*** major spoilers ahead ***
Kefka is more of a character than a generic madman. Here is a summary of his character taken from wikipedia.
"Kefka Palazzo (ケフカ・パラッツォ Kefuka Parattso?, Cefca Palazzo in Japanese materials).[39] is a misanthropic madman and the game's central antagonist, dressed as a flamboyantly colorful Pedrolino and with a personality resembles that of a mad clown who enjoys destruction. Kefka serves as Emperor Gestahl's Court Mage and was the first volunteer for an experimental Magitek infusion, under the supervision of Cid. The process was still flawed, and although Kefka gained the ability to wield magic, it warped his mind and made him into the nihilistic psychopath he is during the course of the game.[40] He is also a rank coward, running from almost all in-game fights involving him, or employing Imperial Soldiers or illusions to fight for him."
Misanthropy is a general dislike, distrust, or hatred of the human species or a disposition to dislike and/or distrust other people's silent consensus about reality.
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Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is the philosophical position that values do not exist. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life[1] is without meaning, purpose or intrinsic value.
So it seems that Kefka wanted to destroy the world because life is without meaning anyway.
I didn't get a good summary like that with Septhiroth. However, from what I gathered, Sephiroth is convinced that he is a descendant from the Ancients and believes humans as traitors who abandoned the Cetra to a terrible disaster. The Cetra (aka: Ancients) were betrayed by Jenova, but Septhiroth does not believe that. Sephiroth then starts referring to Jenova as "Mother". A sort while later he is immersed in the lifestream where he ends up a the Great North Cave where he is located throughout the game (the other Sephiroth's were clones). He devises a plan that if he were to impact the planet with a large meteor, the resulting gathering of the lifestream to heal the planet could be used to turn himself into a god. I believe this is probably so he can exact his revenge on the human race.
It seems like to me that Kefka is the more interesting of the two. But that is just me. As to who the biggest badass is, Kefka is a coward, but Sephiroth just sits at the Great North Cave the entire game trying to control his clones and projecting images of himself. My choice of badass goes to Chuck Norris.