.

Angelus Errare

The words are latin, but the given meaning in CC is not.

Angelus - which may only be in ecclesiastical (sp) Latin, which I'm not well versed in - means Angel (singular, though).

Errare means "to wander". Which does NOT necessarily imply losing one's way, as the game intends it to.

Together, it is a grammatically incorrect construction, since they chose to use the infinitive form of the verb. "Errat" would be the proper 3rd Person Singular for that verb. "Angelus Errat" - "An angel wanders." To put it in the plural, we'd have "Angeli Errant", if I'm declining angelus correctly. Angels wandering.

If I were not so rusty at Latin - I took two years in HS and another two in college, but it's been as long again since either - I could try giving you the Latin for "Where angels lose their way." But that task is beyond me these days.

Teknomaniac: In my opinion, Angelus Errare means "Angel's Aurora." Could that be a possibility?

Antipode

Antipode means direct or diametrical opposites.

Arni

Arni is a preposition in Welsh, meaning "on it," but that doesn't really make any sense. It also seems to be a common name in Northern Europe.

Atropos

The third and final incarnation of Fate, responsible for cutting the thread of Life, charactized by an aging old lady.

Bango Dome

Bango has the following possible references: 1. (bango) barbarian language 2. (bangohan) dinner 3. (bangou) series of digits, such as Social Security or Phone # 4. (bangou) eternity None of these possibilities sound very likely.

Belthasar

Babylonian name given to Daniel in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Belteshazzar is a Babylonian name meaning "Beltis protect the king." Beltis is a form of Bel (AKA Baal), who was the most clever deity and sage of the gods.

Guardian of Ages: In regards to Bel (aka Baal)... it is a very generic title, actually. There was no one god "Bel", as such. The name means "lord". Thus even the Isralites would have called their god "Bel"; the Babylonians, after having 50 names for their top god Marduk, finally settled to simply calling him "Bel". Baalzebub, means "lord of the flies", for example.

Belthasar (or Belerizzar, or Belteshazzar, etc) was either a king of Israel or a Neo-Babylonian king near the end of the Neo-Babylonian era when the Israelites/Judeans were permitted to go back to Judah. Belthazzar was the son of Nabonidus. He was installed as ruler of Babylon at a young age, after his father decided to move to Teisa after becoming fed up with his discontented populace. A few years later, the Persian empire came knocking, and both Nabonidus and Belthazzar were killed when the Persians took Babylon. -Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture (W.H. Stiebing, Jr).

In the opening of the Book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar is impressed with the wise men of Israel/Judah. In this translation, Daniel is given the name Belteshazzar:

Daniel 1:7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

Nebuchadnezzar later has a nasty dream and decides to condemn all of the wise men in the city to death -- including his newly appointed Judean advisors. Daniel won't stand for this, so he asks God to cook up some divine inspiration. God shows Dan what the dream meant, Dan explains it to Neb, and Neb decides to give Dan a promotion. At this point, it almost sounds like Dan is the king of Babylon, which implies that the Judean prophet and the Neo-Bablyonian king that we've been discussing are actually the same person. Hold that thought.

Daniel 2:48-49 Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. Moreover, at Daniel's request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.

Later, Neb goes ape-nuts and decides to leave Babylon. His son, King Belshazzar (notice the distinct spelling in this translation) assumes the throne. Belshazzar invites Daniel, or Belteshazzar, as he is known, to a feast.

Daniel 5:1-3 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them.

Daniel works his dream-magic and impresses Belshazzar. Belshazzar gives Dan another token promotion. This implies that Daniel (Belteshazzar) and King Belshazzar of Babylonia are very different people :D. Belshazzar doesn't stick around too long, though, as King Cyrus shows up and steps rather firmly on his neck. The Medes are given control of Babylon, and things deteoriate rather rapidly after that:

Daniel 5:29-31 Then at Belshazzar's command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.

BesomC29

A "besom" is a broom or a bundle of twigs used as a broom. Cu is the Elemental Symbol for Copper (cuprum), which is 1/3 of the makings for the Besom Cu29. 29 also happens to be the Atomic Number for Copper.

Betta Carotene

Betta could refer to two things: Beta, as in it's the second Carrot Weapon or Better, as in it's better then the "Carrot" Carrot Weapon. Beta Carotene is a deep yellow or red crystalline hydrocarbon, C40H56, found in carrots, etc., and changed in the body to vitamin A.

Binegar

Binegar (Ozzie's Japanese name) Pun on Vinegar

Black Wind

From the Arabic 'huayra yana', which is the wind of ashes that comes when someone is dying

BlueWhale

The BlueWhale summon in Chrono Cross states, "Calls on Neptune's anger to create a tsunami". Neptune is of course a reference to the Greco-Roman god Neptune/Poseidon.

Bunyip

Bunyips are mythical creatures created in Australian lore...

From: http://www.icidal.com/xproject/archives/cryptozoology/bunyip.html

'According to Aboriginal legend, Bunyips are creatures that lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes. They emerge at night, making terrifying, blood-curdling cries, and devour any animal or human that dare venture near its abode. The Bunyip's favourite prey is said to be women. Fearing to go near suspected Bunyip haunts, the Aborigines shared their fearsome legends with early white settlers. After hearing such tales, they became fearful of strange, loud noises at night, and seriously considered the existence of the Bunyip Monster. Descriptions of Bunyips include a wide spectrum of appearances from animal to spirit. Some describe the Bunyip as a gorilla-type animal (kinda like bigfoot, or the Australian Yowie), while others say it is half animal, half human or spirit. Bunyips come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Some are described to have long tails or necks, wings, claws, horns, trunks (like an elephant), fur, scales, fins, feathers...any combination of these.'

Chrono (Crono)

Chrono is the Greek root for 'time.'

Chronopolis

Greek for 'Time city.'

Clotho

The first incarnation of Fate, responsible for spinning the thread of Life, characterized by a young girl.

Criosphinx

Based off the Sphinx of Giza, which guards the gates to the city, and asks a famous riddle: What walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three at night (mankind)", and tears to shreds those who cannot answer. Oedipus correctly answered the question, prompting the sphinx to kill itself. Crio means 'I create' in Portoguese.

Cyrus

Cyrus might be named after Cyrus the Great, or Cyrus II of Persia, who united several peoples under his rule, rebelled against the Medes to establish the first Persian empire, and made peace with the Babylonians. Between 550 and 540 B.C., he was possibly in the East while his forces attacked the Lydians of Greece. Cyrus then turned against the Babylonians, who were sufferring from major discontent after the current king, Nabonidus, alienated the priesthood. Cyrus simply marched into Babylon and demonstrated that he would rule as a Babylonian, and many believed him to be a legitimate successor to the throne; in this gesture, Cyrus also gained the Assyrian lands. Little is known of his personal history after this, as he may have made plans against the Egyptians (his successor was able to swiftly subdue them shortly after Cyrus's death in 529 B.C.).

Possible puns may be (sairasu) (sairai) return, second coming, reincarnation. I can't find any others at this moment.

Dead Sea

Sea in Middle East known for its large salt deposits and lack of substantial flora/fauna as a result. The idea that no life can live in the Dead Sea is false-As it turns out, some fungui and microscopic lifeforms inhabit the Dead Sea. Also, it is impossible to drown in the Dead Sea-like the Chrono Dead Sea, where you cannot sink into the water, though to it being frozen in time. The most well-known fact is that it's the lowest place on earth. The Dead Sea, being full of many different salts, produces certain substances which are a natural treasure-muds and such, which are very helpful to the skin, and are selled as cosmetics. The Dead Sea, as such, is known to contain a treasure, many benefical substances This is comparable to the Dead Sea in the Chronoverse, which contains a treasure of it's own, the Frozen Flame.

Deva

In Hindu Mythology, a god; a deity; a divine being; an idol; a king.

Diarmuid and Grainne

At the Magical Dreamers concert, Nikki references two stars, Diarmuid and Grainne. They are taken from Irish mythology. From Wikipedia:

Diarmuid

In Irish mythology, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (also known as Diarmuid of the love spot) was son of Donn and a warrior of the Fianna. Aengus Og was the foster-father and protector of Diarmuid.

Diarmuid met a woman who caused a magical love spot to appear on his head; any woman that looked at his head fell in love with him.

Grainne, bride of Fionn mac Cumhail, fell in love with Diarmuid. He ran off with her and was finally killed by a giant boar on the heath of Benn Gulbain.

Grainne

In Irish mythology, Gráinne was the daughter of Cormac mac Airt.

She was promised in marriage to Fionn mac Cumhail, but fell in love with Diarmuid of the love spot when she saw Diarmuid in the wedding party. She laid a geasa upon him to run away with her. Their long flight from Fionn was aided by Aengus Og, Diarmuid's foster-father.

Eventually, Fionn pardons Diarmuid after Aengus Og intercedes on their behalf; the pair settle in Kerry and produce five children. The story of Gráinne and Diarmuid is one of a number of instances in Irish mythology of the eternal triangle of young man, young girl and ageing suitor. The situation is very similar to the tale of Naoise, Deirdre and Conchobar. The same theme also shows up in other, Celtic-influenced cultures, most notably the tale of Tristan and Iseult (with King Mark of Cornwall), and more famously, Lancelot, Guinevere, and King Arthur.

The LÉ Grainne (CM10), a ship in the Irish Naval Service (now decommissioned), was named after her.

More if offered by http://www.irishmythology.com/Irish_Mythology_Diarmaid_&_Grainne.htm :

• Fenian Cycle • • Diarmaid & Grainne •

Fionn Mac Cumhaill now an ageing man and a widower hears that Cormac mac Airt the high king at Tara (His reign as high king is said to have been from 227 to 266 A.D) has a beautiful daughter called Gráinne and sends a messenger to Tara conveying his intentions to marry her. With Cormac's blessing and Gráinne's agreement the wedding banquet is set.

