WARNING: LONG RAN... I MEAN POST!!!!!

The only villain in the FF games I don't care for is Seymore. It's not that he wasn't villainous or just a pain in the ass. I just felt that he always seemed tacked on. If you omit him from the plot, you soon realize that the story isn't really drastically changed. I just never felt like he could compete with Yu-Yevon/Sin in the game.

Let me rephrase my feelings about FFV's plot, since I'm certain Elpizo is debating my comment about the game. I do still feel the games plot lacks cohesion and their is a level of randomness to it. It's cast, though original (except for Reina and Krile) are really good by FF standards. My issue probably comes from the fact that I've only played the FF Anthology version of the game. I've heard that FFV Advance fixes alot of the translation and localization issues with the game. I've been meaning to pick it up actually.

As for Exdeath, when it comes down to villainous acts, he's debatedly the best (Kefka, Kuja and Exdeath have the longest list of real offenses in the FF games) his origins and backstory are very interesting, they even create a rather interesting social commentary about mankind's sins, though I regret it was never really explored. His personality on the other hand is pretty bland. Though he has an excuse to be evil it doesn't really make his personality compelling. He's evil cause he's evil.

Garland and the Emperor come from an era in RPG history where story and narrative had not become important so it's difficult to really argue about their relevance. I haven't played FFIII yet (I just got a DS like two days ago) so I can't say anything about him that would be relevant either.

Now Zemus is basically a manipulator, who holds a grudge against humanity (who caused his downfall within his society) and the Lunarians (who betrayed him for the sake of coexistence with humanity). Most complaints about him stem from his lack of presence and the fact that he seemed "tacked on" to the plot. Golbez was the real villain to amny in that game. Zeromous is a bit of an odd plot twist and his relevance is hotly debated by FFIV fans to this day. Zemus basically wanted revenge Zeromous was the one that wished to destroy all.

For Sephiroth, I feel I should warn you that I'm from the camp of FF fans who believe he is a pawn to Jenova. The revelation of his origins drove him mad and allowed his more basic instinct to kick in. He destroyed Nibelheim for no real reason, he killed the President of ShinRa out of vengence, he killed Aerith cause she stood in the way of his master paln, and manipualted Cloud to bring the Black Materia to him. Now, I stated that Sephiroth's madness allowed his more basic instincts to kick in, but by that I mean the instincts of Jenova. Sephiroth only tried to absorb the Lifestream cause it's what Jenova instinctivly and naturally does. He siad he did it to become a god but I feel that was just the human side of him rationalizing the alien part of him. It's interesting to read but most of it's just specualtion, in the end I feel he's just a pawn. He's not someone to be feared but rather something to be pitied. I don't hate him, I just don't feel he's the greatest.

Ultemacia never had any real motive. She's another manipulater like Zemus and Sephiroth her back story is weak. I understand that she wanted to compress time so she could have the power of every sorceress that ever lived and become a god but nothing else about the plan made much sense. Why did she need that kind of power? To defeat SeeD which hunts her? No, cause she has already dealt with the SeeD from her time. She really doesn't have much of a reason to want or need power.

Kuja is a damn fine specimen of a villain, basically take one part Kefka (his arrogance and disdain for all life he considers inferior) and one part Sephiroth ( genetic experiment who overthrows his creators) make the backstory compelling by letting his villainy be a result of his battle for freedom and by making his arrogance be a result of him being an artificail alien being. Add a pinch of originality (his madness caused by his narrcistic belief that life has no meaning without him) and you've got yourself a villain that some would argue to be near perfect. I still feel he lacks personality (though I do love him) but that's just my personal opinion.

Vayne wasn't really a villain, so he shouldn't be in this argument.

Kefka is an oddity. I think what makes him compelling is that not only is he completely human (with a few enhancements, but genetically speaking, he's completly human) but his personality represents the true dark side of humanity. He's a narcesist who believes that he is truly superior to others. He enjoys torturing and killing people cause to him, their just insects, who are only able to live out their existence because of the will of a few elite. He's a serial killer with power and influence. He's favored by Emperor Gestalh cause he's willing to do the dirty work with no questions asked, unlike Gestahl's Generals. This only adds to his arrogance and feelings of superiority. Now yes, their is the story about the accident during the experiments but we never delve into what he was like before. The accident could have made his psychological "godhead" come to the forefront rather than actually create it. He is the first to discover how to really use the Goddess Statues powers (though albeit by accident) he becomes a god and revels in what he loves most. Making people suffer. Unlike previous villains, Kefka doesn't just enjoy killing, he enjoys making people suffer. Afterall, human beings are just "toys" to a god... But something interesting happens, after reaching a state of being similiar to god, he gets bored, he starts to think a little and comes to a rather twisted conclusion. Life is meaningless. Why do people continue to cling to living if living is going to only lead to more suffering? We can now safely add nihilism to Kefka's personality traits. Kefka is basically a representation of what is wrong with people. Selfish, cowardly, elitist, sadistic, and nihilistic. Was he insane? Yes, but I would argue that he didn't completely snap and go totally psycho until the incedent on the floating continent. His actions and personality before this time are more common than people would care to admit. It's especially more prevalent during times of war (which FFVI takes place in). So, even though he does fall into the group of "crazy in the membrane" villains, it was justified within the context of the story. Just saying that he's "a stereotypical crazy FF villain" is a misconstrued notion.

I might agree that Kefka is a bit overrated,just like Sephiroth,but I hardly believe him to be a terrible villain, let alone the worse in the FF series. In FFVI Advance, he's coming across a little differently than before. He's far more sinister and calculating than in the original translation.