Great games can't exist without villains constantly pushing players to persevere. For the Final Fantasy series, it's perhaps Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 6 that remain close to fans of the franchise. Each of these iterations came stellar appearances of their major villains: Sephiroth for Cloud and his friends (FF7), and Kefka against Terra and the Returners (FF6).

RELATED: Final Fantasy 7 Remake: 5 Scenes From The PS1 Classic We Can't Wait To See In The Next Game (& 5 We Hope They Change)

Both Kefka and Sephiroth served as gripping villains in their respective titles. For FF6, it's Kefka's maniacal laugh that can send shivers down to players' spines. Meanwhile, it's Sephiroth's "One-Winged Angel" that's become one of the most iconic video game soundtracks. However, of the two powerful villains, just who's the better baddie?

10 Sephiroth Wins: He Has That Mysterious Aura

Sephiroth never loses his charm as a character. Regardless of what incarnation of Sephiroth players see, his iconic long white hair, black garb, and piercing look made every on-screen appearance enthralling and scary. Players can perhaps give credit to Tetsuya Nomura for Sephiroth's character design, with FF7 director Yoshinori Kitase naming him as his favorite villain in the series as he was "kind of a mystery novel."

And one might say Square Enix achieved that goal, as any mention of Final Fantasy 7 won't be complete without imagining Sephiroth's silhouette surrounded by flames. In FF7, there's no way of knowing whether that cutscene with Sephiroth will lead to battle or more questions about the game's overarching plot.

9 Kefka Is Better: No One Wants To Be Near Him

Sephiroth has that mysterious charm. However, despite his comedic appearance, no one wants to be near the jester Kefka. The FF6 villain shows no degree of remorse or mercy towards both his enemies and his allies. On multiple occasions, Kefka showed he couldn't care less if soldiers who accompanied him died in front of him.

What made Kefka's Big Villain reveal shocking wasn't his murder of Emperor Gestahl. Instead, it's players knowing Kefka has a loose screw but never expecting him to pull it off. Kefka, slowly showing his true colors without players noticing it outright, made him quite the terrifying villain.

8 Sephiroth Wins: Build Dread With Recurrence

Sephiroth makes his presence known as an integral character in FF7 thanks to recurring flashbacks. However, while this strategy can be used in any story, FF7 maximizes Sephiroth's impact with how his presence actively affects Cloud. Players know Cloud as quiet, distant, and collected. However, the game slowly makes it aware that Sephiroth constantly plagues Cloud's presence. When Tifa and his friends reveal Sephiroth's role in their lives, players know Sephiroth has to be stopped.

RELATED: 10 Pro Tips For The Final Fantasy 7 Remake On PS4 You Should Know

However, perhaps what's impactful is the fact that Sephiroth's presence in the protagonists' lives makes him such a scary villain.

7 Kefka Is Better: Build Dread With Mystery

Unlike Sephiroth, Kefka immediately establishes himself as a villain in the story. However, given how the past games worked, players simply looked at Kefka as the possible penultimate villain. Who better to be the boss before Emperor Gestahl than his faithful servant? Despite the visible "cracks" in his psyche, players can easily dismiss Kefka as the stereotypical henchman. Players underestimating Kefka makes him terrifying, especially when it's revealed he's the ultimate villain in the story.

Moreover, Kefka establishes his status without any ulterior motive. He doesn't want to usurp control over the empire, or even establish his own kingdom. Kefka simply wants to destroy.

6 Sephiroth Wins: An Experiment, Born Into Greatness

Sephiroth began his descent to madness upon discovering the true nature of his birth. Not only is he the son of Professor Hojo, a man he hated, but Sephiroth is also the byproduct of the Jenova Project. As a result, Sephiroth had alien Jenova cells in his system, giving him remarkable abilities. He became the progenitor of Shinra's SOLDIER program and was also the best SOLDIER to have existed.

