Stereotype
Kefka fits the villain stereotype perfectly, from his delusions of grandeur right down to the evil laugh. I mean, as far as evil masterminds go, he fits the standards pretty well.
But he also eschews them completely. The usual path for a villain is to already be in power and to be overthrown by the heroes, or to be trying to take over and/or destroy the world but stopped before that comes to pass. Details to that path vary, but — aside from perhaps being the hero's long-lost brother and/or kidnapping/killing the love interest, that's about how it goes.
What Kefka does is actually combine these two paths and give what happens in between. That is, he does actually take over the world, and isn't just overthrown five minutes later. He manages to stay in power for a full year. It's this full path — from underling to god — that sets Kefka apart from stereotypical villains.
But Kefka isn't limited to the villain stereotype. He also fits a stereotype that's prevalent in both media and reality: the evil clown. In the beginning the game Kefka has a comical role in his dealings as one of the Empire's generals, but as time goes on turns much more sinister, especially after Doma. It's an effective way to show how terrifying he can be, as well as highlighting his lack of humanity — who ever thinks about the person behind the scary clown makeup?
Gesthal puts it best just before he gets kicked off the Floating Continent by Kefka:
Gesthal: The world is about to learn...the meaning of...fear...
Kefka's far from the first clown villain and certainly not the most famous, but he is one that fits easily into the stereotypes while retaining his own quirks.
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