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.

Quote Originally Posted by The Man View Post
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.
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.