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- 게시일 2024. 04. 27.
- Behind every good hero is a great villain and Final Fantasy is full of them! So in todays video, I'll be ranking them.
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Intro 0:00
14 1:15
13 1:43
12 2:20
11 2:50
10 3:50
9 4:42
8 5:45
7 6:38
6 7:35
5 8:33
4 9:28
3 10:33
2 11:34
1 12:39
Wrap Up 13:39
#finalfantasy #finalfantasy #jrpg - 게임
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I do feel like Exdeath should be at least a spot or two higher. He's a threat that you're actively running into after about the halfway point, successfully kills one of the party, and he is absolutely hilarious. Plus his castle is made of the flesh and bones of the people he's killed, like how we build buildings out of wood. That's metal as hell. 🤘🏻
it is a shame mmo's are not included since FF14 expansion Shadowbringers gave us Emet-Selch, who has since become the number 1 in my ff villain list
THIS. The greatest FF villain that only like 25% of the FF fanbase knows about
Certainly the most sympathetic villain of the entire FF series, if not him.. then Elidibus.
"But more than that, the future you seek is not the past we loved. That is why we fought. And why I lost.
But though you defeated me, my ideals are inviolate. Invincible."
Clicks to Emet because it's not just a ranking of every FF villain, it's a ranking of EVERY FF villain
I haven't played the MMOs, if you don't like that, that's life
Bruh moment.
im not even to shadow bringers its like 500 hours to get to it. the game also is bad until the dlc starts
It wasn't on here, but I believe Caius from XIII-2 deserves a high spot. His duty is to protect the seeress Yeul, but due to the events of XIII messing up the timeline due to the Goddess Etro's interference, Yeul's life is cut drastically because of her constant visions of the future. Each time Yeul reincarnates, she may look the same but has deviances in her personality that makes her a different person. Made worse by the fact he cannot die due to having the Heart of Chaos.
Each time, just as Caius gets to know her, she dies. It happens so much that he loses it and goes on a crusade against Lightning, Noel, and Sarah in an attempt to kill Etro in order to stop the passage of time entirely, all so Yeul wouldn't die from her visions anymore. He accomplished what he set out to do by unleasing Chaos from Valhalla into the world.
Yet even after his Heart of Chaos was destroyed, he maintained his immortality by becoming one with the chaos because all the incarnations of Yeul refuses to ever let him die. Caius, a man who jumped through timelines, killed the Goddess of Death, and caused the apocalypse all so one girl can finally be freed from her fate.
exactly lol at first i thought he meant from ever final fantasy game.
I honestly feel like Vayne Solidor doesn't get enough love. I understand why some people find him forgettable, but all of his machinations from the start had a noble purpose despite him doing dastardly things to get them done. He really ranks more as an anti-villain at best while still being the main driving force of the story. Gabranth was really just a broken man who harbored jealousy over his brother, but wasn't really the kind of mastermind that Vayne was.
All my efforts to see the reins of history back in the hands of Men!
Vayne was quite good. His overall goal of freeing man from the Occuria seems to come true, even in his death.
@@Dzzy123 Yeah. Even in defeat, his ultimate goals were realized. The Occuria lose control over history and Larsa succeeds him to the throne of Arcadia. It may not have played out like he intended, but it played out nonetheless
Vayne is very underrated.
Vayne was probably the best FF politician
It’s a shame Caius Ballad couldn’t be on the list. To be me he made me really love FF13. To the voice acting, cool abilities and the fact when you face him in Lighting Returns he look at you like “Why are you here? Didn’t I already beat you?” That’s some good shit right there.
Same. Caius Ballad of the *FFXIII* franchise is definitely and totally one of THE Best Epic Badass Antagonistic Final Fantasy Villain I Absolutely Respect and Appreciate from that game. Liam O'Brien did a Fantastic Job as Caius Ballad from *Final Fantasy XIII-2 & Lightning Returns XIII-3* games. I also Respect and Appreciate Kam'lanaut from *FFXI,* Gabranth from *FFXII,* Zenos yae Galvus from *FFXIV* franchises, Jecht from *FFX* and Barnabas Tharmr from *FFXVI* game from last year, as all the Best Epic Badass Antagonistic FF Villains there is throughout the years, of the *Final Fantasy* Gaming franchise there is.
Facts. Caius is the reason why I ended up liking the whole trilogy in the end. And he’s just so cool!
Why does that make him a good villain? Anything about his motivations and personality?
@@blackdragoncyrus Without spoiling too much Caius was cursed of been immortal and seeing someone he cares about die over and over again. His motivation is just to save a friend. He's basically if you take a dash of Kuja style + the honor nobility of Golbez + the badassness of Sephiroth. Also....
**spoilers**
One of the few villains/antagonist to "win" Which if I remember correctly are only Kefka, Ardyn and Caius
He was a well thought out character. Love him!
Kefka is a fantastic villain, and a perfect example of how great villains don't always need detailed backstories. It adds to his mystique and makes him all the more enigmatic and terrifying. Another thing that makes him such an effective villain is that he is completely remorseless, and isn't some tragic or fallen figure. He's just totally insane, and it is more believable that a person like that, who just cannot comprehend things like love or friendship, has the capability to destroy the world.
