Chrono Compendium
Enhasa Halls - Chrono Series Analysis => Characters, Plot, and Themes => Topic started by: Hindu_Pez on September 12, 2005, 12:41:57 pm
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I was thinking about this at work today.
When you arrive circa 2300 AD in the ruined world, you race Johnny.
I was wondering a couple things.
1
Who is Johnny?
All we know about him is that he's some sort of racing bot/cyborg/vehicle, and that he thinks he's a greaser.
(just kiding)
2
Where did Johnny originate? Was he a creation of the Mother Brain, or something man made?
I'm sure that, in the grand scheme of things (especially in the many timelines in both CT and CC) Johnny's existence is rather unimportant, but I was curious just the same.
I just find it interesting that, in a world/time point almost devoid of humans, we have this interesting character that seems to have a bit of popularity in the robot/cyborg world.
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Well put, Hindu. Johnny is an often overlooked character of Chrono Trigger. But, unlike many of the game's other puzzles, I think this one is easily solved. Japan has a fascination with the post-apocalyptic dystopian technopolis, which of course is 2300 A.D. Chrono Trigger to the hilt, and one of the common archetypes that populates these blasted, sprawling urban scapes is that of the young, energetic leader, typically of a shoddy gang of streetsmart, world-weary peers. Almost always a male, he has a righteous attitude and a sense of a honor that makes him more than just the thug that you might otherwise take him to be if you look at his gang as a whole. He usually looks handsome, commands the respect and admiration of his followers, and, importantly, is a real hotshot with some type of technology, always new and gleaming, set apart from the decaying, endless city where they live. (I am thinking of the Kaneda's biker gang out of Akira as a good comparison to Johnny's biker gang in Chrono Trigger.) Sometimes their mods encroach into their very bodies, and they become part cyborg. This archetype, of course, describes Johnny very well. He is a classic page out of postmodern Japanese culture.
Did anyone else notice his corpse on the highway in the Dead Sea? I don't think I've ever seen that mentioned here.
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Did anyone else notice his corpse on the highway in the Dead Sea? I don't think I've ever seen that mentioned here.
REALLY?! I'll have to look into that. Thankfully, I've a back up save file saved right at the Dead Sea.
Where do I find this corpse? The highway, the city, or the Tower of Geddon?
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Did anyone else notice his corpse on the highway in the Dead Sea? I don't think I've ever seen that mentioned here.
REALLY?! I'll have to look into that. Thankfully, I've a back up save file saved right at the Dead Sea.
Where do I find this corpse? The highway, the city, or the Tower of Geddon?
If I remember correctly, it's almost right at the beginning, on one of the very first highway segments. (Then again, I could be wrong!)
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Its right after you fight the Highwayman, I think...
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Did anyone else notice his corpse on the highway in the Dead Sea? I don't think I've ever seen that mentioned here.
REALLY?! I'll have to look into that. Thankfully, I've a back up save file saved right at the Dead Sea.
Where do I find this corpse? The highway, the city, or the Tower of Geddon?
It has been mentioned, I think there's even a screenshot somewhere in some topic. Johnny is in the Highway, his "corpse" appears when you beat Highwayman (Highwayman exploses and there's Johnny's shell... Highwayman = Johnny?).
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I always saw Johnny as kind of a regular guy, just with a built in wheelchair. I don't think he's a machine. Although many would argue he is, especially because of his "appearance" in CC, but I think that particular segment is more of an homage than anything.
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Yeah, that may be the only conclusion. Some people at AllRPG still believe that I faked that screenshot somehow :).
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Care to post that shot, Z?
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I believe this is it, or at least is the one I saw:
(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/Quinsisdos/ePSXe2005-05-0821-21-19-60.jpg)
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Wow.
Poor Johnny.
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That looks a hell of a lot clearer than when i was in the highway ruins and saw the same thing. The alleged johnny was there before i fought the highway man though. And the view is such that you cant make it out. it could be johnny but it simply isnt clear enough to make it out for certain.
But the jet bike from ct IS one screen down so i believe it.
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That looks a hell of a lot clearer than when i was in the highway ruins and saw the same thing. The alleged johnny was there before i fought the highway man though. And the view is such that you cant make it out. it could be johnny but it simply isnt clear enough to make it out for certain.
But the jet bike from ct IS one screen down so i believe it.
That's just what I was going to say (I always thought that blur was some dysfunctional chest or something).
Wow, I missed the Jet bike too? Damn.
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I was using Jabo's D3D, so all the 3D character models were very clear. Peops would have produced an ugly mess.
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That looks a hell of a lot clearer than when i was in the highway ruins and saw the same thing. The alleged johnny was there before i fought the highway man though. And the view is such that you cant make it out. it could be johnny but it simply isnt clear enough to make it out for certain.
But the jet bike from ct IS one screen down so i believe it.
That's just what I was going to say (I always thought that blur was some dysfunctional chest or something).
Wow, I missed the Jet bike too? Damn.
The blue Jet Bike from Chrono Trigger?!
