Lucca is a recurring character in the Chrono (Series). First introduced in Chrono Trigger, she is a brilliant inventor and Crono's childhood friend. Using her genius intellect and creativity, Lucca invents many devices, such as a battle-training robot named Gato, a short-range teleporter called The Telepod, and a Gate Key which allows for Time Gate manipulation.
She is the second playable character to be named, despite not being physically introduced until later. She joins Crono as a temporary party member during the adventure in 600 AD, and then permanently joins the party during the escape from Guardia's dungeon - making her the first officially recruited party member.
Chrono Trigger
At some point prior to 990 AD, Lucca was born to her parents, Taban and Lara Ashtear. During her childhood, she met and befriended a young boy named Crono. Lucca was raised in an environment where her father's inventions were ever-present. Though always an intelligent girl, initially she expresses frustration with them due to her father sometimes neglecting her for his pursuits. In approximately 990 AD, Lucca would witness her mother endure a horrible accident which left her crippled and unable to walk. This event would spur Lucca to pursue science and inventing - though her exact motivation depends on the timeline and Lara's fate.
In the years between 990 AD and 1000 AD, Lucca would create many inventions alongside her father. The townspeople purport that more often than not, these inventions had a tendency to backfire or go wrong - earning Lucca a reputation as a social pariah, as well as making her a common target for condescension and doubt from the citizens of Truce. Despite this, Lucca continued to create new inventions, always displaying them in the hopes that she would find success.
In the year 1000 AD, Lucca's Telepod is scheduled to be presented on the first day of the Millennial Fair. Her father, Taban, assists her in the demonstration. The crowd expresses doubt about her chances of success and refuses to test it until Crono and his new friend, Marle, arrive. Crono then demonstrates the invention successfully. However, when Marle is inspired to try as well, the device reacts to her pendant, causing Marle to be sent back in time. Crono follows her immediately.
While Crono is searching for Marle in the past, Lucca quickly creates the Gate Key to allow her to follow Crono safely and manipulate Time Gates at her will. During this time, Lucca also realizes Marle is none other than Princess Nadia. Armed with her new invention and this revelation, Lucca encounters Crono in Guardia Palace in 600 AD and explains her findings to him. She is shocked when Crono reveals that Marle has been erased from existence, and Lucca comes to the conclusion that they must rescue the real Queen Leene to ensure her descendants will continue to exist.
Together, Lucca and Crono journey to Manoria Cathedral in search of the queen. After discovering a hairpin bearing the royal crest, the duo is attacked by nuns who reveal themselves to be Mystics in disguise. After defeating them, Lucca expresses her relief before another ambushes her from behind. Lucca is then rescued by a mysterious frog-like creature, who leaps down to slay the beast and then proposes they join forces. Lucca is immediately shocked by his appearance, stating to Crono that she hates frogs. Taking this as a rejection, Frog goes to leave, but Lucca asks him to stay, remarking that he doesn't seem like a bad "person... frog... thing." She asks Crono whether they should accept his offer, and regardless of his answer, Lucca will overcome her fear of frogs to work alongside him. The trio ventures deeper into the Cathedral and successfully rescues the queen. After returning to Guardia Palace, Lucca witnesses Frog express his shame for letting the Queen fall captive. Once he leaves, Lucca tries to stop him and finally confesses that "froggy" wasn't a bad guy, after all, showing her newfound fondness for him.
When Crono is accused of abducting Marle, Lucca rescues him from the Prison Towers in Guardia Castle and single-handedly disarms several royal officials in the process. Despite not being charged for her involvement in the disappearance, Lucca seems to have little regard for becoming an enemy of the state when it comes to her friend.
Fleeing the Present to evade the Chancellor and his guards, Marle urges Lucca to open a Gate that leads thirteen hundred years into the Future. In the Proto Dome, an abandoned robot is discovered by the party. Lucca is immediately fascinated and attempts to repair the robot. She is successful, and thus awakens Robo. He later joins the party in their quest to discover what has become of humanity and is extremely grateful to Lucca for repairing him. In one of the full-motion videos from the PlayStation and Nintendo DS versions, Lucca is trapped by several hostile robots. Robo comes to her aid by bursting through a wall.
