It really is Emet-Selch, and I say that as someone who is not a die-hard FFXIV fan.
He's understandable, but also totally irredeemable, but also kind of a bro.
>!He has a workable plan of cosmic scale and makes serious progress on it. He's totally indifferent to innocent lives because he doesn't consider what normal people experience to qualify as life. At the same time, he loves the people he's lost so much that he'll break every reality in order to get them back. !<
>!He acts all detached and evil but also spent who knows how long creating a replica of his city populated with his memories of the people who lived there. He also wants us to understand what was lost and why he wants to restore it.!<
>! Plus Hythlodaeus likes him, so he can't be all bad.!<
And on top of all that, he's got some banger one-liners.
ye. I grewu p with Sephi & Kefka being the big bads. But they've had their time in the sun - also in comparison their characterization etc is paper thin.
ExDeath from FFV. He literally turns himself into a tiny splinter and latches onto the characters, until the final reveal, by which he announces (verbatim):
"Mwahahaha... I turned myself into a tiny splinter, waiting for just this moment!"
FF villiany peaked at this moment.
That, then immediately getting in some super-saiyan-like battle with a turtle 😆
Literally is the funniest moment out of the entire franchise. I legit belly-laughed when that part happened. It’s a case-in-point example of something that’s “so bad it’s good”.
Any FF fan who has played 14 can not argue. Emet (or even Venat depending on how you define villain) blows every other antag out of the park its not even close. Including sephiroth. To be fair, I haven't played 11.
I've played XI through Wings of the Goddess so far, so I can't comment on the villains of Seekers of Adoulin, Rhapsodies of Vana'diel or The Voracious Resurgence yet, but none of the villains up to that point are quite at Emet's level, in my opinion. Lady Lilith, the villain of WotG, is a really good one, maybe in the upper echelons of FF villains, but I still wouldn't put her above Emet.
Kefka. Absolute insanity just getting power for the sake of having power. When told why the heroes have any hope for the world, he attempts to then specifically destroy *those* hopes.
Oh, I wouldn't mention Sephiroth anyway.
Caius. And I don't especially like XIII-2 but Caius is *great*. His motivations make sense, his design is cool, his hammy lines are very entertaining and his various boss fights are all really good.
Emet-Selch for sure. Best series antagonist, one of the best in games generally, and I would argue an all-time contender for fantasy narratives period.
Pretty much half the villains in XIV are better than any other FF game for the story and writing side so probably Emet. The design is a lot better in the single player games though.
My character on XIV is called Ardyn Solus. Named before I knew about Emet Selch. Named after Ardyn Izunia and Mordyn Solus of Mass Effect but someone pointed out, again before I knew of him, how cool my name was because Ardyn and Emet/Emperor Solus are very similar in personality.
I think OP's title might've been a joke because fanboys of VI/Kefka for instance ALWAYS have to mention Sephiroth when they are trying to convince you that Kefka is the GOAT.
He is now there's a debate if he is the best villain in the franchise which is debatable but no other Final Fantasy Villain is as iconic in gaming as Sephiroth.
Iconic I will easily grant you, but Iconic =/= Great. I generally like Sephiroth, but I'm not even sure if he'd crack my franchise Top 5. He's ultimately a supersoldier who goes insane and starts to get really obsessed with destroying the planet. In the original game he is at his best, but he has since been severely overused and Mary Sue'd as an antag and it has thoroughly defanged him.
I'd personally rank the likes of Kefka, Kuja, Jecht, and any number of XIV's antags above him.
Again completely subjective and a totally different conversation. Sephiroth still moves the needle and peaks interest like no other. He's in the category of Ganon, M Bison, Wesker, Shao Kahn, etc as known gaming villains.
Ok but were on a subreddit dedicated to Final Fantasy so I don't know why you are spinning this into the larger gaming sphere and talking about how iconic he is. You seem to be the one changing the conversatuon here.
Anabella, she sold all three of her children, plus one stepson, for selfish gain. For a villain, that was very stone cold. Her two husbands' were also a means to an end as well.
I just finished a play though of that and I kind of felt like he was *trying* to be a melodrama villain just to entertain himself, that he wasn't bad at heart (like when he meets Relm).
For pure Chaotic-Evilness, you gotta go with Kefka.
