"I am Chronos... The dark sun that kills its father and wields the scythe of false power... See the karma controlling one's destiny..."
Chronos is a demon in the series.
History[]
Chronos[]
Chronos, alternatively spelled as Khronos or Chronus, is one of the first primordial Deities created by Chaos in the Greek mythology, said to be the personification of time and eternity and the lord of the Zodiac. His name means the word "time." During antiquity, Chronos was occasionally interpreted as Cronus. The original meaning of the word "chronos" is uncertain.
He was initially portrayed to possess an incorporeal figure as a serpent with three heads; one of a man, the second of a bull, and the last of a lion. Chronos is usually portrayed as an old, wise man with a long, grey beard, similar to Father Time. In some Greek sources, Kairos is mentioned as a brother of Chronos. However, other sources point out that it is his son.
Cronus[]
Cronus, alternatively spelled as Kronos or Cronos, is the lord of the Titans and a time and harvest deity. Enticed by his mother Gaia, Cronus picks up the sickle and castrates his own father, Ouranos, thus becoming the new king of the gods, and ruled during the mythological Golden Age. However, fearing the same fate would befall him, Cronos devours his own offspring.
His consort Rhea secretly gives Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he promptly swallowed, thinking that it was his son while she kept the newborn Zeus safe in Crete. Zeus later lead his free siblings in a war to overthrow Cronus, repeating history. This war is called Titanomachy.
Cronus was usually depicted with a harpe, scythe or a sickle, which was the instrument he used to castrate and depose Uranus, his father. In Athens, a festival called Kronia was held in honor of Cronus to celebrate the harvest, as a result of his association with the virtuous Golden Age, Cronus continued to preside as a patron of the harvest.
When the Greek myth was absorbed into the Roman pantheon, Cronos was identified as Saturnus.
Appearances[]
- Megami Tensei II: Vile Race
- Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei: Vile Race
- Persona 2: Innocent Sin: Fortune Arcana
- Persona 2: Eternal Punishment: Fortune Arcana, Metal Jun's Persona
- Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: Playable Character as Zen; Antagonist as Clockwork God
Profile[]
Persona 2: Innocent Sin[]
Chronos, of the Fortune Arcana, is the evolved Persona of Jun Kurosu, obtained by mutating his prior Persona, Hermes, in the Velvet Room after having it equipped during the Aquarius Temple boss battle. His design shows him to have a clock instead of a face, attached on his head and four wings are attached to his back, with two of them sheltering his shoulders toward the front. His helmet also has wings, similar to Hermes. This evolution allows Jun to block any kind of attacks of the Wind, Light, and Dark elements, but its weakness against Earth may be a concern. Chronos learns powerful Wind-based spells and some useful recovery skills, and is also capable of performing one of the most powerful Fusion Spells in the game, Grand Cross.
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment[]
Chronos appears in a golden metallic form, summoned by Metal Jun of the Metal Trio, encountered in Xibalba. His unique spell, "Terror of Fortune," reflects the original Chronos' skill, "Cross Fortune."
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth[]
Chronos is a god of death and time, born from man's collective unconscious to guide and accompany them to the afterlife. However, his encounter with the ghost of a young girl called Niko lead him to abandon his duties and reside in the world he made for her taking the form of a fake Yasogami High School and separating himself into Zen and the Clockwork God.
In order to prevent Rei from regaining her memories and suffering from pain, he wiped out his and her memories and hid four items that were buried alongside Rei in her funeral into the Yasogami High Cultural Festival attractions acting as Labyrinths in the game. He also assigned his minions to guard them from any intruders alongside countless Shadows. One such guardian is the Best Friend, a Shadow Self of Rei, indicating that he can control Shadow Selves, and he is even shown to be able to trap Philemon's butterfly form in a web. The guardians will not let even their owner Chronos (Zen) take the items unless they are defeated.
Knowing that they had the power to accomplish what needed to be done, the piece of Chronos known as the Clockwork God summoned the P3 Hero and P4 Hero and their companions to the rift where Zen and Rei were residing in order to force them to traverse the labyrinths so Zen could regain his memories and resume his duties. Both identities of Chronos had initially consented to carry out this operation, but after being convinced by the party, Zen admits the entire thing as a cover up for his grave mistake and seeks to defeat the Clockwork God and save Rei. He succeeds in defeating the Clockwork God with the Persona users' help and both Zen and Rei return to the Sea of Souls.
This makes Chronos both a major ally and the main antagonist of this game, as he is responsible for deluding Rei and creating the alternate reality, acting against the party as the Clockwork God and assisting them as Zen, who managed to end the crisis he started with their assistance.
Stats[]
Megami Tensei II[]
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Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei[]
Megami Tensei II[]
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Persona 2: Innocent Sin[]
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Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Chronos is often confused with Cronos because these two names primarily differ in the initial consonant of the spelling, kh and k, even the Japanese Katakana rendition of both names are the same. This confusion is intended by the game developer as shown in Chronos/Cronos's in-game description along with his speech when mutated from Hermes. Nevertheless Kaneko's artwork features wings and elements of the mechanical clock, referencing the Greek father of time. Jun's complex about his father, Akinari Kashihara, can be related to Cronos and his relations with his father, Uranus.
- Jun's Zodiac sign is Aquarius. It is ruled by the planets Saturn and Uranus. The name of the planet Saturn comes from the Roman god Saturnus who is identified as Cronos.
- Chronos in Persona Q is so far the only major Persona antagonist to be capable of threatening Philemon.