Gilgamesh

ギルガメッシュ / アーチャー

An arrogant, selfish, and enigmatic Archer-class Servant. He appears familiar with Fuyuki City and claims to have a past relationship with Saber. Typically clad in an ornate golden armor, he possesses an immense number of Noble Phantasms, though none are representative of his true identity.

Gilgamesh is the great half-god, half-human king born from the union between the King of Uruk, Lugalbanda, and goddess Rimat-Ninsun. He ruled the Sumerian city-state of Uruk, the capital city of ancient Mesopotamia in the B.C. era. He was an ultimate, transcendent being so divine as to be two thirds god and one third human, and no others in the world could match him. He was a despot possessing high divinity who believed he was invincible. He is not merely a legend, and is said to have actually existed and ruled during the Sumer Dynasty five thousand years ago. He was the King of Heroes who possessed all things in the world, whose tale is recorded in mankind’s oldest epic poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh which portrays Gilgamesh as a hero, destined to be king and achieve great feats, who is driven to meet his destiny, facing challenges together with his best friend Enkidu.

His title, King of Heroes, is not meant to call him a king who is a hero, but instead implies that he is the king over all heroes. He is mankind’s oldest hero, the origin of all myths and model on which heroes are based, so his story is copied within the mythologies of all the countries of the world. The heroes of various myths are derived from his legend, so his Gate of Babylon possesses all of their Noble Phantasms. Though there are several heroes holding the title of “King,” the King of Knights and King of Conquerors, he is the only one in all of heaven and earth crowned with the title of “King of All Heroes.”

In Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA, he’s the Heroic Spirit sealed into the eighth Class Card. He manifests as his younger self due to Illya separating him from his shadow form half-way through his incarnation. While initially an adversary, he quickly becomes an ally to fulfill his objectives. Gilgamesh in his child form has a more easygoing attitude compared to his adult self. He asks Illya to call him Gil-kun.

Gilgamesh was initially summoned by Tokiomi Toosaka in the Fourth Holy Grail War, who used a fossil of the first skin ever shed by a snake as a catalyst. With Toosaka’s death, Gilgamesh participated with Kirei Kotomine to obtain the Holy Grail, intending to cleanse the world of humanity, which he felt had become corrupted and vile, thus not worth of his reign. When Kiritsugu Emiya killed his Master, Gilgamesh remained in the physical world long enough to be drenched by the pollution within the tainted Holy Grail. Contact with this ichor normally corrupts a Servant’s ego, but Gilgamesh resisted submission to the evil influence. However, the saturation converted his spiritual body to one of flesh and blood, and Gilgamesh also become more eccentric and excitable.

Noble Phantasms: - Gate of Babylon - A small, plain sword that doubles as spatial key, allowing Gilgamesh to access his vast wealth contained within a vault in the heart of ancient Babylon. Inside this treasury are a myriad of Noble Phantasms collected during the peak of Uruk’s civilization. Gilgamesh either throws these weapons or fires them out of his vault like rockets.

In several instances, Gilgamesh has removed and normally wielded weapons. It is the hurling of these weapons that designate his class as an Archer. Several Noble Phantasms are of paramount importance: - Merodach - A relatively unadorned but lustrous Noble Phantasm of immense magical power. Although not famous at all when compared to either of its descendants, the strength of Merodach as a Noble Phantasm exceeds either Gram or Caliburn. - Durendal - This gleaming, holy sword is enchanted by three miracles, allowing its blade to never dull even when its user’s Mana has been expended. Old legends call Durendal indestructible. - Enkidu - One of the few relics Gilgamesh actually used during his lifetime, this chain was forged specifically to immobilize gods, albeit significantly less effective against opponents with little or no divinity. - Ea (Enuma Elish) - A black, pillar-shaped sword, etched with fine crimson cuneiform letters. With an energy output that exceeds Excalibur, rotation of Ea’s tri-blade segments vacuums and compresses surrounding atmospheric gasses. Upon release, the ensuing cataclysmic blast sunders the foundations of reality, causing a collapse of time and space that disintegrates everything around the area of attack. Ea’s material components have no origins in the mortal plane; unlike other weapons, it cannot be replicated through tracing. It is the most powerful Noble Phantasm in Gilgamesh’s arsenal. - Vimana - mythical self-moving aerial car (sometimes serving as a seat or throne, sometimes self-moving and carrying its occupant through the air; other descriptions make the Vimana more like a house or palace, and one kind is said to be seven stories high.