Unfortunately, when Sephiroth discovered the true nature of his existence, he thought his birth prophesied his ascension into a Messiah. Players slowly get to see Sephiroth's story unfold as they learn more about him in the game, which was at a steady pace. Thanks to this, gamers had enough motivation to take him down during the endgame, and feel satisfied afterward.

5 Kefka Is Better: An Experiment, Born Into Madness

Kefka was supposed to be a Magitek Knight, capable of harnessing both magic and technology to perform various supernatural feats. Unfortunately, the Gestahlian Empire hadn't perfected its Magitek Knight creation process at the time. As a result, this process had "broken" Kefka into madness. Unlike Sephiroth's, the game didn't weave Kefka's story inherently into the story's plot. Moreover, players would likely never expect Kefka to "snap" until his reveal as the principal antagonist.

The game reveals Kefka's rather tragic backstory and shows gamers how one horrible experience can warp a person's entire worldview. For Kefka, he saw nothing but ruin and destruction. As a response, players who fought Kefka to try and change his view saw this final battle as a valiant effort to try and change a villain.

4 Sephiroth Wins: Fighting The Savior

Given the cinematic "feel" of FF7, the game implies that Cloud and Sephiroth will inevitably have a final showdown. Before that, they have to fight Sephiroth three times in the game. The first Bizzaro-Sephiroth is a gigantic structure that may embody Sephiroth's pursuit of power. The second Safer Sephiroth is his ultimate form, a multi-winged angel of immense god-like abilities. It's his final "battle" that's interesting, as Cloud simply has to fight a topless Sephiroth on a one-on-one brawl.

RELATED: The 5 Most Powerful Bosses In The Final Fantasy 7 Remake On PS4 (& The 5 Weakest)

Unlike other Final Fantasy battles, Cloud and Sephiroth's showdown felt like a climactic Wild West scene, one where Cloud has to strike some sense into Sephiroth and show his Messianic vision is something he can't achieve. It's this high-stakes "movie" appeal that makes their boss fight something to remember.

3 Kefka Is Better: Fighting An Idea

The party fights Kefka five times in the game, three of which are cinematic and the fifth one being the final battle. Moreover, the last fight serves as the culmination of Kefka's "quest" in destroying the universe. Kefka winning this final fight means being able to destroy all of existence, and he needed the power of godhood to do so.

In his "god" form, Kefka appears as a demonic angle with a red loincloth. He's much more muscular, with two pairs of angelic wings and another pair of bat-like wings. Only his ponytail gives Kefka any semblance of being human. Amongst other Final Fantasy villains, Kefka has one of the most elegant and "straightforward" boss forms. This might be because players aren't fighting "Kefka," per se, but his nihilistic vision.

2 Sephiroth Wins: A Lasting Legacy

Sephiroth remains as one of the most recognizable Final Fantasy characters, thanks to the massive popularity of FF7. It's in this regard that he bests a lot of the other villains in the franchise. Sephiroth was also designed to share a lot of differences with Cloud. Players can notice the different designs with their hairstyles, weapons of choice, and the way they act throughout the game.

Moreover, Sephiroth had a rather interesting development process. Earlier drafts state that Square Enix wanted Sephiroth to have a more cruel and brutal personality. In initial drafts, Sephiroth would grow addicted to mako. However, instead of showing withdrawal, mako addiction was supposed to strengthen Sephiroth's madness and let him keep his composure.

1 Kefka Is Better: A Lasting Voice

Kefka in Final Fantasy 6

Whereas Sephiroth makes a mark as a villain, Kefka makes himself memorable because of his design. Players know Kefka for his high-pitched cackle. While Kefka as a character laughs frequently throughout the series, his cackle precedes significant events in the story.

Moreover, Kefka's endgame wasn't originally in the story draft. Square Enix only considered Kefka's "world of ruin" when they noticed development was going so smoothly that they had extra time to add the released game's final stages. In fact, players were originally supposed to defeat Kefka before in-game events brought upon the apocalypse. Regardless, it's thanks to this "extra mile" that players got to explore Kefka's true personality.

NEXT: 10 Games To Play If You Love The Final Fantasy 7 Remake On PS4