At the feast at Tara on the wedding day all the warriors of the Fianna were there and Gráinne could'nt help noticing the most handsome of them all, Diarmaid.

Gráinne called her head maid and secretly told her to concoct a sleeping potion enough for all the company. When the potion was ready it was slipped into the drinks of everybody there at the feast except for Diarmaid's, and when everyone was soundly asleep Gráinne approached Diarmaid and asked him to run away with her, he refused but Gráinne placed a Geis on him to follow her and Diarmaid being a warrior of the Fianna had to obey any Geis put on him. They left Tara and crossed westwards across the river Shannon in search of Aonghus, Diarmaid's foster father. Aonghus was a magical figure who had links with the Tuatha De Dannan.

The next day when Fionn awoke from his deep sleep he quickly became aware of Gráinne and Diarmaid's absence and what had been done. He set about planning revenge and soon afterwards started out in pursuit with the rest of the Fianna. This story is often known as "The pursuit of Dairmaid and Gráinne".

The Pursuit is said to have taken 16 years spanning the length and breath of the country, it is also said that they slept on many occasions on the many Dolmens scattered around the countryside and so these ancient Dolmens are sometimes refered to as "The beds of Diarmaid and Gráinne". On many times Fionn comes close to catching up with Diarmaid and Gráinne but they make their escape each time with the aid of Aonghus. Their travels bring them in contact with a young warrior named Muadháin, and becomes their servant and helps fight off mercenaries along the way.

Poulnabrone portal tomb in the Burren County Clare

At first Diarmaid did not love Gráinne but it was when they came to a forest in the south west of the country that he fell in love with her. In The forest was a magical tree bearing magical fruit but the tree was guarded by a giant of a man with one eye called Searbhán. He lived high up in the branches of the tree, and was so fierce that no one dared challenge him not even the mightiest warrior of the Fianna. Diarmaid befriended Searbhán and the fugitives were invited to live in the tree but were warned not to touch the fruit scattered about its branches. Gráinne became pregnant afterwards and craved some of the beautiful fruit but Searbhán refused Diarmaid to fetch some fruit so a mighty battle started between the two which followed by Diarmaid killing the giant. While living in the north of Connacht Diarmaid heard of a hunt involving Fionn and the Fianna. They were all hunting a great Boar that lived around Ben Bulben in north Sligo. Diarmaid heard that many of the Fianna had been killed trying to bring down the Boar so he decided to join the hunt ignoring Gráinne's pleading not to go, he was also aware of a prophesy he heard as a young boy which stated that he would meet his death by a great Boar!

On top of the mountain Diarmaid caught sight of the animal and swiftly pursued it untill he was within striking distance but the Boar turned and charged him, Diarmaid side stepped and leaped on the Boar's back and after much struggling the Boar tossed Diarmaid from its back ripping his stomach but with the last fading piece of energy Diarmaid pushed his sword into the Boar killing it. Soon after Fionn and the rest of the Fianna caught up to the dying Diarmaid, Oisín asked Fionn to fetch some water for his dying friend but he was met with a refusal, Oisín asked again but when Fionn returned with water Diarmaid had passed away. Diarmaid's foster father Aonghus came and took him to his magical palace on the banks of the river Boyne and Fionn finally married Gráinne.

Doan, Dwayne (Japanese name)

From the Gaelic 'dubhan', which means 'little and dark'

Doreen

Doreen: Pun on Dream. In Katakana, Doreen and Dream sound almost the same.
Doreen= Doriinu
Dream= Doriimu

Doreen's Dialogue

"Am I man dreaming that I am a butterfly or a plate of shashimi dreaming I'm a bowling ball? Never assume what you see and feel is real." That is actually a reference to Zhuangzi. Yeah, he's the Taoist guy who wrote the Tao Te Ching and some other stuff. According to legend, after he arose from his sleep he proclaimed he had a most vivid dream. He dreamt that he was a butterfly and all his experiences he perceived to be utterly real. He then stated (more or less), "Am I man dreaming that I was a butterfly or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?" The famous passage helped relate many of the metaphysical principles of eastern and even western religion.

Einlanzer

"Ein" is German for "a," and "lanze" is German for "lance"... Anyway, since German is the root of early English, and that's where we get a lot of stories of knights and holy swords (King Arthur, Beowulf, Sir Gawain, etc.)

El Nido

El Nido is Spanish for "The Nest." Appropriate, as El Nido is the nest out of which the salvation of the world shall rise.

Ferrous Gun

Ferrum is Latin for Iron, "Fe" being the symbol for Iron in the Periodic table.

Gaea's Navel

Gaia is Mother Earth in Greek Mythology.

The Chinese mythology told of a mountain in the center of the universe called Mt Hualin (or something....I'm probably way the hell off) that only an enlightened man riding a dragon can reach. Now picture a Chinese dragon and think of how Serge got to Gaea's Navel. Riding a Wingapede has at least a vague semblance to the Asian dragon.

Gaspar

GASPAR - Spanish and Portugese variant of JASPER, which is Persian for "the treasurer." Jasper is also the name of a gemstone that looks very much like a certain red stone mentioned in the game.

Giga Mutant

"Giga" means x10^9, or a billion times.

Glenn

Glenn- Written as Guren in the Japanese version, which could just as easily translate as Gren or Glenn. In reality, Glenn was given his name in CT because Gren is short for 'grenouille', which is the French word for frog.

Golem

In Jewish folklore, an artificially created human supernaturally endowed with life.

Graedus

Engrish for Gladius, which is Latin for sword.

Gradius means step, staircase, degree, grade, etc.

Grand

Grand (Masa's Japanese name) Pun on the fact that he's the elder brother.

Greco

Greco is Spanish for Greek -- Greece is famous for inventing wrestling. A famous Spanish painter was also named El Greco.

Greco lives with Romana -- Greco-Roman wrestling.

Gravitor

Gravi is the Latin root for gravity or dark emotion.

Greco

In the Japanese version of Chrono Cross, Greco is Gilbert, Romana is Astrud, and Ghetz is Getz. These reference musician Stan Getz and the Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, who released an album called Getz/Gilberto in 1964. Astrud was the name of Gilberto's wife, and became famous after the album's release.

Link to the album

thanks to utunnels

Guile

Guile means craftiness, or to be cunning.

Harle

Short for Harlequin, a conventional buffoon of the commedia dell'arte, traditionally presented in a mask and parti-colored tights, or an adjective meaning having a pattern of brightly colored diamond shapes.

[Obsolete French, from Old French Herlequin, Hellequin, a demon, perhaps from Middle English *Herleking, from Old English Herla cyning, King Herla, a mythical figure identified with Woden.]

Harle is French for merganser, which is a fish eating diving duck that has a hooked beak and a crested head.

Hydra

12-headed serpent demon in Greek Mythology

Irenes

Irenes means 'peace' in Old Greek (eirene), although it must also be a pun on Siren(e)s.

Jaki

Jaki (Janus's Japanese name) Depending on the kanji used, it can either mean imp or evil aura. Both are quite fitting.

Janus

Two-headed Roman god with one head looking forward and one looking back. January is named after Janus, to symbolize looking forward to the future, as well as reflecting on the past, as the two heads connotate.

Kaeru

Kaeru (frog's Japanese name) This pun has multiple meanings. First and most obvious, it is Japanese for 'Frog'. However, depending on the kanji used, it is also a verb form for return, replace, or transform. All of these fit Frog quite well.

Kali Blade

Kali is one of the manifestations and cult titles of the wife of Shiva and mother goddess Devi, especially in her malevolent role as a goddess of death and destruction, depicted as black, red-eyed, blood-stained, and wearing a necklace of skulls. It is also said to be the fourth and worst period of the world, considered to have begun 3102 B.C., and to last 432,000 years.

Kali is also the popular name of a martial arts practiced in the Philippines originally used to ward off invading Spanish soldiers. It makes use of several weapons, and was popularized in the 20th century by Dan Inosanto, friend and student of Bruce Lee.

Kaiser Arm

Kaiser means emperor in German.

Kino

Kino is the protagonist of a short story by John Steinbeck called "The Pearl," in which a poor Mexican man is obsessed with finding a rich pearl so that he can afford medical treatment for his child.

Lachesis

The second incarnation of Fate, responsible for measuring the thread of Life, charactized by a middle-aged woman.

LadleFe26

A "ladle" is a long handled, cuplike spoon used for dipping. Fe is the Elemental Symbol for Iron (ferrum), which is 1/3 of the makings for the Ladle Fe26. 26 also happens to be the Atomic Number for Iron.

Lavos

Lavos may be based in part off Cthulhu, a Great Old One of the fictional mythos H.P. Lovecraft created around the turn of the century. The following is taken from the Official Cthulhu Mythos FAQ, by Daniel Harms:

"Cthulhu is a large green being which resembles a human with the head of a squid, huge bat-wings, and long talons (true, that doesn't really resemble a human, but bear with me here). According to H. P. Lovecraft's story "The Call of Cthulhu", Cthulhu rests in a tomb in the city of R'lyeh, which sank beneath the Pacific Ocean aeons ago. Cthulhu is dead but not truly dead, as he and his fellow inhabitants of R'lyeh sleep the aeons away. (Cthulhu is generally thought of as a "he" for some reason.) From time to time R'lyeh comes to the surface, and Cthulhu's dreams influence sensitive individuals across the globe to depict his image, slay, and found cults dedicated to him. In the past, R'lyeh has sunk after a short time, but the day will soon come when it rises to the surface permanently and great Cthulhu strides across a world thrown into chaos and anarchy from his telepathic sendings.

