Ultimecia's final form couldn't defeat the FFVIII heroes.
She can't beat anyone here.

Yu-yevon could win since he restores his hp every time he's hurt

Guys, guys, guys...I think this picture says it all. Garland would knock those impertinent fools down without a problem. Kuja and Ultimecia have nothing on this badass. They might have world destroying powers and control over space and time, but...Garland, man...Garland.

In all seriousness, my vote still goes to Final Fantasy I. I don't think many people really pick up on what Chaos is. He's the very personification of...well...chaos. He represents all things evil and corrupt. Most Final Fantasy villains aim to become a god, similar in power to, say, the gods of Olympus. Chaos, however, is an actual "I command all of time and space" god. I know we don't see him do all that much in-game, but you have to remember that this was an NES RPG. We don't exactly have glorious CGI or FMV's to depict Chaos's universe-destroying powers. However, it's quite obvious that Chaos is supposed to be the be-all, end-all of evil of H.P. Lovecraftian proportions, which is, coincidentally, the role he plays in Dissidia. And yes, I do think that that's the same Chaos presented to us in FF1, mainly because Garland was selected as the representative of that game rather than him and...well, they share the same physical appearance/name. The fact that he was brought into existence by the combined powers of four gods who literally stand to represent the elements themselves further supports my point. I know it’s not horribly obvious, but Chaos is, if you pay attention, portrayed as a literal “control-over-the-forces-of-the-universe” god.

Next in line would probably be Kuja, Ultimecia, and ExDeath. Kuja really doesn't have to be explained. He destroyed an entire planet in mere moments, ripped a hole through the space/time continuum, and is speculated to have destroyed the crystal that gives life to the very fabric of existence. I'd say that deserves a few points on the Grand Scale of FF Villains. Ultimecia, as much as I despise her, had absorbed a significant portion of existence before her death. While I don't see her being all that impressive physically speaking, she seems to at least have godly magical proficiency. ExDeath controls the Void. That instantly puts him on the Upper Tier, at least. Personally, I'm not sure where Necron fits on this list. All things considered, he should probably be on this tier or even above it. He does appear to be one of those "I rule all existence!" gods similar to Chaos, but, whereas Kuja is about as powerful as the Final Fantasy IX party in its entirety (he did beat them, but I'm thinking it was a very close fight since he was forced to use Ultima, which I’m guessing was his last resort. Not to mention they'd just gotten finished fighting Deathgaze, so they weren’t at their full power), Necron was beaten or at least fended off by Zidane and only three other people, in other words half of the party. So...I guess that'd put him lower than Kuja. *shrugs* I'll put some more thought into it later.

Next in-line would be the likes of Sephiroth and Kefka. The two are basically polar opposites, so I think that their strengths and weaknesses would balance each other out. Whereas Sephiroth possesses incredible physical strength, Kefka was literally the god of all magic in the FF6 universe. Yeah, he has Light of Judgment, but that really isn't much use at close range. Besides, it seems to travel at a pretty slow pace. Sephiroth may be able to evade it even at least long enough to close the distance between himself and Kefka. Even so, neither of them have really shown world/universe-destroying powers, only city-destroying powers. This puts them below the true gods of the Final Fantasy universe in terms of raw power. Sephiroth might be able to put up a fight against Kuja due to his probably-superior speed and agility, but he and Kefka are simply blown out of the water in terms of magical power.

The rest are a bit difficult to rank due to certain circumstances surrounding their existence and whatnot, but I’d say those are the top three tiers as far as Final Fantasy villains are concerned.

Kefka is outranked magically by Kuja magically? Ultimecia, maybe a tie, but deinantly not Kuja. Kuja may be a primarily magic using guy, but a final boss with a combat knife or a crossbow isn't very intimidating, eh?

Perhaps you underestimate Kefka here, he's the god of all magic, he changed the very fabrication of the planet simply obtaining this power... He's like, Dragonball Z powerful. Kuja destroyed a planet, but Kefka was just toying around during FF6. His goal, wich he knew full well he coukd perform, was to erase existance. Kuja wanted Garland and Terra gone, and be done with it. Ultimecia had the power of Hein, another end all creator-god thing, but she has to split it with other sorceresses.

I'd put Ze/Zeromus in with Sephy. He never displays much power, but he's virtually invincible until the crystal is used on him. And he can control minds. That must be worth something.

You're also underestimating Mateus Palmecia. ALOT. He became the lord of hell, the master of all things evil, and controller of mighty fiends. He wasn't defeated by the weakest hero group. The whole point of their characters was that they became strong and powerful. They started weak and ended mighty.

Next is Xande and CoD. They're definantly in the 'weak' group. Xande was the apprentice of the ultimate sage. And he inherited his... Mortality. The Cloud of Darkness was just darkness. Nothing too special.

Next there's Yu-Yevon and Sin. Y-Y is just a powerful wizard. Nothing more. And sin is a lazer whale. Nothing impressive in comparison to gods, but enough to earn a place between Sephiroth's group and Xande's group along with Vayne and the Undying.

Thank you, sir. Thank you. It's been so long since I actually had a debate around here. I was beginning to think that my elitist services were...unneeded.

