Board 8 > Rate the Final Fantasy Character - Day 26 - Kuja, Edea Kramer, Rufus Shinra

(+) Yeah! (+)

Kuja - 9
Edea - 7
Rufus - 8

Kuja - 8.5
Edea - 5
Rufus - 7

Kuja - 6
Edea - 8
Rufus - 9.8

Kuja - 7.5
Good but I feel like Seymour is a much better realized version of what Kuja's vibe is.

Edea - 3
Very nothing character. I attribute 90% of the credit to her cool stuff to Ultimecia

Rufus - 8
I wish he was relevant for more than the first bit of the game but he's awesome when he's there. I feel like FF never having a villain like this as the big bad is a major missed opportunity. Not that I'm complaining about Sephiroth of course but like imagine the plot of say FFVIII or FFXIII with a Rufus Shinra type character as the main villain it would really work.

Kuja - 7
Edea - 3
Rufus - 6

I'd probably rate Kuja lower if he wasn't on the PS1. His design looks a lot better when it's zoomed out pixelated, and after what Square did to Vivi and Zidane, I doubt they'd get a voice actor for Kuja who wasn't insufferable.

KamikazePotato posted...

I'd probably rate Kuja lower if he wasn't on the PS1. His design looks a lot better when it's zoomed out pixelated, and after what Square did to Vivi and Zidane, I doubt they'd get a voice actor for Kuja who wasn't insufferable.

https://youtu.be/z4e6HnuB0cY?si=YhsofIr6sGEP55ZM

Somehow I remembered Zidane in Dissidia but forgot about Kuja in Dissidia.

Yeah no thanks. Some things just weren't meant to leave the SD era.

I feel like Liam O'Brien would do a good Kuja

Kuja - 10
Edea - 7
Rufus - 7

Lopen posted...

Good but I feel like Seymour is a much better realized version of what Kuja's vibe is.

They are completely different characters. Kuja actually like, changes!

I like Seymour a lot but he always came off as the unrealized one, essentially amounting to some random boss encounters.

I would agree they're different characters, but I don't think Seymour is unrealized because he doesn't change. That's why he's an effective antagonist! He's very much stuck in the past and unable to move past his trauma, and that's contrasted against the rest of the cast well.

Kuja - 7
Edea - 8
Rufus - 7

Eh, Kuja doesn't become nihilistic like Seymour until the end of the game, and they become nihilists for different reasons, too, so I don't feel like they're giving off the same vibes.

Kuja - 7.0
Edea - 6.5
Rufus - 3.2

I always thought Kuja was meant to primarily come off as a creepy nihilist and I thought Seymour was way better at both aspects of that.

Maybe that's just me misreading the character. I dunno. I just know to me Seymour has everything I like about Kuja but better-- and sure maybe Kuja does some other stuff but not anything I personally find appealing.

I will say I don't think Seymour is like Kuja derivative or anything. They are definitely very different characters that's not what I meant when I said that

Yeah no I get why they're different

I'm saying like

His villainous qualities not his motivations or how he gets there. Like "why is this dude a bad scary dude"

Like I think Golbez and X-Death give off similar vibes in that regard too but they're also very different characters.

I mean if you're talking about how they both come across as creepers I guess they're similar in that regard but I'd say that's more of a product of their designs

Golbez and X-Death basically look like the same dude in different colored armor too if that's what we're basing it on

Kuja and Seymour have some superficial vibes (mostly the crazy hair and piano themes) but beyond that they feel different in the context of the story. Seymour is introduced as an important member of Spira's society. He's even a party member for one fight. His heel turn, and the way his heel turn gets covered up and he gets protected, is used to showcase how corrupt Spira is.

Conversely, Kuja is an antagonistic outsider from the start. His first scene is basically him monologuing about how great and evil. And while he's technically working within society because he's 'allied' with Queen Brahne, you know that Brahne is bad news pretty early in the game. Kuja is a failure of Garland specifically, while Seymour is a failure of Spira as a whole.

