“ | Dogs of Shinra, but what do you know? | „ |
~ Genesis |
“ | My soul, corrupted by vengeance, hath endured torment to find the end of the journey, in my own salvation and your eternal slumber. | „ |
~ Genesis Rhapsodos. |
Genesis Rhapsodos is a character from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and the main antagonist in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-. Genesis is a former SOLDIER first class in Shinra Electric Power Company before the events of the game. Being a SOLDIER, Genesis possessed a strong loyalty towards the company and just like Angeal and Sephiroth, they share the same dream; to become heroes.
Genesis is an imperfect product from the experiments in Jenova Project, which causes his cells to slowly degrade: affecting his skin, hair color, and physical performance. As a result, Genesis turns against Shinra and instigates a rebellion by forging a pact with Dr. Hollander, creating an army of Genesis copies in the hopes of restoring himself to his original state. He eventually succeeds and abandons his villainous traits, deciding to become a hero when the time came for him.
Aside from being an exceptional combatant, Genesis also loves to recite his favorite poem entitled LOVELESS and every verses are all memorized.
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, Genesis was one of the three most powerful SOLDIER members, along with Angeal and Sephiroth. They were all good friends, and were all unknowing subjects of experimentation with Jenova cells. The trio often spared with each other for fun, with Sephiroth constantly winning each and every match, causing Genesis's initial idolization of Sephiroth, which was what made him became a SOLDIER, to begin turning into a one-sided rivalry. Eventually, it escalated to the point Genesis daringly challenges Sephiroth one-on-one, managing to force the hero to fight more seriously but he proves to be ultimately outclassed and would have been likely seriously injured had Angeal not intervened. Genesis's persistence causes him a shoulder injury, which began his degradation as being an imperfect specimen compared to Sephiroth, his genetic structure is flawed and the jenova cells begin to kill him. This is because Genesis possess cells from a women named Gillian, who had Jenova cells in her. He was an experiment created by the Shinra science department, headed by Professor Hollander at the time, who were trying to make more powerful SOLDIERs by using the cells of an ancient alien. However, Genesis was not a perfect being, and his body started degrading.
Embittered by the revelation of his true origins, Genesis betrayed Shinra to join Professor Hollander. The Professor created Genesis copies to make an entire army, as he searched for a way to stop Genesis from degrading. Hollander wanted revenge on Shinra, so he often attacked them with the copies. Genesis encounters Zack four times, first ending in a scuffle but not a fight as Angeal protects his student but joins Genesis, much to Genesis's joy, which later caused Genesis to attack Zack with a monster and stop him from trying to go to Angeal, with him showing conflict before quickly coldly revealing his monster powers when Zack asked on his SOLDIER pride. The second encounter was when Zack was with Sephiroth, where Genesis retreats, knowing better than to take on his more skillful former comrade, but not before he shows his envy of his former friend, although he still remains civil. The third encounter ended in Genesis fighting Angeal to a standstill while having a monster keep Zack busy. It was only in the fourth confrontation that they finally engaged, where Genesis has betrayed Hollander for his failure and starts a fierce fight with Zack. Although Zack wins, Genesis escapes by falling down purposefully but he survives.
As Sephiroth is discovering what he really is, Genesis reveals that he has perfect cells, that the only cells he has are from Jenova, and that because of that he would never degrade. Genesis asked Sephiroth for a cell sample so that he may stop degrading, but Sephiroth refuses. Once Sephiroth is "dead", Zack and Cloud are experimented upon, and Genesis seeks Zack out, looking for S cells (Sephiroth). However, when one of his copies eats Zack's hair, it causes it to mutate into a monster.
When Zack makes his way to Gongaga more Genesis Copies attempt to kill him, but are stopped by Genesis and Hollander, now also a degrading Genesis Copy. Believing Zack's body rejected Sephiroth's cells due to being a SOLDIER member, they now seek Cloud and the cells he carries. Genesis declares to have discovered the true final act of LOVELESS and flies away as Hollander and the copies search for Cloud. Zack dispatches Hollander and meets Lazard, an Angeal Copy, who directs him to Genesis's lair, the caverns beneath Banora. Zack discovers the journal of a younger Genesis before his days as a SOLDIER that describes his invention of Banora White apple juice, along with his desire to share his accomplishments with Sephiroth by having him eat a Banora White. Deeper in the caves Zack finds the story of LOVELESS carved on stone tablets and Genesis before a goddess statue holding a gigantic natural Materia, certain that the Goddess Materia is the "gift of the Goddess." With Zack's arrival, having inherited Angeal's Buster Sword and Sephiroth's cells, the three friends are reunited and LOVELESS is fulfilled. Believing himself the Hero who has received the Goddess's protection Genesis absorbs the Materia's power to become Genesis Avatar and engages Zack. When defeated Genesis returns to human form, cured from degradation. Zack figures that all Genesis wanted was to regain his pride as SOLDIER, and be healed of his degradation. Gathering the last of his strength Genesis challenges Zack to a final duel as a SOLDIER but his exhaustion causes him to lose and Genesis is sent flying back with Zack's final attack and lands on his feet in a place flooded with Lifestream. The goddess statue in the distance morphs into Minerva who sees his desire to complete his duty as SOLDIER, and as the will of the Lifestream, spares his life. Zack carries the weakened Genesis out of the cave.
Zack lays him down and retrieves three Banora Whites, taking a bite out of them to fulfill Genesis's childhood dream, though he apologizes for not being "the real thing." Zack asks if the apple is the "gift" but Genesis shakes his head; thanks to his battle with Zack Genesis discovered the gift is the pride of a SOLDIER. Content with his pride restored and his dream fulfilled, Genesis passes out, and Zack and Cloud move on.