I saw some orange "jet bikes," but never the blue ones.
And I NEVER saw Johnny's corpse at that sight before OR after defeating Highway Man!
NOW I really must look into that scene!
I still think you're lying...
EDIT:
I just checked it out for myself.
There's definitely something there that resembles Johnny.
Just faintly, but it looks just like it does in the screenshot given on this thread.
As for the blue jet bike from Chrono Trigger, didn't see it.
There were plenty of orange "jet bikes" lying all over, but no blue one.
I of course, put "jet bikes" in quotations in case of the orange ones, as
those might actually be automobiles, and not jet bikes.
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I doubt such a technologically advanced civilization would have Domed citites but no floating cars...
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I doubt such a technologically advanced civilization would have Domed citites but no floating cars...
I'm not sure I would want floating cars inside a domed city, unless drunken idiocy were extinct.
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I don't mean flying like the Jetsons, I mean floating at like 2 feet off the ground.
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(http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/5575/jetbike0lu.jpg)
To me, it sort of looks like you can see the old blue coloring of the CT one, and faintly the red logo with the yellow lettering (don't remember what it said).
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It kind looks like it.
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Well, that's interesting...I never really saw either thing (or at least didn't think much of them) when I played through...Maybe someone could h4x0r it and take out that first layer on top...or wait...can you even do that like you can take out layers in older games?
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The only problem here is that in 2300AD, everything looks much worse. Look at the road below the highway, it looks nice and normal.... Almost untouched....
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Doan's jet bike is blue AND orange. Also, it is easier to see at the entrance of the Highway (the first screen from the world map) than on this screenshot.
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Yea, the object there is more orange than blue, and doesn't really have the shape of the jetbike.
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Hmm. I just went into the Dead Sea. And guess what? The highwayman is not Johnny. Johnny is like already dead or busted underneathe him.
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Yeah, I recently went there too, and "Johnny's" corpse is there before you even fight the highwayman.
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The only problem here is that in 2300AD, everything looks much worse. Look at the road below the highway, it looks nice and normal.... Almost untouched....
Doesn't look that way to me, looks like what appears to be a steel beam in the road, and it looks like its broken up a little too.
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Still though, poor Johnny:(
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Yea I hadn't noticed either of those...still haven't. I have to play AGAIN and look carefully this time. I had always assumed the Highway Man was Johnny...guess I'm wrong.
Zeality, you're using ePSXe with a Jabo pluging? What video card do you have? And where'd you get that plugin?
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Here's something to think about. If you were a programmer, and you put in Johnny, is it so hard to believe you would put in the Jet-Bike? I sure would.
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Here's something to think about. If you were a programmer, and you put in Johnny, is it so hard to believe you would put in the Jet-Bike? I sure would.
In no way is that the decision or responsibility of the programmers. Some level designer decided to put it there, and the artists did so.
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(http://img290.imageshack.us/img290/8104/picture3480ou.jpg)
Theres Johnny. If you zoom in on the pic, you can see that it's him, dead before you even fight the high way man.
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i noticed this thingy too, but didn't think johny was it.
Btw i used the same party at this point :)
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Here's something to think about. If you were a programmer, and you put in Johnny, is it so hard to believe you would put in the Jet-Bike? I sure would.
In no way is that the decision or responsibility of the programmers. Some level designer decided to put it there, and the artists did so.
Well if you were a level designer, would it be in the realm of possibility put the jet-bike close to Johnny. It makes sense with the plot too. Johnny was always with the jet-bike, so when that portion of the future was dragged into the present, Johnny would most likely be with the jet-bike.
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Here's something to think about. If you were a programmer, and you put in Johnny, is it so hard to believe you would put in the Jet-Bike? I sure would.
In no way is that the decision or responsibility of the programmers. Some level designer decided to put it there, and the artists did so.
Well if you were a level designer, would it be in the realm of possibility put the jet-bike close to Johnny. It makes sense with the plot too. Johnny was always with the jet-bike, so when that portion of the future was dragged into the present, Johnny would most likely be with the jet-bike.
Johnny lives on the stretch of highway that the jetbike was left on. If you visit the jetbike before getting the key from Doan, Johnny is nowhere to be found. It's not his jetbike, and it's not an object he has any use for.
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Interesting point. but you see that his lackys are around. Maye he was out on an errand.
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Interesting point. but you see that his lackys are around. Maye he was out on an errand.
An errand? There was no one around to be racing in the bike, so he had no real need to puppy-gaurd it. Look how impressed the lackeys are when Johnny shows up. They wouldn't be swooning like that if his presence was a constant in their lives.
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An errand in the ruined 2300 A.D? Robots must be a lot more casual in post-apocalyptic settings than humans.
P.S. Cyber maybe because everybody else sucks at that point >_>.
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By errand, I mean going out to hang out or something.
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That's still pretty casual...plus, with whom would he, "hang out," with? I doubt every single haywire robot is a Johnny fan.
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Lol.
