According to character designer Tetsuya Nomura, the appearance of Squall was based on the late American actor River Phoenix. He went on to state that "nobody understood this" influence, because fans speculated the design was based on himself. However, fans of the Japanese rock musician Gackt brought up their own findings that Squall's design bore similarities to his fashion sense. Some professional photoshoots from within a year of the game's release, as well as the music video to the song "Illuminati" by Malice Mizer, the band Gackt was formerly in, feature him sporting a similar outfit and hairstyle. As a humorous response, Gackt's official fan club at the time, Kissmark, produced a limited edition figurine of Gackt in an outfit nearly identical to Squall's while holding a sword. He appeared with the figurine during an interview on the 1999 Japanese music TV series "Legendary Music Store" ("伝説音舗〜うれる堂〜"), jokingly calling it "Gackt No. 2". Gackt would later collaborate with Square Enix on Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, writing music and providing his voice and likeness to the character Genesis.