Kefka Palazzo



Kefka Palazzo (Kefuka or Cefca in the Japanese version) is the villain in Final Fantasy VI. Kefka is an insane, egomaniacal villain who starts out as a mere lackey but eventually acquires godlike powers. He is perhaps best remembered for his distinct sound effect - a shrill maniacal cackle - and his darkly-comedic passion and dialogue. Those traits, in combination with his appearance, have earned him the nickname "The Psycho Clown" from many fans. Incidentally, Kefka only resembles a clown outside of the SNES original, in which he looks more like a bard.

Kefka's full name is Kefka Palazzo, although as with Leo Cristophe, his full name is not actually mentioned in the game. Kefka's first name is believed to be derived from the name of the author Franz Kafka, and both share an absurdist/nihilistic view of life. There seems to be a nod to the author in the fact that a song, "Metamorphosis," played during Kefka's actual transformation, shares a title with "The Metamorphosis", a novella written by Franz Kafka. "Palazzo" is a common last name among individuals of Italian or Peruvian descent. It means "Palace" or "Mansion", even "Castle".

Many still remember Kefka fondly due to the fact that he is different from most villains in the series. Instead of being distant and mysterious, he is persistent and taunting. Kefka's popularity as a villain remains second outside of Japan only to Sephiroth.

Kefka remains the only Final Fantasy villain to have been the sole architect of the world's demise from onset to conclusion.

Background
Born to unknown parentage, Kefka was abandoned at birth. Raised in an orphanage in Thamasa, Kefka was beaten severely by the orphanage head, and developed a taciturn personality. Eventually he left Thamasa for Vector. Graduating at the top of his class from the Imperial academy, Kefka became the apprentice of Cid del Norte Márquez, and underwent an infusion that gave him the ability to use magic. Though it had no immediate side effects, it lead to the gradual degeneration of Kefka's sanity.

At the age of 23, Kefka was appointed commander of the magitek knights. In the following years, he took an interest in the recently orphaned daughter of an Imperial soldier and a Tzen female aristocrat, Celes Chere. Kefka used his political pull to make sure that Celes was brought up a magitek knight. Kefka political ascension culminated when at age 31, he was appointed to the position of Imperial Prime Minister. Kefka's reign, however, would be short-lived. At a banquet celebrating the appointment of his protégé Celes Chere to Rear Admiral, Kefka cracked. The magitek infusion from years prior finally manifested itself.

Kefka showed marked change in behavior; once a shy, reserved man, Kefka began dressing in garish robes, wearing makeup, and playing with dolls; his once keen strategic mind deteriorated, and all that was left was a thirst for death and destruction. Kefka was promptly removed from military duty. Still feeling indebted to him for his years of service, and appreciating his loyalty, Gestahl appointed Kefka to the position of Court Mage of the Gestahlian Empire.

In-game
Kefka spends the first part of the game as the Court Mage of Emperor Gestahl, who largely controls the southern continent. Kefka's maniacal zeal in carrying out the Emperor's dirty work pits him against the heroes of the game on a number of occasions.

Kefka first appears in search of Terra, coming to Figaro Castle to talk to King Edgar (or in the beginning FMV of Final Fantasy Anthology). Kefka responds to Edgar's evasive comments by setting the castle on fire. He next appears at the Imperial base east of Doma Castle, where he disobeys General Leo's orders and dumps poison into Doma's water supply. After that, Kefka leads an Imperial attack on Narshe to claim the Esper there.

When the Returners infiltrate the Magitek Research Facility, they watch Kefka throw two drained Espers in the trash, and Celes apparently sacrifices herself to stop him from killing the party. The Empire previously drained the Espers' powers to power their Magitek, but Espers were of little use to it after their power was drained. Kefka listens in on the party's explanation to Cid about how to unlock the real powers of the Espers by transforming them into Magicite.

When the Returners open the Sealed Gate to the Espers' homeland, Kefka attempts to take control, but they are too powerful, and he is swept away. Gestahl has him locked up in Vector's prison, but it is only a ploy to gain the Returners' trust; he sends Kefka to Thamasa to take Magicite from the Espers that had escaped, and then return so they can go through the Sealed Gate and revive the Floating Continent. In the process, Kefka kills General Leo, who tries to stop him.

