Kefka Palazzo



Kefka Palazzo (spelled as Cefca Palazzo in the Japanese version), also known as Lord Kefka upon ascension to Godhood, is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VI. The prototype to the Magitek Knights, Kefka acts as Emperor Gestahl's court mage carrying out the emperor's orders, but behind his back schemes for his own ends.

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 known for his many one-liners, his final almighty appearance (which has become something of a tradition in the series), as well as his sociopathic hatred of 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 laughter, a high-pitched whooping cackle that is heard numerous times throughout the game.

According to the Final Fantasy VI Ultimania, Kefka was born November 19th, he is 5'4, 106 lb, and his blood type is AB.

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, to a lesser extent, an alternate costume in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, Kefka wears green robes with gold linings and red clothing. Universally, Kefka's face is covered with white make-up, red make-up around the eyes and white make-up on his hands, as well as gray hair. 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 more muscular than his human form, and he bears six wings -- four light, angelic wings and two dark, bat-like wings (although the Final Fantasy Anthology model replaces the bat-like wings with light angelic wings). In this form, the only resemblance Kefka retains to his human self is his ponytail, which is longer, with strands flowing upwards, and the feather that remains in his hair as a final reminder of Kefka's once-extravagant dress sense. In Dissidia Final Fantasy, his appearance is altered slightly, with Kefka gaining a wide grin resembling a accentuated in purple lip make-up.

Kefka is maniacal, short-tempered, flamboyant, destructive, and cruel. He is a psychopath with no regard for human life or remorse for the atrocities he commits, and finds amusement in the suffering of others. He cracks dark jokes at times, breaking out into hysterical laughter upon causing mayhem, and possesses a hatred of 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 to human life develops into nihilism - at the end of Final Fantasy VI Kefka declares the lives of mortals insignificant finding no meaning in things like love and hope, and thus seeks to destroy the bonds of existence itself. His bio in Dissidia 012 also stated that he lacks self-control, which shows itself in the various wanton destruction he commits throughout both Final Fantasy VI and the Dissidia subseries without any apparent restraint on his part.

When the Returners infiltrate the Magitek Factory Kefka claims he is all-powerful, and intends to fully become a god by reawakening the Warring Triad, suggesting that Kefka suffers from megalomania. According to the Final Fantasy VI creation guide he has narcissistic traits, being fascinated with the image in the mirror and dressing up for mirrors. This is further implied in Dissidia with Kefka's mirror match quotes being compliments on the other Kefka's appearance. Kefka is something of a manchild, referring to fighting as "playing" and treating Terra as a doll to be played with. In the Japanese versions of Final Fantasy VI and Dissidia Final Fantasy, Kefka frequently uses the first-person pronoun "boku-chin" when referring to himself, a pronoun usually reserved for young boys.

Dissidia Final Fantasy shows a more tragic view of Kefka's nihilism and insanity. Once he is defeated in Shade Impulse Kefka laments on the futility of life in a soliloquy mirroring his speech in Final Fantasy VI, and fades with a sad laughter. Afterwards, Terra says Kefka destroyed as an attempt to fill his broken heart, and in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy before the battle, Terra wonders if Kefka is being tormented when he repeatedly chants "destroy". Kefka's Dissidia 012 Museum profile mentions that he self-destructed to make himself feel better. Thus, in Dissidia Kefka is presented as a man so twisted all that can bring joy to him is mindless destruction.

Early Life
Many details of Kefka's early life are unknown. He is thirty-five years old by the time of Final Fantasy VI, and Emperor Gestahl's right-hand man. At least sixteen years prior to the start of Final Fantasy VI, Kefka was the first experimental Magitek Knight, which gifted him incredible magical power, but shattered his sanity as a side effect of the process not being perfected yet. As a result of the loss of his sanity Kefka became a cruel, destructive madman and acquired a reputation as one of the most dangerous men in the Gestahlian Empire. About six years after the procedure, a restructuring of the Gestahlian Empire's military occurred, with Kefka and Leo Christophe being two of the individuals involved. 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 crown were effective, had her burn fifty Imperial soldiers alive.

The Empire
Just prior to the events of the game, 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 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 and presumably as part of reconnaissance mission. He complains about Figaro's location in the middle of a desert, and makes his soldiers to wipe his boots from sand. 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 and 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 dispatches them and leave Kefka fuming.

Kefka comes to the kingdom of Doma as part of a battalion led by General Leo Cristophe. During this time, a rumor is going around that Kefka is intending to replace Leo as the general of the Imperial military, to which at least one soldier declares that he'd quit his position if Gestahl ever let Kefka become the head of their military. Although Leo is attempting to win the siege against Doma with minimal casualties, Kefka is secretly plotting to poison the river and kill the 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. One of the soldiers is reluctant to use the poison because there are captured Imperial personnel within the base and Sabin Rene Figaro and Shadow attempt to stop him, but Kefka dumps the poison himself, killing everyone in the castle except for Cyan Garamonde and a Doma Sentry, all the while musing about the music of the unified screams of hundreds of voices. Until his ascension to Godhood, this act of genocide was considered Kefka's worst crime. This sends Cyan into a deep depression, which has potentially disastrous complications for him later in the game. As the Returners reunite at Narshe, Celes Chere 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 in battle. Defeated, Kefka flees, but swears revenge.

