OOC: Application (background, abilities, etc)
Warning: Chrono's history contains background information that isn't revealed until the end of the manga. If you don't want to be spoiled do not read the history portion. The 'abilities' and 'personality' portions mostly only spoil up to volume 5 of the manga, I belive, but tread carefully.
[series]: Chrono Crusade (manga)
[character]: Chrono
[character history / background]: Chrono’s history starts before he was even born. When his human mother was pregnant with Chrono and his twin, Aion, she was captured by the mysterious race known as demons, and turned into a host for their hive queen, Pandaemonium. Because of this, her human children were transformed into demons and raised as them, without either one having any knowledge of their background.
Considering Chrono’s gentle nature, it’s quite likely he didn’t “fit in” with the others of his race, but he seems to have been happy enough. His problems truly began during Aion’s coming-of-age ceremony. While Aion “tuned his legion”, they resonated with Pandaeonium’s memory. This granted him a peak into forbidden knowledge (including knowledge of his origin) and alarmed the Elders of his race, because it was a sign that he contained within himself a frightening amount of power. The younger generations-implied to all be the children of Chrono’s mother--were declared a danger and labeled “Sinners”.
Chrono, Aion, and the rest fled their home, but they were pursued by an army of demons. Chrono was sent to defend their ship against the attackers, but he was too late-by the time he arrived to face them, most of the other Sinners lay dead or wounded. Viewing the carnage, Chrono flew into a rage and viciously attacked the demons. He didn’t stop his attack until he had slaughtered a hundred of the Pursuers. The handful of Sinners who survived, particularly Aion, celebrated the feat, but Chrono showed no pride in the act at all and mourned the Sinners who had died. Still, he continued in his duties as the soldier of the group and followed Aion’s orders.
One of the orders that Chrono received from him was to kidnap a prophet named Mary Magdalene from an order which protected her. To Chrono’s surprise, when he came to take her away she called him by name and, with a smile, told him she’d been waiting. With her help, Chrono was able to take her away without anyone being injured. He took her back to Aion, who used her powers to recover the head of Pandaemonium, which had been lost during a battle with the Pursuers. Since she helped them without a fight, and since Mary also had a kind, gentle nature, she was accepted into the group as if she was one of their own. They all cared for her in a way, particularly Chrono. Mary was able to understand his conflicted nature; she could see his hesitation and doubt about Aion’s orders and that he truly didn’t want to hurt anyone. She, herself, often struggled with feeling conflicted, so the two bonded and Chrono became very close to her.
However, it was not to last. Somehow, the head of Pandaemonium was able to break free from the restraints the sinners had put on it. Together, Mary and the Sinners were able to stop Pandaemonium -but at a great cost. Aion soon learned that Mary had become possessed by the demon’s mother, and that soon she’d be overcome by the memories until she was no longer herself. Also, Mary revealed to Chrono that since she was a child she’d had visions of him and knew he’d be the one to take her life. Aion ordered Chrono to decapitate her, which would stop Mary’s possession and allow them to examine the memories in her mind. Chrono refused, saying there must be another way, and his brother, furious that Chrono would disobey him, attacked Chrono and declared his intent to kill Mary himself. The two fought furiously, but Aion was able to rip Chrono’s horns off of his head. Mary was able to grab Chrono and used her powers to help him escape from the Sinner’s home, but the loss of his horns would be deadly for Chrono-demons need their horns to absorb spiritual energy, and without them, they can’t last long without limiting their power. Because of Pandaemonium’s memories, Mary knew how crippling the injury was…but, she also discovered a way to stop Chrono’s death. She asked Chrono to make a contract with her and Chrono - who was weak, wanting to make her happy, and possibly even unaware of how much strain it would place on her body - quickly agreed.
The pair began to travel back towards the convent that had protected Mary, in hopes that they’d be able to help remove Pandaemonium’s influence on her. Mary was visibly weakened, both by the contract and her struggle against the possession.
One day, while Chrono was briefly separated from Mary, one of the other Sinners appeared to him and gave him a watch she’d been working on, which was supposed to work as substitute for his horns. Realizing that if she was nearby, the other sinners must be also, so he ran back to Mary’s side. At first, it seemed as though they were alone, but Aion appeared. Chrono threw himself between his brother and Mary, but Aion viciously stabbed them both, wounding the pair greatly. Furious, Chrono used a great amount of his power to freeze Aion in time and escaped with Mary in his arms. At first, he was happy, believing that he and Mary were able to escape - only to look down and watch as Mary, weakened by the drain on her soul, breathed her last.
