Final Fantasy 6 Lore ► Kefka's Origins Explained (The Path To Becoming A God)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2018
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When it comes to villains, there are none quite like Kefka from Final Fantasy VI. There's just so much about his character that's unique, from his maniacal laugh, through to his rather whimsical jester-outfit, his personality and devilish actions. It's safe to say that Final Fantasy 6 would have felt rather barren without Kefka.
This represents our second deep dive into the Origins of Final Fantasy 6, as we look at a different aspect of the story compared to our video on Terra. We'll look to understand more about Kefka's Origins, and how he came to be the way he was.
It means that as well as analysing his character, we'll be looking at his position within the Gestahlian Empire, his relationship with characters like Leo and Terra and of course, him becoming a God. We won't be looking into his character in Dissidia NT though, so sorry about that!
We hope you enjoy! Be sure to let us know which character you'd like us to focus on next!
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Throughout this video, we'll be talking about things like...
- Kefka Palazzo (Analysis)
- Kefka's laugh
- Kefka's final battle
- Kefka's final speech
- Kefka poisoning Doma
- Kefka killing Gestahl
- Kefka killing Leo
- Kefka becoming god
- kefka character analysis
- Kefka compared to the Joker - เกม
![[TH]FFWS SEA Spring 2024 Final](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TK2mu-8yBFU/mqdefault.jpg)
One of the villains that didn’t just threaten to destroy the world but he actual did it.
^This.
^This.
Probably one of the most successful villains in fictional media next to Thanos and Palpatine.
Kuja destroyed an entire dimension, though. Not just a planet, but an entire plane of existence.
@@Hero_of_Legend Kuja is underrated
To me, Kefka (in the first half) encompasses everything a Final Fantasy villain should be: a presence, and a force you constantly wrestle with. He makes himself known, and gets plenty of time for the player to get to know him. You're not just fighting a nebulous evil empire, but a powerful madman, who just so happens to be a leader within it--a bit like OG Darth Vader.
And what works so well about him, is his regular interactions with the party, and it never feels completely 1-sided. He successfully poisons Doma, usurps the emperor, casts doubt on Celes, and kills Leo. But also, you outplay him in Figaro, you stop his assault on Narshe, you break open the Magitek lab, see him imprisoned by Geshtal, and even when you seemingly play into his hands at the sealed gate, you see him get knocked back on his heels, by the sheer power before you. Unlike Sephiroth, who's interaction boils down to mostly just following after him, and seeing him do terrible, untouchable things, before you're finally ready to take him; or Golbez, who shows up to curb-stomp the party, and is constantly above you, until he's unceremoniously replaced by Zemus.
Kefka's interaction with the heroes mostly encompasses both sides out-thinking & outmaneuvering each other.
...and then the world ends, and he disappears from the game, until the final battle. Uuuuurgh....
I did love how in the second half of the game, yes, you don't run in to him until the final battle, but he is still everywhere. Man's all over the place, in the shadows, at all times. Loved that so much about it.
@@GimmehLewt I see that approach, and would have definitely liked him to have a bit more...presence in the second half.
You get the best of both worlds! LOL
That iconic laugh. “Roop-roop-roop-roop”
Thus, Sonic.exe was born
The only thing Kefka lost as a result of his experimentation was his conscience. Kefka is what you get when a naturally-ambitious person loses the ability to give a crap about right and wrong.
Basically where I am in my life right now lol
Ah yes, the good ol' "I like people who weren't captured" statement regarding prisoners of war. Google that. ;)
@@DanielMartinez-hb6th hahahahahahaha.... I missed that whole thing on c span . Thanks for recommending the look up
I think him dying in silence proved everything we needed to know how he felt, nothing.
Def me dying irl
True sadness is having completed this game hundreds of times, I can no longer be surprised by how good it is.
I dream about a true remake or a movie since im 13
You haven’t completed shit hundreds of times, except your ween.
I've never played it until now. Just met Gau! Instead of playing cyberpunk I'm immersed in this world instead
@@dylantortosa7678 lucky you :o
@@dylantortosa7678 Gua's storyline can be sad. The overall story of FF6 is my favorite. I hope you enjoy it.
I've seen a lot of people talking about how Kefka won by achieving his goals and creating the world of ruin... but my analysis of him is that deep down he was fighting an ideological battle that he completely lost. Kefka's mind was shattered, it was chaos in his head. As with most humans who are in chaos, he obsessed over control, and in his mind, he needed power to regain his lost sense of control (though as an orphan from such an early age, he may have never experienced much control to begin with). With that power he sought to project the chaos of his mind onto the world. His belief and desire was to prove that he wasn't wrong. Chaos would lead to despair, isolation, and a craving for control just like it had for him.
He had the power to destroy the world, but if he followed through and finished the world off, he would never witness the validation he so desperately craved. The people of the world continued to do the opposite of what he expected. He continually saw people banding together and relying on each other rather than despairing, isolating, and grasping for power and control. He had no choice but to either admit his ideological defeat, or double down and try to impose more despair and chaos. In the end, his godly power could never have given him the type of control he was looking for. Both figuratively and literally, he was defeated by humanity working together and supporting each other despite their individual weakness and individual inability to truly handle the despair and chaos of his projected mind.
As a therapist myself, I could write a full length paper on how Kefka so beautifully represents the psychological and behavioral tendencies of mankind... but this post is already way too long.
Id like to see that paper some day.
Seconded
Please do, some of us find this stuff deeply interesting.
I would enjoy this paper especially as someone who believes Kefka succeeded. Mainly in that the world after his defeat would have required a great deal of effort to survive in. Especially if the monsters he engineered survived or rather adapted. The heroes would all eventually die off in time but what about the human race as a whole, would they be able to survive in a post apocalyptic world? Whether Kefka failed or succeeded in his madness the outcome is still the dissolution of civilization, ruin of the planet and its occupation by bioengineered monsters with magic and technology that is now completely lost.
In fact if Kefka could have simply remained patient and disappeared into obscurity rather then being such a Narcissistic persona the cruelty of the world he created would have grinded people and their hope down especially if he resurfaced on occasion to dash their hope's by destroying whatever they attempted to build without his approval.
