Time Devourer

This article is about the final boss of Chrono Cross. You may be looking for the first fight with the Time Devourer that occurs in Terra Tower.

TimeDevourer
Japanese Name	時を喰らうもの

Location	Darkness Beyond Time
HP	Innate
10000	White
Attack	Magic Attack
120	23
Defense	Magic Defense
95	95
Drop (Common)	Drop (Rare)
n/a	n/a
Steal (Common)	Steal (Rare)
Nostrum	Nostrum
Absorbs	Immune
n/a	n/a
Gold
n/a

The Time Devourer is a major antagonist in Chrono Cross, and the final boss of the game.

The Time Devourer can be challenged by using the Time Egg at the purple teleport spot in Opassa Beach, which will take the party to the Darkness At The End Of Time. On an initial playthrough; this is only possible after Terra Tower has fallen. On a New Game +, which is unlocked by defeating this foe, it can be challenged at any time throughout the game in the same way.

When and how this boss is defeated determines which of the game's 12 endings are seen. On an initial playthorugh, only two of these endings are possible - the "Bad Ending"; which simply requires the Time Devourer's HP to be lowered to 0; and the "Good Ending", which requires the Chrono Cross (Element) key item/element to be equipped and using the following elements in the following order:

Yellow > Red > Green > Blue > Black > White > Chrono Cross (Element).

Doing this will play a melody which will free Schala. For more info on how to do this; see the Battle and Strategy section of this article.

Story

After Lavos was defeated, he was possibly sent to the Darkness Beyond Time. There, he intercepted Schala, who came in from the Ocean Palace Incident; he then merged with her to form a new being, the Dream Devourer, who later became the Time Devourer, capable of consuming all space-time at maturity. Belthasar planned every event in the game so that Serge could get his hands on the Chrono Cross artifact and destroy the Time Devourer. Within the confines of the Time Devourer rested both Schala, imprisoned for millennia in his body, and the true Dragon God, the biological supercomputer defeated by FATE and its fighter jets in 12000 B.C. Lavos was using the Dragon God in its separated forms in order to retrieve the Frozen Flame, a piece of him that splintered off when he crashed to Earth. The Frozen Flame acted as Lavos's eyes and ears during this entire endeavor. He very nearly succeeded in his plan, but was brought to justice by Serge and his party. The Chrono Cross affected the Unification of Dimensions, and the separation of Schala from Lavos resulted in his death at last.

The Frozen Flame was shown to serve as an uplink to Lavos; before the fight with the Dragon God in Chrono Cross, the characters speak directly with Lavos through the Flame. Lavos's responsibility for humanity's final evolution is implied to be a basis for the criticism of humanity by the Dwarves and Demi-humans, who accuse humans of ruining the environment and planet. Lavos could metaphorically be a very evolved state of humans. Humans are commonly thought of as part bestial, base matter, and part divine spark. In the Chrono series, it seems as if the divine spark -- Lavos's evolution -- is evil, and the harmonic earthly part of humanity is good. Nonetheless, humans have the chance to vindicate their race of the accusations made by the Dragon God and Demi-humans in Chrono Cross. They may be the progeny of Lavos, but they retain free will.

Signs point to another overarching storyline that involved Serge binding with the Time Devourer itself; in this scenario, Serge, if he did not defeat the Time Devourer with the Chrono Cross, would ultimately bind with it and cause the Devourer to mature, granting him the power to consume space-time. Chrono Cross Ultimania mainly supports this notion, claiming that the Arbiter of the Frozen Flame must mediate between his fellow lifeforms and Lavos, or else he will inevitably bind with the creature and spell destruction for other humans. Ultimania also postulates that Schala was an Arbiter of the Frozen Flame while it existed in Zeal, and that is how she came to bind with Lavos. Apparently, the Time Devourer needed enough power before it could reach maturity, and Serge would have been the final piece in the puzzle. Quotes in the game also seem to hint at this possibility; three come to mind specifically. A demi-human in Marbule states that "anyone who touches that Flame will become a different being." Lynx, at Viper Manor, warns Serge that "there shall be a deep enmity between you and the world" once destruction occurs. Lastly, Belthasar notes that the Arbiter will gain "extraordinary powers...by binding with the new seed of destruction, the Devourer of Time." However, this storyline is not directly stated or implied in Chrono Cross, and neither has series creator Masato Kato confirmed it himself. For the time being, it remains speculation made by the Ultimania authors. Considering that in the same book, they contradict other canon (such as stating the Prometheus Circuit is not Robo, when Masato Kato noted that the circuit is Robo), the veracity of Ultimania is arguable.

