Top 30 Final Fantasy Villains - #2



#2 - Kefka Palazzo
(Final Fantasy VI)

No, Kefka isn't number one. Please don't kill me. But even still, in a series as vast and varied as Final Fantasy, #2 is nothing to sneeze at, and Kefka does deserve all the accolades hurled his way.


Kefka is a general working for Emperor Gestahl. He was the prototype for the Magitek Knights, who underwent a process that gifted them with magic. However, as Kefka was the first, the process hadn’t been perfected yet, and his mind was twisted into that of an insane nihilist. To him, life is meaningless, and destruction is the only thing that gives his life validation. So he gleefully went about doing Gestahl’s dirty work as they planned to unearth the Warring Triad, three statues said to keep the world in balance and contain unlimited power. When they find it, however, Kefka just goes “You know what? I want it!” And betrays Gestahl, moves the statues out of alignment, and becomes a god, laying waste to the world and twisting it to his own whims- all because he thinks it’s fun.

Kefka has often been compared to the Joker, and for good reason. It goes beyond his clownlike exterior- the man is pointlessly cruel and loves every second of it. Just to give you a few examples. Before the story even starts, he has the protagonist (or closest thing to one) Terra under mind control, and the first thing he has her do is use her magic to incinerate 40 of his own soldiers just as a test drive. When the Empire is very effectively besieging Doma, and all they have to do to win is wait it out, Kefka just up and poisons the water supply to just kill everyone in it because he thinks they’re taking too long. It doesn’t stop when he achieves godhood, either. One of the first things he does is wipe the town of Mobliz off the face of the earth, but leave all the children alive to fend for themselves because he thought it’d be funny.

His dialogue is a treat as well, but admittedly that’s mostly thanks to the brilliant English localization by Ted Woolsey. Every word he says is dripping with malice and contempt for everything around him, and yet, he’s legitimately hilarious! Kefka is one of the most quotable villains in all of gaming, right up there with the likes of GLaDOS. Almost all of his scenes are just plain funny, such as his introduction where, while marching across the desert, he stops to force two of his underlings to wipe the sand off his boots. However, some of them, even while still chuckle-worthy, are pretty disturbing. One example that jumps to mind is when he is when he is massacring the Espers, he quips, “I oughta show you my Magicite collection sometime! You might see a few familiar faces!” For those who aren’t familiar with Final Fantasy VI, Magicite is the crystallized remains of Espers. He’s offering to show them the corpses of their friends and family. Yeah.

His love of destruction is easily his most memorable trait, but it gets surprisingly tragic if you think about it. As implied by the ending, and hammered in even more in his Dissidia appearances, Kefka is incapable of understanding or even comprehending things like love, or happiness, or the simple joys of living. As far as he is concerned, if it doesn’t last forever, it’s meaningless. This actually makes him a pretty effective foil for Terra, who, like Kefka, is emotionally stunted at the start of the game and can’t seem to figure out what this “love” thing is. But while Terra finds something that gives her life meaning, Kefka is left a grinning, empty shell of a man.

And yes, as many people are so keen to point out, Kefka does destroy the world, something that most villains in the series only dream of. And although I would argue Exdeath got just as far along in his ambitions, Kefka did it bigger and Kefka did it better. Also, I’d like to point out that as far as I know, he wasn’t planning to become a god from the very beginning. The opportunity presented itself and he figured, eh, why not? Though this does lead us to the one problem with it. While it is impressive that he causes the apocalypse halfway through the game, once that happens, he just sort of… drops out of the story. Through the entire second half, he’s sitting on his tower, firing lasers at random towns, not really doing much, and doesn’t make another appearance until the final battle.

However, said final battle is a doozy. After he reduces the world to a barren wasteland, the heroes regroup and confront him at his throne atop a tower made of the ruins of everything he destroyed. After ascending a series of monsters themed after the Divine Comedy, they eventually face Kefka himself in an impressive godlike form, all set to Dancing Mad, one of the best songs the series has ever given us. Amusingly, as many have pointed out, in his final form, the folds of his robe are very… unfortunately placed, and gives us the impression that Kefka really likes destroying things. Which, I’ll be honest, seems pretty in-character for him. And even if the final fight itself is a tad on the easy side, it’s still one heck of a finale. Heck, because he absorbed the power of the Triad, killing him also eliminates magic from the world permanently. Even in death, Kefka managed to screw everyone over one final time.

Kefka is held in high regard as one of the best villains not just in the series, but in gaming as a whole. His simple yet deep motivations, his bottomless cruelty, quotable lines, disarming design, and frightening power all propel him to the best part of the best game in the series. However, I would argue that, within the context of the series at least, there is one villain I think trumps him, of only slightly.

You may have figured out the identity #1 through process of elimination, but if you haven’t, here’s a hint: If Kefka is the Joker, get ready to meet the Riddler.