Gilgamesh (character)



Gilgamesh (ギルガメッシュ, Girugamesshu) is a recurring character in the Final Fantasy series. Initially introduced as a minor villain, he has made a number of appearances in remakes and later titles. To date, Gilgamesh appears in more games than any other character, and may be the only character to appear in more than one game in the main series (see below).

Gilgamesh's role has varied greatly, from ally, to enemy, to summon, but for most of his appearances he is a traveling sword collector that battles with a variety of rare and powerful weapons. In most, if not all, of his appearances, Gilgamesh is searching for the legendary sword, Excalibur. Another of Gilgamesh's trademarks is Genji Equipment, which can be stolen from or dropped by him.

Profile
Gilgamesh's appearance has varied subtly in each game, but in all his appearances he has a gray complexion, red/orange armor, and as many as eight arms, in which he holds an arsenal of different weapons. Gilgamesh's trademark weapon is a type of polearm known as a naginata, but he also uses rare and powerful swords collected from around the world. He considers himself a master swordsman, but usually ends up running away after the party defeats him. He is by no means weak however; most of his fights outside Final Fantasy V are quite difficult, and his Dissidia profile describes him as having "strength that once decimated an entire army". Usually, Gilgamesh appears with only two of his arms visible; it is only after he "morphs" that he reveals his true form, in which he has six or eight arms. He is often seen traveling with his partner Enkidu, whose appearance has also varied.

Gilgamesh is a sword collector, and in most games is shown to have a wide variety of weapons. His primary target for collection is the holy sword Excalibur. However, most of the time Gilgamesh finds what he believes to be Excalibur but is actually the knock-off Excalipoor. In Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI, Gilgamesh appears to attack the party due to their possession of Excalipoor, and in Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy VI possesses the genuine sword when called as a summon. As shown in Final Fantasy XII, though Gilgamesh has many other famous swords besides Excalibur, most, if not all of them, are also knock-offs. In battle, Gilgamesh has retained a few key characteristics across the series. When weak, he will often feign defeat, then cast Protect, Shell and Haste on himself, and renew his attack. In games where Blue Magic is featured, he tends to use many Blue Magic spells. He also uses his collection of rare weapons. Though he frequently appears to challenge the party and was first known as a villain, Gilgamesh is not truly evil. In Final Fantasy V he seems saddened when he learns of Galuf's death, and when he is banished to the Void he almost offers to join the party, and sacrifices himself so that the party can defeat Necrophobe. In Final Fantasy VIII he becomes the party's ally, and again is not hostile in Final Fantasy IX (though he attempts to steal gil from the party several times). He attacks the party in Final Fantasy XII, but later appears to give them a useful item, and in Final Fantasy VI and Revenant Wings, is available as a summon after being bested in battle.

Gilgamesh has, after Final Fantasy V, appeared in many games, especially remakes. In each installment, he has the same appearance and personality. Gilgamesh's entry in the Final Fantasy XII bestiary mentions Gilgamesh is a traveler of dimensions. This seems to support the idea that the Gilgameshes seen in each game are actually all the same character, traveling between worlds via the Void after he was banished there in Final Fantasy V. This is supported by Dissidia, where the Final Fantasy worlds are said to exist in the same multiverse and are connected by the Void. Gilgamesh also began a tradition of an incompetent, comical, yet persistent recurring boss for the party to face, a tradition continued in later games by Ultros, the Turks, Biggs and Wedge, and Logos and Ormi.

Final Fantasy
Gilgamesh doesn't make an appearance in the original Final Fantasy, but does appear 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 Excalipoor (the Excalibur can be found later in another dungeon). Upon inspecting the sword, Gilgamesh, who is described as a rude man wielding a halberd, attacks the party. If the player chooses not to speak to the mermaids, they can face him in the exit room near the teleport out. He will speak a different set of words.

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 Gloves upon his defeat. In Dawn of Souls, he is somewhat easy to beat should the player's party be at a high level.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Gilgamesh is summoned as a boss by the Creator in the final dungeon. In keeping with a slight tradition from Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI, during the battle he will feign defeat and cast Haste, Protect and Shell on himself before continuing the battle. When defeated, he mutters "...Bartz...?" before vanishing. The party wonders what "Bartz" means, and thinks that in spite of his appearance, Gilgamesh did not seem evil. He drops the "Excalipur" upon his defeat.

Final Fantasy V
Gilgamesh is a major 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.

