Magus

Magus
File:Magus.jpg Official artwork of Magus by Akira Toriyama.
Home Time	12000 BC / 600 AD
Home Area	Fiendlord's Keep / North Cape
Age	Unknown, possibly late 20s to mid 30s
Weapon Type	Scythe
Magic Element	Shadow
Family	Queen Zeal (mother) Schala (sister)

Magus (魔王, Maō^?, "Maoh" in the Japanese version, literally "demon king") is the dark wizard waging war against the Kingdom of Guardia in 600 AD. Magus was originally Janus (ジャキ, Jaki^?, "Jaki" in the Japanese version), the young prince of Zeal in Antiquity (12,000 BC). He is portrayed as brooding, potent, and gloomy.

Biography

Magus' story is that of the closed circle: it ends back where it begins.

Origin

Janus

Prince Janus was born c. 12010 BC in the Kingdom of Zeal. Unlike his sister, Schala, he was more like his mother in that he was cold and distant. He is an introverted child, his only true friends being his sister and his pet cat, Alfador.

When Crono's party arrive in Zeal, they visit Enhasa, where they meet Janus. He tells them that the "black wind howls" and that one among them will perish, and then walks away from them. Later on, Janus and Schala converse. Janus mentions the "black winds", and Schala says that she feels "the foreboding" as well, though she tells him not to worry. She then gives him an amulet, saying that it contains her prayers. If something should happen to him, it would keep him safe. She says she wants to remain with him, but their mother has other plans for her.

Hearing this, Janus becomes angry and says she is not their mother anymore. Although she looks like her, she is not the same inside. Schala is then summoned by the Queen, so she leaves Janus and asks for his forgiveness.

Crono and party are imprisoned. Schala and Janus enter, and Janus comments on how they are idiots. Schala says that she wants to help them, though Janus thinks that they will not be of any use and does not want her to get in trouble if she lets them go. Schala says not to worry and that they may be able to help Melchior. Schala then frees them and tells them to flee the palace and save the Guru of Life, as he was sent to the Mountain of Woe for opposing Queen Zeal's plans.

However, the Prophet then enters the room, saying that he needs to put an end to them. Schala and Janus ask him not to do anything to them, so he concedes but tells Schala that she must cooperate with him. He then asks the party how they arrived in the Antiquity. They show the Prophet and Schala the Gate they came through. The Prophet throws them in the Gate and forces Schala to place a barrier on it.

After the Mountain of Woe falls into the ocean, Dalton arrives and takes Janus and Schala to the Ocean Palace. There, they see their mother's ultimate plan come to fruition.

When the Mammon Machine was activated, it began absorbing too much power. Queen Zeal and Schala along with the three Gurus were the only ones at the Mammon Machine's activation. The Gurus warned about of a dimensional vortex, a power humans cannot control, and they would be dragged into a rift in time, yet the Queen persisted in activating the machine. Soon, Janus entered the room for Schala. Suddenly, the six were transported in front of Lavos. Gates then appered and transported Belthasar, Gaspar, Melchior, and Janus to different times. Belthasar was sent to the Future, Gaspar was sent to the End of Time, Melchior was sent to the Present, and Janus was sent to the Middle Ages. c. 580 AD.

In the Middle Ages

Janus was found in Truce Canyon by Ozzie. He and his Mystics would have slain him had Janus not defended himself with magic, which human beings should not be able to use. Seeing the boy's potential as being a greater wizard than himself, Ozzie took him in and raised him, grooming him to become the Fiendlord and the leader of the Mystics' army. It was during this time that he took the name "Magus," referring to his status as a powerful magic user.

During this time, he grew vindictive and vengeful against Lavos and was eternally concerned over the fate of his sister Schala.

The War

His reasons for starting his war against Guardia are left in the English version, in the Japanese version he said he was trying to gain power. Seeing his strong magics and strange appearance, most people took him to be a Mystic, himself.