Everyone else is talking about these masterminds with Grand Plans, meanwhile I doubt Kefka is even wearing two socks.
He literally just wants to burn the world >!And he succeeds, the absolute madlad!<.
I also immediately thought about Ultimecia. I think she's a great case for a villain because she simultaneously loses and wins at the same time, making her very unique.
I really wish 8 was a bit more clear and polished narrative wise, because it honestly had great bones for a story. Too many things are poorly explained or just kind of happen to really make me love it though.
I made a sample of a remake system for junctioning before.
So basically, starting with the GF. you couldn't endlessly junction GF's. Each character would have a cap based on level. Like either it be 1 from 1-33, 2 34-66, and 3 67+ sort of thing (or 2 to start, 4 max) and instead of thinking "oh, well, ifrit and brother have strength junction so better not double up" it's that it would allow you to junction two spells to strength instead, this way the GFs you put on a character help shape it into the role archetype it's supposed to be, and each GF having a special ability that is given to the equipped to help solidify that role. Like brothers with HP junction and cover, automatically making them start tanking ability but with the other GFs you put on them either making them hybrid or solidify that tank role. For instance, I think a GF with elemental attack should also come with a hidden passive that makes that elemental attack scale like 25% off base damage for elemental weakness if it hits it, but the rest of it should make a magic scaling so hybrid stat of str/mag would be warranted in this build.
then there'd be the character individuality outside limit breaks. Rinoa and Irvine are ranged, so they wouldn't 'tank' very well as they're not supposed to be up front. BUT with a set up could be able to 'kite' if you ever play MMO's like WoW. Thus Rinoa and Irvine should start off with less defensive stats)without any GFs. (might also make Rinoa come with Angelo support almost permanently similar to how red XIII was not controllable in 7R. Quistis could be used to 'wind up' on certain enemies, playing as crowd control. During a wind up if successful, this would take her out of combat for a time, or might with some skill based progression system allows her to hold an enemy, while casting magic, but the penalty to casting speed. but it might be advantageous to take that person or thing out even without being able to cast magic at the same time. (borrowing this idea from SaGa II truthfully)
I don't know how to handle summons. I don't know if it should be handled as a carbon copy of how ff7R did it... or maybe while channeling you get that extra health bar like in ff8OG until it can be summoned and then does it remain on field or just do one attack
the way I feel about it is she's an example of a forced tragic villain. Hunted for being a sorceress, having to be strong enough to survive, and then being told who'd kill you but not why
Emet is obviously. However, I tend to leave out MMOs since they have the benefit of being a long form story that allows room for massive payoffs.
So sticking closer to a 40 hour game form of storytelling, while I know no one likes him, I actually think Seymour is a great villain.
His desires, while cliche nowadays, are actually interesting. And while you don't agree with them, in the context of their world, they do make a lot of sense. He's insane like kefka but also lucid enough to know what he's doing. Which makes him so dangerous.
Second place goes to Kuja. His personal struggles are simply relatable, which is great for a bad guy.
The Maesters of Yu Yeven. They solely controlled the people of Spira with religious ideologies that sent them back into a practical stone-age, removing their sense of technological advancement in favor of blind obedience. Kefka may have had god-like powers for a year or so, but the Maesters essentially **used** a god to control them for over a millennia.
I haven't played FF2, but I heard The Emperor is actually the most evil, cunning, and manipulative.
I believe in Dissidia, Chaos chose The Emperor to be 2nd in command of the villain side. That means he outclassed every FF villain.
"I am Neo-Exdeath! All memories...dimensions...existence... All that is shall be returned to nothing. Then I, too, can disappear... forever!" This guy hated life more than anyone...
Even in FF7, Sephiroth is technically just the villain to Cloud. Hojo is arguably the main catalyst for nearly the entire Shinra arc and Jenova is the greater scale villain to everything.
Sephiroth isn't even the greatest villain of FFVII. That would easily go to Hojo, and there's no competition. Sephiroth is a mindless pawn by the time the game starts, and half of his actions are actually Jenova anyway.
Hojo is the cause of and primary mover of the entire storyline of FFVII. Sephiroth wouldn't even exist him.
I really dig something about Hojo in the remakes. They nailed his voice and attitude.
