Хроно Кросс: История создания и особенности персонажей.

Chrono Cross (クロノ・クロス) is a role playing video game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the PlayStation video game console. It is the successor to Chrono Trigger, which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. While its predecessor, like most role playing games at the time, only offered a handful of playable characters, Chrono Cross was notable for making 45 different characters available for recruitment over the course of the game, each with distinct backstory and speech patterns. The game's writer, Masato Kato, started with the core characters from Radical Dreamers, a rare, Japan only visual novel he felt ultimately went unfinished, and greatly expanded the cast and scenario, while leaving the creation of some minor characters to various other members of the development team. The developers also created an "auto accent program", to apply accents and other quirks to character's dialogue, making the dialogue altered depending on who was present in the player's party. Reception for the game from critics was very positive, with some publications, such as GameSpot, even giving the game a perfect score. However, reception for the cast of characters was more mixed; some critics were impressed by the quantity, variety, and individuality offered by the characters, where others complained of an emphasis of "quantity over quality".

A few of the core characters from Chrono Cross originate from an earlier game titled Radical Dreamers. Chrono series writer Masato Kato felt that the first game in the series, Chrono Trigger, did not wrap up all its story arcs, and as such, wrote the story of Radical Dreamers to conclude some aspects of it. However, due to the rushed nature of the development schedule, it being a short, text based visual novel, and being released on an obscure add on for the Super Famicom, the Satellaview, Kato would label the game "unfinished", leading to the conception of a more complete game, which would be Chrono Cross. Additionally, the Radical Dreamers character Magil, who is an amnesiac Magus from Chrono Trigger, was originally going to be the character Guile in Chrono Cross, before Kato wrote him out of the script, fearing he could not do the character justice in the massive scope of Chrono Cross.

Once work on the actual Chrono Cross started, the initial vision beyond character recruitment was even more expansive. The game initially was intended to be able to have the player recruit any person they encountered, through either interacting or battling them. However, eventually the development team found this to be too ambitious, and narrowed it down to 64 playable characters, and then again down to 45 characters for the final game, which were then drawn by character designer Nobuteru Yūki. The backgrounds of some minor characters were left to members of the staff. The development team also considered the idea of having each character have their own ending, each with three variant scenarios based on events occurred in the game, leading to over 120 endings, but the idea was scrapped as being not feasible. Some effects are direct, such as his mother no longer living in his home village, or that people he knew in the "Home World" no longer recognizing him in the "Alternate World". When lines were being recycled for a number of characters, instead of storing over 40 slightly different static variations of the same text and running into potential memory issues, the localization team adapted and expanded the Japanese version's auto accent generator, to allow text to be converted into a dozen of variations that retain most of the features of the various characters. With this system, only one generic version had to be stored internally and shared by all characters. The player must explore the town outside of the manor in order to find assistance with breaking in. The player may choose to ask Guile, Pierre, or Nikki for help on different approaches to breaking into the manor. The player may only choose one, and only that respective character will join the party. Instead, he is meant to be interpreted as "the persona of the player". Much of the game involves the player following Serge after he's been sucked into an alternative dimension where no one he previously knew recognizes him, and many are in his pursuit. The game's events reveal that Serge had died years prior in the Alternate World. Kid pulled him through the dimensions as part of Balthasar's lengthy plan to defeat the Time Devourer and free Schala from it. Lynx does not have a particular speech pattern, and is silent when Serge is inhabiting his body. All of the game's events depict the "Alternate World" Lynx; the "Home World" Lynx is not ever seen. Kato, in the Ultimania guide, states that in the Home World, Lynx dies in the Dead Sea with Harle and the Acacia Dragoons.

Kid (キッド) is considered the second most important character of the game. Kid loathes Lynx for initially undisclosed reasons, and helps to defend Serge from Lynx's pursuit efforts against him. While they team up due to shared involvement with Lynx, various choices by the player and certain required plot points shorten or lengthen the time they work together. Late in the game, it is revealed that she is actually a cloned version of Schala from Chrono Trigger, who had fallen into an area beyond time and space following the events of the prior game. However, as development progressed, upon adding such a large cast of characters to the game, the development team felt that his story couldn't sufficiently be focused on, and he was switched into the Guile character. In the "Home World", they have overtaken the town of Termina, where General Viper and the Acacia Dragoons cease to exist, and as such, are unable to defend the town from them. In one of the game's endings, it is revealed that he is the "kind stranger" who delivered the antidote that cured Kid's life threatening poison if the player chose to have Serge not save her. Norris is present in both the "Home World" and the "Alternate World", with him being largely the same in both worlds.

