Quote Originally Posted by ?????
I've read some reviews of Dragon Quest VIII, and the villain, Dhoulmagus, is made out to be "on par with Sephiroth" in terms of sheer evilness. Is it just me, or is he shamelessly copying Kefka?
Actually, my first thought when reading about Dhoulmagus was that he was a clone of Deathjester from Seiken Densetsu 3. Then again, Deathjester and Kefka share a number of similarities, as well.

Quote Originally Posted by ?????
It's entirely possible to be both misunderstood AND bad. Is Emperor Palpatine somehow absolved of guilt for the single highest body count in all of fiction that I'm aware of, just because people didn't understand what it was that he wanted? Complexity doesn't mean their moral responsibilities are somehow negated.
This is very true, and largely the reason I rank Luca Blight and Roger Bacon as more successful villains - both of them have more than simple insanity motivating their actions. Kefka still has moderately more style than either, though.

And no way in hell is Sephiroth the greatest villain of all time. It’s difficult to see him as a villain at all when you consider that (SPOILER)he was brainwashed by Jenova in the first place. If Sephiroth is a villain, then so is Kain.