To follow up, I picked this one out of a tank of several at a fish store in Portland OR. I picked the best couple I could find, and got lucky. I will attach some picks of him from younger to older.
his body shape IS nice. i like him. it looks like he waited a long time to decide to fade. he is pretty big. that is a great progression you put together to show how he tranformed. BTW, he has a double chin like my biggest male.
Where did you get the female? Both are really nice looking fish! The female looks kinda like a midas/devil though. Should make for some pretty nice fry!