Gilgamesh (character)

Gilgamesh (ギルガメッシュ, Girugamesshu) is a recurring character in the Final Fantasy series. He thinks of himself as a master swordsman and sword collector, and more often than not, he loses his battles, if he does not run away first. In his appearances, he's often linked to either the sword Excalipur or his partner Enkidu. Another trademark of Gilgamesh is Genji equipment, which can be stolen from or dropped by him. He is named after Gilgamesh, the Mesopotamian King. A man called Enkidu also appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh is easily recognized because of his garish clothing, all-talk attitude and grey complexion. He has many arms, in which he holds an arsenal of different weapons. For the early part of Final Fantasy V, and in most of his appearances in the remakes, Gilgamesh does not appear in this form; it is only after he morphs that his true appearance is revealed.

Gilgamesh is not truly evil though, as is evident in Final Fantasy V; he seems saddened when he asks about Galuf and learns of his death from Krile. Even later, he is banished to The Void, and sacrifices himself so that they can defeat a monster. In Final Fantasy VIII he becomes an ally of the party, and is not hostile in Final Fantasy IX.

Gilgamesh has, after Final Fantasy V, appeared in many games, especially remakes. His frequent appearances, in which he is very often the same character, may suggest he is travelling to the different worlds via dimensional portals in The Void, in which he wound up in Final Fantasy V.

Gilgamesh's Final Fantasy V appearance started a tradition that went on in many games; that of an incompetent, yet persistent recurring boss. Later recurring bosses include Ultros of Final Fantasy VI, Biggs and Wedge of Final Fantasy VIII and Logos and Ormi of Final Fantasy X-2.

Final Fantasy
Gilgamesh makes an appearance in the original Final Fantasy, but only in the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary remakes. He is in the Lifespring Grotto, a bonus dungeon, together with three other Final Fantasy V bosses. After the Warriors of Light talk to some mermaids, they find a mysterious sword. The sword is most likely the Excalibur or Excalipoor. Upon inspecting the sword, Gilgamesh, who is described as a rude man wielding a halberd, attacks the party. As is common for these optional new dungeons and the accompanying bosses, his strength far outweighs that of the Final Boss. Gilgamesh has 8,888 HP (like in the third fight with him in Final Fantasy V) and unleashes physical attacks that can easily KO even a high level character. In true Final Fantasy tradition, he drops Genji equipment upon his defeat.

Final Fantasy V
Gilgamesh is a minor villain in Final Fantasy V. He is Exdeath's right hand man. For the bigger part of the game, Gilgamesh has morphed his appearance, but he reveals his true appearance later. The party can steal Genji equipment from him.

Gilgamesh makes his first appearance in Exdeath's Castle, where he is holding Bartz, Lenna, and Faris prisoner. Galuf is forced to save them. He easily defeats Gilgamesh, but Gilgamesh runs off. Gilgamesh next appears on the Big Bridge, which the party crosses after escaping Exdeath's castle. They defeat him there as well, even though he casts Protect, Shell and Haste on himself, and he makes up an excuse and runs off again.

Gilgamesh's third appearance is during the battle to unlock the barrier surrounding Exdeath's Castle. Gilgamesh attacks the ship that the party and Xezat are on, and brings an ally with him this time: Enkidu. The party defeats him, and he is thrown into the ocean. He survived, however, and is later seen in Exdeath's Castle when the party attacks it. Halfway through the fight he transforms into his true form. However, he is unable to hurt the party in this form, as his sword, the Excalipur, is incredibly weak. Exdeath sees this, and as a result, banishes him to The Void.

Gilgamesh is lost in The Void, and does not make a re-appearance until the party attacks him there. However, Gilgamesh has changed, and he no longer likes Exdeath. He wants to leave The Void, and wants to go back to the real world. However, he realizes there is no way to do this. As a result, when the party attacks Necrophobe, Gilgamesh arrives to support the party. He sacrifices himself to save the party and defeat Necrophobe.

Final Fantasy VI
Gilgamesh appears as an Esper in the Game Boy Advance version of Final Fantasy VI. If the player bets the rare sword Excalipoor that can be bought in the Jidoor Auction House, in the Dragon's Neck Colloseum, they are put in a battle against an Onion Dasher. Win or lose the battle, Gilgamesh challenges the party for a battle for the Excalipoor. If he is defeated, he acknowledges the party's strength gives himself up as Magicite. His sprite is a modified version of his Final Fantasy V one. Continuing the tradition, the party can steal Genji equipment from him in the battle.

Gilgamesh has four attacks that are chosen at random. He costs 99 MP to summon.
 * Excalipoor - Deals 1 damage to all enemies
 * Excalibur - Deals damage to all enemies
 * Masamune - Deals damage to all enemies
 * Enkidu - Gilgamesh's dragon-like companion deals damage to all enemies

Gilgamesh teaches:
 * Quick x1
 * Valor x5

Gilgamesh's Magicite grants +2 Strength at level up.