Nikki (スラッシュ) is a guitarist in the "Magical Dreamers", a musical troupe of which the dancer Miki is also a member. He is the son of Fargo and his deceased wife, Zelbess, and a sibling to Marcy. In the "Alternate World", he joins the party if the player opts to have Serge work with him as one of the possible people to break into the Viper Manor. He is present in the "Home World" as well, where he is trying to cleanse the monster infested island of Marbule. Nikki's speech pattern finds him often referencing guitars or music in general. Several allusions to Slash, including his original Japanese name, and the song lyrics he sings, such as "Sweet Sister of Mine". He as a character is largely consistent, without any major differences, between the "Home" and "Alternate World".

General Viper (蛇骨大佐) is the lord of El Nido and leader of the Acacia Dragoons. He served as one of the four former Dragoon Devas, the highest rank of the Acacia Dragoons, until he retired and became the head of El Nido. He is also the father of Riddel. Over the course of the game, he aspires to acquire the powerful "Frozen Flame" to defend El Nido from the militaristic nation of Porre and create a peaceful world similar to the kingdom of Guardia. While usually a confident father figure type, he has moments of uncertainty as well, referring to himself as ""just a fool chasing his own desires". Viper is only present in the "Alternate World"; in the "Home World", he and his men are persuaded by Lynx to visit the Dead Sea three years prior to the game, and all end up dead. Riddel automatically joins Serge's party after being rescued by him from Porre soldiers. If the player opts to have Serge travel to the "Home World" with Riddel to an isolated island, they find that Dario is indeed alive in the "Home World". If the player has Serge fight and defeat Dario, Riddel decides to help him rebuild the destroyed Viper's Manor and make it an orphanage. Riddel doesn't have a specific speech pattern, but commonly speaks as a kind and beautiful woman with a heavy heart. Riddel is only present in the "Alternate World", in the "Home World", she and the rest of the Acacia Dragoons die in the Dead Sea. During development, a design of Karsh wearing full armor was rejected for not fitting the game's atmosphere. Karsh is only present in the "Alternate World", in the "Home World", he and the rest of the Acacia Dragoons die in the Dead Sea. He rejects wealth and power and has chosen to dedicate his life to battle, although the fortune teller in Termina senses "deep sadness" beneath his helmet. During development, Zoah was meant to be "the prince of a certain country", watching over the protagonists' actions and wearing the helmet not due to an injury but to hide his true identity. However, because of time constraints, the event hinting at this was not implemented. She largely grows up without her family Zelbess dies right after her birth, and Fargo believed Marcy to have died as well but lives with the assistance from the Dragoons and Luccia, a friend of Zelbess. Her original name during development was Rachel. She is only present in the "Alternate World"; the Viper Manor she resides in is destroyed in the "Home World". Poshul is identical in both the "Home World" and "Alternate World", and the only character that can have either version of the character join the party, merely requiring the player to have Serge give her a bone. Razzly is only present in the "Home World"; in the "Alternate World", her events occur because the Water Dragon Isle is dried up and abandoned, and the Hydra Marshes are poisoned.

Zappa (ザッパ) is a blacksmith from the town of Termina, and had been one of the four Devas of the Acacia Dragoons prior to the events of the game. He is the husband of Zippa, and father of Karsh, who has succeeded him as one of General Viper's 4 Dragoon Devas. Zappa has a Scottish accent. He is present in both the "Home World" and "Alternate World", though very different in each one. In the "Alternate World", he is seen as a thriving blacksmith, providing equipment to the Acacia Dragoons. However, in the "Home World", his business struggles and has to shut it down, due to the Acacia Dragoons being completely wiped out and because of the Porre military restricting his business. Additionally, in the "Home World", he is saddened because Karsh has been missing for the last three years. As such, if the player has Serge talk with Zappa in the "Home World", he will join the party, in order to search the world for Karsh and improve his craft.