In the end, he still had the last laugh because without him around the memory of him would immortalize his madness as they struggled to survive in his new world. And should another Kefka be born then what or what if one of the heros fell into despair as time passed in such a ruined world? I'm curious what such survivor mentality and PTSD would achieve when starving people are attacked by roaming monsters.
The ending of the game was kind of a false interpretation. As such it really skews what the long term effects actually are.
Kefka has been suffering from betrayal and he has an ideology that killing a person was the most merciful thing to end their suffering. He has experienced this himself of course. So much grief and pain he felt let him know how to save the world. Kefka loved many people including Terra, Celes and other members of your team.
I always believed that Kefka died without saying anything because he just didn't care. He achieved great power and became a God and did his best to rid the world of everything....but, he ultimately failed... There is nothing more to say after that
I approve of this video.
Kefka Palazzo can you raise the encounter rate in the magitek factory please
I love you Kefka!!! You are my main in Dissidia NT
You sound far to agreeable to be Kefka. I smell a poser!!!! Lol
I'll get the shoe dusters
Requesting a patch to the comment system that will allow me to like something 15 consecutive times.
Now, Mad God, Monument to Nonexistence, Clown Prince of Destruction, and the first video game villain to actually *complete* his quest, tell me what you think of Exemplar characters.
What I mean is characters that *exemplify* features of a narrative universe. For example, Joker (post Killing Joke) exemplifies the hair's width between civilization and barbarism, Kefka exemplifies the futility of human endeavor in the face of his self destructive urge to war. Kratos is the exemplar of rage that shifts into madness, etc.
Like Kefka, Exemplars don't need to make sense as characters because, from a certain point of view, they arent. They are gods, and gods do not dabble in choices. Gods are eternal representations of the constants of a universe.
So what do you think of the archetype?
Not to mention his music. Dancing Mad is IMO the best piece of videogame soundtrack ever composed.
Kefka enjoys who he is and what he does. There's a cheerful method to his madness.
Agreed
The only reason I can think of as to why people like Dancing Mad is because it's the single longest track in the franchise. The problem with that, though, is that it doesn't at all feel like a single track. It's very much just four separate tracks that all happen to have the same name. If you play them consecutively one after another you see that they don't blend into each other what so ever. Bravely Second's Battle of Providence is much better if you're looking for a track composed of smaller pieces that actually blend into each other.
BlackKnightJack The "4 separate tracks" correspond to the 4 transformations of the final boss, and work as movements in a mini synphony, which Dancing Mad basically is. They are ment to work as stand alone loops AND parts of a whole.
They also delve into Kefka's twisted psyche, godly, disturbed, lunatic, frenetic, and the composer even takes his jolly jester theme and insane laughter from the game and blends them in, in a thrilling tortured way, showing the man still exists in the beast the heroes are facing. Not to mention that this music is composed with the extreme restrictions of the snes syntethizer which is used at its full potential in terms of sonorities, in a piece that basically evolves from classical music to heavy metal in the end.
No it's by far the best. The music depicts the depths of that character way better than any "one track minded" theme would .
I mean why would people prefer it just because it's long ? Makes no sense.
@@redjakOfficial
"The "4 separate tracks" correspond to the 4 transformations of the final boss, and work as movements in a mini synphony, which Dancing Mad basically is."
They're completely different tracks because, even though they're in a gauntlet, they're still very different bosses. I mean, I can understand why they don't blend together because the logistics of making that work in a video game are dissying at best. While it's certainly impressive for the time it is by no means impressive now.
" They are ment to work as stand alone loops AND parts of a whole."
Oh they certainly work as the former, but they most certainly don't work as the latter. That's why the praise the track receives is completely absurd. For all intents and purposes you can pick out your favorite movement. You can lay the tracks all down consecutively and concisely define where one ends and another begins. Battle of Providence, by contrast, has two movements and it's a bit more difficult to find the dividing point because there's an attempt to blend them together.
"They also delve into Kefka's twisted psyche, godly, disturbed, lunatic, frenetic"
I can understand how the piece can communicate Dante's journey from Hell to Purgatory to Heaven and finally to God, but how on earth are you getting aspects of Kefka's psyche out of this when the story doesn't even attempt to explore the concept of sadism? Let's not pretend Kefka's some complex villain here. He's a fantasy Joker who lends himself to quite a few memetic one-liners. That's his identity. For the time this was impressive since all of the antagonists before were some variation of the dark lord trope, but nowadays that's all Kefka's identity really boils down to.
"and the composer even takes his jolly jester theme and insane laughter from the game and blends them in, in a thrilling tortured way, showing the man still exists in the beast the heroes are facing."
All of this is in the final movement and the final movement alone. And even then the only aspect that's actually there is the laugh after he uses Forsaken. I'll admit the final movement seems like it's a blend of two different movements, but that's only an excuse for heaping praise on it alone. The other three are very much just standalone pieces that happen to share the same name.
"in a piece that basically evolves from classical music to heavy metal in the end."
I don't think you know what heavy metal is if you think the 4th movement is heavy metal.
"The music depicts the depths of that character way better than any "one track minded" theme would"
Again, Kefka is nowhere near the complex character you seem to think he is. He was impressive at the time, sure, and still persists as one of the higher tier Final Fantasy villains, but that's because the villains of most of the other games (especially the ones before 6) weren't very good characters in their own right. Their appeal (at least when it comes to the reason Exdeath appeals to me) is in how much of an obstacle they are.
"I mean why would people prefer it just because it's long ? Makes no sense."
Being long tricks idiots into thinking it's far grander than it really is. It tricks them into thinking there's some deeper meaning to it than there really is because, as a singular piece, there is no meaning other than a Divine Comedy allusion.
BlackKnightJack You know movements in a symphony can sound very different, right ? And they blend more than you seem to think they do, sharing the same base note (I don't know the correct term in english), finishing and starting with the same chord. And as with every synphony you can have a favourite movement or find one more dull. Being in 4 parts dosen't make any piece of art worth less.
I think Kefka's journey is as complex as could permit the limitations of an snes game, I mean did you watch the video we're commenting on ? He was once a young and talented officer from from the empire, who, twisted by some super soldier experiments with magicite, became a sadistic sociopath, driven by his will to obtain godly powers, which he does obtain, and finally rules over a world he mostly destroyed, which he ultimately regrets because the chaos he created, later made it dull, before being stopped by the returners on his floating continent. Far from the pseudo joker with a few one liners you describe. And Dancing Mad explores and expands those themes to the fullest in vivid depiction of what the villain is and feels at this time of the game.
