Characters of Chrono Cross

[9] Others are far more indirect, with his absence leading other characters to make different decisions in their lives, effecting whether they end up being rich or poor, or follow their dreams or gives up on them.

[7] The system did not work well with some more detailed scenes that required more context; these were treated as independent lines, retaining an original version of the dialogue for each character.

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.

The Alternate World Kid is the one seen throughout the game; Guile (アルフ, Arufu, Alf) is a traveling magician who makes a bet with a fortune-teller that he could break into Viper Manor.

[25][26] He automatically joins the party to help Serge while trapped in Lynx's body, desiring to accompany him to the Dead Sea, and ends up stays with the group.

[27] 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.

[33] 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.

[26] Riddel (リデル, Rideru) is the daughter of General Viper and past fiancé to childhood friend Dario prior to his death in the "Alternate World".

[42] He rejects wealth and power and has chosen to dedicate his life to battle,[43] although the fortune teller in Termina senses "deep sadness" beneath his helmet.

[44] 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.

If the player opts to have Serge help find a cure for Kid's poison, it leads him to the Hydra Marshes, where Razzly is imprisoned and surrounded by a deadly monster.

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.

Glenn was created by the developers to represent a unique situation in JRPGs - a "zealous hero" type who was not actually the main character or central focus of the story.

[53] 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.

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.

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.

Upon Serge removing a part from Fargo's cheating device, rendering it inoperable, Sneff is able to earn back his freedom, and proceeds to join the party.

[23] While their homeland of Guardia was aggressively overthrown by the neighboring war nation Porre, their ultimate fate is not disclosed in Chrono Cross, leaving it unclear if they are meant to be literally deceased ghost figures, or alive and transposing their likeness through other methods.

[19] 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.

By accident during Chrono Trigger, Schala was banished to the darkness of time, where later, the remnants of the defeated Lavos arrived and began absorbing the former princess of Zeal to create a new being.

Though unknown to Serge for most of his quest, the entire events concerning the dimensions and the creation of El Nido were set in motion to empower him to defeat the Time Devourer and free Schala.

[96] While Chrono Cross on a whole generally received very positive reviews,[97] including some publications, like GameSpot, giving it a perfect score,[98] critics were divided on how Squaresoft handled the game's cast.

"[10] GameSpot's Andrew Vestral similarly praised the cast, stating, "Surprisingly, Chrono Cross seemingly endless supply of characters works to its benefit, not its detriment...Every last one of the 40-plus members is a unique, story-driven, and valuable contributor.

"[98] Vestral did concede that much of the Chrono Trigger fan-base disapproved of the concept of 40+ characters prior to release, but he argued the way the game handled should dispel any such concerns.

[98] Johnny Liu of Game Revolution also acknowledged the concerns with the large cast as well, but felt that players would see more value in the characters once their respective dedicated sidequests were played.

[99] Simon Seamann of RPGamer also criticized the difficulty in switching characters and transferring equipment between them, which he felt discouraged players from experiencing the full-breadth of the varied cast.

[14][99] Leigh Alexander, in a separate retrospective from Kotaku, had a different interpretation of the cast altogether, claiming that while some characters weren't important or interesting, in a way, that was the point, and that still helped the overall narrative.

[20] 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.

Trent Steely of RPGamer selected her as his pick for outstanding female character in RPGs, stating that "Kid deserves to be appreciated for her innate attributes.

[22] Jeremy Peeples of Hardcore Gamer deemed her his favorite character out of the 45 person cast, praising the stark contrast between her pleasant exterior and her difficult past of growing up homeless and living a difficult life, comparing her similarly to Aerith from Final Fantasy VII as being a character that the player would bond with and be disappointed when story events take her out of the player's party.