TOP 5 Best Villains in Final Fantasy Games

[deadplayer]

http://news.mmosite.com/content/2010-07-06/top_5_best_villains_in_final_fantasy_games,1.shtml

5. Zeromus (Final Fantasy IV)
4. Chaos (Final Fantasy I)
3. Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)
2. The Aeons (Final Fantasy X)
1. Kefka (Final Fantasy VI)

Agree？

[Cuchulainn]

I fear you may be in the wrong forum brother but you missed ther best.

THE GREAT BIG PLANET THING FROM IX CALLED OZMA

[Levian]

Moved to General FF!

Not sure if I have a favorite villain actually, I guess I prefer the sidekicks!

[Elpizo]

1. Kuja
2. Xande
3. Exdeath
4. Vayne
5. Cid (from XII)

Now that is a correct list.

[Chris]

A "Best Villains" list without Ex-Death, is no list at all.

Ultros is a squishy villain, and Gilgamesh is badass.

[VeloZer0]

2. The Aeons (Final Fantasy X)
WTF?

[Shiny]

1. Ultros
2. Ultros
3. Ultros
4. Ultros
5. Kefka

P.S. He probably means the Dark Aeons or something.

[Goldenboko]

Lack of Kuja, including the Aeons? Fail.

[Vivisteiner]

Terrible list. Only thing I cant comment on is Kefka, as I havent played FFVI yet. Out of the ones I've played: FFI, II, VII, VIII, IX, X, XII and XIII:

1. Kuja
2. Seymour
3. Vayne
4. Sephiroth
5. Ultimecia

Never really got the Sephiroth hype tbh, although places 2, 3 and 4 were pretty tight. Seymour capped it because I found him so damn creepy. Although maybe it's more nostalgia that puts him ahead of Vayne.

[Rase]

I liked his self-fellating "biography" thing:

Ron Fair is a very passionate writer and scholar whose strong and sometimes unconventional opinions have stirred controversy -- though his arguments and logic are often stronger than one might suspect. He is very active on MMOsite as an Associate Writer for the blogs (LordYanLiang) and moderator on the forums.

Anyway, FF villians never really grab me as more than something to defeat at the end. Golbez bugged me in a "are you serious, he got me again?" way.

[Vermachtnis]

1. Gilgamesh (V)
2. Gilgamesh (XII)
3. Gilgamesh (I)
4. Tonberry
5. Cactuar

That's the best list!

[Mo-Nercy]

P.S. He probably means the Dark Aeons or something.
I think it's referring to: Aeons -> fayth -> people of Zanarkand -> Yu-Yevon -> cause of Sin. Therefore, the Aeons are evil. I didn't really see it that way though.

1. Kuja
2. Kefka
3. Sephiroth
4. Jecht (he oughta count, right?)
5. Gabranth

[black orb]

>>> My list..:luca:
1- Garland
2- Hojo
3- Sephiroth
4- EXdeath
5- FF2 Emperor

[Depression Moon]

FF needs better villains. Out of the seven I'v played really only one of them, maybe two clicked with me at all.

Also WTF at Aeons.

[NeoCracker]

Aeons created Tidus. Truly they are a dark force who revels in our suffering.

[Zora]

Hey, some of us haven't quite beat X here :mad:

Anyways, for me, Kuja and Kefka are honestly the only main villains I liked. Kuja had a motive and was largely developed, so you could empathize with him. Most of the other villains (Ultimecia, Garland, and Ex-Deaths to name a few) just never had that development. Kefka is just plain crazy, and I like that. :cool:

As far as secondary villains go? Well, we have Cid from Final Fantasy XII, another crazy pal of ours. There was also Gilgamesh from FFV, who was just plain awesome :D But that's about it really. Honestly, villains haven't exactly been the series' strong point. Its more of, he's EV1lL and you must stop him.