His jester theme throughout the game definitly appears there (3rd movement in the organ solo flat, then sharp, 4th movement, as a comma, short before the more meleancholic part)
The heavy metal I'm refering to is the Iron Maiden type with its fast drums and intricate guitar solos. Watch Uematsu's band, the Black Mages, play their rendition of the 4th movement and you'll know exactly what I mean.
Oh, it is grand alright, an absolute tour-de-force at its time. And hearing it today, played by full orchestras, with choirs and organs, or even by the composer's metal band, you realize that it is more than an over rated boss fight music in 4 parts for a 16bit console. To many of us at least it's a masterpiece.
You have the right to dislike it or prefer others, but your reasonning, while educated, seems biased somehow.
To me, Final Fantasy VI is the quintessential Final Fantasy, and its villain really brought to home the bleak, apocalyptic narrative
When I think of him (or the Joker) I think a line from Thus Spoke Zarathustra
"Man's existence is uncanny and still without meaning; a jester can be his downfall"
do you remember the chapter where that quote appears?
I will continue the downfall of peoples existence :o]
yo, it's been 5 years, but still leaving this
I think the Fantasy Triad are FF 4 - FF 5 - FF 6
because it shows not only an epic story, but also shows loss, show villains who had a motive towards it all and, in a way, had a soul to themselves, the struggle of the villains themselves to be there, to exist and to thrive
Golbez was your typical dark mage, who actually had his mind out and in some way was a leader before, during and up to his death, not letting his soul be lost any more than what he had lost while being controlled, but the seed of hatred and darkness in his heart was there the whole time, just that his duality happened due to a major force in space, time and magic
Ex-Death was a powerful warlock who was the root of all evils in his own cause, originally wanting to destroy it all under the premise of nothing but himself as the only true existance and rule in the universe, he actually concreted it as well as Kefka in some way, but ultimately and ironically brought it all back together to its natural, true and balanced form with both his power and death... he brought the world to what it was and the Chosen by the Crystals were nothing else but shadows of the Heroes of Yore (which is not really developed further into, but you get to understand that Galuf, Kelgar and company were the true heroes to end it... to let others finish the job their age couldn't stop)
Kefka... is simple madness which sprout from chaos into bringing another cataclism which, indeed, began and ended with him. Not different from the previous two in the way to cast the truth he wanted to show and display, but the evolution of the other two villains to the peak... he's a monster from the beginning, but still a man (like Golbez and Zemus), to a reason beyond human comprehension if you can't understand the nihilism of life and death altogether (as Ex-Death)... but a true God in all of its forms, for his ego is beyond the reason of nihilism, to convey the Returners as sort of friends, enemies and his main attraction, interest and joy.... THAT's the peak of Kefka
this was all IMO and it's a lil rough, you may disagree and point out a lot of stuff and I'd be pretty much accepting it as a rather better truth, but all in all, those three games in order create a sort of story which is not connected by their world, but the descent to true madness, Kefka being the climax of it all... and Sephiroth being Taylor Swift on drugs
I disgree about what you said at the end. I think it was great that Kefka said absolutely nothing whilst he fell to pieces. He was outspoken and full of witty one liners throughout the entire game but upon faced with his own destruction, all he could do was wallow in silence reflecting on the countless atrocities he had commited and the fact his godhood was coming to end.
He didn't regret any of his decisions. He died knowing that his or any other existence ultimately didn't matter. He was keen on killing all life at this point, right?
Every time I play ff6 I always read Kefka's lines with Mark Hamill's joker voice.
Nah his Dissidia voice is the best
I usually imagine Tony Hale's joker voice personally xD.
It's just so good.
Holy fuck, now I cannot unhear it!
yes
@Strigorvious Dregorous Someone is unfamiliar with Emperor Joker.
I liked the no dialogue at his defeat. It more or less spoke volume in his death. He didn't "snap out" of his psychotic trance and become a cliche and realize the error of his ways. He didn't throw an enraged tantrum at losing. He didn't curse anyone for losing. He simply died. There's simple beauty in the nothing he said
For me, Kefka is the most interesting and evil main FF antagonist due to his madness. I love the way he is portrayed throughout the game, how his past defined him and how he just kills and destroys for the sake of his own satisfaction. I'd love to see more videos on characters of FF6! I have read so much of the backstory of the cast but still love listening to videos such as yours. :) Maybe do one about Terra, Edgar, Sabin, Shadow or Leo?
Thank you for commenting RukileinchenChan! You're in luck, as we actually covered Terra earlier in the year! (th-cam.com/video/fYAKUxGOj9g/w-d-xo.html) I'm sure we'll get onto more Final Fantasy VI characters in the near future xD ~Darryl
I felt he lacked the gravitas of Golbez or the fiends. He didn't have the cunning and gravity of Garland either.
@@jc.1191 Garland fell into his situation purely by chance. There was no cunning behind it. Golbez lost his gravitas when Rydia roasts him and he's just a hand. From there he never recovers. To cover my bases: Sephiroth wasn't a character in FF7, he was more of a plot device. Kuja is a great villain but he's a sympathetic type. Jecht isn't a villain and Seymour kinda sucks.
@@ZeroX7649 A time travel paradox is cunning. First time I had seen that in a game.
21:20
In Dissidia after being defeated and questioned by Terra, he pretty much states that nothing matters and that all things go away. He literally says the only meaning he can find is in destroying things before repeating the line and exploding himself. I always thought this was a proper way for him to be defeated and rationalize his final moments. A twisted, corrupted soul who you can only really pity and feel sorry for. There was no getting him back from his own madness.
He sounded sad as he said it. Like he himself was a defeated man mentally.
Terra Even theorizes after his death that "You destroy to fill your broken heart"
Kefka and Ultimecia were two people who earned their positions as Final Bosses.
Ultimecia grew up in a world that hated her for being born, causing her to grow bitter and nearly compress time becoming a goddess.
Kefka was half-mad and still made his way up in the empire ranks, he had setbacks of course but still managed to literally become a God.
