Gil

Gil (ギル), also translated as GP, Gold, and G, is the currency in all of the Final Fantasy games. According to Final Fantasy IV, the gil is named after the Gilbart family of Damcyan.

Appearance
Gil is almost never seen in-game. Usually, the only time gil is seen is when using the Gil Toss command. The currency is predominantly circulated in coins of varying value. The only mention of paper gil in the series is in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, where Luso delivers a letter containing several gil notes.

In Final Fantasy X, gil coins come in several colors (and presumably metals), and each bears an image on one side and the value of the coin on the other. In Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy VII, gil appears as silver coins with a hole through them, while in Final Fantasy V gil coins are gold with a hole.

This suggests that gil is loosely based on the (円) or ancient Chinese coins, with Final Fantasy X's gil coins appearing very similar to yen coins. The yen, along with other Japanese currencies such as the mon, have holes in some of their coins, a trade dating back to feudal times when coins were carried on string.

Usage
Gil is a metric currency, measured in base ten. Beyond this, the exact value of gil varies from game to game. For example, in Final Fantasy IV Potion costs 30 gil, while they cost 250 gil in Final Fantasy VI and 100 gil in Final Fantasy VII. Some items, such as Elixirs, have very low sale prices, usually only 1 gil, meant to discourage the player from selling such rare items. The value of items between individual shops and towns is universal for most games, and items do not change in pricing depending on where the player shops. There are a handful of exceptions to this, allowing the player to earn discounts at some stores, but this happens very rarely.

Gil also has many other uses. The most common of these is the Gil Toss ability, which allows the player to damage enemies by throwing money at them. Gil Toss often does great damage, but at the obvious drawback of costing a great deal of gil. In Final Fantasy X, gil can be used to bribe monsters to leave the battle as well as entice Yojimbo into attacking enemies. In Final Fantasy XII, the Turtleshell Choker accessory allows the equipped party member to cast spells using gil instead of MP.

In Final Fantasy VII, gil and GP are treated as separate currencies. At the Gold Saucer amusement park, GP is used to pay for many attractions, while others charge gil. GP is also used to buy items from the park. GP cannot be bought, but a man randomly appears outside the park who sells the player GP for 100 gil apiece. Otherwise, GP can only be acquired by winning the Saucer's minigames.

Acquiring
Gil can universally be found in treasure chests and often as awards for subquests. Most Final Fantasy games allow gil to be won from enemies, but there are exceptions. In Final Fantasy VIII, the player earns a regular salary based on their SeeD ranking. In Final Fantasy XII, monsters do not drop gil but instead drop loot, which can then be sold for both gil and access to exclusive Bazaar items. In Final Fantasy XIII players must find Item Spheres containing gil.

In some games, gil can also be stolen from monsters. Some games offer the player the chance to win more gil from battles by using certain accessories or abilities, and some penalize the player an amount of gil for fleeing from battle. In all of the above instances, items can be sold for gil as well.

Naturally, in games where monsters leave gil, stronger monsters usually leave more. The reverse applies for games that penalize the player for fleeing - the stronger the monsters they are fleeing from, the more gil they will lose.

Final Fantasy
Late game dungeons, such as the Chaos Shrine and Flying Fortress, contain monsters giving large amounts of gil, such as Black Knights, which give 1,800 gil a piece and attack in groups. Gil is also found in many treasure chests throughout these dungeons, and if a player is wishing to conserve gil, they should not buy magic until they can afford it.

The maximum amount that the player can amass is limited to 999,999 gil.

Final Fantasy II
Similar to the original Final Fantasy, in this game gil is obtained by defeating enemies, opening treasure chests and selling items.

Final Fantasy III
In Final Fantasy III, gil is earned similarly to previous installments, by selling items, defeating enemies and selling items and equipment. In the Ancient's Maze, Unei's Clone gives out 8,500 gil and the King Behemoth, 10,800 gil, even more than the enemies of Eureka and the base floors of Crystal Tower, making this dungeon preferable to those who do not want to get to the higher levels of the Crystal Tower just to obtain a slightly higher amount of gil per battle.

