Will fans of this classic SNES gem be lost to Lavos, or will they endure, like Gaspar at the end of time? Where does Chrono Cross figure into the whole situation? Fortunately, we know someone who wrote the book (well, _a_ book) on the subject: we're talking with Michael P. Williams, author of _Chrono Trigger_, about fans of... well, Chrono Trigger!
Next week, it'll be the (smile) bomb, as we talk about fans, of a certain popular shonen 'sho' from the 90s!
## Where can I learn more about Michael P. Williams?
If you want to learn more about Michael's work, your best bet is to check out...
- His book, [Chrono Trigger](https://bossfightbooks.com/products/chrono-trigger-by-michael-p-williams), published by Boss Fight Books (now available in [audiobook form](https://www.audible.ca/pd/Chrono-Trigger-Audiobook/B07G4L4VFT))!
- [Boss Fight Books](https://bossfightbooks.com/) where he does a lot of editting
- The Boss Fight Books twitter, [@bossfightbooks](https://twitter.com/bossfightbooks) (Yes, there is a trend here)
## Episode outline
### Fandom Facts
**History and Origins:**
Chrono Trigger is a Super Nintendo JRPG released in 1995. It was developed by Square (notable for such other games as Final Fantasy) and its so-called "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi (the creator of the Final Fantasy Series), Yuji Horii (creator of Enix's popular Dragon Quest series), and Akira Toriyama (an artist well known for his work with Dragon Quest and his ongoing manga / anime series: Dragonball, among other things). It also featured music composed by Yasunori Mitsuda (the _Chrono_ series, Mario Party, Xenosaga) and Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy).
To put it succinctly: The game follows a group of adventurers who travel through time to prevent a global catastrophe... that they will never personally encounter.
It has since been released and re-released multiple times with the SNES and Playstation versions shipping over 2.65 million copies, and the Nintendo DS version having sold over 790 000 copies more than a decade later.
**Search Data:**
Interest in Chrono Trigger [has definitely dropped since the earliest data we have from Google Trends (2004)](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F01y59). There was a huge spike in interest in November 2008 (the Nintendo DS re-release of the game), and to a much lesser extent in March of 2018 (corresponding to the unexpected Steam release of the game).
The top ten countries, by search volume, are as follows: Japan, Chile, Canada, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, United States, Dominican Republic, Phillipines, and Taiwan.
**Size of Fandom:**
Based on a few data points:
- The original game has sold more than 2.6 million copies
- The DS version sold over 500 000 copies
- The [Chrono Trigger subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/chronotrigger/) has about 6600 subscribers
It's hard to guess, but there are probably hundreds of thousands of Chrono Trigger fans?
**Fast Facts:**
- According to a thread on [r/truegaming by GICN](https://www.reddit.com/r/truegaming/comments/8th8ed/data_game_completion_we_dont_finish_games/?sort=confidence), Chrono Trigger has a self-reported completion rate of 66% (slightly above the overall self-reported average of 63%). Steam global play stats reports that only [10.4% have completed the game](https://steamcommunity.com/stats/613830/achievements)
- Chrono Trigger has only about [150 fanfics on Archive Of Our Own](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Chrono%20Trigger/works)
- Most of which are Gen (about 56%)
- The most referenced fandoms, other than Chrono Trigger, are Final Fantasy VII (about 10%), Chrono Cross (about 10%), and Final Fantasy VI (about 10%)
### [Last Episode's](http://fanthropological.com/e/3683f48c359a8c/#player) Famous Last Words
**T**
Has anyone written a musical about Chrono Trigger?
**G**
Is anyone out there who has attempted to write Chrono Trigger into the Final Fantasy continuity?
**Z**
Is there a fan-work (comic, VG, etc.) that is widely regarded as the 'true' sequel to Chrono Trigger?
**Nikola**
Is the fanbase very close to Final Fantasy in terms of demography, or is totally different?
### This week's spotlight
**[JRPG Demographics](https://jrpgdemographics.com)**
Roles, ages, and sexes of playable characters in JRPGs... that's it.