Gameplay

Different Possible Endings

One's actions during this fight as well as the point at which the Time Devourer is fought determine the ending players get after defeating this boss. The first time playing through the game, there are only two possible endings, a Bad Ending for defeating it "normally" (simply lowering its HP to 0) and a Good Ending which requires special conditions to be met with the Chrono Cross (Element) equipped.

When the Time Devourer has been defeated, the New Game + and Continue Plus feature will be unlocked, allowing the Time Devourer to be challenged at any time throughout the game by visit - depending on when the Time Devourer is defeated as well what party members are present in the party, the ending will differ.

As A Boss

Battle and Strategy

The Time Devourer's Attacks

The Time Devourer uses the 2nd, 5th, and 6th level Elemental attacks for each of the six Elemental colors, Purify to cure status ailments inflicted on itself, as well as the OmegaBlack, OmegaWhite OmegaBlue OmegaRed OmegaYellow OmegaGreen Enemy techs, which all do large amounts of damage to a single character. This boss never uses any physical attacks whatsoever.

The Time Devourer tends to focus on a single Elemental color when attacking, and which color it uses is always the opposite to the next color needed for the good ending sequence (Yellow > Red > Green > Blue > Black > White). As the sequence begins with Yellow, it always starts with Green Elements if left to its own devices. It will switch Elements as the player casts the correct Elements needed for the sequence.

For example, should the player cast any Yellow Elements to start the sequence, it will attempt to attack with a Blue Element on its next turn, as the next in the sequence is Red and Blue opposes Red. But if a Red Element was used just after a Yellow one (before it got its turn), it will instead try to cast a Yellow Element (which opposes Green, the next needed after Red) once its turn comes up, and so on. If it succeeds in interrupting the sequence, it will revert to Green Elements, as the next one needed will be Yellow (back to the first in the sequence).

Once it's low on health, this pattern is flipped; it will start using the correct Elements needed for the sequence on its own. Finally, as the Chrono Cross (Element) has no opposing element, should the sequence be completed, the Time Devourer will do nothing as long as no other Elements are used by the player, which gives the opening needed to use the Chrono Cross.

"Normal"/Bad Ending Strategy

As mentioned in the section above; the Time Devourer exclusively uses Elemental attacks, so it is highly recommended to use Diminish and Imbecile to weaken its Elemental damage. If Fargo stole any Plate Armors from the six Dragons, then equipping each of the three party members with one of each is highly recommended; particularly the Green Plate. This is not necessarily a very difficult fight, but it is very long as the Time Devourer has a very large amount of HP; so bring a large number of healing elements and focus on physical attacks and it should be possible to overcome this battle of attrition.

An alternate strategy involves a similar strategy to the one required for the Good Ending. Equip the Green Plate on one character and then equip every party member to be immune to Poison (with an Antitoxinal Cap, a Green Brooch or a Star Fragment), in order to avoid the only way a character can be defeated, should this be done successfully. As in the strategy for the Good Ending, attack a few times to gather Element levels, and then defend until the Time Devourer attacks. After it attacks, do the entire sequence of elements needed for the Good Ending, except the Chrono Cross.

As the boss will be unable to do anything after a White Element is cast to complete this sequence, the player can take the rest of the Time Devourer's health with regular attacks, without casting any other Elements (including White). This strategy is viable for the majority of the game's endings, with a major exception being the ending which requires Serge to fight this boss alone at the very beginning of the game.

Good Ending Requirements and Strategy

Good Ending Requirements

Equip Chrono Cross (Element); and use the following Elemental Colors in the Yellow > Red > Green > Blue > Black > White > Chrono Cross (Element). Which colors have been used can be seen in the upper left corner.

Good Ending Strategy

Before fighting the Time Devourer, equip each character with every single elemental color on Level 1 and 2 of the Grid (don't forget to equip the Chrono Cross Element to a character's grid - it should also be set to Level 1.). Which Elements they are doesn't matter too much, but it might be best to focus on healing elements and when possible just to err on the side of caution. It might be a good idea to equip your weakest character (or any Yellow Elemental characters) with a Green Plate as well. At the start of the battle, focus on raising every party member's Elemental level using weak physical attacks - level 4 for each character is probably sufficient but raising it past that is fine too. After a character has reached 4 (or above) levels, set them to defend until all three party members have the requisite elemental level.

Continue to defend until the Time Devourer attacks - after this, simply use level 1 elements of the following colors in the following order: Yellow > Red > Green > Blue > Black > White > Chrono Cross Element. The Time Devourer should be defeated before it even gets an opportunity to act again.