All pictures are my own screenshots from gameplay, though owned by Square Enix.
After a trip to the bazaar, I thought I'd head down to the Centurio Clan Hall to check for any news. The hall is a clubhouse for hunters of all races who compete to find and defeat the vilest of creatures, called elite marks. Our leader, Montblanc, has just told me of a new mark, the Ancient Man of Mystery. Little is known about him, only that a mortal man lost a duel with him and had to forfeit his sword to the mysterious mark...
If you've ever played Final Fantasy, then you might be familiar with Gilgamesh. He first appeared in Final Fantasy V, though he is a recurring boss and has appeared in subsequent titles more than any other character. I will be detailing his version from my favorite installment, Final Fantasy XII.
The hunt is available after the main story events at Draklor Laboratory. (I have beaten the game on Playstation 2 but had yet to reach this part in the remastered Playstation 4 version so I had to do a bit of questing for a few hours.) The fight is optional and you can complete the game without ever meeting or hearing about Gilgamesh (this game has many, many secrets and side content). The hunt is called "Battle on the Big Bridge", an homage to his first appearance and fight on a bridge and also to the intense song played while fighting him, Clash on the Big Bridge (the FFXII original version is my favorite).
As soon as you step out onto said bridge, Gilgamesh appears. There's no introduction, he just says, "And now, we fight!" He even has a faithful hound, Enkidu.
The dog is just that, a sidekick. He provides support while Gilgamesh also boosts his abilities. You should kill him first because he has only a relatively small amount of HP and his attacks are annoying!
Why are we fighting?!
Gilgamesh is first and foremost a sword collector, traveling far and wide to find them. He is fond of swords of legend. This is where I feel for him, because I also love to collect. I even have a collection of small [toy] swords as well, among other things. Anyways. Gilgamesh has 6 arms and wields a two-handed sword in each, which is pretty cool. The swords themselves are versions of some used by main characters in previous installments in the series. Most, if not all of them, are counterfeits.
After some brief fighting, he officially introduces himself and declares his motive: to claim the party's weapons for himself. "Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection," am I right?
As you fight him, at certain HP thresholds, he will wield a different sword from his collection against you.
The first sword is a version of Cloud's Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII.
The kanji on the blade actually means "fake" or "imitation" and it has 4 holes in it as opposed to 2 like the original.
This gunblade is reminiscent of Squall's revolver from FF VIII, except it has no keychain.
Another sword he brandishes is one unique to this game, the Tournesol, also known as "the Sunflower" in the bazaar. This blade also bears some cosmetic differences to the actual one you can obtain in the game.
Usually you can only steal from an enemy once and then they have nothing to steal (makes sense). But with Gilgamesh, after every small cutscene he has something else to steal. First it's just potions but then you start to get pieces of the Genji set. This is the only way in the game to obtain these items; they cannot be crafted or found anywhere else! The fact that he has them implies that he is some type of wandering noble.
The battle itself is moderately difficult. Gilgamesh will mainly focus on attacking one character and sometimes switches but also has some area of effect attacks like "Ultimate Illusion" (a synonym for Final Fantasy). You definitely need a white mage during this battle to act as a healer and revive your tank, which will die. After a while, Gilgamesh will start target the mage and destroy them. That's okay though because you should have plenty of Phoenix Down to revive them.
When Gilgamesh's HP reaches 0, he is not truly defeated and actually flees the battle. You can't claim your reward from the hunt yet and plus you only have the Genji Gloves and Genji Shield at this point. You must venture deeper into the Lhusu Mines and fight him a second time. That time he will have triple the HP, improved stats, and more iconic swords of course.
Since I fought him the first time as early as possible, I'm way too low a level to challenge him again. Although I gained access to that section of the mines by way of a key found far away on the other side of the world, even the normal enemies there are too powerful and I could not advance. If a bat ended up killing my entire party, imagine what a beefed-up Gilgamesh and Enkidu would do to me.
Fortunately, I already know what happens. The player has the opportunity to steal the rest of the Genji set during the battle. Once you really defeat Gilgamesh, he actually drops his ultimate weapon, the Wyrmbero Blade, which appears to be genuine. The sad part is you can't obtain it (at this point) and if you leave the area, he comically sneaks in and takes it back.
Encountering Gilgamesh has no effect on the party or story. Only he has dialogue during the battle too, which I like because it makes it all the more focused on him. I imagine the party's shock and confusion, though they are probably already used to seeing strange things a this point in the game. Later, as part of yet another side quest, he is encountered again but on friendly terms and even gives the main character a gift.
I like Gilgamesh for his sheer bad-assery. His appearance is very cool and I think the voice actor portrayed him perfectly. He is also pretty funny! Although he only has a small part to play, he made a lasting impression on me. What do you think? Have you ever fought him during his interdimensional travels across the series? I have only encountered him in XII and as part of a DLC in Final Fantasy XIII-2 but I could not defeat him in the latter.
I welcome you to the challenge.