[Laddy]

Kefka, Kuja, Sephiroth, Golbez, and Jecht in no real order.-

[The Man]

1. Kefka
2. Kuja
3. Ultros
4. Gilgamesh
5. Golbeza

[Jessweeee♪]

I don't think he quite understood the Aeon's role in everything :confused:

[Dreddz]

Top 5 eh.....

1. Cid (FFXII)
2. Kuja
3. Sephiroth
4. Hojo
5. Kefka

[reinward]

i can only comment on the games ive played which would be VII, VIII, IX, X, XII, XIII in which case it would be...

1. kuja
2. seymour
3. president rufus
4. vayne
5. sephiroth

i agree with vivisteiner about seymour. he was damn creepy

[Rocket Edge]

Some of you need to give this guy a break.

Mine:

1. Sephiroth
2. Edea
3. Kuja
4. Kefka
5. Jecht

[Forsaken Lover]

Wow. Who knew anyone actually liked Zeromus, let alone considered him one of FF's best villains. It was always my impression FFIV fans would rather he not exist and Golbez be the real villain.

Also I am happy at all the mentions of Kuja in the lists in this thread.

I think Gabranth was the best character in 12 but while he was an antagonist, he wasn't really a villain IMO. Maybe barely one but not very evil or sinister.

Cid was the best villain in XII as he was FF's best example of a Well-Intentioned Extremist. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WellIntentionedExtremist)

[razorrozar7]

I'm going from the ones I've played, so some may be left out that should be here, like Ultros or Exdeath, but...

5. Kefka. So... friggin... annoying.
4. Genesis. Just... because.
3. Sephiroth. He's evil. He's insane. And... he's DEAD.
2. Vayne Solidor. Killed his brothers, killed his father, tried to SUCK OUT THE LIFE of his only remaining brother just to defeat the party...
1. Jenova. Destroys planets for no apparent reason. What is more evil than that?

[Jaffer]

1. Sephiroth
2. Kuja
3. Kefka
Top 3 were very close together, no other main villain came even close to invoking the scene of danger that these three did.
4. Golbez
Despite not being a main villain, Golbez makes a good attempt, the music the feats, character death (or at least departures from your crew whenever he showed up) he had you running.
5. Edea
Yes Edea, seducing Seifer to her side, mindcontrolling Rinoa, thrusting an icepick into Squalls chest whn he confronted her, she had *****ing scenes.

In my mind nobody comes close to these five.

[Stecloud]

1) Sephiroth - just because of the mystique that was built up around him, before you finally SEE him upon leaving Midgar. Am I the only one who imagined Sephiroth to be wearing a blue Shinra uniform?

2) Kefka - Never actually completed FFVI, but Kefka is so wonderfully insane, he had to feature highly.

3) Kuja - Again, bit of a mad-head. Poetic as well. I liked him

4) Seymour - A good villain, but his voice used to annoy me.

5) Edea - I know she was being controlled by Ultimecia (would have been better if she wasn't), but it was nice to have a pure evil, female villain. She (nor Ultimecia) had no motive whatsoever, mind.

[Sefie1999AD]

I thought the list was quite... strange. Here's mine:

1) Kuja (FFIX)
I'd put Magus here if Chrono Trigger was one of the series.
2) Sephiroth (FFVII)
3) Golbez (FFIV)
4) Gilgamesh (FFV)
5) Vayne (FFXII)

Interestingly, if I had to write a list of Top 5: Worst villains in the FF series, #1 would also start with 'K', and #2 with 'S'. :p

[Seboist]

1. Kefka
2. Ultimecia
3. Emperor Mateus
4. Shuyin
5. Adel

[Bolivar]

I thought the list was quite... strange. Here's mine:

1) Kuja (FFIX)
I'd put Magus here if Chrono Trigger was one of the series.
2) Sephiroth (FFVII)
3) Golbez (FFIV)
4) Gilgamesh (FFV)
5) Vayne (FFXII)

Interestingly, if I had to write a list of Top 5: Worst villains in the FF series, #1 would also start with 'K', and #2 with 'S'. :p

lol

1. Gabranth
2. Gilgamesh (V)
3. Garland FFIX
4. Emperor Ghastra
5. Xande (humanity)

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who did a double take on this guy saying the Aeons were the actual villains.