It is recommended to hoard a high amount of gil before going to the shops in Forbidden Land Eureka as their valuable items, magics and summons are the most expensive in the entire game, and if the player buys all they need at once they do not have to come back and go through the entire dungeon again. Each level 8 magic spell costs 60,000 gil, each Crystal equipment 50,000 gil and shurikens can be bought for 65,500 gil each.

Final Fantasy IV
In the Lunar Subterrane, Behemoths and Ahrimans can be fought for 65,000 gil apiece. The same also applies to Red Dragons (only in GBA version). Also, this is the first entry to penalize players that run from a battle by deducting gil.

Final Fantasy V
In the first world, an easy source of moderate amounts of gil is the forest by Karnak, where a set of five Wild Nakks is the only enemy group. These are easily dispatched with a group Fire spell to get 625 gil per battle in one turn.

The second world has more useful gil sources. Firstly, the optional Gil Cave yields plenty of gil, but is guarded by the dangerous Gil Turtle. The cave can be completed multiple times. Secondly, Drakenvale is home to Zombie Dragons; these enemies drop Dragon Fangs, which sell for a reasonably large amount of gil.

In the Castle of Bal's basement in both the second world and Merged World, the Objet d'Art enemy drops 507 gil a piece and attacks in groups of two or five. It should be noted that the basement is only accessible via Jachol Cave in the merged world. Objet d'Art can be easily defeated with Gold Needles, the Level 5 Death spell, or by throwing Lightning Scrolls. They are, incidentally, also an excellent ABP source, giving 4 ABP for two or 8 ABP for five.

Final Fantasy VI
The best way to earn money is to wait until the World of Ruin and fight Cactuars in the Maranda Desert. They can easily be defeated with Blitz, Tools, or Bushido techniques, as they give 10,000 gil. Equipping Relm's Cat-Ear Hood doubles the gil earned for 20,000 gil each battle.

If the player needs gil in the World of Balance they should go to the southern continent and defeat Fossil Dragons with Sabin's Aura Cannon, as they give 1,870 gil apiece.

Final Fantasy VII
Gil is obtained in the standard methods: from enemies after battle, from chests and by selling items. Trickplay's ability, Gold Mountain, increases the amount of gil received after battle by 800 gil every time it is used.

The sell price for items and Materia is half the buy price.

An easy way to make plenty of gil is to sell a mastered All Materia to earn 1,400,000 gil. One can also exploit the W-Item Duplication Bug to duplicate expensive items and then selling them for money, such as Sylkis Greens.

Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII is the first game in the main series where the player doesn't earn money from battles. Instead, they are paid a regular salary once they become a SeeD. The amount of money paid depends on their SeeD rank.

The salary is paid at regular intervals dependent on the amount of steps the player has taken. Since the player earns no steps during Laguna flashbacks, they can't get paid during those scenarios. Due to the fact that most steps are accumulated by driving a car or riding a chocobo, the player can make quick money by riding either one in circles on the world map. However, if the player doesn't fight battles in between payments, their SeeD rank will tend to decrease.

The player can easily make plenty of gil with Carbuncle's Recov Med-RF ability. The player can fight Mesmerizes on the Esthar continent prior to the Lunar Cry, or Trabia anytime thereafter, although they are far more common in Esthar. This will yield the player plenty of Mesmerize Blades which can be refined into Mega-Potions (1 Blade refines into 2 Mega-Potions). 100 Mega Potions sell for 500,000 gil, and are quite quick to acquire. The trick works better with the Mug ability.

It is also possible to rapidly generate gil without having to fight any battles. The player can purchase 100 Tents and refine them into 25 Mega-Potions (again with Recov Med-RF), which will then sell for more than the Tents cost, giving a net profit of 125,000 gil per iteration. This method becomes considerably more effective once the player has Tonberry's Haggle and Sell-High, increasing the profit to 180,000 gil per iteration. Furthermore, doing this with Cottages (purchased from Johnny's Shop in Esthar) can yield an even greater total of 240,000 gil.