**[Chrono Trigger the Musical](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HrimPnuU70&list=PLU-TFjG0qugDt0qSNyhaKHnfbo8oi-5gJ)**
**[Chrono Compendium](https://www.chronocompendium.com/)**
> The Chrono Compendium's mission is twofold. It first aims to archive and catalogue all existing knowledge and plausible speculation regarding the Chrono series, whether textual, auditory, or visual. The Compendium secondly wishes to create new content, and foster the growth and development of the Chrono series and its fan community.
The Chrono Compendium started in 2003 as a 50-page thread on Overclocked ReMix... and continues to exist and be updated to this day!
**[Race Against Time](http://raceagainsttime.io)**
> Now in its fourth year running, the Race Against Time is an annual charity marathon to raise money for the Alzheimer Society of Canada by beating the SNES classic, Chrono Trigger, as many times as possible in 24 hours. This year, the event is running every week until August 11 and 12 for the main event (see website for detailed schedule).
>
> Alzheimer's is a terrible disease that slowly robs those afflicted of their memories, and, eventually, their very sense of being. We are racing to help preserve those memories of loved ones and for a cure to stop it once and for all!
>
> All donations go directly to the Alzheimer Society of Canada.
### Famous Last Words
This week's famous last words around *next week's* fandom, Yu Yu Hakusho!
**T**
Are fans waiting for a revival or did they move on to other shonen titles?
**Z**
What's the most common pairing in fic? Of those characters, what's their canonical relationship? What does that say about the fans?
**G**
Do fans consider it to be passed or over? Do fans have an underdog mentality or a Napolean complex about it?
**Michael**
Add some collectible ghosts and demons and that's the show for me.
## Where can you find us online?
We are everywhere! Most notably though, we like to hang out in a few places on social media:
- If you want to be part of our podcast (or just want to check us out), we record our podcast LIVE on [twitch.tv](http://twitch.tv/thenickscast) every Monday at 20:00 Eastern Time!
- For all the latest updates, check us out on [Facebook](https://facebook.com/thenickscast) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/thenickscast)
- To see the latest hijinx from our conventions or even our daily lives and adventures, check us out on [Instagram](https://instagram.com/thenickscast)
- For our latest convention updates, *Let's Plays*, and other in-real-life video, [check out our YouTube channel](http://youtube.com/thenickscast)
- We're also on [iTunes](https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/fanthropological/id1163621210), and [Google Play](https://play.google.com/music/m/Icmngxz7yhaoivdvivvf6q6c2pu?t=Fanthropological), and would love it if you could leave a review and rating!
- if you want to reach us, and for some reason none of those work for you, try [
[email protected]](mailto:
[email protected])
- You can check out [our website](http://thenickscast.com); that will mostly bring you back to this stuff.
- Everything is `thenickscast`, so if you can't find us, go on your social network and search for that!
## What is "Fanthropological"?
How did you read this far without asking this question?!
Fanthropological is an anthropological (ish) podcast where we bring the fan's-eye view to you! Each week, we take a look at a different fandom, dig up interesting background, trivia, and history, and try to get to why it is that people are a fan. We also try to highlight good causes related to that fandom, and find interesting things that fans have created to share those to the world. Each episode is about an hour. Ish.
## Who is "The Nickscast"?
*We* are the Nickscast! Three products of late-80s / early-90s pop culture who love exploring fandom and everything geek ... who also happen to have been best buddies since high school, and all happen to be named Nick. Yes, we are super creative (dare we say, the _most_ creative).
*Ahem*
We are Nick Green, Nick Terwoord, and Nick Zacharewicz: We started the Nickscast as a labour of love, and as a place to entertain and to discuss our love of fans and fandom, and all that is shiny and interesting in that realm. It's what lead us to start our first podcast, our satellite podcasts, Fanthropological, and so much more.