As has been stated before, Cthulhu is not the most important or powerful being in the Mythos, but he wins in terms of sheer popularity among his fans. No one is sure why, but that's the way things are."

Guardian of Ages here draws a similarity between Lavos and Sauron of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series:

Honestly, the closest thing that I always connect Lavos with is from Tolkien's mythology, and that is Sauron. This is perhaps because Zeal seems very much like to Numenor. In Numenor the people are at first blessed and happy, and far mightier than any other peoples. But in time they tire of the lives granted to them, and begin to wish for immortality. The brink comes when, in despair, the Elven King Gil-Galad calls to Numenor for aid, for back in Middle-Earth (Numenor being in the middle of the sea) Sauron has built a massive army, and prepares to take the whole land. Numenor come to the aid of the Elves, and so great is their power that Sauron is deserted by his armies. Then it is that the Numenoreans make their fatal mistake: they take Sauron back to Numenor as a prisoner. But Sauron is a cunning being (for he had already deceived the Elves, whereby he forged the One Ring), and in time becomes the advisor to the King.

He enflames the desire for immortality in the King's heart, and darkens the hearts of all the people. They turn utterly evil, save for a faithful remnant that is persecuted. Sauron says that if the Numenoreans were to take the Western land of Valinor, where the Powers reside, then should they gain immortality (a lie, of course). Yet the King prepares his fleets, so great that they darken the setting sun, and sails to the West. The Valar are not happy, and calling upon Eru, the One, they lay down their governship of Arda (the Earth), and Eru splits the world, turning it into a sphere (where before it had been flat). Thus the West is lost from the real world. But Numenor, caught in the middle of the fissure, is destroyed. Only the faithful survive, Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anarion, and they land with their ships in Middle-Earth. But never again would they have the glory that was Numenor of old, which, by the way, the Elves call Atalante, the Downfallen. To me, this has always seemed similar to the way that Lavos poisons the mind of queen Zeal, sending her on a foolish quest for immortality that ends in the ruin of the whole land.

Lode Bow/Sword

'Lode' is the metal ore that fills fissures in rock formations.

Lucca

Lucca is a city of northwest Italy west of Florence. On the site of an ancient Ligurian settlement and a Roman colony, it became a free commune in the 12th century and was later an independent republic. It's one of Italy's most conservative and richest cities. Lucca is also the root of many light-oriented words, such as luminescence.

Luminaire

Latin root lumi means light.

Luxator

Lux is the Latin root for light.

Magus Magus is the singular form of Magi, or wiseman/user of magic. It is a Latin word, and was originally derived from Persian (though it came to mean sorceror). Its most simple Anglicized equivalent would be Mage.

The word Magus also comes from Simon Magus, the same Simon in the Acts of the Apostles who offered Peter and John money for the power of the Holy Ghost. Read the account for yourselves. Later Christian historians are unanimous in condemning him as a heretic. One story says that he tried to ascend to heaven as Jesus did, only that the prayers of Peter and Paul brought him crashing down again. Regardless, the word Magus has been passed down to mean a sorceror of great power and evil. Only the account contained in the Acts, however, is considered reliable by Biblical scholars.

The name is not Chaldean. The Chaldeans were a group living around the area of Ur (if anyone knows were this is, that is; it is in mid-Iraq nowadays, some ways south of Baghdad.) The term 'Magi', however, has something of a different origin. It comes to us directly from Latin, wherein the word Magus is used to denote a wise man or even sorcerer. In this context, the true pronounciation is Mah-gus. I would also wager, with reliable surity, that Magi would then in Latin be Mahg-ee, even as angelus is ahn-gel-uhs, with a harsh g. However, in Ecclesiastical, that is, Church Latin, the pronounciation of this g becomes a j, thus yielding our modern 'ain-jel'. A similar thing, I believe, occured to Magi, and it became 'Mah-jai'. It is not certain why Magus did not suffer the same fate, yet it appears to remain in common speech similar to the old Latin, save for the a, which is now an 'ay', rather than a short 'ah'.

Now let us take another step backward.

Just like the example of 'angel', magus comes from the Greek/Hellenic vocabulary (where angel is aggelos, the gg being pronounced ng.) Magus here is written as Magos, with the o being pronounced as the u in but - there are different versions, however, depending on the part of speech it is, such as Magous, and Magou, but they are mostly incidental. Of interest, however, is that Magos is not directly a word for sorcerer or magic. Tekhnay, or skill, is the more indigenous word. Magos does, however, figure into at least one other word meaning magician, and that is Magikos.

Anyway, here things become a little shaky.

Magos is not a native Hellenic word. It is rather Persian. Now, the confusion between Persian and Chaldean is understandable, as the Chaldeans lived in an area that was at a time occupied by the Medo Persian Empire. But natively, the Persians live south west of the area, and are about as far east a people as one can get without being on the doorstep of India. Now, the Persians and Medes came to power in succession to the Neo Babylonians, in the mid 500s BC. The historian Herodotus (the first historian, actually) speaks of a certain Median tribe or caste (here seems to be a hazy area for me, as different sources speak of it differently), a member of whom he termed a Magos (or, in English, Magian.) This word, according to one site (and a wiki-pedia one, so I approach it with caution) comes from Magupati, a Persian word, and certain roots denoting strength. One says that magus actually, in origin, means 'mighty one'. Also said is:

The Persian word is a u-stem adjective from an Indo-Iranian root *magh "powerful, rich" also continued in Sanskrit magha "gift, wealth", magha-vant "generous" (a name of Indra). And, far, far more reliable than these wiki sites, the Oxford Dictionary speaks of it as coming from magu-s, which I take to mean that the s is an addition to a root-word. By this, I think that the original Persian pronounciation did indeed use the harsher g sound rather than the j.

But whatever it may mean, they came to be known as priests and astrologers, hence the Hellenes usage of it to denote magicans, whence the Latins and later we inherit it. And it can then be, with near final conclusivity, that the proper, if not common, pronounciation of Magus is Mah-gus.

Mammon

Mammon--(from Webster's dictionary) The false gods of riches and avarice --OR-- Riches regarded as an object of worship and greedy pursuit, wealth as an evil, more or less personified.

Mamono

Mamono (Monsters-- what the humans in 600AD refer to the Mystics as) Lit 'demon-thing'. Seems to have a derogatory cannontation, denoting that the Mystics are savage animals rather than people. There are hints of racism among the humans in 600 AD. Ted Woolsley altered the dialogue so that everything seems more black and white. In the Japanese version, there were far more gray areas regarding the Guardia War. From what I have seen, Mamono refers to nonintelligent, animal demons. The Japanese have numerous names for demons. This is just one of them.

Manoria Abbey

The 'Ma' in the name gives it a sinister feel (ma= demon in Japanese). Could also be a pun "Ma no Ria", (demon's rear) though the particle given doesn't make full sense. Indeed, in the rear of the Abbey is a stronghold of Mazoku/Mystics.

Maou

Maou (Magus's Japanese name) Means 'Demon King'. In Buddhism, the Demon King is either a deva, asura, or an allegory for a great obstacle which hinders enlightenment in Buddhism. It can also be used to refer to Satan, the Judeo-Christian devil, or Mara, the Buddhist devil. Looking at Magus's role in the game, all definitions for Maou seem to fit.

Maougun

(Magus's Army; no US ver. term) The Demon King and his army warring with the humans is a common motif in many anime, manga, and pop-culture. It is a reference to Buddhism. In Buddhism, the word Maougun refers either to a literal army of demons, or is a figurative term. Either way, it refers to obstacles which undermine enlightenment in Buddhism. In modern literature and pop-culture, it is an allegory to the Buddhist struggle for purity and enlightenment, with the humans symbolizing the Buddhists, and the Demon King and his army symbolizing every obstacle that hinders Buddhism.

Marge

Marge, if it comes from Margaret, means 'pearl', and she was the patron saint of expectant mothers.

Marl

Marl (Marle's Japanese name; there should be no E at the end) 1. circle 2. full (month) 3. money 4. perfection; purity 4. suffix for ship names 5. short for multi (maruchi) #5 may be what Marl is in reference to, as she has two identities, Marl and Princess Marldia.

Masamune/Murasame

In Japan, two "magical" blades exist. These are Masamune (Mah-sah-moo-nay) and Murasame (Mer-ah-sah-may) swords. If you put the two blades in a river with floating leaves, the Masamune blade would repel the leaves and let them flow safely down the stream, while the Murasame blade would attract and cut them up. The Murasame blade is supposedly cursed, but very powerful. It is so innately cold, that water disperses off it when drawn and exposed to air.

Mayone

(Flea's Japanese name) Pun on Mayonnaise.

Mazoku

Mazoku (Mystics) Lit. 'Demon Clan'. Has no archaic usage that I know of. In CT, it is what the Mystics prefer to be called. The Japanese have numerous names for demons. This is just one of them.

Medina

Holy city of Islam.

Mega Mutant

"Mega" means x10^6, or one million times.

Miguel

Miguel >Michael : from the Hebrew 'miyka'el', which means 'who is like God', like Michael the archangel.

Mojo

Mojo is Spanish for gravy, but more accurately means:

A magic charm or spell, an amulet, often a small flannel bag containing one or more magic items, worn by adherents of hoodoo or voodoo, or personal magnetism; charm.

[Perhaps ultimately from Fula moco'o, medicine man.]

Mt. Pyre, Pyretor

Pyre is the Latin root for 'fire.'