Orcha (オーチャ) is the cook at Viper Manor. The Porre Military made him ingest Quaffid seeds, and then transformed him into the Hell's Cook to have him torture Riddel, but he is defeated by Serge, when he arrives in Lynx's body. He reverts to normal, and joins forces with Serge. Similar to Korcha, Macha, and Mel, Orcha commonly substitutes "cha" in for you, for instance, saying "Dontcha?" in place of "Don't you?". Despite his similar name and speaking patterns, none of their interactions indicate Orcha even knowing the rest of them.

Radius (ラディウス) is a skilled, knowledgeable, and retired warrior. Prior to his retirement, he served as one of the Dragoon Devas, where he and his friend Garai eventually found the cursed Masamune sword. This resulted in Radius assassinating Garai in a fit of jealousy partly induced by the cursed sword. Radius discarded the sword and kept the cause of death to himself, retiring from fighting to look after Garai's sons, Dario and Glenn, until Dario became a Dragoon Deva. In the Home World, Radius becomes the village chief of Serge's hometown Arni, while in the Alternate World, Radius left the world's affairs entirely to live as a hermit. Originally considered a naughty child, after the death of his father Garai and brother Dario, he matures, becomes popular among the townsfolk, and joins the military. He doesn't have a specific speech pattern, but often speaks showing that he follows his own moral sense and is even willing to break military regulations if deemed necessary, being one of the few who is suspicious of Lynx early in the game. Glenn is only present in the "Alternate World", in the "Home World", he and the rest of the Acacia Dragoons die in the Dead Sea. While no romantic relationship between her and Serge is ever explicitly stated, she does ask him for jewelry, refers to long term promises made between them in the past, and asks about the prospect of them kissing one another. While typically being a sweet, girl next door type around Serge, her brother Una claims she is prone to temper tantrums and not being very "lady like". The only difference between the "Home World" and the "Alternate World" Leena is her relationship with Serge; Home World Leena has had a close relationship with Serge her whole life, while the other doesn't even recognize Serge, not having seen him for ten years due to his death occurring in that world. It is actually Alternate World Leena who follows Serge for much of the game; the Home World Leena only initiates the search for jewelry that set the events of the entire game in motion, otherwise staying behind.

Miki (ミキ) is a famous dancer known throughout El Nido. In the Alternate World, she is on tour with Nikki, while in the Home World, she is a performer aboard the S. S. Zelbess cruise ship. She joins the party if the player chooses to have Serge assist Miki and Nikki in saving the monster overrun island of Marbule.

Harle (ツクヨミ) is a harlequin jester. Harle works with Lynx against Serge and his party, as a gadfly who interferes with their efforts and frustrates Kid due to her constant flirting with Serge. She joins the party during Serge's body switch with Lynx, and leaves just before Serge returns to his body. It's eventually revealed that she was the "Dark Moon Dragon", actually working against Lynx to obtain the powerful Frozen Flame to exact havoc against humanity damaging activities to the planet. She fails in her mission, and her ultimate fate is left unclear. The game mentions, and Kato confirms in the game's Ultimania Guide, that Harle also shares a connection of sorts to Schala, though neither source explores the details of this. Harle's speech is written with a French accent and is often interspersed with French words. Only one version of Harle, the "Alternate World" Harle, is present in the game.

Janice (ジャネス) is a female human and rabbit hybrid aboard the S. S. Zelbess. If the player chooses to have Serge participate in the monster battling tournament, and defeat her three times, she joins the party.

Draggy (龍の子) is a baby dragon. If the player chooses to have Serge hatch the egg from Fossil Valley in the incubator at Ft. Dragonia in the Home World, Draggy emerges from the egg and joins the party. As such, his dialogue mimics a child's speech pattern, for example, replacing an "r" with a "w" to refer to himself as a "Dwagon".

Starky (星の子) initially appears as "Mega Starky", a huge alien, that Serge must fight when arriving on Home World Sky Dragon Isle in the Home World. Once defeated, he shrinks down to normal size. Starky's main goal is to collect "Star Fragments", which he explains to be broken parts of his spaceship that shattered upon contact with the planet. He joins the party to collect all of the Star Fragments, but upon traveling to Another World, he discovers the spaceship completely intact in that dimension. From the spaceship he retrieves an anti gravity device allows the party to reach Terra Tower in the sky, which had been otherwise unreachable.