Kefka is incredibly overrated. What does he do? He giggles and kills people. Even his motives are bland. He's a one dimensional character. If this was a ranking of most maniacal villains he should win, as that's literally the only word you need to describe him. But it makes for a damn boring villian if that's all there is.
wdym he's not tragic/fallen? wasn't he literally driven insane by the magitek experimentation that gave him his powers?
@@badrapsample2212 Yes, but we don't know what kind of person he was prior to that. I mean, you could say there is some element of tragedy because it's a terrible thing to happen to someone no matter what kind of person they were, but I wouldn't go so far as to say he's a tragic character.
@@lefi75I couldn't agree more. He loses every confrontation he has, he giggles and he....moved some statues. Then you don't even see him the next several hours. He's the definition of overrated
@@lefi75 By that logic, Sephiroth is overrated since you don't even see the real him till the end of the game, and it wasn't until the FF7 compilation that really fleshed him out.
I personally feel Ardyn should be higher on the list, despite the DLC withholding valuable information on him.
In the base game, it is described he was chosen by the gods to rid the world of the starscourge and become king. He travels in a black chocobo healing people of their sickness, in messiah-like fashion.
When he is done, he is rejected by the crystal due to the corruption of the starscourge, conveniently discarded by the gods he believed, his brother and his people. Not even the mercy of death was granted to him.
So he rose to the upper echelon of the empire's political structure just to puppeteer Noctis into becoming the king of kings, who would finally be able to kill him. And turning emo boy into a man would be no easy task. Ardyn took his kingdom, killed his betrothed, tormented him and his friends, all for the sake of character development.
With DLC info, we learn that Ardyn's beloved was murdered in front of him and he was imprisoned for over 2000 years, until the empire set him free in an attempt to learn what the infamous addagium was all about.
Then he proceeded to weaponize his powers into the imperial army, creating magitek soldiers. He wrecked the Lucian capital like it was nothing, and corrupted a god to use against Noctis.
In the end he ruined the world, plunged it into darkness and set the stage for his final battle with the chosen king. Whatever the result, he already got what he wanted. The Lucis Caelum lineage would disappear. Victory would only determine if humanity would rebuild at dawn or perish in the dark. Death was just a sweet bonus.
Agreed. I think Ardyn is super underrated and should be top 3
He is too much tell and not enough show until the DLC and even then, the DLC is like what? 2 hours?
arden was one of the worst protagonists if we're being honest
A shame his story couldn't be concluded in game form, the book develops him as he should have been in the game. What I find most admirable about him is that despite all that happened to him there is still a dim light within him. He could have fully abandoned himself to the star scourge and turned full evil god to destroy everything and anything blindly, but through his actions he still kind of tries to save the day by letting Noctis have a chance to end him and the star scourge. Some hope and benevolence still live somewhere deep inside him. He still is vengeful towards the gods and bitter towards his bloodline but that's not all there is left of him. Anyway FF15 was a train wreck and it's a damn shame, so much unrealized potential
Dosent ardyn take over the world for ten years to and ultimately succeeds out taking out the royal bloodline like he wanted to at the end of the game. He definitely should be higher
Imagine seeing an ff6 remake. I think that kefka being the best villain wouldn't be debatable if we saw all of his horrors in graphic detail.
Many wish for for a remake but sadly until FF7 run its course the remake love for FF6 will not happen in a long time.
This!
I think it's better to just keep the memories tbh.
I don’t know how they could make kefkas iconic laugh a realistic laugh. I do want a remake though cause 6 is my favorite
@@Ironcorgi2 it would definitely be tough
It's hard to rank FF14 in anything because it's an MMO and therefore hard to get into but I think emet selch is easily the best FF villain.
I do have him second to Kefka, but agreed, Emet is a top-tier villain.
One thing I particularly love about Ultimecia is that, despite her extremely limited screen time, her presence throughout the game is so loud and evident you don’t really need her words to understand what kind of girl she is. One of the few characters that speaks through fashion and design.
Emet-Selch hands down is the best Final Fantasy villain. I think you should give 14 another shot. It has the best story & writing out of all the Final Fantasy games. I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy a lot of the music Soken has made for the game too. Maybe one day we will see you do a few covers of FFXIV music on your other channel.
You get a like and sub from me. Kefka is the best villain in Final Fantasy. He is the only one that completes his goal. The only reason he is beat is because he has grown tired of his own existence and lets the heroes climb the tower. It was more than in his power to kill them at any time in the second half of the game.
Wrong. Ardyn and Caius both succeed. While Kefka's victory didn't last long.
"The only one who completed his goal?" He did not such thing. He wanted to erase the whole of existence and make it "a monument to non-existence" per his words.
Sephiroth, Mateus Palemicia and Ardyn came closer to completing, completed and completed his goal , respectively.
@@Vayne_Solidor I think Kefka didn't really have much of a plan other than chaos and destruction. He achieved it. He was essentially like a sadistic child with a box of matches over an anthill but in Kefka's case its the world instead of ants. I suspect at some point he would have gotten bored and fully destroyed the world and himself along with it but I don't think that this was his ultimate goal. He just kind of makes it up as he goes along. With that in mind, I think OP's assessment of why he was defeated is actually quite plausible.
