STUFF!: October 2012

In 1994 Final Fantasy VI (commonly abbreviated FFVI) was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was a role playing game (RPG) in which you played as multiple characters to save the world from being enslaved by a self-proclaimed god of magic. Final Fantasy VI was one of the first video games to tell a compelling narrative. Every character has a story arc and overall the game has excellent writing. What is truly intriguing about the game is the main villain, Kefka Palazzo. Kefka is one of the most interesting villains to come out of the medium of video games. He most likely has anti-social personality disorder (APD) which is defined by DSM IV as “failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest.” and “lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing.” (DSM IV) Kefka’s actions through the course of the game make him a walking example of APD but not much is actually known about him. He is given next to no backstory giving his psychopathic behavior mysterious origins. Kefka is a fascinating, fearsome villain who is absolutely compelling throughout the game.

Anti-social personality disorder (APD) was once referred to as psychopathic personality disorder. It is a personality disorder that is very scary because people who have it are often unaware that they have it. Martha Stout (PHD) author of The Sociopath Next Door gives an example of Skip, a sociopath who manipulated his way to the top of a big business. The author describes that Skip had these behavioral tendencies from a young age. When he was younger, the only satisfaction he would get in his otherwise boring life was killing frogs. He started stabbing them with scissors and eventually went on to blowing them up with fireworks. He was discovered by his sister Claire who tried to tell their mother whose only response was to “turn the record player up as loud as it would go’ (Stout 39). This shows one of two things as the author doesn’t go into any more detail about the mother’s response. One, the mother sees Skip as a model child who would never do something like blow up frogs. Two, the mother is flat out ignoring her daughter. Either way, her response was not helpful and allowed Skip to become “super Skip” (Stout 39). Skip’s behavior starts out mild and begins to escalate to the point where he can manipulate people to his will. Kefka’s behavior, unlike Skip, starts out extreme and only gets more extreme as the game progresses.

The plot of Final Fantasy VI is relatively complicated. It opens with a young woman named Terra under mind control by the empire, currently lead by Emeror Gestahl. Terra is forced to find what is called an esper so the empire can harness its power rule the world. After finding the esper, she connects with it somehow and it sends her into a cave where she is rescued by the next main character Locke. Locke and Terra travel to the desert castle of Figaro to meet Edgar, king of Figaro. This is where we get our first introduction to Kefka. The first thing that is apparent about Kefka is that he thinks very highly of himself. His position in the empire is that of court mage, in other words, he is a jester, a clown; which explains his appearance for the first half of the game. He is accompanied by a couple of soldiers and he is all too quick to abuse the first bit of power that he has. Kefka utters a very over the top line “there is sand in my boots!” (Final Fantasy VI, Nintendo) showing that from the beginning he is very power-hungry. A better example is when he arrives at Figaro; his mission is to retrieve Terra and bring her back to the empire. When Edgar refuses, Kefka does the only logical thing in his mind, burn the castle down. This is an example of “reckless disregard for safety of self or others” as stated by DSM IV diagnosis criteria. Terra, Edgar, and Locke escape and continue on their way.

The game progresses and we’re introduced to Sabin, brother of Edgar. The group goes back to the hideout of the Returners, a resistance group to fight back against the empire. After the Returners recruit Terra, the characters split into three different scenarios before regrouping at Narshe, where the story began. In one scenario we get a scene that shows Kefka’s lack of mercy and disregard for authority. Sabin, after being pulled by the river after a previous boss battle meets a ninja named Shadow, the two of them sneak into a camp for the empire. There we see Kefka talking with a man named General Leo. Although Leo is a part of the empire, it is very clear that he has morals as he wants to win the war with as few casualties as possible. Kefka’s response is “We needn’t show mercy to those who side with the Returners. …Which is good, because I never seem to have any of the stuff.” (FFVI) It’s interesting that he acknowledges the fact that he has no mercy but he isn’t bothered by it. General Leo leaves Kefka in charge of leading an attack against Doma (a nearby kingdom). He trusts that Kefka will complete the attack without killing many people. As soon as General Leo leaves, he ignores Leo’s instructions and poison’s the kingdom of Doma. After arguing with a soldier he says this: “Idiot! Read my lips—mercy is for wimps! There’s a reason ‘oppose’ rhymes with ‘dispose’… If they get in your way, kill them! March!” (FFVI) Kefka believes that mercy is for wimps and if he shows any sort of mercy it would undermine his power. This also shows that he is irresponsible because as soon as Leo left he turned his back on him. Kefka also derives immense amounts of satisfaction from mass murder as he says this while poisoning the water supply of Doma “Hee-hee… Nothing beats the sweet music of hundreds of voices screaming in unison! Uwee-hee-hee!” (FFVI) What this tells us about Kefka’s character is that the only pleasure he gets in his life is causing others pain.