Final Fantasy VIII
Gilgamesh appears as a pseudo-Guardian Force in Final Fantasy VIII. He is only obtainable if the party obtained Odin before entering the Lunatic Pandora and fighting Seifer. If the party did so, Odin will attack at the beginning of the battle, but Seifer will slice him in half with his Gunblade. Odin's Zantetsuken creates a rift in space/time, from which an unknown hand picks it up. Later in the fight, if it has lasted for more than 12 rounds, Gilgamesh will appear and defeat Seifer. Gilgamesh will then be summoned in Odin's place at random during battles (including boss battles, unlike Odin), and will select one of four swords to attack with: Zantetsuken instantly defeats all opponents, Masamune and Excalibur both deal heavy damage to all opponents, and Excalipoor deals just one point of damage to all opponents. The dialogue he exchanges with Seifer hints that he is indeed the same Gilgamesh as the one from Final Fantasy V.

Final Fantasy IX
Gilgamesh is a non-player character in Final Fantasy IX. He is a treasure hunter who travels around Gaia looking for new treasure. He has most likely morphed his appearance, as he bears little resemblance to the Gilgamesh that appears in the majority of games. He is known by different names in different towns, including "Alleyway Jack" and "The Four-Armed Man," however, he does not reveal his true name (Gilgamesh) unless Zidane becomes a Rank S Treasure Hunter. He first appears in Alexandria where he teaches Vivi how to play Tetra Master. His second appearance is in Treno where he steals 1000 Gil from Princess Garnet and buys a Power Belt with the money, which he gives to Steiner. After Zidane steals enough in battle, he reveals his true identity, as well as admitting that he is not a great treasure hunter, in Daguerreo, just before he disappears to places unknown.

If the player makes it to Memoria before 12 hours of play time has passed, the Excalibur II sword can be obtained. Nearby is found a note, adressed to Gilgamesh from his brother about the Excalibur II and the Excalipur that says;

Final Fantasy XI
Gilgamesh is a non-player character in Final Fantasy XI. He is a major figure in Norg, which is the pirate city located on the Elshimo Island. He is involved in a few of the quests related to the Zilart Rising expansion.

Gilgamesh is also the name of one of the world servers used by the game.

Final Fantasy XII
Gilgamesh appears as an Elite Mark in Final Fantasy XII, and is petitioned by Montblanc. He is located in the Lhusu Mines and must be fought twice. You can steal a different Genji item from him in each battle. He uses a variety of swords from previous games and Final Fantasy XII as a homage to the previous games. He is still accompanied by Enkidu.

Revenant Wings
Gilgamesh will return for Revenant Wings, as a summoned character. There is a cutscene where the party is engaged with Gilgamesh, though no details are known as of yet.

Itadaki Street Special
Gilgamesh appears in Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special.

Final Fantasy III
In Final Fantasy III, there is a character called Gilgamesh, sometimes spelled Gigames or Gigameth. A common misconception, he is not the same character as Gilgamesh, and his katakana is Gigamesshu, while Gilgamesh's is Girugamesshu. Gilgamesh plays chancellor to Saronia's King Gorn. While controlling the king's mind, he forces Gorn to stab his own son Alus. Realizing what he's done, the king regains control. This angers Gilgamesh, and he fights as Garuda, who is defeated.

Final Fantasy IV
In Final Fantasy IV Advance, a monster by the name of Gilgamesh appears. It has no resemblence whatsoever to the recurring character, and its name is most likely a "swing-and-miss" from the translator's side, due to monster's name being Gilgame (Gil Turtle). In the European version, the translation was corrected, and it was called Gil Turtle.

Etymology
Gilgamesh was an actual king of an ancient Sumerian region called Uruk, reigning around 2650 BCE. He is also the main character of the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is among one of the earliest known literary works, the most complete edition dating back to the 7th century BCE, though earlier editions date back to about 2000 BCE.

The Epic of Gilgamesh centers around the epic king and demi-god Gilgamesh and the wild man Enkidu, who was sent to kill him. After a fight between the two in which Gilgamesh defeats Enkidu, they become loyal friends and embark on several epic adventures.

Their first quest entails traveling to the great Cedar Forest to chop down the mightiest tree and bring it back to Uruk with them. First, however, they must kill the guardian of the forest, the mighty Humbaba. After fighting and defeating Humbaba, he begs Gilgamesh and Enkidu to be merciful and spare his life. Gilgamesh wants to let Humbaba go, but Enkidu convinces Gilgamesh to kill Humbaba. Gilgamesh and Enkidu cut down the largest tree in the Cedar Forest and return to Uruk.