Mystical Knights

Ozzy Osbourne, lead singer of Black Sabbath; Slash, guitar player of Guns 'n' Roses, and Flea, bassist of the band Red Hot Chili Peppers

Mythril

From the Squaresoft Repository:

Mithril was a rare metal that was invented by J.R.R Tolkien for his fantasy world of Arda, or more specifically, Middle Earth. The name 'Mithril' is Elvish in origin. It was discovered deep within the mines of the Misty Mountains by the dwarves during the Second Age of the Sun, and it was their source of wealth, the reason for their greed, and the cause of their destruction. For their insatiable desire for the silver inadvertently resulted in the release of a Balrog that had been sealed in the mountains, and they were driven away from their homes for ever. It was not until two hundred years that accursed Balrog was finally defeated when he was cast down from the pinnacle of Silvertine by Gandalf the Grey.

"Mithril! All folk desired it. It could be beaten like copper, and polished like glass; and the Dwarves could make of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel. Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim." [J.R.R Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring Chapter IV]

Guardian of Ages: In Elvish the root "mith" signifies "grey" and comes up innumerable times (Mithrandir, another name for Gandalf, is "Grey wanderer"; Mithlond are the grey havens). The second part, "ril", means "gleam", I believe. This also appears in other names, the most notable being "Narsil". Anyway, Mithril thus means "Grey gleam". Also, unless it is either an inconsitency in his story, or a poetic licence that Bilbo takes, Mithril was discovered even in the First Age, and mined by the Elves of the West. In his poem of Earendil at Rivendell Bilbo says that the Elves the Elves used Mithril in the construction of the heavenly ship in which Earendil bears the Silmaril he has in his keeping. Therefore it must in some form exist in the Western lands of Valinor, and perhaps even Tol Eressea. This is not unplausable, because in reference to the animals it says that every type of creature, save those foul ones of the throne of Morgoth, to have ever lived in the world (and even some never seen in Middle-Earth), dwell yet in the West. This is, I would think, because of Yavanna, the Vala who loves the animals. Her husband, the Vala Aule, has a love for the things of the earth, of stone and metal (and it was through his power that the lands of Arda, the mountains and metals and such, were shaped). So it is not unlikely that through his will Mithril would exist in the West as well as in the East.

Naga-ette

Nagas are a kind of half-human, half-serpent people in Indian mythology, the word simply means 'snake' sometimes.

Nikki's Forest Song

Sweet sister of mine is likely an allusion to the Guns 'n' Roses Sweet child o'mine.

Norris

'Northerner' in old French. Could denote Porre as being north of El Nido. May also reffer to Chuck Norris, an US movie actor.

Parepori

The prefix 'pare' is French for 'shield' or 'guard' or 'protector' or '-proof' (object, not person) I have yet to establish what the Pori means.

Pentapus

Bastardization of Octopus, referring to its five legs.

Prometheus

Prometheus was a mighty Titan. He and his brother Epimetheus were in charge of repopulating the Earth after all living creatures had perished in the early battles of the gods. Zeus gave them great measures of gifts to bestow upon their creations. Prometheus was a devoted artisan, and he put his heart and soul into his creations, now known as mankind. But Epimetheus rapidly made all kinds of animals and lavisehd all the good gifts upon them. When Prometheus went to get the gifts, there were hardly any left, for Epimetheus had stolen all the fur, antannae, tails, retractable claws, prehensile tails, etc.! So mankind really got shafted!

Now Prometheus looked upon his creations with pity, for it was winter and they were freezing to death. He asked Zeus if he could take some of the fire from the sacred hearth for his poor creatures. But Zeus denied him this, saying the fire is fit for only the gods. But Prometheus couldn't stand to see the needless suffering, and stole some fire to bring to the humans. The fire worked wonders! The people began to wonder, and think, and philosophize! But Zeus was angry! And to punish Prometheus for his sly ways, he chained him to a rock, and sent an eagle to eat his liver. But Prometheus, being immortal, grew a new liver right away, and so each day the eagle came and ate Prometheus' liver, for all of eternity.

Radius

Mathematical term for the distance of a straight line from the center of a circle to any point on the circle.

Rune Blade

Rune, or runic, a form of writing used by ancient Europeans, embodies many mystical and magical aspects, and was a highly valued form of writing.

Sara

Sara (Schala's Japanese name) Has several possible meanings. The name Sarah means 'royalty 2. sarabakari (balance) 3. sarabande (music) 4. sarakedasu (to expose, to lay bare, to confess) 5. saranari (of course) 6. sarasara (rustling, murmuring, fluently, silken hair) 7. sarasara (not at all) 8. sarashi (bleach, refine) 8. sarau (kidnap, abduct) 9. sarabada (farewell)

Sea of Eden

Primeval Paradise from the Biblical Old Testament, symbolizing mankind's original perfect union with God.

Eden was the first creation of the new world. The Sea of Eden was the first creation of what became El Nido.

Serge

Serge is Latin for attendant.

Shiva, Kali

Shiva, The destroyer, is a part of a triangle if you will; Brahmin, the creator, Vishnu, the Protecter, and Shiva, the Destroyer. Now, Shiva is the destroyer of evil; not quite evil herself.

In the tale of Markindaya, Shiva and Kali show to Markindaya that they are both the same; a pillar of light emanates between them.

Kali is not evil; you're taking Terrible in the wrong sense. not Terrible as in evil, but Terrible as in great *IE: It is terrible fun!*

DarkBear33: It's because Kali and Shiva are two incarnations of the same being that is precisely why the reference works - because Kali Blade and Shiva Edge are the same single weapon!

Siren

In Greek Mythology, Sirens (also sp. "Seirenes," which may be where the mermaid Irenes' name is derived from), are depicted as voluptuous mermaids with such melodic voices as to lure sailors lost at sea (namely, Odysseus) off their boats and onto the rocks, where the Sirens would then do nasty things to them.

Sonja

Wind goddess from Russian lore, but also a more casual name for Sophya.

Spekkio

Specchio in Italian means 'mirror,' which is quite suited for his role in the game.

Termina

The Latin word terminus means "boundary," but Termina probably refers more to its function as a port (like an air terminal).

Terra Mutant, Terrator

Terra is Latin for Earth.

Tera means 'x10^12,' a trillion times.

Tesseract

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/tesseract wrote:

Tesseract

In geometry, the tesseract or hypercube is a regular polychoron,with eight cubical cells. It can be thought of as an n-dimensional analogue of the cube . Roughly speaking the 4-d hypercube is to the cube as the cube is to the square. In a square, each vertex has two perpendicular edges incident to it, while a cube has three. A tesseract has four. Canonical coordinates for the vertices of a tesseract centered at the origin are (Â±1, Â±1, Â±1, Â±1), while the interior of the same consists of all points (x0, x1, x2, x3) with -1 < xi < 1.

A tesseract is bound by eight hyperplanes , each of which intersects it to form a cube. Two cubes, and so three squares, intersect at each edge. There are three cubes meeting at every vertex, the vertex polyhedron of which is a regular tetrahedron. Thus the tesseract is given SchlÃ¤fli symbol {4,3,3}. All in all, it consists of 8 cubes, 24 squares, 32 edges, and 16 vertices. The square, cube, and tesseract are all examples of measure polytopes in their respective dimensions.

Hypercubes in fiction

Robert Heinlein mentioned hypercubes in at least two of his science-fiction stories. ...And He Built a Crooked House described a house built as a net (i.e. an unfolding of the cells into three-dimensional space) of a tesseract. It collapsed, becoming a real hyperdimensional tesseract.

Glory Road (1963) included the foldbox, a hyperdimensional packing case that was bigger inside than outside. In addition, a reference can be found in The Number of the Beast (1980) wherein the Burroughs continua device uses the hypercube principle to travel interdimensional universes to the incredible number of the beast.

A hypercube is also used as the main deus ex machina of Robert J. Sawyer 's book Factoring Humanity. The tesseract is mentioned in the children's fantasy novel A Wrinkle In Time , by Madeleine L'Engle , as a way of introducing the concept of higher dimensions, but the treatment is extremely vague. In that book she uses the tesseract as a doorway, which you can pass through and emerge far away from the starting point, as if the two distant points were brought together at one intersection (at the tesseract doorway) by the folding of space, enabling near-instantaneous transportation.

In Alex Garland's 1998 novel "The Tesseract", the author uses the term to mean the three-dimensional net of the four-dimensional hypercube rather than the hypercube itself. It is a metaphor for the characters' inability to understand the causes behind the events which shape their lives: they can only visualize the superficial world they inhabit.

The Tower of Geddon

Geddon taken from the name "Armageddon". Armageddon itself is often, mistakenly, taken as the name of a day or a battle; it is, in actuallity, a real field of battle. As it says in Revalations "they gathered at the place called Armageddon". It is thought that this stands for Har Megiddo, or "the mountain of Megiddo". The plains of Megiddo fall at a very strategic point, and throughout history many battles have been fought there.

Three Gurus

Belthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar are three wise men who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the infant Jesus according to legend.

The following is from the afterword of the book "Lamb" by the author Christopher Moore. The novel itself is a work of fiction, but it is based on some truth. Moore did extensive research of both the Gospel and the Bible as a whole before writing. Here's what he says:

"Another Gospel misassumption is that the three wise men were kings, or, in fact, that there were even three of them. We make that assumption because there are three gifts given to the Christ child. Their names are never mentioned. The names Balthasar, Gaspar, and Melchior come to us from Christian tradition written hundreds of years after the time of Christ." (pages 442-3)

When the Catholic church committed those wise men to sainthood, they did so with the names Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthasar. There's no actual record in the primary sources, but all three names were canonized together at a much later date.