@Chris Grant actually sephiroth a
is a true god he can come back
Yes, the game, to me, feels almost as much Kefka's journey as it is the Returners. As the heroes progress further, so does Kefka. He didn't start at the top or as some long-ago sealed away evil like ExDeath or Zemus, he was human, and had his own obstacles he had to overcome with his careful scheming and cunning to reach the level of power he eventually acquired once it was finally within his reach. But his godhood and success would also be his downfall. While the Returners were able to find reason to keep on living, Kefka did not. Instead, he had accomplished everything and had nothing left to achieve, and he grew bored, zapping towns and playing god like a sadistic child breaking his toys to amuse himself, and eventually decided to simply annihilate it all because it was the only thing someone as empty and devoid of an appreciation for life can think is left to do. He could have snuffed them out any time, but chose to let them come to him, perhaps to give himself one final thrill of breaking their hopes with his decided endgame.
His final words "The end draws near..." followed by a closeup of his face laughing and the sound of him laughing like a lunatic, shows Kefka is excited about observing and even experiencing the destruction of everything, including himself, finding it one last thing he can be amused by.
All in all, Kefka is, to me the greatest and most timeless of Square's villains, and I love this video for its in depth analysis of him.
@@michaeljames6737 Actually if you follow the end through Advent Children: Sephiroth is just a ghost using Jenova cells as his medium..... Ultimecia and Golbez literally harnessed a controlled mastery over time and space while Kefka and Kuja actually destroyed worlds building their own unique power types...
If anything Sephiroth pales in comparison to them. He is a strong fighter but doesn't mean much if he has no body..... no meteor and no Jenova
For that final speech you wanted, the last movement of Dancing Mad delivers.
I wanted to add a neat little fact I learned from Nobuo Uematsu regarding Kefka:
There are elements of childlike playfulness in Kefka’s Theme due to the fact that he never actually had a proper childhood. The experimentation of magic upon Kefka rendered his mental state back to that of a child. Hence why Uematsu added the marimbas and xylophone to his theme.
I thought it was an interesting concept. This aside, the harsh tones of the violins signify the upcoming chaos Kefka is going through. Uematsu told me he felt sorry for Kefka. Why? Because the experimentation and failure of the experiment wasn’t kefka’s fault. He was once a normal soldier just fulfilling his duty, but he became another victim under Gestahl’s rule.
Gestahl was the real monster to me he unleashed kefka on the world
Kefka is a really unique villain and unforgettable. I would like to see an origin video for Seifer from 8, Shadow from 6 or Reno from 7.
Unique? He's nothing but a fantasy Joker.
@giveagoodsong Not really. He certainly has a lot of memetic one-liners, but apart from that there's hardly anything that stands out about his character.
@@blackknightjack3850 idk man he sounds really interesting from this video
This dude right here is the most badass. He murdered millions, destroyed a world, killed the emperor, turned hundreds of espers into magicite, and used Terra as a tool.
Kefka is the ultimate villain in the entire Final Fantasy series.
Hes Just matched against complete idiots more gullable than 4 year olds. He isnt clever, everyone else is just legaly retarded... Every cutscene and Action He does and gets away With it, its Just Like a Horror movie: "No You idiots, dont do that its obvious Hes going to- great Job now you're dead!" Agravateing. Couldnt Take it after about half of the game and Stopped playing. Didnt even make it to the kefka destroys the world Bit.
So is OoT for the Zelda Franchise, despite its obvious flaws and its arguably better sequels. So is half life 1 or 2 for ego shooters, cause they started it. NOSTALGIA is a huge part for these so called "critics" if you look at the games from a technical stand point or how refined the turn based combat or level up system is, ff6 is arguably probably not even in the top 3 of the series. and the story is good, but so are pretty much all final fantasies and its a matter of taste. charakter development is in all the games as well. its just something they all seem to do right starting from ff4
TL;DR: Nostalgia is strong, the things that are arguable from a technical stand point a lot of other games do better and everything that is up to taste is that: up to personal preference
so true
Indeed!
He was my favorite video game villain. His back story, his very full multi-dimensional personality, his maniacal laugh- all perfect. This game was my absolute favorite in my teenage years, and Kefka's personality certainly contributed to that. As an aside, being a fan of classical music- especially Bach- FFVI's soundtrack is still to this day one of my all-time favorites.
what backstory all we know us that hes an experiment thats it
I remember that one of the espers in the game mentioned that coming in the human world made them go berzerk. What if Kefka was under the same influence? Maybe he would have become the nicest guy ever, had he gone in the espers' world...
I've thought a lot about Kefka as a villain, as a dynasty, and history.
Antagonist? Hmmm... Deuterogonist sounds more fitting; he may of set out to destroy everything and everyone who got in his way, but he also aided his enemies a fuckton. Ultimately, I compare Kefka Palazzo more to Needles Kane (the driver of Sweet Tooth in the Twisted Metal games), than I do The Joker; it's a more fitting comparison.
His laugh will always be burned into my memory. He was truely evil and i hated him for his complete disregard for life. It wasn't until I replated it when I was older that I saw past the hate to how great a villian he was.
One thing that stands out to me about Kefka's story is how arbitrary it is that he became the villain, that a mishap with his infusion with magical powers caused him to become insane. With that story, it could have just as easily turned out that Celes could be the villain and Kefka could be one of the heroes.
I honestly appreciate the original Dissidia's shade impulse cutscenes for Kefka. They give him the kind of pathos that the final battle of his home game lacked.
He was doing all this because the process of growing up an orphan, having to break his body and mind just to mean something in the eyes of others, made him feel there was nothing to life except what was gained in ruining the lives of others. He was trying to give his OWN suffering meaning, but when the party reveals that they found the seeds of their own happiness in what was meant to be a situation where ONLY Kefka was happy, he began to lose the comfort of his internal justifications. And so, having been emotionally stunted by his traumas, he lashed out with an almighty tantrum.
My favorite villain of all time. But I have a bit of an alternate interpretation of him from the joker-style "crazy clown" that everyone else sees.
I think the idea that Kefka would intentionally represent himself as a clown goes completely against who he is as a character. He's supremely self-important. He doesn't consider himself a joke. He considers life and existence to be a joke. He doesn't cling to anything except power and destruction. Loss is a core overarching theme of the whole story, and Kefka sees loss as merely a universal truth that he is forcing everyone to see as he does. Thus Kefka sees himself as the smartest, most important and impressive person in the world, because he's the only one who embraces this ultimate truth. He's not the joke. Everything else is.
