Gilgamesh (Final Fantasy)
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Gilgamesh (ギルガメッシュ Girugamesshu?) is the name of a character in the Square Enix video game series Final Fantasy. He is characterized by having grey complexion, flamboyantly colorful battle armor, and many arms wielding many weapons at once. He has a fierce façade, but this masks his own childlike personality. The name "Gilgamesh" comes from the Gilgamesh of Mesopotamian mythology.
Gilgamesh's role created a niche in the Final Fantasy series, of the fierce but incompetent adversary, as well of the recurring boss, a type of role reprised in later games. Characters of later FF storylines that fill this distinct role include Ultros, a vain talking octopus, Ziegfried ("Siegfried," in the rerelease for GBA), the false warrior of Final Fantasy VI, the Turks, Shinra's elite soldiers in Final Fantasy VII, Biggs and Wedge, as overworked and underpaid Galbadian soldiers in Final Fantasy VIII, Thorn and Zorn in Final Fantasy IX, Logos and Ormi of Final Fantasy X-2, Fungus of Final Fantasy Unlimited, and the Ba'Gamnan gang from Final Fantasy XII (which Gilgamesh had a cameo in).
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[edit] Final Fantasy V
In Final Fantasy V, Gilgamesh is a lieutenant of Exdeath. He is big on talk, but prefers to put his own safety first; more often than not he has others do the fighting for him.
Gilgamesh is first seen in Galuf's world, where he is told to guard the imprisoned Bartz, Lenna and Faris. Galuf, who entered the world ahead of the three, infiltrates Exdeath's castle and defeats Gilgamesh in a one-on-one battle. Later the crew meet Gilgamesh again at the Big Bridge, through which the party of Bartz Klauser is trying to flee Exdeath's captivity, but ends up fighting his army. Gilgamesh fights the party, and when weakened, uses magic to protect himself and uses the Jump command instead of fighting. He finds an excuse to flee after receiving enough damage.
Gilgamesh is next seen leading an attack on the naval fleet of Xezat Mathias Surgate. He summons a demon known as Enkidu to help him when he takes damage. When Enkidu is defeated, Gilgamesh eventually chickens out and jumps overboard, and almost knocks the party in as well, but their Wind Drake saves them.
Later in Exdeath's castle, desperate to save face, Gilgamesh transforms into a massive warrior with many arms and weapons and attacks Bartz's party with a sword he thinks is the legendary Excalibur, but which turns out actually to be a weak imitation called "Excalipoor" (also known as "Excalipur", and "Excailbur" in other translations). Disgusted by Gilgamesh's perceived incompetence, Exdeath promptly exiles Gilgamesh to the Rift.
When Bartz's party eventually reaches the Rift, they find Gilgamesh lost and frightened, reduced almost to tears. He mistakes the party for a monster and attacks, but recognizes Bartz. After being told about how the party got in, Gilgamesh leaves, promising to be friends with the heroes if they get out.
Gilgamesh's final appearance is again in the Rift, coming to the rescue of Bartz's party in their battle against a sealed monster called Necrophobe (the fight is optional; defeating Necrophobe is not required to reach Exdeath, but it reveals an essential save point. Also, the Genji Armor can be obtained by stealing from Gilgamesh when he appears). Gilgamesh exchanges warm words of friendship with each of the party members, then self-destructs, annihilating both Necrophobe and himself in the process. However, if the player reduces Necrophobe's HP to zero, he or she will not see this scene.
[edit] Final Fantasy VI
In Final Fantasy VI, Gilgamesh is one of 4 new Espers that have been added to the Game Boy Advance version of Final Fantasy VI. He can be encountered in the Coliseum after you wager the Excalipoor, which can be found in the Auction House. Unlike other Coliseum battles, however, all 4 party members can fight him and be fully controlled by the player. His esper summon is rather costly, and, similar to his appearance in Final Fantasy VIII, has 4 varying attacks that are random, including Excalipoor (1 damage to all enemies), Excalibur (Medium damage to all enemies), Masamune (Massive damage to all enemies), and a joint attack with Enkidu that deals heavy damage to the enemy. However, they also seem to depend on the caster's level. He's dignified as the second esper able to teach Quick, and the only one to teach the new spell Valor.
[edit] Final Fantasy VIII
In Final Fantasy VIII, Gilgamesh is a randomly-visiting Guardian Force who replaces Odin in the fourth disc, if the player has already acquired Odin. Gilgamesh randomly chooses one of his four swords to attack all enemies on the screen: the mighty Masamune or Excalibur for heavy damage, the imitation Excalipoor for minimal damage (one hit point), or Odin's Zantetsuken for an instant kill (does not work on enemies immune to Instant Death, such as the final boss). According to the story, this is supposed to be a crossover from Final Fantasy V, where Gilgamesh would have escaped from the Rift, evidenced by his dialogue during the Seifer fight.
He actually first appears in the final battle against Seifer in Lunatic Pandora, which opens with Odin being killed by Seifer himself. If the battle lasts about 10-15 rounds, Gilgamesh will appear, and (in a war of words) he defeats Seifer, his final remark being a reference to Final Fantasy V.