Dirge of Cerberus
Genesis was brought to Deepground and the two SOLDIER members, Weiss and Nero, attempted to persuade him to join in their rebellion against the Restrictors, current leaders of Deepground. Genesis declined and sealed himself in a flooded cavern beneath Midgar awaiting the day he would be needed to protect the world in Sephiroth and Angeal's stead. Vincent discovers that, according to Shinra executive Scarlet's private files, the Tsviets were spliced with Genesis's cells and subjected to various experiments to see how they reacted.
Collecting the three "G Reports" unlocks an extra ending. Following Omega's destruction, Weiss's body lays in the flooded cavern, which sends out a shock wave that awakens Genesis. Genesis approaches Weiss and tells him "It is not yet time for slumber" and that they have much work to do. He picks up his "brother," spreads his wing, and flies off into the night.
Appearance
Genesis is a tall and well-built man and wears a long coat with black clothing underneath, crossed leather straps, the SOLDIER symbol, black boots and shoulder guards. He carries his sword in a sheath.
Personality
At first, Genesis was loyal to Shinra and dreamed of being a hero. Due to his abilities, he is arrogant and prideful, taking joy at his popularity, and only gets along with those he considered equals such as Sephiroth and Angeal.
The knowledge of his origins made him feel deeply embittered by Shinra and he betrayed it, losing any loyalty to it and going so far as to remorselessly began a rebellion against it. He even went as far as to say that if he is to die, he will take the world with him. However, even at this worst, Genesis still retains fractions of his old self. He shows conflict when Zack reminded him of his SOLDIER pride, is pleased when Angeal works with him and when they fight, he does not bother to settle the duel, acts cordial around Sephiroth even if he showed his envy more than ever, actually pities him when he reveals his true nature and looks genuinely hurt when Sephiroth refuses to aid him.
After being cured, Genesis's mind was free from his initial destructive urges. He contemplated on what he had lost in exchange of his life being saved and strongly regretted how nonchalantly he tarnished his pride as a SOLDIER. With his degradation cured, restoring his honor as a SOLDIER was all that he had wanted and he showed genuine respect and gratitude towards Zack, actually acknowledging him as being worthy of being a First Class SOLDIER whereas previously he only referred to him as Shinra's lapdog and thanking him for restoring his pride. With his pride restored and his body cured, Genesis regained his heroic traits, desiring to protect the world should he be needed and sealing himself until that time comes.
Abilities
Deemed to be an exceptional SOLDIER First Class who possess combat abilities sub-par with Sephiroth despite still ultimately being inferior, Genesis is an incredibly skilled combatant.
Although not at the same level of Sephiroth, Genesis is still a masterful swordsman, wielding his Rapier, a large red-bladed sword, with great skill and able to ambidextrously use it one or two-handed and can perform deadly combos. His agility can make him a difficult target to hit. When he was empowering his Rapier with magic, it was shown that Genesis could challenge Sephiroth in a one-on-one sword fight despite having early on being unable to best him even alongside Angeal, able to block and trade attacks reasonably well as well as even push him back when he was still taking him lightly, showing that though Genesis is not at the same level of skill and power as Sephiroth, he comes fairly close. Even in a degrading state, he remained an incredibly formidable master swordsman, matching Angeal to a stalemate and contending with Zack before being bested. Although Zack did defeat Genesis in their final duel upon being healed of degradation, it must be noted that Genesis was still weakened from his injuries and still had the strength and skill to challenge him.
His greatest expertise and most preferred method of combat, however, is magic. A very powerful spellcaster, Genesis can fire homing fire balls, which he can control to the point of remotely directing it, electric needles, and red magical swords. He is even proficient in more esoteric fields of magic such as curses, enhancements and healing, able to drain health from others, cast a certain-effective curse in the form of black feathers, restore himself, and even render himself invulnerable. He can conjure powerful monsters to stall his adversaries via Summon Materia. While in Genesis Avatar form, he can summon Materia directly from the Lifestream for powerful spells. Genesis's signature spell is the devastating spell Apocalypse, which creates a crest above his opponent that emits a wave of energy to damage them.
As a product of Project G, Genesis can copy his genetic material onto others and create copies of himself. The Genesis Copies take on his appearance, the degree of which depends on how strong the copy is—the strongest copies appear identical to Genesis save for his weapon. His abilities in this regard is substantially inferior to Angeal's, being deemed a failure, which led to his degradation. As Genesis Avatar, he can summon enhanced Genesis Copies. After learning his Project G SOLDIER, he manifests a black wing that allows him to fly and he is capable of telekinetically controlling the feathers to be used as projectiles. Although he no longer bears his wings after being cured, it is later revealed he can still summon it if he wants.
In his youth, Genesis was interested in agriculture and the cultivation of "dumbapples." He once won a prize for the "National Agriculture Awards, Processed Foods Category.
Genesis has also proven himself to be considerably intelligent, though still surpassed by Sephiroth, with commendable charisma and strategical and leadership skills, having been able to attain the position of general among SOLDIERS, leading armies of his fellow SOLDIERS, and even inspire enough loyalty to make his army turn against Shinra and become his copies, acquiring enough followers to start a war, while doing so in secret to all but Sephiroth, who noticed early on what Genesis was doing, and partially Angeal, who detected Genesis's defection but could not uncover the full extent of his plans. In fact, most of Genesis's moves were able to catch Shinra off-guard and he was eventually successful into manipulating Zack into playing a hand in curing him.
Other Appearances
In FFVII: Dirge of Cerberus, Genesis appears in a secret ending if you collect all the "G reports". His full name is never said in this game, he is only referred to as "G".
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