I'm not gonna lie. As a final Fantasy fan, I was never impressed with Kefka from FF6. At first, I thought it was because had played FF7 first and Sephiroth left more of an impression on me.

But as I've grown older and given some thought into writing and what makes a good villain, I've come to realize something. It's not just that I thought Sephiroth was a better villain than Kefka.

It's that Kefka isn't very impressive to begin with. I'd actually go so far as to say that he's poorly written as a villain

Two notes before I go on.

One-It's been a while since I've played FF6, and I am NOT gonna play iot again just for research. I'll be relying on my own memories and the TVtropes FF6 recap.

Two-I have not scripted this. So pardon me if this get disjointed.

I could mention that I find Kefka to be a Joker rip-off. I've only recently realized that his role in the World of Balance can be compared to that of Darth Vader.

And he fails to emulate both.

My first point as to why Kefka is a poorly written villain-His status as a lackey is established WAY too early in the game.

Part of what made Darth Vader work so well in the original Star Wars Trilogy is that Emperor Palpatine took so long to be properly introduced. Yes, there was a scene in The Empire Strikes Back where the two were discussing what to do about Luke Skywalker. But the fact that Palpatine takes so long to truly appear means that when he DOES appear, we are hit with a horrifying realization-Darth Vader is just a cheap thug in the grand scheme of things.

When is Emperor Gestahl introduced in Final Fantasy 6?

In the same scene as Kefka.

Already, we are given the pecking order. Kefka is subordinate. He is a thug. A dangerously insane thug who grows increasingly stronger and chafes at being a thug, but a thug nonetheless.

And because he is a thug, he has no true connection to the heroes. Cyan should hate his guts because Kefka killed his family and hometown. Terra should hat and/or fear him for enslaving her from what is implied to be infancy.

But a thug has no agency. All those things he did, he did for the Empire, even if it was excessive.

Compare Sephiroth, whose first great act of villainy-the burning of Nibelheim-was in part an act of severance from Shinra. Tifa and Cloud hate Sephiroth and we can accept that, because it makes sense. Sephiroth ruined their lives in a statement that he would no longer be Shinra's thug.

There is a reason why the late Kentaro Miura pulled chapter 83 from subsequent prints of the Berserk manga-It gave away too much too quickly.

And the introduction of Emperor Gestahl and Kefka in the same scene does the same thing.

My second point-Kefka overall feels... tacked on.

To start with, we're going to have to start with Kefka's past...

Actually, according to a random NPC, Kefka was driven insane by the process that made him able to use magic.

That's it. That's his past.

If Final Fantasy 6 was a horror game, that might work. But it's not, so it doesn't.

One of the biggest themes of FF6 is "Mono no Aware" which can be summed up as the beauty of impermanence. Or, to put it another way 'All good things must come to an end, which is is part of what makes them good."

This theme plays out in the struggles our heroes face, both before and after Kefka nearly destroys the world. When our heroes face Kefka, they declare that they have found things to live for, while Kefka asserts that the impermanence of life robs ift of any inherent meaning.

Seems fitting, right? But to me, it begs the question.

How did Kekfa come to that assessment?

Part of the beauty of the Killing Joke is that we see a possible origin of the Joker. We see him lose his family, his chance for a normal life, and his mind. We see how he could conceivable come to the idea that life is just one sick joke.

That just makes it even more powerful when Batman straight up tells the Joker that he's the only one who thinks the joke is funny.

By contrast, Kefka gives us nothing to speculate, and thus he comes off not as someone who finds no meaning in life, but rather a sadist seeking to rationalize his sadism.

This is what I mean when I claim that Kefka gives me a tacked on feeling. his lack of past means that he makes a poor foil for the heroes.Instead of hope Vs. Hopelessness, it's just hope Vs. funzies.

And it's not just the ending confrontation that feels tacked on either. The more I think about it, the more that Kefka nearly destroying the world seems like the writers said "Crap, this is ending too early... um... I know!" Even Kefka seizing power seems more of an act of opportunism-if not dumb luck-than any actual skill or planning. I genuinely believe that Gestahl gaining the power of a god and becoming the new ruler would have worked just as well, if not better than Kefka doing so.

After all, Gestahl has proven that unlike the heroes, he places NO value on life. Only on obtaining what he wants.

Which leads me to my third point-Kefka does not strike me as a good foil to the heroes.

To me at least, some of the best villains-if not THE best-are the ones who serve as a dark mirror to the heroes. Someone the hero could have become if this or that hadn't happened.

Sephiroth is a Cloud Strife who couldn't cope with his life being a lie.

Tom Riddle is a Harry Potter who could never understand love.

Lex Luthor is a Superman who uses his gifts to help himself instead of others.

The Joker is a Batman who uses the random horrors of life as an excuse to hurt people rather than a reason to help people.

Kuja is a Zidane Tribal who could never escape Garland's grip or his own ego.

Frieza is both a Goku who never had to try and a Vegeta who never became a better person.

What is Kefka to the heroes of Final Fantasy 6? Just some guy who needs to be stopped.

If you think I'm saying that Final Fantasy 6 is a bad game, I'm not. It's a grwat game, with a great theme, one that needs to be told and appreciated.

I just wish it had a better villain in the end.