Gilgamesh (Brave Exvius character)

Gilgamesh, also known as Veritas of the Frost , is a minor character in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and the overarching protagonist in War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. Originally a member of the Sworn Eight of Paladia he was separated from his comrades, and ended in the land of Ardra along with Amnelis.
==History==
===Final Fantasy Brave Exvius===
Gilgamesh lived on the world of Paladia. When the world fell into war between Aldore and Hess as the latter wanted to achieve independence from the rest of the world, Gilgamesh remained loyal to Aldore and served as one of its main lieutenants, joining the Sworn Eight of Paladia and gaining an immortal body and powerful battle armor.
The original Veritas of the Dark wanted to stop the war by sealing Hess' Eight Sages into Crystal to force negotiations, but Frostlord thought the plan nonsensical. Restless and unable to wait or understand the importance of the operation, he boasted he could take on the Sages himself. Darklord did not take his words kindly and reminded him to stay put and obey. Frostlord challenged Darklord into stopping him by force, but Darklord knew the operation could be jeopardized as a result of the injuries sustained opted to let Frostlord go his own way. Frostlord was disappointed and left.
Word of his defeat spread and the rest of the Sworn Eight believed he was felled, much to the disbelief of Veritas of the Bolt who wondered how somebody like Frostlord could have been defeated. The Sworn Eight could never truly confirm his death as neither his body or suit of armor could be found.
At some point Gilgamesh arrived in Lapis on the continent of Ardora, in the kingdom of Ariale. There he worked with an unknown female member of the Eight Sages of Hess to create a new, more powerful suit of winged armor and forge a powerful blade named Excalibur that can cut through dimensions. Utilizing his new armor's gift of flight he orchestrated the War of the Visions by pitting the lords of various feudal houses against one another to bring about an incident known as the Time of Judgment.
His discarded Veritas armor lays in Gronoa, worshipped by a town. Raegen used it to masquerade as the Frostlord both to force Rain's party in a tournament to test them, as well as gain a needed power boost to face his former comrades.
A Vision of Gilgamesh eventually manifested in Paladia during Rain's servitude of Aldore as Hyoh. This vision of Gilgamesh was created as a result of the collective wishes of the oppressed masses yearning for freedom and the strenght to fight back. The vision of Gilgamesh believed the world's people to have been dulled and sought to reignite their battle spirit, which he attempted by sabotaging several of Aldore's weapon transports and bestow the equipment to the populace allowing them to fight. The vision of Gilgamesh proved a formidable adversary and an effective tactician, so Hyoh was sent to dispatch the attacker. Unfortunately Hyoh could not utilize the Ultima Weapon to his fullest causing the Frostlord to lose interest and rub his lack of resolve on his face before leaving.
Eventually the Vision of Gilgamesh attempted a raid on a labor camp, and staged an uprising by arming the inmates and using several unmaned warmechs, while defeating Galas and Gudon by himself. Hyoh witnesses from afar before equipping himself with the Panthera Ultimus, unleashing devastating firepower and turned the tide of the battle in favor of Aldore. Hyoh clashes with the vision of Gilgamesh and narrowly defeats him, causing the vision to praise Hyoh's resolve, but lamenting not being able to witness the changes Hyoh would bring into the world. Though Hyoh lost the Panthera Ultimus, he was able to master the Ultima Weapon.
During late Season Two, a fake Frostlord appeared in Vlad's massive Ogre body as a defensive system, along other fake Sworn Eight copies. The Sworn Six of Paladia defeated them at the cost of their immortality.
===War of the Visions===
Gilgamesh was a mysterious figure and known to be involved with the different nations and in some form coerce their actions to bring his goals into fruition. He operated as an observer and rarely showed himself. He was feared and venerated, almost like a God by the people of Ardra.
He made his debut in Chapter 5, discussing the current situation of Leonis with his ally and their current disadvantaged position. Believing their early demise to hinder their plans, he decided to interfere.
When Mont and Stern were battling, Muraga Fennes celebrated the oncoming vanquishment of Leonis's royal bloodline. However, Gilgamesh appeared and used his powerful Flash ability to draw a line that developed white wings that enveloped themselves before exploding, creating a gap that separated the armies and stopping the fight, declaring that the current battle was a mockery of his grand scheme and ordered the parties to wait it out. Sadali Crysthea protested his interference as he was not interested in Gilgamesh's plans, but the latter threatened to kill him if he did not comply. He promised to allow them to kill one another without interfering when the time was right.
==Characteristics==
===Appearance===
As the Frostlord, his Veritas armor is a blueish gray. His helmet has two long lateral horns that point upwards. He wears a pink cape shaped in several strands of clothing. When fought as a boss, he carries several weapons on his back. For the Dark General storyline, a redesign is applied to a copy of his armor, as a more samurai-esque gear with golden colorations and a red visor on his helmet, in significant contrast to his original.
