Games - Magus

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	Games - Magus

Magus is a fictional character, who is a playable character in Squaresoft's Chrono Trigger. In Japan, Magus is known as Maō (魔王), which translates literally to "king of demons" or "king of wizardry." It is interesting to note that he has a total of 6666 hit points as a boss, similar to the Number of the Beast.

Magus is the leader of the Mystic race, and is waging war against the humans in the year 600 A.D. Ten years before, he killed the character Frog's companion Cyrus, who was also the strongest knight in the Kingdom of Guardia at that time. The only way to defeat Magus is to use the Masamune sword, which is broken into two parts; the hilt and the blade. Crono's party climbs into the Denadoro Mountains and faces Masa and Mune to retrieve the blade. After this, he obtains the hilt from Frog. Afterwards, the blacksmith Melchior is able to repair the sword into its original splendor. Crono and Frog then venture to Magus' fortress to defeat him. They succeed, and are all thrown into a time gate which separates Magus and Crono's party.

Later in the game, the party learns that Magus was once called Janus, prince of the Kingdom of Zeal in 12,000 B.C. When Lavos appeared in the Ocean Palace, Janus was thrown into the future (probably around 560-570 A.D.), where he became a fearsome mage by 600 AD, taking the name Magus. As the leader of the Mystics, he engaged in war with the humans, most notably the Kingdom of Guardia. It is possible he continued the war effort only to appease his minions as he seems much more concerned with his vengeance on Lavos - so much so that he is away in his castle plotting their confrontation while his armies are abroad at the critical battleground of the Zenon Bridge.

After being defeated in his castle by Crono and company, Magus is sent backward in time to the Kingdom of Zeal, and conceals his identity, acting as a prophet with the help of his knowledge of the era. When Lavos appears in the Ocean Palace, Magus reveals himself and tries to destroy it, but fails to succeed in exacting his revenge. Instead, he is defeated, much of his power is drained, and is unable to save his sister Schala, who apparently sacrifices her life to save him and the others. Crono dies in the same incident, and the party has the option of fighting and killing Magus, or allowing him to join their party. At the end of the game, he presumably returns to the 12,000 B.C. to look for Schala. If the player opts to kill Magus, his curse on Frog is broken at the game's end. In the PlayStation version of the game, though, he lifts the curse even if he is spared. Most players have found it is far more advantageous to have Magus in the party due to his extremely high magic stats.

Magus has three minions: Ozzie, Slash, and Flea. It is possible that they are each named for different rock and roll stars: Ozzy Osbourne, Slash from Guns N' Roses, and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Ironically, Magus did not exhibit any magical ability as a child but the elders in Zeal believed he was destined to become more powerful than all of them. Magus's character as a child, Janus, is largely surly and hostile to the party, and remains fairly withdrawn even as an adult. Magus's primary motivation is regaining his sister and seeking revenge on his mother and Lavos. He shows no emotion towards any other character, including his former pet cat, Alfador. Gaspar, the Guru of Time, does recognize and congratulate him on his achievements, however.

It can be assumed that in the original timeline of the story in which Crono's party does not interfere with any events, Magus succeeds in summoning Lavos and brings about his own death, ending the war with the humans. Records in the future indicate that Lavos disappeared briefly after being summoned by a wizard in 600 A.D., so it's likely that Magus originally succeeded in summoning Lavos and was killed by him, causing the fall of the Mystics. Crono's interference results in all of the party and Magus being thrown back in time and most likely saving Magus's life.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Magus (Chrono Trigger) ]

Games - Magus

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