@@user-zq1vh5cc8xThat was only his declaration right at the end, in the face of his enemies, but his goal before that had been power and destruction. He also effectively turned the world into a blasted wasteland.
@@silverblade357 I take his words at face value, he did wanted to destroy the world, in the end he destroyed 4 cities only and not with his own power, he just pushed this world's auto-destruct button.
Emet-Selch easily one of the best villains. He sees himself as the hero of his own story, burdened with restoring his own world which was sundered in ordered to save it from a catastrophe. He lived thousands of lifetimes and tried to give a reason to leave his legacy to the new life but only saw greed and avarice. He deemed them unworthy of his legacy and sought to destroy the new world(s) all for the sake of returning his to its formal glory. In many of 14's moments that he appeared, he was more often enlightening than a hindrance to the game's protagonist and even helped on several occasions. He was a complex character who had a heavy burden to bear and his last words "Remember... remember that we existed" was a great moment of passing his legacy to the protagonist and giving them the burden of his past and the memory of the old world.
It's a good thing you didn't play 14... otherwise you'd need like 5 more spots on the list and 2-3 of the top 5 would be locked lol There's a good reason Emet-Selch beats even Sephiroth in villain popularity polls in Japan.
At this point, no villain list for FF is complete without including 14. It’s a huge shame most series fans just completely skip it.
@@SaberRexZealotcompletely agree. Lists missing 14 like what? It’s got a huge following for a reason. Go watch the cutscenes online at least if you want to make a list
I feel that 14 is a bit of a special case as pretty much every era inn that game had it's own main villain and sometimes multible villains so I think that game would be better off as a list of it's own.
emet-selch/hades is easily top 5!
@@inspirations365can you really fault people for not being particularly interested in spending literally hundreds of hours on an MMO not to mention how tough it can be actually doing outdated end game content which is where a lot of the story is locked behind.
Honestly it would almost be better in purely written form at this point for a large amount of people.
Such a great list. That top 3 is full of some power houses.
Also here’s an idea for a future ranking…top weapons or top abilities.
Take care!
Many villains try to destroy the world... Kefka succeeds.
Solid list. I miss Emet-Selch on it of course, but his exclusion was explained in the intro. I used to have Kefka and Kuja as my fav FF villains before 14, and even from all of 14's villains they're still #2 and #3 after Emet =)
I actually enjoyed this list. I would put Sephiroth above Kefka only because Sephiroth is more powerful and has a much bigger goal than Kefka had. Kefka was insane, and chillingly awesome, and I would absolutely LOVE to see a remake of 6, but in terms of strength and ability and overall psychological destruction, I would give it to Sephiroth, simply because Kefka could kill you, but Sephiroth can make you kill yourself. And Sephiroth doesn't appear to be able to end, like Kefka. it's such a toss up and that's really amazing for the franchise...
Being more powerful does not mean being better, it is like saying that in Dragon Ball Z Majin Boo was a better villain than Frieza just because he is more powerful.
@Raven00845 agreed, but that's not the only thing I mentioned that I feel makes sephy better. I think it depends on what you feel a villian is. You may feel it's Kefka, I think it's Sephy, and that's OK. Hugs. Also, apologies but I don't know anything about DragonBall so I don't understand your reference
Man! Amazing channel growth! Incredible! Lovin the videos - so exciting to see your channel and videos getting so much attention and enjoyment from people - I really enjoy these videos and the relaxed style with your voice, narration and gameplay - Keep up the fun and engaging videos and get inspired!
If you played ff14 this list would change dramatically.
Hi Erek, glad to see this video comming up :D I love it !
Only thing I would change is to move Golbez up a few spots. His was the first truly fleshed out villain character in the series and set the benchmark for all others to come.
0. Emet - Selch
Something i find worth mentioning with the emperor in ff2 is the fact that he has another counterpart during the versions of the game that have the soul of rebirth segment that i find far more interesting than his normal self.
Solid list and great video! FfXV has such a great story. It’s too bad it wasn’t delivered strongly on release. Ardyn was the first FF villi felt truly sympathetic for. Him and Noctis both got forced into this tragic fate. In the end they both get their peace.
Love these ranked videos Erek! Love listening to your insight. Keep ‘em coming. 😎✅
Someone may have said it already but Kitase shot down the theory of Rinoa being Ultemecia. Good list!
Yeah as well as the "Squall is dead" theory but he did say that was an interesting one
If only this was Garland or Jack from Strangers of Paradise... That would definitely push his ratings up.
Good video, but I have a few comments:
1) You chose Cloud of Darkness as the main villain in 3. To maintain consistency, you should have chosen Necron in 9, Zeromus in 4 and the Void in 5.
2) Emperor Matheus from 2 should be higher. He destroyed towns and killed people at the same level as Xdeath and was so evil, his human side was split in two: light and dark. And even in hell and heaven, he wreacked havoc.
I love seeing some quality RPG tier lists. Nice job, dude.
Hey thank you!!! Big fan of your channel as well - also some high quality RPG content!
Solid list. Mostly wanted to make sure the caveat about Ardyn's story really coming alive through his DLC was mentioned, so kudos for including it! Although he should *definitely* be higher than the XIII villain based on Darin de Paul's performance alone.
