Kefka - The Esper Finally Revealed?

[Veritas-Ancora]

As XIV has had many notorious references to old Final Fantasy games, the goddess statues (Warring Triad) in FFVI appeared in Azys Lla with very little story, which probably means that we'll eventually see the story, but as a long-time fan I've had one burning question...

Kefka was one of the generals in Emperor Gestahl's army and the weakest among his comrades. When magic was discovered, he was the first to experiment with the process of artificial infusion of Esper/Primal power. This caused him to go absolutely insane.

What was never answered in the lore: WHO was he infuse with? We've seen primal infusion across several games (FF6, FF8, FF10, etc.) but there's no suggestion as to which primal he was given. Shiva was drained, and Celes had ice magic, so it only makes sense. But what psychotic demon would have caused his mind to go haywire?

I'm curious if XIV might explore that missing piece of the puzzle that justified his madness.

[Twailaith]

What was never answered in the lore: WHO was he infuse with? We've seen primal infusion across several games (FF6, FF8, FF10, etc.) but there's no suggestion as to which primal he was given. Shiva was drained, and Celes had ice magic, so it only makes sense..

As far as I know, the FFVI Empire initially drained Espers en-masse rather than individually. Kefka and Gestahl only figured out how to make proper Magicites after they witnessed Maduin's group transform into crystals.

By the time the Floating Continent becomes a thing, he's got at least two dozen Magicites in his pockets, presumably including all the ones you later find in the World of Ruin.

So it's not a question of "which one?", as much as "how many?"...

...Is Kefka even a thing in XIV? I don't recall ever seeing a hint of him in the lore threads.

[-Krypyonite-]

if i recall, during 2014 E3 live letter they said there wont be kefka in XIV

[Februs]

...Is Kefka even a thing in XIV? I don't recall ever seeing a hint of him in the lore threads.

No. He is not. I don't think that's what the OP meant though.

Typically, SE has been taking ques from other FF titles in order to construct the lore of FFXIV (Which has lead to the "FF multiverse" fan theory). It seems to take the most influences from FFXII, Tactics, and VI, so far. So, a lot of the most accurate theories about what's going to happen and why in the FFXIV story have been using evidence from other games to predict this game's future. I think what the OP is implying here is not that Kefka will be in this game, specifically, but that IF we can use facts from previous titles to fill in the blanks of FFXIV, than we could also use facts of FFXIV to fill in previously unanswered questions or mysteries of the titles that have been used as inspiration for FFXIV's story.

It's entirely possible. I wouldn't be surprised if SE raided the story vault of previous titles to make this game, so it stands to reason that there could be potential facts about previous games hidden within this one; however, we would have know way of knowing for sure. Since any facts found in FFXIV would be being applied retrospectively, it's just as likely that SE made something new up that doesn't quite fit.

[Cilia]

For the record, it was the imperfect infusion process that drove Kefka off the deep end, not any specific esper he was given power from. That bit was never elaborated upon, and as someone else pointed out they only learned to make proper magicite after watching the espers turn into the rocks themselves.

[Veritas-Ancora]

For the record, it was the imperfect infusion process that drove Kefka off the deep end, not any specific esper he was given power from. That bit was never elaborated upon, and as someone else pointed out they only learned to make proper magicite after watching the espers turn into the rocks themselves.

This is accurate yes, keep in mind that Kefka's infusion process was "before" magicite (in context of knowing anything about it). But keep in mind that Celes was "before" magicite and Gestahl was "before" magicite as well. All of these people used this process to acquire magic, so there's definitely instances where this process was in fact successful. The infusion process became more successful with more experimentation, but still goes back to that first time. What esper, or espers, were the first to be running through Kefka's veins?

[Cilia]

On the Imperial Legions - I can't possibly guess what they intend for each and every legate. If I had to guess:

-Ist Legion: a crazy, General Kilgore-style Legate who just loves war. The original Final Fantasy gave Garland little characterization, but Dissidia did far more with him.
"You smell that?! ... ceruleum, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. ... I love the smell of ceruleum in the morning."
-IInd Legion: a cold and calculating Legate who made a contract with Voidsent and may come back from the dead as a demon after rising in the Voidsent ranks.
-IIIrd Legion: we already have Xande and the Cloud of Darkness from III in-game almost wholesale, so anyone's guess is as good as mine...
-IVth Legion: genocidal madman who wants to wipe out all non-Garleans.
-Vth Legion: ???
-VIth Legion: Regula van Hydrus. Well... magically inept Garleans on Azys Lla with all their magitek research... I'm expecting either a Kefka or Leo out of Regula.
-VIIth Legion: Nael van Darnus. Pretty much emulated Sephiroth.
-VIIIth Legion: wants to go back to happier times, will mess with space-time to try and do it.
-IXth Legion: initially does very well, goes off the deep end when the Emperor promotes someone over him. Def. obsessed with primal containment.
-Xth Legion: even more anti-theistic than you average Legate.
-XIth Legion: ???
-XIIth Legion: perhaps more politically apt than your average Legate. Would hope to see them in Garlemald proper and have them be either an ally or an anti-villain.
-XIIIth Legion: ???
-XIVth Legion: Gaius van Baelsar. We know what happened to him.

Seeing as XV isn't even out yet, and we don't know if they'll reference it, I have no idea what the Legate could even possibly be like.

What esper, or espers, were the first to be running through Kefka's veins?

Yes. (I'm not going to put more thought into a question that is ultimately pointless and has no real bearing on XIV's world.)

[Shikiseki]

If anything, all the Krilie story could be leading to Exdeath/Exodus Esper.
I doubt that Kefka will be in FFXIV, even though the Warring Triad is already a nice FF6 cameo

[Darkstride]

For the record, it was the imperfect infusion process that drove Kefka off the deep end, not any specific esper he was given power from. That bit was never elaborated upon, and as someone else pointed out they only learned to make proper magicite after watching the espers turn into the rocks themselves.

Pretty much this.

[Veritas-Ancora]

FYI, I'm so happy to geek out over this theory!

It's not so much how many magicites were in his pocket as it was the infusion process itself. The comments are accurate, the infusion process was experimental and went horribly wrong as the guy in Vector said. The question is: did Kefka really get infused with a ton of espers in the initial experimentation? Or, was the first done by a single one? This is a question I'm very much intrigued to learn.

Consider the qualities: he puts on elaborate makeups, elaborate clothes, shrieks with diabolical laughter, takes joy in destruction... if it was in fact one esper, which seems to be the most logical in the first attempt, what kind of psychotic beast could do such a thing to warp a person's mind like that? What being would have so much rage and hellfire behind them that wants nothing more than every allegiance broken and the world burned to ash?