When the Returners land on the Continent and defeat the powerful magical creatures, including the ancient Atma Weapon (called "Ultima Weapon" in the Japanese version), Kefka freezes them (except Celes). He tells Celes to kill her friends to show her loyalty to the Empire, but she stabs him instead. Wounded, Kefka knocks her aside and attacks Gestahl. Gestahl tries to blast him with powerful magic after seeing Kefka going insane, but the Statues absorb it. Kefka directs them to unleash their power on Gestahl, whose wounded body Kefka boots off the side of the Floating Continent to certain death. He then moves the Statues from their delicate balance, dooming the world. Through this process, with the aid of María, Kefka absorbs the power of the Goddess Statues, replacing them as the underlying source of all magic in the world. After the end of the world, transforming the known World of Balance into the World of Ruin, Kefka uses his newfound power to create a massive tower of random debris to serve as his headquarters, using his powers to smite millions of people who refuse to worship him. Many towns are fried by Kefka's 'Light of Judgment', a heavenly beam of incinerating light that can cut across the planet. This is used as a twisted play off the Bible that enhances Kefka's image as God. Many global inhabitants form the Cult of Kefka in his honor to avoid certain death. Members of the Cult are in a zombie state, wandering mindlessly. What remains of the world slinks into ruin as a result, with most of the surviving population losing all hope until the heroes of the game return.

Kefka rules over the planet for approximately one year before the heroes of the game regroup and attack his stronghold. During their final battle, Kefka reveals to the heroes that he has developed a nihilistic revelation, explaining that life is meaningless and his goal is the destruction of everything--life, dreams and hope.

During the final battle with Kefka, the player must fight through several forms of the character, as is traditional with final bosses in role-playing games, before finally destroying the tyrant once and for all. Several of these forms are interpretations or parodies of Renaissance art, including Michelangelo's Pietà, with an image of Kefka replacing that of Jesus; as well as the character's final form, as an Angel of Death and an ironic reference to Lucifer, the fallen angel, by bearing an angelic appearance. Nobuo Uematsu's multi-part theme song for these battles, titled Dancing Mad, is based mostly on Kefka's main theme and also on the Empire theme of the game. The final forms of Kefka may also be a reference to Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy: the first tier, a demon, represents Hell; the second tier, people, animals, and machines, represent Purgatory; the third tier, an angel and a saint, represent Heaven; and Kefka, of course, substitutes himself for God.

He is finally defeated by the Returners and their friends. However, since he had absorbed all the magic from the Statues, the only thing holding the Tower together was now destroyed. Using their skills and courage, the party escapes just before the Tower collapses. However, magic starts to vanish from the world.

Kefka is one of the few Final Fantasy villains to achieve Godhood, with Yu Yevon in FFX, Promathia in FFXI, Feolthanos in Revenant Wings, and Saint Ajora Glabados in FFT, and the only one to do so during the events of the game. He temporarily defeated the heroes (like Cloud of Darkness, Exdeath, Ultimecia(while possesing Edea), and Beatrix, in FFIII and V, and VIII, and IX respectively), then destroyed the world (like Sin in FFX, although only Kefka achieved it within the time frame of the game) and later ruled the world as they knew it. Although others after him were able to make these achievements, he stands as the first Final Fantasy villain to do so and is still very popular among fans.

Kefka was also the first villain in the series to either appear as or to refer to himself as an "Angel of Death." Both Sephiroth and Ultimecia resembled Angels of Death in their final forms, Kuja is referred to as an Angel of Death by Garland, and Seymour Guado refers to himself as an Angel of Death.

Kekfa was the first villain to do many things. However, he was NOT the first to perform one of his most famous acts: wiping out an entire Kingdom by poisoning its water supply. Emperor Mateus Palamecia from Final Fantasy II wiped out the Kingdom of Deist by poisoning their water, just as Kefka would later do.

In Battle


Although only two of the fights are for real, Kefka is actually the boss the party fights the most, and they fight him five times over the course of the game. Sabin attacks Kefka at the Imperial Camp during the siege of Doma, but Kefka laughs off his attacks and flees. In that battle he is shown to wield a Morning Star.

The first real battle is atop Narshe. Here, Kefka uses many powerful magic attacks and uses his official battle sprite, seen above. He again flees after the fight.

Kefka attacks briefly when the Sealed Gate is open, and knows many powerful Lores and Spells. General Leo also fights an illusion of Kefka in Thamasa, and although it is proficient in Poison-based Spells, Leo is still able to easily dispatch the illusion, although the real Kefka kills him afterwards.

The final battle with Kefka atop Kefka's Tower features Kefka's "Angel of Death" appearance, and as the God of Magic he now knows the most powerful Spells in the game, including Ultima, Fallen One (Heartless Angel in GBA remake), Train, and his signature Goner (Forsaken in the GBA remake).

Other appearances
Kefka appears as a chance card in the game Itadaki Street Portable.

A toy resembling the Final Form of Kefka has been released in the Final Fantasy Master Creatures series of Final Fantasy toys. It bears the name Cefca Palazzo. It depicts Kefka floating above the swirling yellow mists quite like in the final battle, and is decidedly more demonic-looking than the one featured in the game.

Kefka also had a small cameo role in the Japanese only Playstation 2 title Izaru Makimoto.

Kefka Palazzo