At the height of the war, he faced Sir Cyrus and his squire, Glenn. Cyrus wielded the Masamune, the only weapon capable enough of breaking through Magus' magical barrier. Even with this, he was no match for Magus' powerful magic. He died in combat and the Masamune was broken. Glenn tried to avenge his friend, but was struck by one of Magus' spells and transformed into an anthropomorphic Frog.

He was attempting to summon Lavos during the war, and while the Mystics believed it was to help them win the war, Magus' real intentions were to summon Lavos so he could take his revenge on it.

The Battle in the Fiendlord's Keep

Eventually, after Frog gains the Masamune, the heroes (whom believed that Magus created Lavos because Lavos was said to have appeared in the Middle Ages) go to confront Magus in his castle. After fighting through his minions, he is fought and defeated. After hearing that he was believed to being trying to create Lavos, Magus informs the heroes that he was only trying to summon him. Lavos begins to wake up, and Magus tries to use his magic to send him back to sleep. Even he was not strong enough to kill Lavos when he awoke. The space-time distortion generated by Lavos' premature awakening created a massive and unstable Gate, which sucked everyone and the Keep in, scattering them through time.

Return to Zeal

The Prophet

While the heroes were sent to 65000000 BC, Magus was sent back his own time. During this time, because of his knowledge of the future, Magus was able to convince his mother Queen Zeal that he was powerful oracle, and called himself the Prophet. When he appears on screen at this point, he is wearing a dark blue cloak the mostly conceals his appearance, but if one looks close enough they can see Magus' boot showing.

His aim during this period was bide his time until the point where Lavos appeared and kill it. He sets himself up in Zeal as a councilor to the queen, waiting for Crono and the others to arrive from the future. He went through everything he saw as a child, going through the motions until the battle at the Ocean Palace would give him another opportunity to destroy Lavos.

When the heroes appear, Magus, out of spite for them, convinces Zeal that they are threats that have to eliminated, leading to a battle with Dalton's Boss Golem. Whether the Golem wins or loses, the heroes are captured. Schala, however, is able to convince him to spare them, leading them to be sent through the time gate the entered in, and after which Schala seals the gate shut. The heroes later return using the Epoch and enter the Ocean Palace where Zeal is trying to harness Lavos power with the Mammon Machine. Magus was also there, knowing that Lavos would appear. After Lavos breaks into the Ocean Palace, Magus throws off his disguise and tries to fight it, but is quickly overwhelmed. Somehow, he survives. After Crono is killed by Lavos, Schala opens a portal that allows everyone to escape.

He is not seen again until the Elder states to meet him in North Cape. Here, he reveals he is Janus (via flashbacks). He then mocks Crono for being defeated by Lavos. You can then decide whether to fight Magus, or not. If you decide to spare him, he joins the party, but in either case, he mentions that Gaspar could help you revive Crono.

In The End

Magus merely inserts his two cents for the remainder of the game with a few exceptions. In the scenario where Ozzie attempts to to rule the Mystics on his own and continue the extermination of humans, Magus informs him that he was merely a tool used to his benefit. This angers Ozzie, and causes him to denounce his former boss. When Ozzie is finally defeated, he states that the past "is merely a dream".

Magus as a Boss

Magus is faced twice in the game as an enemy. The first time is as the boss of the Fiendlord's Keep in 600 AD. The second is an optional battle on the North Cape in Antiquity. Both times he is more powerful than he is as a character, to fill in the strength gap between himself and the player's team of three.

The Fiendlord's Keep

Magus (Fiendlord's Keep)
File:Maguse2.png
Japanese Name	Maoh (魔王, Maō?)

HP	Defense	Magic Defense
6666	230	50
EXP	TP	G
1500	15	3000
Weak	Absorbs	Immune
None	Lightning, Shadow, Ice / Water, Fire	None
Location	Fiendlord's Keep (600 AD)
Treasure	None
Charm	None
Techs	Scythe Hell Geyser Dark Matter
Counters	Lightning II Ice II Fire II Dark Bomb
Combo Counters	None
Combos	None

Magus is the final boss in the Fiendlord's Keep. The battle with him happens in two phases.

