History Characters / FinalFantasyVI

* MercyKill: Shadow, back when he known as was Clyde the train robber, chickened out of mercy killing his wounded comrade Baram, and left him to be captured. He never forgives himself for it.

* AwesomeButImpractical: Umaro is bar none the strongest physical fighter in the game, but his uncontrollable nature renders his incompatible with even the most basic of strategies. [[CursedWithAwesome Unless said strategy equates to "let Umaro run wild"]].

* DoesNotLikeShoes: To tell the truth, he doesn't like civilized clothing in general, as he finds it cumbersome and uncomfortable. Hence why his best "armor" is the Snow Scarf.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: He has some cloth footwraps, but is otherwise barefoot.

* KansaiRegionalAccent: How he speaks in the original Japanese.

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: His subordinates have nothing but gushing things to say about him, and even his ''enemies'' hold him in high regard. Even Cyan, whose country had been besieged by Leo's army for the previous three years, expressed dismay at news of his demise. Kefka seems to be the only person in the entire world who hates him.

* BladeOnAStick: With the Dragoon equipment, spears and pikes become his most powerful weapons later in the game. In the ports, his InfinityPlusOneSword is the Longinus.

* BladeOnAStick: Mog primarily uses pikes, but his other Moogle companions use claws, swords, boomerangs, [[RingsOfDeath chakrams]], etc. His InfinityPlusOneSword in the ports is the Gungnir.

* AssholeVictim: Kefka betrays him and gets the power of The Warring Triad and uses it to knock Gestahl off a cliff, killing him. Considering that this only happened to him because he [[PromotedToScapegoat betrayed Kefka]], and taking into account his other crimes as an EvilOverlor', it's easy to say he had it coming.

* AssholeVictim: Kefka betrays him and gets the power of The Warring Triad and uses it to knock Gestahl off a cliff, killing him. Considering that this only happened to him because he [[PromotedToScapegoat betrayed Kefka]], and taking into account his other crimes as an ''EvilOverlord'', it's easy to say he had it coming.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: He's on the receiving end of this figuratively and literally thanks to Kefka. Kefka betrays him and gets the power of The Warring Triad and uses it to knock Gestahl off a cliff, killing him.

* AnimalisticAbilities: Gau learned to fight by [[PowerCopying copying the attack patterns and special abilities]] of the monsters and animals that migrated to the Veldt by leaping into their packs and living and hunting alongside them.

* FriendOrIdolDecision: Between Mog and Lone Wolf. Choose Mog and you get yourself an OptionalPartyMember. Choose Lone Wolf and you will get a Gold Hairpin which halves MP cost. Since it's not the only Gold Hairpin in the game and one of his Dances can be {{Permanently Missable|Content}} if you don't recruit him (at least in the SNES version), the choice is obvious.
* GeoEffects: How he learns his dances, by fighting on different terrains. Also used in said dances where he attacks with nature-themed abilities; his Dances basically combine the Geomancer (magic determined by the current surroundings) and Berserker (losing control of him once he starts dancing) jobs from ''Final Fantasy III'' and ''V''.

* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: It comes off when he talks to Sabin in the throne room. Beneath the noble king is a man who deeply misses his brother and has doubts over his own effectiveness as a ruler.

* PetTheDog: Rather literally. We know Shadow can't be ''all'' bad, because he cares for Interceptor and the dog is extremely loyal to him.

* DiscOneFinalBoss: One of the first bosses to invoke this trope, but the technology of the time (cartridge) made it less opaque. Still, when the player is confronting Gestahl, one can't help but think the game is a little short.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: When the Espers annihilate the capital city of Vector he feigns repentance and vows to end the war, even imprisoning Kefka for war crimes (that he committed without Gestahl's approval, supposedly) and hosting a dinner for the heroes before they go on their mission to save the world. [[ExaggeratedTrope He lays it on so thick that nobody believes him]], but the party reluctantly attends for lack of alternatives. To the surprise of nobody, it's all a scheme to corner the heroes so Gestahl can get his hands on the Warring Triad.

