He was a young man who developed a fear of space flight and a hatred of pirates during an attack when he was 15 that resulted in his father's death at the hands of a band of mercenaries led by Ron MacDougall. Gene was thrown into an escape pod by his father moments before their ship exploded and landed on Sentinel III where he would remain until the beginning of the series. Until Hilda questions him, "Are you going to keep running away?" and Gene responds, "Keep running away?" Gene is scared of space—but Hilda's questioning of his courage is the turning point, and Gene's fear of space disappears.

While on Sentinel III, Gene met the much younger Jim Hawking and the two went into business; forming a company called Starwind and Hawking Enterprises. Gene is a reckless ladies' man and a bit of a pervert who shamelessly flirts with almost every woman he meets. He would rather try to achieve his goals with a minimum of effort and his reckless attitude proves a continuous source of frustration to Jim. Despite his brash nature, Gene does have a caring side to his personality which he usually displays toward Melfina. After realizing Melfina had no recollection of her past or function, Gene promises to help her find her past and protects her from the various individuals in pursuit of her. Also, throughout the course of the series, he begins to develop feelings for her, and grows rather irritated with Harry on behalf of his apparent relationship with Melfina.