Proto:Chrono Trigger (SNES)/Unused Text

The following text was translated by GlitterBerri, with commentary by ZeaLitY.

Text Block 01 3B0242-3B1F3F
These are mostly likely debug messages, parts of functions that are either removed from the game, or not normally accessible. The first reads as 'Info:' with a 16-bit number after it. X and Y both have two values; they're probably used to display character X and Y map location values. This message occurs in several text offsets.

11/17

This establishes November 17, 1994 as the build date for the Prerelease version of Chrono Trigger.

Dead End

This appears in the Magic Cave if you try to exit to Zenan.

Time Machine GET

This appears if you activate a special object in the upper left of Leene Square that makes the Epoch appear on the overworld; it was used for debugging.

Good Kid

Lara's note about being busy with inventions had an extra line in the Prerelease.

Taban and Lara

This pensive line appears after Taban gives Lara the apples he earned, and Lara says thanks. Perhaps it was meant to forecast Taban's guilt for the accident that claimed her legs.

Lara's Legs

It seems that it was impossible to save Lara's legs, and this was used to teach a lesson to Lucca (more is described later in this article). The text of the incident is accordingly different; Taban is present, and the passcode is certainly one that can't be entered with buttons.

Text Block 02 3B1F40-3B23D9
Longer Bekkler Introduction

Norstein Bekkler says this before the show. It's not in the final version.

Dopple-doll Destination

This differs from the final lines, which include a line for Crono by name and a line for whoever is leading the party.

Longer Tyrano Jailer Taunting

The Tyrano Lair Reptite jailers taunt the Iokans and Larubans a bit more in the Prerelease.

Tyrano Lair NPC Dialogue

In the final version of Chrono Trigger, you see "Kino: Got it, Ayla. Kino teach good thing!" before Kino shows you how to open the Dinosaur mouth doors. He then says he's jealous of your strength before escaping the lair. In the Prerelease, three lines come before that line about jealousy:

These are definitely lines for NPCs. Perhaps the prisoners were planned to speak as they escaped. Kino's line about being jealous may not have been intended for him, but kept for him anyway when they removed the NPCs.

Text Block 03 3B5294-3B6C92
Yakra's Plan

Though it doesn't change much, these lines aren't in the final version.

Mirror Mail

The Rainbow Shell was originally planned to be Mirror Mail in the Prerelease. There are lines referring to it as the Rainbow Shell, suggesting that the Mirror Mail lines were leftovers from an earlier stage of development. Later on, we find out that the Mirror Mail was stolen by Magus's henchmen after the fall of the lair:

Doppel Change

This line appears in the final version of Chrono Trigger's data; it's the Pre's version of "Received the Crono Clone (or Dopple-doll)!" It also pops up two extra times in the Lab 32 and Cursed Woods lines in the Prerelease. It's possible that this line would display when the player pressed A on any of the character dolls won at the fair, which explains why this line is in so many locations.

CYRUS PUNCH

When Cyrus makes his final attack on Magus, he utters a cry not present in the final version. If that sounds familiar, it's because サイラスパンチ is the exact name of Pierre's SlapofCyrus technique in Chrono Cross. It's too bad this reference was lost.

Marle and Lucca Encouragement

These unique lines appear with the party's general encouragement when Frog decides to accompany them to Magus's Lair.

All Men Aim to Be Heroes

This nice little line was left out of the final version.

Text Block 04 3B6C93-3B7294
Ending Text

In certain areas, the player is barred from going further by NPCs who deliver this ending dialogue, which varies by area. If you choose New Game, the farthest the demo lets you run is up to the Cathedral after Frog joins your party and you discover the hidden door. For the Magus's Lair save, you can go as far as the final Magus battle. For the 1000 AD save, you play up to the Dragon Tank sequence. With Robo's save, you can go as far as getting the door open in Proto Dome (after your trip to the Factory Ruins). An NPC also says this in Kajar.

Text Block 05 3B7295-3B7D82
Dalton Gets Schala

Dalton is meant to retrieve Schala for the Ocean Palace from her bedroom in the Prerelease. This was probably changed since Dalton would have recognized the party.

Pendant Reactions

Originally, the party members were going to react to seeing the pendant's use. In the final version, they only react to the events after trying to open the sealed door and failing (those lines come after these in the Prerelease).