Sprigg (スプリガン) is a resident of the Dimensional Vortex, where Serge is sent after trading bodies with Lynx. She helps him escape back to reality, and automatically joins the party. Sprigg's unique ability is "Doppelgang", which allows her to transform into certain monsters defeated by her.

Mojo (ラッキーダン) is a human sized voodoo doll purchased by a resident of Serge's hometown, Arni Village. If the player chooses to have Serge interact with it, it gains sentience and the ability to move, and joins Serge's party. He is only present in the Alternate World; he is never purchased by Arni resident in the Home World.

Turnip (カブ夫) is first discovered growing in the ground outside of the Hermit's Hideaway after if the player chooses to cool the ground in the area. Upon freeing him, he joins the party. His speech patter adds an extraneous " eth" suffix to various words he says.

NeoFio (改良種フィオ) is a half plant, half human hybrid created as a result of one of Luccia's experiments. It is created and joins the party if the player chooses to have Serge follow Luccia's request to retrieve a "Life Sparkle". NeoFio speaks normally except for substituting a "ph" for every "f" in all words, a play on pH having such importance in soil pH and plants, and that "f" and "ph" phonetically make the same sound. He does not exist in the "Home World", where Luccia, his creator, is not present due to Viper Manor's destruction. His counterpart in the Home world, falls mysteriously ill around the time Funguy transformed.

Irenes (イレーネス) is a mermaid from the town of Marbule. However, she, and the rest of the demi human citizens of the town, are driven out by monsters and forced to hard work on Fargo's cruise ship. She yearns to return her people to their land, and joins the party if the player chooses to have Serge help restore the town so they can return home. Irenes's speech pattern involves her vowels having umlauts. She helps Serge find the Green Dragon, and joins the party upon defeating him, desiring to travel the world to help her decide if she wants return to her village or not, and to see if she can find out what happened to her father. Leah's appearance and speech is similar to Ayla from Chrono Trigger, such as the tendency to add the suffix um to some words in her speech, or using the phrase "Oooga Booga". She is only portrayed in the "Home World". Riding a creature called a "Wingapede" from the Hydra Marshes is the only method to travel to Gaea's Navel.

Van (バンクリフ) is a child living with his father, Gogh, in the town of Termina; their names referencing the Vincent van Gogh in the real world. He is present in both the "Home World" and "Alternate World", largely having the same characteristics.

Grobyc (ギャダラン) is a cyborg, and nicknamed "Killing Machine", from the Porre Military. Cold and calculating, he only answers to anyone who is stronger than himself. As such, Grobyc joins Serge's party automatically, after Serge defeats both himself, and another cyborg, Guillot, while rescuing Riddell from Viper Manor. Grobyc spelled backwards is "cyborg". He refers to himself in the third person, and his dialogue substitutes all spaces between words with dashes, simulating a rigid and mechanical speech pattern. Kotaku named Grobyc one of the "Most Insane Cyborgs In Japanese Video Games" in 2013.

Pierre (ピエール) is a vain, conceited swordsman living in the city of Termina, who values "beauty" over work ethic. He refers to himself as a great hero, yet is merely living in a rented room of Zappa's and unable to even pay rent on time. He moved to Termina because he aspires to go to Viper Manor to meet with General Viper about being part of the "Acacia Dragoons", of which are the highest level of knights. However, he fears he won't be let in without his "Hero's Medal". Pierre is only part of the story if the player opts to have Serge use his assistance to break into Viper Manor, which involves the player locating the "Hero's Medal". Pierre's approach to breaking into the Viper Manor is merely storming the front gates, which, despite many resulting battles, does work. However, later skirmishes between Kid and Lynx, and the eventual stabbing of General Viper, prevents any of Pierre's personal goals from progressing. Pierre speaks with a French accent, though very amateurishly, and speaks in a condescending manner. He is only depicted in the "Alternate World"; he is not seen in the "Home World", where there is no opening in the "Acacia Dragoons", which have been entirely wiped out. Orlha is only shown to exist in the "Alternate World". Rather than another version of herself, she has a twin sister, Tia, who only exists in the "Home World". Orlha had been searching for her her whole life, but only finds her if she joins Serge's party and travels to the other world. She finds Tia dying, and is unable to save her, but Tia's spirit inhabits the blue brooch Serge returns to her, traveling with Orlha and even helping her attack in battle. Orlha doesn't follow a particular speech pattern, but is often shown as a "voice of reason" in serious times, and a rowdy tom boy in battle situations.

