I used to think Exdeath and Kefka were unbelievable villains of the Saturday Morning Cartoon variety. No one could be this campy, right? The arrogance, the flamboyance, the corniness. Each one of them has a terribly cheesy laugh. Exdeath laughs as if he’s twirling a mustache around his fingers. “MUW-HA-HA-HA!” Kefka’s laugh is iconic in a different sense. The sound effect they use is chilling. Yet, it comes from a man dressed in garish clown clothing. I couldn’t take any of these villains seriously. They were just too goofy.

I used to think that Exdeath and Kefka were unbelievable villains. Exdeath laughs like Saturday morning cartoon bad guy:

Muahahahaha!

Whereas Kefka makes bad puns and:

hate hate hate hate hate hate… hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate HATE

our characters. It doesn’t help that his hammy.

Hee-hee-hee! But what’s the fun in destruction when there are no ‘precious’ lives lost?

Ugh. Where’s the misguided Sephiroth and Seymour? Or the vengeful Ultimecia? Or even existentially anxious Kuja? Kefka and Exdeath don’t sound like believable villains compared to the latter. So I used to believe these two villains were the weakest, most unbelievable, villains in the series.

I used to think ExDeath and Kefka were unbelievable villains.

But not anymore.

I’ve seen some true evil in the world.

We see them as badly written, cliche and even one-dimensional. But they’re perfect representations of a psychopath. And psychopaths are real people, unfortunately. Psychopaths have no remorse, no code of ethics and are shamelessly evil. But then, why are they this way? I don’t know. It could be nature or nurture. Same with Exdeath or Kefka. We don’t know how they got like this…

Many of them just don’t have sustainable plans. Why does Exdeath want to bring about the Void? Why does Kefka want to be a god? They want power. They want power at all cost, despite the consequences to themselves or others. The worlds usually split due to the destruction they cause.

But for as flashy and entertaining their personalities are on the outside, they have no inner life. Our main characters have goals and a desire to help people. Villains don’t. They only care about themselves.

True, in the grand scale, the evil was harmless. This type of evil usually is. A person like Exdeath or Kefka is clearly psychopathic, yet far too impulsive to actually organize. I saw outright bullying, verbal abuse and a ton of other shameful acts that would embarrass those with a conscience. I’ve seen terrible things done by terrible people to the good. Why do they do it? They’re empty inside, much like Exdeath and Kefka. How did they get that way? I don’t know…

They seem so unbelievable, simply because we don’t have much context for their evil. Why does Exdeath want the power to end the world, for example? Why does Kefka want to cause destruction for the sake of destruction? The game never really answers these question, beyond some back story. Even Zeromus had the motivation to take over the world, unfortunately, will ill-intentions.

Then again, why does anyone do anything? It’s good that you are a good person. But why are you such a good person? Why do you help people? We all should, but have you ever considered the reason for your altruism? Our brains work differently from someone who has no moral conscience. Psychopaths don’t value the world as we do. Yet, they exist. And this is where we find both Kefka and Exdeath.

Knowing that actual Exdeaths and Kefkas exist in the world is comforting; they won’t take you by surprise when you meet them. But the best defense is being a good individual, who speaks the truth and acts morally upstanding. That in and of itself is unbelievable to a psychopath.

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I’ve seen things. Bleak things. I’ve witnessed a glimpse into the horrible depths of humanity. Thankfully, good prevailed over evil. But this type of destructive evil was so absurd, it could have easily been Exdeath’s laugh. Or Kefka’s mad hoppings.

I’m not sure how to describe the amount of hatred I’ve seen. I’m also unsure how it began. But for about half a year, I’ve seen people with less moral than both Exdeath and Kefka. At least the game characters had to keep to their word to advance the plot. Psychopaths see life just as meaningless as Kefka saw it. They have nothing to bind them, except for good people of course.

The world needs more heroes. Hopefully, they can change their evils ways. Until then, you are the hero the world needs.