As we move on, there are really simple lines for the trying to open and opening reactions.

Zeal's Taunt

This extra taunt about crying out doesn't appear in the final. She's also known as ZEAL after she reveals her name, instead of QUEEN.

Throneroom Showdown

It seems that Dalton fought the party himself in the throneroom, with no Golem summon. Zeal leaves the situation to him before going to the Ocean Palace with the Prophet following. These lines are totally unique to the Prerelease.

Text Block 07 3BB400-3BD43B
Zenan Bridge

These infamous lines describe the broken Zenan Bridge. Bandeau gets some facetime here as well. The topmost person was left in the final version as the guy who complains about earthquakes.

Suspicious Much?

As you can probably tell, the "That guy" part is unique to the Prerelease.

Giant Bone Demon

In the Prerelease, a knight blew the entire Zombor surprise before the party even begins fighting. It makes sense this was removed since Zombor is assembled as a last minute effort by Ozzie from the Decedents.

Zombor Reaction Lines

These reaction lines to Zombor were cut.

Melchior's Proud of Himself

Melchior has an extra little statement in the Prerelease that sort of underscores just how awesome his little philosophy is there. This line is from an earlier version of development, as a line closer to the final without the extra comment exists separately in the Prerelease.

Bronze Statue

Magus's statue is made from bronze in the Prerelease.

Ozzie VIII

In the Prerelease, Ozzie (Vinnegar in Japanese) was XIII instead of VIII.

Slash and Flea, Weiner and Ketchappa

That's right. Slash was first known as Weiner, and Flea as Ketchappa. They were changed to different condiments for the Japanese version (Soysaw and Mayonnay respectively). It seems weiners and ketchup weren't wacky enough for the Toriyama food-name thing.

Lost Residence I - A Divided Medina

Remember the Medina Residence? We've got dialogue!

The presence of friendly Imps here, the Medina Inn, and the Portal House, coupled with this Imp's words, suggest that Medina was very divided over whether to continue hating humans or reconcile.

Lost Residence II - A Heckran Guard

Remember the Medina Residence? We've got dialogue!

Yes! Magus ordered Heckran to protect that point.

Medina and Lavos

This illustrates that the party learned about Lavos from a Green Imp at the Square, rather than Heckran.

Enter the Octorider

The Octorider enemy greets you harshly in Heckran Cave with these lines. The Octorider was removed from this area in the final version of the game, but still existed as a functional enemy.

Fiona's Forest Cleared for Weapons

Fiona explains in the Prerelease that her forest was cleared to help build weapons. Fiona PC Lines

Several unique lines illustrating the party's thought appear after Fiona wishes that someone could help her repair the forest by working for decades.

Text Block 10 3C1CEA-3C28E0
Blue Comet Johnny

Johnny calls himself "The Blue Comet" in the Prerelease; this doesn't appear in the final.

Short Return Intro

This short intro appears if you enter Lab 32 from the south, and was probably shown as a mini-intro each time you came back to Lab 32. It probably became tiresome to see all the time, and was removed from the final version of the game.

Text Block 11 3C28E1-3C4325
Me Pee a Little

Perhaps this was too much for even Japanese censors. It's "Me a bit scared" in the final version.

New Laruba Village & Worship of Strange Stone

The fact that Laruba made a separate village from the Iokans lends shaky credibility to the fan theory that Laruba people were the ancestors of the Enlightened Ones, given the purplish hair color. Regarding the second line, the term for "strange stone" is the same as "weird rock" that the Ioka man talks about (even in the final version). We've got some possibilities with this one:


 * The woman's speaking about the Laruba in present tense, but referring to them as a third party because they've gone off to a new village. In this case, the weird rock can simply be snow or ice, and only the new village part is inconsistent with the final version of Chrono Trigger.
 * The woman's speaking about the Laruba in past tense, and she and the Ioka man are talking about the SilverRock at the Laruba Ruins. In this case, why would it feel "icky" when touched by the Ioka Man?
 * The woman's speaking about the Laruba in the recent past tense, and she and the Ioka man are talking about the Frozen Flame. As attractive as this is given the theory that Laruba were the ancestors of the Enlightened Ones (who also were reverential towards that sacred shard of red rock mentioned in their books), it's inconsistent with Chrono Cross, which states that humanity contacted the Frozen Flame in 3,000,000 B.C. It's possible that this line was removed for that reason, but the "icky" Ioka man line was left in and made it to the final game, where it can be interpreted as snow or ice to preserve consistency.
 * The woman and man are talking about the Sun Stone, which was used to power Zeal until Lavos was discovered and the Mammon Machine created. This plays into the idea that Larubans were ancestors of the Enlightened Ones.

