| “ | Very well, I'll fight you, if it's death you wish! | „ |
| ~ Magus |
Magus is one of the main antagonists and later an anti-hero from Chrono Trigger.
History
Unaltered timeline
Janus was the son of Queen Zeal during the antiquity. His mother became maddened after discovering the existence of Lavos, an alien parasite that dwell beneath the planet's surface. Becoming a power-hungry queen, she used the Mammon Machine, a device created by one of the three gurus, to channel Lavos's power, which would allow her to become immortal. She eventually summoned Lavos, which prompted the opening of a time gate that sent Janus, along with the three gurus, to different parts of history. Lavos unleashes his power and destroys the Kingdom of Zeal completely.
Janus ended in the middle ages, where he bumped into Ozzie, who attacked him with his minions. Janus somehow convinced Ozzie that he came to lead the fiends to conquer the world. Janus changed his name to Magus, and as he grew, he became a powerful sorcerer. He had but one goal in mind: to destroy Lavos at all costs. For this end, he spent the years studying story books as well as arcane magic, at the same time that he led the fiends in their war against the humans. He was helped by his three henchmen: Ozzie himself, Slash and Flea. He was challenged by Cyrus, the legendary hero who yield the legendary sword Masamune, but Magus easily killed him, also turning his friend Glenn, who watched the entire scene, into a frog.
When the time came, Magus summoned Lavos and fought him, but ended killed and his castle was completely destroyed. Without their leader, the fiends lose the war against the humans. The remaining fiends built the Medina Village, where they continued living away from the humans. Somehow, the fiends were convinced that Magus created Lavos to destroy the world, so history recorded this as the truth.
Altered timeline
Magus, disguised as a prophet.
After visiting the ruined future, Crono, Marle and Lucca, along with Robo, were looking for clues to destroy Lavos and save the future. They visited Medina during the present time, where they were told by the monster Heckran that Lavos was created by Magus. They then decide to defeat Magus in the middle ages so Lavos would never be created. They convince Frog to join their group after giving him the restored Masamune, so the group set after Magus's Castle. There, they fight Slash and Flea, so Ozzie tries to stop their progress, only to end falling into a pit he himself created. They proceed into the castle shrine, where Magus is making the ritual to summon Lavos. Stopped by Frog and the others, he fights them. After a fierce fight, Magus ends defeated, but this makes the ritual go awry, creating a massive time gate that sends Magus back to the antiquity, while the others are sent to the prehistoric age.
Back to his native time, Magus decides to take advantage of his knowledge of past events and disguise himself as a prophet, in order to gain the trust of Queen Zeal. When Crono and the others arrive in the antiquity and make their way into the Zeal Palace, they are greeted by the queen, who already expected them, since Magus told her they would arrive and cause disaster. She orders her lackey, Dalton, to finish them, so he summons a Golem that easily defeats them all. Trapped where the Mammon Machine was, they are rescued by Schala, who is the Queen's daughter and Magus sister, but Magus interrupts and orders Schala to send them to where they came. They go to the time gate from where they came and enter it, as Schala seals it. Crono and the others eventually find the Wings of Time in the future, which was created by Belthasar.
Back to the antiquity, they enter the Ocean Palace after Zeal. In the inner chamber, Zeal is forcing Schala to use her powers to operate the Mammon Machine at full power, while Magus is watching. When Crono arrives, he uses a dagger given to him by Melchior, one of the gurus, to stop the machine, but it was too late. Lavos emerges from his slumber and attacks everyone. Magus finally reveals himself and attacks Lavos with all of his might, but he is never able to even scratch him, all while Lavos drains his magic powers. Crono makes a final attempt at stopping Lavos, but ends killed. History repeats itself, and the Kingdom of Zeal is destroyed. Schala uses her remaining powers to save Magus and the others.
Later on, Magus watches the ruined land from a cap, when Frog confronts him. Magus reveals everything about him and Lavos, also blaming Crono for being a fool. Frog gets offended, but Magus is more than eager to take him on. Frog gives up on fighting Magus, since this wouldn't bring Crono or Cyrus back. As he tries to leave the place with the others, Magus calls them and offers to join them, since they had the same goal. He helps them resurrect Crono and later to defeat Lavos. After Lavos is destroyed, Magus goes back to the antiquity, where he hopes to find Schala.
Personality
Magus is vengeful and a determined person. He is cold to those around him, even to his comrades. As a child, he was cold and distant, especially towards his mother, who he knew was being corrupted by Lavos He rarely speaks with others, and when he does is often to threaten. Magus even has a dark sense of humor, making fun of Frog's expense as soon as he transformed Glen into a frog. He does however possess some goodness and cares about Schala, the only one in his family who he actually cares about. To him, the ends justifies the means and is willing to go to great lengths just to have revenge against Lavos. After Lavos is defeated, he remains a loner from the others, and leaves shortly to find his sister Schala.