A couple of centuries after the Gospels were written (say, 7th or 8th century), though, the names Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar were traditionally used to describe the three wise men. Perhaps people were trying to "boost" Jesus' image by showing that royalty from the three major world powers were visiting him -- Balthazar would obviously have been a Babylonian name at the time, while Gaspar/Caspar would have been Persian and Melchior would have been Arabian

Valkyrie

Valkyrie: Means "chooser of the slain," derived from Old Norse: valr "the slain" and kyrja "chooser". In Norse myth the Valkyries were maidens who led heroes killed in battle to Valhalla.

Van, Goh

Van Gogh was a reputable Dutch painter.

Zurvan

Zurvan/Zervan is ancient Persian for "Infinite Time" and could be used as a euphamism for "End of Time". More comes from http://www.themystica.com/mythical-folk/~articles/t/time_and_the_zurvan_myth.html, to whom we are indebted.

The specific concept of time in both Iran and India is described as being composed of three successive or connecting phases: the succession of events (infinite time); the wearing away or erosion of beings, their transformation and death; and their greater or lesser renewal according to the prevailing concept of time as cyclic or linear (finite time). Such a concept, although philosophic, harmoniously connects two types of myth: first is the myth of the creation of the world in three phrases, the universal creation of good and evil; the intermingling of the two forces; and the separation and the final triumph of good. The second type of myth, proceeding Zoroastrianism, is divided into epochs, where each epoch is corrupted but is turned back by one of the three sons of Zoroaster born of a virgin who bathed in a lake where the father's seed was preserved. The first myth stems more from a moral concept; whereas the second from the physical concepts of erosion and degeneration, and the fusion of the two is natural. In India, the second dominated, while in Iran, it was the first minus much explanation for the existence of evil since it existed before the creation of the world (Grimal 195).

Perhaps the myth of Zurvan (Time) can help to explain Zoroaster's basic concept of his religion, Zoroastrianism. The concept is of good constantly in combat with evil; Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainya in a continual struggle. In the myth, Zurvan , through the supreme god, has been offering sacrifices for a thousand years in order to obtain a son. In the end, when he doubts the efficacy of his actions Angr Mainya is conceived as a result of the father's doubt while Ahira Mazda comes from the merits of the sacrifices. While still in Time's androgynous womb Angra Mainya realizes the first to be born enjoys the privileges of kingship, so he hastens to enter the world first before his twin brother. Zurvan, with his plans thwarted, can only wait with the assurance that in the end good would prevail (Grimal).

The myth of Zurvan appears to answer previously purposed questions: in the initial paragraph it was stated that Iran held to the first myth accounting for the creation of the world without much explanation of the existence of evil that existed before the world's creation. This raises the first question, why did Iran, particularly Zoroaster, hold so steadfastly to this myth. The second question which the Zurvan myth seems to answer is how or why Zoroaster was so certain the twins would be constant combatants; Zoroaster confirms his certainty of this in his teaching that Ahura Mazda, through his wisdom, knew if he became Creator and fashioned the world, then the Hostile Spirit would attack it because it was good, and it would become a battleground for the two forces, but in the end he, God, would win the great struggle there and be able to destroy evil, and establish a universe which would be wholly good forever (Boyce 21).

The answers to both questions seem to rest upon the Zurvan myth itself and both answers seem to merge into one: Zoroaster, knowing the myth, believed evil did exist before the creation of the world since he gives no description of the origin of the two forces; for him, they always seemed to exist, and this was the way he explained evil in the world. This can be observed both from the myth and his teaching. In the myth the Hostile Spirit, Angra Mainya, conceived from doubt was hostile by nature before birth. Zoroaster's teaching only emphasizes this "Ahura Mazda, through his wisdom, knew if he became Creator and fashioned the world, then the Hostile Spirit would attack it because it was good, and it would become a battleground for the two forces…" Ahura Mazda knew, from this statement, that if he became Creator and fashioned the world, meaning this was prior to the creation of the world, that the Hostile Spite, evil by nature, would attack it, the world, because it was good, and it would become the battleground for the two forces. Simply, Zoroaster believed and taught that the two combatant forces of good and evil which existed before the creation of the world would continue their battle within the world, which also aided his explanation of the evil that existed in the world. His further teaching was that good would finally conquer evil. A.G.H.

Sources:

Boyce, Mary, Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, New York, Routledge, 2002
Grimal, Pierre, Larousse World Mythology, Secaucus, New Jersey, Chartwell Books, 1965

~

Zurvan also bears a resemblance to Aboriginal "Dreamtime." From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamtime :

The Dreamtime is the central, unifying theme in Australian Aboriginal mythology. The Dreamtime, also called the Dreaming, consists of four aspects: The beginning of all things; the life and influence of the ancestors; the way of life and death; and sources of power in life. Dreamtime consists of all four of these aspects at the same time because it is a condition beyond time and space where all things exist at once.

Aboriginal people call Dreaming the all-at-once time because they experience it as the past, present, and future co-existing. The anthropologist and historian, Professor W.H. Stanner called it the everywhen. This does not mean that they did not have a concept of linear time, but they considered the everywhen of the Dreaming to be objective, whilst linear time they considered a subjecive creation of wakeful consciousness of one's own lifetime. This is in the reverse of the European concept which views dreams as subjective and linear time is considered objective. The condition that is Dreamtime is met when the tribal members live according to tribal rules and traditions and are initiated through rituals and the hearing of tribal myths.

Sociopolitical Trends

Section initiated by Solar 661

65000000 B.C.

Ioka has shades of meritocracy: didn't Ayla say that the strongest person would be the village leader? Then again, the average Iokan appears to be his/her own ruler, so to speak, and the meetings themselves would probably be more ceremonial than political.

Laruba is essentially identical, but perhaps its leader is chosen on the basis of age rather than might.

We the players witness only one instance in which Azala shows her authoritarian leadership; that would be her commanding Nizbel to sic the party. There is nothing else to suggest how she actually governs the Reptites. There IS, however, a suggestion of "ancestor worship/respect/etc.": notice how several of the doors in the Tyrano Lair are made of dinosaur skulls.

12000 B.C.

Zeal is an absolute monarchy with an "Enlightened" despot, though Enhasa and Kajar may hold the title of "free cities".

From Spielvogel -- Western Civilization -- Volume II: Since 1500 (2003) p.493:

    Enlightened despots were monarchs who distinguished
themselves from regular despots in the way they governed.
Enlightened despots ruled their subjects using the principles of 
the Enlightenment. This meant that the monarchs ruled with the
purpose of developing their subjects. They didn't rule to please
the nobility, as regular despots did, but ruled for the well-being
of their subjects.

The abolition of serfdom in Europe was achieved by enlightened rulers.

Although their reigns were based upon Enlightenment, their beliefs
about royal power were similar to those of regular despots.
Enlightened despots believed that they had the right to govern by birth.

Emperor Joseph II once said: "Everything for the people, nothing by the people".

Algetty continues to function in the manner of Ioka and Laruba, albeit with better syntax in the leader's speeches.

600 A.D.

Guardia is your standard monarchy, neither autocratic nor figureheaded.

All four cities have elders and are more sophisticated versions of the two Stone Age settlements and the Earthbound village, basically.

Magus is Emperor of all Mystics.

1000 A.D.

The trial scenes heavily suggest that Guardia has become a constitutional monarchy, especially "the elective process".

Medina, the middle establishment, has an elder; the villages are mostly unchanged. There doesn't seem to be much political change in any city.

ZeaLitY: Porre later became a militaristic state, and El Nido becomes one of its colonies. Termina seems to work like the other villages, save that it is protected by a separate military entity. Guldove and Marbule are tribal organizations.

1999 A.D.

GrayLensman: We see the Supervisor, Operator, and Director (of whom Doan is a descendant) managing the Info Center during the Day of Lavos. It is unclear whether this is a civil or military installation, but they wear similar uniforms to Guardian soldiers in 1000 AD. The Director definitely fulfilled some sort of leadership role and this tradition carried on well after the apocalypse. This could allude (certainly not intensionally) to the militant nature of the Porre empire which may have been in power. However, since Doan was a descendant of the Guardian royal line, I tent to think that Guardia maintained sovereignty in 1999 AD.

Plague: The whole dome structure civilization had taken reeks of invididualised city states locked off or distrustful of the others. Chronopolis's nature of being disguised as a military research center (with a wing of fighter aircraft I might add) shows that whoever ran it was obviously distrustful of whoever else was around at the time.

2300 A.D.

Of the two domes in which some semblance of human civilisation survives, one is an anarchy, and the other is a pale copy of the pre-historic regimes.

As for the robots, well, let's just say that Mother Brain is a dictatrix presiding over a mechanical society, in which pure communism has likely succeeded (machines are perfect, they say).

Plague: By 2300 things had degenerated so badly into a separatist tribal or anarchist "government" that some of the locals seemed suprised there was anyone else out there when chrono and team showed up. Realistically, the people of Arris and Bangor domes should of had a completely different accent or even language from each other considering how long they had been separate.

ZeaLitY: The computers may have united them in that regard; static things around the dome would stick in English, and perhaps would maintain the language.

In the new future, the Central Regime exists; its nature is unknown, though it may be a Utopian society. It maintains a military.