Also he sure spends a considerable amount of time explaining why Kefka has always been better than Sephiroth instead of saying why he's the #1 villain in a series of 13 main installments. Also, saying Sephiroth is a rip-off of Kefka is nonsensical to the point of mental erosion. Speaking of nonsensical:


The biggest and most successful element in Final Fantasy VI, and the one thing that Square-Enix has since tried to replicate and/or spin-off successfully (and has often failed at doing) is the villain that ruined the world where every other Final Fantasy villain -- and most fictional villains in general -- has failed.

1. "element" is too general for his meaning, 2. he's trying to say Kefka's the only one and simultaneously says SE has tried to replicate and "spin-off" 3. "spin-off" isn't the best word to use here 4. he means whereas instead of where, 5. "every other final fantasy villain" and "most fictional villains in general" are bad to put together because one should be "has failed" and the other "have failed."

For such a scholar he's a terrible writer. It's also hard to understand why people think Kefka's greatness is attributable to his responsibility for archs within the story. In general, that has no bearing as to the merits of how well the character is portrayed. But specifically, Shinra ruined the world just as geographically as he did, but there was also a socio-economic element to it, and they even destroyed cultures replacing the names of towns to numbers of slums. Part of the reason why later games like VII had multiple dimensions to their plot elements (whereas VI barely scrapes out one) is because of the extent of which the story was fleshed out. This lack of breadth in the script also carries over into why Kefka is such a bad villain to begin with. He has an almost non-existent back story, very few lines, and the lines he actually has are poorly expressed.

It's ironic that fans make arguments on story elements like "best villain" championing a game that hardly has any story at all.

[Elskidor]

1. Kefka - Truly psychotic villain, with some of the most memorable scenes in FF history. Anyway, he's the only one the managed to destroy and take over the world.

2. Jecht - Never took him seriously really, but reminds me of my friends Dad: An uneducated redneck that somehow got mixed into some really weird time and place and somehow became larger than life. Funny character.

3. Golbez - Really feel the threat of Golbez every time he comes into the story, and his music is just awesome. In the end he's not really the ultimate baddie, but for the majority of the game it's Golbez you fear.

4. Hojo - Shinra, President Rufus, and the Turks are all in the same family tree but I'll just give this reward to Hojo since the mad scientist is the craziest and most wicked. Have always liked is dialog.

5. Ultros - Like Jecht, Ultros has comical value and after all he is Octopus royalty.

[the AJman]

1. Vayne (XII)
2. Sephiroth (VII)
3. Kefka (VI)
4. Doctor Cid (XII)
5. Lucavi demons (Tactics) and if this doesn't count than I say Shinra from VII

I sometimes times change up the list depending on the game I'm currently playing or how I'm feeling, but this is generally what it typically looks like.

[Vyk]

Its hard for me to consider some abstract embodiment of evil or something supreme faceless "behind the scenes" monster to be an actual villain. They were just standard "evil" incarnate monsters. To me, things like Chaos and Zeromus shouldn't really count

I haven't really played 2, 3, 11, or 14

Haven't beaten 5, 10, or 12

Soo my pickings are slim, and my exposure is probably not valid enough to warrant a justifiable opinion

[the AJman]

Personally I think it just depends on how they are handled. One problem I had with Chaos is he's never mentioned at all until the end of the game, so theres no suspense or real build up to him. Because Chaos isn't even named until the end there is also no feeling of his presence or effect on the world, all we have through out most of the game is the four fiends and thats it.

A good example of this type of villain done right in my opinion is Sauron from the Lord of the Rings. Throughout the whole story he never appears once, and the author never explains at all what he looks like; all we know is that he is a powerful being set on taking control of the world. Despite the fact that he never appears the reader constantly feels his presence in the book, almost like a dark ghostly figure looming over you and it makes it a bit creepy.