To reflect this self-importance, I think the clothing and make-up are actually meant to be a caricature of late medieval aristocratic court fashion. He desperately wants to look like the most decorated, important, impressive person in the room. And he overdoes this aesthetic so much that he ends up making himself look like a clown. And this wouldn't be too hard to do. Go ahead and Google "French Aristocrat Makeup" and just put a little exaggeration on the images you immediately see. Some only need a little bit to start looking pretty close to Kefka. And big, colorful clothing was a universal thing for aristocratic fashion, because dyes were expensive, so showing them off was a display of status and big... doesn't need explanation. It wasn't just a court jester thing.
And this interpretation works beautifully with the game's themes, which is one of the reasons FF6 is one of my fav games of all time.
Because structurally, FF6 is incredibly different from most stories. Most stories are villain-motivated. The core plot is usually villain trying to do bad thing, making the villain's motivations the most important to develop in the story. And the most important aspect of the characters that's usually developed is why their special relationship to the villain or their special powers makes them uniquely capable of stopping them. Not so in FF6.
FF6 focuses almost entirely on each character's emotional dilemmas from their own backstories. The whole returners plot line is just a vehicle for moving the cast around the world. The vast majority of time and energy is spent on the individual character arcs. Kefka's rise to power, followed by the world of ruin, serve as a setting in which those character arcs take place that reflects the internal struggle they all have in common -- finding motivation and meaning in a world where the only certainty is loss. And Kefka's rise to power more importantly reflects the manifestation of the protagonist cast's existential angsts. The world is destroyed at about the same time as each among the protagonist cast has had their personal dilemmas introduced, and the core characters are at their lowest points. Then in the world of ruin, each has their own personal journey to overcome their dilemmas and find life-affirmation. It's only after they've all done this that they can defeat the avatar of nihilism and heal the world as they healed themselves.
And to this end, Kefka is absolute genius, because the writers leaned so very hard into Kefka NOT being a full-fledged character. His backstory is almost nothing. He was the first magitek infusion experiment, and it made him crazy. That's it. There's nothing else to say. Because the story isn't about Kefka as a character. It's about defeating within oneself the defeat and despair that Kefka represents. So to that end, the most important thing about Kefka is his characterization. His entire character is his characterization. So the writers went whole ham on making that characterization as over the top as possible. Even to the point that, in such a masterstroke of inspired service to the core message of the story, Kefka makes himself, the avatar of nihilism, look like a clown in the process of trying to prove that it's the rest of existence that's a joke, not him.
My favorite villain of all time. No contest.
I feel like Kefka went out laughing Joker style in his final moment.
Kefka is such an amazign Villain, even though Sephiroth is still my favorite.
And then there was Ardyn, who not only was able to destroy the line of the Lucii, but also was able to achieve his "peace" of finally being able to die. Crazy xD
Turns out that he was a pawn to Bahamut however. Bahamut himself sacrificing the line of Lucius just to be rid of the Starscourge that Ardyn had all inside him.
@@astrealbrizbee9815 15 had a decent story but other then that it was garbage.
Ardyn also terrorized the world for 10 years and even after his defeat, everything was broken. Both the Empire and the Kingdom of Lucis laid in ruins, with no ruler left to guide the people.
Hope, all of you know the Tetsuya-FF15-Square Enix Storyline, it Doesn't seems that way.
When I was a kid, my parents would always rent me FF3 for the SNES from movie/video game rental places. Kefka is by far my favorite villain and a childhood favorite.
Make a damn remake square!!!
You damn right.
They'd only screw it up, I fear. Maybe SquareSOFT could have done it, but not SquareEnix.
Not a dang chibi version like ff3
@@simoxeh I actually liked the final fantasy 3 remake it was pretty good
Amen
This was excellently done. You should definitely do one on Clyde Arrowny / Shadow from FF6.
Definatly.
I played once just to get his flashbacks. Pain in the butt.
However, worth seeing.
YES! Shadow's story please!
That's really his last name? "and then I took an arrow in the ny?"
FF6 is my all time favorite RPG, and, hence, my favorite FF of all time (although the 7 remake is currently impressing me greatly). I don’t remember Shadow’s name being Clyde Arrowny. You are a true fan!
@@hagamapama Except FF6 preceed that by like 20 years.
"Son of a submariner!"
...Does Kefka even know what a submarine is?
I would guess.
They did have that underwater helmet. Maybe other technology. They were pretty advanced.
The Joke was the Castle can sink under the sand grounds.
In a world with walking magical mechs and other technology, I'm sure the idea wouldn't be out of place
Sooo freaking glad you guys did this. He's my favorite villian in final Fantasy. And I always enjoy discussions over him whether it's blogs, threads, or TH-cam videos like this one
Just came across your page, really enjoyed this video. Kefka has always been a favorite villain of mine and 6 has always been my favorite in the series. Would love to see an Origins over Shadow/Relm
Cecil Harvey should be your next character.
YES! Cecil was definitely my favorite FF character.
Yes cecil and kain please!
Loved his character in Dissidia. His style of villainy heavily contrasted with the other bleaker and melodramatic villains, making them all the better for it.
3:06
skip the long intro
It feels like an absolute age since we did our last villain and it was great fun delving into the backstory of Kefka! Hopefully you guys enjoy the video! Let us know who you want to see next :) ~Darryl/Lauren
Noel Kreiss or Cecil Harvey plz
Caius is a cool charter. He is very complexé
FINALLY I WAS WONDERING WHEN YOU WOULD LISTEN TO ME!!!!!!!!
Now can you do a Zack Fair origin?
And thanks for the origin video.
I still say that I would love to see Ramza in a future video from FF tactics. Even though it is not a numbered game it is still one of my favorites
I freaked the hell
out on final fantasy tactics ending. It was crazy.
I’m so in love with this game and this villain. He’s such a fun and yet terrifying villain, and there is an actual philosophy to his way of thinking.
If I had to name another villain who’s pretty interesting, fun and ultimately very threatening, Ardyn is the man. Kuja too. It’s also interesting to note all 3 of these villains succeed in reaching their goals.
Fuck Thanos, these 3 villains are where it’s at.
what is kefkas motivations to destroy the world?