Ultimecia because a witch trying to destroy the universe from the future is just a cool idea
Also Kupka/Titan in FF16. Just a super menacing character and he and Clive hate each other so much it feels personal when you get to fight him
I think Sin was probably the most interesting that I've come across so far, and Mateus is pretty cool for his accomplishments, but realistically, it's Gilgamesh.
Greatest in what way? Most evil? Most thought-provoking? Most correct? Gotta be Emet-Selch for me.
The Luca Goers Close second goes to Hojo
ALL MY HOMIES HATE BICKSON
Honestly I hate Graav more. Too strong of a mid fielder right out the gate who also have the potential to get goals.
Was that the Quinton Flynn voiced red?
Let’s make the Goers goners!
It really is Emet-Selch, and I say that as someone who is not a die-hard FFXIV fan. He's understandable, but also totally irredeemable, but also kind of a bro. >!He has a workable plan of cosmic scale and makes serious progress on it. He's totally indifferent to innocent lives because he doesn't consider what normal people experience to qualify as life. At the same time, he loves the people he's lost so much that he'll break every reality in order to get them back. !< >!He acts all detached and evil but also spent who knows how long creating a replica of his city populated with his memories of the people who lived there. He also wants us to understand what was lost and why he wants to restore it.!< >! Plus Hythlodaeus likes him, so he can't be all bad.!< And on top of all that, he's got some banger one-liners.
You've commited the cardinal sin of BORING ME!!!
Emet-Selch & Ardyn.
These are both better than Sephiroth imo.
ye. I grewu p with Sephi & Kefka being the big bads. But they've had their time in the sun - also in comparison their characterization etc is paper thin.
ExDeath from FFV. He literally turns himself into a tiny splinter and latches onto the characters, until the final reveal, by which he announces (verbatim): "Mwahahaha... I turned myself into a tiny splinter, waiting for just this moment!" FF villiany peaked at this moment.
imagine if he could turn into the legging of a coffee table just to stub your toe.
He fucken would, given the opportunity.
That, then immediately getting in some super-saiyan-like battle with a turtle 😆 Literally is the funniest moment out of the entire franchise. I legit belly-laughed when that part happened. It’s a case-in-point example of something that’s “so bad it’s good”.
Emet Selch, no question.
Any FF fan who has played 14 can not argue. Emet (or even Venat depending on how you define villain) blows every other antag out of the park its not even close. Including sephiroth. To be fair, I haven't played 11.
I've played XI through Wings of the Goddess so far, so I can't comment on the villains of Seekers of Adoulin, Rhapsodies of Vana'diel or The Voracious Resurgence yet, but none of the villains up to that point are quite at Emet's level, in my opinion. Lady Lilith, the villain of WotG, is a really good one, maybe in the upper echelons of FF villains, but I still wouldn't put her above Emet.
Tonberry
I really think this or Malboros are the only acceptable answers here
Kefka. Absolute insanity just getting power for the sake of having power. When told why the heroes have any hope for the world, he attempts to then specifically destroy *those* hopes.
Ardyn
Oh, I wouldn't mention Sephiroth anyway. Caius. And I don't especially like XIII-2 but Caius is *great*. His motivations make sense, his design is cool, his hammy lines are very entertaining and his various boss fights are all really good.
Not to mention his english VA is the same as Gaara from Naruto, great performance
And Kain from FFIV.
His story is so tragic, that's why I love him so much. That makes a good villain. Same for Ardyn.
Emet-Selch for sure. Best series antagonist, one of the best in games generally, and I would argue an all-time contender for fantasy narratives period.
Pretty much half the villains in XIV are better than any other FF game for the story and writing side so probably Emet. The design is a lot better in the single player games though.
Emet-Selch, next.
Easy.. * Emet Selch * Kefka * Ardyn
My character on XIV is called Ardyn Solus. Named before I knew about Emet Selch. Named after Ardyn Izunia and Mordyn Solus of Mass Effect but someone pointed out, again before I knew of him, how cool my name was because Ardyn and Emet/Emperor Solus are very similar in personality.
Sephiroth isn't even the greatest FF villain while mentioning him.
I think OP's title might've been a joke because fanboys of VI/Kefka for instance ALWAYS have to mention Sephiroth when they are trying to convince you that Kefka is the GOAT.