Hmm, Highway man may be like a mutation of Johnny, and that's just Johnny's old shell or something. Or maybe Johnny actually died :'( There there.
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He'd just sit at some rock or something (or rubble), and that's what I mean by hanging out. The mutation theory is interesting, but would a robot/cyborg shed it's skin?
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Johnny is just a street punk who got whooped by the real deal.
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What's your point? We all know this.
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:evil: i hate street punks, they're just gangster wannabes who don't know what it really is like being ina gang, they just like the image of it. Being in a gang is horrible and is difficult to get out of.
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What's your point? We all know this.
This is all I will say, apart from, you are largely wrong anyway.
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About what? Johnny being a robotic street punk? ._. be more specific.
i hate street punks, they're just gangster wannabes who don't know what it really is like being ina gang, they just like the image of it. Being in a gang is horrible and is difficult to get out of.
Good GOD! What a horrible life a gang member must have! not like Johnny, a robot who is one of the few remaining sentient beings in a world where almost nothing, but living and mechanical, can survive. I mean, gangs are bad, sure, but I'm sure it's not so bad. I mean, you can still find food, "healthy" is a word in your vocabulary, you can comprehend what it means to have hope, and you can breathe the outside air.
Seriously, no one cares about your hate for street punks.
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They race, do stupid car tricks all the time. They vandalize things coz they think its cool. They steal for the fun of it rather than needing it. They beat up defenseless people for no good reason. I am sure many people share the same hatred of mine for street punks.
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Not to mention actual gangbanging where they uhhh beat them first them rape them. Very real. Not cool.
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About what? Johnny being a robotic street punk? ._. be more specific.
About his perception of gangs. A large part of the whole gang phsychie is peer pressure. People, for a large part are pressured into gangs, even if they dont want to be, or join gangs because they dont want to be left behind socially.
There is a large Stigma associated with young people, in that any gathering of people may be looked down upon as a gnag, with only the intent for larceny and mayhem, no matter how innocent the group actually is.
Personally I think that Lin_Zhen_Quan is taking quite a narrow view on the social heirachy of street kids, and the psychological problems that they face.
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Hmm...seems like someone is basing his judgement off STEREOTYPES! :O Yea mmkay, you can really shut up now. No more hatred-of-people-you've-never-met, please.
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Oh, but I enjoy hating people. And I've had a hard week. Nah. Just kidding.
But I'm not steriotyping, I have had first hand experience of these things, I have worked with troubled young people before, and I do know at least SOME of te situation that is going on.
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I was speaking to everyone in general, but even still. There's still millions of people you've never met. You can't judge them ALL by the few that's given you trouble.
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Well, no. Of couse not. I can only speak for a small demographic. But I think I, at least, had a less narrow and steriotypical view than Lin_Zhen_Quan.
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my hatred is from personal experience
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So you've had a bad run with a few of them. Have you met them ALL? Have you read their MINDS? No? Then keep it off the forums.
God, not even I was that closeminded.
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*Sees that someone has mistakenly switched the thread button from On Topic to Off Topic, switchs button back to On Topic*
It seems to me that Johnny was destroyed by Highwayman, he doesn't seem to be the type of robot to just sit down and let rust set in while he awaits the end of exsistence.
As for his origin, it seems to me, because of his burning desire to find a challenge on the race track, that he was originally built as a racing robot to entertain the masses. I think he was programmed with the personality to want such a challenge.
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I always saw Johnny more as a mystic with robotic parts..
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in 2300 AD? Not a chance. That part of the timeline is strictly sci-fi besides the magic the heroes use.
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If he were a Mystic, Johnny's corpse in the Dead Sea wouldn't appear like it appears in CC, after 10,000 years of decay.
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Mystic machines? What???
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Well, in the Chrono Trigger OVA, for the night before the Millenium or whatever, all the "mystics" were summoned in from all across time. The Nu and that furry thing too, so we can assume they count as mystics too, it doesn't mean all mystics use magic. Heck, I thought that the mystics were called demons in the jap version. And Johnny was one of them at the fair.
Plus, he seems like he's a body connected to robot parts (striking consept as in Ghost in the Shell?)
EDIT:
BTW, do not forget that in the Dead Sea, nothing decays or changes. Miguel made this pretty obvious, and as do the frozen bodies of the Acacia Dragoons.
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The summoned people weren't described as "Mystics", they were described as simply "monsters". I don't think Nus, future mutants, mere rats and robots are supposed to be Mystics (do you think that Johnny's robotic supporters are Mystic creatures too?).
Not to mention that this animé is one of the most non-canon Chrono stuff that may exist.
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The OVA was for fun, nothing to be taken into account in the same league as the games.
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Did you guys, by chance, take into account that Quan is probably from China? Things are different over there. Street gang here could mean harmless street racers, since the real gangs mostly stay in their respective neighborhoods. But I'm sure things are different over there. Bruce Lee got some experience fighting with them in Hong Kong as he grew up; I think that's why his parents sent them to San Francisco. So anyway, lighten up.