Ranking Vayne here is super difficult, it's debatable if he's really a villain at all since despite presenting himself as one, he's working for a common good overall (and achieves it, rare for a FF antagonist). Mostly it's down to XII being a more realistic political tale over a more classical story.
Sight nitpick: the Cloud of Darkness from III is *not* the "embodiment of darkness" as stated. She's actually a Void being, working to destroy both light and darkness, which otherwise should be in balance. Confusing given her title, but that's early FF English translators for you.
I can't really understand what are your criteria for the ranking. Based on your own assessment I don't really understand why Ultimecia ranks higher than Ardyn, Golbez, or Kuja in your list. You even had a lot more to say about all the others. Is it just how 'bad' they are? How cool they are? How evil they are? How much of their ambitions they managed to complete? It's not very clear to me. It just seemed kind of... arbitrary. Which makes the fact you set Kefka at the top rather than Sephiroth (which you clearly state you gravitate more towards) even more confusing.
I guess this isn't so much of a tierlist critique as it is a video content format critique. It would make discussions around your content more interesting and engaging if you clearly establish the criteria you used to come to that conclusion.
Well it's his top so I guess he puts whoever he wants where he wants, if you don't like it you can make your own top based on what you want.
*Me as someone whose first ff was FF1*: “oh man i hope Garland is high on the list”.
Erek: “Number 14 is Garland”
Me: “fuck!!”
Despite of all opinions here (I also agree that Ardyn should be higher on the list) we just CAN'T deny that Kefka is just the pure impersonation of Evil in a twisted way.
I truly love the fact that he was just a human being without any super human or God like powers. He achieves his goals just based on pure desire and man... Whenever he laughs it's easily the most distinguished character from FF VI. Imo
Kefka suffers a really big issue : the evil clown is the most cliché antagonist ever. What does it differentiate Kefka from the Joker ?
I’m digging the list! I think it’s a solid ranking!
Strangers of Paradice also gave a lot of deeper context and motivation for Guarland. And how we was effected by the time manipulation en so on. Check it, think you will find it interesting.
Great list, but what ranking would they be in based on their theme songs?
Besides Caius Ballad being my favorite for the single player ones, sad to say Emet Selch from XIV will definitely kick everyone out of this list without a problem. The way he was written as a character and a villain is unlike any I have ever seen in the series. Coupled by the excellent voice acting, he's absolutely phenomenal.
Ofcourse MMOs are always not included what's new lol but I really feel bad for the writers working hard on these MMOs to be continuously ignored in rankings like this. Like one of the best writers if not the best that Square Enix ever had is from XIV and her name is Natsuko Ishikawa. Everything she has written for the game were all god tier, from job quests, to characters, to the main scenario. She's so good that I think she's the only writer I've seen so far who got a long standing ovation from the audience in a panel she attended.
Emet is the best but i also loved elidibus, and fandaniel, and yotsuyu all absolutely amazing antagonists
.
@@Angarato86 agreed. XIV has no shortage of very well written characters, even the antagonists
I am not the bad guy. Cid, Venat and myself seeked freedom from the Gods. I am a mere politician.
Ardyn and Caius are my most beloved antagonists.
Subscribed, hope your channel blows up soon.
I actually agree on Vayne. I se what the devs were going for: a more complex villain with a more noble goal of saving the world from the game's true villains (who you never fight directly and in fact I'm not sure you even speak to since they're godlike beings who jsut watch and manipulate everything). The issue is he lacs a strong personality as an antagoist especially as what villainy he does clashes with the fact he seems to be a genuinely good natured person who wants to do the right thing for the world. THis of course means his villainy feels forced in my opinion.
and as you said since the game spends a lot of hemming and hawwing on who the big bad even IS Vayne in turn loses further chances to instill himself as a strong main villain.
That's just my take on the character.
yeah id agree. I love 12 but Vayne just isnt a great or iconic villain in the same as many others. There is no real personal struggle between the heros and Vayne, i appreciate him being more nuanced and deeper than most ff villians in some aspects but he is more of an interesting side character than a main villain. (watching the rest of the list id probably put him higher actually, Barthandelous is just a mess of a villain to me, while more personality i guess his plan and methods just dont win me over)
his goal is somewhat noble, but its just swapping one dictator for another. Not really breaking the wheel. They would have needed a lot more from him to really make him a main villain, a few meetings with the heros for example, he shouldve met them briefly in Archadia and Geruvaga at least and not the final cutscene of the game, literally asking "who are you?", its cool but doesnt exactly sell a personal conflict between the party and him.
Gabranth was a better option in some way but he was wounded by then that he wasnt a threat. So you have the personal emotional threat being Gabranth thats too weak and the main villian with no personal emotional tie not even knowing who maybe half the party is, he would know Ashe and Basch and probably Balthier through Cid but not Fran, Penelo or Vaan.
I agree with Kefka having the top spot, he deserves it by virtue of actually getting what he wanted, a world of nihilism. All the other villains stumble on the last step of whatever plan they concocted or worse get upstaged by the Final Boss, but not Ol' Clown Boi. Sure he gets beaten later but that doesn't diminish his lasting accomplishment, the World of Ruin is still there after him and magic is gone too. FF6 was exceedingly morbid from this one guy.