Distraught, Chrono turned himself into the small, child-like form we’re familiar with to conserve his energy and placed Mary into a sealed tomb. There, he slept by her side, planning to remain there until his energy finally drained from his body and he died. He slept by her side for fifty years, but was woken up when two children named Joshua and Rosette Christopher broke the seal on the tomb. At first Chrono responded to them coldly, quickly informing the children that he was an “evil being” and telling them to leave-but when he dropped to his knees, weakened by his loss of power, Rosette gave him some sweets she’d been keeping in her pocket to try to help him regain his strength. He was surprised and touched by the gesture, and soon became friends with the children. They’d come to see him in the forest, where he’d tell them stories of his previous experiences and the knowledge of his people, repackaged in a way that would make them seem like (still slightly frightening) fairytales. For a while, they lived peacefully, and Chrono began to slowly heal from his past experiences.
Then Aion returned. Because of Joshua’s powers, he wanted the boy for his own plans, and gave him Chrono’s horns. This granted him Chrono’s powers, but the large amount of power was overwhelming for the small boy, and it quickly turned him insane. Rosette and Chrono tried to save Joshua, but they were unable to help him. He lost control, freezing in time the orphanage the siblings had called home and everyone within it. Chrono turned into his demonic form and he and Rosette were able to escape, but the use of his powers was enough to quickly weaken Chrono. He accidentally let slip that without his horns, the only way that he could use his powers without putting himself in danger was to enter into a contract. Rosette, of course, quickly asked him what a contract was, and reluctantly he explained to her. Rosette asked him to make one with her. At first he hesitated, and he did his best to be clear that the cost was her lifespan. Rosette again asked to make a contract with him, and Chrono agreed.
At first, the pair traveled alone, aimlessly, but they were found by Father Remington of the Magdalan Order. He offered Rosette a position as a nun in their Order, which she accepted. There, Rosette was trained as a demon hunter using guns with holy ammo, and they were also shown how to use Chrono’s watch as a seal of his powers, slowing the drain on Rosette’s soul. Chrono began to work as Rosette’s assistant, although many in the order questioned the idea of a demon working for them. Chrono humbly accepted their doubts, understanding how demons were feared by humans, and did what he could to prove himself to the order.
After four years-and meeting a girl named Azmaria with similar powers to those that Joshua possessed-they finally heard reports of Joshua being spotted in San Francisco. Rosette, Chrono and Azmaria began a cross-country journey to reach him, in hopes of removing his horns. Along the way they crossed paths with a jewel witch named Satella, who at first viewed Rosette with irritation and Chrono with suspicion, but later became their ally. During the journey they were attacked by one of the other Sinners, as well as the Pursuers, but defeated their enemies in battle. Finally, they were able to reach San Francisco, and the group stopped at a carnival for a well deserved break…but Aion and Joshua were waiting for them…
[character abilities]: Without his horns, Chrono’s power is limited-particularly since to use it he has to drain away the life of his friend and contractor, Rosette Christopher. While in his “little” form (in which appears to be a boy of around twelve years of age) he holds back on using his powers as much as he can except in extreme situations. Because of this, his typical powers seem mostly limited to sensing spiritual energy. He can sense other demons and their level of power, and he also seems to be able to sense a human’s soul, as well-during one scene he knows when an ally effectively dies in another room. It doesn’t appear, however, that he can use this power to sense a person’s location.
Despite his limitations, he’s learned to rely on other things than just his demonic powers. His small body is deceptive, he’s still strong and fast for his size, and he appears to have quite a bit of endurance (or, at the very least, a high tolerance for pain). Also, on missions he generally keeps with him a large box strapped to his back, which literally contains an arsenal of weapons. Most of these are for Rosette to use, but he can use them himself if need be, and near the bottom of the box is a slot containing two blades for himself to use in defense. This box also contains barriers, a sort of force field device from the Magdalan Order. When arranged in the correct formation and activated, they create a spiritual barrier. (There’s various types that have different affects, but generally they hold the use of keeping a demon within the barrier.)
Occasionally, when Rosette releases the seal on her watch (or, very very rarely, when Chrono becomes angered enough to make the effort to break it himself), Chrono returns to his true demonic form, minus his horns. When this happens, he’s granted back a large amount of his former power (although he generally limits it to spare Rosette’s life). His strength and speed increases dramatically, he can heal himself even from gruesome wounds that would kill a human, and he gains wings that grant him the ability to fly.