I think you overestimate Kefka. He was the god of magic in the FF6 universe, which doesn't seem to give him as much power as Kuja had in his Super Trance. He certainly isn't anywhere near as powerful as Ultimecia...Well, he probably outranks her in her Base Form, but once Time Compression begins to take affect, she becomes inconceivably powerful in terms of magic. Kefka, while a master of the arcane in his own right, has never displayed world-destroying powers on the level of either of those two. Yeah, he's a god, but...really, does that even mean anything in a JRPG anymore? The vast majority of villains either become gods or demi-gods, sometimes halfway through the game. The term "deity" just seems to have lost its meaning...In any case, the fact remains that Kefka hasn't displayed anything that would put him on Kuja/Ultimecia/ExDeath's tier.

You seem to be forgetting that, when the World of Balance was ravaged and became the World of Ruin, that was simply the result of the Warring Triad being thrown out of balance, so to speak. Kefka certainly didn't have the capacity to destroy the world at-will. What we saw was the fullest extent of the Warring Triad's destructive might. He didn't change the fabric of the planet by his own power, in other words. Besides, changing the fabric of the planet=/=destroying the planet. It's easier to rearrange stuff than it is to annihilate it. Kefka ravaged some landscapes and moved some continents around, but Kuja completely wiped out a planet. Yes, Kefka is powerful, but not that powerful. He sure as hell isn't Dragonball Z tier. I don't really think any of the FF villains (except perhaps Chaos) are Dragonball Z tier. Maybe Dragonball tier, but that's as far as I'll go.

Besides, towards the end of the game, Kefka expresses his desire to completely wipe out the entirety of existence. If that was really his goal, he would've destroyed the planet as soon as possible if he had the power to do so. I mean, before you fight him, I believe Kefka goes on a rampage by spamming Light of Judgment on various landscapes. He was pissed, or at least mad enough that he wasn't going to mess around any longer. Furthermore, I think, once Kefka realized that Terra's party outmatched him in "normal" combat, Kefka would've pulled out all the stops and simply destroyed the planet they stood on if what you say about him is true. Light of Judgment (which, again, only seems capable of wiping out cities at a time) appears to be the strongest attack Kefka has readily at his disposal.

Mmmmehhh. You'd be hard-pressed to find an RPG villain who can't control minds in some way. It's like the "god" thing. It happens so much that it really loses its effect, you know? Besides, Sephiroth seems to have been built up by Square as having an incredibly strong will. I don't think mind control could really be used against him. Though the fact that he can't be touched until the crystal is used on him does complicate things, you're correct in saying that Zeromus never really displays any significant power other than when he survived the Meteo spell...

Yeah, Mateus Palmecia did become the lord of hell, the master of all things evil, and controller of mighty fiends...and then he was owned by four teenagers who were completely normal in virtually every way. I think you might be overestimating the heroes in Final Fantasy II. Obviously, they became stronger over the course of their journey, but they became stronger in ordinary ways. They became more skilled with the weapons they used, "leveled up" their magic, etc. Firion, Maria, Guy, and Leon were not enhanced in any way, shape, or form. The only thing that they could do that humans in our own world can't seems to be the magical spells that they used, which pretty much every Final Fantasy party has access to in some way.

Look at it this way. The party in FF1 was empowered by the Crystals, and so was the party in FF3. FF4 had people who drew power from various sources (Cecil had the power of light, Kain was a dragoon, Rydia a powerful summoner, etc.), and FF6 saw people like Terra and Sabin who were proven to be superhuman in various ways. FF7 gave us Cloud, who was enhanced by Mako, and several other warriors who were not only empowered by Materia but also showed themselves to be at least marginally beyond human. The main characters in FF8 were enhanced by GFs, and FF9 at least had people like Zidane (the literal Angel of Death created to wipe out all life on the planet), Vivi, and the clearly-inhuman Amarant. The only parties comparable in strength to the FF2 party were the ones in FF10 and FF12.

Yeah, for all intents and purposes, you'd think the Emperor would be pretty strong. He did conquer hell. However, on that note, he was beaten by four ordinary, nothing-special teenagers. I mean, if I started practicing swordsmanship and bought myself a handgun, I would probably be able to become superior to Firion with hard work and enough years of practice. I don't doubt that they were all masters of combat, but they were normal masters of combat. Emperor Mateus couldn't have been that powerful if they beat him.

Yeah, I agree with you there. The party in FF3 seems pretty strong, but still, Xande and Cloud of Darkness never really did anything at all. Then again, I guess CoD did beat the FF3 party on one occasion, but...still. It just hasn't shown itself particularly strong. It was never even given a particularly intimidating title like "god of magic" or "god of darkness".

Well...Sin is big, but that's about it. Faster enemies like Sephiroth could simply evade whatever it threw at him and get inside of it to get to Y-Y.

In other words, my ranking system still stands...Well, now it's more "complete", but still...

God Tier:
Chaos

Upper Tier:
Trance Kuja
TC Ultimecia
Neo-ExDeath

Mid Tier:
Sephiroth
Kefka
Zeromus

Low Tier:
Xande/CoD
Emperor Mateus Palmecia
Vayne

Weak Tier:
Yu Yevon