Magus (Guile identity)


At the end of Chrono Trigger DS, Magus erases his own identity and begins anew with the feeling he must search for something. Is it possible that Guile in Chrono Cross is an amnesiac Magus? Recall this from the GamePro interview:

Masato Kato: To let the cat out of the bag, in the early stages of development, Guile was indeed meant to be Magus. In our original plan, the true identity of Guile was supposed to be Magus after the events in Trigger. (At the end of Trigger, Magus [a.k.a. Janus in Trigger and Magil in Radical Dreamers] disappeared into a Time Gate to go searching for his big sister, Schala, who was lost somewhere in time.) However, as the game's development progressed and we decided to use such a huge number of playable characters, we decided not to make him be Magus. We thought it was impossible to portray the relationship between Magus and Schala adequately in this game. So we changed tracks, made the colors of the Magus character design paler, and turned him into Guile, the magician. In a way, it's a pity, as I really would like to have seen the valiant figure of Magus come to life again.


Magus-Guile Theory[edit]


  • Guile is in constant search of enigmas and mysteries, and this fits Magus's desire to find something after he emerges from the Darkness Beyond Time.
  • Guile has the following Frozen Flame quote in Chrono Cross. It was probably intended as an in-reference that Guile was at one time planned to be Magus, but now it serves as Guile's denial of his former identity:
      Is this what I have
      been searching for
      all this time...
      Stop it!
      I am no such thing.
      What good is it...
      to possess such
      dark power...?
  • Guile's words here also echo the words of Magus in the ending: "no matter how hard I strive—no matter how strong I grow—there is nothing I might do to save you?" Schala also cautions him that no power will be able to save her, and it can be said that Magus possesses a dark power (he uses the Shadow element, and he's also motivated by revenge and personal pain).
  • In regards to his changed appearance, it's been argued that Magus can change it, just as he apparently did to command the Mystics and not seem human. steamwolf: Now granted, the age difference can be argued but I'll say this: If David Bowie can be sixty years old and look thirty-four, then a magical demon king who most likely can open up time-traveling portals can be forty and look however the hell he wants. But does anyone wonder if perhaps Magus' form in CT is a disguise? Remember, when he appeared to the Mystics as Janus, they attacked him. It would logically make sense to put on a disguise, use a Scythe, and appear more evil in order to frighten Guardia and keep the Mystics loyal to him. Really, why would magical power alter his physical form? Dalton clearly shows the ability to cast something similar to Dark Matter and he looks the same as ever. Also, Magus has used disguises in the past such as The Prophet. Now this was just a hood with shoulders, but either way he's used a disguise before to benefit himself. Whose to say Magus is nothing more than this? Its not even his real name, and Kato has had Magus go even further and go by Magil in RD.
  • Also, Janus originally had green eyes as depicted in the PSX CT's FMVs and CT's official art. Guile has green eyes.
  • Being Magus and having his genetic ability for magic explains Guile's status as the rising star of the Magic Guild.
  • At the end of Chrono Cross, Guile wishes Serge well and then possibly goes with Schala. The ambiguity of Cross makes it possible that Guile did recognize Schala at the end.


  • Except for spellcasting in two directions, Magus is predominantly left-handed. Guile is right-handed, however.
  • In Radical Dreamers, Serge describes Magil as being "about 30". Guile is 26.

Serge-Descendant Theory[edit]


Magus: Should a part of me
somehow even then remain,
then perhaps will be the birth
of something new-something with
greater meaning than all this.

Well, I think that 'a part of me' and 'the birth of something new' imply that some form of Magus will save his sister in the future. If Magus ends up in 600 AD, he shouldn’t be alive by the time Schala was saved (1020 AD, the time of Chrono Cross,) but a descendant of his could. You should already see what my theory is: Serge is a descendant (or maybe some sort of weird reincarnation) of Magus, a newly born part of him so to speak. Schala chooses Serge specifically.

Also, on another note, one of Schala's lines in the ending to Magus is "The strength you wield now cannot defeat me. No, perhaps it is better said that no strength can." This line reminds me of how to get the 'good' ending in Chrono Cross you have to use element colors in a certain order on the Dream Devourer instead of fighting it normally (with 'strength.') This seems like a pretty obvious correlation to me, but it may not have been on purpose.

So, either Magus's descendants became part of Chronopolis and would eventually give birth to Serge, or Magus was deposited in early El Nido from the Darkness Beyond Time and integrated directly into the population that way.

From: Theory (People)