Magus (Chrono Trigger)

Template:Chrono Trigger Character

Magus is a fictional character, who is a playable character in the Super Nintendo video game Chrono Trigger. In Japan, Magus is known as Maō (魔王), which translates literally to 'demon', but which can also be interpreted as 'king of wizardry'.

Magus is the leader of the Mystic race, and is waging war against the humans in the year 600 AD. Ten years before, he killed the character Frog's best friend Cyrus, who was also the strongest knight in the kingdom of Guardia at that time. The only way to defeat Magus is to use the Masamune sword, which is currently broken into two parts; the hilt and the blade. Crono climbs into the Denadoro Mts. and faces Masa and Mune to retrieve the blade. Once he does this, he goes to Frog's house to get the hilt. With some dreamstone, Melchior is able to fix it into its original splendor. Then, Crono and Frog go to Magus' fortress to defeat him. They succeed, and are thrown into a time gate. Magus goes into another one, and they are separated for the time being.

Later in the game, they learn that Magus was once called Janus. He was the prince of the kingdom of Zeal (12,000 BC). His sister was Schala, and his mother was Queen Zeal. When Lavos appeared in the Ocean Palace, Janus was thrown into the future (probably around 580 AD), where he became a fearsome mage by 600 AD, also taking the name Magus. After being defeated in his castle, Magus was warped to the kingdom of Zeal, and acted like a prophet, using his knowledge of the era. When Lavos appeared in the Ocean Palace, Magus tried to kill him, but didn't succeed in exacting his revenge. Instead, he was beaten, and couldn't save his sister Schala. Afterwards, the party has the option of fighting and killing him, or allowing him to join their party to help defeat Lavos. At the end of the game, he returns to the Zeal era to look for Schala.

Magus has three minions: Ozzie, Slash, and Flea. They are each named for different rock and roll stars: Ozzy Osbourne, Slash from Guns N' Roses, and Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Ironically, Magus did not exhibit any magical ability as a child but the elders in Zeal believed he was destined to become more powerful than all of them. Magus's character as a child, Janus, is largely surly and hostile to the party, and remains fairly withdrawn even as an adult. Magus's primary motivation is regaining his sister and seeking revenge on his mother and Lavos. He shows no emotion towards any other character, including his former pet cat, Alfador. Gaspar, the Guru of Time, does recognize him and congratulate him on his achievements, however.

It can be assumed that in the original timeline of the story in which Crono's party did not interfere with any events, Magus succeeded in summoning Lavos and brought about his own death, ending the war with the humans. Records in the future indicate that Lavos disappeared briefly after being summoned by a wizard in 600 A.D., so it's likely that Magus originally succeeded in summoning Lavos and was defeated by him, causing the fall of the Mystics. Crono's interference results in all of you being thrown back in time and most likely saving his life.

Some believe that Magus, Magil from Radical Dreamers, and Guile from Chrono Cross are the same character, and that they are from differing dimensions. They all have blue hair, hover along the ground rather than touching it, and use dark magic. Also, Magil and Guile both wear masks, and Magil is called "Gil" in some translations. Masato Kato, chief scenario writer and visionary, has directly stated that Magil from Radical Dreamers is Magus, although hiding his identity, and that Guile was originally planned to be Magus in Chrono Cross -- a design that was scrapped due to the problems of representing his story among the forty other playable characters in the game [1] (http://www.gamepro.com/sony/psx/games/features/7033.shtml).

One of the plotlines of Radical Dreamers suggests that Magus/Magil was engaged to a particular girl when he was a child growing up in Zeal, and develops a story where he reunites with her as a grown man.

The main gaps in Magus's history are explaining how he went from encountering Ozzie after being thrown into the future to becoming the ruler of the Mystics, and what happened to him after the events of Chrono Trigger when he left to search for Schala. The events in Chrono Cross resolve the mystery of what happened to Schala, although the whereabouts of Magus are still unknown. Fans have speculated that this would be a likely topic to explore in any further sequels.

Quotes

• "Ah... The Masamune!!! I bet you're just dying to use it! The black wind begins to blow... Okay... give me your best shot... If you're prepared for the void!"
• "If history is to change, let it change! If they world is to be destroyed, so be it! If my fate is to be destroyed... I must simply laugh!! I'm coming, Lavos!"
• "I never imagined that we would settle our score in this dusty old era. Come, let us finish this charade!"