Kefka Palazzo/Dissidia (PSP)

Kefka Palazzo is one of the villains fighting for the side of Chaos in Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. An insane sorcerer with a complete lack of scruples, his attacks are generally magic-based, but more chaotic than basic spells. Coupled with his erratic movements, Kefka's main skill seems to be to annoy his opponents with his contemptuous manner. He shares his goal to destroy everything with other villains, specifically, Cloud of Darkness, Exdeath, and Kuja. However, his short-term goal is to manipulate and take control of Terra, and use her power to further his other plans. His fighting style in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy has been heavily re-balanced.

Attire
Kefka's appearance in Dissidia is drawn from his original Amano artwork rather than his Final Fantasy VI sprites. His clothing is colorful with a variety of polka-dots and stripes, with red and yellow being predominant. His trademark blond hair and white and red facial make-up are present, and his lips are outlined in bright purple.

Kefka's first alternate costume, "Zebra Tights," is based on an alternate Amano design and resembles his Final Fantasy VI battle sprite. Kefka wears an outfit with more blue and white colors with a red, white, and blue ruffle around his neck and a white cape. His EX Mode in this outfit is a darker purple God form with a purple loincloth, white angel wings, and red and black demon wings.

Kefka's second alternate outfit, "Snobbish Turban," is based on another alternate Amano art, and resembles Kefka's Final Fantasy VI field sprite. He wears an outfit colored in various shades of green with gold and some red details, puffed sleeves, and a green and yellow skullcap. His EX Mode in this form is based on Rest, one of the two final opponents in the chain of enemies leading up to Kefka in the final battle in Final Fantasy VI. Kefka has light blue-gray skin with a dark blue loincloth, golden angel wings and black demon wings.

Kefka's manikin version, Phantasmal Harlequin, is red.

Twelfth cycle
In "Prologus," Kefka is the second Warrior of Chaos Lightning and the Warrior of Light face. He tells Ultimecia to let him handle them, but is defeated.

Overhearing Kuja speaking with Cloud about memories, Kefka decides to "help" the two, arranging the chain of events leading to Cloud's defection by talking Sephiroth into attacking Tifa and revealing the battle to Cloud. Due to Kuja's own scheme, Kefka finds himself unable to control Terra and retaliates by gathering the Emperor and Ultimecia in a plan to foil Kuja's scheme and expose him to the Warriors of Cosmos he was attempting to align with. Though Kefka expresses how impressed he was with Kuja's scheme, encouraging him to try again in the next cycle, he intends to be a witness to the young man's defeat. To that end, he nags Kuja into showing him what he is made of against Lightning.

Though Kuja is defeated, Kefka takes in it stride, as well as implies his intentions of supplying Kuja with fake memories upon his revival for the next cycle. Lightning is disgusted at his treatment of Kuja, but Kefka dismisses it, and also cryptically hints the nature of the conflict to her before taking his leave. Later, Kefka finds his prize "toy" Terra unwilling to fight, and proceeds to torture her until Vaan intervenes on her behalf. Rendered giddy by the fight, Kefka fails to notice Vaan running off with Terra, yet remarks she will come back to him eventually. Kefka later joins the group under Garland to stop Lightning's team from advancing, battling Vaan, as well as asking for Terra back, before falling back. Afterwards, Kefka attacked the Cloud of Darkness for her part in the rift's closing, having her memories erased as well.

Thirteenth cycle
Kefka appears with Kuja, telling him to acquire some "bait" for Zidane, but Kuja protests that his friends cannot be kidnapped because they travel together. Kefka tells Kuja Squall travels alone, prompting Kuja to attack Squall and try to capture him, telling him to "kill two birds with one stone."

When Bartz falls into a trap laid for Zidane, Kefka appears before Zidane and refuses to tell him where Bartz is, as well as angrily chew Zidane out for being "Too stupid to even get caught in a trap!" The two duel, and Zidane wins. Kefka tells Zidane Bartz has been taken to enemy territory. Kefka also makes a brief appearance directly afterward, where Kuja complains Kefka botched his plan, only for Kefka to shrug off the accusation and taunt him with the failure. However, he does express interest when Kuja plots to use the setback to trick Bartz into getting Zidane into a trap by using a fake crystal.