Terra confronts 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 overhear Kefka cackling over the power he has gained from the espers in the facility 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 realises the true source of esper energy. Kefka, overjoyed to learn this, attempts to have Celes, who has betrayed the Empire, hand the pieces of magicite over to him, but Celes spirits them away so the Returners can escape, although not before Kefka hints that she is a spy under the employ of the Empire, making the Returners doubt her intentions. Kefka appears later in the Imperial Palace 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 has told him to let Terra ally with the Returners in order to have them open the gate. Kefka is defeated when the espers emerge from the gate and ends up blown away. 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.

Ascension 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, but he only succeeds in destroying Kefka's illusion; the real Kefka emerges moments later and slays the general. As if to pour salt on the wound, Kefka projects an illusion of Emperor Gestahl who "admits" he set up General Leo to allow the Empire acquire more espers. Kefka explains that he'll just cover up his murder of Leo by claiming he disposed of a traitor.

The sealed gate rips open and a second wave of espers flies into the village to attack Kefka, but Kefka has grown too strong and the espers' attacks have no effect. He implies, when the espers arrive, that his new-found strength is the result of collecting magicite prior to arriving at Thamasa, and easily slays them with his magic and takes their magicite shards, enhancing his already potent powers 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, he has Celes attempt to strike the Returners down to prove her loyalty to the Empire. Celes stabs Kefka with the sword instead, cementing her loyalty to her friends. An enraged Kefka rushes into the field of the Triad and demands they bestow their power upon him, and that they demonstrate their true power. Ignoring the shocked Gestahl's warnings, Kefka has the Triad strike the Emperor down and pitches his body off the edge of the floating island. Celes then attempts to stop Kefka from misaligning the Triad, but her words fall on deaf ears. Kefka moves the Triad out of alignment, shattering their delicate magical field. Shadow and the Returners narrowly escape, but the damage is done; the Triad awakes from their slumber and the World of Balance shifts into the World of Ruin.

In the aftermath of the end of the world, 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 the entire world living in fear of him, Kefka rules over the World of Ruin from atop the tower, smiting anyone who dares defy him with the Light of Judgment: a beam of magical energy that can destroy entire towns. A cult rises, worshipping Kefka (likely out of fear more than anything else). 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 his view, life is meaningless and everything will only end up being destroyed. The Returners deny his claims by citing how, despite the world being in ruin, they have found positive things on which to hold on, such as learning what love is. Kefka finds their examples sickening, comparing them to a "self-help booklet", and decides to destroy everything, even the essence of life itself. Upon confronting Kefka in a golden skyscape, he utters one last nihilistic vision about life, dreams, and hope, and laughs maniacally as he states that he'll destroy everything.

In a final battle, Kefka is defeated and 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 peace is restored unto the world.

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 holding back during those two attempts). In Narshe, he knows spells strong for that point in the game, but are overall weak in the scope of the entire spell list - his strongest spell at this time is 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, is immune to their powers, and presumably capable of using Banish. He can also disable the espers' powers, an ability strongly implied to result in the destruction of anyone in close proximity, as evidenced by the disappearance of the three Magitek Armor troopers that accompanied him when he used it. 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 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 utilises telekinesis, as evidenced when he levitates two of the Returners to demonstrate his power when they arrive to stop him. When the Returners encounter Kefka at the top of his tower, he utilizes a pyramid-shaped magical field around him, although it is not specified whether it was intended to be a magical barrier or a projection of his power. 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 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 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. Kefka can use his wings to attack his enemies, appropriately referred to as Havoc Wing. It's shown in Dissidia Final Fantasy that he can use Havoc Wing in his regular form in addition to his god form, although he needs to partially transform into his god form in order to sprout the wings. He can summon angels to sap characters of their strength, called Fallen One (Heartless Angel in the GBA remake).

Other than his skills in magic, Kefka is a technological genius, as evidenced by his manning two cranes to stop the Returners from leaving Vector. A scene in the FMV opening for Final Fantasy VI implies he is responsible for the maintenance of the Magitek Armor.

In Battle
Even if Kefka was never meant to be playable, the developers assigned him some stats and equipment when the party faces him. There are three sets of stats for him. The stats below are Kefka's raw stats, before being modified by the equipment he's wearing for his battles.

Kefka has two sets of equipment, and the first set of equipment is associated with his first and second set of stats above. He has the Morning Star, Mythril Helm, Mythril Vest, and Ribbon permanently equipped. Kefka's second set of equipment is associated with his third set of stats. He's permanently equipped with a Morning Star, Paladin's Shield, and Ribbon. Just like the other temporary characters in the game, if Kefka is hacked into the player's party, they will be unable to remove his equipment. The first set of equipment Kefka uses is during the battles in the Imperial Camp and Cave to the Sealed Gate, the second set is used during his battle against a red palette swap of Ifrit in Thamasa.

