Kefka Palazzo



Kefka Palazzo (ケフカ・パラッツォ, Kefuka Parattso, spelled as Cefca Palazzo in the Japanese version) is the primary antagonist and the final boss of Final Fantasy VI. Kefka acts as Emperor Gestahl's court mage early in the game, and simply carries out the monarch's orders. However, behind Gestahl's back, Kefka attacks various towns and drains the espers' power meant for Imperial use. This gradual culmination in power leads Kefka to overthrow Gestahl and take control of the Warring Triad, effectively becoming the God of Magic itself.

While previous villains in the Final Fantasy series were distant, cold, ruthless, and bent on their goals, Kefka is loud, short-tempered, maniacal, and destructive. His popularity among Final Fantasy fans as a villain is rivaled only by Sephiroth. Kefka is well-known for his many one-liners, his final appearance as an Angel of Death (which has become something of a tradition in the series), and his sociopathic hatred of virtually everything in existence. His dark humor and jester-like appearance have earned him the nickname "The Psycho Clown" among fans. Kefka's most defining character trait is arguably his laugh, a high-pitched whooping cackle that is repeated numerous times throughout the game.

Appearance and Personality
Kefka's appearance is that of an outlandish jester. In his original concept artworks and in Dissidia Final Fantasy, Kefka wears an outfit composed of primarily red and yellow fabrics, a mismatched jumble of stripes and polka-dots. He wears a red and white striped ruffle around his neck and a red cloak with a yellow and red inner-lining. In his field sprite in Final Fantasy VI as well as alternate artworks and an alternate costume in Dissidia Duodecim, Kefka wears green robes with gold linings and red clothing underneath. Universally, Kefka's face is covered with white make-up with red makeup around the eyes, and has white make-up on his hands. He has blond hair tied back into a tight ponytail, accentuated by an extending feather. In his "god" form, Kefka appears as a demonic angel with purple skin and a red loincloth. His limbs are far more muscular than his human form, and he bears six wings - four light angelic wings and two dark bat-like wings (Although the anthologies character model for Kefka's god form seems to replace his dark bat-like wings with light angelic wings). In this form, the only notable resemblance Kefka retains to his human self is his classic ponytail, which is longer and with strands of hair flowing upwards behind his ear on the right and forming a curved bang of hair on the left. The feather also remains in his hair as a final reminder of Kefka's once-extravagant dress sense, now overshadowed by his demonic final form.

In terms of character, Kefka is maniacal, short-tempered, flamboyant, destructive, and cruel. He is completely insane with no regard for human life, and he, in fact, finds amusement in the suffering and death of others. He tends to crack dark jokes at times and possesses a hatred of virtually everything in the world; Kefka's only joy in life comes from causing death and chaos wherever he can. What begins as simply a disregard and indifference to human life develops into a sinister nihilism - at the end of Final Fantasy VI, Kefka declares the lives of mortals as meaningless and insignificant, and he finds no meaning in things like love and hope that others cherish. As a result, Kefka's goal at this point is to destroy the bonds of existence itself. According to the Final Fantasy VI creation guide, he also has narcissic qualities, often being facinated with the mirror image, and often dressing up for mirrors. This is further implied in both Dissidia and Dissidia 012 with Kefka's mirror matches, where Kefka remarks "Oh, who's THAT handsome devil?!" and "Now that's what I call a true work of art!", respectively, when fighting against himself.

In the Japanese versions of Final Fantasy VI and Dissidia, Kefka frequently uses the first-person pronoun "boku-chin" when referring to himself, a pronoun usually reserved for young boys, implying that his maturity and state of mind is comparable to that of a little kid. Other hints at this personality was while fighting Terra in Dissidia, where he regarded battle as being similar to playtime, such as maniacally telling Terra to play with him while trying to lob spells at her as well as feeling upset when Terra manages to teleport from the attack and has a tantrum, because he "wanted to play more" and in the aftermath of fighting Vaan in Duodecim, where he excitedly remarks that fighting Vaan was the "most fun [Kefka's] had in minutes!"

However, Dissidia shows a different view to Kefka's nihilism. Once he is defeated in Shade Impulse, Kefka laments what he sees as the futility of life in a speech mirroring his speech in Final Fantasy VI, and fades with a sad laugh. Afterward, Terra says that Kefka destroyed as an attempt to fill his broken heart, implying a more sorrowful side to his personality - that of a man who cannot find any meaning in life other than mindless destruction. This is further reinforced by Firion's opening quote if he is the opponent to Kefka, where Firion mentions to Kefka that he's "never heard... a sadder laugh..."

