Final Boss - Religious Influences? Spoilers.

[TheAbominatrix]

Alright, so a lot of things in FF are related to myths, religious influences, etc etc. So I was wondering if there's any religious signifances... or any influences at all... to the last boss of FFVI. This is refering to the whole tower or scariness, as well as Kefka.

So the 'Fallen One' attack of Kefka's is rather obvious... but other than that, there's also that weird monster at the top of the tower, the pretty angelic looking face watching over and healing the prone image of a man. The woman always reminded me of Jesus' mother, Mary. Anyone else feel the same?

[DocFrance]

Nope. No religious references. Whatsoever.:D

[Big D]

Kefka himself has, obviously, the form of a six-winged angel. A very divine appearance - the Seraphim, the highest order of angels, are often depicted as having six wings.

Perhaps this refers to the fact that his powers all came from the Goddesses themselves. He actually has 'divine' powers, but none that he'd try to use for any good purposes. Rather like the sorceresses in FFVIII, whose abilities are said to be the last remnant of the powers of the evil creator deity, Hyne.

Kefka did become a kind of religious figure - his cult of brainwashed followers, for instance. This is understandable since he was the most powerful being on the planet. He had total control over the lives of many, but onyl because he had the power to cause harm. He's a kind of 'angel of death', existing only to destroy.

There's an interesting message there... once Kefka became all-powerful he saw no more reason to live. There was nothing more for him to gain, he was totally without peer - and without purpose.
To me, this suggests that progress is an essential part of life's purpose. When there's nothing more to learn, no new powers to unlock, our reason for existing begins to fade. By going straight to the source of all power - the Goddesses - he 'jumped the queue', immediately gaining strength and magic he never should have been able to acquire. He bypassed the process of learning and earning, so his powers were really without meaning.
Hence his desire to destroy.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

I don't see six wings. The one on his left looks more like a demon wing than an angel wing, too.

http://www.rpgicons.com/images/icons/ff6/bosses/fkefka.gif

[ThE dArK oNe]

There's an interesting message there... once Kefka became all-powerful he saw no more reason to live. There was nothing more for him to gain, he was totally without peer - and without purpose.

I think he sees himself as a "greater being" and that he has the right to mold this world as he sees fits. Obviiously his chatacter does not wish to make it better, but continue to treat it as a toy, for him to play with. He might want to destroy for your reasons but remember he is a mad- man who ENJOYS watching people suffer. I believe that he sees his purpose to bring upon suffering to amuse himself...

[BG-57]

Kefka reminds me of Caligula. Like him, he fancies himself a god, but his madness makes his (ab)use of power purely destructive.

All the same, the Cult of Kefka may have taken it upon themselves to worship him, even without his encouragement. Sort of the 'if you can't beat him, join him' mentality.

[Big D]

Originally posted by Kawaii Ryûkishi
I don't see six wings. The one on his left looks more like a demon wing than an angel wing, too.
In the ending FMV for the PlayStation re-release, he has six gold-feathered wings. Not exactly the same as the in-game image, then. My mistake.
Originally posted by ThE dArK oNeI think he sees himself as a "greater being" and that he has the right to mold this world as he sees fits. Obviiously his chatacter does not wish to make it better, but continue to treat it as a toy, for him to play with. He might want to destroy for your reasons but remember he is a mad- man who ENJOYS watching people suffer. I believe that he sees his purpose to bring upon suffering to amuse himself...But he didn't really seem to enjoy it, toward the end -
"What do you think you've found?
Here... in this dying world?
Why do you rebuild, knowing destruction is enevitable?
Why do you yearn to live, knowing all things must die?"
He seemed to think that all life was ultimately pointless, because of the inevitablility of death. He hated the world, its inhabitants, and also himself.

[ThE dArK oNe]

I think he says that last part because he does not understand why all the living creatures under him seem to keep trying to live knowing that he has the power to easily destroy them. He does see life as pointless but i think it refers to us humans. He is above all living things, what other purpose does he have to complain about... Your observation is likely to be true, but he doesn't seem like a sad person... Mostly an insane person with power who just wants to use it as much as he can.