In a flashback at the beginning of the game, it is revealed that Terra was being used as a weapon by the empire to attack the world of espers. Espers are creatures that live in a world separate to the regular world. The empire wants to capture the espers and use their power to take over the world. In this flashback, Terra is wearing the slave-crown from the beginning of the game and Kefka says “my sweet little magic user… Uwee-hee-hee! With this slave crown, you’ll be all mine!” I’m aware that this game was directed at the rated ‘E’ audience (10 and up) but that quote has some unfortunate connotations. In the context of the story, Kefka and the empire was using Terra as a weapon to cause destruction with her magical power. However, saying ‘you’ll be all mine’ adds a different side to it. It isn’t said explicitly but it can be implied that Kefka was sexually abusing her. If not, that quote literally states that Kefka views Terra (a woman) as an object. This shows that he has power over her and can manipulate her to his whim. It also shows that he is misogynistic and has no respect for people, especially women. According to DSM V diagnosis of APD he will try to “…seek power over others and will manipulate, exploit, deceive, con, or otherwise take advantage, in order to inflict harm or to achieve their goals.” (DSM V) What are Kefka's goals? As Martha Stout stated in her book, the goal of any psychopath is “to win” (Stout 45), and Kefka does.

Halfway through the game, Kefka and Gestahl go to a place called the Floating Continent. There, they release a force called the Warring Triad. Up until this point, Kefka and Gestahl had more or less been working together. Kefka had made it perfectly clear that he was going to betray Gestahl when he had the chance. Upon releasing the Warring Triad Gestahl realizes that they've gone one step too far. Kefka, only wanting to win kills Gestahl and the Warring Triad is released on the world. The power is so great that it kills two-thirds of the world's population because it caused the continents to rearrange. Still not satisfied with eliminating a majority of the world, Kefka takes his place at the top of his tower ascending into godhood.

It's at this point that it becomes clear that in addition to exhibiting extreme anti-social tendencies, Kefka has developed a god complex. He has already won but he insists that he can advance further. The god complex is commonly associated with narcissistic personality disorder. According to the A.D.A.M medical encyclopedia, people with narcissistic personality disorder often “pursue mainly selfish goals” (A.D.A.M 2011). Before the lengthy final fight against Kefka, Terra tries to convince him that he is in the wrong. Kefka gives a perfect example of how he has no understanding of humanity. He states his own philosophy behind his madness:

“And time will destroy all of those as well. Why do people insist on creating things that will inevitably be destroyed? Why do people cling to life, knowing that they must someday die? ...Knowing that none of it will have meant anything once they do?" (FFVI)

This shows that he has no understanding of the joys of life. He has a morbid 'we only live to die' philosophy and in a way it's sad. Despite killing thousands of people, and taking over the world, he is almost a sympathetic character at this point. The highly symbolic battle begins as Kefka's psyche begins to crumble.

The final battle is a tiered fight consisting of fighting multiple forms before reaching Kefka himself the full image of the boss can be found here. The theme entitled Dancing Mad plays during the final fight and also adds some insight to his character. The first part of the tier is an overly muscular thing named Visage. Since Visage means someone's facial expression, the expression on this thing is demonic and angry. If anything it is a visage of madness, it shows all of Kefka's pent up rage. The first part of Dancing Mad is an orchestral piece that reflects presence of this creature, and is almost peaceful in contrast to its menacing appearance.

The second part of the fight is against four different parts named Tiger, Machine, Magic, and Power. In this tier there is a tiger's head (Tiger), a a man on top of the tiger's head (Power or Magic), intertwined with something mechanical (Machine), with a second man in the back (Power or Magic). Two other images on this tier are two crucified people, a man and a woman. With Kefka literally being a God at this point, it could be some sort of religious reference. The imagery is disturbing, and I think that each image offers a deeper look into his psyche. The tiger head is a powerful symbol of Kefka's constant anger, and aggresion throughout the story. It matches another part of the DSM IV diagnosis indicating “irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults.” (DSM IV). The main characters fight Kefka about five times before the final confrontation, Kefka being extremely violent, was often the one to start those fights. In these fights, he would often run away or have someone else fight you. Despite being incredibly violent, he was also a coward.