@@Nekro9000 Just for the lol
@ooker Gooker who are your first two?
@ooker Gooker I know a bit about Griffith and he is pretty sick but I know nothing about hxh. What's it actually about?
@ooker Gooker with quarantine and all I have a ton of free time so I probably will. I've heard loads of people talk about it so I'm curious
A few things to think about:
Would it be better to think that Kefka was "orphaned on purpose" or if it were just complete happenstance? I know the idea can seem cliche at times, but back then I think it was fairly less common than it is now.
I've often thought, given the fact that he was already a natural warrior, if perhaps the augmentation didn't actually make him insane, but instead simply magnified what was already there, sort of unleashing it and setting it free. In the narrative, all we ever hear about Kefka's augmentation is anecdotal, from the perspective of others who knew him both before and after the experiment. He never comes out himself and says anything like "I used to be normal like you, [Celes]" or "I remember when you and I were the same, [Leo]". In fact, his entire arc seems to be built around gradually becoming more of "himself". I've also wondered about his relationship with the Emperor; while the Emperor might view himself as a benevolent father figure to Kefka, hence keeping him around and favoring him in spite of his madness, Kefka might view the Emperor as a repressive and abusive father figure. Personally, I find it a bit difficult to believe that Kefka ever had any real respect for Leo. I think it was more of what I refer to as a "confident jealousy"; that is to say, while a person may feel secure in himself, he may still also see traits in another person that he wishes he had so that he could better take advantage of them. In other words, while Kefka despises Leo's nobility, he is inspired by his stability, and at the very least he knows it is something he lacks while realizing he must compensate for lacking it.
Anyone ever notice how the armor Terra/Tina is riding in the original artwork has one of those "Speck" machines that the Air Force boss launches in the battle against it? Just something I've always noticed that no one ever seems to talk about. XD
In retrospect I think that maybe Kefka, at first, didn't have much faith in the plot to let the Returners "borrow" Tina/Terra. This conclusion comes from the fact that he is legitimately complaining about the Emperor's orders while journeying to Figaro. This interpretation has so many interesting implications. I often thought that, if they ever wanted to make an After Years style sequel for VI, the best thing to do would be to present an entirely alternate timeline where the Returners never got Terra/Tina in the first place. That would be a better way to re-introduce magic than just having it somehow randomly come back after disappearing, anyway.
One interpretation I have always had, and I'm not sure if it's just me reading too much into things... but I always felt that Kefka's "Light of Judgment" was a very tongue in cheek idea. In essence, I think a quote from Evil Dead, of all things, really applies to Kefka: "Good? Bad? I'm the guy with the gun." Kefka's "gun" being the light. I think he called it "Light of Judgment" as a joke, and it was really just his excuse for causing more destruction. After all, when you have the power to just obliterate everything, and you are a nihilist, but you want to still keep it fun and interesting, you have to make up little pretend rules like that. My point is, it's just more fun for him to make people think they're being punished than to simply just blow it all up.
Likewise, it's this same mentality that led him to allowing the Returners to live and reassemble. Ultimately, he is what I call a "positive nihilist". He realizes the inevitability of entropy, but he also acknowledges the fact that the only purpose that can ever exist is the purpose we choose to give our lives and experiences. So, basically, he had this sort of soft spot for little situations involving tragedy, revenge, and other archetypal paradigms. Ultimately, though, by the time of the denouement, he became bored of it all, and finally succumbed to a more "absolute nihilism". In other words, "Okay, I've had my fun, this is getting old, time to break all these silly toys and burn it all."
I somewhat agree with the point you made about how the Kefka arc ultimately ends with a whimper instead of a bang. However, I reconcile it by viewing it as one of those "open ended" conclusions, where we are left to draw our own meaning from the culmination of events. I imagine some people feel that Kefka finally broke down and collapsed under the weight of his failure, while others feel that he embraced the outcome as the ultimate culmination of his nihilistic bent. Me, personally, I see it as a point of acceptance; a man who truly believes in nothing but the inevitable end of everything would ultimately accept his own demise as another iteration of the fact that all things must end.
Kefka is a character I have been invested in studying for literally more than half of my life now. I love this video! Heh, "The ignominy!" Very brilliant compilation of important information about the character, very well presented. Extra props for using Amano art that is rarely referenced, especially his original design for Palazzo's palazzo! I always like the melting appearance he gave it, reminds me of the original art of Chaos with the dusts of desolation sifting through his fingers. So, thanks for this! It was a real treat and, even if no one ever reads this, I thoroughly enjoyed gushing over one of my favorite character studies. :D
I think the same thing. But i believe that his art design as a Jester, symbolizes that his external expression of emotion isn't necessary the same as the real one. Probably his orphan childhood could be why he is always alone, he doesn't have friends or any attachment to other people. Its more evident in the tower where a 'group of friends' confront him alone.
There is a lot of things pointing that Kefka story is of denial to avoid emotional pain in oppose to the protagonists, and they helped each other in the way.
Some people say that he is just mad, but that negates all the effort put into the writing, and the symbolism is so strong that it cant be just a simple character.
This video is soo great! It explains perfectly the story of one of my favourite characters, not only in gaming, but in fiction in general, Kefka is the epidemy of a great villain. For his personality and achievements I've always thought of him as a mix between the Joker and Thanos
Get this: Kefka let them win after having achieved his goal of destroying everything, and keeping with his love of destroying everything. He knew that he had to be next to be destroyed.
Ok. With this headcanon, Kefka is the most sucessful villain EVER CREATED.
He also destoryed the use of magic to so even when he DIED he still wins
@@Kupomasters57 that would be a grand scheme, having him dead, means there will be no more magic, and since there are monsters running around without magic to fight off, it would be a lot harder for the survivors to fight off, slowly suffering through countless deaths. That would probably what Kefka wanted this whole time, letting him have the last laugh as the world slowly suffers.
I freaking love these videos. I hope they keep coming. I'd love to hear about Zack Fair
Kefka comes off as a nihilistic savior when you look at his dialogue closely. He appears to despair in how dreams, hope, and life make people suffer--makes him suffer--and wants to "save" everyone from them. In the dialogue before the final battle, I see suggestions that he is willing to exist forever alone in the void in order to save everyone from the suffering of impermanence.
Yes he does. Killing a person is the most merciful thing to Kefka.
