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 more often than not, he loses his battles. In his appearances, he's often linked to either the sword Excalipur or his pet Enkidu. He is named after Gilgamesh, the Mesopotamian King. A demon 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 hold an arsenal of different weapons. For the early part of Final Fantasy V, Gilgamesh does not appear this form; it is only after he morphs that his true appearance is revealed.

Gilgamesh's Final Fantasy V appearance started a tradition that went on in many games; that of a recurring boss fight. Later recurring bosses include Ultros of Final Fantasy VI, The Turks of Final Fantasy VII, and Biggs and Wedge of Final Fantasy VIII.

Final Fantasy
Gilgamesh makes an appearance in the original Final Fantasy, but only in the Dawn of Souls remake. 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. 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, Gilgamesh has 8888HP, and unleashes physical attacks that can easily OHKO even a high level character. In true Final Fantasy tradition, he drops Genji Gloves upon his defeat.

Final Fantasy III
Gilgamesh makes his first appearance in Final Fantasy III as a supporting villain. Gilgamesh (sometimes spelled Gigames or Gigamesh) plays chancellor to Salonia's King Gorn. While controlling the king's mind, he forces Gorn to stab his own son Allus. Realizing what he's done, the king regains control. This angers Gilgamesh, but, like the coward he is and always will be, he summons the monster Garuda to fight the Light Warriors in his place. Gilgamesh is not seen again for the remainder of the game.

Final Fantasy V
Gilgamesh is a minor villain in Final Fantasy V. He is Exdeath's right hand man. 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, and he runs off again.

Gilgamesh's third appearance is during the battle to unlock the barrier surrounding Ex-Death'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. Here, he transforms into a new 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 Interdimensional Rift.

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 Ex-Death. 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 this game. He is only obtainable if the party obtained Odin before entering the Lunatic Pandora. If the party did so, Seifer will slice Odin in half with his Gunblade. Later in the fight, if it has lasted for more than 12 rounds, Gilgamesh will appear and defeat Seifer. Gilgamesh will then be randomly summoned in Odin's place, and will use one of four attacks at random. Zantetsuken instantly defeats all opponents, Masamune and Excalibur deals damage to all opponents, and Excalipoor deals one damage to all opponents (an homage to the Excalipur of Final Fantasy V).

Final Fantasy IX
Gilgamesh is a non-player character in this game. He is a treasure hunter and 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. He reveals his true identity in Daguerreo.

Final Fantasy XI
Gilgamesh is a non-player character in this game. 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.

Final Fantasy XII
Gilgamesh appears as an Elite Mark in this game, and is petitioned by Montblanc. He is located in the Lhusu Mines and must be fought twice. The first is on the bridge just to the west of the Gate Crystal, in an homage to the "Clash on the Big Bridge" from Final Fantasy V, the iconic theme music is also heard during each fight. Gilgamesh escapes after defeat and the player must find the Site 11 Key and venture deep into the mine to Site 7. During the second fight, Gilgamesh's HP is triple what he previously had and his stats are all raised which makes for a very tough Mark.

He uses weapons from various Final Fantasy games, as well as one from Dragon Quest (also known as Dragon Warrior). He is voiced in Japanese version by Daisuke Gori, who voiced Fungus in FFU, and in the English version by John DiMaggio of "Futurama" fame, who also voices Migelo, the caretaker of Vaan and Penelo, as well as Final Fantasy X characters, Wakka and Kimahri.

The swords are: As a comic effect, the kanji written on the Buster Sword Gilgamesh wields means "fake". As another comic effect, Gilgamesh's special attack is called Kyuukyoku Gensou, which can be translated into Final Fantasy. In the English version, it is known as Ultimate Illusion.
 * The Excalipur from Final Fantasy V
 * The Illumina from Final Fantasy VI
 * Cloud's Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII
 * Squall's Gunblade from Final Fantasy VIII
 * Zidane's Orichalcon from Final Fantasy IX
 * Tidus's Brotherhood sword from Final Fantasy X
 * Odin's Zantetsuken
 * The Masamune, used by Edge Geraldine from Final Fantasy IV, Cyan Garamonde from Final Fantasy VI, Sephiroth of Final Fantasy VII, and others.
 * Loto's sword (Loto is a given title) from Dragon Quest III, renamed the Wyrmhero Blade.

Similar to Final Fantasy V, the player can steal Genji Armor from Gilgamesh, and his sidekick, Enkidoh, returns as a dog named Enkidu.

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

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

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, and 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 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.