* ToServeMan: During the first fight against him he expresses [[SapientEatSapient a carnivorous desire to eat Terra, not unlike a sapient predator after prey]]. This is only in the SNES translation, however. In the original Japanese version and future retellings/remasters of [=FFVI=], he expresses [[NaughtyTentacles far more]] [[MarsNeedsWomen lecherous intentions for her.]]

* GamebreakingBug: In the SNES version, the Sketch command has a good chance of crashing the game if used on the wrong enemies. At worst, it can irreparably bork your save. On the other hand, judicious use with save states can lead to breaking the game in the other direction, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIjJZNM3rDA&feature=youtu.be&t=2h58m49s as demonstrated by this tool-assisted speedrun]]. It can also net you multiple copies of items you're not supposed to be able to get multiples of, like Illuminas and Atma Weapons. The SNES Classic Edition version patched this glitch, as did the [=PS1=], GBA and Virtual Console versions.

* LethalJokeCharacter: Relm doesn't have very good Strength or weapon options, and Sketch is mostly useless. But she has the highest base Magic stat in the party (even though she doesn't initially know any spells), and her equipment spread also provides her with a lot of magic-boosting options. So with a bit of training and Esper use, she can become ''very'' useful. (Notably, she has the highest natural magic stat in the game, although it's quite likely that players will have boosted Celes' and Terra's stats to comparable levels with Espers by the time they recruit her).

* UselessUsefulSpell: Save for a few specific instances, the Sketch algorithm falls into this for two reasons. Firstly, it has the monster's stats, rather than Relm's. Secondly, many elemental or status attack will be likely nullified or even absorbed since monsters are commonly immune to their own status and elemental attacks.

* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: It comes off when he talks to Sabin in the throne room. Beneath the noble king is a man who deeply misses his brother and has doubts over his own effectiveness as a ruler.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He's more than willing to ''personally'' fight the Empire, and is one of the most powerful characters in the game for the first part of it.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Kefka believes that life is meaningless because everything you create will eventually be destroyed and eventually you will die. Terra then states that the sum of one's life isn't what important; it's the day-to-day concerns, the personal triumphs, the celebration of life and love, and being able to experience the joy that every day of your life can bring.

* APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil: He was Duncan's son and best student, but he wanted command of the dojo and turned on his father when he thought Sabin was chosen over him.

* BareYourMidriff: Not so much a shirt as a pelt that he's wearing.

* NoPronunciationGuide: Gau, Cyan, Celes, and Relm: none of those names are pronounced like you're probably saying them aloud now.

* NoPronunciationGuide: To emphasize, it's pronounced ''Kai-en'', not ''Sai-an'' like the color.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: He appears very early on, and is never seen nor heard from again afterward. Even immediately after the battle, it's unknown if he died or if he just ran away. His unique "death" animation makes it all the more ambiguous. TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter? Looks like we'll never know...

* TheChick: As far as the storyline goes, in both the positive and negative aspects. She's the "heart" that pulls the group back together in the World of Ruin. She also spends much of her spotlight in the game pining over Locke.

* OptionalPartyMember: Exaggerated. Everyone but Celes, Edgar and Setzer is optional in the World of Ruin. Even major characters like Terra, Locke and Sabin are not required to finish the game, although Terra still come BackForTheFinale.

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: In most fighting games, a special move input's direction is determined by the orientation of the character. This is ''mostly'' true for Sabin, as well, given most battles have him face towards the left, and so the [[KamehameHadouken Hadouken-esque]] Aura Cannon is inputted Down, Down-Left, Left. The problem happens for the small handful of battles where he isn't facing to the left due to a back or pincer attack. Unlike in most fighting games, his commands are not inverted in these cases, potentially tripping up players used to them.

* SuplexFinisher: An early-game Blitz, though it was retranslated to "Meteor Smash" for the [=GBA=] release. It does a ton of damage, though most bosses are immune to it, with the [[MemeticMutation notable exception]] of the Phantom Train. The gameplay balance ROM hack [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIBraveNewWorld Brave New World]] removes Suplex immunity, letting Sabin suplex any enemy in the game, including the final bosses and [[BonusBoss Kaiser Dragon]].