Your favourite FINAL FANTASY antagonist.

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Lulcielid

Warrior of Light
Oct 9, 2014
3,826
2,826
28
Argentina
#1
As of now(FEB,2015) my favourite antagonist is still Sephiroth, not too much to say, very popular and well know in the JRPG community.

I was considering putting Kefka in N°1, he was potentially a good antagonist,initially seem like a lighthearted villain, then gradually revealing his true nature as maniacal, short-tempered, flamboyant, destructive,cruel,psychopath with no regard for human life or remorse for the atrocities he commits,reveling in the suffering of others and what began as a disregard to human life developing into nihilism (as well as his other villanuous actions).
Having said all that why did i put Sephiroth above him dispite Kefka being more villanous(and having a bigger deadpool) than him?. When analyzing and thinking more in deep(as i played through the game)2 words came up to my mind which made eveything that is Kefka fall apart(in my perseption), WHY and HOW being those words. Ironically the guy that is considered among the best antagonist in RPG/JRPG (particularly in more story driven games) lacks backstory and explanation of why/how he develops from cruel guy to nihilist through the plot(something where Sephiroths overwhelms Kefka),which becomes even worst if his wiki page entry can´t answer that (even if you put the :He was Cid's first experimental Magitek knight, but the process wasn't perfect yet and his psyche went wrong, in the equation, there´s still no explantion of the development that i stated before).
Though as an antagonist he does his job but thats all.

I would like to know which is yours favourite. I do expect someone to dissagree with me ,and probably make a reply as long as mine, but that ok the disscusion forums are made for that:)
 
#4
I'm definitely going to be in the minority here, but I would sing the praises of Vayne Solidor any day.

Sure, he's nowhere near as immediately dangerous as the likes of Kefka and Sephiroth. He does not swing an impossibly stupid sword around while speaking with the unfiltered sexiness of Liam O'Brien's voice like Caius. He doesn't make your skin crawl as much as Seymour does with his visible open chest and a bit of his midriff. He doesn't look as fabulous as Kuja or enjoy Mortal Kombat as much as Ultimecia does. He's also not something as awesomely silly as a warlock made out of a tree like Exdeath.

But he doesn't have to be. Vayne is his own thing, and an atypical type of antagonist at that for the franchise. He's a cold, calculating, machinating political idealist, but his overall goal is arguably noble and utilitarian. Allow man, under the helm of a strong leader, naturally, to write its own destiny without the chains of divine design. Subjugation and destruction is a necessary evil to attain a better Ivalice, Vayne would reckon.

Sure, he shares no real personal connection with anyone in your party, and nor does he have that constant presence that other villains enjoy, but for the type of story posited by FFXII, Vayne works well for it. He doesn't break any new ground, and he's a bit cookie cutter for an antagonist of his tropes, but neither is he a rubbish villain with nothing worth talking about, as detractors often say about him. Do we have to hate a villain on a sort of personal level in relation to the main character? Does a villain have to be unambiguously evil to be good? Of course not. In many ways, you can argue that Vayne can be subtly more dangerous than others precisely because he isn't unambiguously evil, and because he has the honeyed words and oratory skills to soothe the burning anger and frustration of subjugated citizens (see the cutscene where he makes his maiden speech in Rabanastre as Consul), so he can easily bend and manipulate people to his cause.

I feel that Gaius van Baelsar in FFXIV shares some similarities, but unfortunately, the narrative is nowhere near strong enough to convey the character across well. At best, he appears in the final dungeon to exposit EVERYTHING at you in a cutscene that new players tend to skip, to avoid being left behind by a party dead set on rushing through it. But ultimately, Vayne is more dangerous than the Legatus, because for one, he wields absolute power unlike the Roman general, and because while Gaius is played like a fiddle by one immortal entity, Vayne has a close, working relationship with an immortal demigod.
 

Infest

Blitzball Champion
Sep 8, 2014
540
346
Germany
#7
Probably Kuja for me. I don't especially like his look (lol) but his whole behavior is like how I would design a good antagonist myself. Second to that is Kefka, he is just crazy!
 

XvoltaireX

PSICOM Soldier
Nov 28, 2014
84
58
27
#8
Mine currently, is Nero tol Scaeva, from Final Fantasy XIV. Simply because of his overall demeanor, atmosphere, high intelligence, and pure sense of will. He's just so laid back about everything, while having an extremely oppressive presense, and he doesn't take crap from anyone, not even his comrades who criticize him on his non shalant behavior. IMO, he is the only villain, no, character in the game with the most badass weapons. A sniper rifle with a Long Sword attached to it, and a larger GunHammer. Along with calculated tactical combat skills to back it all up.
 
Nov 17, 2014
213
60
33
#9
My favorite antagonist could have been the Emperor Mateus, if only his role was fully fleshed out in the game. And if he did, he could've easily replaced Kefka on the #1 spot for my top FF villain list.
 

Zero

ShinRa SOLDIER
UFFSite Veteran
#10
It's hard to decide because I like both Kefka and Sephiroth a lot. Ultimately, I guess Sephiroth if for nothing more than having one of the most badass outfits in the history of the franchise. Then there's his masamune, which is an awesome sword. Amazing theme song, too. I think I'm also more partial to Sephiroth after playing Crisis Core, where you get to see what he was like before going bat-shit crazy. I enjoy the tragic story of the best in SOLDIER losing his mind in revenge.