GlitterBerri, regarding the Sun Stone:
 * 石 is a Japanese word meaning stone, or gem.
 * It can be pronounced いし (ishi) or せき (seki).
 * It is pronounced いし (ishi) in the context of the stone mentioned by the people of 65,000,000 BC, the へんな石 (hen na ishi) or "strange stone".
 * Two other stones are also present in the game, the たいようせき (taiyou seki) or Stone of Sun, and the あんこくせき (ankoku seki) or Stone of Darkness.
 * Though the pronunciation of "stone" is different because of the context and "stone" in this case is written in hiragana, these mentions of "stone" would all use the same kanji.
 * I am unsure if this is meant to differentiate the stones mentioned or if it is simply because saying せき (seki) in the context of へんな石 would not be natural.

Text Block 12 3C4326-3C4535
Debug Message

This debug message appears beneath lines about the Dactyl Nest, but isn't in the game's events there. The meaning of Mesu4 isn't known.

GlitterBerri, regarding Mesu4:
 * I was hoping that the romaji would call up something from the minds of the more technically oriented. I haven't seen it as part of debug text before.
 * The definition of めす according to WWWJDIC is "to call/send for/wear/put on/take/ride in/buy/eat/drink/catch"

Text Block 13 3C56D6-3C7402
Time Warp Button

In the final, the "time warp" button is the Y button. Too bad this ceremonial name was removed!

End of Time Party Lines

It seems several unique "take me along?" lines existed for the parts of the game where Crono was required to be in the party:

Gate to 12000 B.G.

The 12000 B.C. gate says "BG", which is probably just a typo error. It is tantalizing to think that BG stands for "Before Guardia" and that this system was planned before the BC and AD system, but that's probably not the case.

Crono Remember and Discussion

In the Prerelease, the party can ask about returning Crono to life, the Guru of Time, and something to drink when they speak with Gaspar about Crono's death. After one option is chosen, Gaspar explains that topic and then returns with the remaining options until finally, all are exhausted. If the party asks for something to drink when discussing Crono's death, Gaspar gives them a special cocktail named "Crono Remember" that recovers their energy. This became a song in the final version.

Egg + Pendant = Hatch

Gaspar outright states in the Prerelease that the Pendant will hatch the Time Egg. He doesn't state this in the final version; the party only find out when the pendant reacts to their attempt to hatch the egg on Death Peak.

Space-time Distortion

This line isn't present in the final; it's Gaspar talking about using the Time Egg:

This fascinatingly explains why the Chrono Trigger must be used on Death Peak. It's possible that the distortion of Lavos is what allowed the Time Egg to find the moment of the Ocean Palace Incident, at which Lavos was present.

Egg Joke Continuation

If you recall, in the final version, Ayla asks if the Time Egg is okay to eat when Gaspar gives it to the party. In the Prerelease, the party thanks Gaspar for the egg, and Ayla declares that she won't eat it.

Lucca's Mom

These lines come at the end of the text block, and in conjunction with certain scripted events prove that Lucca was to reach 990 A.D. to save her mother's legs through a special pillar of light at the End of Time. The last line is said when bit of  (Lucca flags) is set. When bit or  of  is set, you get the picture below, illustrating the special pillar. The object there sets bit of  and sends you to Lucca's room.

In the text block for Lucca's house, there's no text for saving Lara, so judging from Gaspar's fatalistic quote that comes with bit of, it's very possible that during the time of the Prerelease, it was planned that Lucca could not change the past.

A Total Mystery

The meaning of this line is a total mystery, as it does not appear in the End of Time's events. It sounds like it could be referring to the appearance of the Gate leading to 990 A.D. for the Lucca sidequest, but then again, how is that related to Zeal's Ocean Palace except for temporal distortions?