Later on, when the party recovers Dreamstone to repair the Masamune, Lucca aids Melchior in fixing the sword. Lucca has the highest priority for fixing the Masamune, and will always assist Melchior as long as she is in the party. The exact reason for this is unknown, though it is implied that Lucca's ancestor was Banta, the blacksmith who forged Leene's Bell. It is also possible that she feels guilty for her initial treatment of Frog and wishes to help him overcome his self-loathing.
Lucca continues to blame herself for the brutal accident which took the legs of her mother, Lara Ashtear, in the year 990 AD. During the course of her time-travels, an opportunity opens for her to revisit that moment and change the events. After saving Fiona's Forest, the party camps out and speaks about their adventures, prompting Marle to ask Lucca if there are any moments in time she would like to go back to. Lucca dodges the question, hesitant to open up about her traumatic experience, and the party eventually goes to sleep. Later, Lucca wakes up in the night to discover the existence of a strange Red Gate. Lucca investigates and realizes that the Red Gate returns her to the year 990 AD, more specifically just before the accident occurred. Lucca relives the events of that day, but this time has the opportunity to find her father's password to the machine and disable it before her mother can be maimed. If the player successfully saves Lara in this sequence, she can be seen walking around the Ashtear residence.
In the ending FMV scene, Lucca goes on to create a mini-robot modeled after Robo. In the same scene, Lucca finds an infant with a pendant that is later revealed to be Chrono Cross protagonist Kid, the clone daughter of Schala. She smiles briefly in recognition of the pendant before picking up the infant and returning home with her.
Lucca appears in several of the alternate endings of the game. In one, she and Marle narrate the credits as they roll by. In another, she seems to harbor intense attraction to Frog's handsome human form.
Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki
Lucca opens an orphanage in Regiorra, where she eventually adopts Kid. At some point in her life, she gave the Chrono Trigger to Kid. Lynx kidnaps and murders her while searching for a specimen of the device, luring Kid to his Manor to unite her sample with the Frozen Flame. Strongly attached to Lucca, as Kid seeks vengeance on Lynx but is unable to exact it when soldiers from Porre intervene. As a musician, Serge also wrote a song that Lucca was quite fond of.
Chrono Cross
In Chrono Cross, where she is referred to as Dr. Lucca Ashtear it is discovered that Lucca eventually converted her house into a form of an orphanage. Kid is revealed to have been found by Lucca and raised in the orphanage. Lucca is later kidnapped prior to the beginning of Chrono Cross by Lynx and Harle in an effort to subdue the Prometheus Circuit that keeps the Frozen Flame sealed. She is presumably killed off by Lynx later on. Later on, she appears as an illusion alongside with Crono and Marle as one of the Ghost Children haunting Opassa Beach and Dead Sea. With the others, she chastises Serge for undoing their efforts to thwart the destruction of Lavos, although his bad influence on the timeline which was accidental.
I am no pet, I am an accomplished swordsman, green as I may appear.
„
~ Frog
Summary
Frog is a knight from the Middle Ages in Chrono Trigger. His real name is Glenn. He was presumably a squire under Cyrus, a knight in service of Guardia's royal family. Following Cyrus' death at the hands of Magus, Glenn was transformed into an anthropomorphic frog.
Frog is met by the party in his native era of 600 AD, and will become a temporary party member when first encountered. Once this quest ends, he will not reappear until a few chapters later, making him the fourth officially recruited party member.
Childhood in Guardia
Glenn was born in Guardia, possibly in Truce or Dorino, in an unknown year prior to 590. His best friend was Cyrus, who was several years his senior. Glenn was often a victim of indiscriminate bullying from the children his age due to his passive nature, which Cyrus often had to step in to stop. When Cyrus suggested that he learn to fight back, Glenn explained that he doesn't wish harm on anyone, even if they hurt him. Cyrus, seemingly resigned, called him a marshmallow.
