Is Kefka the greatest villain in Final Fantasy series

[Battlecry]

I kept on wondering that most FF Fans (putting aside Fanboys/Fangirls) that Kefka is the greatest villain in the series.

Mostly, their reasons are:

1. Because he enjoys killing people out for fun and shows no remorse on his victim.

1. Kefka is different from any other FF series since he is the only villain who don't see the world between White & Grey.

2. He is the only who succeeds on his goal (preferably destroying most of the world).

What are your thoughts?

 

[Galadín]

It depends on what one feels are the defining qualities of a villain really. I just so happen to think that a villain who talks too much or who reveals their "evil schemes" in a boat of gloating are a little pathetic and don't show real malice. It's the snake in grass, the unseen shadow that inspires in me the real essence of a villain as this shows a capacity for stability, yet despite this, they are willing to inflict pain on others, fully realising the impact of their actions.

Due to Kefka's spontaneous weirdness, I get the impression that although we are to understand that his craziness is a front, I still think that he is insane. He has no real control of his urges and hence his will to destroy the world merely for destruction's sake. There is no real evidence of premeditated evil there, just a bottomless need for some wild fulfillment. In the real world we would put those kind of people in prisons for the criminally insane, in my view, the real villains are those who are all too sane and have committed terrible acts.

In light of this I would nominate Ultimecia as the greatest villain and although she inevitably did fail in the end, she had already succeeded in a lot of ways in her own time.

 

[Battlecry]

It depends on what one feels are the defining qualities of a villain really. I just so happen to think that a villain who talks too much or who reveals their "evil schemes" in a boat of gloating are a little pathetic and don't show real malice. It's the snake in grass, the unseen shadow that inspires in me the real essence of a villain as this shows a capacity for stability, yet despite this, they are willing to inflict pain on others, fully realising the impact of their actions.

Due to Kefka's spontaneous weirdness, I get the impression that although we are to understand that his craziness is a front, I still think that he is insane. He has no real control of his urges and hence his will to destroy the world merely for destruction's sake. There is no real evidence of premeditated evil there, just a bottomless need for some wild fulfillment. In the real world we would put those kind of people in prisons for the criminally insane, in my view, the real villains are those who are all too sane and have committed terrible acts.

In light of this I would nominate Ultimecia as the greatest villain and although she inevitably did fail in the end, she had already succeeded in a lot of ways in her own time.

Exactly it comes down to our own opinion, but still when mentioning a VILLAIN most of the people will think "Man he just destroyed the world" that's how it is, though in my point of view a great villain (in fiction) is not only to be judge on his/her action but also his characterization. What was his reason? why he is doing all of these? these are some questions that leads some of he authors to give them a back story to develop a certain character but that doesn't mean even if you gave them things like that that doesn't make them good. Its still comes down on how you handle his character development this is where plot holes in a certain character can be discuss in regards with his characterization. Which brings me to Kefka! What does this character do in order to consider him the greatest villain in FF or to the whole RPG genre? Is it on how he kills people and takes no remorse out of it and enjoys seeing people die? By successfully damaging the world? Again that wasn't enough to make him a great villain by simply telling you why is Kefka doing this?? and most of the answers were "its because he is just pure evil and enjoys killing people". Another things is "Out of all the FF villains he is the one who succeed because he destroyed the planet" so what??It doesn't make him a great villain just by saying that. That was his goal.

Give a character a set of beliefs and idealogies and then put them in the situation where their beliefs can be challenge and expose as flawed then have them grow from that experience and develop a new beliefs and idealogies. This is how you make your character great not only a villain but a great character in general.

 

[Belazor et Britannia]

Exactly it comes down to our own opinion, but still when mentioning a VILLAIN most of the people will think "Man he just destroyed the world" [...]

I don't think that's necessarily true. Take Commander Shepard from Mass Effect for instance. At some point you will have to make a choice; do you kill a bunch of innocent people to save some important people, or do you let the important (yet still innocent) people die to save a lot more innocents? Regardless of what you choose, you will be seen as a villain by some.

The same can be said for real life; if at any point you face a choice where someone is going to be worse off, that person will look at you as a villain. That doesn't mean the action you took is a villainous act.