Religious Analogies

Section initiated by ZeaLitY

Around the turn of the century, a person named Xathael did groundbreaking work in linking the Chrono series to widespread religion. His creation, the Chrono Testament, argued that Chrono Trigger was an allegory for the Bible, and drew several convincing links between the game's characters and the figures of Christianity. Among these are the identification of the three Gurus with the supposed three wisemen who visited Jesus; Queen Zeal is labeled as the Antichrist, while Frog and Cyrus share similarities with St. Thomas and Andrew. In 2003, his Geocities site went down; fortunately, it has been mirrored on the Compendium here. As interesting trivia, the battle with Lynx at Fort Dragonia nets the party 666g, and Trasher and Lasher of the Ocean Palace each have 666 in their HP count. This number signifies imperfection; Magus has 6666 HP. Magus is the imperfect outcome of Janus' life. The possibility in which everything that could have gone wrong, did. His mother went mad, his sister was killed, he was thrown into a hostile time period at a vulnerable age, and then, after decades of growing in power, with no regard for the lives of others he has killed or maimed, directly or indirectly, he dies during is attempt to take his revenge (though averts death when Crono rolls around).

Firstly, religious imagery can be seen in several places throughout the Chrono series. Obviously, a cathedral exists in 600 A.D. by Guardia Castle, while the village of Guldove carries many Native American tones; the dating system is even loosely based on that of our own, though it is debatable whether a Christ figure ever existed within the series; as stated previously, AD/BC seem to be loose terms that truly refer to the founding of the Kingdom of Guardia. As mentioned in the passage on the crusade-like wars of 600 A.D., Guardia shares several similarities to Christendom. Additionally, angels are referenced a few times in the series. Specifically, they are evoked in Magil's spell in Radical Dreamers to defeat the Mandora Monster (in which he calls on an entity named Arcmyst), in the summon "Saints", and in the name Angelus Errare for the dimensional distortion at Opassa Beach. What follows is debate concerning the presence of religion in the Chrono series.

Guardian of Ages neatly summarizes this:

Guardian of Ages:Anyway, it is likely a state religion. Manoria cathedral is a relic, an old place of worship that might hearken back to the days of people like the old Celts; note that there is no cross in it, thus it has been out of use for a long time. From what the PSX cutscenes show, this was likely due to a newer cathedral nearer Truce. That cutscene also shows that the wedding is very Western styled, supporting the idea of the Christian belief in Guardia (and presumably the south continant as well).

However, the fact stands that not a single cross is to be seen in the entire Chrono series. Radical Dreamer makes a refutation:

Radical Dreamer: I disagree with your interpretation of the lack of crosses. While Guardia is certainly like a Chrisitian kingdom, it is doubtful that it is literally Christian. That world had no Christ, the switch from A.D. to B.C. was the result of the foundation of the Guardia kingdom, those lables used merely for the convenience of the player. The cross probably didn't exist as a symbol of religion, as there was no reason for it to. In the Cathedral, there is a stained glass window of an angel and some roses. Not sure what that is symbolic of in Guardian religion.

It is thus possible that AD/BC is simply a convenience for familiarity; Guardian of Ages later states that sans Christ, AD and BC would be devoid of meaning, but this can, of course be interpreted both ways. The debate continues further:

Guardian of Ages: Furthermore, I have always maintained that the Chrono world did indeed have a Christ. The timeline skips very suddenly from Zeal in 11,000 BC to 600AD. Recorded history in our world goes back to approximately 3,000 BC. The oldest walled city, Jericho, is only about 9,000BC. Thus it would not be incongruent to say that the Chrono universe has the same timeline as does ours; there is nothing to contradict it. Uruk, Assyria, the Hittites, Babylonia, Egypt, the Greeks and Romans...all these could exist in the Chrono universe.

Radical Dreamers responds:

Radical Dreamer: If you want to take the Chrono world's history as parallel to our own, the analogy falls apart in the prehistoric era...Humans never coexisted with dinosaurs. Early humanoids didn't even begin to show up until about 7 million B.C., long after the extinction of the dinosaurs, and modern man is less than half a million years old.

I agree whole-heartedly that Guardia is modeled after a European, Christian kingdom. However, I cannot make the leap that it is actually Christian. The Mystic Empire is modeled after a Muslim kingdom. Are you also suggesting that there was a Mohammed in the Chrono Trigger world? And if you are assuming a Christ and a Mohammed, we must also assume all the ancient figures of Judaism are represented. That's a lot to base off of the modeling of Guardia after a Christian kingdom.

The switch from B.C. to A.D. is the foundation of the kindom of Guardia. This is clear in the game. A.D. could refer to "Anoitment of the Dominator" and B.C. could refer to "Before the Coming". Also, there is no reason to believe that there was a Christ figure at that time, or that there was any mighty emipre to perform a crucifixtion. For all we know, the first king of Guardia could have simply united a bunch of tribes.

Guardian of Ages: There would be no Islamic religious figures because Islam did not rise till the year 640 some, at which point the paralell would have ended (though, yes, I would maintain that all the ancient figures of Judaism would exist, from Abraham/Abram, to Isaac, to Jacob, Moses, Joshua, the Judges, Saul, David, Solomon, Reheboam and Jereboam, and all the kings of Judah and Israel; just as the kings Sargon and Hammurabi exist as well. And does not the folly of Zeal echo of the folly of Babel itself? Or, perhaps, of the myth of the garden of Eden (note that myth is not innately untrue; it is merely a story of explanation). Is there not a flood in CT when Zeal falls? Are not a small remnant saved? Are not the wicked of Zeal wiped out? But as complex and detailed as CT might be, it is beaten every time by true history.

Let's put it this way, though. The game has several names that could not exist without certain cultures, unless you take them to be translations (but then why not into English?). Chronopolis is a Greek name, and thus Greeks must have existed. Else the city would merely have been called Time City. This breaks down with, as I have read here, Alfador havin a Norse meaning. But I have more solid proof. More telling, Miguel in no uncertain language says "Res Nullis". That is, without a doubt, Latin; no quirk of translation can get around it, as it is not a name but a spoken phrase. Also, I think, is Angelus Errare; a name, yet a phrase in a sense. How, then, do you explain the existance of Latin without the Latin tribes, and the Etruscan history that gave birth to Rome? There must be Rome; it is mandatory. Thus, in scientific terms, some history at least must coincide. And if it may, there is chance for others. Rome rises partially through Greek influence, and so then is Greece mandatory. It, in turn, is interconnected with other societies, returning to the origin of written history. Hydras are also a comminality with our own world. And as far as the ancient history in 65,000,000 goes... that's a little extreme, and perhaps wrong, because CC itself contradicts it (setting it closer to 3mil). But returning to the later times...again I say that the wedding tradition is typically Western, inspired by Christianity. Also, as a final capstone to the argument, the term of cathedral is meant to be the church where a bishop sits; bishops are a Christian concept, and thus too are cathedrals, echoing down to Guardia itself.

Now, here is my take on it (purely my own), but could be used without problem as an feigned explanation. In the year 40 a Roman commander, turned to Christianity, flees the persecution of the Emperor Caligula. Taking with him a few of his legions (and thus several thousand men), he colonizes the great continent that lies to the West of Europe: Zenan. Over the years the kingdom flourishes, though through some quirk of fate things occur differently (perhaps the influence of Lavos?). A race of Mystics, the very creatures that populate our real world myths (imps, fairies, elves, giants, trolls, and the such), arise from forgotten woods and shadows (this would be at the same time as our King Arthur tales take place, and would be analagous, perhaps; though in our world those things never existed, in the Chrono world they did). They arise and attempt to drive out the humans, at around the year 600. The rest is as we know. The reason, I say, that the foundation of Guardia is set to 0 is a thing that would not be unlikely in such a Christian culture; they feel that the kingdom is a land of guard (hence Guardia) for believers, and thus feel that the true foundation of their kingdom is none other then the birth of their High Lord, which is traditionally set to 0. So too, then, is the foundation of Guardia set to 0.

Radical Dreamer: So if you have a Moses, then you have a Pharoh...and pyramids and a sphynix. Can't recall seeing any of those on the map.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't bishops a specifically Catholic institution? If so, shouldn't there be a church heirarchy, complete with pope? In the medeival era, popes were more important than kings, surely we would have heard of a pope if one existed. But there is no mention whatsoever of a pope or pope-like figure.

Since the game takes place all (or mostly) in English, are we to assume that there was in fact an England? Or since the game was orginally in Japanese, are we to assume that there was in fact a Japan, and that Japanese had been around, mostly unchanged, for 65 million years?

ZeaLitY: I must also disagree; for example, countless alien races in Star Trek are humanoid and use the English tongue, though English is unfathomably unique to our world and culture. This is a game intended for entertainment; as thus, it may be given philosophical depth and will have pieces of our own culture inextricably linked. The fact stands, however, that a game outside of reality does not have to be totally and completely explained, and it can be deeply flawed. We are fortunate that the Chrono series is consistent, but regardless, it has problems of its own. From the perspective of reality, Masato Kato programmed a Cathedral into 600 A.D. Its lone purpose is to server as the holdling place for Queen Leene. He did not give it any other meaning or value, or this would have been said in-game. We are similarly not left with any religious clues about much at all, only bits that are reminiscent of our own culture. It is perfectly fine for things in human creations of the imaginations to lack meaning or have explanation. This is why most action-adventure movies are crappy; the villain or hero often has no explicable motivation for his actions.

Guardian of Ages: Of course they aren't on the map. Neither is El Nido, nor is the area where it is eventually created. Also Bishops are specifically Catholic, but not specifically Roman Catholic. The Eastern Orthodox split with the rest a long time ago, yet unless I'm mistaken they still have magnificent cathedrals, as well as bishops. Also, I would like to point out, that any church that follows the protestant reformation (such as the Lutherans) consider themselves to be the true Catholic church; there is a distinction with the Roman Catholics, based in Rome. They are the only ones that still hold to the papacy.