Kefka has no battle command, not even an Attack or Items command. If he's hacked into the party, he'll freeze up the game when his battle turn comes up.

As Boss
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 winnable - Kefka flees from the first fight after any attack and the third and fourth battles end in cinematic scenes and have no conclusion.

Musical Themes
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, until 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 includes remixes of "Kefka's Theme", as well as themes from throughout the game.

In addition to his music, Kefka is 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 laughter is remixed slightly, and in the final battle is extended to almost five seconds in length at the start of the battle and the normal laughter is frequently repeated during the rest of the fight. 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 the ultimate villains of Final Fantasy to gain 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 assists Kuja in his plan to capture Zidane, though he accidentally catches Bartz instead. Kefka suggests to have Exdeath trick Bartz into giving the trap to Zidane.

His alternate form is a palette 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 the other characters from the original. In this cycle he acts to sabotage the plans of his allies to betray Chaos, revealing Kuja's treachery to the other Warriors of Chaos and arranging for him to be defeated by Lightning, and manipulating Sephiroth to attack Tifa, prompting Cloud to reveal his true colors when he tries to protect her. He uses Terra as a weapon of war until Kuja weakens his spell, allowing Terra to resist him and flee Kefka's grasp with Vaan. Kefka serves as one of the participants in the final battle of Scenario 012, fighting Vaan.

Kefka's second alternate outfit gives him green robes with red and gold details, based on an alternate Yoshitaka Amano artwork and bearing a resemblance to his Final Fantasy VI sprite.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Kefka appears in his normal form as a boss in the game.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Kefka appears as a Legend character. He uses his Havoc Wing ability to assist the player.

Final Fantasy All the Bravest
Kefka appears as a boss in Final Fantasy All the Bravest. In his angelic form, he uses Havoc Wing that hits 3 target horizontally while Forsaken hits roughly around 8+ characters.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Kefka appears on many trading cards in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. One depicts him in his Dissidia Final Fantasy artwork, another depicts him in his Final Fantasy VI artwork, and cards with his Dissidia renders show him in EX Mode and his regular appearance.

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 Yoshitaka Amano artwork. His in-game appearance is identical to his normal appearance in Dissidia Final Fantasy.

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 mist.

Etymology and Symbolism
Kefka's last name, "Palazzo", is a common last name of Italian descent and means "palace", "mansion", or "castle". The Italian term pagliaccio for clown, bears a possibly intentional resemblance to Kefka's surname and fit his distinctive clothing.

His first name, Kefka, may derive from, a German psychologist, who worked on the , which is also reminiscent of Gestahl, the emperor in Final Fantasy VI. Another possibility is Franz Kafka, who is known for his stories based around hopelessness (his writings are considered existentialist, a philosophy similar yet at the same time opposite of Kefka's).

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 was 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.

Kefka's God of Magic form bears resemblance to the fallen angel Lucifer, also known as Satan. The similarity was further alluded to with the SNES translation for one of his attacks, Fallen One, one of the names for Lucifer.

In Japan, the color purple is the representative color of death, which explains why Kefka's god of magic form is primarily purple in color.

Trivia

 * The word "kefka" means "toothbrush" in Slovakian.
 * In the video game, The 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. They can also hear this laugh when Tifa and Cloud fall in the Lifestream, at Mideel.
 * Kefka's laugh appears in Square's Chrono Trigger when the player talks to Nolstein Bekkler in the Millennial Fair. The player can also hear it from Ozzie.
 * Zalera, one of Final Fantasy XII Espers, uses a remake of Kefka's laugh in his final attack, Condemnation.
 * Kefka was named the third greatest villain in a video game by Nintendo Power in their 250th issue.
 * 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. He wrote it to give the players an early implication that Kefka had a few screws missing.
 * In earlier versions of Final Fantasy VI, before the player fights Kefka, he says "Life... hope... dreams? Where do they come from? And where are they going?" This is similar to the title of one of Paul Gauguin's most famous paintings, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
 * A variation of the above quote was used in the Halloween event for Final Fantasy XIV in 2011: "Life...Dreams...Imps... Where do they come from? And where do they go?" This was one of many lines indicating that an Imp had spawned for players to interact with in town.
 * Kefka's English voice actor, Dave Wittenberg, also voices Yazoo in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Amodar in Final Fantasy XIII, and Captain Cryptic in Final Fantasy XIII-2.
 * The Spanish web Meristation named Kefka the second greatest villain in the history of video games.
 * Although Kefka's stance as a Magitek Knight was strongly implied throughout the story, it was never directly stated via normal gameplay. The player must talk to the barkeep at Vector's tavern after avoiding getting caught by the patrolling guards to find this out explicitly.