Kefka Palazzo's History
Prior to the start of Final Fantasy VI, Kefka was the first experimental Magitek Knight, a process that gave him the power to cast magic. The process was imperfect however, and Kefka's mind was damaged, transforming him into a destructive madman. Kefka became infamous in the Empire for his cruelty, not hesitating to murder even women and children. These behaviors alienated Kefka from the Imperial soldiers, but earned Emperor Gestahl's appreciation and he began to trust Kefka with more important assignments.
When word came that a frozen esper had been dug up in the northern town of Narshe, Kefka used a Slave Crown to take control of Terra. As a test of his control over her, Kefka ordered her to burn fifty Imperial soldiers, which she did; the incident was heard of in lands beyond the Empire, sparking rumors of a dangerous "witch" in their ranks. Kefka sent Terra to Narshe with Biggs and Wedge as her escort to retrieve the frozen esper. Though the three defeated Narshe's guards and found the esper, the creature reacted to Terra's presence, killed Biggs and Wedge, and damaged the Slave Crown, knocking Terra unconscious. Terra was smuggled out of Narshe by Locke, a member of the Returners, a resistance group opposed to the Empire. Gestahl sent Kefka to Figaro Castle to investigate Terra's disappearance while Locke took her there; the king of Figaro, Edgar, was publicly an Imperial ally but secretly backed the Returners. Edgar feigned ignorance of Terra's whereabouts when Kefka questioned him, but Kefka was not fooled and returned in the night and set fire to Figaro. He demanded Edgar bring Terra to him, but Edgar had prepared for Kefka's treachery and fled the castle with Locke and Terra on chocobos, and Figaro Castle burrowed into the desert. Kefka ordered his escort, two Imperial soldiers piloting Magitek armor, to attack them, but the trio defeated them and made their escape. Kefka headed to an Imperial Camp on the outskirts of Doma Castle. General Leo was leading a siege of the castle, but their efforts had been stymied. Kefka intended to usurp Leo's command of the Imperial force and break the stalemate by poisoning Doma's water supply. Leo refused to allow Kefka to use such inhumane tactics, but when he was recalled by Emperor Gestahl Kefka put his plan into action. Edgar's brother, Sabin, was infiltrating the camp with the ninja mercenary Shadow, and when they overheard Kefka's intent they intervened to stop him. The Imperials stalled the two long enough for Kefka to dump the poison and Doma was decimated; the lone survivor of the massacre, Cyan, joined forces with Sabin and the Returners. Kefka led a larger Imperial force to Narshe to lay siege the city and take the frozen esper. The Returners�??Terra, Locke, Edgar, Sabin, Cyan, and other new allies Celes, a former Imperial general, and Gau, a wild child�??regrouped at Narshe and organized in defense of the city. On the cliffs above Narshe where the townsfolk had moved the esper, the Returners made their stand against Kefka and his forces, and fought their way through the Imperial ranks to defeat Kefka. Kefka retreated, vowing he would not forget the defeat. In the aftermath, Terra approached the frozen esper, transformed into an esper-like form, and flew away. The Returners found Terra in the care of an esper, Ramuh, who asked them to infiltrate the Empire's Magitek Research Facility in the capital city Vector to free the captive espers there. Ramuh told the Returners about magicite, the remains of dead espers that is able to transfer their power to their holder more efficiently than the Empire's Magitek extractions. In the facility the Returners spied Kefka torturing the weakened espers Ifrit and Shiva, deeming them drained of power and worthless to him. He tossed the two into a garbage chute, and the Returners retrieved their magicite and continued to the main research labs. The Returners shut down the extraction tubes, but the espers had been drained of too much energy and transformed to magicite. The head of Magitek research, Professor Cid, came upon the scene and realized the truth about Magitek power. Kefka was nearby and also learned this, and ordered Celes to bring the magicite to him. Kefka claimed that Celes had faked her defection to infiltrate the Returners, and when the group let their guard down he ordered a pair of Imperials with Magitek armor to attack. Celes teleported Kefka and his men away in a show of loyalty and the group left with Cid. Cid sent them down a mine cart to the outside and they rendezvoused with Setzer, owner of the airship Blackjack that had ferried them to Vector. Kefka rushed to the Imperial Palace and activated a pair of cranes to attack the Blackjack, but the Returners destroyed them and escaped. The Returners learned that Terra was half-esper, and headed to the Cave to the Sealed Gate that led to the esper world so Terra could ask the espers for aid in attacking the Empire. At the gate Kefka appeared and taunted them, claiming he and Gestahl had allowed Terra to fall into the hands of the Returners so they would open the gate for them. As the Returners and Kefka fought, Terra's calls were answered and the gate opened, and espers rushed out and carried Kefka away. The espers attacked Vector and decimated the Empire, and by the time the Returners arrived to investigate the aftermath, Gestahl had found out about Kefka's actions at Doma and imprisoned him for war crimes.
