Was Kefka's storyline suposed to be more of a plot twist?

Pretty much everyone knows that Kefka is the main villain/antagonist of FFVI due to the games age, the internet, strategy guides, and his general popularity among fans. It's not something that can be kept secret for long, and I'm sure Square knew that.

However, was it supposed to be more of a surprise that Kefka turned out to be the bad guy? I'm wondering if we were supposed to assume that Kefka was just going to be one of those annoying minor enemies that just keeps appearing in different situations, and that he was going to either die, or just be dropped as a recurring opponent. What I'm saying is, did Square want us to believe that Gestahl (sp?) was the antagonist, and Kefka was merely someone on his side who we'd have to keep fighting as we attempt to stop Gestahl, not necessarily in the same league as Gilgamesh, but that sort of thing (not quite, as most Kefka battles took only one action, and he was more there to get in the way.)

So basically, back when FFVI was new, and not that well known yet. Was Square hoping that, for the first few times it's played at least, that it would be more surprising when it turned out that Kefka was a far more inportant character than he first appeared?

Yeah, I definitely always got the impression that it was intended as a fake ending. The buildup to the Floating Continent makes it seem very much like it's the end of the game if you don't know anything about the story. It's even listed as one of the examples for Disc One Final Dungeon on TV Tropes. Then again, the TV Tropes entry implies that there was a map for the World of Ruin somewhere in the packaging which would have been a giveaway.

I believe on my first playthrough I knew ahead of time that something bad was going to happen to the world before the end of the game because I was playing on my friend's cartridge the first time I played the game and he had a saved game with a completely different world map which I accidentally opened before I had gotten that far. So when I got to the Floating Continent I knew it couldn't be the end, because nothing bad had happened to the world yet. However, I still definitely got the impression that it was intended to be a decoy climax.

I think it definitely was intended that way, especially remembering I was quite surprised when he tossed Gestahl off of the floating continent and destroyed the world way back in 1994. In retrospect it seems like it was somewhat foreshadowed as Kefka starts off seeming like a bumbling idiot, but demonstrates himself to not only be a real lunatic through progressively larger acts of violence and destruction, but also far more powerful than your first few encounters let on. So maybe I didn't quite see it coming because I was 9, but either way it was still pretty awesome.

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Originally Posted by The Man

Then again, the TV Tropes entry implies that there was a map for the World of Ruin somewhere in the packaging which would have been a giveaway.

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This is true and I had actually forgotten about it. But I don't think the shock for me at the time was just the world ending but that Kefka did it. I think people could also be forgiven if they only looked at the map once or twice and forgot all about it during the lead up to the floating continent, what with all of the excitement around that.

I agree with these guys. Hell I was surprised when he backstabbed everyone in Thamasa.

It does seem that way. Im not sure about earlier FF's but in later ff's you dont usually fight the final boss until the final fight. In VI there are a few boss fights with him as a weaker boss to throw you off the scent.

Yeah, I believe it was Square's intention to make you believe Kefka was just a lackey and the final boss fight was going to be against Gestahl or even the Warring Triad.

Course the map thing isn't the first time Square messed up about plot twists, FF Anthology's instruction manual, reveals Faris' true gender and reveals Krile as a playable character. I'm still surprised I was the only person who watched this commercial and took the not so subtle hints that Aerith was going to die, or the fact that 12,000 BC existed in CT seeing how halfway through the game you've gone to every major time period and still hadn't seen the Kingdom of Zeal which was gorgeously posted in the back of the box. ;)

I agree about the Decoy ending,
when I was really young, I used to tell my dad whenever I finished a video game,
I did this with Pandemonium, Medievil, countless PS1/Genesis games.

Yeah, so when I beat Atma weapon on the floating continent, I did my usual
"Just completed another game!" thing to my dad, had a nice cup of tea,
and went back upstairs, to find I was now Celes, alone on an island,
continuing the game on with a pretty sick Cid!

I thought the scene with the world exploding was the last movie or something. :P

Yeah, it's obvious to me Square was intending it to be a surprise. After all, for the first half of the game, Ghestal was the big-bad giving all the orders, and Kefka was the guy executing them.
People say that FFVI have two main-characters(Terra for the WoB and Celes for the WoR), but I allways thought the same could be said for the villains. Ghestal was the one for the WoB and Kefka was the one for the WoR.

However I don't think the Floating-Continent not being the final-dungeon was supposed to be a big surprise. After all, they did the same in FFII(Mateus' fortress inside the tornado and your fight with him at the end of it), and FFIII(the crystal tower where you fight Zande).

