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Who do you think Gesthal is most like? I thought it was a hard choice. Most folks would call him hitler. i would too but something to consider is Hitler had brain washed his people. The folks of the Empire in Tzen Albrook and Maranda seemed rather upset with his dominion. Regardless i called him the fuhrer.

This post has been edited by MogMaster on 2nd April 2004 19:28

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If you've been mod-o-fied,
It's an illusion, and you're in-between.
Don't you be tarot-fied,
It's just alot of nothing, so what can it mean?
~Frank Zappa

Sins exist only for people who are on the Way or approaching the Way

I wouldnt call him Hitler, Hitler was genocidal, He may have pretty much eradicated the espers, but he didnt do it out of hate, he treated them as a resource, He would be more like Mussolini, because the people did hate him

This post has been edited by Angry_Lizard on 2nd April 2004 20:21

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THE LIZARDSSS SHALL EATSSS YOU

I was struggling between Napoleon and Caesar, but I went with Napoleon because Gestahl lacked the ruthless "kill all that stand in my way" mentality--he only seemed to want to assert and bask in his own glory.

However, I chose Napoleon over Caesar mainly because of Napoleon's overwhelming, megalomaniacal ego. Gestahl really never doubts the power of his Empire, and his desire for God-like grandeur with sovereignty over all that existed in the WoB really pinpoints him as being arrogant and acquisitive.

The fact that he questioned Kefka when he

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

moved the statues, saying he wanted to rule the world and not destroy it

really portrayed him as a power hungry, self-exalting being more than as a heartless killer.

In my mind, Gesthal just wanted to claim the world as his kingdom. He is neither as heartless nor as ruthless as Kefka.

This post has been edited by Stephen the Third on 2nd April 2004 20:34

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Je ne t'aime plus,
Mon amour...

Je ne t'aime plus,
Tous les jours...

Hitler was a psychopath who took advantage of the sufferings of the Germans in order to inflict more suffering on others.
Stalin was a paranoid nut-case who slaughtered millions of his own people.
I don't know much about Mussolini. All I've seen is just him tagging along with Hitler while trying to help the Italians retreive their past glory.
Napolean was an egotistical conqueror, who was the best general ever seen.
Caeser just got lucky.

Meh. Gestahl comes closest to Napolean, sort of, I guess. Not close enough, so I null voted.

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"I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books."
-Brad Meltzer

Gestahl is a hated, power-hungry, evil, glory-seeking dictator.

Hitler was a psychopathic genocidist, deluded by his own beliefs but using his power to enforce them. He somewhat more similar to Kefka, but even more so to Sephiroth in his mindset format.

Stalin was a psychopathic but rather indiscriminate killer, the kind who suffered a tragic past and went crazy. This guy is a bit like Sigma of the MMX series, but also similar to Hitler in that he used his power to enforce his deluded beliefs.

Mussolini I haven't heard that much about, but from what I know, he wasn't as effective in quanching opposition to himself, and was quite widely hated (somewhat like Gestahl), and he tagged along with Hitler to enjoy the spoils. But he never overthrew Hitler, nor was he as cruel as Kefka.

Napoleon was a charismatic general whose fate turned him toward government and heading the French state. He was actually a basically good person, and he ruled somewhat like an "enlightened despot", and although not everything he did was good, he did do many good things.

Caesar was pretty much a democratic activist born to to the aristocracy, compounded with excellent army-commanding skills. Yes, he essentially fought his way to the top, but once he reached the top he acted basically as an enlightened despot.

I voted Mussolini.

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hes probably a little bit of Mussolini and Napolean

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THE LIZARDSSS SHALL EATSSS YOU

I voted Other.

I think Gestahl is more like Francisco Franco, "El Caudillo" of Spain. Franco was close to, but not quite, a facist. He did what he had to do win the Spanish Civil War but was not evil like Hitler or Stalin, and I think that fits Gestahl pretty well. Also, he had to work with Spanish falangists (facists, basically) like Quiepo de Llano, whom he disliked, to win power, much like Gestahl has to work with the unsavory Kefka.

This post has been edited by The Raging Newbie on 6th April 2004 23:19

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Blood & Fire

I figured that Gestahl was most like Hitler. Both were pretty powerful speakers. Both were the sole rulers of their respective worlds. From the way he was going on, it seemed Hitler wanted to rule the world. Kinda like a certain emperor we all know of. I'm just sort of disregarding the whole genocide thing, unless Gestahl killed townspeople in the towns that he occupied, probably not though. Oh yeah, remember in one of Terra's flashbacks near the beginning of the game? Gestahl and Celes and Terra and Kefka and General Leo were there. When Gestahl finished his speech, the soldiers did the little arm straight out thing that the Germans did to Hitler.

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"It is a part of human nature to be evil, and it is a part of human nature to destroy evil, therefore, when evil is destroyed, so will be the human race..."
- Atma

I was just wondering about something. Was Gestahl really hated by those from Vector? Sure, he was hated by people whose territory he had assimilated, but then again anyone from a country / region taken over by another would be upset with the country that had defeated and absorbed it into its own territory. Yes, Napoleon was charismatic, and loved by the french people.... but most other European countries hated him and the potential threat that he posed while in power.

