The tallest of the Generation 7 men by just a touch at 6' 5" (Leo was previously the tallest at 6'4"), and by far the youngest looking. Yes, young does not equal short. And young does also not equal androgynous and lack of character (see Ryan). Even if we were never going to get another David, I'm extremely happy with the latest addition to the Genesis 3 gene pool: Elijah 7.

 

I am personally never going to agree with the Daz3D Art Department's idea of good skin materials (especially this latest business with guy's lips looking like they are covered in lip gloss), but the texture work by the artist (I'm guessing its Raiya, it looks like their work and I think they get a lot of the major character releases) has really stepped up the game here. Rendered straight out of the box, he's quite stunning and realistic (with the right lighting, of course; can't stress that enough -- without the lights, nothing looks realistic).

Click for a larger versionI'm not sure if the inclusion of the makeup and tattoos marks a new direction for male characters or not (I hope it does, the guys get very little in the way of options but we all pay the same prices for the guys as the girls) but their inclusion, along with the various eye colors is very welcome.

Trying hard not to contrast with Ryan here, but Elijah is everything that Ryan is not. I recognize that we are talking about the difference between a tween character and a probably twentyish year old character, but Elijah demonstrates a true effort at designing a unique character. I can't tell you if he looks like some popular actor (more than a few names have been floated around the forums, strangely none of whom I know), but I can tell you  he has very distinctive facial features.

Beyond the face, Elijah has a body type we've not yet seen from the guys: the ectomorph, tall and skinny. I don't know if the surprising success of George has convinced the powers that be that unique body shapes/characters can succeed (and male characters at that) or if this is just a flash in the pan but I hope its the former because we can certainly use more variety in our base characters.

Elijah reminds of David 3, one of my most favorite models, for several reasons. It might not seem like a very apt comparison since Elijah is more than a foot taller, but its not really a physical resemblance I am talking about (though Elijah does seem to have David's ears). David was wonderfully morphable and so is Elijah. He bulks up or slims down (even further) with easy versatility, he even takes Sixus1's Powerful Athleticism (nws link, not family friendly... you've been warned)  morphs reasonably well.

He's not just a unique character, his rigging is exemplary.  His height and physique  must have presented some unique challenges, but he poses with ease, taking poses designed for virtually any character without distortion and little or no adjustments.

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I hope Elijah is a big win for DAZ because I really want to see more unique base characters (boys, of course).