Current Events > Why is kefka so beloved? Spoilers

(+) Yeah! (+)

Here I'll describe them both for da world

Sephiroth = Walking concept art
Kefka = Generic crazy doomsday villain who laughs while being generic crazy doomsday villain

Kefka is a step up from walking concept art. That's a pretty low bar. >.>

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WaterLink posted...

He believes he's a descendent of the Cetra and he wants to take the planet back for what he believes is his ancestry. He turns his back on those that raised and trained him after learning of how he was created.

I mean what do you want here? Do you think he'd be a better villain if he threw out cheesy one liners or something? What do you mean by "personality"? He feels betrayed and lied to and finds out (mistakenly) his ancestry and chooses to go forward to uphold what he thinks his lineage is.

To be fair, those are motivations not personality.

Unknown760 posted...

Kefka manage to destroy the world and came close ending humanity.

Veggeta X posted...

Context matters. It's clear to Kefka fans that the journey to how he became God of Magic doesn't matter, only that he got there.

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TheOtherMike posted...

Keep being wrong.

I'll keep being right, thank you very much.

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TheOtherMike posted...

These. Kefka is objectively the best FF villain.

That's a pretty bleak statement on the quality of the FF franchise.

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vigorm0rtis posted...

That's a pretty bleak statement on the quality of the FF franchise.

Kefka fanboys don't need much of a reason to think he's the best.

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WaterLink posted...

Way less nonsense, more of a matter of fact "I'm going to do what I believe in, stop me if you can" type of villain, as well as a reason behind it, because he was an experimental being by Hojo. Compared to just insanity and thirst for power like Kefka.

You do realize Kefka was a product of Magitek experiments, long before they rehashed the exact same plot point for Sephiroth, right?

Veggeta X posted...

I'll keep being right, thank you very much.

Clearly you won't, since you refuse to even try to explain how Kefka is "just another insane bad guy."

Kefka was hilarious

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TheOtherMike posted...

Clearly you won't, since you refuse to even try to explain how Kefka is "just another insane bad guy."

Like how you explained how he has the greatest characterization and personality?

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Lairen posted...

Ok: Sephiroth: Whats his personality? What the fuck does he do?

Sephiroth is almost a blank slate in FFVII but at release most of us put their own personality on. Then he showed up in Kingdom Hearts, had a few spoken lines during battle and then the whole FFVII extended series happened with Advent Children, Crisis Core, Before Crisis ect. ect.
And people have retroactively implanted that personality on him in OG FFVII. I mean if you go back and play FFVII now and put aside the fascination you felt when you first saw him and the added personality you get a boring character that has some of the silliest ways to enter and exist a room. My favorite being the pirouette he does after killing Aerith.


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Im getting modded for spoilers when the topic title says spoilers.

Im not surprised.

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Nibelheim Sephiroth felt like a pretty vanilla elite soldier archetype. Serious, pragmatic, but relatively approachable. not above levity and indulging his juniors.

But pre-villain Sephiroth doesnt really need to be anything more than that. Him learning about his special heritage and going postal is the the whole point

Like when you watch Falling Down with Michael Douglas, the finer details of his characterization before he steps out of that car arent deeply important. Its after he snaps and decides hes fucking had it that he becomes a character we want to watch.

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Im sure theyll come back with that its spoilers for sephiroth but the topic is going to be comparing him to other villains, hence spoilers, especially when comparing to sephy and weve spoiled all major plot points of sephiroth multiple times in this topic:

-He snaps and becomes a villain
-Thinks he is or is Cetra
-Burn Nibelheim down
-Kills Aeris
-Attempts to hit planet with Meteor but fails.

So are they just going to mod the hell out of said topic when directly comparing him with Sephy spoilers?


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But Sephiroth!

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Hojo is a better villain than Sephiroth

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Lairen posted...

Im sure theyll come back with that its spoilers for sephiroth but the topic is going to be comparing him to other villains, hence spoilers, especially when comparing to sephy and weve spoiled all major plot points of sephiroth multiple times in this topic:

-He snaps and becomes a villain
-Thinks he is or is Cetra
-Burn Nibelheim down
-Kills Aeris
-Attempts to hit planet with Meteor but fails.

