Dalton (Chrono Trigger)

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Dalton is a non playable character (NPC) in the Chrono Trigger video game.

Dalton acts as a high-ranking advisor or general of the magical Kingdom of Zeal, and a member of Queen Zeal’s court. He is a pompous, bumbling adversary encountered several times, not unlike Magus' aide Ozzie (who also appears to have a similar arrogance and the tendency to ruin his own plans). Much like Ozzie, he arguably acts as comic relief, given these personality traits. He does appear to be at least more competent than Ozzie, and actually succeeds in capturing Crono and the rest of the party.

Upon first arriving at Zeal, Dalton appears at the unfinished Blackbird airship, revealing his position in charge of the construction. He first mentions the Prophet, claiming that Crono and the party are the troublemakers that the seer referred to. However, he does not arrest them immediately.

When Crono and the rest of the party first gain entrance to the throne room, their arrival comes as a rude shock to everyone present, except for the Prophet (who was indeed Magus in disguise, anticipating their arrival). The Prophet informs the Queen that these are the intruders he spoke of, and Dalton is promptly ordered to deal with them. It is at this point that Dalton summons a Golem, one of several monsters that act as his henchmen. The Golem copies elemental attributes of attacks the player uses, and when no element is present it will utilize Iron Orb, which lowers a character's HP by 1/2.

Whether or not the player defeats the Golem does not change the course of events, though winning the battle yields experience points and does deal a blow to Dalton's ego, in which case he is seen fuming and venting his rage before the party is arrested.

Dalton again reappears when the party returns to Zeal Palace, to discover he has been placed in charge while Queen Zeal and the others are away at the Ocean Palace. Again he is complaining, angry over the fact that Queen Zeal did not allow him to come along, and over the indignity of being placed on guard duty. When the party arrives, he is eager to teach them a lesson and satisfy his desire for revenge. This time the player fights Dalton himself, and after his defeat he is forced to retreat to the Ocean Palace.

Dalton is once again encountered deep in the Ocean palace, shortly before reaching the Mammon Machine. He impedes the party’s progress by summoning two Golems, referred to as the “GolemTwins”. Each is nearly identical to the original Golem. Upon their defeat, Dalton again opposes the party by threatening to summon the “GolemBoss”, but in light of the circumstances nearing the awakening of Lavos, he is again forced to depart. Crono and the party proceed to the chamber of the Mammon Machine, after having been delayed by Dalton. Time is limited, as the machine must be destroyed before it can attune to the full power of Lavos. Despite all efforts, the awakening of Lavos cannot be averted by the player, and the resulting chaos destroys the airborne Kingdom of Zeal and it tumbles into the sea. A massive tsunami is produced that floods a large portion of the landmass, leaving only one major continent.

The Ocean Palace also lies disabled on the bottom of the ocean, and once princess Schala sends the party away with the power of her pendant, they awaken to find themselves in the only earthbound village to have survived the tsunami. The party is missing Crono, who died trying to stop Lavos.

The party make their way towards the commons of the village, where they speak to the locals. The “Enlightened” of Zeal who survived the fall are mournful over the loss of their magic (because they no longer have access to the Mammon Machine and the power of Lavos), though they have begun an assimilation into the society of the earthbound humans. The player at that point must head to the village elder to ask about the Epoch. He claims that it showed up quite suddenly, having somehow survived the disaster. The party’s conversation with the elder is interrupted by Dalton’s arrival yet again, this time with accompanying soldiers.

Displaying his lust for power and his quality as an opportunist, Dalton plans on taking over what remains of the Zeal Kingdom. He declares that he is renaming the Kingdom of Zeal the “Kingdom of Dalton”, and that he will be the supreme ruler. He then mentions the Epoch, which is parked outside the village, and states with a bit of amusement that he will “take it off your hands” and make it his royal chariot. Upon resistance from the party, Dalton launches a fireball at the party leader (whoever the player currently has in the first slot), only to have it deflected. Cursing his luck, Dalton responds with a spray of fireballs, overwhelming the party. As the seen fades to black, Dalton is seen laughing.

The Blackbird.

The party awakens in a guarded holding cell. Climbing up a nearby ladder sets the player out on a platform jutting from an airship, revealing a thick layer of clouds below. Startled, the party comes to realize that they are onboard the airship Blackbird, the construction of which was apparently completed. After an escape from the cell, the player must infiltrate the ship and retrieve the characters’ weapons, items, and money. If the player hasn’t retrieved the weaponry for at least one character, any encounter with an enemy (such as the numerous guards and sentry robots) will trigger an alert and they will be sent back to the cell. (Unless, of course, the player had enough foresight to include Ayla in their party; she uses her fists to attack, and thus is not subject to deprivation.) During the foray into the ship, the party will enter the air ducts. Peering down through gratings reveals the hallway or room below. Peering down into the hangar bay at the rear of the ship reveals the Epoch being worked on diligently by Dalton and his men.

The player must finally guide the party to the left wing of the Blackbird, and on top of this wing the party encounters defensive turrets. At the wingtip, the player will face the GolemBoss, which Dalton had earlier spoken of. The GolemBoss offers surprisingly little resistance, being afraid of heights. If it is not defeated, it will flee without ever attacking.

A cutscene is then shown of Dalton in the modified Epoch, which he refers to as the "Aero Dalton Imperial". One of the more humorous moments of the game is when he proclaims that the player's party will be his first victims, and the heroic "Determination" music starts to play. He then says "No, no, no... stop the music!" and the battle music "A Shot Of Crisis" begins to play. He then proclaims the music to his satisfaction and takes off.

Once the battle is concluded, the Epoch suddenly flies underneath the wing. The party stands astonished for a time, now seeing the result of Dalton’s modifications. The addition of wings allows the Epoch to fly, and will be useful to the player for the rest of the game. Dalton gloats over his new throne, referring to it as the “Aero Dalton Imperial”. He seems very annoyed as one of the characters continues to call it the “Epoch”.

At this point one of the characters (depending on who is in the slot) angrily leaps the distance to land on the Epoch, angered by the recent loss of Crono. The party engages Dalton in a final confrontation. No longer able to fight, Dalton opts to summon the GolemBoss. A small, dark gray gate opens, of the same sort with which he summoned the other Golems. However, nothing emerges (given that the GolemBoss has been defeated), and Dalton is sucked into his own portal. It’s not specified where he was sent, or even the sort of portal it was. He is not seen again in Chrono Trigger or any of its sequels, having apparently vanished.

After Dalton’s disappearance, the party boards the Epoch and tries to find the time meter controls. Dalton’s redesign completely modified the interface, and the button they press instead fires twin laser beams that tear into the wing of the Blackbird. The airship crashes, unable to stay aloft any longer. These beams are not used or referred to again in the game until one of the paths to Lavos is taken.

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