Why is Sephiroth praised as one of the best villians?

[Albert the fish]

Always hated him.

He's got nothing on Nemesis, Venom, Kain, or THE JOKER!

Or Deathwing, Illidan, Kil'jaeden, Arthas, Purtresss...

Old Gods...

Horus, Orks, Chaos gods...

Even this guy is better.

i think we all agree that at least Venom, Kain, and The Joker are epic villains(or anti-hero depending on the moment in question)
Final Fantasy in general has not had the best villains at any point in their history. Kefka and Sephiroth were perhaps the best that we got playing that series.
that's probably the main reason he's remembered at all to be honest. he wasn't THAT great, but most Final Fantasy villains fall extremely flat. i mean Kuja? great backstory, but characterization, imagery, everything else about him was poorly handled. Ultemecia? very boring. Seymore? he was a joke as a villain overall. even the original Garland/Chaos was a pretty poor excuse.

[Mandible]

Kick ass look, an awesome theme, one wing and a giant sword.

[Gandrake]

If you take a RPG series that had good PR and then make it a flagship title for a system that ISN'T a Nintendo system back when your options were Nintendo or pretty much nothing, you have a recipe for exaggerated longevity.

In other words, nothing about Final Fantasy 7 is amazing, it simply came out at the right time to achieve something it wouldn't have been able to, had it arrived a few years later or even a few years earlier.

What a fuckin' disgrace... I'm sorry man, had to say it. Take it how you like.

Did you know that the release of Final Fantasy Tactics was completely overshadowed by Final Fantasy VII? What stopped anyone from playing Final Fantasy VII in, say what, 2000 or 2004? The game had everything a hit JRPG should have; solid gameplay, amazing music, a story, some really kickass moves, chicks with huge boobs, a guy with spikey hair and a really big sword, and some fucking cool minigames.

I first played Final Fantasy VII about 7 years ago, and there have been plenty of other RPGs that I have played since then, and I - as well as many other people, still consider the game to be pretty damn good.

But on topic:

The Final Fantasy VII Compilation has a lot of hype surrounding it, so naturally it's main recurring characters catch a lot of popularity compared to characters of earlier games. I mean, how many Final Fantasy VII Compilation releases have we had now with Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, and Crisis Core?

That's a lot more content than there is put out for most games.

Honestly, if you were posting on a real Final Fantasy community message board, a lot of Veteran Players would reassure you that Sephiroth is not really as popular as you might think that he is. He's probably still popular, but a lot of people really do love Kefka, Seymour, and some of the other villain types.

[Zidan]

I'd rather have my villain have some bigger goal than just destroy the world. It's very cliche. Just destroying the world for the sake of destroying it is not veny engaging, however if there is a reason for it than it makes it that much sweeter. Seph was manipulated into being, basically, a superhero soldier for Shinra/ They created him to be their ultimate weapon. He learns the truth and goes on to find his real "mother" and place in the world. The truth corrupts him and from there he takes it upon himself to recreate the world in him image. Much better than insane clown going insane. Plus him being so much stronger than you the entire game gives it a feeling of hopelessness in the beginning and it gets worse when he kills Aerith. All in all a great villain.

[Kittahsmash]

Kefka > Sephiroth
Insane Clown > Emo douchebag w/ mommy issues

[OrcsRLame]

Kefka > Sephiroth
Insane Clown > Emo douchebag w/ mommy issues

Insane badass > emo clown. See, I can do it too.

On that note, I think it'd be pretty cool if we could all discuss things like this with some civility, instead of making baseless insults against characters that aren't our favorites. I dislike Kefka for many reasons, but I don't troll people by going lolKefka is dumb Sephiroth 4life!

The fact is, both characters have a lot of similarities, and I wouldn't classify either of them as emo, but rather, criminally insane and murderous. Sephiroth is slightly less crazy than Kefka, but Kefka looks more "girly". So I think they match each other fairly well in that regard.

