Gilgamesh is a character in the multimedia franchise Fate, consisting of anime, manga, light novels, visual novels, and video games, having prominent roles in both Fate/stay night and Fate/Zero. In Fate/Zero he was the Archer Class Servant of the Fourth Holy Grail War, summoned by Tokiomi Tohsaka. In Fate/stay night, he is basically a rouge Servant, who managed to stay tied to the physical world for 10 years, and thus has no master, although does form a partnership wtih Kirei Kotomine. In the magical girl spinoff series Fate/kaleid liner prisma Illya he apepars not only as a Class Card, but also as a much younger version of the same character, but with basically the same personality.
Why He Rocks[]
- Incredibly appealing and badass character design, from his tall, imposing stature, to his sleak, golden armor that's almost impenterable, to his spiky yellow hair, to the shit eating grin he's almost always wearing on his face, (unless he's loosing, which doesn't happen that often).
- Unbelievably overpowered. Kiniro Nasu stated in an interview that Gilgamesh is the most powerful character in all of Fate/stay night and Fate/Zero, by far, and if he wanted to win the Holy Grail Wars, he could have done so without any effort whatsoever.
- His arrogance is part of his appeal, as it makes him very entertaining and interesting.
- He has three Noble Phantasms, more than most Servants.
- The Gate of Babylon allows him to launch countless nameless swords at break neck speeds to kill his enemies.
- Enkidu, named after his only friend during his life, allows him to restrain unbelievably powrful enemies, such as Rider in Fate/Zero and Berserker in Fate/stay night.
- Ea is the most overpowered of his Noble Phantasms, which literally allows him to destroy the world and distort the fabric of the universe.
- It's also possible he could have more Noble Phantasms, as it's stated that his Noble Phantasms are treasures he's obtained during his life which he stored in the Gate of Babylon, his sacred treasury, but those three are the only ones that we get to see in Fate/stay night or Fate/Zero.
- He has interesting relationships with many characters throughout Fate/stay night and Fate/Zero.
- He and Saber were at odds, similar to Rider and Saber, because of Saber's beliefs and the reason she wants to acquire the Holy Grail. However, he also becomes infatuated with Saber, and the fact that she seems so unattainable to him only attracts him to her more. In his own words, that which you can't have becomes even more beautiful to you. Because of this, Saber finds him to be a disgusting and dispicable man, possibly even more so than Rider.
- He and Rider agree in regards to Saber's ideology being foolish, however the two of them are still in disagreement on how a King should act. Gilgamesh's overwhelming arrogance at believing everything in the world belongs to him. This culminates in a fight towards the end of Fate/Zero, during which Rider is killed.
- Tokiomi Tohsaka was Gilgamesh's master during Fate/Zero, but their relationship was kind of swapped, with Tokiomi actually fearing Gilgamesh due to his inability to control his own Servant. The two did work together occasionally, but there was never any doubt who REALLY called the shots with that partnership.
- At the end of Fate/Zero, Gilgamesh manages to remain attached to the physical world for 10 years; after this, he forms a partnership with Kirei Kotomine, which seems to work out pretty well, and the two become some of the biggest villains in Fate/stay night. This is lead up to throughout Fate/Zero, with Gilgamesh helping unrestrain Kirei Kotomine, who had a religious upbringing, mkaing him realize that he truly enjoys killing and destruction as much as Gilgamesh himself does.
- His fights are some of the most entertaining and thrilling in the entire Fate franchise.
- Outstanding voice acting in both sub and dub.
The ONLY Bad Quality[]
- He's a pretty shallow character. If it wasn't for how entertaining, intimidating, and powerful that he is, plus his great character design, then he wouldn't really have anything going for him.
Quotes[]
- Do as you like. That is the true meaning of pleasure. Pleasure leads to joy, and joy leads to happiness.
- You break the law, and I'll punish you; there's no room for discussion.
- Surely there must be limits to which one may sink.
- Defying me to the very end, huh? But I'll forgive you. Some things are only beautiful because they are unobtainable.
- A soul naturally seeks pleasure, consciously or not.
- What you speak of at greatest length is what interests you the most.
- A Hero of Justice? A world where no one is hurt? Don't be absurd. Humanity is the name of an animal that cannot find joy without sacrifice.
- There are two kinds of arrogance. One where you are unequal to the task and one where your dreams are too big. The former is commonplace stupidity… but the latter is a rare species that is difficult to find.
- Isn’t the foolishness of the few a more precious commodity than the wisdom of the masses?
Trivia[]
- When selecting heroes for Fate/stay night, Gilgamesh was chosen as the oldest and most obscure hero that Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi could find in contrast to the well renowned Heracles. While there were other candidates, they liked his strong sounding name and myth. The overall concept of the character was changed very little since his initial conception.
- It is revealed that Gilgamesh's overall design and appearance was heavily based on Gilgamesh from the Tower of Druaga franchise. Nasu "selfishly demanded" that "Gilgamesh must wear a full golden plate armour" during the designing stage, reasoning it to be that Gilgamesh would have needed it to repeatedly challenge some sixty-story building in his era.
- Gilgamesh is one of the most popular characters in the entire franchise.
- In the first Popularity polls of Fate/stay night in 2004, Gilgamesh was ranked 13th and the fifth most voted male character.
- In the second Popularity polls of Fate/stay night in 2006, Gilgamesh was ranked 13th and the fifth most voted male character.
- In the Type-Moon's 10th Anniversary Character Poll, Gilgamesh from Fate/stay night was ranked 9th and the third most voted male character. Gilgamesh from Fate/Zero was ranked 74th.
- In Fate/stay night, Gilgamesh's fate will be different depending on the route. In the Fate route, he lasts till the end and is killed by Saber, but before Kirei Kotomine, who is the final villain of that route. In Unlimited Blade Works, he is the final villain, who lasts even longer than the Archer of that war. In the Heaven's Feel route he lasts the least amount of time, as he's killed by Dark Sakura early on.
- Gilgamesh's voice actor is Tomokazu Seki in the subbed version of every anime adaptation. In the English dub of Fate/stay night 2006 and Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works Movie, he's voiced by Grant George. In Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works TV, and Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel Movies, he's voiced by David Vincent.