That's just how they're used in the story. As far as personality goes - Kuja, even at his worst, still comes across as more sane than Seymour. Self-absorbed and destructive? Absolutely. But he doesn't give off serial killer vibes like Seymour does.

Emperor / Vayne - Behind the scenes scheming empire man
Golbez / X-Death / Ultimecia - Imposing mage that keeps beating your ass at every turn
Kefka - Crazy
Sephiroth - Mysterious intimidating guy
Kuja / Seymour - Creepy nihilist dude

My breakdown of the bads

I would dispute some of those but you couldn't pay me to write in detail about Vayne Carudas Solidor.

again I wouldn't characterize Kuja as a nihilist

that's never his aim until he realizes he's not immortal like he thought

I'd say his original goal is more akin to Kefka than Seymour

Alternatively

Kuja and Genesis have some overlap too (egomaniac inferiority complex poetry guy)

So yeah probably more accurately Seymour and Genesis both existing is what made me less enthused about Kuja over the years

It's been a while since I played FF9, but wasn't Kuja's original goal just to gain power and overthrow Garland? He thought he was hot shit and wanted to be on top. Kefka is more like...gaining power for the sake of causing destruction and chaos.

Yeah I don't really feel like Kefka is scheming to overthrow Gestahl like Kuja is to Garland

He just kinda does it because the urge and opportunity hit

Lopen posted...

Yeah I don't really feel like Kefka is scheming to overthrow Gestahl like Kuja is to Garland

He just kinda does it because the urge and opportunity hit

It's more that Kuja and Kefka are motivated by power and their own ego. Kefka works with Gestahl because it's convenient for him and it enables him to capture Espers and get their powers. When Kefka realizes he can just have it all from the Goddess Statues, he goes for it and Gestahl becomes expendable.

And Kefka isn't necessarily motivated by destroying the world either. He's such an egomaniac that he actually believes he can destroy hope, dreams, etc. and that thought thrills him more than just physical destruction.

Kuja - 9

I think Kefka just has things he doesn't like and craves power. I don't know if he's particularly egomaniacal.

I get Kefka is unhinged, but I don't think he's quite so childish that he just wants to get rid of stuff he doesn't like and nothing more.

I also think it's hard to separate a desire for power from ego. Kefka doesn't outright flaunt his ego the way Kuja does, but the dude definitely has a pride that shows itself at times, particularly when it gets wounded.

When Kefka says stuff like "I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate you!" imo childish is sorta what they're going for.

It's not quite "childish" strictly speaking but like... I'm pretty sure Kefka is less ego and more "I hate stuff like love and hope." Power is his way to get rid of stuff other people like-- less about propping himself up more about tearing others down if that makes sense. I don't really associate him with ego at all.

It's a selfish motivation, sure, but selfishness implies ego. Like I said, it's not overt and I wouldn't consider it a defining trait, but it's there.

I just think Kuja has more in common with Kefka than Seymour other than giving off big creeper energy. Once Kuja goes Super Saiyan, his motivation is definitely tearing others down because he doesn't want anyone else to have anything good if he can't have it (and I think that's part of what motivates Kefka, too).

I guess to me the difference is I don't think Kefka would destroy the world outright if he had the option to (World of Ruin is just a rearranging that makes everyone miserable-- Kefka likey that) whereas Kuja and Seymour (and X-Death!) definitely would.

Eh, world destruction wasn't really on the table for Kuja either until the very end, and he wanted to do it for completely selfish reasons. World destruction was the goal all along for Seymour, and I think what separates him from guys like Kuja and Kefka is that his motives are, at least in his own eyes, selfless. He's willing to take on the burden of destroying Spira in order to save it. Kefka and Kuja have no delusions of altruism.

Kuja - 5
Edea - 6
Rufus - 7

Kuja 2
Edea 6
Rufus 1

Kuja - 10
Edea - 8
Rufus - 9

Kuja #1.

Edea would be higher if she wasn't just possessed for the first half of the game.

I don't know why but I've always loved Rufus. Just something cool about him.

Kuja - 9
Edea - 7
Rufus - 6.5