Genesis's physical appearance is based on Gackt, who is one of the most famous Japanese Pop/Rock idols. Gackt also wrote and performed Dirge of Cerberus's theme song, "Redemption" and actually wears the Genesis costume in the music video, though his hairstyle has changed.
Beyond this, Genesis's design bears similarities to Sephiroth, including the long coat, black clothing underneath, black boots, shoulder guards, and a large sword. Genesis is right-handed and bears a large wing on his left side, in contrast to Sephiroth, who is left-handed and has a wing on his right side. While Sephiroth's uniform and design are predominantly black and white, Genesis's is red and black. Gackt had a small amount of input on the costume design, mostly to ensure it would allow for easy movement, but also to help settle on the color scheme, which had previously been intended to be either white or black.
Genesis with his wing out, in his original otufit.
Alt:
Named: Relics
(Credit to renzantolin for coloring the picture)
This is Genesis's original outfit, and his hair is much longer, and more messy.
NAmed: Degradation
His outfit colors swap, his hair is white, his coat is now a brownish gray, and his eyes are green.
Crisis Core's beginning portrays Genesis as a deserter, arrogant and childish. At first, he seems to be a simple character, but as the story progresses, the conflict within Genesis becomes increasingly visible. Genesis was adopted, causing him to feel betrayed by both his true and false parents, one of the reasons for his departure from SOLDIER. His main source of turmoil comes from the secrets of his birth he discovers after the injury he sustains during training, that leads him to resent Shinra and all those associated with it. He takes pride in the handsome figure he cuts, his magnificent fighting style and the enthusiastic popularity it garners him, however he does not like mingling directly with people, and only opens himself up to his companions, Sephiroth and Angeal.
Genesis is a 1st Class SOLDIER with abilities possibly equaling those of Sephiroth. He is trained with both melee weapons and magic, and utilizes both with equal skill in battle. His weapon of choice is the Rapier, a large sword with a bright red blade. Genesis is able to channel magic into his rapier, endowing it with a bright red aura and causing runic symbols to appear along its length. Genesis makes liberal use of magic as well, and uses spells with fire-type appearances like Energy and Flash. In this regard he is somewhat akin to a Mystic Knight or a Red Mage. Genesis also uses Summon Materia to conjure monsters to battle Zack.
When fought with his wing present, he is able to command the feathers to fly about and use them in projectile attacks. This same wing enables Genesis to fly. Following his restoration at the end of Crisis Core, when he is fought with his empowered rapier, he is able to manifest blades of red energy and execute swift combo attacks. Genesis's ultimate attack is Apocalypse, where he creates a crest of red energy above his opponent that emits a wave of energy to damage them. Zack learns Apocalypse as a DMW attack after defeating Genesis in their first battle.
A former first-class SOLDIER, summoned to fight for Chaos.