While destroying the world is certainly a more villainous act than choosing the lesser of two evils (ref. the Mass Effect example), what truly makes a villain is their reasoning. "He just likes killing people" doesn't make someone a good villain, it makes them a psychopath. What makes someone a good villain is the ability to manipulate people into doing what they otherwise wouldn't do, forcing them into a situation where they will have to make some difficult choices.

Sephiroth in FF7 was a good villain because he was able to manipulate Cloud into giving him the Black Materia, without needing direct interference or direct threats. IIRC, Kefka did nothing of the sort.

 

[Galadín]

Yes but to be fair Sephiroth's status as a villain is questionable. He was just as much of a tool as a lot of other people in Final Fantasy 7. If one really considers it, the real villain was Shinra who manipulated the entire situation.

In relation to villain's in general, there are few who are not pure psycotic (and I sorry, but post Niebilheim Sephiroth is messed up) so one would have to consider if they are actually responsible for their actions or if their infirm mind makes them incapable of understanding the full consequences of their actions.

Put it this way:
> Garland, Cloud of Darkness and Exdeath can only be viewed as monsters incapable of human emotion.
> Golbez wasn't really the villain.
> Kefka and Sephiroth were crazy.
> Kuja just needed love and was as much of a victim as the rest and as far as villainy goes he totally failed. He was lashing out at a world that had created him and the suffering he caused although terrible was more a result of a lack of guidance and moral compass in Kuja's life. So we might as well as put him in the Kefka/Sephiroth group.
> I don't really know that much about Seymour but what I've heard is that he was no great shakes and not the only one behind the attrocities. I also don't know anything about Final Fantasy 11.

After that we just have a bunch of monsters for Final Fantasy 13 so that pretty much leaves us with the Emperor Mateus and Ultimecia. Take your pick, they both did some pretty bad things and were more than aware of the evilness of their actions. Emperor Mateus is one hell of a schemer and Ultimecia's ambition alone is impressively evil. Maybe this is why they formed a duo in Dissidia.

 

[Belazor et Britannia]

Yes but to be fair Sephiroth's status as a villain is questionable. He was just as much of a tool as a lot of other people in Final Fantasy 7. If one really considers it, the real villain was Shinra who manipulated the entire situation.

Couldn't the "just a tool" statement also be applied to Shinra? From what I can recall, they didn't really drive all the events of the story forward. The impression I have of them just now (my recollection of the story being spotty, admittedly) is that they unleashed something they didn't know how to control, and got caught up in the maelstrom while trying to control it.

In relation to villain's in general, there are few who are not pure psycotic (and I sorry, but post Niebilheim Sephiroth is messed up) so one would have to consider if they are actually responsible for their actions or if their infirm mind makes them incapable of understanding the full consequences of their actions.

I agree that he's quite unstable after Nibelheim

That being said, I would say that the fact that his essence endured in the Lifestream after his death goes to show that he wasn't just a psychotic, but a strong-willed villain.

(Cynical arguments that AC was just milking the franchise notwithstanding )

 

[Galadín]

That fact that he endured in the Lifestream isn't an act of determined villainy, it's more of a reflection of his genetic make-up (i.e. Jenova).

 

[Shaissa]

I guess it depends what you think of him. Did he originally intend to destroy half the world or did he get angry and lose control?

Did he intend for all of it to happen or was the experiments done on him cause his brain to do it? I think as far as favorite goes, he is up there for me. But he destroyed the world, didn't really rule it, minus destroy stuff from time to time. I think a true villain has more of a plan than just destroy stuff.

But he was amazing and crazy

 

[Battlecry]

I guess it depends what you think of him. Did he originally intend to destroy half the world or did he get angry and lose control?

Did he intend for all of it to happen or was the experiments done on him cause his brain to do it? I think as far as favorite goes, he is up there for me. But he destroyed the world, didn't really rule it, minus destroy stuff from time to time. I think a true villain has more of a plan than just destroy stuff.

But he was amazing and crazy

That's the major problem of Kefka his entire actions were a big question marks, what was his real reason? And all we had is that he is just enjoying everything with no real depth on his characterization, a one dimensional character, a generic villain much to the like of Frieza and Cell of DBZ, His reason weren't that deep and complex. His actions of a villain were certainly unmatchable in FF series which put him on top but him as an overall villain he is the worst in all FF series.