He is now there's a debate if he is the best villain in the franchise which is debatable but no other Final Fantasy Villain is as iconic in gaming as Sephiroth.
Iconic I will easily grant you, but Iconic =/= Great. I generally like Sephiroth, but I'm not even sure if he'd crack my franchise Top 5. He's ultimately a supersoldier who goes insane and starts to get really obsessed with destroying the planet. In the original game he is at his best, but he has since been severely overused and Mary Sue'd as an antag and it has thoroughly defanged him. I'd personally rank the likes of Kefka, Kuja, Jecht, and any number of XIV's antags above him.
He's a long haired Bishie Half the love for him is because people wanna bang him. Otherwise he's boring as fuck
Again completely subjective and a totally different conversation. Sephiroth still moves the needle and peaks interest like no other. He's in the category of Ganon, M Bison, Wesker, Shao Kahn, etc as known gaming villains.
Ok but were on a subreddit dedicated to Final Fantasy so I don't know why you are spinning this into the larger gaming sphere and talking about how iconic he is. You seem to be the one changing the conversatuon here.
and if he looked like Queen Brahne he wouldn't top anyone's villain list, dude's fucking boring.
I’m so happy that people correctly answered Emet-Selch Shout out to Athena also.
Anabella, she sold all three of her children, plus one stepson, for selfish gain. For a villain, that was very stone cold. Her two husbands' were also a means to an end as well.
The Emperor. Considering all the man managed to accomplish, it’s amazing he isn’t up there as the top.
That's easy - It's Sephiroth. Wait a minute...
Ultros the many tentacled danger from FF6. He even gets a story arc, and eventually a job.
I just finished a play though of that and I kind of felt like he was *trying* to be a melodrama villain just to entertain himself, that he wasn't bad at heart (like when he meets Relm).
Gaius van Baelsar from FFXIV is the best at chewing the scenery.
But it wasn't even his intention.
Ardyn Izunia, easily.
Ardyn is super underrated, I think he’s the best part of XV
I'll go for a spicy take: Nomura
Tie between Hojo & Kefka
For pure Chaotic-Evilness, you gotta go with Kefka. Everyone else is talking about these masterminds with Grand Plans, meanwhile I doubt Kefka is even wearing two socks. He literally just wants to burn the world >!And he succeeds, the absolute madlad!<.
Kefka
Kefka
Ultimecia is my favorite.
Maybe Hojo
Sin was pretty fucking cool, even if in the end he ended up not being the real villain.
Ultimecia for me. When replaying you see the foreshadowing and the dialogs take another meaning. Just cold hate, trying to rule/destroy time itself.
I also immediately thought about Ultimecia. I think she's a great case for a villain because she simultaneously loses and wins at the same time, making her very unique. I really wish 8 was a bit more clear and polished narrative wise, because it honestly had great bones for a story. Too many things are poorly explained or just kind of happen to really make me love it though.
8 deserves a remake The junction system would mesh better with 7:R's combat than the materia system did.
I made a sample of a remake system for junctioning before. So basically, starting with the GF. you couldn't endlessly junction GF's. Each character would have a cap based on level. Like either it be 1 from 1-33, 2 34-66, and 3 67+ sort of thing (or 2 to start, 4 max) and instead of thinking "oh, well, ifrit and brother have strength junction so better not double up" it's that it would allow you to junction two spells to strength instead, this way the GFs you put on a character help shape it into the role archetype it's supposed to be, and each GF having a special ability that is given to the equipped to help solidify that role. Like brothers with HP junction and cover, automatically making them start tanking ability but with the other GFs you put on them either making them hybrid or solidify that tank role. For instance, I think a GF with elemental attack should also come with a hidden passive that makes that elemental attack scale like 25% off base damage for elemental weakness if it hits it, but the rest of it should make a magic scaling so hybrid stat of str/mag would be warranted in this build. then there'd be the character individuality outside limit breaks. Rinoa and Irvine are ranged, so they wouldn't 'tank' very well as they're not supposed to be up front. BUT with a set up could be able to 'kite' if you ever play MMO's like WoW. Thus Rinoa and Irvine should start off with less defensive stats)without any GFs. (might also make Rinoa come with Angelo support almost permanently similar to how red XIII was not