Temporal Branches
Chrono Trigger Series Fanfiction Ideas by Chronos the Cat
I have more story ideas than I'll ever have time to write. Rather than keeping them to myself, I have decided to share some of them so others might have a change to take them up. If you wish to work with one of these ideas, all I ask is that you credit me, and let me know where I can read the finished product.
Below are some of my ideas for the world of Chrono Trigger.
What if the team were trapped in one of the time periods during the course of the Chrono Trigger? How would they fare living in a different era, and would they ever find a way back?
65 Mill BC - What if the group never recovered Gate Key from the Reptites?
12,000 BC - What if the Epoch didn't "follow" the group to the Last Village after the Fall of Zeal?
600 AD - What if Lucca wasn't able to follow Chrono and Marle into the past? Would Chrono still have gone to rescue Queen Leene, and thus save Marle?
600 AD - What if Lucca's Gate Key (which was experimental) didn't work to open the gate back to the present? Or what if she wasn't able to constuct a gate key at all, but still came back in time to help Chrono and Marle?
2300 AD - What if even going to the Factory with Robo, the group weren't able to open the door in Proto Dome that blocked the way to the Gate they wanted to use? Of course, the Gate in Bangor Dome still works, but the other end is guarded by Guardia soldiers, and eventually blocked off from the rest of the forest. (Of course, to truly trap them, Bangor dome would need to collapse after they leave, or something.)
-- Endings Expanded: Chrono Trigger --
Many of the "Endings" in Chrono Trigger could either use further details, or could be used as the jumping off point for further adventures. Some spoilers here, but I won't spell things out - if you want to know the details of the endings, either look it up elsewhere or earn the endings yourself!
"Marle the Frog" - What if the Chancellor's plot existed in this timeline as well? Instead of seeing a old movie of how Marle's lineage got screwed up, Chrono finds himself on trial... The adventures continue with several of the plots from the game coming into play, but Lavos is dead and Marle croaks...
"Frog/Nu Antics" (use the bucket to reach Lavos right away) - Lavos has been defeated, and the future saved! The only problem is, Crono and the girls are still fugitives in Guardia. Where and when will they go now?
"Tata the Hero" - Explain this ending. I dare you.
"Frog/Nu Antics" or "Developer Ending" (Battle Lavos in the Ocean Palace) - The Kingdom of Zeal has been saved. What will this do to the future?
Main Ending (Use Epoch to reach Lavos): Cover the events between "Chrono Trigger" and "Chrono Cross". Flesh out the scenes in the Playstation version's animated endings, and tell of the lives of the gang prior to the fall of Guardia. Explain why Chrono and company were not able to save Guardia. If Chrono and Marle survive the Fall, they form a resistance movement; if they don't, how did Lucca surivive? Tell of the resistance, and of Kid's childhood and her adventures leading up to Chrono Cross.
Main Ending (Battle Lavos at the Black Omen): As in the previous option, only before all that the gang must find Chrono's mother and cat. After the Fall of Guardia, why did Lucca (and Chrono and Marle if they survived) not use the Epoch to try to change things - or did she? This story could still lead to Chrono Cross, or it could lead to an adventure to prevent the Fall of Guardia.
Main Ending (Use a Gate to reach Lavos): As in the previous option, but Queen Zeal and the Black Omen still survive, and when Lavos dies in 1999, Zeal decides to conquer the world herself. Before they give up their time-traveling ways, the heroes must enter the Black Omen prior to Zeal's conquest and put and end to Queen Zeal.
-- Endings Expanded: Chrono Cross --
Main Ending (Destroy Time Devourer without using the Cross): The world is saved, and the last of Lavos is destroyed... But Kid is now all that remains of Schala. Everyone can head home if they wish - but another adventure awaits Kid and those willing to join her: the battle to overthrow Porre!
Main Ending (Use Chrono Cross to save Schala): What is this new world like? Will Schala/Kid meet up with Serge again? And what of Porre?
Other Alternate Paths:
"Cause and Effect": What if the rules of time-travel worked differently than in the game, such that small changes in the past could cause radical changes in history, and these changes could effect our heroes even as they traveled through time? (See link for more details.)
"Love that Corrupts": Serge/Lynx falls in love w/ Harle, and agrees to fight by her side even against humanity. (Of course, he tries to convince her to spare them, as his mind came from them; he also won't stand for her becoming a permanent part of the Dragon God, as he can't be with her in that case.)
"Harle Redeemed": What if Harle had decided against using the Frozen Flame? (Perhaps if she accompanied the group through Chronopolis, she might have come to realized the Flame's corrupting influence, and convinced the Dragon Gods a different way must be found to restore the glory of the Reptites.)
"Radical Dreamers: Pirates of the Seas of Time": The heroes of Chrono Trigger survived the fall of Guardia, but instead of ordinary rebels, they became a band of pirates! Marle is the Captain, and thanks to injuries sustained in the fall of Guardia, she even looks the part - her left foot is a peg-leg, and her right eye is ruined and covered by a patch. Lucca is the First Mate, while Chrono is their main bruiser. (Note: I can see Frog & Ayla as pirates as well, but what would they be doing in the present?)