The reaper is one step behind me
~Shadow
Que Shadow's theme music
Interestingly enough we actually do know what his final lines of dialogue would be. The song Dancing Mad was actually meant to tell the story of his final moments. The song portrays his final descent into madness. It starts off with his mind becoming further fractured as is heard by the odd almost off putting chord progression. Then the second part shows his self righteous nature and his absolute conviction in his ideology. This is followed by the third and final section of the song where you can hear that his mind is now fully broken. It portrays his realization that he will inevitably lose this confrontation and therefore his life but even in these last moments he has decided that he will at the very least cause as much misery as possible.
I can't remember where the interview is but I got this from an old interview with Uematsu. I guess the tldr of this is that even in his final moments all he wanted was to destroy. I love it because it remains so true to the character that they developed throughout the story.
Kefka's not only the best final fantasy character, but one of the best villains in all video games
Agreed
He is the best
Vain, hateful, megalomaniacal... Yeah this guy is a definite villain :-)
The best villain in the best video game of all time. I concur.
Not even remotely. He's literally just a fantasy Joker. I'll grant you he's a very entertaining villain, but as a character there's little there other than an entertaining sense of sadism that lends itself to quite a few memetic one liners. You want a character in the franchise that's actually good you look to Kuja.
Was Kefka always a clown, or did that happen post experiment.
I think he became a clown after the experiment
The clown is a lame interpretation.
Did anyone see him that way while pkaying on SNES? I sure didn't.
But maybe that explains his hate.
I only mean I do not see him as a Joker clone wannabe. The fact that both laugh a lot do not make them the same.
@@CurlyFromTheSwirly Yeah, but Kefkas Character has a Lot more of Quality, and a bizzare deepth. Joker is just good in a few DC Storys, Dark Knight is the Clichee Example. I like the Joker a lot, but Kefka is a Overpowered, Sick, Soziopathic Nihilist, who destroyed basically the whole World, and reveives as a Supreme Being. Basically Joker on Crack, but no, even that would be an Insult for Kefka.
@@Delicashilous, lol 👍
I came here to consume more Kefka media after participating in a Kefka battle in FFXIV.
As a huge final Fantasy 6 Fan, That really made my day. Much like your videos make my day. Cheers!
Yo really cool deep dive into the lore! Sooo glad I stumbled across your channel whilst going down the TH-cam rabbit hole! Really good stuff.
Thanks Gotcha Son, so glad to hear you enjoyed the video! :)
Great video. Kafka has always been my favorite villain in the franchise. He is the ultimate bad guy.
Kefka: "The soldiers who got captured aren't heroes. I like soldiers who weren't captured."
This is a trump quote!!
@@jawhoneytv Thus "Kefka" :) , real talk tho. I did recognize that quote, but it wasn't until i saw your comment that i realized from where.
That sounds like stalin. His son got captured and didn't save him, saying that "if he got captured, hes too weak in my eyes"
Don't do Kefka dirty like this
@@DKS3A ig Stalin and Trump has a lot in common 🙃
Thank you guys for putting your all into these vids there amazing.keep up the great work 😊👍
Thanks for your hard work. You guys always kill it with these. I'd love to see Cecil/Kain/Golbez origins.
Thanks J Marx :) ~Darryl
Life...Dreams...Hope...where do they come from? And where are they headed? These things...I SHALL DESTROY!!! Hahahaha!
He was the hardest boss to defeat in Final Fantasy XIV. Took me months to finally beat him.
Because he was too easy in VI
Would love an origin video for any of the following; Locke, Celes, Rikku, Kain, Wakka, Genesis, Weiss, Tifa, Seymour, Basch and Ashe.
Thank you! Your videos are AMAZING! I hope you keep this going!
Well done on this video, i would say and i am just now realizing this because of your video that not having a single line of dialogue may say more than anything, his reality of despair became true for him, and the people who persevered and hoped for a better world got what they wantes, everyone suffered, the betrayal wasmt that hard to see, he was an orphan forced to go into military and be tested on, he went mentally insane, harnessed a lot of power, and saw no need for anything to exist, so for him to stop existing it is like a poetic justice type of thing.
Loved it!! I would love to see a Zack Fair origins! Or Ardyn, Kain, or Rinoa!
Great video, thanks! Not only is he my favorite FF villain, he's one of my favorite evil characters in general.
Kefka has always been my favorite villain, great video! Slowly creeping up my personal list is Yotsuyu from 14.. I've never hated and then felt so deeply for a villain like that and I still think about the ending of her arc all the time.
When kefka poisoned the water he was a main villain to be remembered
My favorite villain in the series. (second being Kuja and third being either Golbez or Sephiroth)
I remember playing this game when it came out on the Super Nintendo. I even remember playing the original Final Fantasy and buying it from the toy store. Kefka is by far my favorite villain, and I've become so impressed with him, that I've made him into my avatar. I appreciate all the intel provided in this video. Well, now I have a new birthday to celebrate on November 19th.
Awesome analysis, thanks!
My favorite FF villain. Crazy, scary, and evil. Darkly funny too.
He is also the most accomplished villain up to this game. He is, as far as I know, he is the onky villain in final fantasy who suceeds in destroying the world.
and he did it during mid-game. no other villains have ever managed to do that! lol
Ulrich Nubias Caius
succeeded too
Sin destroyed the world multiple times...
Err..what about Kuja? Not only was he able to destroy Terra in his trance form with an Ultima, but ended up destroying the World Crystal, along (or at least) with the party.
Umm no he didn't destroy the world he damaged it a little with some beams and Sephiroth still became a god despite it going differently than planned
Yall really never disappoint. Too good to us,
Thank you! Finally, you took heed to my, and many others request!
We got there in the end :) ~Darryl
For years i always thought Gestahl was a dog in the sprite. i was like how the hell does he look human and then they gave it a 3d look and im like ahhhh hes an old man
The Dragon Ball series had a dog for a mayor, Red 13 IS a dog, Mog and Umaro are both in FF6, so why couldn't he have been a dog...?
@@ryanbarris8188 cause at the time i had no idea about Anime to know about DB or DBZ. Mog is a staple to the series and Umaro is an abominable snowman. Red XIII was there in the Golden Trilogy where anything goes. But most of the FF characters leading were either a mog, a human or a celestial. from 1-5 so this one having a dog general sprite at the time just threw me off.