After talking Exdeath into confronting the Onion Knight and Terra, refusing to accept he has lost the latter to Cosmos, Kefka recruits the Cloud of Darkness to help him in unlocking Terra's full power. After the Cloud of Darkness is defeated and the Onion Knight got his crystal, Kefka appears before him and Terra. With Terra having forgotten about being a Warrior of Chaos and no memory of her mindless battle with the little knight, Kefka reminds her and mocks her claims that he is lying, calling her "destruction incarnate" while firing spells at Terra in an attempt to get her to awaken her cataclysmic power. Kefka tells Terra she is better suited to fight for Chaos than against him and extends an offer to Terra to rejoin him in causing destruction. In an attempt to protect Terra, Onion Knight attacks the mad clown, and Kefka teleports them away, leaving Terra alone to search for her friend.

At some point later, Kefka ends up meeting with the Emperor about what Sephiroth is planning. Kefka does not seem to care, as he feels Sephiroth is not really special due to the fact he is "Yet another sadist with a god complex." Kefka seemed to react with surprise when he learned from the Emperor that Sephiroth apparently killed himself in front of the Emperor in the last battle. They decide to keep an eye on him. Along the way, Terra encounters Cloud after Terra's powers again reach breaking point when remembering Kefka's taunts about her being destruction incarnate. Cloud takes the brunt of Terra's attacks and then joins her to look for the Onion Knight. They later find Kefka, and again she refuses his offer, having found hope for a future where dreams like those of Firion can come true. Enraged, Kefka summons the Cloud of Darkness to assist him before the Onion Knight arrives in time to give Cloud a hand in holding off the Cloud of Darkness, while Terra fights Kefka alone. Kefka bombards her with spells while maniacally demanding that she "play" with him, until she stops running and fights him. Terra overcomes Kefka and he fades away, although not before declaring he will get her back.

After Chaos has killed Cosmos, Kefka appears along with Exdeath to ridicule the heroes, as they begin to fade away as a result of the goddess's death. Later on, he is confronted by Terra in his tower. He initially taunts Terra in regards to her role in Cosmos's death. Terra once again defeats him, after which Kefka laments the futility of existence before self-destructing and fading away with a sorrowful laugh while craving for more destruction. Terra later speculates Kefka desired destruction because he truly could not perceive anything else in life and needed it to fill his broken heart.

Battle
Kefka's is described as a Mad Mage. His attacks consist of various magical projectiles that move in erratic patterns and hit over large areas, allowing him to catch opponents by surprise. His attacks usually have a lag when used, or leave Kefka stationary while he manipulates the attack, leaving him vulnerable to counterattacks. Another drawback is that Kefka has slow ground movement, and many of his Bravery attacks can be blocked. As an upside, when they do hit his Brave attacks often do high damage.

Boss
In Dissidia, Kefka is fought in Destiny Odyssey VI and IX, Shade Impulse, Distant Glory, and Inward Chaos.

In Dissidia 012, Kefka is fought in Stern Eyes, An Undocumented Battle, The Chosen Path, Trust, and Conclusion of the Cycle chapters of Story Mode.

Attacks
Bravery attacks

HP attacks Bravery attacks

HP attacks

EX Mode
Warring Triad _mphWG8W-Sc Kefka's EX Mode is Power of Destruction, where he transforms into his God of Magic form as seen in the final battle of Final Fantasy VI. In EX Mode Kefka gains the abilities "Glide" and "Exhilarating Magic." Glide lets Kefka fly through the air by holding, while Exhilarating Magic augments his attacks in various ways, such as firing more projectiles, hitting over larger areas, improving their tracking, and so forth. This makes Kefka's attack even more erratic and difficult to defend against.

Kefka's EX Burst is Warring Triad. Kefka attacks the opponent with Ultima, then leaps back and conjures a field of energy. Three button commands flash over Kefka's head, and the player must input the commands in the same order they appear. If the buttons are input incorrectly, Kefka will use a stronger version of Forsaken. If the buttons are correct, he will use Light of Judgment, smiting opponents from above with a beam of light.

Equipment
Kefka can equip Rods, Staves, Instruments, Bangles, Hats, Hairpins, Ribbons, Clothing, and Robes. In Dissidia 012, Kefka can also equip Poles and Headbands.

