Toriyama likes 3 toed final boss designs that get smaller as they power up. Lavos is basically Frieza in a bigger spacesuit.
I think it's goofy but it fits the artist's preferences and it's an interesting way to progress from a faceless, motionless demigod of a boss (Lavos Shell) to an intimidating giant machine (Lavos Armor) to something that looks...mortal (Lavos Core). Lavos becomes more beatable the longer you fight him. It's a nice idea.
FFVI diehards, I'd love it if a couple of you would sell me on what makes it one of the best games ever for you. As I said upthread, I still like the game, but for one reason or another I just haven't felt much attachment to it since I first played it (on Anthology for PSX, even).
I know this is off-topic, but hey, we're all basically talking about CT and VI at this point, anyway.
On my first playthrough, I was moved by the tragic loss of my friends that I couldn't prevent in the world of ruin.
On my second playthrough, I realized that I could save some of those lives if I did things differently.
And then someone told me I could save Shadow and it blew my goddamn mind.
It was that exact design decision that cements VI at the top of the 16-bit heap, and why people kept looking for ways to save Aeris' life in VII. Death wasn't cheap in that game the way it was in IV, and that was a huge leap in storytelling at the time.
I don't know that if I had grown up in the age of faqs and looking up answers to puzzles for everything that VI would have had the same impact on me as it did when I was much younger, but I think this adequately explains my connection to that one title.