[Pervade]

Caius > Sephiroth

[Madruga]

I always thought Kefka as a chaotic villain, who didn´t really have a clear objective but to cause havoc, and since Emperor Gestahl gave him power, he decided to use it to take over the Statues and make a world as chaotic as his own mind. It seems more to me that Kefka does random stuff, like attacking the town of Mobliz with the Light of Judgement, there is nothing there of interest to him, no threat, no treasures.

Don´t take me wrong, I love Kefka, but in terms of scheming, Sephiroth takes the ball.

He is actually manipulating Cloud the entire game, so he could be free of the Livestream, where he became traped after the events in Cloud´s town. And he is doing that using Jenova´s power. And yes, Sephiroth is powerful BECAUSE of Jenova. He has the power and the will of Jenova. In a sense, they are both intertwined, their will are one. One probably can´t live without the other.

Is Jenova the real villain of FF7? Nah... She couldn´t do anything without Sephiroth. And it was Sephiroth that sought her power and believed she was her "mother".

[GennGreymane]

Hes hot
hes a snappy dresser
hes a bad ass
hes cool

he killed the girl at the "i luvz u" momment



i personally find rodrigo and ceasare borgia as better villians.... AND THEY EXISTED AND THE SHIT THEY DID IN ASSASSINS CREED ACTUALLY SORTA HAPPENED (not the stuff to do 100% with the main story, but their actions and plots were real)

ooooh and the gross love things possibly


oh and megatron

specifically in

beast wars
g1 i guess never really saw
in animated
prime
war for cybertron
fall of cybertron (oh u know it)

[Yousend]

As many people said... Kefka > Everyone by a mile.
Come on now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siuWZxDMGnk
The nightmares!

[Chinese Bootlickers]

I don't really mind Sephiroth as a villain, but it's Kefka that I don't really like.Might be due to starting the trend of "Nietzsche wannabe that wants to destroy everything for no reason" trend that still lingers today.
I still prefer tin tyrants like Golbez and Exdeath.
Flame shield, deploy!

[Alraml]

Sephiroth was definatly the first complicated villain I encountered in games, maybe that's why.

[pickley]

Kafka > Sephiroth..

People can say what they want but Kafka changed and ruined an entire world, Sephiroth did not

Kefka is much better. Dancing Mad > One Winged Angel

Overall, Majoras Mask is one of the best Villains in all of gaming. Why did it want to destroy the world? Because it seemed like fun.

[Halicia]

FF7 was such a mainstream success that it 'made RPGs cool', and as a consequence of that, many people's first experiences with ANY rpg are FF7, and not the previous Final Fantasies.

It certainly didnt hurt that when compared to its competition, the music, graphics, and CGI in FF7 were extraordinary, and helped establish a connection with the characters that previous RPG's had to struggle through text & sprites to deliver.

[Zarasthura]

Best villain?

Where does Kefka come into this?!

[OrcsRLame]

Best villain?

Where does Kefka come into this?!

Wherever your opinion places him.

[Deleted]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6ZaSipHuO4

Watch this video and then you know why

Actually I don't think Sephiroth is nowhere near as being the best villain of all time. Maybe he is one the best villains in games though.

[Wilian]

Because he has long white hair, huge katana and is edgy with tragic past.

It simply attracted the teens of that day

[OrcsRLame]

Funny thing, I've never actually played Crisis Core. I only recently got a PSP, and I haven't had much time to play any games on it due to Skyrim and Assassin's Creed. That was fucking boss though. Yeah though, that sums it up nicely lol. Imagine that guy, only criminally insane, with the power to destroy the world. Badass on top of insanity stacked with more badass. In what way is he not an incredible villain?

[Deleted]

Because he has long white hair, huge katana and is edgy with tragic past.

It simply attracted the teens of that day

Don't forget the Single Black Wing, which he sometimes has. Can't remember how he lost it :P