We want to help others learn more about different fandoms, and to create empathy with other fans: We dream of a world where other fans aren't "those Weird-o's", but just folks with different tastes. A world where fandom is full of discourse and analysis, and there are plenty of tools and resources to help. Fans building communities to do good in the world. *Because everyone's a fan.*
## Credits
### Sources
- [Reddit - r/chronotrigger](https://old.reddit.com/r/chronotrigger/)
- [Wikipedia - Chrono Trigger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrono_Trigger)
- [Fanlore - Chrono Trigger](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Chrono_Trigger)
- [YouTube - Chrono Trigger the Musical](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HrimPnuU70&list=PLU-TFjG0qugDt0qSNyhaKHnfbo8oi-5gJ)
- [YouTube - Game Theory: Is Chrono Trigger's Time Travel Accurate?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgLSUuKqH4w)
- [Kotaku - What Happens When You Study An RPG World Like It Was Real](https://kotaku.com/what-happens-when-you-study-an-rpg-world-like-it-was-re-1522545991)
- [r/chronotrigger - [Data] Game Completion -- We don't finish games](https://www.reddit.com/r/truegaming/comments/8th8ed/data_game_completion_we_dont_finish_games/?sort=confidence)
- [Steam - Global Gameplay Stats: Chrono Trigger](https://steamcommunity.com/stats/613830/achievements)
- [r/chronotrigger - After Patch #5: Should You Buy Chrono Trigger On Steam?](https://www.reddit.com/r/chronotrigger/comments/9520rz/after_patch_5_should_you_buy_chrono_trigger_on/)
- [Google Trends - Chrono Trigger](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F01y59)
- [Kotaku - Modders Are Trying To Salvage Chrono Trigger On PC](https://steamed.kotaku.com/modders-are-trying-to-salvage-chrono-trigger-on-pc-1823566781/amp)
- [Chrono Compendium](https://www.chronocompendium.com/)
- [JRPG Demographics](https://jrpgdemographics.com/)
- [Chrono Compendium - Topic: List of the Qualities that Make Chrono Trigger so Good](https://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php?topic=10819.msg220852#msg220852)
- [Chrono Compendium - Topic: Wanted to Share How I feel About Chrono Cross, and Why.](https://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php?topic=9831.msg215401#msg215401)
- [Chrono Compendium - Ghost Children](https://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Ghost_Children.html)
- [Chrono Compendium - Home](https://www.chronocompendium.com/)
- [Chrono Compendium - Masato Kato, by Mariela Gonzalez](https://www.chronocompendium.com/wiki/index.php/2015_-_Masato_Kato,_by_Mariela_Gonzalez)
- [Chrono Compendium - Topic: What Makes “Chrono” Chrono](https://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php?topic=10175.msg218618#msg218618)
- [Gamefaqs - Black Sigil: Blade of the Exile - Message Board](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/944570-black-sigil-blade-of-the-exiled/49239803)
- [Gamefaqs - Chrono Trigger - Message Board](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/950181-chrono-trigger/44190409)
- [Héroes De Papel - Start](https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=https://www.heroesdepapel.es/&prev=search)
- [Old Gaul City - Home](https://translate.google.ca/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Foldgaulcity.com%2Fogc%2F&edit-text=&act=url)
- [Patreon - Man on the Internet](https://www.patreon.com/manontheinternet)
- [Quora - Was Final Fantasy 6 or Chrono Trigger a Better Game, and Why?](https://www.quora.com/Was-Final-Fantasy-6-or-Chrono-Trigger-a-better-game-and-why)
- [Quora - Why Is Chrono Trigger So Awesome](https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Chrono-Trigger-so-awesome)
- [r/ChronoTrigger - I’m Playing Chrono Trigger in a Unique Way that I Never Have - All Characters’ Starting Equipment Is Locked - And It Is Quite Fun.](https://www.reddit.com/r/chronotrigger/comments/8hiuzq/im_playing_chrono_trigger_in_a_unique_way_that_i/)
- [r/ChronoTrigger - Just Got Back into Chronotrigger](https://www.reddit.com/r/chronotrigger/comments/94vlri/just_got_back_into_chronotrigger/)
- [r/JRPG - Why Does Everyone Love Chrono Trigger So Much?](https://www.reddit.com/r/JRPG/comments/67dbmv/why_does_everyone_love_chrono_trigger_so_much/)
- [Wikipedia - Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrono_Trigger:_Crimson_Echoes)
- [Wikipedia - Psychic Force 2012](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychic_Force_2012)
- [Wikipedia - Psychic Force](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychic_Force)
- [Youtube - Chrono Trigger The Musical](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HrimPnuU70&list=PLU-TFjG0qugDt0qSNyhaKHnfbo8oi-5gJ)
### Music / Sound
- ["Deep Space Ballet"](http://teknoaxe.com/Link_Code_4.php?q=1338&Genre=Piano) by TeknoAXE used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- All other music and sound for this week's episode were provided by Nick Green!
