Poll of the Day > Who is your favorite Final Fantasy villain (Part 1)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Who's the best villain?

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Out of these, probably Kefka...
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marche

HEHEHEH IM ORIGINAL

but honestly all non ff11/14 villains kinda suck

kam'lanaut, lady lilith, zenos, and emet-selch are all pretty sick

oh yeah, and also YOURSELF in 11

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agesboy posted...

marche

HEHEHEH IM ORIGINAL

but honestly all non ff11/14 villains kinda suck

kam'lanaut, lady lilith, zenos, and emet-selch are all pretty sick

Kefka is best villain... although since you mention ff11, while the Shadow Lord is kinda a sucky 'villain', he's super sympathetic and sad, certainly the villain with the most emotional weight behind him

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yeah but kam'lanaut and lilith are sexy

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kefka is good, but isn't actually as developed as he would be in a newer game, and is also just basically the joker. but still good.

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Interesting, I thought there would be more love for Sephiroth

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Kefka from this list. Emet Selch from beyond it.

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Yeah I'm going to do more lists, I can only fit 10 per poll lol

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VioletMassacre posted...

According to this poll they should've used Kefka in Smash, not Sephiroth.

While I voted for Kefka in this poll, I think Sephiroth was good for smash. And I think I prefer him in that game...
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Tifa for Smash!

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VioletMassacre posted...

I think it's unimaginative to use two characters from the same game when they have 15 games to choose from, if you're not counting sequels and spinoffs.

I don't think it was imaginative. I just think he was a good choice... That's all...
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I don't do favorites on people and characters. I just like all characters with good personalities and hate all characters with bad personalities. That means I hate every villain listed in the poll. Then again, Kuja did realize he was wrong and tried to redeem himself while the others in the list didn't, so I guess I'll have to go with Kuja. Sorry, I take personality very seriously.

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kefka doesn't even have character development lmfao

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Joe_Biden posted...

kefka doesn't even have character development lmfao

Characters don't have to develop to be good or interesting. He's a one-off extremely screwed up villain that is very hateable.

But yeah, like everyone else, Kefka. The early FF villains are quite bland and some of the later ones just sort of appear late in the game as boss fights but not as real villainous forces. Kefka is a good balance between being visible early on and being a monster without just being an animalistic evil creature.

I sort of also like Exdeath but he's definitely not the best villain. Gilgamesh is pretty fun/funny in 5 though.

Exdeath doesn't have much intrigue around him but his Advanced translation dialogue is pretty great.

VioletMassacre posted...

According to this poll they should've used Kefka in Smash, not Sephiroth.

mmm, there's a difference. Kefka is interesting and intriguing, Sephiroth has a sword

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Kefka is an entertaining villain but he doesn't explicitly do anything badass, but rather he memorably performs opportune acts of evil. That's hard to translate to Smash Bros.

ya, for Smash Bros. I think pretty much only Gilgamesh would be an entertaining alternate

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Lokarin posted...

ya, for Smash Bros. I think pretty much only Gilgamesh would be an entertaining alternate

Only if they include his banter or flavorful lines, which are a bit more intricate than the sounds typically made by Smash roster characters, afaik.

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I think it would be neat if like Kain was in Smash, but I'm probably biased since Dragoon is my favorite FF Job. >_>

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I voted for sephiroth because you chase him around all game and there is legit build up to the final fight, in ways there just isn't in say, 8 or 9.

Kefka is a good villain but he kinda just fucks off after the world of ruin until you fight him, which kinda kills it for me. It feels like fighting him before the world of ruin would be a better ending point perhaps. Though him somewhat succeeding in ruining the world is neat because a lot of villains don't get that far. I just feel like they wasted a lot of potential in the second half of the game.

Am I the only one voting for the Emperor?

While 2's system was definitely different and cumbersome, so many later FF recurring storytelling tropes were introduced in it.

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Nichtcrawler X posted...

Am I the only one voting for the Emperor?

While 2's system was definitely different and cumbersome, so many later FF recurring storytelling tropes were introduced in it.

Yeah I'm surprised there's not more votes for him. He freaking dies and takes over hell and comes back to life.

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argonautweakend posted...

Kefka is a good villain but he kinda just fucks off after the world of ruin until you fight him, which kinda kills it for me. It feels like fighting him before the world of ruin would be a better ending point perhaps. Though him somewhat succeeding in ruining the world is neat because a lot of villains don't get that far. I just feel like they wasted a lot of potential in the second half of the game.

Eh... It isn't that he outright disappears and does nothing. One of the first towns you can visit in the WoR sees this first-hand as Kefka hits it with one of his random bouts of "I hate everything, and you must die" beams. So it's more of the difference between hands-on present and being an over-bearing presence no one can truly interact with but knows is there. The problem is we only see one bout in the present, and one in a flashback in another town, because there is so much world, so many characters to pick up - most of whom have a stake in ending this conflict. So that is a case is disrupted pacing, telling the main plot to hold up a moment while a dozen or more side plots are resolved, in actually classic RPG fashion only turned up to eleven.

Compare to VII where Sephiroth shuts himself inside a cave, waiting for death in the form of a world-ending meteor that would appease his mostly-dead mother he'd barely known before siding with her because lol evil reasons, and your characters are spending half of the game competing with a corporate empire to acquire big materia so they don't do their own thing with it, force Cloud to face the truth about himself so he can rejoin the fight that Tifa or Cid could easily have led without him, and discover that Aeris/Aerith/Alice actually did the world a solid before dying (but oh look we have to beat up Sephiroth to make it work). "Oh, we need to do this thing we all had reason to do anyways, but how can we--? Oh, somehow this canon shot around the globe and knocked out the barrier, so we can go in once we're done with the mess at this reactor. Let's go."

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I voted for Garland because he's the most memorable for me. Kefka 2nd.

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I really expected Sephiroth to be rated higher. I'm impressed by you nerds.

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Within that list, Kefka. Overall, Emet-Selch from Final Fantasy XIV is probably my overall favorite now.

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One vote for the Emperor from FF2. Considering the limitations of the NES, having a villain who seemingly reacts to your actions instead of sitting in his castle and waiting for you is a big thing. The dude kills your allies, blows up towns friendly to you, sets traps for you, and generally makes a right dick of himself. Dissidia then doubles down on this by having him be one of the biggest bads.

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Kefka was fun

I liked Edea's style and theme song a lot though >_> (although not the BBEG, she was a protagonist for part of the game)

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Would be Kuja for me with Sephiroth as the runner up. Still havent played XIV though and i hear its quite good.

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XIV is very good. Especially Shadowbringers

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Stormblood could have been good, but nearly every single thing about it just . . . fell short. So much squandered potential, with a side of following a major character with less personality than drywall (and about as much charisma).

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Out of those sepheroth. Overall I would say ardyn.

Entity13 posted...

with a side of following a major character with less personality than drywall (and about as much charisma).

zenos is less of a person and more of a force of nature honestly and i love him for it

not every villain has to be emet

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Kefka sucks he's basically the Joker except crazier. He has no character development whatsoever.
Hell you don't even know WHY he's a crazy clown unless you talk to like one NPC who's out of the way who tells you he was a failed Magitek knight that went insane from the infusion process.

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imo villains don't need to have development or deepness though, they just need to be entertaining and progress the plot in an interesting direction

which kefka does by destroying the world

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I mean Stormblood isn't bad. It's just not as good as Heavensward or Shadowbringers.

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papercup posted...

Who's the best villain?

Dunno about the best, but Merrick Garland has been pretty lousy so far.

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SomeUsername529 posted...

Characters don't have to develop to be good or interesting. He's a one-off extremely screwed up villain that is very hateable.

But yeah, like everyone else, Kefka. The early FF villains are quite bland and some of the later ones just sort of appear late in the game as boss fights but not as real villainous forces. Kefka is a good balance between being visible early on and being a monster without just being an animalistic evil creature.

I sort of also like Exdeath but he's definitely not the best villain. Gilgamesh is pretty fun/funny in 5 though.

not really

he barely does anything different than any other villain, he is just a boring one sided character

exdeath is more interesting than him, and exdeath has even less screen time.

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Kefka was the best villain.
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Voted for Kefka, though I really like Exdeath's cartoonishly evil personality coupled with a surprising amount of competence... Exdeath is just as quotable as Kefka, imo.

Nichtcrawler X posted...

Am I the only one voting for the Emperor?

While 2's system was definitely different and cumbersome, so many later FF recurring storytelling tropes were introduced in it.

He's an awesome villain. I think if FF2 were made today he'd definitely be the best.

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"I, Garland, will knock you all down!!"
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GanonsSpirit posted...

"I, Garland, will knock you all down!!"

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Joe_Biden posted...

not really

he barely does anything different than any other villain, he is just a boring one sided character

exdeath is more interesting than him, and exdeath has even less screen time.

He's a villain, hence he acts villainously. Kefka is both memorable and makes people hate him without just being a violent creature like the Xenomorph. I'm not saying he's on the level of Hannibal Lecter or Iago or something but he's polling at nearly 50% for extremely obvious reasons.

SomeUsername529 posted...

He's a villain, hence he acts villainously. Kefka is both memorable and makes people hate him without just being a violent creature like the Xenomorph. I'm not saying he's on the level of Hannibal Lecter or Iago or something but he's polling at nearly 50% for extremely obvious reasons.

Kefka's defeat is oddly fitting as well, so here's my take on it "You all sound like pages from a self-help book!"

Every character has some hidden pain or guilt they've been holding on to, something that motivates them... something they've tried really hard to resolve but just couldn't. It wasn't until the world ended that they were able to get resolution... which is anti-thetical to Kefka's outlook

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