The history of three gens

* originally designed as a video script; slightly edited to fulfill essay format

* relevant excerpts will be added soon

What are Lookism’s three generations?

There are Zero Gen, the Generation of Fists; the First Gen, the Generation of Crews (ep. 368); and the currently unnamed Second Gen, which I’ll dub the Generation of Geniuses. These three distinct eras are essentially characterized by what groups are the most influential, not how long they lasted.

Generation Zero (Pre-Generation) is the predecessor of generations with crews, governed by groups called “Fists”. And this forefather generation was led by none other than Jake Kim’s father, Gapryong Kim. Like Kim, the Fists were driven by honor codes, “romance” as it’s termed in-universe (306, Jake says Kim used his fists to help people; 311, Kim could never pass someone in need). However, when Kim gave most of his organization to his followers so he could pursue politics, he ended the Generation of Fists.

This departure allowed for the once noble Fists to become corrupted. Without their justice-minded figurehead, the Fists motivated by romance were no more. Instead, there were gangs hellbent on gathering power called “crews”. The Zero Gens then recruited students called Circles to aid in their quest for influence, defining the First Generation. This generation was conquered by James Lee, who dismantled the relationship between the Zero Gens and the First Gens before disappearing. Thus, James Lee concluded the Generation of Circles.

But none other than Charles Choi saw, with intergenerational crews abolished, there lied a power vacuum in crime. Thus, instead of transforming purpose like the First Generation had, he would transform criminal organization completely. So, with abundant engineering, two developments occurred: 1.) the formation of the Ten Geniuses, shadow organizers of premiere criminal enterprises and 2.) the creation of the Four Major Crews, premiere criminal enterprises competing to envelop black markets. This collective and absolute monopoly on crime was completely unheard of, marking the beginning of the Second Generation.

To be clear, Choi may have planned the operation but the Geniuses were the ones to execute it. Despite being this generation’s Lee or Kim, Choi isn’t truly influential. Because in Lookism, like the real world, an individual cannot entirely seize influence over others; they can only be granted that influence. And the Geniuses are the ones people directly grant influence, not Choi. So, Choi’s strength depends on the good will of the Geniuses; their strength does not depend on Choi’s good will. Therefore, the Geniuses are truly the most influential entity right now, precisely why it’s the Generation of Geniuses.

Naturally, this means the only element left to explore about the Second Generation is its conclusion, intrinsically tied to the fates of the Geniuses. But to gather that information, we must first understand how Lookism’s gangs have been impacted by power organization.