Final Fantasy VI and Kefka – the most nuanced and interesting villain in classical JRPGs

Digitally Downloaded: " I want to write about Kefka, because Kefka is the most memorable character from that particular game. He’s one of the most memorable villains in JRPG history, and that’s because he’s a surprisingly complex character, and one that’s well worth musing over to this day.

Most instantly noticeable about Kefka is that he’s “insane.” We’re fully meant to believe that his cackling laughter and outright, overtly psychopathic behaviour marks him out as someone dangerously unhinged. Someone who we need to hate and want to stop because, in simply existing, he poses a threat to all decent people around him. There’s a simple quote that summarises everything that is meant to motivate us about Kefka. After poisoning the water supply to a besieged castle, he giggles gleefully “Hee-hee... Nothing beats the sweet music of hundreds of voices screaming in unison! Uwee-hee-hee!”

But here’s the thing; Kefka is certainly psychopathic. He’s certainly a villain as far as the heroes are concerned. But he’s not “insane.” Not in the sense that people generally attribute that word. People generally associate “insanity” with a lack of rational thought or reason, but Kefka’s the precise opposite of that. He operates off a completely different moral core, but he’s incredibly rational. And that’s what makes him so fascinating. "

[FallenAngel1984]

That’s going a bit too far to say Kefka is one of the most complex villains in the industry

[Nebaku]

Kefka is the complete opposite of a nuanced character. He was a completely one dimensional character who was evil for the sake of being evil. Fortunately Square learned from this when it came time to make 7, and created Sephiroth, who took the best parts of Kefka's lunacy and all around unlikeability, but added in a huge backstory that shows how he got from point A to point B.

[PhantomS42]

Kefka is 100x better than Sephiroth could be any day of the week. Yes, Kefka was evil for the sake of being evil but that's what made him great. His motives were entirely selfish, he didn't give two sh**s about anyone and he would do anything he needed too to get his goals accomplished. Seph was nothing like that and the more you got to know him the more you realized he was just a big crybaby (amazing final boss fight though). I remember playing FF6 the first time and just being in complete disbelief that a villain could actually win which made the rest of the game and build up to the final fight even more meaningful. Not once did I feel like that with Seph, though it doesn't help that Cloud and his terrorist buddies were unlikable so there was no weight to anything but the combat, music, and minigames kept me going through because FF7 for all its flaws is still fun as hell to play. Even Caius from 13-2 was a much better villain than Seph. The 13 games have their wealth of issues but I remember clearly getting the hidden ending at 13-2 when after all your hard work and Caius just laughing stating that everything went according to his plan. It had weight to it.

[ameliabaz]

So I'm guessing you didn't play the part where Kefka's backstory is revealed to be quite tragic.

He wasn't just mad for the sake of being mad. He was a victim of the Empire and their not-yet-perfected experiments to create Magitek knights.

[goldwyncq]

That's not exactly what I would call a compelling backstory. And all of that came from an easily missable and optional NPC dialogue. Wow, so much depth!

[Pozzle]

Yeah, I think a lot of people just pass off Kefka as some sort of "mad clown" stereotype like the Joker, without really paying any attention to WHY he is the way he is. He isn't just some random guy who decided to don a crazy clown getup and kill people for fun. He was a regular man who had his mind completely shattered by the very Empire he was loyal to, because they were so intent on creating magic infused knights that they didn't even think of the consequences of experimenting on people with a process that hadn't been perfected yet. He was SUPPOSED to become a Sephiroth-type solider, but instead the experiments ruined his sanity and he ended up like...well....the mad clown you see in the game. His backstory is similar to Sephiroth's in that way. They were both experimented on by the military they were loyal to, and both became villains as a result of that meddling. And both Sephiroth and Kefka proved just how inhumane and uncaring the Empire/ShinRa was towards everybody, including their own people. In the end Kefka's shattered mind becomes so far removed from humanity that he doesn't even understand basic human emotions like hope or love. A mere 16 years before the game takes place, he was just a regular guy. But the cruelty of the Empire turned him into the mess you see in the game (which ends up biting the Empire in the ass). He is a very tragic character in that way.

So, yeah, he might not be as "nuanced" as some other villains in the FF series. But to say he has no backstory or reason to be evil is just plain wrong.

[on_line_forever]

Write about vagrant story and parasite eve 1 & 2

[goldwyncq]

Kefka and "nuanced" don't belong in the same sentence. You want "nuanced", look at Kuja, Vayne, and Ardyn.

[Hylian10]

One of the greatest villains in gaming history.

[bluefox755]

Loved the game, but though Kefka wasn't a bad villain by any measure, I thought he was incredibly overrated. A bit one note tbh.

[pasta_spice]

The thing I like about Kefka is that he is unashamedly evil in a way that many fictional stories shy away from. There's usually a sad backstory that tries to make you feel sorry for them or a scene where they show the villain isn't all bad. But not with Kefka. He is evil at the start of the game and evil at the end of the game. It's great.

[Melankolis]

I bet Hisoka was created based on this character.