And yes, I do assume there was an England, and a Japan. The language of the game means very little. After all, the people of Zeal speak a common language with the people of modern times, a near impossiblitity. Communication difficulties were likely left out. What I based my assumptions on was the line of Miguel's in Latin. Were it simply a phrase not in Latin, and just whatever language that was being spoken in, it should have been translated to English. But it was not. Thus Latin does exist. And thus so does all the rest of history, from Zoser and Gilgamesh to Marcus Aurelius and Alaric.

Consider it as a broadening of the CT world. As complex as it is, it can never really compare to the real world. As I have said, this was one of Tolkien's best moves when he wrote his stories, to parallell them, and place it in the real world to some degree. It lends history and realism, and thus greater feeling, than could be accomplished through simple fantasy.

ZeaLitY: It is nonetheless flawed in this regard. We lack explanations for certain things wholly, though they still exist. The Chrono series is not wrought of the perfect science of God, but human fallibility.

Guardian of Ages: The evidence I have for this parallellism is just as solid as any of the other scientific ones that have been thought of and taken true on this site. If you wish to speak of "intent" and what "it was based on", then 95% of what ZeaLitY has thought up would be wrong, because even the original designers didn't think that far. But he has made logical inferences based on what is shown, and his theories are considered acceptable and true, as there is nothing in either game to disprove them. Even so, this historical theory of mine, though it might be considered far fetched by you, has no basis to be rejected. Just because no mention is made of Christ does not mean that in that He does not exist in the Chrono universe (and, again, if you wish to bring up intent of the designers, being Eastern and such, then many of the things that have been so painstakingly been charted out would need to be dismissed, for they were not intended originally, either.). Even so, I would beg you to dismiss my theories based on evidence in the game (in which case I will revise my theories; not for my story, though, for that is simply literary style to further the story, but in regards to this thread, I will revise it.), rather than just opinion, for in that matter the only thing that you have going for you is that it likely was not the designer intent (which has often been overlooked, anyway). As any true theory, it must at needs change if contradictory matter is found. Yet I have found little of that, save in some of the areas that CT and CC themselves are at odds on.

ZeaLitY: Can you disprove my theory that Dalton caused the Fall of Guardia? Not with data in the game; however, for centuries scholars have used the notion of Ockham's Razor -- that is, we should accept and believe more greatly what has more simplicity.

Radical Dreamer: Are you suggesting that the Chrono series does in fact take place in our world, that it is a divergent history from the history that our world in fact has experienced?

Guardian of Ages: In the end, to your question, I would say, yes, the Chrono universe is somewhat of an alternate split future, save perhaps with the exception of Lavos. That is an interesting quirk, which is likely the splitting trigger; however, as his arrival is very early on, the true split then does occur at about in prehistoric times. However, based on the hibernation of Lavos for such lengths of time, no great change occurs for a great period of time, or at least none readily noticeable. Some will maintain that Zeal and the Dreamstone are products of Lavos, but that to that I have two replies: firstly, I still maintain for lack of ironclad evidence to the contrary that the Dreamstone is a thing of this world. The second is that Zeal is so ancient that its existance hardly affects the ancient world as we know it; even as we hear of Atlantis as but a myth, and it hardly affects us, so too is it with Zeal (which is perhaps that dimensional equivalent of the Atlantean civilization). What I'm basically saying is that, even as Tolkien's Middle Earth can be taken as a prehistory to this world (circa. 5000BC), as he intended, so too can Zeal be looked at in such a light, filling in the shadows of history, though having no absolute bearing on later generation, save in unnoticable echoes of history. Now, not to say that at all points the development of the real world and the Chrono world coincide (as I have said, the true split is likely a prehistoric time), but the similarities even in the differences come together to forge a similar "middle age" as it were. We have Atlantis (the Theran civilization), they have Zeal; in the end, both amount to the same end. They have a flood due to the fall of Zeal, we have a flood attributed, in the Christian tradition (and many others) to the wrath of God. Both events wipe clean civilization. Both bring about a dark age. Thus the state of our world and the Chrono world circa 9000BC is not that different, and I can fully see those who remain in the last villages banding together to build a walled city such as Jericho. And from then...an equivalent, or nearly equivalent, history. People will invariably band together into cities, and then into empires. Now, I understand that in our world, as there never was a Zeal, the birth of different people would result, effictively changing the names of the kings of empires, and perhaps dictating the empires themselves.*(see below)Again, there is no absolute way of refuting that the history of the Chrono universe is all that different than our own. What I say is that there is insufficient factors to greatly change the course of history in a general sense; it only manifests itself in certain eras. The first is at the time of Zeal. The second, with the rise of the Mystics at about 500AD.

Radical Dreamers: When you mention these dates, do you mean them as being the same for both worlds? There were no refrigerators or gas stoves 1000 years ago. There were no humans 65 million years ago, and there were no great civilizations 12 thousand years ago. The apocalypse did not occur in 1999, nor were the cities of the world domed. There has not been a single language, shared by both man and dinosaur, that has remained mostly unchanged in that time span. Even if our worlds began the same, the split long before the earliest time periods seen in the game.

Zeal is easily symbolic of Atlantis. I've also heard suggestions that Zeal is a symbol for Babylon, although I hardly would suggest that any islands floated over Iraq at any point in history. Also, understanding that you lack ironclad evidence, what suggests to you that Dreamstone may be a thing of this world?

The reason I see the absence of any mention of Christ as being evidence of his absence is that Christianity has had a huge impact on our world. Most places in the Western world (and many places that aren't) you can't walk 100 feet without feeling the influence of Christianity. Ask anyone, regardless of their religion and beliefs, who Jesus was. You'll get the same answer from 99% of them. In fact, some won't even wait for you to ask, they'll come up and ask you. Certainly nuns and others who devote their lives to those teachings think in those terms, and would respond to many questions using Christian thinking (by which I mean thinking derived from Christian teachings) I would expect that kind of response from devotees of any faith in any world. Yet there is not one single mention of any messianic figure, of any empire between Zeal and Guardia, and certainly no crucifixtion of the one by the other. The only mentions of deities are Lavos (who may as well be a god), the Entity (which for all intents and purposes is a god) and "God" specifically, which very well have meant the Entity. You'd think someone would have mentioned Jesus. That is why I find the absence evidence for nonexistence.

As for Miguel's Latin, remember that language did not devlop in the same way in the Chrono world as it did in hours. Neither English nor Japanese was spoken by the dinosaurs. Words that we would find to be in a foreign language needn't be in the Chrono world, as the languages clearly did not devlop in the same way.

A thought...the Epoch (and gates) are said to move those that travel through them through time, but not space; they arrive at the same where, a different when. The kindom of Guardia is founded in the year Zero. At this time, there would have been no Christianity, even if there was a Christ, so how could it be a Christian kingdom? If it was not founded as such, surely the conversion of an entire kingdom would have been a historic event, mention at least once; no doubt there would be celebrations honoring the conversion.

Guardian of Ages: I will only say this: the dreamstone is with Ayla pre-Lavos, thus is with surity of this world. The explanation for the Christianity of Guardia may be found in the Work in Progress under my thread "Feigned history" as the third article. Sufficed to say I have worked out a way that places the founding of a Christian Guardia at 40AD during the reign of the emperor Caligula, and yet does not conflict with any CT facts so far as I can tell. I have based my theory on certain findings, and it is no less valid than any of the other numerous theories that have sprung up before on this site. There is nothing to truly disprove it, as the Latin must be Latin when Miguel speaks it. I understand that the language of that world is perhaps not English (even as Tolkien's "common tongue" is not, and "Hobbit" is just an author's word for "Kuduk"); yet if that were not Latin, it too would be translated, or else left in original form as were the words of Magus' spell in his fortress. Also it is unadvisable to refute something based on insufficient supporting evidence: ie. you cannot claim Guardia is not Christian because they do not mention Christ. That is not a scientific method. If you were to speak to me on the street, I would not mention Christianity in all liklihood, but I would be no less a Christian. I have written these same things for a third time now (though in briefer form); I am dead tired of writing them.

Ybrik Metaknight here entered the argument.

Ybrik Metaknight: Of course all those things like B.C. and A.D., Chronopolis, European-like kingdoms (i.e. Guardia), Angelus Errare, all these things can be around with names and apparent visual significance and whatever else without those cultures existing. And of course B.C. and A.D. can mean something entirely different, and Angelus Errare might be, hell, who knows, Zealian. These things are used so that the player can be familiar with objects, terms, people or institutions in the game.

Take Final Fantasy, for example. Would you also have us believe that the Gilgamesh we fight repeatedly in Final Fantasy V is THE Mesopotamian hero? Or that the Excalibur found in damn near every Final Fantasy, in some form or another, is literally King Arthur's legendary sword, the scimitar lobbed at him by some watery tart (sorry, really couldn't resist the Monty Python reference there)? Or that Shiva, is the Hindu god of destruction rather than the mistress of ice? Or that Odin is the father of Thor, who is rarely even referenced in the series? Or that the sword Ragnarok (or the space/air ship in FFVIII) is the Norse war at the end of the world? I think I'll stop now, although there are many, many more examples.

Of course not. These things are put in the games by the developers to evoke a sense of familiarity within the player.

Yes, I agree that Chrono Trigger is supposed to be much more like our own world than any Final Fantasy (one might call FFVII an exception to this; I wouldn't, but some would). But it is definitely not the same world as our own. Therefore, all these things that are obvious references to cultures in our world are merely that: References. They are, most likely, not intended to be direct evidence of the existence of those cultures in the Chrono universe.

There is not enough specific evidence to conclude that the Chrono universe is a direct parallel to our own, as if it was a variant where Lavos landed in our world. You are making an extreme leap in logic, a lot of speculation.