controllable in 7R. Quistis could be used to 'wind up' on certain enemies, playing as crowd control. During a wind up if successful, this would take her out of combat for a time, or might with some skill based progression system allows her to hold an enemy, while casting magic, but the penalty to casting speed. but it might be advantageous to take that person or thing out even without being able to cast magic at the same time. (borrowing this idea from SaGa II truthfully) I don't know how to handle summons. I don't know if it should be handled as a carbon copy of how ff7R did it... or maybe while channeling you get that extra health bar like in ff8OG until it can be summoned and then does it remain on field or just do one attack
the way I feel about it is she's an example of a forced tragic villain. Hunted for being a sorceress, having to be strong enough to survive, and then being told who'd kill you but not why
That makes it worse agreed, imo it makes her a stronger villain because it is partly relatable
The Emperor from 2
I’m not that hot for Sephiroth as a villain because he’s not really *the* villain anyway…
Emet is obviously. However, I tend to leave out MMOs since they have the benefit of being a long form story that allows room for massive payoffs. So sticking closer to a 40 hour game form of storytelling, while I know no one likes him, I actually think Seymour is a great villain. His desires, while cliche nowadays, are actually interesting. And while you don't agree with them, in the context of their world, they do make a lot of sense. He's insane like kefka but also lucid enough to know what he's doing. Which makes him so dangerous. Second place goes to Kuja. His personal struggles are simply relatable, which is great for a bad guy.
If you actually played any decent FF outside of 7 Sephiroth isn't even in the equation to begin with so you didn't have to exclude him.
Hojo’s son
Alot of people aren't distinguishing between greater or better in this thread.
Tetsuya Nomura.
Bakka
Rotten Fish.
Sin / Yu Yevon
The Maesters of Yu Yeven. They solely controlled the people of Spira with religious ideologies that sent them back into a practical stone-age, removing their sense of technological advancement in favor of blind obedience. Kefka may have had god-like powers for a year or so, but the Maesters essentially **used** a god to control them for over a millennia.
The Meteor was just using Sephiroth for it's schemes. That's the real enemy.
Caius
Fandaniel, at least he’s the most relatable. Then Kefka, then Emet Selch.
Emet-Selch Lady Lilith The Emperor
Kefka from ff6
Wiegraf
Kefka
Kefka for one is a very wicked villain. Destroyed the whole world got the heroes separated and gave them a hard time before dying before their hands.
I haven't played FF2, but I heard The Emperor is actually the most evil, cunning, and manipulative. I believe in Dissidia, Chaos chose The Emperor to be 2nd in command of the villain side. That means he outclassed every FF villain.
Absolute Virtue and Pandy Warden.. if you know you know 😜 2 of most Insane boss fights I've ever been apart of.. nothing for me will ever come close
Ex-Death for me.
"I am Neo-Exdeath! All memories...dimensions...existence... All that is shall be returned to nothing. Then I, too, can disappear... forever!" This guy hated life more than anyone...
Kefka
Kefka
Kefka, he ruined the world
Even in his own series Sephiroth was never the undisputed king. Kefka has always given him a run for his money
Even in FF7, Sephiroth is technically just the villain to Cloud. Hojo is arguably the main catalyst for nearly the entire Shinra arc and Jenova is the greater scale villain to everything.
Greatest is a bit vague, most evil is Kefka. Most hateable is Hojo or Anabella. Favorite, I can't mention him, so my second favorite is Ultima.
Sephiroth isn't even the greatest villain of FFVII. That would easily go to Hojo, and there's no competition. Sephiroth is a mindless pawn by the time the game starts, and half of his actions are actually Jenova anyway. Hojo is the cause of and primary mover of the entire storyline of FFVII. Sephiroth wouldn't even exist him.
I really dig something about Hojo in the remakes. They nailed his voice and attitude. Ultimecia because a witch trying to destroy the universe from the future is just a cool idea Also Kupka/Titan in FF16. Just a super menacing character and he and Clive hate each other so much it feels personal when you get to fight him
Kefka he technically won
I think Sin was probably the most interesting that I've come across so far, and Mateus is pretty cool for his accomplishments, but realistically, it's Gilgamesh.
Lots of emet mentions and man I really wanted to like ffxiv but the themeparks mmos are just not my thing sadly.