In an interview, Hironobu Sakaguchi alludes to Gilgamesh's early life. Gilgamesh grew up in a village where all men were warriors. Genji Equipments were ancient and precious sets of equipment from that village, and were usually passed on to its best warriors when they proved their worth in battle. It is said that the centuries of "blood, sweat and dust" accumulated on the Genji Equipments have made them extremely resistant.

Gilgamesh makes his first appearance in Castle Exdeath, where he is holding Bartz, Lenna, and Faris prisoner. Galuf is forced to save them. He easily defeats Gilgamesh, but Gilgamesh runs off and next appears on the Big Bridge, which the party crosses after escaping Castle Exdeath. 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 Castle Exdeath. Gilgamesh attacks the ship 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 survives, however, and is later seen once again in Castle Exdeath 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 wishes to serve Exdeath. He simply wants to leave the Void, and 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. If the player manages to defeat Necrophobe before Gilgamesh sacrifices himself, he can be considered alive, although will not appear for the rest of the game. Despite his sacrifice, Gilgamesh went on to appear in many games to follow.

Final Fantasy VI
Gilgamesh appears as an Esper in the Game Boy Advance version. If the player bets the rare sword Excalipoor that can be bought in the Jidoor Auction House in the Dragon's Neck Colosseum, they are put in a battle against an Onion Dasher. Win or lose the battle, Gilgamesh challenges the party to a battle for the Excalipoor. His sprite is a modified version of his Final Fantasy V sprite, and his AI script is similar to the second battle with him in the same game, involving him casting buffs on himself and using Jump when his HP drops low. Continuing the tradition, the party can steal Genji equipment from him in the battle. If he is defeated, he acknowledges the party's strength and gives himself up as Magicite.

Final Fantasy VIII

 * See the Summon sequence here

Gilgamesh appears as a pseudo-Guardian Force only obtainable if the party acquired Odin before entering the Lunatic Pandora and fighting Seifer at the end of disc 3 (if Odin is obtained after the fight, acquiring Gilgamesh will not be possible). Odin will attack at the beginning of the battle, but Seifer will slice him in half. Odin's Zantetsuken creates a rift in space/time, from which Gilgamesh appears and picks it up. Later in the fight, if it has lasted for more than 12 rounds, Gilgamesh will appear and defeat Seifer. Afterwards, he will appear at random during battles just like Odin to attack enemies with one of four random swords, but unlike Odin, Gilgamesh can appear even during boss battles and any time during battle, not necessarily at the battle's start. Humorously, the decorations on the right side of Gilgamesh's body appear to be wood or cardboard cutouts with arms drawn on them.


 * Zantetsuken deals instant death. Misses on bosses.
 * Excalibur deals non-elemental damage to one target
 * Masamune deals non-elemental damage to all targets
 * Excalipoor deals 1 HP damage to an opponent

The dialogue he exchanges with Seifer hints that he is indeed the same Gilgamesh as the one from Final Fantasy V:


 * Gilgamesh
 * "You gave me the 4th one..."
 * "Huh? Was it you...?"
 * "Then dodge my sword!"
 * "Eat this!!!"


 * Seifer
 * "Ergwahhhh!!!"


 * Gilgamesh
 * Where is the dimensional interval...?

In the Japanese version, Gilgamesh's line "Huh? Was it you...?" was "「ん？　オマエなのか・・・・？　バ・・・・？」" ("Huh? Was it you...? Ba...?"). The "Ba...?" in the end could mean he was talking about Bartz (バッツ Batsu). Also, the "dimensional interval" may be the Interdimensional Rift.

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 bears little resemblance to the Gilgamesh that appears in the majority of games and is known by different names in different towns, including "Alleyway Jack" and "The Four-Armed Man," however, he does not reveal his true name until Zidane becomes a Rank S Treasure Hunter. Gilgamesh first appears in Alexandria where he teaches Vivi how to play Tetra Master. Afterwards he can be seen in Treno during Active Time Events. The first time the party visits Treno he steals money from Princess Garnet and buys a Power Belt with the earnings, which he drops after being scared off by Steiner. The second time the party visits Treno Gilgamesh can be seen plotting to abduct Eiko in order to blackmail some money off Amarant, but his plan fails and he manages to drop another piece of his equipment, the Chimera Armlet.

Gilgamesh can be met in Daguerreo, where, when challenged to a card game, he will play with the rare airship cards. After Zidane gains the highest possible Treasure Hunter Rank, Gilgamesh reveals his true identity, as well as admits that he is not a great treasure hunter. He then disappears to places unknown.