Pip (ツマル) is a cute like creature that Luccia has experimented on in her laboratory. If player chooses to have Serge unlock his cage, he can later be recruited aboard the S. S. Invincible. Pip is unique, being the only character that goes through transformations depending on how the player uses him in battle. He is only shown to exist in the "Another World"; in the "Home World", the lab he was experimented on, in Viper Manor, was destroyed.

A number of the major characters of Chrono Trigger play roles in Chrono Cross as well, although much of the time they are relegated to the game's backstory rather than actively participating in the events of the game. Crono, Marle, and Lucca, three of the main playable characters from Chrono Trigger, appear in Chrono Cross, but they are neither playable nor major characters. Instead, they are presented as childlike apparitions that appear at key points in the game to inform Serge of key aspects of the game's backstory. Belthasar, "Guru of Reason" in the ancient Kingdom of Zeal in Chrono Trigger, returns as the ultimate mastermind behind much of the events of Chrono Cross. His elaborate plan, resulting in much of the events and backstory of the game, was all engineered by him in order to enable Serge to defeat the Time Devourer and save Schala.

The Dragon God (龍神) was a biological plasma machine created by the Dragonian race that existed in an alternate universe, where the Reptites survived and became the dominant race on Earth. When the city Dinopolis was sucked into the same dimension as Chronopolis, a battle ensued. In the end, the Dragonians lost the war, their city sunk into the sea, and the Dragon God itself was splintered into six beings, which became the Dragon gods that were sealed over the islands. Some like the Sky Dragon and the Water Dragon were worshiped as deities while others receded into hiding. They used Serge and his party to destroy FATE so they could break the seal and become one again. They created Harle to ensure it, though she was reluctant. However, it was revealed that the Dragon God was absorbed by the Time Devourer long ago during its separation.

FATE (フェイト) is a supercomputer created by Belthasar in the distant future. It was constructed from Mother Brain, a super computer in the apocalyptic future of 2300 AD outlined in the plot of Chrono Trigger. FATE is self aware and can act alone. An event called the "Time Crash" ends up sending it back in time, where it operates as a mechanism that subconsciously directs and brainwashes humans from performing any actions that could cause a paradox that would harm its existence. FATE operates as an unseen villain until late in the game, where it reveals its goal was to reincarnate itself into a new, real, living species. However, it is defeated by Serge and his party.

The Shaker Brothers, Solt and Peppor, main purpose is to act as a tutorial for the player, often showing what not to do in the game's battle system. They tag along with the Acacia Dragoons and reside in the Viper Manor. If the player chooses to have Serge work with Pierre to get into Viper Manner, a third character, Ketchop, is also introduced. The Shaker Brothers are primarily present in the "Alternate World", however, they do appear in a vastly different situation in the "Home World". While the two are not killed when the Acacia Dragoons were eliminated and the Viper Mansion was destroyed, the two resort to wandering the world aimlessly with amnesia. Sneff takes them in as part of his traveling magic show aboard the S. S. Zelbess, albeit as struggling comedians.

While Chrono Cross on a whole generally received very positive reviews, including some publications, like GameSpot, giving it a perfect score, critics were divided on how Squaresoft handled the game's cast. David Zdyrko of IGN strongly praised the game's character accent system, stating he was impressed that "Square was able to give each of the game's 40 plus playable characters different characteristics and, in many cases, distinct accents and speech patterns. The accents were handled surprisingly well and most were pretty consistent throughout the entire game." Some reviewers were less enthusiastic in regards to the game's cast of characters. USGamer's Jeremy Parish, in his Chrono Cross retrospective, felt that the creators were needlessly harsh in their treatment and uncertain fates of returning Chrono Trigger characters, a sentiment also echoed by Tieryas. He concluded that too many of the characters didn't impact the game enough, stating, "The characters are the definition of slight – most of them have little personality outside of a hokey accent – but the core cast has purpose, while everyone else is there in case you want to have a giant voodoo doll, mushroom man, or baby alien in your party for some reason. Lack of character development outside of the core, required cast of characters was also cited as a problem. The switch and its after effects were also singled out by Tieryas as a standout moment, praising how the change in perspective shook up the game flow with Serge having to deal with the aftermath of Lynx's harsh prior actions to people, favorably comparing it to the film Face/Off.