Gilgamesh Ashur



Gilgamesh Ashur is a major non-player character that appears in Final Fantasy Type-0. He is a colossal warrior from Lorica. With the power of the Black Tortoise Crystal, Gilgamesh is a l'Cie who has forgotten his Focus. He serves as one of the game's bosses. He is accompanied by Enkidu, a fellow Black Tortoise l'Cie.

Appearance
With his helmet removed, Gilgamesh is identical to his pirate king appearance in Final Fantasy XI right down to the wounded eye (which was covered by an eye-patch in Final Fantasy XI), albeit younger. In the bestiary he is the only character to have a zoom function to get a better look at his facial features, showing the closed eye. Gilgamesh wears a sturdy full body armor like all Lorican soldiers, but his is bright red.

Personality
Gilgamesh is notably inarticulate in Final Fantasy Type-0 when compared to many of his previous appearances, and native Japanese speakers often refer to his manner of speech as "samurai talk" or crude use of the Japanese language. When presented with some of his dialogue, a native Japanese speaker can have a hard time understanding it due to ambiguous context and the lack of certain particles. This may be due to Gilgamesh being presented as a wandering rough-spoken warrior. Gilgamesh is perpetually confused due to suffering from amnesia.

Story
Gilgamesh wanders in the battle around the Big Bridge, where the Dominion of Rubrum legionaries attempts to bring down the Militesi Gates so that the Vermilion Bird Crystal Secundus l'Cie Caetuna can summon Alexander. As Class Zero makes their way to the Big Bridge, yelling over the radio channels indicates the forces stationed on the bridge have encountered something. Just before the cadets reach the bridge entrance a number of Ifrit fall from the skies, causing impact explosions. They were likely defeated by Gilgamesh.

Class Zero finds Gilgamesh waiting atop a pile of ruined Militesi Empire assault vehicles he has presumably destroyed, shouting that he does not know where or who he is. He attacks Class Zero stating he must destroy and devour, presumably the combined remnants of the Black Tortoise Crystal Focus and his own instincts. If the cadets prevail, Gilgamesh simply walks off. If the cadets lose, Gilgamesh expresses disappointment for the strength of his opponent, leaving to find another battle with a stronger one.

Gilgamesh later appears in Ingram where he stops Machina, who is now a White Tiger l'Cie, and tests his strength by challenging him. The encounter brings about a flashback that reveals Gilgamesh's true identity as the King of Lorica. As the ruler of the Lorican Alliance, he is protecting his country but his actions caused a problem to the nation, much to the dismay of the Lorican council members. To ensure Gilgamesh would not lose the path he was heading down, his childhood friend Enkidu had served as his royal advisor. After recovering his memories, Gilgamesh asks Enkidu to forgive him, as it is revealed the latter and the people of Lorica perished when the nation was destroyed by the Ultima Bomb, with him right next to the point of detonation. The battle between Gilgamesh and Machina concludes with Gilgamesh's loss.

In the final dungeon, when the player enters the Lorica portal, a warrior resembling Gilgamesh will challenge the player in the bottom of the Black Tortoise Crevasse while Militesi airships constantly bombard the site. This is likely a shadow of the real Gilgamesh, like the other beings that appeared in the other portals: his body is corrupted like he was infected with the Poison status, but his moveset and behaviour in battle is the same as the real Gilgamesh.

During the credits, a still is seen of either Gilgamesh himself or his armor on a throne in what appears to be the Inner Sanctum in the Black Tortoise Crevasse, with Lorican soldiers surrounding the throne. The ambiguity of the image means that Gilgamesh's ultimate fate is left unknown, although it is likely that he shared the fate of other Orience l'Cie when the Black Tortoise Crystal lost its power.

Gameplay
Gilgamesh is fought as the end boss to The Clash on Big Bridge mission. The battle concludes the mission even if the player loses, but it is possible to take Gilgamesh on even if he is on a much higher level than the player by exploiting the Breaksight strikes.

He appears as an optional boss with his traditional eight-armed appearance after the player has beaten the game twice and completed the second side-history missions. After completing the chapter "The Last Queen Returns to Oblivion", the entrance to the Rift will open if the player completes the Expert Trials required to unlock map areas. The door will appear in four locations: the Black Tortoise Crevasse in Old Lorica; near Ingram in the Azurr District; in the marsh of the Rilochy Province, near the entrance to the Roshana Province; and in the Innsmouth Region, before the first shallow waters. The locations repeat in this order when the player fights Gilgamesh, providing a chance of appearing in one location in each of the four Crystal-States.

Gilgamesh will take a random party member to fight and if the player is defeated, he takes the character's equipped weapon. The reward of defeating the True Gilgamesh is the character's ultimate weapon.

Voice
In the Japanese version of Final Fantasy Type-0, Gilgamesh is voiced by, who also voiced Wakka in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2. In English, he is voiced by, who voiced him in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.

Trivia

 * Final Fantasy Type-0 is the second title in the Final Fantasy series where Gilgamesh has a notable role in the game's plot. This may also be his first appearance in the Final Fantasy timeline, Lorica being referred to as the place he spent his childhood.
 * Final Fantasy Type-0 is the first game where Gilgamesh takes the characters' weapons upon emerging victorious. Most of his other appearances merely allude to his weapon claiming habit.
 * The weapons shown in his true form are the weapons he gives to the player upon his defeat.
 * This is Gilgamesh's first appearance in the series where his story bears some similarity to his real-life counterpart. Being a king of Uruk with demigod status purportedly ruling his city for 128 years is similar to his being the l'Cie king of Lorica.