Another theory, given the reference to the Ocean Palace and the line not appearing in the End of Time's events, is that the silhouette was some kind of reference to the Black Omen, possibly before it appears in the game. Perhaps the Black Omen was at one point meant to appear upon returning to the End of Time after Chrono's death instead of just before returning as in the final version.

Debug Message

The location and purpose of this line is a mystery; it's not found at the End of Time or Arris Dome.

GlitterBerri, regarding the debug message:
 * This message looks like it was written by someone other than the person who wrote the Prerelease's other ending/advertisement messages; they spelled "version" differently.

It seems suited for the End of Time, as it mentions a Gate.

Text Block 14 3C7403-3C7E9E
Debug Message

This line appears after all the others regarding the battle with Magus. Since Magus's Inner Sanctum isn't implemented in the Prerelease, it's possible it dates from an earlier version as a message to the development team who might have been working on that area separately.

Text Block 15 3C7E9F-3C9044
Ending Text

This appears after defeating Lavos.

Magus is a Badass, Vol. MCMXIII

This is "It will be your last, Lavos......!" in the final version, which is a much more ambiguous and less impacting threat.

Blackbird Notes

The Blackbird isn't functional in the Prerelease, but the dialogue reveals notes about how the player would have gotten through it. Recall that in the final game, you can choose to feign illness or think of something else. If you choose something else, you can walk around and find the ventilation shaft or the hatch to the sky. Now check the Prerelease:

Judging from the extra option, it's possible that the ability to explore was disabled, and the player had to choose one of these consistently to get out of the first room. The option that doesn't appear in the final ("Force a way through") results in this text if chosen:

Magus on the Blackbird

Magus has a few lines for the Blackbird; he's obviously not present in the final version.

Noticing the lost equipment:

Realizing he's on the Blackbird:

Abusively asking the player what to do:

Reacting to a choice to storm the front:

Commenting on the stomach illness ploy:

Feigning stomach illness:

Detecting the Epoch:

Reacting to Dalton's Epoch attack:

Preparing to attack:

Commenting on victory:

Acknowledging Dalton's role in enabling flight:

Text Block 16 3C9045-3CA535
Cathedral Corruption

This line was changed to a note about the Queen in the final version, and suggests that not only is the abbey possibly a recent construction, but that Yakra and his monsters infiltrated it from the start.

Hero's Medal Legend

This line gives some interesting background information about the medal; it was changed to information about Tata's visit in the final.

Text Block 18 3CB0BC-3CBB6C
Short Ending Text

This is possibly from an older version of the game.

Imps Blocking the Way

A "Jari" is an Imp. These Imps block your way to Guardia Castle from the forest in 1000 A.D.

Text Block 19 3CE0AC-3CEE9F
Sewer Entrance Lines

Frog and Robo get these sewer lines that don't appear in the final. It should be noted that Robo speaks in a very robotic tone (all katakana) for this line compared to the final, where he usually speaks normally.

Dividing the Take

These lost lines depict the familiar Bullfrogs dividing their stipends. The Lackey complains that the Boss isn't giving enough to Part, who works in the basement with the fire puzzle that didn't make it into the final version of the game. This scene appears if you walk around the first area; the frogs appear above the ladder leading to the second basement. The scene can be triggered with the frogs off-screen, and was probably used as a way to remind the player to go down that ladder.

Krawlie and the Lookout

This dialogue follows the laughing scene that also plays in the final version of the game when the party stumbles upon Sir Krawlie.

Part-Timer's Puzzle

In the Sewer Access, you talk to a bullfrog character named Part and then must race to the end of the pathway as 4 flames chase you. If the flames catch you, you are sent to a new B3 level; there, three Egger enemies surround you. An egger named Timer apologizes to Part for being late, and then the four battle the party. You can then talk to Part to return to the second basement level. The puzzle only happens once.

GlitterBerri, regarding Part and Timer:
 * Part's name is バイト (baito), previously translated in the enemy list as Byte.
 * However, Baito is actually a joke on アルバイト (arubaito), an adopted German word which means "part-time job".
 * Timer's name is actually パート (paato), an abbreviated adoption of the English word "part-timer" or "part-time job".
 * I couldn't figure out how to make the joke work without changing both of their names, so I turned Baito into "Part" and Paato into "Timer".