[edit] Final Fantasy IX
In Final Fantasy IX, Gilgamesh is a self-proclaimed great treasure hunter who refuses to tell anyone his name. Instead, he takes the nickname Alleway Jack. The player encounters this four-armed man multiple times during his journey. The final location where he stays until the end of the game is at the Daguerreo Library. Unlike in previous Final Fantasy games, this Gilgamesh is not associated with battling. Instead, he accredits Zidane, the main character, a rank based upon the rate of stealing items in battle throughout the game. Upon reaching rank S, Gilgamesh gives the key item Rank S Medal in recognition of the feat, and it is then that he confesses his name as well as the lies about him being a great treasure hunter, just before leaving never to be seen again.
Also, if the player receives the Excalibur II, there is a small note addressed to Gilgamesh about the Excalibur II and Excalipur.
To Brother Gil
Bro, I found the sword, like you told me. But there were two. One of 'em had a lame name, Something II. It was a dingy, old thing with flashy decorations, something you'd probably like. So I went with Excalipur. I'll be back after I find the Tin Armor.
[edit] Final Fantasy XI
In Final Fantasy XI, the leader of the Tenshodo pirating organization in Norg is a man named Gilgamesh. Players will run into him while attempting missions from the first expansion pack, Rise of the Zilart. Unlike the other incarnations of the character in the series, this Gilgamesh is a standard human whose only distinctive accessory is a monster-faced belt buckle.
Gilgamesh is also the name of one of Final Fantasy XI's world servers.
[edit] Final Fantasy XII
In Final Fantasy XII, Gilgamesh is a powerful boss accessible in an Elite Mark hunt petitioned by Montblanc due to Gilgamesh's habit of defeating his opponents and taking their swords away to place into his collection. In fact, Gilgamesh is after the crown jewel to make his collection complete, the Masamune. His design is homage to FFV & FF8 as he appears with his companion Enkidu, a demon dog, and his theme music from Final Fantasy V, 'Clash on the Big Bridge", also plays. His sword arsenal in this game consists of eight "legendary swords" from both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, such as Cloud Strife's Buster Sword, Squall's Gunblade, Zidane's Orichalcon, Tidus's Brotherhood, Odin's Zantetsuken, the Tournesol which is the strongest Greatsword in Final Fantasy XII, and the Wyrmhero blade which is the Final Fantasy XII version of Loto's Sword (though all may well be imitations, according to his Bestiary entry). His special attack is called "Ultimate Illusion", or in Japanese, Kyūkyoku Gensō (究極幻想), which, like "Ultimate Illusion", is synonymous with "Final Fantasy".
It can be assumed that Gilgamesh never collected the real versions of the swords. The picture to the right is of Gilgamesh holding the Buster sword that clearly says "fake" in Kanji on it, though he doesn't seem to be bothered by it; also, the other swords look different from their previous incarnations, such as a chocobo being printed on the Gunblade instead of Griever. The game's bestiary states that the swords are not authentic. And he really treasures those fake swords too. As explained below, upon his defeat, he will drop a sword in a hurry, but if you examine the sword first, the message you see will be "This is just an ordinary Sword of Legend", hinting that he is using replicas.
Though Gilgamesh is a formidable foe, he has his off moments such as when he accidentally fell off the building while revealing himself upon Enkidu's call in the first round. When Gilgamesh is defeated, he will leave behind the Sword of Legend, which he clumsily sneaks off with when Vaan and party leave. It is also possible to steal the rare Genji equipment set from him. He last appears when he finds the Matamune, a cursed fishing rod used for the fishing minigame – disappointed that it is not the Sword of Legend, the Wyrmhero Blade, he gives it to Vaan without a second thought. His entry in the game's Bestiary notes he has been traveling between dimensions; a reference to his recurrence in the series. Gilgamesh was voiced by John DiMaggio in the US version and Daisuke Gōri in Japan.
[edit] Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls
In the Dawn of Souls remake of Final Fantasy I, Gilgamesh is a warrior exploring the undersea ruins of Lifespring Grotto, a secret dungeon available after defeating Kraken and getting the Water Crystal. As the theme was established, Gilgamesh is hunting for Excalibur, and believes he has it, but he really found Excalipur and even uses it in battle. He is a direct cameo of the Gilgamesh from Final Fantasy V, like many other cameos in this and the other optional dungeons.
[edit] Other Gilgamesh characters in the Final Fantasy series
In the Game Boy Advance remake of Final Fantasy IV, Gilgamesh appears as a turtle similar to Adamantoise. This is a mistranslation of the monster's actual name, and in no way resembles the Gilgamesh seen in any other Final Fantasy game. It is actually supposed to be called the Gilgame (Gil Turtle, which is also the name of a powerful boss found in Final Fantasy V), a portmanteau of the currency of the Final Fantasy series and a Japanese word for turtle. Gilgame also appears as a boss in FFV, which also suffered from similar mistranslation in the Final Fantasy Anthology version. However, the error was corrected in the European version, and the monster's name is properly translated as "Gil Turtle". The monster would appear again in Final Fantasy XII, finally given the more correct translation "Gil Snapper".