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Originally Posted by The Crystal

However I don't think the Floating-Continent not being the final-dungeon was supposed to be a big surprise. After all, they did the same in FFII(Mateus' fortress inside the tornado and your fight with him at the end of it), and FFIII(the crystal tower where you fight Zande).

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Of course this doesn't really apply for anyone living outside of Japan and playing FFVI when it was released.

I can't remember my feelings on it, other than 'holy :bou::bou::bou::bou:'. At first I actually thought I'd done something wrong. I think I remember vaguely being hinted at some kind of turning point, but I always forget that stuff during the heat of the moment. I actually thought I was getting to an epic, though curiously abrupt, end.

I was an idiot back then, though. I was also genuinely shocked when Cloud's team finds President Shinra dead at his desk. I was thinking final boss from the moment he stepped off his helicopter to taunt the party back in that throwaway scene.

Lesson: FFVII is my favourite game probably because I was a numbskull when I first played it.

Yes, I believe that the Floating Continent was made to look like a type of final dungeon. I remember being fooled about the plot twist thinking that maybe the other world map was part of a different story.

Forgive me, but I want to talk about VII for a moment. Despite the picture of Cloud and an obviously dead Aeris on the back of the case, I was still shocked when she died. Still, things that are meant to be a surprise plastered on cases and manuals? Not their best idea.

Considering the comical end to your encounter with Kefka at Figaro, I was quite suprised to him become the lead villain, but I couldn't help but think this guy was pretty sadistic for a side villain after the Doma event, what a sick, twisted coward this guy was.

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Originally Posted by Sir Cloud

Forgive me, but I want to talk about VII for a moment. Despite the picture of Cloud and an obviously dead Aeris on the back of the case, I was still shocked when she died. Still, things that are meant to be a surprise plastered on cases and manuals? Not their best idea.

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I don't think she was obviously dead - there's no blood (because Sephiroth used a Massamune) and she looks very peaceful, and there's nothing that screams out "I'm Dead!". I just figured she was asleep and that it was going to be a romantic scene or something due to the soothing atmosphere of the area. I never expected her to die at all...

Yeah, with the "it's old, therefore if you haven't experienced it yet you never will" attitude that a lot of people have, I knew most of the story of FFV and FFVI before I played it. Kefka as a lackey just never occurred to me!

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Originally Posted by Jessweeee♪

Yeah, with the "it's old, therefore if you haven't experienced it yet you never will" attitude that a lot of people have, I knew most of the story of FFV and FFVI before I played it. Kefka as a lackey just never occurred to me!

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I honestly don't remember my initial reaction when Kefka turned out to be the main villain. I don't feel I was that shocked, because he was way more involved in the plot than Ghestal.

However, I do remember one thing perfectly of how I reacted when I was much younger...
When you control Leo for that one part, I was so fricking excited. And then to see his shock move for the first time.... even more excited. Then when he dies... I just was dumbfounded and couldn't believe it. It was like the biggest rush of excitement, to the biggest disappointment all within a very short scene. This scene may have been the reason that I wasn't at all shocked at Kefka being the main villain, especially as he took the power of each esper into himself and became even more powerful. Ghestal pretty much just sat around on his arse all the time.

THE JACKEL

It was a very refreshing plot twist, in my opinion. A villian actually succeeding with their plans is something of an unfortunate rarity these days, since the 'good guys' tend to emerge victorious even if the odds are stacked against them.

It was almost poetic, in some ways. I didn't tend to take Kefka seriously at first, since I expected him to be killed off rather early on in the game. After he backstabbed everyone around him, however, his true nature was revealed.

Then it has something to do with the writers putting less emphasis on certain characters. You saw them and didn't know everything about them. You didn't know the future of the plot. But even fiction has it's limits. Even if you did know there's nothing you could do about it.

It's the difference between suspense and disgust.

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Originally Posted by Jiro

Forgive me, but I want to talk about VII for a moment. Despite the picture of Cloud and an obviously dead Aeris on the back of the case, I was still shocked when she died. Still, things that are meant to be a surprise plastered on cases and manuals? Not their best idea.

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Kind of late reply, but she didn't look obviously dead to me. She's not bleeding, due to the fact she was killed by a Massamune, and there's nothing on her that sugest she was even injured. She could have been asleep or relaxing in the water for all we knew - I was increadably shocked (and saddend, because I like her as a character, and the scene was so emotionally handled) and when the water scene happened I was like; "Oh..... I see." it didn't come out as a spoiler for me.