Genius is a 4th-level Black Element in Chrono Cross. Temporarily increasing a single ally's Magic Power, its counterpart is Imbecile. After assisting the sailors on the S.S. Invincible defeat the Ghost Ship, Genius, and several other strong elements, Traps, Buffs and Debuffs are purchasable from the Demi-human merchant in Guldove and on Marbule. Genius is valued at 430G in each of these markets.
Specifically, Genius maximizes a single ally's Magic Power, regardless of level allocation. Because of this, it is wasteful to set Genius and other Buff/Debuff Elements any higher than the level 1 allocation spot on an Element Grid. Although this will depict the Element as being -3, no quality difference is noticeable in-game; the character with Genius cast on them will still receive the same boost to Magic Power for several turns.
While Combat casts Genius as a Level 3 Element (Genius -1), Tzetze Fly cast it as Level 2 Elements (Genius -2).
Description[]
Similar to the animation for Imbecile, under the target's feet, a glyph of violet symbols appears. Shortly after, several strings of light shoot up and enclose the target in a vortex, with lopsided rings of darker violet running up the vortex as well.
Name Origin[]
Genius is an accolade to the intelligence of a person. A certified genius not only thinks more quickly than the average human, but also exhibits expertise in a specific subject or vast numbers of subjects. Since spell-casting and magical ability is often attributed to one's intelligence, increasing intelligence or one's faith in their intelligence would thus increase magical ability.