Uhh, nope. Ardyn and Vayne get exactly what they want by the end of their games, whilst Kefka's legacy is certainly undone at the end of FFVI He wasn't planning on "losing" in the ways the other two were.
Hey, great video! Do you think you'd ever make a video ranking all the game soundtracks? IMO Final Fantasy is the game series with the best music, pretty much every game sounds incredible, and there's a lot of variety between them I feel.
yep!!! That’s being planned. Might end up being next weeks video. Thanks for suggesting!
Emet imho topped Kefka in 14 but 14 is an MMO so I dunno how much I can count it, however, Emet is undeniably the most iconic antagonist in FF since Sephiroth but also manages to trump Kefka in insanity while being significantly more justified with motives similar to Ardyn Izunia's on a more extreme level.
I 100% agree. He’s the best villain out of the series I think. Totally insane and no remorse
I'm glad Ultimecia was rated highly. I feel like FFVIII is always seen as polarizing but I really enjoyed the story and characters. Ultimecia's castle was one of the coolest final dungeons in the series
You're right. Caius Ballad is actually so good it's not even fair to compete with him
Loved the twist in 7 when you thought Shinra was the enemy for the first 3rd of the game
Let’s be real, Hojo is the _real_ antagonist of FFVII.
Although I'd switch #3's spot with #4, your top 5 is spot on ❤️🔥
Kefka: And that’s how you win! Any questions? 😁
"That aren't about time travel?"
In lightning returns you actually kill the one true god, not like Ultima, that is just basically a super mage years ahead of mankind knowledge, and created mankind, but he is not a god in a literal sense I believe, its like a machine killing a human and calling humans their gods, but in lightning returns you have to kill a being that created the whole fucking universe and is there since the dawn of time, it is pretty much god like the christian god.
I LOVE your somewhat unexpected switch of #1 and #2.I totally agree that your #1 is the GOAT villain. Pure chaos.
I just gotta know. Where would you guys fit in caius from 13-2
I'm with you on the Kefka vote. I know it's tough to put another ahead what you're most attached to.
Wow, for the first time in a long time I agree with someone else's list. Well done. Kefka rarely gets the credit he deserves as being such a great villain.
Yes! I knew what #1 and #2 would be but wasnt sure which way you were gonna go. For whats its worth, I totally agree.
would have been nice to know where you ranked the villains of: The After Years, X-2, 13-2, 13-3
Is seymor the main villian of X? Or is it jecht/sin??
The main villain is Yu Yevon. Seymour is the best villain of the game but he is not the biggest threat or the endgame, so i wouldnt call him a main villain.
I never saw Sin as the villain. Seemed more like a force that is used throughout the game.
The problem with Ardyn is that he does a too good job at being sympathetic, to a point where it actually feels like he’s completely in the right, which cheapens it whenever the good guys harm or diss him. I mean, his brother killed his girlfriend cus he wasn’t chosen to be king by the crystal (remember this, it’s important), then seals Ardyn. Then when Ardyn gets freed, he doesn’t even want to do anything bad at first. It’s only after he’s forced to daemonify Ifrit that he starts trying to do evil because it drives him insane with visions of his brother killing his girlfriend again. Then, after raiding Insomnia and forcing the current king (at least I think it was the current king) to summon Somnus to fight him, Somnus actually has the AUDACITY to try and justify his actions by literally whining about how Ardyn always had it better than him and that he never had anything, as well as saying that what he did to Ardyn was for the good of the kingdom… you know, like a villain. Then, after Ardyn kills him for being an asshole, he actually has the audacity to ask Ardyn to understand him… MF, WHY?! Then Ardyn is summoned into the Crystal by Bahamut who just now invented the rule that fate cannot be altered (just like Ardyns fate to become king, eh?) and that it’s Ardyns fate to die and drag his bloodline with him. And when Ardyn refuses to accept this, like a reasonable person, his girlfriends spirit starts torturing him until he accepts. Yeah uhh… sorry, Noctis, but this guy IS the true king
Yeah, FF15 is really eff'ed up once you learned the ins and outs of the story. I liked that its really just a matter of perspective.
@@thaneros Yeah, but in this case, they really went too far while trying to screw with the main antagonist. I’ve never seen this case before in a game where an antagonist is so relatable that he ruins the main characters motivations. Which is a shame too, cus the coolest moments that Ignis and Noctis (especially Ignis tho) had were when they fought against Ardyn, who as it turns out is the actual victim here
@@topfranluis1 Ardyn has redeemable qualities, but he's a monster. You can agree with his motivations, but you can't with his actions.
Also, the fact he has a background, qualities, is fleshed out in many ways and has motivations to boot his actions makes him a better antagonist than 3 of the top 4 of this video. Neither Kefka nor Ultimecia are well written in any ways (Kefka is also one of the most cliché villain ever, it doesn't really help) and Sepiroth... well he's cool with a long sword and loves killing flowerist, but his motivations don't exist.