[Edgar]

Kefka does not know the power that most living things have and that is the "Will" to move forward. "Love" is one of the things that causes it. "Greed" is somehow another. "Courage" is also one. Kefka has that 'will' (you've seen how hard he tried to obtain power), but he does not uinderstand it and neither does he realize that he is no different from others.

People like Kefka just have such and awesome ego in them. You just can't blame 'em.

But whatever it is, he's still insane.:D

[Strider]

I'm pretty sure that the three bosses prior to Kefka (as you climb, that is) are like. . . second incarnations of the Three Statues, right? The first one is Doom, second is Poltergeist, and third is Goddess.

I could be wrong, it's just speculation.

[Shinrin]

or they might be people from Vector.. you notice that Vector isn't there anymore and that it's Kefka's tower.

[GogoTheMimic]

Actually, in the bestiary, the official names are Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, if my memory serves me correctly. I think they are reincarnations of the three Goddesses. I believe the first one being Poltergeist, second being Goddess, and the third as Doom. Of course, being that my memory sucks and I haven't played FFVI in so long(for shame!), I'm probably wrong. >.<

[Wightraven]

*sighs at the prior comment, wondering what strange metamorphoses his dear sweet FFVI has taken since it's "glorious" cartridge days...*

Alpha, Beta, and Gamma? It almost makes me want to fire up the old PSX and see if this sin you speak of is true...

... anyway, as I remember it, you fought the true Goddesses (who were violent and powerful to begin with; that's why they sealed themselves away), Doom, Poltergeist, and Goddess, then the Tower, then Keffy.

[Shinrin]

we'll never know what that thing before kefka really is. X_X

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

It says what it is in the bottom-left battle window. All of that is Kefka.

[Shinrin]

is that in the PSX version.. i don't remeber it having a name in the SNES version.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Maybe not. But one way or another, the formation is referred to as the Four Tiers of Kefka.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

It seems to me that Kefka is just the evil incarnate, the destroyer not the creator. In the SNES version (which I played) Kefka seems to be a demonic figure, a fallen angel. I thought the Roman style dress was interesting too, kind of brings us back to the point made earlier about Caligula.

[Shinrin]

well why don't you as Square-Enix of Japan about it.. they will know.

[Wightraven]

What makes you think they'll give a <crap>?

Edit by Kishi: Watch your language.

[Shinrin]

they wont if you don't pay them anything.. cause they don't know!

[TheAbominatrix]

Well I would asume they'd know.. since they made it and all. They just have bigger things to worry about, I'd assume.

[Shinrin]

well i guess that is ture.. oh well who are we to complaine

[Atma Weapon]

:begin rant: I think there is strong Hindu religious symbolism in FF6. I believe that Hinduism has three gods. Vishnu the protecter, Brahma the Creator, and Shiva the destroyer. Poltergeist is the protector, Doom the destroyer, and Goddess the creator. Kefka absorbs the powers of Creation, Destruction, and Protection to become a god greater than those supreme three. Since (i think) Hinduism has no supreme god, they switch to Christianity and depict Kefka as a Seraphim. It's really not fair to assume that only Christian symbolism could be in FF6, especially considering that it was made in an oriental nation and not a western nation. I am an Aethiest with a working knowledge of many religions and no bias for or against any particular one. I just thought it might add credibility to my statements to show that I have an impartial viewpoint.;) :end rant:

:mog::beer::mog:

[BG-57]

I agree about the purpose of the three goddesses. In fact in my fanfic I mention they are creator, balancer and destroyer.

What surprises me is how little Shintoism and Buddism is incorperated into the game since those are the predominant religions in Japan. Perhaps it's just as well that they didn't include manji symbols (which look like mirror image swastikas). :sweat:

[-N-]

Atma Weapon, you're right on track as far as the Hinduism references are concerned. However, on a technical note, the three main Hindu gods as you have stated are supposed to be in themselves incarnations of one supreme being. So the Three are not subservient to the One, but they combined are equal to the One, I believe. Some stuff like that.