Early Life
Many details of Kefka's early life are unknown. He is thirty-five years old by the time of the game, and Emperor Gestahl's right-hand man. Kefka is the first experimental Magitek Knight. The procedure gifted Kefka with incredible magical power, but also shattered his sanity. Kefka became a cruel, destructive madman and eventually acquired a reputation as one of the most dangerous men in the Gestahlian Empire. The exact circumstances are unknown, but sometime prior to the game, Kefka used a Slave Crown to control Terra Branford, and as a test of whether the free-will dampening effects of the slave crown were effective, had her burn fifty Imperial soldiers alive.

The Empire
Just prior to the game's events, Kefka sends Terra to Narshe to acquire the frozen esper Valigarmanda, sending Biggs and Wedge with her. The mission fails when Valigarmanda awakens in response to Terra's power, dispatches Biggs and Wedge and damages the Slave Crown, restoring Terra's free will but leaving her with amnesia. In her subsequent attempt to flee from Narshe, Terra's memory is temporarily restored and she remembers Kefka ordering her to kill his own men and enslaving her before she blacks out.

Kefka's first appearance in person is when he comes to Figaro Castle seeking Terra under orders from Gestahl. King Edgar, who is sheltering Terra in the hopes she will join the Returners against the Empire, conceals her whereabouts. Kefka doesn't believe Edgar, however, and that night sets the castle on fire. When the castle burrows under the desert, Kefka has his bodyguards attack the fleeing Edgar, Terra, and Locke Cole. The trio dispatch them and leave Kefka fuming.

Kefka eventually comes to the kingdom of Doma as part of a battalion led by General Leo. Although Leo is attempting to win the siege against Doma with minimal casualties, Kefka is secretly plotting to poison the river and kill the entire population of the castle. After Leo is called away by Emperor Gestahl, Kefka takes command of the Imperial forces and orders them to dump the poison, with one of the soldiers being reluctant to use the poison, mostly due to there still being captured Imperial personnel within the base. Sabin Rene Figaro and Shadow attempt to stop him, but Kefka flees and dumps the poison himself, killing everyone in the castle except for Cyan Garamonde and a Doma Sentry. Until his ascent to Godhood, this was considered Kefka's worst crime. This also sends Cyan into a deep depression over his guilt, which has potentially disastrous complications for him later in the game. As the Returners reunite at Narshe, Celes warns the others that Kefka has gathered a large force of Imperial soldiers and is leading them against the town himself. Kefka orders the troops to kill anyone in their way, and leads them to the clifftops above Narshe to claim Valigarmanda. The Returners retreat to the mountains to guard the Esper, and after fighting off his troops confront Kefka himself in battle. Defeated, Kefka flees but swears revenge.

Shortly after this, Terra confronts the esper Valigarmanda and is transformed into an esper herself. Tracking her down, the Returners meet the esper Ramuh, who tells them the true source of magic: magicite, an esper's remains, which can teach magic at a much higher concentration than Magitek. Armed with this knowledge, the Returners use Setzer Gabbiani's airship, the Blackjack, to fly to Vector and release the espers imprisoned by the Empire.

Acquisition of Power
Within the Magitek Research Facility the Returners spy Kefka torturing and beating espers, specifically Shiva and Ifrit. They also overhear Kefka cackling over the power he has gained from the facility's espers, and his plans to restore the Warring Triad. After entering the heart of the facility and retrieving the magicite of the dead espers, the Returners meet Cid, who realizes the true source of esper energy. Kefka, overjoyed to learn this, attempts to have Celes, who has betrayed the Empire, hand the magicite to him, but Celes spirits them away so the Returners can escape. Kefka appears afterwards in the Imperial Castle, activating two large cranes to attack the Blackjack as the Returners flee the continent.

With Terra aware of her origins as a half-human half-esper hybrid, she and the Returners go through a cave to the Land of Espers in the hopes of securing their support for an attack on the Empire. Kefka follows and declares that Gestahl had told him to let Terra ally with the Returners in order to have them open the gate. Kefka is subsequently defeated when the espers emerge from the gate. It is unknown how he is returned to Vector, but Gestahl has Kefka imprisoned as a ploy to earn the Returners' trust so they would ally with him to find the escaped espers.

Ascent to Godhood
Gestahl releases Kefka and he is dispatched to Thamasa, where he proceeds to have his soldiers attack both the Returners and General Leo's troops, before killing all the espers and taking their magicite remains. When Kefka orders his troops to burn the town, General Leo steps in and fights Kefka. However, he only succeeds in destroying Kefka's shade, and the real Kefka emerges moments later and slays the general. The sealed gate rips open, and a second wave of espers flies straight to the town to attack Kefka, but at this point Kefka has simply grown too strong and the espers' attacks have no effect (he implies when the espers arrive that his newfound strength was the result of collecting a lot of magicite prior to arriving at Thamasa. ); Kefka easily slays them all with his magic and takes their magicite, enhancing his already potent powers even further.