Several years later, when Glenn was a teenager, Cyrus declared his intent to enlist as a royal knight of Guardia. He suggested that Glenn join him, but Glenn expressed doubts about his potential to be a good knight. Cyrus pointed out that Glenn was better than him with a sword, but Glenn explained that he didn't think he could bring himself to hurt others. Nonetheless, at some point, Glenn made the decision to take Cyrus' advice and enlisted as well.
The Squire
Following their talk, Glenn eventually came to Guardia to serve as Cyrus' aide. During this time, he would journey with Cyrus on many adventures - including a battle with the Frog King which yielded the retrieval of the Hero's Badge, a magic sigil that showed one's true strength and aided the wielder of the Masamune. Glenn would also meet and befriend Queen Leene, who concerned herself greatly with his and Cyrus' safety.
The Battle with the Fiendlord
In the year c. 590 AD, Cyrus and Glenn departed to face the Fiendlord Magus, who had been plaguing Guardia with conflict with his army of Mystics. Together, they traveled to the top of the Denadoro Mountains to claim the Masamune from Masa and Mune. Cyrus single-handedly managed to defeat the twin Mystics, and they offered him the use of the sword out of admiration for his skills. Shortly thereafter, armed with the legendary weapon that could defeat him, Cyrus confronted Magus atop a high cliff. Glenn stayed out of the fight but was present to witness it. Cyrus charged Magus but was blown back by his powerful magic, which consequentially shattered the Masamune into two pieces. As a wounded Cyrus urged Glenn to run and protect the queen, Magus cast one final spell that killed Cyrus in a violent blaze. Glenn picked up the broken hilt of the sword, yet remained too afraid to attack. Ozzie then suggests that Magus give the boy "a more fitting form". Amused by the suggestion, Magus cast another spell that transformed Glenn into an anthropomorphic frog form and flung him off the mountain. Glenn, now transformed into a frog-like creature, awakens on the bank of a river at the base of the mountain as the Hero's Medal floats in the water nearby.
The War with the Mystics
In the ten years following his curse, Glenn (now calling himself "Frog") is consumed with regret and self-loathing over his own weakness in the fight against Magus and blames himself for Cyrus' death. He fails to return to Guardia and instead lives in self-imposed exile, allowing everyone to continue speculating on the disappearance of Cyrus and hope for his eventual return. He dwells alone in a hidden grotto deep within the Cursed Woods.
The Disappearance of Queen Leene
In the year 600 AD, Frog learns of the disappearance of Queen Leene and remembering Cyrus' final request to him, returns from exile in search of her. Although the search was called off when Marle was found in Truce Canyon and mistaken for the queen, Frog continues his investigation alone. He arrives at Manoria Cathedral, where he happens upon Lucca being ambushed by a Naga-ette. Frog rescues her by striking the beast down and proposes that they work together to rescue the queen, but Lucca expresses discomfort over his frog-like appearance. Frog is disheartened and prepares to leave without them, but Lucca asks him to stay. Despite her aversion to frogs, both she and Crono decide to journey deeper into the Cathedral with him. Together, the three defeat Yakra and rescue the queen and the real Chancellor, whom Yakra had been impersonating. After returning to Guardia Castle, Frog denies any praise from the royal family and blames himself for the queen's abduction, before departing to return to his life of solitude once again. As Crono and his friends intercept him at the steps of the castle, he remarks that Crono shows talent as a swordsman and implores him to find him should he ever want to train. If she is in the party, Frog will comment on Marle's uncanny resemblance to the queen. Finally, after Frog departs, Lucca will walk a few paces after him and remark on her fondness and a newfound respect for him.