Allusions

 * One of Kefka's exclusive weapons, Dancing Mad, is named after his theme song during the final battle.
 * Several of Kefka's battle quotes are taken from his dialogue in Final Fantasy VI. Against the Emperor, Kefka says "You are less than worthless!" which is his insult to Emperor Gestahl. When using Extra Crispy Firaga, Kefka shouts "You'll be well done!", derived from "Run! Run! Or you'll be well done!" which he said to Emperor Gestahl as the latter was attempting to flee from the Warring Triad's lightning strikes. When battling Cecil, Kefka says "Goody two-shoes!" a line he said to General Leo. One of Kefka's defeat quotes is "I hate, hate, hate, hate, HATE YOU!" a line he says to Celes Chere in the SNES version after the latter stabbed Kefka instead of killing her friends - he says an extended version of the line in Destiny Odyssey VI. Two of his defeat quotes are "Don't think you've won this!" and "Graaah! I'll remember this!" both of which are based on his dialogue when defeated in Narshe. His intro quote "You're lower than lower than dirt" is based on his quote "You may as well be the dirt on the bottom of my boots! Or the dirt stuck to the bottom of that dirt!". The same line is referenced at the end of Destiny Odyssey III in Dissidia 012, when Kefka says the Cloud of Darkness isn't "worth the dirt on the bottom of my boots!" Kefka's line when battling Jecht, "Meatheads, meatheads everywhere," is similar to a line spoken by Ultros to Sabin. When Exdeath is facing Kefka, Kefka will say, "Destruction without death? BORING." This is a similar line at the final battle when Kefka says "What fun is destruction if no precious lives are lost?"
 * While chasing Terra during their battle in Destiny Odyssey VI, Kefka briefly assumes the pose of his Amano artwork. He assumes the same pose when using Forsaken Null. He also assumes a variation of one of his Amano poses should he win a battle.
 * Also, shortly before Terra fights him after the chase, Kefka says "I'm going to destroy... EVERYTHING!!" as he shatters the glass container he warped into, referencing a similar line he tells the Returners: "I will exterminate everyone and everything," in the SNES and PS versions of Final Fantasy VI. Earlier in Destiny Odyssey VI, he also references this with the line "Let's destroy it all, you and me! Friends, enemies, everybody and everything!"
 * When Kefka uses his EX Burst, he will descend from above, similar to the beginning of the final battle in Final Fantasy VI. Furthermore, during Kefka's EX Burst, golden lights shine down on him, alluding to the final battle background from Final Fantasy VI. If Forsaken is used during his EX Burst, Kefka assumes the pose of his god form's battle sprite and the camera angle changes to that of a traditional Final Fantasy battle. When using either Forsaken or Light of Judgment, the screen zooms in to Kefka's face, a reference to Kefka's expression being displayed in Final Fantasy VI's final battle when he prepared to use Forsaken.
 * The name of Kefka's EX Burst, Warring Triad, refers to the trio of gods he absorbed power from in Final Fantasy VI to become a god himself. When the three circles appear surrounding him they are colored in a manner reflective of the triad - the top circle is blue, representing Goddess, the right circle is red, representing Demon, and the left circle is yellow, reflecting Fiend. Their positions relative to Kefka refer to when he absorbed their power atop the Floating Continent - Goddess was at the top, Demon was to the right, Fiend was to the left, and Kefka was in between the three.
 * One of Kefka's victory quotes is him breaking the fourth wall by humming the "Victory Fanfare."
 * All of Kefka's attacks are attacks he uses in the final battle in Final Fantasy VI - his Firaga, Blizzaga, and Thundaga attacks in Dissidia are variations of the normal versions of the spells he uses in the battle.
 * Kefka takes control of Terra in Destiny Odyssey III using a "Puppeteer's Wheel." This is a reference to Kefka using a Slave Crown to control Terra in Final Fantasy VI.
 * When confronted in Shade Impulse, Kefka delivers several lines that mirror his dialogue before the final battle in Final Fantasy VI, which varies depending on whether the playable character is Terra or someone else in the Warriors of Cosmos. If the character is someone other than Terra, he will greet the character with "Welcome, dear, dear friends. I've been thinking of just the right thing to say when we met again," referencing the way he greeted the party when they ascended his tower; "Welcome, friends! I knew you'd come, so I've been practicing my greeting!" If the character going to fight Kefka is Terra, Kefka says "Destruction is the fate of all things!" similar to his line in Final Fantasy VI "Embrace your destruction! It is the fate of all things!" Kefka's dialogue after being defeated by Terra paraphrases various excerpts of his speech before the final battle in Final Fantasy VI. Before his battle with Terra, Kefka says "Beyond the chaos, the end draws near." This references both the original Super NES ("The end comes... beyond chaos.") and Game Boy Advance ("The end draws near...") translations of the line Kefka says during the battle in Final Fantasy VI when he prepares to use Goner/Forsaken.
 * As in Final Fantasy VI, Kefka's Havoc Wing is his only physical attack, not including his Chase Sequence HP attack.
 * One of Kefka's sample voice clips in the theater is the line "Such magnificent power!", which is what he says to the heroes as he demonstrates his power in Final Fantasy VI.
 * When Vaan fights Kefka in Dissidia 012, he says "You're about to learn why 'oppose' rhymes with 'dispose'!" paralleling his orders to his soldiers when he invades Narshe, "There's a reason 'oppose' rhymes with 'dispose'!"
 * In Dissidia 012, Kuja attempts to sneak Zidane and his friends behind enemy lines to fight Chaos himself, but Kefka, the Emperor, and Ultimecia intervene to stop them, Kefka claiming that Kuja's plan all along was to betray them after getting them this far. This mirrors an event in Final Fantasy VI where Celes helps the party sneak into the Magitek Research Facility, and Kefka meets them in the facility's Esper storage and claims Celes is a spy for the Empire.
 * When Lightning orders the villains to step aside in Dissidia 012's final stages, Kefka laughs and responds "'Step aside' she says. Do we look like side steppers?", a reference to when Sabin asked Kefka to wait, and Kefka responded, "'Wait' He says! Do I look like a waiter?"
 * One of Kefka's voice data has him laugh in the same tone and tempo as his original laugh in Final Fantasy VI.
 * When Sephiroth confronts Kefka in Dissidia 012, Sephiroth tells Kefka to "Die laughing." This is similar to what Emperor Gestahl said to Kefka shortly before attempting to kill him on the Floating Continent.
 * When the Emperor confronts Kefka in Dissidia 012, the Emperor tells Kefka "Back to your cage, foolish jester!" referring to when Emperor Gestahl had Kefka imprisoned as part of his ploy to gain the Returners' trust.
 * In Dissidia Duodecim Prologus Final Fantasy, the theme when fighting Kefka is "Esper Battle ~ arrange from Final Fantasy XII", alluding to Kefka's attempt at exploiting espers for their power, and later turning them into magicite.

