Pocket Dimension
This theory has been deprecated. For a brief explanation why, check this thread or read:
- Pocket Dimension Theory
Lavos created a bubble dimension at the center of the earth after landing, existing on a scale of Time Error. Effects include:
- A. The Pocket Dimension has a blue aura.
- B. Battles take place in his Pocket Dimension; defeat the shell once, and it's still defeated.
- C. Lavos uses Time Warp to establish contact or presence in real eras, including 2300 A.D., from the Pocket Dimension.
- D. Lavos drew upon the Guardian's battle with the party in the future to emulate it.
- G. The future of Lavos within the Pocket Dimension after his eruption is negated to the DBT upon his defeat, but he's able to manipulate anti-annihilation energy and prevent from being nullified, afterwards binding with Schala.
- Pocket Dimension Problems
- P-A. Lavos cannot be defeated at any other time than 1999 A.D., because with Time Traveler's Immunity, he would still appear at that date and unleash hell upon the world. This is problematic since defeating the Black Omen is possibly the intended canonical route (the party could still destroy it, leave, and go to 1999 A.D., of course).
- P-B. Lavos has left and dissolved the Pocket Dimension after 1999 A.D. so he can spawn at Death Peak, meaning the party could never access it. However, if the party beats his shell in 1999 A.D. and returns to 12,000 B.C., Lavos doesn't have a shell, suggesting Lavos went back inside the Pocket Dimension and travels back to whatever era Queen Zeal summons him from.
- P-C. But Lavos couldn't have gone back inside, or the party would have to defeat two Lavoses: the Time Bastard Lavos that appears in 1999 A.D. to destroy the world, and the real Lavos, still living in the Pocket Dimension. (Unless, per another theory, the party faces Lavos only at 1999 A.D. because Queen Zeal warps them there.)
- Revised Pocket Dimension Theory
Lavos never exited his PD once he created it (this explains how you can actually fight the same Lavos in 1999 A.D. and 12000 B.C. after the Black Omen). Exiting a PD doesn't grant Time Traveler's Immunity (this explains why killing Lavos in 12000 B.C. after the Black Omen prevents the Destruction Rain from still appearing in 1999 A.D.). Lavos created his PD during the Ocean Palace disaster (this explains why killing Lavos in 12000 B.C. after the Black Omen doesn't prevent the Fall of Zeal, which happened before the PD's creation)
- Revised Effects:
- A. The Pocket Dimension has a blue aura.
- B. Battles take place in his Pocket Dimension; defeat the shell once, and it's still defeated.
- C. Lavos uses Time Warp to establish contact or presence in real eras, including 2300 A.D., from the Pocket Dimension.
- D. Lavos drew upon the Guardian's battle with the party in the future to emulate it.
- E. You have failed to negate Lavos's eruption, which still happens even though he's been summoned back.
- F. Lavos didn't create the Pocket Dimension yet.
- Problems:
- E. Lavos would have to erupt twice, now that Queen Zeal has summoned him back from the future. All in a day's work for Lavos...if he chose not to erupt again, his 1999 A.D. eruption would not be protected by TTI, and the future would be fine.
- G. Without TTI, it's as if Lavos was never there in the first place, so there'd be no Lavos future to go back to the DBT.
- In general, the revised theory relies on three conditions; the bit about him not exiting is troublesome since it's likely that Lavos is part of Death Peak and spawning there, and the other two conditions don't have any other evidence. That he made the PD only after 12,000 B.C. is inventing an event to make theory conform, and that the PD doesn't grant TTI is making an exception for another fan theory. It's troublesome to take this situation and say that Time Error applies for the Guardian / 2300 A.D. fix, but that TTI/TB don't.
