Crono is the silent protagonist in Chrono Trigger. He lives with his mother in Truce in the Present. His personality matches that of the conventional hero archetype and he is willing to place his life on the line for the sake of others.
Crono was born sometime prior to 1000 AD to a woman named Gina and an unnamed father in the city of Truce. In his youth, Crono befriended a girl named Lucca. In the year 1000 AD, on the day of the Millennial Fair, Crono met Princess Nadia in disguise as Marle, though he did not know it at the time. Together, they enjoyed the fair's festivities until the unveiling of Lucca's new invention, the Telepod. Always faithful to his friend, he agrees to test the device despite the potential danger. The transportation was successful, however, when Marle wanted to tests it, she is sent back in time. Crono bravely decides to follow her, and the ensuing quest has him rescuing her lost ancestor Queen Leene to ensure Marle's existence in modern times. He, Lucca, and Marle all return to the present, after which Lucca suggests he escort Marle home, as she has work to do.
Returning Marle home back to Guardia Castle, he is accused of kidnapping her in attempts to thwart the throne. Represented by Pierre in a trial, Crono is sentenced to death by the Chancellor, regardless of whether he is found guilty or not guilty. Lucca frees him seconds before he is brought to the Guillotine and together, they flee the Prison Towers. On their way to Guardia Forest, Marle tags along and the three travel to the Future via an open Time Gate. Investigating the area in search of a means to return home, Crono and his friends find food supplies for the inhabitants of Arris Dome, where he also meets his descendant Doan and learns that the ruined future was caused by Lavos. He vows to save the planet from destruction through the use of time-travel. Shortly after, he assists a robotic robot named Robo in deactivating a Derelict Factory to find a way home.
while Entering the time Gate, he arrives at the End of Time where he receives magical abilities. With the aid of these powers and the powers of his allies, Crono successfully reforges the Masamune by acquiring Dreamstone in Prehistory and attempts to slay the Fiendlord, Magus, whom he believes is the root of Lavos's presence in the timeline. This leads him back to Prehistory where helps the Iokans destroy the Reptites, thus securing the evolution and prosperity of the human race whose lives were jeopardized by these sentient lizards. Directly afterward, he realizes Lavos was not summoned by Magus but is an alien species who fell from the sky in this time period. Attempting to follow the beast to the crater it created by landing, he is transported to the Antiquity era.
In the Antiquity time era, he rescues Melchior from the Mountain of Woe and subsequently attempts to rescue Schala, the innocent Zeal Princess who is being exploited by her mother, Queen Zeal. When Crono confronts Lavos in the Ocean Palace of the Kingdom of Zeal as a result of the rescue mission, he sacrifices himself to save everyone present. With time travel, his friends manage to replace him at the moment before he dies with a clone received from the Millennial Fair in 1000 A.D., saving his life. While the other six playable characters have many lines of dialog, Crono's responses to events are usually implied only through reaction and gesture, often for comedic effect, which wrongfully depicts him as insincere at the moment of his resurrection. Returned to normal, Crono and two others confront Lavos, destroy it, and return peace to Guardia. After, Crono travels back in time to rescue his mother who haphazardly stumbled into a Time Gate.
There are some points where he's shown to have strong romantic feelings for Marle. At one point where he's knocked out, he has a dream where Marle is his wife. The PlayStation, DS, and Windows versions of Chrono Trigger include an FMV scene at the end that shows Crono and Marle getting married. While a second FMV depicts the fall of Guardia Kingdom in the year 1005 A.D, it is unknown what happened to him during this event.
In the entire game, Crono never talks except in Ending 12: Memory Lane.
It is possible that he and Marle are still alive during the events of Chrono Cross, as Doan (Crono and Marle's descendent) still exists in the new timeline of the year 2300 A.D. although it's also possible that both of them died in the fall of Guardia, but were survived by any children that they may have had during their five years of marriage.
Chrono Cross
Crono's fate is alluded to in Radius's statement about the Kingdom of Guardia is no longer being peaceful. Like Marle, he is very likely alive as referenced in Lucca's letter about her friends. Three times in this timeline, a version of him appears as one of the Ghost Children along with Marle and Lucca. The first time, he states that the future in which Earth is ruined by Lavos is going to be brought back into being due to the interference of Serge, who caused the Home World and Another World split. The second time is in an illusory space at Terra Tower, in which Belthasar enlightens Serge's party about some of the affairs of the Dragons. Crono's final appearance in Chrono Cross comes immediately before the final battle of the game. Crono tells Serge that Wazuki was turned into Lynx by FATE, and along with his fellow "Ghosts," the other two members of the original time-traveling group, implores Serge to destroy Lavos once and for all.