Definitely a lot more going on with kefka in terms of backstory and history and he's way more interesting as a character than Sephiroth
Sephiroths backstory is far more interesting than kefkas
@@richardbarrett4537
Don't get me wrong
Sephiroth is the best FF villain but can you explain how he's more interesting than kefka
@@paultanski-hampton928 well I don't think he's the best villain, clearly the most popular for obvious reasons but popularity doesn't mean he's the best so I would respectfully disagree with you on that mate.
To answer your question tho, I should say I personally find him more interesting due to the thousand years history that accompanies him. In order to understand what sephiroth even is you need to go back to the beginning when jenova came to gaia. The rise of midgar, the soldier project, lucrecia, ghast and hojo. Understanding what jenova is and sephiroths connection to it. His legendary hero status and decline into insanity ( which is actually his weakest point in my opinion ).
I find too much of interest surrounding him. I also loved how mysterious he was since he was barely ever present in game which adds to is all round allure.
@@richardbarrett4537
Fair argument there and very cleanly put 👍
@@paultanski-hampton928 I'm a proper hardcore final fantasy fan. I like a lot of the villains for different reasons. I really don't think we need to measure everyone else off sephiroth. He's great but, so are many others in their own unique way. Kafka is a great villain but I don't think his backstory is his strongest asset.
Great analysis!
For me Kefka is the most mysterious character in the FF franchise because we never knew anything about him, even with your compilation of dialogues through the game, we just had a sneak peak of where did he come from but we never knew who he was before FF3 story started. And to make things worse, when he was beaten... he just disappeared ... without saying nothing, not even auch!
Damn you Kefka, almost 20 years later, you've won again.
Final Fantasy Union Have you tried to interconnect Relm, Strago and Shadow story?
Nothing can beat the music of hundred of voices screaming in unison! (This was the moment I stopped laughing with Kefka's stupidity and began to hate him in 1992)
Muhan C.A.,
I remember piecing the flash backs together.
All I remember is that Realm is his daughter. (Which is why Interceptor goes to her. She has the same scent.)
Awesome videos!
FF6 was ultimately my favourite of the entire series. The characters were all great, the story was really shocking and massive in scale for it's time, and I loved that the entire world literally changed just over halfway through.
1.Kefka
2. Lucca Blight
3. Sepiroth
Dumbass
@@perfectcell5613 Why is he a dumbass? It's his opinion, you asshole
Finally an origins video for Kefka! I'd think I'd like one for Seymour next (I know this series has done FFX a lot lately though).
I'd love to see a video like this for ExDeath. Next to Kefka he's probably my favorite FF villain.
Kefka showed me that simplicity can work really well, and that complexity doesn’t equal quality. He served his purpose as a villain, and he served it well.
no not really it doesn't work the world is not black and white thats bad char dev
Not an origin story, just more of a breakdown of his story in FFVI. Regardless, thanks for the video.
Well, there isnt much else to be told about Kefka, he never got more fleshed out than what was in the game.
Caleborn They have to do Multiple parts of there going to remake the series
Good video this was the first final fantasy I played and the best
Hey dude, nice video about Kefka; the last part where you said that you wish to hear the last words of Kefka as he died, well, there was another video about Kefka where some dude said that the music of the final battle ARE his words.
KEFKA WON.
That alone makes him a great villain.
The good guys always win, and it was amazing to see KEFKA literally destroy the world and gain power, exactly what he wanted.
Not only that, but when he died, so too did all traces of magic, aside from Terra...
That's almost just as heavy.
kefka did not win he lost in the end what you talking about.
@@vincenthammons-kd9du
He lost his life, but he left his mark permanently, considering he destroyed the world, remade it, destroyed it again with his death, and had all magic dissapear from the world with him as well.
Np he dosnt he shot it up a little idiot
Great game and a great villain. I went right from Nintendo to PlayStation and didn’t have an SNES as a kid so this is not as nostalgic for me as the original Final Fantasy, the game boy FF games or even FF7 but when I did get around to playing it as an adult I sure did enjoy it. Even though it doesn’t sit in that magical “great game played while still young” nostalgia it is one of the best JRPGs on the SNES and it is also interesting seeing how the things they did with FF6 set them up for what they did next with FF7
You couldve played it on FF Anthology, having a PSX is no excuse :P
Great video, great villain. Ramza Beoulve next on deck pls? XD
Good video. Edgar is probably out of the question for doing a backstory of, but another villain that would be fun to watch the backstory for is Kuja
PLEASE do Cecil next!
Just beat the game last night. This guy is entertaining from the beginning to end. When he said the heroes sounded like self-help book I was ROFL'ed so bad because that's what I thought too
Did you do Emet-Selch's story? Best one ever!
Awesome video! Kefka isn't an ordinary "bad guy". He became one.
That boss fight felt amazing and kefka gave me a reason to want to finish the game, just so i could end him.
He's basically the Joker of the Final Fantasy Universe.
19:03 I'm not sure why, but Umaro being in your final party made me smile :)
I wouldn't even TRY the final level w/out an Ultima mage.
Theres a video explaining it but we did get to know Kefka's last lines. It was the entirety of Dancing Mad as it served to be his swan song of everything he stood for and mocked the party with
do lore on Balthier from FF12 it would be very much appreciated
Final Fantasy 6 is the best game in the series bar none.
Not even remotely. At its core, everything that's good about Final Fantasy VI is borrowed from media outside of Final Fantasy. Namely Star Wars considering how much Kitase likes to gush over the franchise and Batman considering Kefka's little more than a fantasy Joker. Saying FF6 is the best Final Fantasy is tantamount to saying that it's such a bad series that it must search outside the IP to be good.
@Hayate Gekko As games none of them are particularly good. The closest I'd say is 5, but that's because the job system in that game was carried over to and immensely improved by Bravely Default. But that's not what we play FF for. We play it for the story. And in that regard there's simply no beating FF9.
@@blackknightjack3850 haha i was going to say what you said! I really like final fantasy fans c:
@J M You know that the Joker and Batman aren't joined at the hip, right?
@J M How?
"But upon the conclusion of the final battle, we didn't even get a line of dialogue..."
"Dead men tell no tales..."
Thank you so much for this video.
You're most welcome Lance :) ~Darryl