You want some specific refutation? A Masamune is a type of katana. Yet the Chrono series's Masamune is very clearly a broadsword. That makes no sense by your logic (hell, I think it makes no sense anyway, and yet there it is all the same). And Melchior, Gaspar and Balthasar? They're only named that in the English version of the game. Masato Kato, who created it, comments:

Masato Kato: I wasn't the main story writer for Xenogears, so I can't say much on it, but as for Chrono Trigger, I didn't especially think of the Bible when I was writing the story. "Three wisemen who carry the same names as the Biblical wisemen...?" Oh, I see... So, that's how they were named in the English version? In the original Japanese version, the ancient sages were named GASSHU, HASSHU, and BOSSHU. Regarding the other things you pointed out, I didn't consciously have anything in mind, biblical or otherwise, when I wrote the story.

Hey, look at that, one of the primary creators of our favorite video game universe (or at least one of them) directly refutes an intention of the existence of Christianity. I know you said we shouldn't bring in intent, but I don't care. And yes, I know that he didn't say he wrote the scenario with the intention of Christianity NOT existing, but there just isn't enough evidence to support the existence of Christ in Crono's world as a fact. Let me quote you:

Guardian of Ages: Also it is unadvisable to refute something based on insufficient supporting evidence: ie. you cannot claim Guardia is not Christian because they do not mention Christ. That is not a scientific method.

Nor is it a scientific method to insist a theory is a fact with as little evidence as is present. The only evidence we have supporting the existence of Christianity in the Chrono universe is B.C./A.D., the Cathedrals and nuns and such, the parallels to our own history that I DO agree are there (albeit not in as literal a sense as you suggest), and the basing of Guardia on European nations. No explicit proof.

Your idea is a theory with minimal support at best. You at least MUST respect that others' theories might be right. If you can't do that, you're just being as stubborn and simple-minded as people on many, many other forums out there. And I have reason to believe, based on many of your previous posts, that you're smarter than that, and at least occasionally a little more open-minded.

If it is not your intention to posit your theory as the only viable theory, I apologize, for that is how it appears to me. Perhaps you should try supporting it a little less vehemently, maybe write your posts in a manner that show that you're a little more open to others' ideas.

Guardian of Ages: Firstly, contrary to the foolish way in which I presented it, it seems, I hardly think mine to be the only theory, nor even the best (the best would be that which the designers would favor, and certainly is not mine). I merely thought myself to be in a state of defence regarding it, so was attempting to show that it has no true flaws as far as the facts are concerned. Also, I rehashed a lot of what I have said, further proving (I assure you) the validity of the Latin factor (minor though this might truly be). I replied to each of your points, saying that I am indeed thinking far outside the box, for my theory is different than 99% of ideas; mine truly is outside the box. Also I brought up that even as you say the names give familiarity, so too does the real world history, for in such detail the Chrono universe is decidedly lacking. I felt that a real history would add a familiar, and therefore more touching, element to the Chrono universe. It is a literary choice. But more on that some other time, maybe.

Lastly I had taken issue with my using of a shaky theory, pointing out that the evolution theory taken as near fact nowadays (in opposition to the scientific creed that denies true fact), is very shaky itself (on a scientific, certainly not religious, ground). I am loath to repeat it all, especially as it is somewhat of a tangent to this discussion. But I assure you there is sufficient evidence to counter it, and yet it is still heartily taken as theory. Thus my own theory, though it may seem shaky, is not truly unscientific, or at least not if you consider evolution to be scientific (I have no desire to start an argument based on this; I assure you it is on scientific grounds that I say this. Please take it on this generic basis, for I have little will right now to engage in a debate regarding the validity of evolution. It is foreign to this discussion anyway.)

Finally, I must say that I do not have any desire to continue this further. I am stubborn in my own theory only so far as it affects my writing, and it was from that that this was initially sprung. Once again, I maintain that it is a viable theory, though I am sure that it is undoubtedly not the best or most accurate as far as the scientific scope of these discussions go. Thus, I bow out now, having said my words and opinions to a full extent.

Before this discussion took place, GrayLensman created a chronological organization of the religious parallels of the Chrono series. Elaboration is presented under that framework. Please note that dialogue is provided by GrayLensman unless otherwise noted.

GrayLensman: We can see how the nature of the people's spirituality changes over time.

Religion Through The Ages

65 million BC

There is no religion or perhaps religion in its most primitive and purest form. The humans and reptites live in harmony with the natural world. I suppose this era could be compared to the Garden of Eden (I should check the CT Testament). There is reference to â€œmother earthâ€? which may mean the humans and reptites revere the planet, which we know has a life and power all to its own.

ZeaLitY: I believe this may also be referred to as animism, a concept introduced by anthropologist Sir E. B. Tylor in the book Primitive Culture. That discourse explained that animism is the belief that spirits inhabit ordinary objects, and govern their existence. It is considered the first 'religion,' though probably several basic religions can be thought of as a form of it. This information was procured from Wikipedia and a history teacher of Non-western cultures. Note that this can be somewhat confirmed in the Ioka dance lyric "Dance with the Wind People."

12000 BC

The Enlightened humans have turned their backs on the planet and consider themselves to be the pinnacle of existence. Zeal has definitely become a perversion of the natural order seen in the past. Lavos is the most important force in the lives of the Enlightened Ones. In Algetty, the Earthbound humans continue to live in harmony with the planet.

ZeaLitY: The total personification of this is readily apparent in the Mammon Machine; check the Name Origins portion of this article for further explanation, as Mammon signified wordly desires and cares.

600 and 1000 AD

Humanity's faith has been reaffirmed, although it has changed from the primitive mysticism into organized religion. Formal places of worship as well as holy orders exist.

Due to the Magus' propaganda, the Mystics worship Lavos as a god of destruction which will eliminate the human race. After Crono's intervention this changes, but the outcome is unclear.

Radical Dreamer: While Guardia is clearly analagous to a Christian kingdom, it's unclear what is worshiped by the people of Guardia. The Cathedral is abandoned in 600 A.D. and never restored. [Nuns] in 1000 A.D. don't show up until Fiona's Shrine, although that does give more cerediblity to the thought that the religion in Guardia is a form of nature worship.

ZeaLitY: Religion is best seen in the Cathedral west of Guardia Castle and the village of Sandorino, which could be more accurately called San Dorino; this naming would be similar to many Spanish cities that are named after a saint. A nun is also found in the cafe there. Lastly, Medina is the name of a prominent Muslim city.

Chrono'99: Magus is Mohamed. Mohamed was expelled from Mecca to MEDINA around 622 AD and he later was called the prophet...kinda like Magus/Janus.

General Viper sometimes say "Good Lord! and "God be with you!", so he seems to worship a monotheistic God.

ZeaLitY: It thus is somewhat unclear whether Guardians worship a monotheistic God, or are more deeply rooted in the animistic tribes of their ancestors.

A single angel can clearly be seen on this stained glass, lending support to the former.

Hindu representations can also be found in these eras and in the next; they include the Kali Blade, Shiva Edge, and VedicBlade.

Baroquiel: Shiva and Kali are forms of God that represent Destruction. That is to say, the Destruction of Ignorance. Hindus hold that this world is created, preserved, destroyed, and reborn in cycle.

Hinuds hold that this world is an illusion, and that the purpose of "living" in this "world" is to refine oneself to be reunited with God. If a human is unable to refine themself at the end of a life, they liveanother life...humans live a number of lives, being reincarnated over and over again, until they have refined themselves to the point that they can reunite with God.

Ignorance is the Ignorance that this "world" is "real." Shiva and Kali, who is actually a small part of Shiva, shatter the delusion that this world is real, and destroy this "world" in cycle.

2300 AD

Humanity has lost all hope. No religious beliefs exist. How this changes in the new timeline is unknown.

Humanistic Themes

If the Chrono series does seem to champion one virtue, it would be that of free will and the ability to shape one's destiny. Not only is this expressed in character speech, but is an underlying theme in both games; in Chrono Trigger, Lavos controlled evolution and raised lifeforms simply to destroy them and harness their genetic abilities. These sentient lifeforms, however, have the power to struggle against Lavos, and forge meaning to their lives. This is best expressed in Frog's confrontational line:

   Frog: My life retain'eth its meaning...! We haveth our own will!!

The time travelers were similarly resisting the flow of time itself, crusading against the most powerful enemy ever known. In many ways, they humanistcally strived and struggled to value their own existence and provide for the future. Additionally, the issue was brought up directly by the Poyozo Doll of Enhasa, who questioned the party whether they believed in free will.

The theme is more evident in Chrono Cross, in which the entire story had been planned out by Belthasar to the most minute detail, and FATE controlled the populace of El Nido at large. Serge found himself a pawn of several forces at work, and one of the reasons of his quest was to simply learn more about his predicament. The battle with FATE is the most direct expression of this ideal. Lastly, in the Ideal Timeline, FATE will not exist, and the lives of those who assisted Serge continue as if nothing happened. At last, the people are given free will.

In closing, the links of the Chrono series strengthen its various messages and provide a familiar foundation for its players.

Thanks go to the sizable list of people who helped in this article's creation; they are appropriately credited above.

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 From the Arabic 'huayra yana', which is the wind of ashes that comes when someone is dying
+'''BlueWhale'''
+The BlueWhale summon in Chrono Cross states, "Calls on Neptune's anger to create a tsunami". Neptune is of course a reference to the Greco-Roman god Neptune/Poseidon.
 '''Bunyip'''

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Latest revision as of 14:53, 21 November 2021

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Real World Parallels

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Myth and Legend

A Note on the Gurus

Dante's Divine Comedy

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