@@groudonvert7286 It was very clearly shown that Ardyn only went insane due to the daemonification. Why else would you explain to me that he had no malicious intent at all when he was first freed? Like, I know Kefka has a similar origin story, with him being mindbroken thanks to Magitek experiments, and he’s my favorite villain of all time, but on the other hand, Kefkas backstory doesn’t involve Espers actually being super evil and killing his parents or destroying his hometown or whatever. He was just evil for the hell of it. Ardyn is a victim, it’s not even a debate, that’s just how it frikkin is. That’s like calling Naruto a monster because he acted violently while being controlled by Kyubi
Also, Kefka is literally anything but cliche. Normally, characters like him are the kind of antagonist that get tossed aside rather quickly, so him becoming the big bad was refreshing to say the least. Gestahl is the cliche one and not him. And Sephiroth, while he’s not my favorite, actually has motivations, which are that the corporation he was working under was destroying the planet and that he was imbued with the cells of what he thought was an ancient, a race of people who didn’t steal the planets life energy. If you’re really so oblivious towards all of these antagonists, I really don’t feel like you have any idea what you’re talking about with Ardyn either
@@topfranluis1 Ardyn chose to become a monster, not because of Bahamut, but because he wanted it. Bahamut let him choose (I tried both choices, the result is the same).
And no, Kefka has not the same original story (for what we know of it). Ardyn was a saint in his young age and chose to damage his body to heal people. The only thing we know about Kefka is he was a experiment that went wrong. Who was Kefka before that ? Nobody knows.
And yes, Kefka is a cliché villain. An iconic laugh ? A nihilistic personality ? A background we don't know or changes all the time ? A villain that only wants chaos ? An evil clown ?
Yes, that's the Joker ; Batman's 80 years old nemesis. I understand Kefka is your favorite antagonist, the evil clown (when done right) works very well in a story. But I can't considere Kefka as the best antagonist in Final Fantasy when he's basically a copy-paste of the Joker.
By the way, it's not difficult to guess who's the main antagonist of FF6, when Kefka has the biggest amount of animations of all FF6 characters and his encounter theme is present in Battle Theme and Boss Battle Theme.
Sephiroth wanted to save the planet ? By using a meteor against the planet and steals the mako to become a god ? Or he became insane when he learns his supposed mother was an ancient who tried to rule the world ? Yes he has motivations... But if he was blond, joked all the time, sang Chocobo music and fought with guns, he wouldn't have been the best antagonist in FF (yes, Sephiroth has the same background than Prompto... but Prompto didn't become insane for... no reason). Sephiroth is badass and has great themes (and I enjoyed playing as Sephiroth in Rebirth for reasons that has nothing with the character), but his personnality is inexistant and his flipback personality in Nifelheim doesn't make sense. Maybe FF7R's trilogy will explore that a bit more, but I doubt.
Well, I’ll say I atleast sorta remember Vane. I forgot that Bartholemew guy even existed.
Honestly, it's always going to be a contest between Kefka and Sephiroth. Both are so alike and so drastically different but they're just so iconic.
I would have swapped Sephiroth for Kuja!
Kuja & Kefka are the only villains to actually succeed in their goals (Destruction of the world & the crystal)
Kuja at 3... I'm actually impressed. Not many people actually like Kuja as much as yo put them in their top 3.
Psyched to see Kefka's spot! My ranking would be basically the same as yours.
Whos the better villain kefka of ff6 or luca blight of suikoden 2?
Kuja is my favorite. Sephiroth is extremely iconic and Kefka is both hilarious and fascinating, but to me, Kuja was the most well-developped character insofar as every aspect of his appearance and personality has an explanation.
FF3's main antagonist is not the Cloud of Darkness, but Xande who's more fleshed out as a character than CoD who's more like a force of nature and nothingness.
Would like to see where you'd rank Garland if you included his back story from Strangers of paradise
My top FF bosses are
1. Kefka ( I wonder how he sounds like, other than that iconic laugh that still echos in my head after all those years)
2. Sephiroth ( You got to kill Arieth in the remake Ha ? I'm looking forward to challenge you in your one winged angel form in the remake. )
3. Neo Ex death ( just imagine how he sounds like in a future remake)
4. Beatrix ( Necorn don't you dare interfere in the Remake. )
5. Utimacia ( Still don't have a voice in the remake, I mean the vanilla remake not the modded version. )
As many people are already giving praise to Emet-selch in the comments (and rightfully so), I'd like to give one for Lilith from FFXI.
WotG is such an incredible experience that rivals a lot of FF stories, and that includes its villains and characters. If you're a fan of the franchise, dont miss out on XI like I have for many years because of people telling me it aint a real FF.
I understand he's not on here since he's not a main entry villain, but Caius Ballad really is one of the dopest antagonists of the series in my opinion. Stoked to see that so many other people think so as well!
I think Garland deserves to be above Cloud of Darkness tbh. I'm not going to claim either of them are particularly amazing, both of them being early days FF villains, but Garland has motivations in a way that Cloud of Darkness really doesn't. The Cloud isn't doing what it's doing for any reason than just, it's a force of nature. Garland on the other hand is a Knight who made a pact with the four fiends to live forever. Neither of them really have a lot of impact on the story beyond their final act and even that is weak, but Garland has at least _some_ substance behind him.
mine would be Emet-Selch ff14
Can you please please please please play Final Fantasy Tactics. You won't be disappointed I promise you.
I would love to see that game end up on your lists.
