- For the post-scratch version of this character, see Orphaner Dualscar.
Cronus Ampora is the Bard of Hope and Eridan's dancestor. Not much is known about him, apart from what was revealed in Openbound part 3.
Unlike all other trolls so far, his shirt is neither black nor in his blood color but white. His weapon of choice appears to be Ahab's Crosshairs, like Eridan and Dualscar, as it was found in a chest near him.
Etymology
Cronus shares a name with the ruler of the Greek Titans, who overthrew Uranus and was, in turn, overthrown by Zeus. Cronus' Roman form is Saturn, the name of one of the planets ruling the Aquarius sign.
"Cronus" was suggested by Radiation on name suggestions for Eridan. His name might also be a reference to Lord English: the figure of the same name in Greek mythology happens to be a titan with dominion over time, and Cronus is the first in a line of Hope players that were prophecized to defeat English.
Biography
God tier Cronus
Upon exiting Terezi's hive as Meenah, a small "scene" (Aranea's Exposition) gives more information about some of the post-scratch "ancestors":
- “The Bard of Hope may seem a little jaded these days, but once he had a deeply abiding faith in magic, and dedicated himself to becoming a great wizard. He became convinced he was hatched to defeat an extraordinarily evil magician, one he swore the angels foretold of. Though when pressed for the name of the man, he would not say it, claiming it was too dangerous to even enunciate. Part of his self-aggrandizing mythos was that this magician once somehow from afar tried to strike him down at a young age, so he would never have to face him. But the evil spell was deflected, sealing the magician's spirit away in a series of unassuming vessels until he could find some other cunning way to enter our universe. The attack supposedly left him with his distinctive scar. But at some point he became disillusioned with magic. If there ever was any truth to his far fetched vision, the legacy of defeating the evil magician would have to be passed on to his descendant, or if his descendant proved to be as much of a failure as he did, then perhaps on some other Hero of Hope. I'm unsure why he suffered this crisis of faith, aside from the obvious reasons having to do with an overall lack of character, or any other redeeming qualities. Perhaps someone talked him out of his beliefs. Maybe a friend close to him. Or, if one is to believe his fantasy held any water, perhaps someone who was in league with the evil magician.”
Personality and Traits
Cronus has very possibly feigned issues with species identity and used suicidal threats in attempts to garner the attention of his peers, to no avail, as shown in his interactions with Mituna, Meenah, and later Eridan. He is also a hopeless flirt, often encroaching on personal space boundaries. He can also be incredibly rude on the occasion, to the extent that even Meenah thinks he is a douchebag. He likes to make music, though no music of his has been released on the official Homestuck Bandcamp page.
Relationships
Like his dancestor Eridan, Cronus is shown to be unlucky in love. He was seen hitting on Meenah and Mituna without success. He seems to like Kankri, as he is the only troll who will listen to him. He also tends to abuse Mituna.
Trivia
- Cronus considers himself to be a 1950s-style human greaser, and refers to himself as “humankin”. This is a clear reference to otherkin, "those who see themselves as partially or entirely non-human."
- In contrast to Meenah's shirt seemingly serving as the template for Alternian clothing, Cronus's shirt is white, just like the human kids' shirts. This is in following with his theme of claiming to identify as a human born in the body of a troll.
- Cronus also seems to be a parody of hipsters and skeevy self-described "nice guys" who feel that they are entitled to companionship, romantic or otherwise as some form of "reward" or "payment" in exchange for acting nice, as well as individuals who feign identity issues for the sake of status and attention.
- His two lightning-bolt shaped scars and his self-appointed "destiny" to defeat an evil magician who tried to strike him down in youth (and whose name cannot be said out of fear for the danger it possesses) are two not-so-vague references to Harry Potter; it also references how prior to Cronus's introduction, it was common to compare Eridan himself to Harry Potter in terms of appearance and appreciation of magic.
- His scars are also the source of his Post scratch self's name "Dualscar".
- His humankin nature seems to be a parody of The Little Mermaid, where a young mermaid, an inhabitant of the sea, rejected her nature as a mermaid and wanted to become human instead.
- Cronus mentions that Kurloz “scares the shit out of [him]”. This may be because their interaction in the post-scratch universe resulted in his death at the latter's hands.
- His title, the “Bard of Hope”, and Prince of Rage, are a swap of Prince of Hope and Bard of Rage.
- As with his title, the Bard of Hope, it appears that he allows his own hope to be destroyed, which could apply to the fact that he has forsaken his original destiny as a hero of hope and allowed it to die along with the rest of his session.
- It is confirmed that Cronus is the worst character in Homestuck (as mentioned in 10/21/12 update). However, as Hussie's avatar was the one who said it, it was probably to vulgarise the common reaction fans had about his character when he was first introduced.
- The character of Cronus is in many ways akin to common exaggerated caricatures of Eridan's negative traits. In this regard, Cronus serves to highlight how such portrayals of Eridan are often inaccurate.
- Cronus is also known for making the Nyeh fandom meme canon.
- His tendency to not light his cigarettes, because “if you ask me, burning it seems like a vwaste of a perfectly good and cool "cigarette."” is possibly a reference to the John Green book entitled The Fault in Our Stars, wherein one of the main characters has a habit of putting cigarettes in his mouth and refusing to light them, as some sort of grand metaphor.