On a side note, the Elves had three rings, Sauron one... you finish connecting the two. ;)

[Shinrin]

this is getting better every second

[Atma Weapon]

My Hinduism knowledge is a little underdeveloped/rusty, thanks for clearing up my mistakes :o But that makes even more sense, Kefka absorbed the powers of the three to become symbolic of the one great deity.

[Ocaj]

hold on there. Kefka wants to destroy everything.
Didn't Neoexdeath of ffV wanted to do the same thing?

[final boss]

BIG UNMARKED SPOILERS AHEAD!

Yes Ocaj, X-Death wented to destroy everything, but he failed. Kefka tried the same thing, but he ruined the world. I bet FFVI like three days ago for the PSX. The tower never had names, except for Kefka of course! But in the Beastery, this is what I found, 1st tier: Face, Long Arm, Short Arm. Pointless, 2nd tier: Magic, Tools,Hit, Tiger. 3rd tier: Girl, Sleep. There was no Gamma, Alpha, Beta. Where did those Three names come from? Who found them?

[Outsider]

I believe that the way that he dresses (it looks like a greek/roman robe) make him look like those gods of the greek mythology. All this stuff is really cool.

And Kefka was not sad, he is insane, he hates all forms of life, and had a lust for destruction. Like he said, he wanted to make a "monument to non-existence". That was his goal (what shows how mad he was)...

[final boss]

The tower of monsters might have just been created by Kefka. Maybe he just made them up?

[i90east]

I'm suprized that nobody mentioned that one of the "gods" in tier-2 looks just like Christ on the cross. It seems clear to me that this was the intention, which is interesting considering that less than 2% of Japanese are Christian (according to polls). This tells me that while they know about Christ, most refuse to believe in him.

The whole Kefka speech seems to show that he's an atheist with some questions about life (which is why his morals are so screwed up, he's trying to fill that void in his heart by becoming all powerful). I was rather impressed by the story, since it's clear why Kefka did what he did. I don't think he was insane at all. I call them atheist extremists... they can do whatever they want because to them there's no higher moral law.

But anyway, Terra then tells Kefka about how great love is. Although she doesn't come out and say it, God is love. That whole speech displays the absolute truths of goodness and deception in a dramatic way. Unfortunately for Kefka he stubbornly presses on and with his very weak powers :laugh: tries to destroy your group.

The music was very churchy, especially tier-3 when you were fighting Mary (this seems more obscure to me than Christ below). Then you fight the fallen one. It is very interesting how they resort to Christian themes to show ultimate power. Yes there are inferences to other religions, but Christianity seems prominant here. That's very strange considering where this game comes from.

[final boss]

In my opinion, most of the song sounded like a chruchy baseball like song. I kinda get freaked out every time I see that face. It reminds me of those things I see on the internet. Where your watching something for a few seconds then a scary face pops up and screams. Those scare the crap out of me.

[Dignified Pauper]

For those who want images... here they are.

http://rpgicons.com/images/icons/ff6/bosses/tower.gif

http://rpgicons.com/images/icons/ff6/bosses/fkefka.gif

To me, it seems like you are ascending from hell to heaven to "god"/kefka. The bottom looks like a beast/demon/devil thing. The medium one looks like a mix of heaven and hell, suggesting pandemonium perhaps? Then the last, everything looks "beautiful" suggesting Kefka's heaven. Then you face Kefka's true self as "god"

I dunno, that's the simplified explanation i made.

[BG-57]

The FF III (SNES) guide draws an interesting parallel between the final monsters and the Tower itself. The monsters are clearly an combination of several monsters, just like the Tower is a combination of the bits and pieces of cities from the surrounding area.

I've noticed that fusion monsters are a particular favorite of Japanese horror. Sort of like chimeras, but taken to the logical extreme.