- Other PD Criticism
ZeaLitY
But here's the issue. If Lavos pulled that stuff off, he could conceivably see the entire future from his Pocket Dimension, and collect the most advanced DNA imaginable. He'd never have to worry about a threat; he'd be completely undetectable within his safe little dimension. So Lavos could effectively see eternity for a planet. If we agree that Lavos is not threatened in this concealed state, then he has no reason to emerge to destroy humanity. In fact, he'd get more out of letting humanity go on, as he could harness its advanced technology and evolution. But let's assume that Lavos still has to come out at 1999 A.D. Without Time Traveler's Immunity, Lavos would instantly lose memory of everything past 1999 A.D. upon destroying the world. The effects of bringing about a ruined future would manifest right back to Lavos's early history without the veil of TTI, and he could never see the Guardian.
Recall Lavos's Temporal Irregularities, presented above in the Observations section for Time. Lavos displays some strange behavior. If the travelers defeat the shell and warp into the past, the shell is still defeated. A strange blue aura surrounds Lavos during the Ocean Palace disaster and the final battle. Lavos Core is able to open time warps to different eras. Lavos also appears to have knowledge of the future; during the final battle it emulate the fighting techniques of Guardian, which exists in 2300 AD. A possible explanation is that Lavos exists within a pocket dimension or "time bubble" which transcends time. When Lavos arrived on earth in 65 million BC, it created a pocket dimension separate from normal space time. A wormhole connects the pocket dimension to every time period. This pocket dimension would exhibit a flow of Time Error; Lavos could access any time period he wished from the wormhole, and would remain constant no matter which era his pocket dimension might be accessed from. Lavos' time axis would be perpendicular to the normal flow of time. Lavos ages within the pocket dimension at a normal rate, but it appears to be the same from any given time period. For example, if Lavos had existed within the pocket dimension for six million years, it would appear to be six million years old from every time period. Anything done to Lavos from one time period, such as defeating the core, would be visible from all other time periods as well. Therefore, if the shell is defeated, Lavos appears to have no shell from each time period.
Lavos is not actually physically present within the earth. The wormhole aperture is located at the earth's core, giving Lavos access to the planet's energy and lifeforms. During the Day of Lavos or the Ocean Palace disaster, the wormhole ascends to the surface, causing a dimensional disturbance. The wormhole offers an uninterrupted view of the pocket dimension, creating the illusion of Lavos' presence. If one approaches Lavos, and passes through the wormhole, the interior of the pocket dimension has appearance of the blue aura which surrounds Lavos. During the Ocean Palace Disaster, Queen Zeal, Magus and the others warp into the pocket dimension. During the final battle, Crono battles Lavos in the pocket dimension. Lavos core is able to open time warps to different times, because it is connected to those eras through the wormhole. The aperture of the wormhole gives a distorted view of the time period being accessed. Lavos is also able to survey the entire timeline and would have knowledge of, for example, Guardian's fighting style. After Lavos dies, the pocket dimension no longer connects to space-time, but the past Lavos exists on a separate timeline.
There is merely one issue with the Pocket Dimension theory -- even if you defeat Lavos's shell in 1999 A.D. before completing the Zeal segment of Chrono Trigger, you can clearly see Lavos's shell intact during his eruption at the Ocean Palace. Additionally, after that segment transpires, if you travel to 1999 A.D. again, Lavos will not have his shell. This renders the 12000 B.C. encounter an anomaly. One possible explanation that works with the game is that the player was not supposed to beat Lavos at the Ocean Palace. This is true because the player must lose to forward the plot of the game.
Another inquiry concerning the Pocket Dimension reads, "if Lavos could observe the eras, why didn't he notice Crono and his crew traveling through time on a mission to defeat him and take action?" The simple answer is that to Crono and the history of the world, Lavos had already erupted in 1999 A.D. at the height of his power. Since Crono and his group most likely confronted Lavos at this time, it would be most convenient for Lavos to simply wait for them and battle at the time of his eruption. Alternatively, if the Black Omen is defeated, the player can seemingly enter the Pocket Dimension from 12000 B.C. The principles behind the PD theory state that it would regardless be at its same power no matter which era it would be accessed from.
