Final Fantasy can't do villains?

[T.G. Oskar]

Regarding Ultimecia being a bland villain: it's a question of tastes. Someone who prefers its villains to act directly instead of indirectly will find her to be bland, as you don't see her true self until the very end. However, much like Zemus, Ultimecia relies on her ability to essentially project her consciousness to act as she wants, which is why you believe at first that Edea is the main villain. Had they revealed Ultimecia's identity at first, it would have ruined things a bit: the moment where Edea acts as a guest party member and how everyone reacts towards the idea is a key point in the story. It's awkward to cooperate with someone who, until recently, was your enemy; its mind-boggling to cooperate with someone who, until a certain point was basically everyone's mother (save for Rinoa, and Squall of course) and who built the SeeD essentially to defeat Ultimecia in the future by setting certain things into motion. By all means, Edea should qualify as a benevolent chessmaster, facing someone with far more experience and power than herself, and having only a mild advantage of knowing that she'd be possessed at one point and other time shenanigans.

Regarding the Ultimecia-Rinoa hypothesis/"Squall's dream": it's less "Square Enix neither confirms nor denies the idea is wrong", but rather "Squeenix couldn't care, but found it so frickin' hilarious they're throwing a bone at it". Though, it could easily be that Squeenix didn't found it hilarious, but found it so well thought that they decided to give it a mention.

Regarding Jenova-as-puppetmaster: first time I hear about this, mostly. I believe the consensus over here is pretty clear on who's ruling who.

On brute force versus slyness: I find Exdeath to be the epitome of brute force, or at least the term should have been used instead of it. I barely see Sephy as someone who'd rely on brute force, particularly when "brute force" and "surgical precision" are used in the same post (the latter isn't mentioned by name, though, but "scalpel" brings that idea into mind). Brute force and finesse are commonly considered anti-theses of each other. To use brute force is to apply as much force as possible (regardless of area), while finesse implies using the right amount of force in the right spot.

I'd say that "hands-on approach" is a better term, and in here Exdeath excels a bit more. Unlike Zemus and Ultimecia, who do their actions by proxy (or by possession, in case of the latter), unlike Kefka who uses gambits (and even then, he personally takes the time to poison Doma and is present when burning Figaro; isn't that 'hands down approach' at its finest?), and unlike Sephiroth who puts a plan into motion but cares little for his pursuers, Exdeath personally goes and attempts to stop the heroes before his plans are stopped (and when he's defeated, he still manages to tag along and continue with his plan), which is the clearest example of "hands-on approach" I've seen.

I wouldn't say that Sephy went for a brute force or hands-on approach for a variety of reasons, but the biggest one is that he relies on others to do what he wants. He's more of an overseer than a worker: if he'd want the Black Materia, he could have...I dunno, send one of his clones for it. That's more of a "hands-on approach" than anything else. He simply seeks to claim the prize afterwards, which is the extent of his direct actions in this case. On the famous "Aeris dies" scenario, he could have simply done the job himself, but instead of going for the brute force approach ("do the damn thing already! Heck, do it before she gets to the Cave of the Ancients in the first place!!!!!!"), he goes for the mind game instead. Certainly, that's not indirect approach to solving the problem (it's quite direct), but it's not the most efficient. However, he relies on Cloud to attempt the job first, rather than doing it himself. Perhaps this isn't the best example of "in/direct approach", because the nature of the act inclines towards something different (the important bit is for him to toy around rather than solve the matter with efficiency), but it's still useful as the most direct approach to the matter would have eliminated the need for the mind game entirely.

If anything, I insist the worst villain, hands down, has to be Necron, and that's because he literally appears out of nowhere (or at least, as literal as "oblivion ~= nowhere") and has no clear anchor to the story other than "this is what happens when you break the Crystal; nice job breaking it Kuja!" The character development they gave him at those final hours (when he manages to artificially induce himself into Trance, brutally boosting his power) became somewhat irrelevant when he wasn't made the true final boss.

Oh, and this is a gift for Xanatos: note that the party never truly defeated Kuja. It's the opposite: Kuja killed the party, unambiguously, as they wouldn't be capable of facing the embodiment of Death in Gaia without actually dying. Take that as you will.