If the player makes it to Memoria before 12 hours of play time has passed, they can obtain the Excalibur II, the game's strongest sword. Nearby is found a note, addressed to Gilgamesh from his brother 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 Rise of the Zilart expansion, and is also involved in the Samurai job class story. Like the Final Fantasy IX incarnation, this Gilgamesh looks entirely different from his other appearances, though as mentioned Gilgamesh has the ability to morph his form.

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

Final Fantasy XII
Gilgamesh is an Elite Mark in Final Fantasy XII. He is petitioned by Montblanc at the behest of an unidentified warrior who lost to Gilgamesh and was forced to forfeit his sword to him. Gilgamesh is found in the Lhusu Mines and must be fought twice. The player can steal a different Genji item from him each battle. He uses a variety of swords from previous games (all of them counterfeit), including the Buster Sword, the Revolver, the Orichalcum, and the Brotherhood, as a homage to past installments in the series, as well as Zantetsuken, the Tournesol, and the Wyrmhero Blade. He is still accompanied by Enkidu.

After the battle, Gilgamesh appears to the party in the Barheim Passage. He refers to them as "friends" and gives them the Matamune fishing rod before departing.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
For the enemy page, see Gilgamesh (Revenant Wings).

Gilgamesh returns for Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, as a boss and a summon, wandering around with Enkidu at the Gates of Shattered Time. When he spots the party, he recognizes them as the people who had previously battled him. Taking no chances, he takes out his swords and attacks Vaan and two other party members. Gilgamesh is defeated yet again, and just like always, flees for his life, but not before alluding to his position as a summon upon being defeated. Afterward, the party unlocks his sphere on the Ring of Pacts. He is a Rank III Non-elemental Melee Yahri.

Final Fantasy XIII
While Gilgamesh himself makes no formal appearance, his name is used for one of the retail networks the player can obtain, named "Gilgamesh, Inc.", received after clearing mission 46. Keeping with his dimension-hopping hobby, the company sells weapons that offer the highest strength and magic boosts for the characters and belonging to powerful and rare synthesist groups, but these are offset with disadvantageous special properties such as Stagger Lock, which prevents the character from staggering enemies, and Paper Tiger, which greatly reduces the character's maximum HP.

The game's Ultimania Omega further reveals that Gilgamesh was at some point during development planned as a fal'Cie who would have wielded swords in various sizes, some even so large to dwarf large buildings.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Gilgamesh appears as a summon, and as a ghost for the player to fight in the Offline Lobby. The Gilgamesh ghost is a Level 100 Bartz, wearing a full set of Genji equipment and bearing the Dragon Seal item, a reference to Shinryu who was introduced in Final Fantasy V like Gilgamesh. The message on the card reads "I wanted to fight you one more time... mano-a-mano", which is Gilgamesh's farewell to Bartz when the party finds him in the Rift. Bartz also quotes Gilgamesh in some of his battle quotes, saying "Let's finish this, one-on-one!" when battling Chaos, and "Let's fight like men!" when battling Jecht.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Gilgamesh is set to appear as a playable character in Dissidia 012, marking his first fully playable appearance. In the trailer shown at the 1st Production Department Premiere, Bartz is seen wandering through the Interdimensional Rift when a dark portal opens in the air behind him. A voice calls out to him, saying "Well, well, Bartz. We meet again." The trailer ends just as Bartz turns to see who it is, before the figure speaking is shown. The artwork on the right has been found within the data of the Prologus demo, confirming Gilgamesh's inclusion. He is described as a Scramble Fighter, where he picks a weapon of unpredictable power while using Blue Magic abilities. His EX Mode, based on his multi-armed form, accesses all of his weapons and allows him to execute his EX Burst, The Strongest Blade. Some of Gilgamesh's moves will include Electric Shock, Death Claw, Jump, Hurricane, and Rocket Punch.

Itadaki Street Special
Gilgamesh appears in Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special. He appears as he did in Final Fantasy VIII.

Chocobo to Mahō no Ehon - Majō to Shōjo to Gonin no Yūsha
Gilgamesh appeared in the sequel game to Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales. He is the main villain in the first book, who also tries to marry the princess Irma. He also appears as a summon card.

Blood of Bahamut
Gilgamesh is one of the giants that cities have been constructed on.

Final Fantasy III
In Final Fantasy III, there is a character called Gigameth. A common misconception, he is not the same character as Gilgamesh, and his katakana is "Gigamesu", while Gilgamesh's is "Girugamesshu".