In the first phase, Magus is protected by his powerful Barrier spell, which is a stronger form of the protection offered by the Barrier Sphere, and also has a very high physical defense. He will also absorb all elemental attacks of Light, Water, and Fire except one that he uses. For this reason, it is necessary that the team consist of Crono, Frog and Lucca. Frog's Masamune is the only weapon that can inflict damage without causing Magus' magic barrier to change. Also, each hit with the weapon lowers Magus' magic defense.

The second phase is when Magus takes the gloves off. He drops his barrier so that he can charge up for his ultimate attack. Crono and team will have a few rounds to hit him with all the power they have. He will not counterattack during this time. After a few moments, he will cast Dark Matter, which will all but kill the entire team. The team has just a few rounds more to recover and do damage before he does it again.

The North Cape

Magus (North Cape)
File:Maguse1.png
Japanese Name	Maoh (魔王, Maō?)

HP	Defense	Magic Defense
6666	127	50
EXP	TP	G
3000	50	4000
Weak	Absorbs	Immune
None	None	None
Location	North Cape (12000 BC)
Treasure	None
Charm	Megalixir
Techs	Scythe Fire II Ice II Lightning II
Counters	Fire II Ice II Lightning II
Combo Counters	None
Combos	None

After his identity as the Prophet is revealed, Magus awaits Crono and the rest on the North Cape. He, at first, mocks Crono for wanting to assault Lavos and the Ocean Palace. He will offer Frog - or the entire team if he is not present - an opportunity for revenge but if you choose not to fight him he joins the party. If Frog or the team takes him up on the offer, the second boss fight with Magus takes place.

It is decidedly easier than the previous fight, since he begins with his defense automatically lowered and will no longer cast Dark Matter.

Magus in the Party

He can be recruited anytime after defeating the Blackbird. He is found in North Cape (meeting him is still an essential part of the story), and Frog must be in the party. After a short argument (in which Magus mocks Crono for trying to fight Lavos), Magus will ask Frog if he wishes to fight, or the whole party if they want to fight him if Frog isn't a member. If Frog refuses (if he does, his reason is that he knows killing Magus won't bring Crono and Cyrus back), Magus will join the party as they start to leave, not actually giving them a choice of letting him or not. Regardless of choice, he tells the heroes that there may be a way to revive Chrono with the aid of the Guru of time. Canonically, Magus was spared and recruited, as he is mentioned in Lucca's letter to Kid in Chrono Cross. This is supported by an extra shadow in Luccia's room while the letter is being read, although this may be a glitch of some kind.

Although, Magus is an optional character, he is nonetheless an iconic cast member of Chrono Trigger with many fans, and he has appeared in three GameFAQs character battles.

In one of the New Game + endings (achieved if Lavos if defeated before fighting Magus), Frog is seen going to confront Magus, while he is preparing a ritual, the purpose of which is unknown, though he states his fight with Frog will decide the fate of the world. The two them battle, the fight happening off-screen. After that, a figure with a cape is seen standing on top of Magus' castle, but it isn't known if it's him or Frog.

Name

The word "Magus" is the singular form of the word "magi", a Latin word serving as the root of the English equivalents "mage," "magic," and "magician." Magus's Japanese name Maō translates roughly to "demon king" and is more clearly identified as a title rather than a name.