The third part of the fight is against Lady and Rest. Lady is simply the top half of a woman on what appears to a pinnacle of some sort. Rest is depicted as another man without a shirt in a relaxed position. This shows Kefka's misogynistic side as Lady is depicted without clothes. Her hair covers her breasts but there being only half of her implies that Kefka values women as objects, more specifially only their breasts and heads. Rest is depicted wearing a long robe and being a muscular, more handsome version of Kefka. From a Freudian stand-point, Lady could be Kefka's mother. Having only the top half of lady would indicate that Kefka has an oral fixation. Kefka sees himself as being more handsome than he actually is. Throughout the game, he wears clown makeup because he was the jester for the empire. However, he never takes it off and remains clown-like until his transformation at the end of the game. Freud would describe Kefka's behavior as an “oral aggressive personality” (Changingminds.org) according to his psychosexual stage theory. Kefka often subjects others to extreme verbal abuse, he never bites anyone but he says “Die!!!” (FFVI) with a chilling amount of sadism. The fact that Kefka kept the clown makeup on for a majority of the game is an indication that he has a negative self image. All of the tiers of the final fight depicted Kefka as he would like to be seen. In the game he is a scrawny mage with a copious amount of makeup and everyone around him finds him despicable. All of the tiers show a different version of Kefka, the first showing a muscular, menacing version. The second showing a powerful, confident version, and the third showing a relaxed sexual version. The reality is, this isn't who Kefka is, this is how he'd like himself to be, and how he'd like the world to be.

This is especially clear in the finale of the game where it is chillingly clear that Kefka wants to shape the world in his image. Kefka has literally ascended into godhood at this point and utters a chilling yet sorrowful quote: “Life... Dreams... Hope...Where do they come from? And where do they go...? Such meaningless things... I'll destroy them all!” (FFVI). It is made perfectly clear that Kefka has no understanding of anything that makes people human. He has no understanding of love. His appearance is that of a giant purple muscular angel with multiple wings. The background almost looks like heaven, further showing that Kefka actually is a god. In a way, he has overcome his god complex from earlier. As Martha Stout stated earlier, the goal of all psychopaths is “to win” (45). Now that Kefka has won I think he understands that it is lonely at the top. He wants to be the only being that exists in the whole world. In the course of the battle I think he realizes that he is wrong and misguided. The battle isn't particularly challenging, in fact it's so easy he almost forfits. He dies without a final speech indicating that he possibly understands himself. He acknowledges his own mental unhealthiness but all too late. The world is saved, and after a resolution, Final Fantasy VI closes.

Final Fantasy VI is one of very few early video games with a truly engrossing plot. It is made better because of the excellent, fascinating villain of Kefka. His story arc is almost like a cycle of mental health treatment. Most people with APD will not acknowledge that they have it. That makes them difficult to treat. Kefka begins the story as a lowly mage with a small amount of power but steadily gains more power and only abuses it. He kills thousands of people, develops a god complex, and tries shaping the world in his image. It isn't until the very end that he recognizes the error of his ways acknowledging that he is truly sick. Earlier in the game, he acknowledged that he had no mercy but did not seem to be bothered by it. It isn't until he goes through his entire story arc that he would want to seek treatment. Kefka is one of the greatest villains to grace the medium of video games. He is a perfect example of how a well written character can be deep, scary, and twisted.

References

Final Fantasy VI [Computer Software]. (1994). Nintendo USA.
Stout, Martha (2005). The Sociopath Next Door. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
American Psychiatric Association. (2011, June). General Diagnosis for Personality Disorder. Retreived from http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/Diagnostic%20Criteria%20for%20Personality%20Disorder%20(Comparison%20of%20DSM-IV%20DSM-5%20old%20DSM-5%20new.pdf
(2010, April) A.D.A.M Medical Encyclopedia. Retreived from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001930/
Freud's Psychosexual Stage Theory. Retreived from: http://changingminds.org/explanations/learning/freud_stage.htm
Final Fantasy VI Final Boss Image. Retreived from: http://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy/images/d/de/FFVI-lastboss_us.gif

Bibliography

(2010, April) A.D.A.M Medical Encyclopedia. Retreived from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001930/

American Psychiatric Association. (2011, June). General Diagnosis for Personality Disorder. Retreived from http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/Diagnostic%20Criteria %20for%20Personality%20Disorder%20(Comparison%20of%20DSM-IV%20DSM- 5%20old%20DSM-5%20new.pdf

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.

Final Fantasy VI [Computer Software]. (1994). Nintendo USA.

Final Fantasy VI Final Boss Image. Retreived from: http://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy/images/d/de/FFVI-lastboss_us.gif

Freud's Psychosexual Stage Theory. Retreived from: http://changingminds.org/explanations/learning/freud_stage.htm

Freud, Sigmund (1961). Beyond the Pleasure Principle. New York, London: W. W. Norton & Company

Stout, Martha (2005). The Sociopath Next Door. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.

STUFF!

Friday, October 12, 2012

Sequence Breaking is fun!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Kefka Palazzo the Pixelated Psychopath (WARNING: LONG)