From what I remember, though, Gestahl was celebrated by actual members of the Empire and seemed to have a sort of charismatic air about him.

This post has been edited by Stephen the Third on 6th April 2004 18:20

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Je ne t'aime plus,
Mon amour...

Je ne t'aime plus,
Tous les jours...

Well lets see here, I voted Ceaser, not only would Ceaser have this mentality, but he was also pretty deceptive, and so was Gestahl, and if memory serves wasnt Ceaser killed by his friend and right hand mand Brutus.. or soemthing like that. And who killed Gestahl,

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

or at least pushed him off the floating continent, kefka

Hmm perhaps Gesthal was Disliked, but as I recall it seemed as though the people had a mixed emotion over all about him. I rememebr a dialougue with a man wanting to join the Army and his lover said something about serving the army that smashed their town. i don't recall if hitler found support for his army in other territories....

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If you've been mod-o-fied,
It's an illusion, and you're in-between.
Don't you be tarot-fied,
It's just alot of nothing, so what can it mean?
~Frank Zappa

Sins exist only for people who are on the Way or approaching the Way

A bit off topic, Mogmaster, but yes he did. He found enough support to raise the biggest Foriegn Legion ever.

After the Night of The Long Knives, in which the SA, or Stormtroppers, or brownshirts, were purged, the Schutzstaffel (SS) became the Nazi Party's principal enforcement wing. But due to the personal "Empire Building", Reichsfuhrer Himmler wanted a branch of the SS that would take part in actual war. And so the Waffen SS, literally, "Armed Schutzstaffel", was created. When you hear about the German Army in WW II its important to remember that the rank and file Wehrmacht man wasn't a Nazi. Most of the Nazis served in Waffen SS units.

Anyways, the German conquests kept on coming. Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, etc etc. Now after Germany invaded the USSR in summer 1941, the enormous front and massive numbers of Soviet troops made Germany's lack of manpower felt. Remember, at this time, Nazism and Facism were legitimate, relevant political entities in Europe. So, using the propaganda angle in Western Europe that this was a crusade against Bolshevism to save Western Europe from Eastern barbarity, Hitler began allowing foreigners into the Waffen SS. From every conquered country, men came. By wars end, the Waffen SS was bigger than the Wehrmacht. The foreigners were even used as death squads. In the Balkans, Hitler capitalized on the racial hatred there and raised 2 divisions of Bosnian Muslims to keep the Serbs in check. Also, 35,000 Spaniards volunteered in the so called "Blue Division", which fought in Russia, and some 70,000+ Italian volunteers went to Germany to join the Waffen SS with the Pope's blessing. And thus the Waffen SS became the largest Foriegn Legion ever.


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Blood & Fire

I compared him to Hitler because of the beginning of the game reminded me of Nazi Germany. While he is not as smart when it comes to military as Hitler, he was still evil and persecuted everyone he conquored. And like Hitler, he was never satisfied with what he had and wanted more land, power, etc. Hitler had some great generals and field marshalls also as Geshtal was surronded by Celes, Leo, and Kefka. Finally, Hitler performed many human experiments on people as did the Empire (i.e. Celes and Kefka).

This post has been edited by BGrugby on 7th April 2004 21:02

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War is for the participants a test of character; it makes bad men worse and good men better. - Joshua Chamberlain

U sir R a n00b >:-( - Cactuar

The one most like Hitler, Stalin, and Mussonlini in the game is Kefka. Of course, MogMaster means Julius Caesar by "Caesar" and the betrayal thing show a similarity their, but I don't remember Gestahl being a war hero wh earned his way to the top.

I'd say Gestahl is kind of like Sadam Husseins brother, because ol' Saddy ended up sneaking the power away from his brother and then becoming a murder-crazed iron fist ruler.

I don't think Gestahl is all too evil. Honestly, I saw him as kind of an underestimating dope.

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Get me off this Disciplinary Committee so I can play any FF except for FF8!!!

Ejoty brings up a good point: it's arguable whether Gestahl is evil or merely ambitious to the Nth degree. The line between the two is blurred most of the time. Being ambitious in and of itself isn't evil, but if one commands military force and a willingness to use it, then it starts to cross the line.

Based purely on events that happen in the game, the closest comparison I'd be willing to draw is between Gestahl and Julius Caesar. Gestahl is apparently a gifted speaker who may or may not have the support of the empire's citizens at large, but certainly has the support of its military (which is why honorable men like Leo follow him). He sought to conquer the world as he knew it, and the brutalities against the Espers were merely a means to an end (rather than a pointed ethnic extermination as carried out by AH). He made it a lucrative and promising proposition to be one of his followers, and in the end was undone by the ambition this encouraged in one of his followers (although where Brutus may have been acting out of ambition, Kefka acted more from lunacy).

PB78