Oh boy, funny story, but I used to absolutely HATE Geno. I was in the bandwagon of hating him for being overrated, as well as not looking at him and seeing the forest for the mushrooms. (Heh... G- Get it... heh.) I didn't remember his character properly either, thinking that the fanon where he's this stoic jerk all the time was actually canon. I saw him one day, just stumbled on him, and was like, "Wow, I really like his design, actually. From an artist's perspective, it all checks out with great design philosophy." I revisited SMRPG, and when I saw how expressive Geno was, how jovial he was, and how sweet he was to Gaz in particular, I was honestly floored. It was entirely what I thought Geno wasn't, but there he was, plain as day.
Then I got to, "Yo, Smithy!" and I lost it, laughing at how out of the blue and painfully 90's that was. It was so unexpected coming out of Geno. From then, I started thinking of his lore potential, making ideas for how they could expand his character, and... welp. I was sold.