Marle is a character in Chrono Trigger. She is the princess of Guardia. Her real name is Princess Nadia, and she is often at odds with her father, the King. Born in 984 A.D. Later in the game, an optional sidequest fleshes out the troubles between Marle and her father.
Bored of royal life in the castle, she slips out to the Millennial Fair held at Leene Square in Truce. Here, she meets Crono but conceals her royal status from him. As the two enjoy the many games and foods at the festival, namely lollipops, which are her favorite, Marle tries out Lucca's Telepod, which reacts with her pendant and creates a time Gate, sending her to 600 A.D. Using her pendant, Crono travels back in time to rescue her. Shortly after arriving in Truce Canyon, Marle is either confronted by a search party or arrives at the Middle Ages version of Guardia Castle and is mistaken for her ancestor, Queen Leene, due to their parallel features and personality. Marle, quite humored by the misconception, plays along until Crono finds his way into the castle. Marle does not reveal her identity immediately to Crono but instead seeks an audience with him in the castle's private chambers. There, she reveals her identity. As the two are talking, a glowing green aura encompasses Marle and she evaporates in a spray of sparks. Stunned, Crono flees the room, bumping into Lucca in his haste. Finding her way to him via the Gate Key, she explains that Marle is, in fact, a Princess from their own time period and she realizes that this time period's kingdom has mistaken Marle for her kidnapped ancestor. Marle's ancestor, Queen Leene, went missing many days prior to Marle's arrival in the Middle Ages. A search party was called to find and rescue the Queen, but as Marle intervened in this time period and was mistaken for Leene, the search party was called off. Thus, the King and Queen did not produce an heir that would later mother Marle and created a grandfather paradox. Shortly after, the two hear the Chancellor mention that Queen Leene is hidden inside the Manolia Cathedral, west of the Castle.
To fix the timeline and bring Marle back, the two infiltrate the Cathedral, which is overrun by strange creatures and rescue Leene from Yakra who impersonated the royal Chancellor and held the Queen hostage in attempts to terrorize the monarchy. Marle, Crono, and Lucca return to their proper time period only to learn that a search party was called to find Marle, who was believed kidnapped by Crono. Using her authority, Marle demands the guards unhand Crono, but the Chancellor (of this time period) quickly overrules her. Placed on trial, Crono is accused of abducting Marle in attempts to thwart the throne, very similar to the event he attempted to resolve four hundred years in the past. Many scenes from the Millennial Fair play a role in this trial, but despite the verdict, Crono is imprisoned, pending execution.
Meanwhile, Lucca busts him out of jail and together they flee the Castle. Marle meets up with them and together, they take off for Guardia Forest, chased by Royal Guards and the Chancellor with the latter about to carry out Crono's death sentence himself. A Gate awaits them in the forest, and they use it to travel thirteen hundred years into the Future. After the team investigates Trann Dome, looking for a portal to take back to their proper time period, Robo joins the party. From this point forward, Marle's role in the story is optional. The player can decide to involve her or not. Including her introduces a plethora of different dialogue.
After the legendary Rainbow Shell is retrieved from Giant's Claw and stored in the Castle Vault, Marle's Father, King Guardia XXXIII is accused of selling the heirloom which was scheduled to be unveiled at the Moonlight Parade as stated in an ancestral will. The King claims he was not aware the artifact even existed. Marle, to prove her father's innocence, locates the shell in the basement of the Castle and brings a shard of it to the courtroom. The Chancellor, impersonated by Yakra XIII, attacks the party for ruining his scheme to usurp the throne. After he is defeated, the King and Marle share a touching scene where the King reveals hidden facts about the day her mother, Queen Aliza, died of a fatal illness. For the first time in years, Marle calls her father "daddy", and their problems are reconciled.
The PlayStation version of Chrono Trigger includes an FMV scene at the end that shows Crono and Marle getting married. While a second FMV depicts the fall of Guardia Kingdom in the year 1005 A.D, it is unknown what happened to Marle during this event, although if Doan is her descendant, she probably survived. In the sequel, Chrono Cross, Marle's fate is hinted at in Radius's statement about the Kingdom of Guardia was no longer being peaceful; she makes a cameo appearance alongside Crono and Lucca as ghosts at the Dead Sea and Opassa Beach.