This was great! 100% agree with your top 3. Although I do appreciate a tragic backstory that explains why someone is a villain, Kefka is perfect as is. He’s crazy and just wants to watch the world burn for the lolz. Thats so much more evil than having any type of justification behind your actions, flawed they may often be
Awesome ranking! While i don't agree with all of them (who does, right? Lol) i always love hearing other people's opinions of why they put them where they are. Through your video i could tell you have a great love if the series. Cheers!
We're missing Jack Garland's whole backstory and motivation from Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin.
Another fire video
I kind of agree with the order of the FF villains that I'm familiar with.
THANK YOU! My heart forever belongs to FF6 and Kefka has no equal. ❤
The disrespect to my guy Caius.
Yeah, I’m with you on Kefka as the greatest villain. No ounce of goodness in that one. Evil through and through.
Emet-Selch is by far the best villain of the series
Not even close lol…. Maybe bottom 5? At best
Emet selch is number one and its not even close.@@chelseairene1015
@@chelseairene1015 This feels like some sort of rage bait that I will not even engage with 😬
@@99range92def let me ask you, did he die, go to hell, kill the devil, took over hell, and came back for revenge? because if not, than no, he isnt the best villain in the franchise...
Your metrics for a good villian are strange.@@marcosdheleno
Before I even watch this, Kefka better be sitting at the S tier by himself.
For me, you're short changing Vayne. Vayne is pretty much the only villain in the entire series who isn't really evil. He doesn't want to destroy the world, he doesn't want vengeance against anything to do with any character in the game, other than the "gods" whom control everything from beyond. He's definitely not a good person, he does horrendous things as a means to his ends. In the end, was he really wrong though? I feel your dislike for 12 clouds your judgement on him, while, at the same time, your love clouds your judgement on Sephiroth. Sephiroth is basically a watered down Kefka with mommy issues. Please don't take this the wrong way, not an attack, just an observation. Sephiroth has no real reason to do what he did other than being lied to and not doing enough research on what actually happened. He's basically having a tantrum. He's iconic, for sure, but, FF7 is the most historically important RPG ever. He is definitely served by that.
Sephiroth and Kefka are nothing alike. They desire completely different things and have completely different personalities. Kefka was a tortured nihilist and Sephiroth is a war hero who lost his mind with grief and manipulation. You proved you didnt get the story of 7 by not understanding Sephiroths motivation. He wants to become the next Jenova for another world. He is living up to the legacy of Jenova that he sees as his new birthright. So he wants to conquer and destroy other worlds. They are both great villains and when you try to defend your point by disrespecting a great character you lose all credit to your argument.
Dude...lol. Sephiroth has no reason.
And it wasn't an argument. I said for me, which means it's an opinion, my friend.
Ah, your points were totally valid as far as the rankings go. I wish Ardyn was higher on the list because of how well written he is. A lot of villains are very stereotypical (wanting to rule the world, etc) but even though Ardyn was bent on revenge, it was just so messed up why he turned out that way. Anyway, great list!
I'm glad you included Kuja and Golbez, but if you're doing that, why didn't you use Xande from FF3 instead of cloud of darkness? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to talk about present villains instead of space fleas from nowhere, but I wish it was more consistent.
FF6 without Kefka : PEGI 7
FF6 with Kefka : PEGI 18
Golbez has a total heel/face turn in the After Years
Kefka: "You are a villain, alright! Just not a super one!"
Sephiroth: "yea? Whats the difference?"
Kefka: "PRESENTA- wait... EVIL LAUGHTER!"
*kefka laugh with dancing mad bgm*
Edit: grammar error. Gotta get my Megamind quote right, after all lol
The difference is that Kefka is a classic "pure evil" villain who achieved his goals (pure evil is played out, but the successful villain not so much) AND he has a very cool theme song. Meanwhile Sephiroth looks like a over the top drag queen with snake eyes who suffers from space mommy issues, but of course, he has a super cool theme song, hence why we will always remember his cosmic shenanigans (hell, Uematsu carried this franchise on his back)
@@RRRRRRRRR33 Kefka works because the Joker works. It's not hard to copy-paste a villain with a story written over 5 generations.
@@groudonvert7286 The "pure evil" trope exists literally for thousands of years, what do you think the Devil is? Don't be gullible, to assume Joker is the "source" of this trope, lol
@@RRRRRRRRR33The Joker is the most well known villain when we talk about evil clown. Kefka is an evil clown.
@@groudonvert7286 Jester* and evil for the sake of evil is a trope since the Sumerian days
The irony is that (arguably) the best villain in the series is in an MMO.
THE fact the emperor from 2 is so low is just an afront. dude is one of the most effective emperors in the franchise, also one of the most effective villains. but above all, dude is LITERALY an isekai protagonist. he dies, gets reborn in another world, swear revenge, becomes the king of that new world, just so he can come back, and kill the party who killed him.
and people have the gall to say he is not good enough? tell me, where else would you have such a bad ass villain that even killing him just make him stronger, because he went on to kill the devil and take its place?
dude is an amazing villain!
I mostly agree though, I would put Ultimecia way lower. You never really get to know her, she has no real personality and mostly replaces "C's" with "K's"? That's about it. Even Garland was more interesting to me.