(Additionally, were he able to regain his horns, he’d have the ability to freeze people or objects in time, and presumably read minds…but that’s reeeeally unlikely to happen, unless there was some sort of curse day that gave him them back for a day. Actually, looking at the battle that caused Mary Magdalene’s death, he might be able to use those powers without his horns, but this almost surely wouldn’t happen as it’d be too great a risk of Rosette’s life.)
[character personality]: If I was to pick one trait that is important to Chrono among all others, it’s that he places the wellbeing of everyone (deserving) above himself. Particularly the wellbeing of his contractor, Rosette. He’s kind, caring, generous and gentle, and on top of it almost possessively protective of Rosette. It’s not surprising to see him throw himself in front of an attack to protect another - in fact, pick a volume of the manga, ANY volume of the manga, and you’ll probably be able to find at least one instance where you can see him do so.
That’s not to say, of course, that he’s sweet and flawless. For one thing, Chrono has a dark side to his personality, probably thanks in part to his instinctual nature as a demon. In general, he usually has a pretty long fuse…but when he gets mad, he gets MAD. He’s also got certain issues that, if you hit on them just right, can cause him to snap and lose his self control. This is particularly an issue when he believes Rosette to be badly hurt or in serious danger. If he gets angry enough, he’ll forcefully break the seal holding his powers in place and unleash his true form. It was in this state, with his mind clouded by blind rage, that he killed 100 of his own kind - and, later, destroyed a section of the city of San Francisco. To put it bluntly, hope that you never trigger this side of Chrono, unless you want to die and take an entire city block with you. (Fortunately, this rarely happens - after all, if he allows himself to lose control, Rosette’s life is in serious danger, which…pretty much defeats the purpose.)
Also, although he cares deeply for Rosette and has a fairly quiet personality, he’s not a complete doormat. In general he’s learned to quietly go along with her impulses, and he plays a submissive role in their odd partnership, being thrown around and taking (comical) physical abuse from her. Likely he’s learned in the years he’s known her that there’s some times that it’d be a pointless waste of time to argue with her. But, if she’s doing something stupid or dangerous, he’s going to point it out, argument or not. And even though he puts up with her antics, it doesn’t mean he won’t snark about it. It’s likely that he’ll take up this observant, sarcastic role with other reckless characters in the City, as well.
Although outwardly he appears to be cheerful, the long years of traumatic experiences has taken their toll on him, badly damaging his confidence and sense of self-worth. In particular, Mary’s death greatly affected him, so he’s desperate to make sure she’s the last one who dies because of him, and he does anything he can to protect others. This particularly applies to those close to him, but any human - any good person really, regardless of race - can fall under his protection in dangerous situations. As mentioned previously, he often doesn’t hesitate to use himself as a physical shield, even when it causes him to be badly wounded. After all, he can heal himself - humans aren’t so lucky. And if something happens where people are badly injured, he quickly blames himself. Again, it’s the influence of Mary’s death - he lives burdened with the guilt of it, and every mistake he makes that hurts someone, every time he had a chance to save someone and he didn’t, every time that he loses his self control, he takes on more and more guilt. It’s probably safe to say that he doesn’t value his own life very highly anymore. He lives for Rosette, and for the good of humanity. If he didn’t gain such a sense of purpose from them, he likely wouldn’t care at all what happened to himself.
Although this sounds dire, he’s still somehow able to go through his daily life with a smile on his face. This is massively owed to the influence Rosette Christopher has on him. She’s taught him to “keep moving forward” - a lesson he’s taken to heart. Although he’s tempted to allow his guilt to crush him and halt him in his tracks (and occasionally he does allow it to), he always manages to pick himself back up and continue on.
Rosette’s so important to his life, so chief in his mind, that it’s easy to say that he loves her. Saying that he loves her romantically, however, is a bit trickier. I do believe he does, although (particularly from the point I’m taking him from - it becomes clearer closer the end) it’s hard to say that he’s acknowledged this, and even if he has, he certainly makes a concerted effort to not show it. Perhaps he thinks it’d just complicate matters - she’s a human, he’s a demon, he’s draining her life away, and they have an important goal to strive towards. So he’s content to remain by her side, watching carefully, doing what he can to help her save her brother.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: The end of volume 4 - at the carnival, but before they come face-to-face with Joshua and have the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny.