Current Events > Seriously what's the deal with the final boss of FFVI (spoilers)

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Not Kefka himself. The tower preceding Kefka.

Like I've heard rumors that the three-tiered tower thing was based off of some painting. Honestly looking at it all together it seems like such a weird esoteric amalgamation of concepts. Like something Bosch would paint, but not quite there.

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Here we go:


Working in some of the game's themes, I feel like the pipes and tubes and stuff are meant to evoke the effect Magitek has had on the world (and the Espers). I'm not sure what the giant at the bottom is meant to symbolize, though. Kinda looks like Garland/Chaos when I stare at it.

The second tier is a big mess of Kefka bodies and... okay, but what about the lady in the middle?

And the top tier might be Kefka just reclining, but what's the deal with the floating female head behind him?

Hm.

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The developers just wanted something that looked cool and crazy, idk

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The bottom is clearly Satan who is depicted in divine comedy as being stuck in a frozen lake from his waist down.

The middle is Purgatory where people are awaiting judgment.

The top is heaven.

And Kefka is above it all.

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I think it was the player's guide that suggested these were the amalgamated remains of the 3 Goddesses / Warring Triad (bottom was supposed to be Poltergeist, middle was supposed to be Goddess, top was supposed to be Doom), so that's what I always assumed; of course in hindsight that doesn't hold up at all.


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Yeah I just read the wiki entry on "Statue of the Gods" where the popular fan theory is that it's meant to represent the Divine Comedy specifically.

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What's the deal with any FF final boss, really?

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Yoshitaka Amano is pretty damn weird. That's why.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Yoshitaka Amano is pretty damn weird. That's why.

Nomura did that design, actually.

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CyricZ posted...

Nomura did that design, actually.

Seriously? They got the one guy weirder than Amano to do that?

Questionmarktarius posted...

Seriously? They got the one guy weirder than Amano to do that?

Amano did weird stylized concept art and very little of it actually made it into the game as drawn originally, mostly because of graphical limitations on consoles. He was a good artist but not really a good spriter. Especially not with the level of detail permissable on the nes.

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LordFarquad1312 posted...

What's the deal with any FF final boss, really?

Yeah I hear Necron catch a lot of flak but not a lot of the same critiques directed here. Kind of refreshing for once

CapnMuffin posted...

Yeah I hear Necron catch a lot of flak but not a lot of the same critiques directed here. Kind of refreshing for once

Oh narratively I would never denounce Kefka as the game's main villain. Honestly I find him a lot better than the tin tyrants of previous games or forces of nature that just want to consume everything. Kefka is the Joker, but thankfully enough he was the Joker before "being the Joker" was a particularly common thing in media.

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