After finally seeing and meeting Adel I got utterly fascinated by her, and it's such a shame the game treats her as a plot device rather than a character. I've read several different theories as to Adel's manly appearance, and I think I like the hermaphrodite one the best, but I'm not sure her physical and mental gender matter to me. She's a fascinating character, and these are my basic thoughts as to who and how she is.
Disclaimer: By a fan for other fans, I own nothing but my thoughts.
Digital Dreams
Suspended in space, removed from the rest of humanity, submerged in artificial sleep deprieved of physical as well as magical sensations, Adel dreamed.
IAMALIVE
A woman in a man's body; woman enough to become a Sorceress but too masculine to fit in. Prejudice and discrimination gave birth to a ruthless ambition. Sorceress Adel would be a force to be reckoned with, even the smallest child would learn to fear her and even the mightiest general would quiver in her presence.
IWILLNEVERLETYOUFORGETABOUTME
Everything had been going splendidly until that twit Loire came along and convinced the spineless slimebag Odine to help him out. But not once did she consider the possibility that they could best her in any way. A bitter experience that made her blood boil even in her space-cold prison.
BINGMEBACKTHERE
But she would get her revenge, it was just a matter of time. A Sorceress from the future had possessed her for a time and during that time she'd percieved glimpses of the future. She would return to the surface, and then to her rightful place as ruler of Esthar and continue her personal crusade against humanity. Sorceress Adel would go down in history as the ruler of the world. She'd accept nothing less.