The Hero Returns
During the unknown amount of time that Crono and his party were away, Frog lost track of the Hero's Badge. In the Japanese translation, this is due to excessive alcohol consumption causing him to drop the badge in a tavern in a drunken stupor. The badge is found by a young boy named Tata, who is then praised as the legendary Hero who will vanquish Magus and end the war, and is more than willing to go along with the lie. Frog learns of this but explains to Crono and company that he wants nothing more to do with the Masamune, the badge, and has no hope of defeating Magus. He states that there is nothing he can do and is content to wallow in his misery. After recovering the Hero's Badge from the cowardly Tata as well as the two shards of the Masamune, Crono and the party confronts him, insisting that he is the only one who can wield the Masamune and defeat Magus. At first, Frog is unwilling to help them, citing his own weakness. They then discover the hilt of the blade among his belongings, which leads them to Melchior. When the sword is reforged, they return to Frog's home and present him with the restored Masamune, asking once more to help them defeat Magus once and for all. This time, Frog remarks that he has much to think about and asks them to stay the night. As the party sleeps, Frog looks over the sword and recalls his time as Glenn, including the fate of Cyrus and wondering whether he is strong enough to wield the sword. In the morning, Frog seems reinvigorated with a desire to avenge his friend and joins the party permanently.
The Battle in the Fiendlord's Keep
Crono, Frog, and their ally proceed to the Magic Cave, the only way to reach the Fiendlord's Keep. Finally taking hold of the Masamune, Frog uses its power to cleave the foot of the mountain in half, opening up the long-sealed pathway to Magus. After facing his generals - Slash, Flea, and Ozzie - Frog and the rest proceed to the inner sanctum where they find Magus in the midst of a mysterious dark ritual. Magus battles them with his powerful magic, but Frog uses the Masamune to break his nigh-impenetrable magic barrier. Their battle weakens Magus, causing him to lose control of his ritual - revealed to be a spell that summons Lavos. The creature begins to wake up too early, and the space-time distortion it causes sends them all hurtling through time.
Facing Magus
In the time era of Antiquity, the party learns that the mysterious "Prophet" is actually Magus in disguise. Following the destruction of Zeal, the party will encounter Magus on the North Cape, and Magus offers Frog his long-awaited chance for revenge. If Frog manages to slay him, this ensures spell on him will be eventually broken and he will change back to his human form. This decision will result in a one-on-one battle between Magus and Frog. However, Frog may choose to deny the opportunity, stating that revenge won't bring back Crono or Cyrus. This decision will result in Magus joining the party.
It is up to the choice of the player whether to slay Magus or allow him to join the company. This decision will impact the rest of the game, as well as the form in which Frog appears in some endings.
The Hero's Grave
In the year 1000 AD, Frog and company discover the restless spirit of Cyrus haunting a location near Choras known as the Northern Ruins. In 600 AD, they are able to repair Cyrus' grave which puts his spirit to rest. Proceeding to his final resting place, Cyrus' spirit appears and empowers the Masamune, making it stronger than ever. The conversation with the ghost of his former friend also brings Frog considerable closure, as he finally stops blaming himself for the past and is able to move past the traumatic events of his past.
Endings
Several endings of the game, particularly those that show the departure of the main characters back to their own time periods, have two variants based upon Frog.
Should the player decide to fight Magus the second time on the North Cape in the Antiquity, the spell on Frog would be broken, but not until the end of the game. When the group says their farewells on the last evening of the Millennial Fair, a tall, green-haired knight approaches them, thanking them for their help. Marle and Lucca realize that he is actually Frog transformed back into a human, and cannot help but admire how handsome he is.
A similar ending happens if you choose to fight Magus a second time and leave Crono dead. It starts the same with Marle and Lucca celebrating the last day of the Millennial Fair, then as you go to the two pods the gate bursts open with Gaspar, Ayla, Robo, and a long green-haired man. Ayla demands the Time Egg, but before Gaspar gives it to them he jumps back into the gate. The man explains the situation, then Marle and Lucca realize that was Frog now Glenn. Lucca then wants to follow the party using the Epoch for the sole purpose of hitting on Glenn, quoting: "Nya ha ha! Hey Frog! Why didn't you tell us you were a dish?"
