Gilgamesh (Dissidia)

Unreleased

Gilgamesh is a playable character in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, representing Final Fantasy V. He is Exdeath's most prominent general, but was ultimately banished to the Interdimensional Rift after failing his assignments repeatedly. Since then, he began traveling between worlds, sometimes appearing to the player party to battle them, making him unique as a recurring comic relief. Prior to his official announcement, hackers found a cropped version of the artwork on the right embedded within the Prologus demo. He was officially confirmed in an advertising billboard seen in Japanese gaming stores, featuring a screen-shot of him performing his EX Burst.

Appearance
Gilgamesh's appearance in Dissidia 012 is directly based on his original artwork by Yoshitaka Amano for Final Fantasy V based on a design by Tetsuya Nomura. He wears primarily red and gray armor with yellow details, gray shorts with red polka-dots, and a horned hood. Gilgamesh's main weapon is a.

His first alternate outfit is based on his Final Fantasy VIII appearance, where he wears a red cloak that covers his head and face with lighter armor. However, his extra arms and the fake arms on his right side are absent.

His second alternate outfit is based on his recurring sprite appearance. Gilgamesh wears heavier full-plate armor covering his torso and arms, no horns on his helmet, and a golden ring of armor partially covering his head.

Story
It's unknown what his role in the story is, but the end of the third trailer shows Bartz wandering through the Rift when a dark portal opens in the air behind him, and Gilgamesh's voice calls out to him "Well well, Bartz, we meet again!" The trailer ends before Gilgamesh is shown. In a new Famitsu scan, Gilgamesh is seen approaching Bartz, saying "I told you not to forget my name." At some point, he encounters Squall, Zidane, and Vaan in Pandaemonium.

Battle
Gilgamesh is described as a Scramble Fighter, where he picks a weapon at random when attacking. This makes the strength and effects of his attacks unpredictable.

Each weapon's special ability is listed below:
 * Excalibur - All damage dealt is multiplied by 2.
 * Excalipoor - All damage dealt is reduced to 1.
 * Naginata - A spear with incredible range.
 * Masamune - Generates a lot of EX Force.
 * Genji's Katana - Deplete the opponent's EX Gauge.
 * Zantetsuken - Uses a quick draw style of attack that can instantly cause Bravery Break.
 * Battle Axe - A weapon with a wide range of damage; if Gilgamesh is lucky, it can hit for massive damage.
 * Chicken Knife - The lower Gilgamesh's HP, the higher the damage he will deal.

EX Mode
The Greatest Blade l5r11b-eFtk Failed EX Burst: Excalipoor 5YABd827Q9M Gilgamesh's EX Mode is Gilgamesh Change, where he transforms into his true form as seen in Final Fantasy V, giving him six more arms, different armor with a red, yellow and blue color scheme, and a more monstrous face. While in EX Mode Gilgamesh recovers health due to Regen, and gains the bonus Eight Closed Sacred Sword Paths. This ability causes one of three things will happen: two each of Gilgamesh's arms wield a different weapon, four wield one weapon and the other four yield another, or all eight hold the same weapon. Whatever weapon(s) Gilgamesh is holding, their relevant attacking bonus is applied to all his attacks. However, the weapons used are chosen at random - all eight arms may hold the same weapon and thus only one bonus is applied, or Gilgamesh may hold two each of four weapons and thus get four bonuses. This makes the exact benefits of Gilgamesh's EX Mode impossible to predict.

His EX Burst is called The Greatest Blade, where eight Excalipoor and the Excalibur rotate around in a circle in front of Gilgamesh. The player must press a button to select the Excalibur as it rotates around. Gilgamesh then performs several attacks with the blade and finishes the combo with Ultimate Illusion, an attack used by him in Final Fantasy XII when he slams the 'ground' and strikes the opponent with a shockwave to deal HP damage. If the Excalipoor is chosen, Gilgamesh will deal only one damage per hit, then he will look at the blade, start crying and throw it away. The Excalipoor will fall on the enemy, dealing HP damage.

Allusions

 * Gilgamesh's HP attacks are based on those he used against the party in several battles during the events of Final Fantasy V.
 * The weapons Gilgamesh carries during his EX Mode are references to weapons he has been seen wielding repeatedly throughout the series:
 * Masamune and Excalibur are recurring abilities he may perform when summoned, Excalibur in particular being the legendary blade he is seen searching for in several games. Gilgamesh's trademark weapon is Excalipoor: a false Excalibur found during his search for the legendary weapon on Castle Exdeath. Both Excalibur and Excalipoor resemble the fake Tournesol that he wields in Final Fantasy XII.
 * The Genji's Katana alludes to the Genji equipment that he carries in his various appearances and that can be stolen and dropped from him. In Dissidia 012, the Genji's Katana takes its Final Fantasy X appearance.
 * Zantetsuken is Odin's weapon, which Gilgamesh takes from him and uses as one of his four random abilities as a Guardian Force in Final Fantasy VIII. He also possesses the blade in Final Fantasy XII, although it is designed differently, and the Dissidia 012 design is different from both of its appearances.
 * The Naginata and the Battle Axe are present on his various sprites, with the naginata usually appearing alongside Gilgamesh in his sprite-based appearances, and the Battle Axe appearing only while he is in his morphed form in Final Fantasy V.
 * The Chicken Knife is a weapon in Final Fantasy V that increases in power when the party escapes a battle, and is potentially the strongest weapon in the game. Although Gilgamesh has never wielded it, he has a penchant for running from battle when he loses. In addition, Bartz wields the Chicken Knife's counterpart, the Brave Blade, during his EX Burst.
 * The name of Gilgamesh's EX Mode is a reference to his transformation quotation prior to assuming his multi-armed boss form in Final Fantasy V. His perfect EX Burst, Ultimate Illusion, is one of the attacks he uses during the first battle with him in Final Fantasy XII, used after he draws all of the fake blades that he uses in that battle.
 * The fact Gilgamesh is seen with not only Bartz, but also Squall, Zidane, and Vaan is a reference to him being in the same game with all four of them in various forms.

Trivia

 * When Gilgamesh performs his EX Burst, Excalibur is red and Excalipoor is blue. This is contrary to the games where Gilgamesh has wielded the weapons as a summon, namely Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VIII and Dissidia. In all three instances, Excalipoor was the red sword and Excalibur was blue.
 * When Gilgamesh uses Ultimate Illusion in Final Fantasy XII, he shouts, "This sword I wield... is no counterfeit!" in reference to the fact that most of his blades are indeed knock-offs. Ironically, when using Ultimate Illusion during his EX Burst in Dissidia 012, he shouts the same because he has selected the single blade out of the ones presented to him that isn't a fake.
 * Kazuya Nakai took over the role of Gilgamesh's voice after Daisuke Gori, his Japanese voice actor from Final Fantasy XII, committed suicide in 2010. This makes Gilgamesh, along with Vaan, the only characters not to have their original Japanese voice actors reprise their roles.
 * Additionally, Kazuya Nakai provides the voice of Wakka. Gilgamesh's English voice actor in Final Fantasy XII, John DiMaggio, voices Wakka in his English speaking appearances. It is currently unknown if DiMaggio will reprise the voice of Gilgamesh for Dissidia 012.