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?