Final Fantasy IV
In Final Fantasy IV Advance, a monster by the name of Gilgamesh appears. It has no resemblance 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.

Development
According to the fifth "Chocobo's FF Laboratory" feature published in the November 1993 edition of V-Jump, the initial design for Gilgamesh was created by Tetsuya Nomura, although Yoshitaka Amano was the one who drew the character's final artwork. The magazine states that Nomura's initial design looked like a cross between Gilgamesh's first and second in-game forms.

Music
Gilgamesh's theme is called "Clash on the Big Bridge" (named after the area where he is encountered a second time in Final Fantasy V), and often plays during battles against him. Since its original appearance, it has been a fan favorite and remade into different versions. "Clash on the Big Bridge" is the most recorded of all the tracks in the Final Fantasy series, having eight official arrangements in total.

Merchandise
Master Creatures produced a six and a half inch tall figure of Gilgamesh in their third series of Final Fantasy characters. The figure's information describes it as wearing the Genji armor and wielding the Excalipoor, among other weapons. Other released figures include two based on Gilgamesh's appearance in Final Fantasy VIII, one with him standing and the other kneeling, and both with the four swords he uses in the game.

Etymology
Gilgamesh was an actual king of an ancient Sumerian region called Uruk, reigning around 2650 BC. 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 BC, though earlier editions date back to about 2000 BC. The Epic of Gilgamesh centers around the 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. Eventually Enkidu is killed by a fatal disease sent by the gods they worshiped, and after watching Enkidu suffer for twelve days before dying, Gilgamesh is afraid of death and wants to become immortal. After a long quest, and several times coming close to dying, he reaches his ancestor who shows him where to find a plant that will have the same effect as the elixir of life, granting him eternal life as long as he continues to use the plant. After obtaining the plant and leaving for home, Gilgamesh put the plant down to bathe, when a snake eats it. After that, Gilgamesh has to return home depressed that he lost the immortality when he had taken such a long quest to get it. However, he learns a valuable lesson, that true immortality can be gained by leaving a legacy for others to learn from and aspire to.

Although visibly inspired by his namesake, Gilgamesh seems to take a large amount of inspiration from Musashibō Benkei, a famous Japanese warrior monk. Benkei is said to have posted himself at Gōjō Bridge in Kyoto, where he disarmed every passing swordsman, eventually collecting 999 swords. On his 1000th duel, however, Benkei was defeated by Minamoto no Yoshitsune. This story parallels Gilgamesh's penchant for fighting atop bridges and collecting the swords of his fallen opponents. As a monk Benkei was trained in the use of a naginata, which is Gilgamesh's signature weapon. After his defeat, Benkei became a retainer of Yoshitsune and fought alongside him. Yoshitsune is credited with most of the Minamoto clan's successes in the war against the Taira clan. The Minamoto clan, which Benkei served, was also called the Genji clan, using the alternate pronunciation for the Chinese characters for mina and moto, gen and uji, respectively. This is likely the namesake of Gilgamesh's recurring Genji equipment set. In the end, Yoshitsune and Benkei were encircled in the castle of Koromogawa no tate. As Yoshitsune retired to the inner keep of the castle to commit ritual suicide on his own, Benkei continued to fight at the bridge in front of the main gate to protect Yoshitsune. The soldiers were afraid to traverse the bridge to confront him, and all that did were killed by Benkai. Eventually the soldiers noticed Benkei's wounded, arrow-riddled body was still, and when they finally dared to investigate closer Benkei fell to the ground, having died standing up.

Trivia

 * Gilgamesh is referenced by Natsuki Takaya in one of her side columns in Fruits Basket, stating her love of the Final Fantasy series.
 * Gilgamesh, to date, has had more appearances in any Final Fantasy media than any other character.
 * In Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, the Dark King grows six arms holding six weapons in his second form, and bears a slight similarity to Gilgamesh.
 * Gilgamesh's transformation quote in Final Fantasy V is a reference to the popular series Power Rangers.
 * Gilgamesh's Tavern is a location in Wizardry, one of the first computer RPGs ever developed. Since Hironobu Sakaguchi is reportedly a fan of Wizardry, which was one of his inspirations (along with Ultima and Dragon Quest) for creating the Final Fantasy series, it is possible that Gilgamesh from Final Fantasy V was named after this location.
 * Despite being famous for being a swordsman, Gilgamesh's trademark weapon, seen in his sprite-based appearances, is actually a naginata.