Chrono Compendium

Enhasa Halls - Chrono Series Analysis => Characters, Plot, and Themes => Topic started by: TheMage on November 13, 2013, 12:17:54 am

Title: Chrono Trigger alludes to the Christian Bible?
Post by: TheMage on November 13, 2013, 12:17:54 am
Game Theory on youtube may have just ruined my childhood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-Sp62q2FAY&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PL35FE5C4B157509C9


What does everyone else think lol?
Title: Re: Chrono Trigger alludes to the Christian Bible?
Post by: Eske on November 21, 2013, 04:07:21 am
It was fun video but there are a few issues:

I know that the names of the Gurus are radically different in the Japanese version, so the English names are irrelevant.
I'm not sure if Medina Village is named as such in the Japanese version.
He focuses on Crono not having a father mentioned at all.  Jesus had a virgin mother and a stepfather, but apparently these elements don't matter, so he is cherry picking.
Further still, what about the significance of Lucca's mother being crippled and then she, herself, fixing it?  What about Marle's mother being dead? 
He places emphasis on Schala but none on her stepbrother, Janus (Magus).

Lavos as Wormwood is clever.  He actually missed the fact that the Ioka village woman mentions that the sweet water isn't sweet anymore, which coincides with Wormwood making the water bitter.

Even still, Lavos is directly stated as a being that evolved itself over time.  Evolution in a Christian story retelling?

Crono's sacrifice compared to Jesus's sacrifice is reaching at best.

Crono is the main character of the story - his death would be a powerful event to the player and time travel would allow us to find a way to get him back - it just makes sense for the game to go in that direction.

We humans are pattern-seeking creatures.  In this video, he finds what fits and completely ignores all of the other events that do not fit.

If I really wanted to, I could compare Magus's search for Lavos with Captain Ahab's search for Moby Dick.  I could point out several similarities in their logic, the sacrifices they were willing to make and it would all seem to make sense because I would be cherry picking the details I like while ignoring the ones that don't fit.

Hell, I could compare Chrono Trigger to Dragon Ball Z (both have character designs by Toriyama) and say that Sir Cyrus is Goku and Glenn (Frog) is Gohan and that Magus is Cell.  We can make many stories or parts of stories fit into anything, really.

Cool vid, though.
Title: Re: Chrono Trigger alludes to the Christian Bible?
Post by: Xenterex on December 15, 2013, 11:38:39 pm
far as I can tell, Matt Patt takes a few ideas and then tries to pitch the presentation enough just to make things seem viable.  More often then not, when I know or do some dabbling in researching a few particulars, it does seem he leaves stuff out for convenience, or rather, he knows the extent of the idea has flaws and the point is simply the fun of the idea.


However, japan does have a particular tendency to glean from their perception of biblical accounts for their manga, anime and video games.  I know i'm missing some minor stuff, but even major, successful or well-known productions in manga, anime and games do have biblical references.  Stuff like: Neon Genesis Evangelian & Xenosaga (particularly the 3rd episode) are more obvious… and probably a number of other stuff where the villain is actually a "deity" of sort sort.

That said, its not uncommon for a number of productions to glean from, homage, or be influenced by a number of other materials around the world (incredibles vs fantastic four for example), intentionally and/or acknowledged or not.  To make the assertion that Chrono was directly and intentional influenced as the video claims would probably need more support be delving into japanese stories and mythos and what is presented by "Christ" to the western bible may have similar stories told in another parts of the world that have had their own take, and those could be the references for Chrono instead of say, said bible.