Ayla

is a character in the 1995 video game Chrono Trigger. She is a cave woman in 65,000,000 BC who joins a group of time travelers in their quest to prevent antagonist Lavos from ending the world in 1999 AD. She is the leader (chief) of Ioka Village, and often clashes with a reptilian race called the Reptites. She was created by Chrono Trigger director Takashi Tokita and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. Her character design was among the most drastically changed in Chrono Trigger and took inspiration from singer Ouyang Fei Fei. Her name comes from the Clan of the Cave Bear character of the same name. She has received generally positive reception for her defiance of gender norms and stereotypes. Concept and creation Ayla was created by Chrono Trigger director Takashi Tokita and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. She is a cave woman who lives in the year 65,000,000 BC. Tokita was inspired by singer Ouyang Fei Fei when making her and her name was taken from the Clan of the Cave Bear character of the same name. He also added her due to a lack of simple, instinct-driven characters and the potential for humor. He identified her as his favorite character in the game. Her design, along with fellow protagonist Robo's, was the one that changed the most of the main cast. Ayla's hair was originally straight, but graphic designer Masanori Hoshino wanted her hair to be a "wilder, wavy style," so they had Toriyama change it. Her design was changed to be neater and tidier. Ayla's breasts originally had more bounce until producer Kazuhiko Aoki made them reduce it, though the bounce is somewhat retained in the final version. Also cut from the English version of the game was her love of sake. Ayla is possibly bisexual, as suggested in a piece of dialogue in the Japanese version between her, Crono, and Lucca Ashtear, where she identifies that she is attracted to both of them due to their power. The scene was changed in the English version, instead having Ayla show respect for Lucca's power. In the English version of Chrono Trigger on the Nintendo DS, the scene is written to only imply Ayla's attraction to Lucca. In both Japanese and English, Ayla speaks in caveman speech. Her vocabulary is considered rude by others, and she uses the personal pronoun "あたい" in Japanese to refer to herself, which represents femininity and toughness. The English version loses this context in localization.