Sometimes just having a simple evil out there doing bad things just for the sake of doing them works better than a sympathetic villain with a developed motive. It also sometimes helps to make the villain almost never appear or stay behind the scenes to help make them more scary and intimidating because sometimes it's the things we don't see that scare us the most.

Thats just my opinion anyway.

[Nevermore]

Dycedarg from Tactics is my number one.

Kefka from VI, Kuja from IX, Hojo from VII and uh I denno...Scarmiglionne from IV is pretty awesome.

[Depression Moon]

What would y'all like to see in a new villain?

[Elskidor]

What would y'all like to see in a new villain?

Something completely fresh, and one with plenty of back story. No trying to copycat previous ones and no more mommy/daddy issues, and do a way with bringing in a random big baddie that we've never even heard of until the final act. Bring this guy/girl/thing in early or at least make the presence of the villain known. I kinda liked sir helix's idea where there is major twist and one of your main characters ends up being the main villain. Or just bring in the king of Burger King.

[Crop]

1. Rufus - Best FF villain, bar none.
2. Sephiroth I guess, I'm already running out of good villains
3. Vayne - I didn't actually like the XII story, but I thought if they had focused on Vayne more, he could have been an excellent villain. I just don't think they handled him very well.

[Egami]

Mine would be...

1. Yunalesca
2. Exdeath
3. Kefka

I really didn't find may other villains memorable, sadly it seems that the FF series suffers from this. Yunalesca is my favorite, however, I do not consider her a "villian" per se like Exdeath and Kefka are.

[The Crystal]

1. Kuja
2. Sephiroth
3. Kefka
4. Ultimecia
5. Golbez




5. Ultimecia
Yes Ultimecia, seducing Seifer to her side, mindcontroling Rinoa, thrusting an icepick into Squalls chest whn he confronted her, she had *****ing scenes.

Fixed.

Edea - "The sorceress who appeared in Galbadia was in fact Ultimecia... Inside my shell"

Hell, Edea is even an alternate costume for Ultimecia, in Dissidia Duodecim!

[!] google_ad_section_start [/!]
1. Kefka - Truly psychotic villain, with some of the most memorable scenes in FF history. Anyway, he's the only one the managed to destroy and take over the world.

Emperor Mateus destroyed and took over most of the world(AND Heaven and Hell), the CoD flooded the world, Ex-Death took over the second world IIRC(in the past, before the story of the game started), it's implied that Ultimecia took over the world in her time, Kuja destroyed a world, and Yu-Yevon/Sin practically took over the world(with help of Yunalesca).

[VeloZer0]

The amount of devastation Kefka inflicted upon the world is an order of magnitude above what any of the other villains did. Wiping out kingdoms and enslaving people < re-arranging continents.

[Del Murder]

1. Kefka - A crazy son of a bitch who actually managed to destroy the world.
2. Kuja - As a character I feel like he was the most developed of any FF villain, he had some dastardly plans as well.
3. Sephiroth - WAS IT REALLY SEPHIROTH CONTROLLING THINGS? *massive drama* Anyway, at the least it was Sephiroth (or the memory of him) who was plaguing Cloud's mind, which was a central storyline.
4. Sin - A giant monster of destruction that is also the main character's dad? Yeah, that's enough to make the list for me.
5. Golbez - smurf Zeromus and Square-Enix's last minute 'oh by the way this random guy is the real final boss' plot twists. Why do they always do that? Golbez was the real villain of this game. His severed hand stealing the crystal creeped me out the first time I saw it.

[Hollycat]

You are all smurfing high:
1. minerva
2. kefka
3. ruby weapon
4. sephiroth
5. the merchants in 6

[Remon]

1. Kefka - Evil Clown (I have coulrophobia)
2. Wiegraf - Nice story and hard to beat. Like how he evolves.
3. Ultimecia - I just love witches.
4. Sephiroth - Deserves to be listed.
5. LeBlanc's trio - For the lulz XD