Kefka is considered one of the most memorable video game villains ever created, with critics and fans noting his intense hatred and maniacal laughter as defining characteristics.

[2] Kefka's appearance was designed by Yoshitaka Amano, who was given complete creative freedom in Final Fantasy VI, with only brief character outlines as guidelines.

Artist Kazuko Shibuya aimed to illustrate his "crazy and somewhat childish" demeanor through her work on his pixel art and animations, and considers him her favorite character in the franchise.

She utilized bases of red and green in his design to paint him as "very eccentric", while also wanting to illustrate his dangerous and childish aspects, a character with "no defined limits".

[1] Translator Ted Woolsey, who handled the North American localization of the game, also contributed lines to the character while working on the title, namely in part to get around Nintendo censors.

[8][11] When she escapes Imperial control, he pursues Terra to the kingdom of Figaro, setting the castle ablaze as she, Locke and King Edgar flee.

[16] The Emperor tries and fails to kill Kefka, who retaliates by having the Warring Triad strike Gestahl down and unceremoniously boots him off the Floating Continent to his death.

[15] Kefka then moves the statues of the Warring Triad out of balance, unleashing enough raw magical energy to reshape the face of the planet, bringing about the second act of the game.

[19][20] Upon the defeat of his minions, Kefka reveals his godlike form and, after uttering one final nihilistic vision of life, dreams and hope,[21] attacks the protagonists before he is ultimately slain, causing the power of magic to vanish.

[23] During the events of Dissidia, Kefka allies himself with the Cloud of Darkness to bring Terra back to their side so he can use her Esper powers to fulfill his destructive desires.

After Cosmos's death, Kefka breaks his ties to the other villains and starts his own scheme to become the ruler of the ruined world before being ultimately dispatched for good.

[15][28][29] He also appears as a huntable villain in a GREE social network card game called Final Fantasy Artniks, where players must share information to find and defeat Kefka to earn rewards.

[35][36][37][38] He has earned a place on numerous "all time" lists from a wide variety of publications including Nintendo Power,[39][40] UGO.com,[41] IGN,[42][43][12] GamePro,[44] GameSpy, Den of Geek[45] and many more.

[22] GamesRadar named him the most "outrageously camp" villain, stating that when compared to Kefka, Final Fantasy VII antagonist Sephiroth seems as "interesting as a dead accountant painted brown".

[42] CNet in their own review described him as "the unrivaled star of the show...he's the kind of villain that you will love to hate", comparing him to Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the Joker and calling his laugh one of the greatest sound effects in any video game.

[48] Kotaku has called Kefka the greatest video game villain of all time, and attempted to explain players' lasting fascination by noting that he inspires such hatred that when his evil plans are finally thwarted, the sense of joy from victory is so much the greater.

[49][a] Another theory posited by GameSpot is that the intense reaction to Kefka stems from the fact that he is one of the few villains in Final Fantasy, or any game, that succeeds at his master plan before he is defeated.

Sainsbury cited philosopher Michel Foucault's studies on madness, in which it was argued that in civilization's need to find an "other" to oppose, something separate from "decent" society, insanity was a common go-to.

While the character commits atrocities, he is still effective and his actions need to be considered within the scope of the war the Empire he serves is fighting, and within that frame of reference helped make Kefka a more fleshed out and nuanced villain.