Other Appearances

Magus appears in Radical Dreamers as Gil, a shadowy and handsome member of the Radical Dreamers thieving group. He is depicted as masked and mysterious, though gentle and cultured. He has the ability to slip in and out of the shadows of the night at will. Magus as Gil was also slated to appear in Chrono Cross. However, as development of the game progressed, designers decided it would be too difficult to integrate his complex story into the plot. His character, renamed Guile (Alf in the Japanese version, possibly in reference to Magus' former pet cat Alfador), was thus altered to remove his Magus identity and was left in with no back-story, existing merely as a competent magician seeking enigma in the islands of El Nido. Missing Piece includes a number of discarded character designs for Guile, including one which is more-or-less analogous to Magus' appearance in Chrono Trigger (cloak, pointed ears, etc.), as well as one in which he appears as a teenage boy. As it stands, Magus is only mentioned in a letter to Kid from Lucca, in which she assures Kid not to worry as "Janus" is probably watching over her. Gil appears in Chrono Cross only in an easter egg designating the events of Radical Dreamers as having taken place in an alternate dimension. In the English version of this easter egg, Gil is referred to as "Magil".

Abilities

When fought as a boss, Magus has a magical barrier that protects from magic unless a specific element that he's vulnerable to is used. He will indicate which element when he casts a spell, he will be vulnerable to the opposite, after which he will switch the element he's vulnerable to. Because the player can only use 3 characters in a battle (during the fight with Magus, for plot reasons one of them has to be Frog), it's impossible to have a counter to every element, but fortunately, even if he isn't hit with the element opposite to what he uses, he will eventually change the barrier's weakness anyways. Eventually, Magus will switch to just using his Shadow attacks, including his most powerful spell, Dark Matter, an utterly devastating attack at this point in the game. When Magus is fought, he's by far the most powerful enemy fought up that point, possess very strong attacks, and far more HP then any previous boss (his HP is 6666). If the player chooses to fight him in 12,000 BC, the fight won't be any different except that Magus won't have his barrier. He will be a much easier enemy since his abilities and stats are the same when is fought in 600 AD.

When Magus joins the party, his HP takes a massive drop, but his damage dealing increases. He fights using a scythe as a weapon. His overall function is as a Black Mage type character (dealing damage with magic), but his physical stats are still higher then those of Marle and Lucca . He's the only character in Chrono Trigger that uses techs that aren't all the same, making him more versatile. His own unique Shadow damage techs are among the most powerful in the game, especially his Dark Matter spell, which is comparable to Chrono's Luminaire in power. His only major weakness is that he has no dual techs.

Because Magus' element is Shadow, he's vulnerable to Heaven/Lightning/Light damage, though as a boss he didn't have this vulnerability.

Single Techs

Tech (PS Name / SNES Name)	MP Cost	TP	Target	Description
Lightning II (Lightning 2) *	8	N/A	All enemies	Attack all enemies with lightning. (Light)
Ice II (Ice 2) *	8	N/A	All enemies	Attack all enemies with ice. (Ice)
Fire II (Fire 2) *	8	N/A	All enemies	Attack all enemies with fire. (Fire)
Dark Bomb	8	400	Circle of enemies	Bomb enemies within a circle. (Shadow)
Barrier (Magic Wall)	8	400	One ally	Boost ally's Magic Defense.
Dark Mist	10	400	All enemies	Attack all enemies with darkness. (Shadow)
Black Hole	15	900	One enemy	Attempt to banish enemies within a circle.
Dark Matter	20	900	All enemies	Attack all enemies with darkness. (Shadow)
(*) Magus starts with these Techs

Triple Techs

• DarkEternal "Ultimate Dark Bomb"- Deals various magic damage to all enemies. Requires Magus know Dark Matter, have Lucca (with Fire 2) and Marle (with Ice 2) in the party and one of them has the Black Rock equipped.
• Omega Flare "Ultimate Laser"- Deals various magic damage to all enemies. Requires Magus know Dark Bomb, have Lucca (with Flare) and Robo (with Laser Spin) in the party and one of them has the Blue Rock equipped.

Trivia

• Due to his appearance, Magus might be having a striking resemblance to [| Link] from the Legend of Zelda series, and [| Seda] from one of the first [| Dark Cloud] video game series.
• He also strongly resembles Kibito Kai from Dragon Ball, another work from the character designer Kibito Kai.