[Heartless Angel]

On brute force versus slyness: I find Exdeath to be the epitome of brute force, or at least the term should have been used instead of it. I barely see Sephy as someone who'd rely on brute force, particularly when "brute force" and "surgical precision" are used in the same post (the latter isn't mentioned by name, though, but "scalpel" brings that idea into mind). Brute force and finesse are commonly considered anti-theses of each other. To use brute force is to apply as much force as possible (regardless of area), while finesse implies using the right amount of force in the right spot.

The very thing that made Sephiroth so dangerous is that he possessed both brute strength, and finesse. Not only could he throw enough power into a goal to ensure its success, but he could apply it in such a way that would lead to maximum collateral damage. Even his weapon illustrates the deadly combination. The sword's absurd size gives it high weight, making it great for throwing large forces at enemies, but because he also has superb technique and a fine edged weapon, that force can be targeted very specifically to inflict maximal damage. Even a battering ram, through rather blunt and simplistic, works best when aimed at just the right part of the door. I suppose brute force isn't the best term, is it does come with the connotation of being devoid of finesse. What Sephiroth has is the unique combination of overwhelming force, and the intellect to maximize its effectiveness.

I'd say that "hands-on approach" is a better term, and in here Exdeath excels a bit more. Unlike Zemus and Ultimecia, who do their actions by proxy (or by possession, in case of the latter), unlike Kefka who uses gambits (and even then, he personally takes the time to poison Doma and is present when burning Figaro; isn't that 'hands down approach' at its finest?), and unlike Sephiroth who puts a plan into motion but cares little for his pursuers, Exdeath personally goes and attempts to stop the heroes before his plans are stopped (and when he's defeated, he still manages to tag along and continue with his plan), which is the clearest example of "hands-on approach" I've seen.

Exdeath certainly took a more active approach in fighting the heroes.But that doesn't necessarily mean he was more hands on than other villains who didn't. Exdeath just took a much greater interest in his opponents. Sephiroth seems to care more for his pursuers than one might think at first. He goes well out of his way to troll the heroes when he really didn't need to. Unlike most villains, killing people wasn't a part of his plan. He wasn't just 'avenging' the ancients, he was punishing those who 'betrayed' them. I'll go into more detail in the next segment.

I wouldn't say that Sephy went for a brute force or hands-on approach for a variety of reasons, but the biggest one is that he relies on others to do what he wants. He's more of an overseer than a worker: if he'd want the Black Materia, he could have...I dunno, send one of his clones for it. That's more of a "hands-on approach" than anything else. He simply seeks to claim the prize afterwards, which is the extent of his direct actions in this case. On the famous "Aeris dies" scenario, he could have simply done the job himself, but instead of going for the brute force approach ("do the damn thing already! Heck, do it before she gets to the Cave of the Ancients in the first place!!!!!!"), he goes for the mind game instead. Certainly, that's not indirect approach to solving the problem (it's quite direct), but it's not the most efficient. However, he relies on Cloud to attempt the job first, rather than doing it himself. Perhaps this isn't the best example of "in/direct approach", because the nature of the act inclines towards something different (the important bit is for him to toy around rather than solve the matter with efficiency), but it's still useful as the most direct approach to the matter would have eliminated the need for the mind game entirely.

It's not the he relies on others, the term rely implies that others were needed. He never needed Cloud to kill Aerith, he just wanted to make Cloud suffer more. He could have just killed her a long time ago, before the group showed up. He didn't. He waited until the time was right to strike to maximize the collateral damage. He never needed the heroes to recover the black materia, he could have just sent a clone. Instead he basically challenged them to a race for the black materia, knowing they would have no choice but to try to win to stop him. He made them sacrifice Cait Sith (probably assuming they'd have to give up a real person of course) to obtain it, all so he could come in at the last second and using his own force of will to make Cloud hand it over. He still just took what he wanted by force, he just wanted to make his opponents suffer for their attempt at opposing him. He maximized collateral damage. He never needed to manipulate anyone, it was all for the sake of maximizing the pain he caused. In the end he still used brute force to get his way, he just waited for the most opportune moment to ensure the blow would inflict maximum damage. Overwhelming force, and the intellect to apply it in the most devastating way. While Exdeath had to go after the heroes AND further his own plans with different actions, Sephiroth planned his moves in such a way that one action would advance him on both objectives. He's a lot like Jigsaw in that regard, he forces the situation, and knows the outcome before the game is played, but he inflicts addition torment by granting the illusion of hope, only to end up leaving the group with a choice of damnations and greater pain for their efforts.