Final Fantasy IX
Gil can easily be harvested by synthesizing the Cotton Robe and then selling it. Each time one synthesizes 99 Cotton Robes, they make 60,000 Gil. As money is most useful early in the game, prior to getting the Blue Narciss, it can be done easily three times, once per disc:

On the first disc the player can buy Wrists in Dali, Steepled Hats in Lindblum and synth them in Lindblum. On the second disc the player can buy Steepled Hats in Cleyra (at the end of Disc 1), buy Wrists in Dali on the way to Treno and synth them in Treno. On the third disc the player can buy Steepled Hats in the Black Mage Village, buy Wrists while getting the Burman Coffee during the Card Tournament and synth the Cotton Robes in Treno.

On disc 4, the Black Mage Village changes its wares and Steepled Hats are no longer for sale. The player is then forced to buy them from Atla's Mogshop in Burmecia.

Wrist costs 130 Gil, and a Steepled Hat costs 260 Gil. It costs 1000 Gil to synthesize a Cotton Robe and they sell for 2000 Gil each. The player makes 610 Gil profit each time.

Final Fantasy X
The player can sell equipment pieces dropped by enemies for money, as due to the game's unique equipment system, the player will often find a lot of unique but obsolete gear. Battling the One-Eye at the Monster Arena and selling its drops yields a lot of gil fast. The Mimics in Omega Ruins also drop a lot of gil, especially with the Gillionaire ability.

Before acquiring the airship the player can make fast money by fighting Epaajs outside the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth that drop SOS Overdrive weapons, which sell for up to 75,187 gil depending on the number of empty slots.

Armor can also be customized to yield a lot of gil when sold. The player can acquire Tetra Armor best suited for this purpose. For example, Tetra Armor customized with HP+30% will sell for 28,406 gil, and it can be customized fairly easily with only one Stamina Tonic. A lot of rewards earned from the Monster Arena monster capturing can be used for customizing armor and then selling the results.

Final Fantasy X-2
The Thief's Nab Gil ability comes useful early in the game, especially if the player wants to pay off O'aka's debt. If the player encounters the Angra Mainyu on the Bikanel desert while digging, they can steal large sums of gil from it every time it is encountered. After O'aka's debt has been paid, the player can buy his merchandise and then sell it to Barkeep for a profit.

Final Fantasy XII
Most Gil in the game is obtained by selling loot dropped and stolen from monsters. The value of the loot can range over a wide variety of prices. More valuable loot can be obtained by acquiring a large chain of monsters. Monsters may also drop weapons and/or armor which also can be sold. Soldiers, or any other humanoid enemies, such as bangaa, may drop small amounts of Gil on defeat. This does not appear as loot; it simply appears in the battle notification stream.

While usually in small amounts, Gil also can be found in various treasure caskets around the world. The amount will normally range from 10-300, but can be much larger due to the semi-random nature of chests.

Gil is also always part of the reward for hunting marks. This amount usually ranges in the thousands. A piece of loot is also obtained usually from hunts which can be sold as well.

Final Fantasy XIII
While gil is not obtained after battle, as with most other games, it is acquired frequently in treasure spheres and from selling unneeded items, such as weapons and components. There are component items that exist solely for selling, such as Platinum Ingots. The tortoise-type enemies, like the Adamantoise, give the best drops for selling.

The Estheim Residence in Palumpolum can be a cash grinding place after PSICOM raids it, as the officers battled inside drop Incentive Chips. They can be sold for 2,500 gil at the save station inside, and the officers are reset when the player attempts to retry battling the Havoc Skytank or circles the room.