Trivia

 * While the attacks are fairly common among the Warriors of Cosmos, Kefka is the only Warrior of Chaos with access to some variation of the Fire and Blizzard spells.
 * Kefka is the only male character besides Cloud who can equip the female-only "Pretty Princess" equipment set.
 * If Kefka begins Forsaken Null during EX Mode, and continues to keep the same Forsaken Null out after his EX Mode ends, the magic spheres will still track the enemy until that specific Forsaken Null ends.
 * When Kefka uses an HP attack, his hands glow with a red aura, but when Terra uses an HP attack, her hands glow with a blue aura.
 * The Japanese name for Kefka's "Exhilarating Magic" ability is Dokidoki Magic. "Dokidoki" is a Japanese onomatopoeia for a beating heart.
 * Kefka is the only Warrior of Chaos who has a surname.
 * In the first game's Shade Impulse, Kefka is the first villain to be killed. However, in Dissidia 012, Exdeath dies before him.
 * Kefka is the only character who has no HP attacks which can cause Brave damage prior to dealing the HP damage.
 * Kefka, together with Ultimecia, are the only warriors of Chaos to have their names stated in their corresponding battle arena, namely "Kefka's Tower."
 * Most of Kefka's dialogue, as well as his tendency to change the tone of his voice mid-sentence, were ad-libbed by Kefka's Japanese voice actor, Shigeru Chiba. In particular, Kefka's use of "Ti-La-Pia!" as a magic spell is an example of Chiba's habit of using seafood-related puns when ad-libbing the dialogue of some of his anime roles.
 * In addition, in Shade Impulse, his English voice actor, Dave Wittenberg, appears to have ad-libbed the line "sorry, ma'am," as it is not subtitled. However, it only happens in the first Dissidia; in Duodecim, the line is subtitled. He says this in response to Terra demanding that he "stop fooling around!" after he initially refuses to tell her what he knows about the Warriors of Cosmos's involvement in Cosmos's death.
 * Kefka has an idle animation. If left idle for a few seconds, he will lean back while pumping his arms into the air several times while he hovers in place, as if laughing or exaggeratedly yawning.

Kefka Palazzo/Dissidia