Gestahl called a ceasefire and asked the Returners to aid the Empire in locating the rogue espers and getting them to attend peace talks to end the war. The Returners agreed and Terra and Locke accompanied an Imperial expedition led by General Leo to Thamasa, where the espers had last been sighted. They found the espers and convinced them to return to Thamasa to meet with Leo. At the town the two sides had reached an understanding when Kefka appeared with a small contingent of Magitek armored soldiers and incapacitated the Returners and Imperials alike. Kefka told Leo he was here on Gestahl's orders and killed the espers and seized their magicite, and then ordered his troops to burn the town. Leo fought Kefka to stop him, and Kefka vanished and called for Emperor Gestahl. Gestahl seemed to appear before Leo and admitted his true goal was to acquire power, but Gestahl then turned into Kefka, who revealed Leo had been fighting and speaking with illusions. Kefka pushed Leo to the ground and leapt on top of him and killed him. As Kefka reveled in the power rush the magicite was giving him, the Sealed Gate was forced open again by another group of espers that sensed the deaths of their friends. They flew to Thamasa to attack Kefka, but he neutralized them and slaughtered them, claiming their magicite. Kefka returned to Gestahl and the two entered the esper world and found the Warring Triad, a trinity of ancient petrified gods that had originally created the espers and magic itself. With the power of the Warring Triad, Gestahl raised the island the Sealed Gate was on as the Floating Continent, the Triad at its summit. The Returners flew to the Floating Continent on the Blackjack and confronted Gestahl and Kefka. Celes stepped forward to try and talk sense into Gestahl, but he used the Triad's power to paralyze the other Returners and invited for Celes to join him and Kefka in ruling the world. Kefka gave Celes a sword and ordered her to kill the others to prove her loyalty, but Celes rounded on Kefka and stabbed him. Infuriated, Kefka called out to the Warring Triad and they began to react. Gestahl ordered him to cease, as the Triad's awakening would destroy the world and there was no value in such a thing, but Kefka refused. Gestahl tried to strike down Kefka with magic, but his attacks were absorbed by the magical field the Triad projected. Kefka ordered them to show Gestahl their true power and bolts of divine lightning rained down around them; one struck Gestahl and mortally wounded the emperor, and Kefka kicked him off the edge of the Floating Continent to his death. Kefka knocked Celes aside and moved the Triad, disrupting their balance of power. Shadow arrived and began to push them back into place, pinning Kefka between them. With the disruption of power the Returners were freed and escaped to the Blackjack with Shadow, but it was too late to stop the damage Kefka had done. With their formation changed and their balance destroyed, the power of the Warring Triad was unleashed on the world in a chaotic cataclysm that reshaped the face of the planet, killed countless people and animals, and destroyed the Blackjack, scattering the party across the world. In the year that followed, Kefka built a tower in the former location of Vector, using debris from the Imperial city and the rest of the world in its construction. He situated himself atop the tower, guarded by the Triad, and drained their power to become the god of magic. In the ruined husk left of the world, citizens lived in constant fear of Kefka using the "Light of Judgment" to burn down their town if they displeased him. Kefka used the light to destroy Mobliz and attacked South Figaro as well, though its citizens regrouped and rebuilt the town. He later attacked Tzen, but the only destruction caused was the collapse of a manor home. A cult dedicated to worship of Kefka was created whose members built their own tower, and citizens around the world, either afraid of Kefka's wrath or with no purpose left in their lives, left to join the cult.
The Returners regrouped and invaded Kefka's tower, destroying the Warring Triad before they reached the tower's summit. They stood before Kefka as he flaunted his power and told them their lives were meaningless and insignificant. The Returners replied that he was wrong and gave him their reasons for living, but Kefka refused to accept this and turned the Light of Judgment on the world. The Returners attacked and Kefka fought them in the form of a divine being, but was defeated and faded away.
With Kefka's defeat, the source of magic in the world was gone�??the party's magicite crumbled to dust and Terra's power began to fade. With her last strength she led the party out of the tower to their new airship, the Falcon, and they escaped the collapse of Kefka's tower. Terra survived the destruction of magic due to her bond with the orphans of Mobliz, allowing her to remain in the world as a pure human. With Kefka's death the world began to rebuild and the Returners savored their victory.