With the sealed gate open, Kefka and Gestahl cross over to the esper world, find the Warring Triad and raise the Floating Continent. When the Returners confront them, Kefka rushes into the field of the Triad and demands they bestow their power upon him. Ignoring the shocked Gestahl's warnings, Kefka has the Triad strike the Emperor down and pitches his body to its doom off the edge of the island. After this, he moves the Triad out of alignment, shattering their delicate magical field. Shadow and the Returners narrowly escape. However, the damage is done; the Triad awakes from their slumber and the World of Balance shifts into the World of Ruin.

In the Apocalypse's aftermath, Kefka drains the Triad of their power, turning them into weakened husks and himself into a God. Kefka builds a gigantic tower, fittingly called Kefka's Tower, from the rubble of the world he had destroyed. With more or less the entire world fearing him, Kefka rules over the World of Ruin from atop the tower, smiting anyone who defies him with the Light of Judgment, a beam of magical energy that can destroy entire towns. A cult eventually rises, worshiping Kefka, likely out of fear more than anything else. During this time, it is unspecified what Kefka spends his time doing, though he implies during his dialogue with the party before the final battle that he created numerous new monsters to fight them and guard his tower should they rise up against him.

Defeat
A year after the Apocalypse Celes awakes on a deserted island and journeys to reunite the scattered party members, and the reformed Returners assault Kefka's Tower. Battling their way to the summit to confront him, Kefka reveals his goal; In Kefka's view, life is meaningless and insignificant, and, no longer content of ruling over the world in its ashes, Kefka's new goal is to destroy the very essence of life itself. Denying his claims with examples of love and friendship, the party battle Kefka's final servants and confront Kefka himself.

In a final battle, Kefka is defeated. However, since Kefka had become the God of Magic, magic vanishes from the world along with Terra's powers. Terra, due to her connection with the children of Mobliz, is spared and becomes a human, but magicite and espers vanish and Kefka's Tower collapses as the world is restored to its former glory.

Abilities
Kefka is a rarity among Final Fantasy villains in terms of power; while most other villains are consistently powerful, Kefka's power improves dramatically as the story progresses. He attacks Sabin in the Imperial Camp with a simple Morning Star, and could be injured by any attack (Although he remarks after the second battle that he was actually holding back during those two attempts), and in Narshe he knows spells that are strong for that point in the game, but are overall weak in the grand scope of the game's spell list - his strongest spell at this time is merely Blizzara. Kefka acquires his power slowly by absorbing the espers' strength. By the time he appears in Thamasa, he is able to project realistic illusions, can single-handedly kill dozens of espers in one blow, and is immune to their powers. However, he is still vulnerable at this point - Celes stabs him aboard the Floating Continent, and Kefka is shocked and enraged by the sight of his own blood, although he seems more angry than hurt.

Following his taking control over the Warring Triad, Kefka becomes the God of Magic itself and his strength increases exponentially. At this point he is able to exploit the abilities of reality warping and other features including: elemental manipulation, power bestowal, and magical absorption. He also utilized the use of telekinesis, as evidenced when he levitated two of the Returners to demonstrate his power when they arrive to stop him. Now knowing the most powerful magical attacks in the game, including Ultima, Kefka levitates debris from around the world to form his tower, a bizarre patchwork of terrain and rooms. He also uses his "Light of Judgment" to smite those who do not acknowledge his ruling of the world, and at least half a dozen towns are hit by the Light and devastated. Kefka creates various new monsters to guard his tower, including the revived, but weakened, Warring Triad themselves. Kefka also creates a new magical spell called "Forsaken", (known as "Goner" in the original U.S. SNES release) his signature attack with a magic power of 220, the highest in the game. However, Forsaken does not ignore defense, limiting its potential power.

In Battle
Kefka fights the party a total of five times during the course of the game, including the final battle. In all of these fights except for the final one, Kefka flees or uses an illusion of himself to fight. Of the first four fights, only the second is actually winnable - Kefka flees from the first fight after any attack and the third and fourth battles end in cinematic scenes and have no conclusion.

Music and Sound
Kefka's theme is simply titled "Kefka" and plays frequently during the first part of the game and during the party's confrontation with him before the final battle. The theme begins with a light, bouncing beat using wind and string instruments, but eventually the background drumbeats and cymbals become more prominent and the theme becomes louder and more dramatic, perhaps a reflection of Kefka's rise to power or his further descent into insanity.

During the final battle, the piece "Dancing Mad" plays. One of the longest musical scores in the series, depending on how many times each section is repeated, a remix of Dancing Mad by The Black Mages runs for just over twelve minutes - other remixes last even longer. The music is divided into four sections, one for each tier of the final battle. The piece also includes remixes of Kefka's theme, as well as themes from throughout the game.

