Note: If you haven’t played Chrono Trigger to completion…what are you playing at? If you’re sensitive to spoilers, come back when you’re done as we discuss end-game details below…
“But… the future refused to change.”
For the most part, Chrono Trigger is a chirpy, cheery game. It’s lightning in a bottle, a magical experience full of joy and excitement. Yet, there are few endings as gut-wrenching as Chrono Trigger’s ‘Bad’ ending.
You’ve spent hours travelling between time periods, rescuing innocent people, gathering allies, and seeing firsthand the evolution of Lavos, the cause of the apocalypse in 1999 AD and the origin of evil throughout history – throughout millions of years of history.
Travelling to 1999 AD and taking on Lavos right before it causes the apocalypse, only to fail, is devastating. “The future refuses to change,” and Lavos takes all life, including yours. Life and the world collapse and grey out before your very eyes. This beautiful world you’ve become acquainted with — that you’ve seen in six different times and witnessed the spirit of humanity change, adapt, grow, and evolve — is gone.
But the future refuses to change; it’s not that it can’t. The words on the screen, in front of that greyed-out image of Earth and Lavos’ blood-curdling scream blaring out of the speakers, might feel like a gut punch, but it also serves as the fuel, the motivation, to get back in the fight to save the world.
But you already know that, right? In the 30 years since its release, everything that can be said about Chrono Trigger has been said. You don’t have to accept the world as it is. Pursue your dreams. Fight for change. You can’t change everything, but you can change some things.
Where many time travel stories are cautionary tales that preach the dangers of changing the course of history, Chrono Trigger throws caution to the wind and says, “Screw that: If you want to change the future for the sake of you, for the sake of the world, change it.”
Chrono Trigger’s message is poignant and, importantly, timeless. Things are crap right now, and I can’t really get through a day without feeling like the world is going to collapse in some way. If I had my own Epoch, I’d hop in it right now, travel through time, and do something to change the future. That’s what Crono, Marle, Lucca, and friends did. All because they love the world, and they love the people in it. And I do, too.
Chrono Trigger throws caution to the wind and says, “Screw that: If you want to change the future for the sake of you, for the sake of the world, change it.”
Chrono Trigger’s depiction of Earth is special, and it does something that very few RPGs manage to achieve – it makes its setting a character through its use of time travel. Over the course of millions of years, you get to: experience a world’s make-up physically changing; spot similarities between continental shapes and town locations; see where certain islands have fused together, broken up, or even been completely wiped off of the map. The further you get through the game, the more similarities you’ll spot.
Sure, it’s obvious when you compare 600 AD and 1000 AD. The Middle Ages and Present Day only have a gap of 400 years to contend with, and many locations are in the exact same places. Truce, Guardia Forest, Porre, the Hero’s Grave, and a few other places have barely changed, and even where islands have merged, their locations match. The Sun Shrine is present in every single time period. Even the Tyranno Lair’s reappearance in the Middle Ages (as the Giant’s Claw), after millions of years, hammers home the importance of the world.
There are smaller details in all of the maps, too. The mountain range behind the Dactyl’s Nest in 65,000,000 BC remains all throughout history, even if it changes. Of course it would; rain, weather, and even human influence would erode the natural structures. The Ice Age alone seems to have created a more jagged range of mountains, compared to the lush green plateau of the nest millions of years ago.
Traditions have even survived Earth’s turbulent history, just as in real life. Ioka Village is home to a small festival where the people dance. Crono, upon visiting the village, is challenged to a soup-chugging contest by Ayla, the chief. This is in 65,000,000 BC. At the beginning of the game, in 1000 AD, Crono can take part in a prehistoric dancing game at the Millennial Fair. He can also imbibe in a drinking contest – not as safe as soup-chugging, kids, don’t try that one at home.
Chrono Trigger loves its world. And it loves its history. But it acknowledges history’s mistakes, too. The events of 12,000 BC and the collapse of Zeal more than amplify that message. Because of Queen Zeal and the (aptly named) Mammon Machine — because she tried to use Lavos — humanity’s innate ability to use magic was lost to time.
There are people that want to correct that mistake, like Melchior, one of the three Gurus and the architect behind the Mammon Machine. He warned Queen Zeal of the dangers of using Lavos’ power, but was thrust forward to 1000 AD. He wants to change ‘history’ – Antiquity’s future, the Present Day’s past, and the apocalyptic future of 2300 AD.
Even Chrono Trigger sets limits to what you can and can’t affect, though. You can destroy Lavos at the Ocean Palace in 12,000 BC – probably not until a second playthrough, mind you. But doing that doesn’t change the future, it just thrusts you back to the End of Time where Gaspar, another of the three Gurus, resides, and allows you to talk to the staff who worked on the game.
Chrono Trigger loves its world. And it loves its history. But it acknowledges history’s mistakes, too.
Defeating Lavos before killing the Black Tyranno doesn’t really change much besides two things: Lavos is dead, obviously; and, oh, everyone is a reptite now and forever – they never died out in this timeline. Otherwise, everything’s largely the same. In another ending, if you defeat Lavos while Crono is dead, then eventually Gaspar will intervene in the celebrations and insist that there’s still a way to revive Crono. There are many good and bad constants in all of these timelines, things that the party doesn’t have the power to change.
But it’s also not fair to call catastrophic events like the summoning of Lavos in 12,000 BC, or Magus’ attempt to summon the creature again in 600 AD, a blip in the timeline, because of the suffering those events inflict. History can be painful, and things that happen in the past ripple. We feel the after-effects of events from over one hundred years ago; they wound people, physically and mentally, and can alter paths. All we can do is bear the sins of the past and do something with that information, to change the future.
Despite everything, despite how bleak things are, there are things worth fighting for
It’s that undercurrent of history’s weight and the power of change that makes storylines like Fiona’s resonate so strongly. Despite only being a sidequest, how important it is to change the ‘little’ things has stuck with me, too. Restoring a forest might seem like nothing in the grand scheme, but to Fiona, it’s everything. And to you, who has seen firsthand what happens, you want to give that one person a spark of hope. You have to go back, convince someone to plant a seed, defeat the monsters in the Sunken Desert, then have Robo stay and water and care for the forest.
In the present day, you can see the fruits of your labour at Fiona’s Forest, a beautiful, lush woodland which is home to the game’s timeless campfire scene, and is an example of Crono, Robo, and the others giving back. It’s a small, positive change, and a beacon of hope. If we can do this one little thing, perhaps we can make a difference. Because we love this world, and we can make those ripples more beautiful, more positive. We can change the future.
Chrono Trigger’s world is what sets it apart from almost every other RPG. It’s small, but we become intimately familiar with it. Despite everything, despite how bleak things are, there are things worth fighting for: a better future.
Yet even in the face of the apocalypse, Chrono Trigger can make time for a joke or two. It stands as a beacon of light against tyranny and evil, and its message resonates now more than ever before. Instead of “The future refused to change”, consider the words of a random nun in the Middle Ages:
“In our world, every storm has an end. Every night has a new morning. What’s important is to trust those you love, and never give up. We must all keep hope alive…”