Riding the chocobo on the Archylte Steppe often finds items that sell for a lot of gil. Doing the Bhakti sidequest also yields good selling items.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
Gil is seen to be obtained after battle, at the Battle Results screen, unlike its predecessor. The Gilfinder abilities let the player obtain more money from monsters. The rare monster Raspatil gives 50,000 gil per kill on default, which is quickly increased with the Gilfinder abilities. Some drops obtained from enemies also make for good items to sell, especially with the Haggler skill.

After killing Don Tonberry the player can receive Scarletite as a common drop (which sells for 18,700 gil in shops with Haggler) or Hermes Sandals (which sell for 11,000 gil, again with Haggler). With a maxed character equipping a Collector Catalog, or preferably, a Durable Collector Catalog, the player will get a Scarletite essentially every time. This makes Don Tonberry a good monster to farm for money.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates
Monsters can drop gil as loot.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
Monsters can drop gil as loot.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
Acquiring gil in Crystal Bearers is not difficult, but acquiring a lot is a slow process. Gil can be obtained by selling OOPs that are occasionally dropped by monsters, and always dropped by closing Miasma Streams after their first Campaigns are cleared. The player can also obtain gil by helping people around the world, such as by saving them from rolling down a hill/staircase, by milking cows, harvesting vegetables, saving victims under rocks or ice, saving cows and goats from being abducted, or rescuing pilgrims from under the snow. To obtain the reward for these feats the player needs to take the letters from the Mail Moogle in which the people the player helped, or their affiliates, thank them and give out gil, usually between 100-200.

Small quantities of gil can be otherwise gained by throwing people in Alfitaria Capital City, breaking an artifact and collecting gil pouches from the shelves in the Royal Library and killing Claytaurs in its Miasma Stream.

A good way of earning gil is by going to the Forbidden Forest and angering a monkey by throwing it. Monkeys will attack and make the player drop five wallets, that they will steal. If the player manages to get all five wallets back the monkeys will drop a great amount of gil.

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light
Gil can be earned by selling Gems, by shopkeeping in Urbeth, by selling items dropped by enemies and some gil is also found as treasures. The player can usually generate gil fast by opening a shop in Urbeth and buying things from local vendors and then selling it for profit.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
The most practical source of gil is generally the Confessions of the Creator scenario in Story Mode, where the player can obtain valuable equipment, which can be sold, as well as enemies (especially Assist characters) carrying a large quantity of gil. By making use of the Glorious Gold combination, the Beckoning Cat accessory and the calendar bonus, the amount of gil earned can be boosted.

If the player is willing to invest the time and effort to set it up, the maximum KP run of the Forsaken Lands gateway offers 54,720 KP. This can be exchanged at the Land of Discord Moogle Shop for a total of 182 Blue Moons (300 KP apiece); these can then be sold in the shop for 91,400 gil each, earning approximately 16.6 million gil. This is more than enough to buy 33 Lores, which are the most expensive items in the game.

Since the Land of Discord Moogle Shop requires a relatively large detour to reach it, a slightly less lucrative but more accessible option is to exchange the KP at the Elven Snowfields Moogle Shop, for a total of 273 Heike's Blades and/or Heike's Shields (200 KP apiece); these can then be sold in the shop for 55,930 gil each, earning approximately 15.3 million gil. Adding the gil earned while traversing the Forsaken Lands gateway can increase this figure to ~15.5 million, enough to buy 31 Lores.

On the player's Bonus Day, the Blue Moon has a 10% discount and the Heike's items have a 5% discount, increasing the gil earned to 18.6 million or 16.1 million, respectively. If the Bonus Day also happens to have the main shop buying for 10% more than usual, the result is 20.4 million gil or 17.7 million gil, respectively.

Final Fantasy Legend III
GP can only be acquired by defeating enemies in battle, or by selling items gotten from treasure chest or Item Drops. Another way to get money is by using the Steal enemy ability which steals GP equal to what the enemy drops when defeated.

Other Appearances
Gil makes an appearance in another title from Square Enix, Gyromancer.