In addition to his music, Kefka is well known for his high-pitched trademark cackle. Kefka laughs many times over the course of the game, but usually only cackles prior to large events in the plot. As the game progresses the laugh is remixed slightly, and in the final battle is extended to almost five seconds in length at the battle's start and the normal laugh is frequently repeated during the rest of the fight. In fact, Kefka's laugh is played just as many times as his musical theme and is certainly recognized just as much by fans. Kefka's trademark cackle is incorporated into the "Dancing Mad" track, and is audible just before the track begins to loop.

Dissidia Final Fantasy


Chaos has summoned a combined force of Final Fantasy's ultimate villains to gain total control of the Final Fantasy worlds. Kefka is one of these villains and stands as the villain representing Final Fantasy VI, opposing Terra Branford.

Working with Kuja, Exdeath, and the Cloud of Darkness, the group's goal is to destroy all existence. Kefka attempts to use Terra to further their plans by taking control of her, then appearing to taunt her with the brutality of her abilities and her past servitude to Chaos. He also assists Kuja in his plan to capture Zidane, though he accidentally catches Bartz instead. He then suggests to have Exdeath trick Bartz into giving the trap to Zidane.

His alternate form is a pallete swap based on his Final Fantasy VI battle sprite.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Kefka reappears as a Warrior of Chaos in the prequel to Dissidia Final Fantasy alongside all the other characters from the original. His third form is based on his alternate artwork by Yoshitaka Amano, with a small resemblance to his Final Fantasy VI field sprite.

Dragon Quest &amp; Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable
Kefka appears as a chance card in the game Itadaki Street Portable.

Lord of Vermilion II
Kefka appears as a card belonging to the God Tribe in the sequel to Lord of Vermilion. It features his original Amano artwork.

Merchandise
A toy based on Kefka's god form has been released in the Final Fantasy Master Creatures series of Final Fantasy toys. It bears the name Cefca Palazzo. It depicts Kefka's final boss form floating above the swirling yellow mists quite like in the final battle.

Etymology and Symbolism
Kefka's last name "Palazzo" is a common last name among individuals of Italian descent and means "Palace", "Mansion", or even "Castle". The Catalan word Pallasso, meaning "clown", bears a resemblance to his surname as well.

The final battle against Kefka may have been inspired by, an epic poem in which Dante travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. In the Divine Comedy, Hell is where Satan is a demon entrapped up to the waist, Purgatory is a place of suffering and spiritual growth, and Heaven is where Dante meets famous saints. This is reflected by Visage in the first tier, Tiger, Magic, Power and Machine in the second tier, and Rest and Lady in the third tier. Rest and Lady are positioned similarly to, a sculpture of Jesus lying in Mary's lap after he is crucified. After traversing through Heaven Dante meets God, who explains to him the meaning of life. This is reflected in Kefka, who has become the God of Magic and tells the Returners that life is meaningless.

Trivia

 * Many aspects of the final battle with Kefka are reused in Final Fantasy VII for the battle with Safer∙Sephiroth. Both bosses use Havoc Wing, Heartless Angel, and take on the appearance of angels with dark wings among a backdrop of clouds (an interesting note is that they both gain a number of wings equal to the Final Fantasy game number they are in: Kefka gains 6 and Safer Sephiroth gains 7 - six instead of legs and one on his arm). Both battles also feature a close-up of the character's face just before they unleash their ultimate attack (Forsaken and Supernova).
 * Kefka's strongest weapon in Dissidia is called "Dancing Mad," after his final musical theme.
 * According to the Final Fantasy VI Ultimania, Kefka was born November 19th, he is 5'6, 106 lb, and his blood type is AB.
 * In the video game, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, there is a dungeon called the "Kefka Burial".
 * In Final Fantasy VII the player can hear a lower, slowed-down version of Kefka's signature laugh if they go to the Ghost Square at the Gold Saucer and inspect a "face" in the corner of the item shop.
 * Kefka's laugh also appears in Chrono Trigger when the player talks to Nolstein Bekkler in Chrono Trigger's Millennial Fair. The player can also hear it from Ozzie. Chrono Trigger was made by Square Enix/Squaresoft, the same company that made the Final Fantasy series.
 * Kefka was named the third greatest villain in a video game by Nintendo Power in their 250th issue.
 * Kefka was both the first villain to seek Godhood and the only one to actually achieve it.
 * According to Final Fantasy VI writer Yoshinori Kitase, the scene where Kefka has his accompanying soldiers dust off his shoes was ad-libbed into the script, as he felt the original introduction scene was too boring to make completely normal. He wrote it to give the players an early implication that Kefka Palazzo had a few screws missing.

Notes and References
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