So are they just going to mod the hell out of said topic when directly comparing him with Sephy spoilers?

I think its more concerning someone is actually marking your posts in this topic.

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Are we really going to dive into the context and details that made Sephiroth what he is and not Kefka?

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Clowns are dumb. Fucking Garland was a cooler villain.

Spoilers for FF Final bosses:

Kuja > Sephiroth > Ject > Golbez > Exdeath > Garland > the rest

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Kefka fans seem pretty hostile.

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Turbam posted...

Kefka fans seem pretty hostile.

They've turned into what Sephiroth fans used to be.

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Turbam posted...

Kefka fans seem pretty hostile.

I dunno why but they feel like they have to justify so hard why they think he's the best. It's okay to be a blind fanboy.

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And kefka fans state the reasons over and over with little rebuttal. Most ff villains suck and Kefka had a lot of personality and did a lot of things.

Thats it. Really Veggetas usually the butthurt one about people loving kefka....

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His personality was "be evil + laff". Not very compelling imo.

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FabIe posted...

His personality was "be evil + laff". Not very compelling imo.

Funny because its at least a personality versus Sephys non-personality...

Or few evil things versus a whole game where kefka does evil shit non stop....

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Lairen posted...

Funny because its at least a personality versus Sephys non-personality...

Or few evil things versus a whole game where kefka does evil shit non stop....

I'm not really a huge Sephiroth fan either but his whole deal was playing mental games with Cloud to break him down. He was also insane but in a calm "quiet kid in the back of the class" kind-of way. Also the villain doesn't need to be on the main character's asses the whole game to be a good villain. Not sure where that's coming from.

Regardless, Kuja's better than both of them by a lot.

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vigorm0rtis posted...

Even a rip-off Joker has more depth than most JRPG antagonists.

More character, not more depth. Kefka's as one dimensional as they come (most FF villains are). Being an insane clown made him stand out from the crowd a bit, as it gave him an entertaining combination of goofiness and ruthlessness.

Most "evil for the evils" villains aren't very goofy, and the ones that are tend to go so far in that direction that it's hard to take them seriously. Kefka strikes a good balance of being humorous yet still threatening. In my opinion, of course.

Edit: Agree Kuja's better

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Lairen posted...

Funny because its at least a personality versus Sephys non-personality...

Or few evil things versus a whole game where kefka does evil shit non stop....

Why do you always use the "What about Sephiroth" excuse to bail out Kefka?

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Lmao, Kuja? Kefka? Sephiroth?

All pair into comparison to the real best FF villain.
Garland, will knock them all down!!

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I want you to go into great details on what was so great about Kefka's personality. The same way you did about Sephiroth to make him suckass.

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Veggeta X posted...

I want you to go into great details on what was so great about Kefka's personality. The same way you did about Sephiroth to make him suckass.

Everyones listed the same reasons over and over. Youre just ignoring posts now....

If kuja is the reason ff9 is so slow and boring then hes the most evil villain easily...

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What was Kujas whole deal? Its been a long time since I played through IX so Ive kind of forgotten

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Lairen posted...

Everyones listed the same reasons over and over. Youre just ignoring posts now....

Be a dear and list those reasons again please.

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Veggeta X posted...

Be a dear and list those reasons again please.

-Personality: Evil clown. Talks plenty.
-Feats: Did a lot of stuff.

Im simplifying cause youre ignoring posts.

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I don't consider FF villains to be great. Among them, I would consider Kefka my favorite but he's by no mean a deep and compelling character.

He's a magic experiment driven insane that wants to end the world and have a laugh doing it. He has funny lines and manages to mostly accomplish his goal though a few twists that were uncommon at the time. The quirky miniboss that became a God and ruined the world. He's memorable.

Meanwhile Sephiroth, because we can't possibly have a Kefka topic that's not about Sephiroth, was (at least in his first appearance) all about looking cool but closer inspection made him look lame. You're actually running after Jenova all game so even his iconic moment with Aeris isn't actually his and he got beaten by a weakling SOLDIER failure in Nibelheim. Sure looks badass though.