If Frog spares Magus, the game ends with him looking off into the horizon on the peak of the Denadoro Mountains, reminiscing about Cyrus.
Defeat Lavos after giving the Masamune to Frog, but before fighting Magus, and the ending sequence will begin at Lucca's House. The group will celebrate their victory over Lavos. In the middle of the party, Frog slips away, saying he has unfinished business. The scene then switches to Magus' Castle. Frog moves through the Castle, easily killing Slash, Flea, and Ozzie. He moves through the castle traps and confronts the keep's master, Magus. The two battled to the death, knowing one of them will not walk away alive.
The sequence ends with an unknown silhouette perched on top of the keep. It is never revealed whether it is Frog (who has had the spell broken by Magus' death) or Magus who walked away from the victor of the duel.
Another ending shows Marle post-Lavos, confronting her father. Both she and her father have some unseemly attributes. They croak and hop like frogs, suggesting they were descendants of Queen Leene and Frog, although the relationship between the knight and his liege is said to be strictly platonic.
An ending exclusive to the FMV of the PlayStation and DS releases depict Frog transforming back into a human form. A large ceremony including all of the nobles of the court and the royal guard is held for him, and the King, wielding a jewel-encrusted sword, knight him. One note about his design in this ending is that his hair has been cropped fairly short; in the flashback prior to his transformation, his hair is depicted as much longer and is clearly tied into a long loose ponytail from a rearview.
Robo is a robot originally created to assist humans at the Proto Dome in Chrono Trigger. His real name is Prometheus (プロメテス "Purometesu"?) while his serial number is R-66Y. He uses his robotic arm as a weapon and although Spekkio cannot grant him the power to use magic (Spekkio being unable to properly read his character), Robo can use laser attacks that are similar to Shadow magic and bomb attacks that are similar to Fire magic. He also sports several healing techs. Along with his sturdy physique and high physical damage capabilities, he is the most versatile character in Chrono Trigger.
Having a curious and bright personality, he was rendered dormant by the Apocalypse in 1999 AD, but is found and repaired by Lucca in the year 2300 AD. Upon his reactivation, Robo has no memory of his prior mission and joins the party. Alongside Crono, Robo assists in shutting down the power in Derelict Factory, which controls the power of the nearby domes, and thus permits access to a Gate back to the Present. Within the Factory, Robo shares a not-so-warm reunion with the R-Series, his former comrades and mechanical brothers. Their combined effort damages Robo severely, but Crono and his friends succeed in preventing the R-Series Robots from causing permanent damage.
Entering the Time Gate with his companions, he accidentally ends up at the End of Time where Gaspar explains only three beings can travel through a Gate simultaneously to avoid ending up there.
After the resurrection of Crono atop Death Peak, Robo learns that he originated from Geno Dome, a robot-producing Factory east of the Derelict Factory and isolated on an island. There, he is punished by his corrupted maker, Mother Brain, for having sympathy for humans, and he meets his long-lost companion robot Atropos XR. For the first time since Lucca reactivated him, he remembers his true function was to survey and service humans and prevent Mother Brain from spreading her poisonous tyranny to the other robots.
In the Middle Ages, Robo volunteers to spend four hundred years restoring Fiona's Forest. During this time, Robo ponders the existence of an Entity, a being who seemingly guided Crono and his friends through time the intended purpose of intervening in affairs the Entity grieves. He explains his theory to the party when reunited outside the Forest Shrine in 1000 AD.
After defeating Lavos, Crono's companions return to their own periods. Lucca and Robo share a touching farewell, the latter explaining that Lucca had shown him the meaning of human emotion. Thereafter, he procrastinates entering the Gate back to the Future, fearing that because he toyed with time, so to speak, he would cease to exist in his original time period. However, in the most common ending of Chrono Trigger, Robo still exists in the new timeline and as the Epoch is searching for Crono's mother, he and Atropos XR are seen overlooking a more beautiful landscape (as Lavos didn't destroy it in 1999 AD).
