A treatise on Kefka, pt. 2

So, when we left off, I was talking about the fact that Kefka, more so than other FF villains, is awesome, only because there are so many human elements to identify with. (Again, see also: FFVI, better translation). Kefka is not just a pretty face. Kefka is not just 'human'. Kefka's smart. Completely off his rocker, true, but smart. It's pretty common knowledge that the party will take whatever their arch-nemesis (or anyone else) says on blind faith, but Kefka uses that to his full advantage. So, let's set the scene. We've got the party, who is planning on bringing down the Empire with the aide of one of their formal generals. Locke has been all, "OMG you guys, Celes is so totally on our side, like, y'know? Sure! She's torched a few cities in her time, but, like, totally reformed, 'kay?" Other party members were reluctant, at first, but remember -- the heroes believe anything anyone ever says. Ever. So, they welcome Celes into the fold. Cake and ice cream are had by all. Then they break into the Empire's Esper-draining facility and interactive learnatorium, where they run into Kefka. Kefka explains they totally fell into this awesome trap orchestrated by Celes. And Locke is all emo and sad, and Celes is all nuh-uh, but they still choose to believe Kefka, sending us in an emo-tinged downward spiral that will last the rest of the damn game.

A villain, trying to break up the heroes? This is nonsense!

Even after this -- your party still has to go back and ask the Emperor at a later date: "So, now that you're getting your asses stomped by a bunch of ultra-powerful pseudo-monsters, and we're the only people who can save your power-grubbing hides, and I know you've betrayed us once before, but you'd definitely never do it again... [pause to catch breath]... Is Celes really a spy, or can we trust her. Like we trust you now. Because we're good friends." This, also, might explain away the script problems with a good 'there's not enough storage space to hold all the implied dialogue. ...The more I think about it, Kefka might be a good villain just because he, and by extension, the Empire, are just damn clever. ...or maybe your party is dumber than a box of rocks. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

A treatise on Edgar, pt. 1

I think Edgar gets a bit of a bum rap (not a word from you, Kammy!) from the two of us.   I think that *the* most common joke K and I make when we're chatting on IM is about Edgar, the date-rape King of Figaro.   I mean, ostensibly, Edgar is a good guy.    I'm not sure why his initial description calls him an ally to the Empire, only to have them tell you ten minutes later that he is, in fact, working with the Rebel Alliance to take down the Emperor.  If they could take out those four words, and replace them with lover of fine women, you'd probably be a bit closer to truth where Eddy is concerned. Edgar, to me, is a lot like a freshman, living away from home for the first time, and trying to find his identity in an alcohol-tinged year at Uni.  There's no denying that he's a genuinely nice guy -- he is, after all, working to overthrow the forces of evil. However, he's got a bit of an exaggerated machismo, in that he more or less catcalls at every smoking hot babe that happens to wander through Figaro proper.    Which is good -- I like that pretty much every hero in your party is flawed somehow.   Now -- I don't have too much more to say about Edgar, but instead, I'd like to present you with this photographic montage of the good King of Figaro.

Most misleading intro ever.

 

 

(Yes, I know I'm taking this out of context -- but it makes for the funneh!)

Edgar!  Getting what he wants through the pretty!

Edgar!  Equal opprotunity lover!

A treatise on Kefka, pt. 1

Kamarile and I talk about a lot of Final Fantasy (more so since the Advent of our Blog), usually when I'm at work on a conference call and am desperate for something to break the tedium of my day to day life. Today, I threw out a comment about which Final Fantasy was the darkest. I think it's something I'll revisit, but, it got me thinking about Kefka. Kefka, you see, crosses the line between everyday villany, and cartoonish super-villany. Before I get too deep into this, think back to our villains of Final Fantasies past. Final Fantasy 1 has an evil being (Chaos), who creates a time paradox in order to live forever. Final Fantasy 2 is essentially Star Wars, Episodes IV and V, complete with evil emperor trying to take over the world. Final Fantasy 3 is you fighting a big mean cloud and trying to restore the balance of the Crystals -- and the world! Final Fantasy 4, I think, is where we start getting a little more evil with our villains. Golbez is essentially trying to transplant all of the moon people onto the Earth, and thinks he has to kill all the humans to do it. Final Fantasy 5, of course, has X-Death, an evil wizard imprisoned in another dimension because he's a bad, bad boy. (He's also a fucking tree. Don't forget about that part. -Kammy)

Kefka is ridiculously evil.

Now, let's take a look at Final Fantasy VI. We've got Kefka. Who, clearly, is our major villain, as he's evil, and has the most memorable speaking lines. This? Is a person who revels in death. Now, I know what you're thinking. Gee, Matola, there are other villains who enjoy killing their adversaries. This? Truth. The difference, in my mind, is that Kefka doesn't care who he kills, so long as they die in a horrible, painful manner. Friend, foe, ally, enemy? Doesn't matter. The only thing that DOES matter is a swift, painful death. Final Fantasy 6 is a landmark game to me in a lot of ways. I think that you'll find that you can classify a large majority of FF Fanatics into one of three groups. The first group is those that played FF1 when it first game out, or got into the genre with Dragon Quest 1. The second would be the group who joined in the SNES era, and consider this to be the pinnacle of gaming. The third played FF7 when it game out on the PS1 and think it's the pinnacle of gaming. [I assume there might be a fourth group that started on FFX. Note no such comment of it being the pinnacle of gaming].

The other, more interesting thing to me, is how flippant Kefka is. And, I can't explain it, but this behavior that is almost the complete polar opposite of the above? It makes Kefka more believable to me. Or, perhaps, I can say, more human, despite how inappropriate that sentence may seem. Kefka subscribes to the principle of vengeance at any price. He wants to be the best, and he obviously wants to have a damn good time while he does it. Very human, I think. The problem, though, is a complete and total lack of a moral compass. And, actually, morality, to me, is the overarching theme behind the game. Some games are about 'love', and 'hope', but this one? It's all about fighting for what's right. And that's why Kefka, and by extension, FF6 is such a great game. Because, when it comes down to it, haven't we all heard that little voice in the back of our head, cackling madly and telling us to give into our baser impulses? I know that I have.

I bet you've seen this screenshot before!