Lairen posted...

-Personality: Evil clown. Talks plenty.
-Feats: Did a lot of stuff.

I mean that's enough to be the best?

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KyerWiz posted...

I don't consider FF villains to be great. Among them, I would consider Kefka my favorite but he's by no mean a deep and compelling character.

He's a magic experiment driven insane that wants to end the world and have a laugh doing it. He has funny lines and manages to mostly accomplish his goal though a few twists that were uncommon at the time. The quirky miniboss that became a God and ruined the world. He's memorable.

Meanwhile Sephiroth, because we can't possibly have a Kefka topic that's not about Sephiroth, was (at least in his first appearance) all about looking cool but closer inspection made him look lame. You're actually running after Jenova all game so even his iconic moment with Aeris isn't actually his and he got beaten by a weakling SOLDIER failure in Nibelheim. Sure looks badass though.

Cloud wasnt actually a weakling though. He could have made it into SOLDIER based on his ability alone. Its his mental that kept him from being promoted. Supposedly the people in charge of the SOLDIER program didnt think he would be able to mentally withstand the changes

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Veggeta X posted...

I mean that's enough to be the best?

When comparing FF villains:

Yes

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Kefka is tragic and complex in comparison to Terra and Celes which makes him an interesting character for sure. A great villain, though? I wouldn't say so.

Terra, Celes and Kefka were all experimental projects however Terra and Celes were able to break free from their programming and choose to do what is right even when faced with the reality that all their loved ones are either dead or can be dead. Kefka, on the other hand, was not able to break free even with all the powers he gained which including becoming the God of Magic. He couldn't see the light, so does that mean the experimental poisoning took over him so hard that even becoming God couldn't even save his mental state? OR at that point he became 100% self-aware and choose willingly to stay in that destructive and mental state?

These kind of analysis is what makes a character interesting. Not because he clown so he good.

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MaxEffingBemis posted...

Cloud wasnt actually a weakling though. He could have made it into SOLDIER based on his ability alone. Its his mental that kept him from being promoted. Supposedly the people in charge of the SOLDIER program didnt think he would be able to mentally withstand the changes

They weren't wrong tho

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I never even viewed Kefka as a clown. He had a painted face, but thought he was meant to be more flamboyant and a madman than anything. Dissidia was when they retconned him as a jester-type character.

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Hayame Zero posted...

I never even viewed Kefka as a clown. He had a painted face, but thought he was meant to be more flamboyant and a madman than anything. Dissidia was when they retconned him as a jester-type character.

Umm this was literally Kefka's original design

https://imgur.com/rtFxhSR

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MaxEffingBemis posted...

Cloud wasnt actually a weakling though. He could have made it into SOLDIER based on his ability alone. Its his mental that kept him from being promoted. Supposedly the people in charge of the SOLDIER program didnt think he would be able to mentally withstand the changes

I don't know if Cloud capabilities and circumstances concerning his SOLDIER status have been explained in more details since the original game. I would assume so.

Still, in-game, we saw the MASSIVE difference in power between Cloud and Sephiroth during the flashback. Hell, it could've been part of an "unreliable narrator" but everything in the game suggests that Sephiroth was basically the strongest dude ever and Cloud a nobody at this point.

Then, somehow, Cloud overpowered Sephiroth and threw him down the reactor while being stabbed through. That moment... I don't know if it's been "explained" since, but wow did that make laugh. Mama's boy suddenly lost all that menacing aura the game had tried so hard to give him.

Hayame Zero posted...

I never even viewed Kefka as a clown. He had a painted face, but thought he was meant to be more flamboyant and a madman than anything. Dissidia was when they retconned him as a jester-type character.

Dissidia always went by the original Amano art. Hence why Terra has Blonde hair and why Warrior of Light is a weird blue horny thing that never appears anywhere in the game.

Those are the originals that were drawn and everything else is a reduction of console limitations.

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He's always felt like Luca Blight with clown shoes to me. Not horrible, but Luca deserves his spotlight.

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