I think she is actually pretty interesting. Aside from fan theories, a sorceress trying to avoid her own inevitable death by manipulating time is pretty cool. One has to wonder how she got into power, if she was always evil, why she is afraid of death, did she ever have a family, etc. I could even see a game or movie come out just to explain such an interesting concept, like Ultimecia being the main protagonist in her own story lol.
I think the only reason I even remotely like her is because "the extreme" slaps lol, besides having a good theme I didn't really like her. Didn't hate her didn't love her, she was just there
@@japan100100 Yes, the concept of a sorceress going that far to achieve her evil goes, manipulating time in a interesting way ("time compression" sounds goofy... and it is dumb, but it's "unique"), it's kinda neat. But as usual with FF8, the fanfic is actually better than the shitty original story, it would be way better if she actually "compressed" time (achieving her goals instead of being stopped at the last moment, similar to Kefka), then here it comes edgeboy and his circus of anime stereotypes saving reality
@@RRRRRRRRR33 Its a story, and so not everyone in a story gets a fully fleshed out backstory. I think of all the books and movies I have seen in my life, there are always characters that could've got more screentime and backstory. But the story has to focus on certain elements, otherwise everything gets bogged down by the details. Situations like this leave room for potential sequels, theories, or any other type of engagement from the community. Again, if I was in charge of Square Enix, I would definitely start cooking up a game based around an all-powerful sorceress that ends up culminating in her meeting her end via Squall and friends. That would be awesome, especially with today's visuals. Just breathtaking. I bet people would be crying over Ultimecia's death lol.
Also keep in mind the limitations of the time when ff8 came out. Nowadays, we could remake the game, have internal dialogue and facial expressions play out on screen a lot better than before. The possibilities with FF8 remain high.
@@linkshunter608 lol the only reason I don't completely dislike Sephiroth is because of One-Winged Angel xD
Sephiroth in the original game ≠ Sephiroth in every subsequent adaption.
Maybe you’ve already done this, but you should do soundtracks or battle themes next 🙌
Oooh, Agree to disagree on Ardyn 😜
Obviously the top 2 are absolutely untouchable, but Ardyn is definitely in my top 5, while Kuja isn't 🤷♂️
Yep, the top 2 villains of FF are well defined, but everything else is a toss up. Even if FF9 is the FF of my childhood, I honestly don't have emotional attachment with Kuja, he is just ok. He doesn't have the major musical advantage of Kefka and Sephiroth even if his "we will rock you" song is memorable, still... not a big hit... unlike Ultimecia, her themes are almost at the same level of Kefka and Sephiroth, she looks cool, but unfortunately she is lost in a really bad FF. So it's hard to point out a definitive top 3, I heard many people saying positive things about Ardyn, can't judge because I stopped playing this franchise ever since FF12, so maybe Ardyn will climb his way to the top 3 with time. The FF franchise kinda feels like the MCU, very popular and charming, but with plenty of lame villains
@@RRRRRRRRR33 Just like I can't talk about Seymour since I never finished FFX 😅
Yeah #3 is a tough call. What Ardyn really had going for him was the whole "I used to be / could have been a good guy" thing, so he's perhaps the most tragic villain of the series in a way. And I absolutely love the voice actor's rendition of him, he exhudes a very suave kind of charisma
@@Fanafranky He has that trope going for him AND he achieve his goals at the end, "destroying" the world. This correlation with Kefka is know even among FF fans who abandoned the series ever since FF12 (there's plenty of us out there). So, instead of a pure evil villain who destroys the world, Ardyn is the "sympathetic" villain who destroys the world... that looks decent enough, far more impactful than the other lame villains of this franchise. There's also a lot of praise for FF14, but the FF14 fans sounds so fanatical and deluded, hard to take their opinion seriously... maybe the FF14 villain is legit, maybe the fans are too emotionally invested for their own good... basically impossible to judge. One day I will watch a "FF14 story" video on youtube just for the hell of it, not willing to literally "pay per view" lol too much money and time investment to experience this supposed "amazing story"
@@RRRRRRRRR33 Oh yeah you can tell the devs of XV loved FF6! I mean they even went for an evil empire using Magitek armor and technology 😝
I think that's part of what drew me so much to this story. Too bad they rushed the ending so much...
@@RRRRRRRRR33 FFVIII really bad? No. The exact opposite.
This may be the most controversial list ever conceived. People have opinions on the villains of this series. Personally, I’m surprised Ultimecia was so high. Though I knew the Top spot would be between Sephiroth and Kefka.
I think you got confused with Emperor Mateus. You got his backstory all mixed up with the stuff they added in Soul of Rebirth, it wasn't his 'light soul' on Earth, it was just him, completely alive as an emperor who could summon monsters into the world. When he is killed he gets sent to hell and instead of accepting his fate he conquers hell and becomes its new Emperor.
The "light soul" stuff, that's from Soul of Rebirth, where after Mateus was killed, half his soul went to Hell, and the other half went to Heaven. However, in spite of his "good side" going to heaven, Mateus's good side was still an asshole, so just like in Hell, he conquers Heaven and becomes its Emperor, forcing the warriors who were killed during FF2 (Scott, Josef, Minwu, and Ricard) to cast him down.
I WAS EXPECTING EVERYTHING. BUT NOT THE TOP 2 on that order. I kinda agree
for me Sephiroth is the best. Remember, there is no more evil than a good person who becomes evil