In War of the Visions Gilgamesh dons a new suit of elaborate blue, silver, and black samurai armor with an array of six bladed wings granting him the power of flight. His hair is long and white, spilling out of his Helm of the Sworn, a silver garment that exposes his mouth and has a pair of tall horns that intersect at the top.
His face is obscured for a majority of his portrayal across the Exvius Universe, but his appaerance is disclosed as that of a middle aged man of slightly tanned skin, with long silverly hair, blue, crystaline eyes, with two long strands of hair coming from the front of his face alongside two shorter ones at eyebrow length, and a modest goatee on his chin.
===Personality===
As the Frostlord he was brash, reckless, disobedient, aggressive, arrogant, and battle-thirsty. He scorned people who did not match his power and refused to take orders from anybody who was not close to him in strength. Even then he was disrespectful and picked just to satiate himself. Being a believer of brawn over brain, he dismissed strategy-planning as pointless and preferred to resolve things by his own hand.
A vision of his viewed the world of Paladia to be in decay, as he yearned to see people take upon arms and reignite their battle drive. This single-handedly drove him into a campaign to assault Aldore's weapon deliveries and use the stolen equipment to arm the oppressed populace into fighting against Aldore. This vision sought to see genuine resolve and grew quickly uninterested when his foes didn't satisfy him. Contrary to how he was seen during the Paladian War, this vision was a careful strategist who planned ahead. He greatly valued battle and those who proved themselves to him, praising Hyoh for defeating him while lamenting not seeing how Hyoh's resolve would change the world.
In both instances his true personality is up to debate, as the former was likely influenced by the personality-altering properties of the Veritas armor, while the latter was a vision formed by the oppressed masses' collective desire for freedom and the strength to fight back.
War of the Visions greatly expands upon his personality and motivations. Initially he was shown to be direct and well aware of his power. He exercised authority over the parties in Ardra with impunity as he was vastly more powerful than most of its inhabitants. Gilgamesh's strength and his ability to fly alongside his singular appearance, made the populace of Ardra to revere and fear him as a God-like being, a reputation he rode upon, by constantly refering to people as "mortals" or "children of men".
Gilgamesh's primary motivation is to defeat the Realmscourge and unfathomably powerful bio-mechanical weapon developed by Amnelis, which threathens all of existence, but which he himself cannot defeat despite his new armor. In order to defeat the monster and return to their era along Amnelis, the two engaged in a hundred years long plan in which they would mold the populace of Ardra to suit their ends to subsequently rally all of them together in a greater fight against the Realmscourge.
For that purpose they performed an array of experiments by cultivating and fostering cultures, granting power to some parties and instructing and influencing their history. When the results were not desirable they would utilize a special crystal to transfer their memories and knowledge back in time to their past selves, allowing them to redo their plans. While carrying out these operations, Gilgamesh believed that neutrality was necessary in order to objectively gauge each kingdom's potential, caring more for the end goal rather than the means to achieve it, showing himself as stoic, detached, and somewhat uncaring of collateral damage.
Upon meeting with Sadali Crysthea and his partner Exia, he along with Amnelis believed Sadali to be the prophesied "Bearer of Light" who would be their hope for defeating the Realmscourge and subsequently recruited both into their plans. Sadali believed Gilgamesh to be the God of his religion, which Gilgamesh neither denied nor accepted, but nonetheless played into the role of a divine being.
Although initially unflinching, over time Gilgamesh would begin to question his approach as he witnessed the extent of the suffering that Sadali experienced across many retries which resulted on Sadali's enmity on many occasions, which Sadali did not know as time was rewound without this knowledge. Ultimately, Gilgamesh gave Sadali a choice to rewind time while knowing the facts or remain ignorant, with Sadali choosing the former.
Following this event, the two would grow more distant with Sadali carrying out their plans by himself. When their latest attempt resulted in Exia's sacrifice to rewind time once more, which caused her soul to be sealed in the crystal they utilized to rewind time, Gilgamesh had realized the extent of the burden that he placed on Sadali, separating himself from him, while apologizing for what he made him and Exia go through.
At present time the two men have a greatly strained relationship. Although they still consider each other friends to an extent, their differing goals and priorities have set them apart and even at direct odds. Despite prior threats to kill Sadali before, he has refused to act upon them, likely feeling remorseful.
In the end, Gilgamesh remains single-handedly laser focused into defeating the Realmscourge. Knowing that he has no more chances, he takes matters very seriously and acts carefully. During all instances, Gilgamesh is shown to deeply trust and care for Amnelis, despite the fact the two were former enemies, acting upon her prophecies as a means of guidance. Over time, Gilgamesh becomes less imposing, more trusting and showing more open concern towards others, and generally more aware of the repercusions of his actions. When Sterne confronted him about the pact Leonis forged for the ring, Gilgamesh acknowledged Sterne's right to know and subsequently revealed the truth to him while saving his life from Sadali's curse, entrusting him with a new armor and the goal of defeating the Realmscourge. 
Despite his stoic and serious demeanor, Gilgamesh has a gentler side to himself that he rarely shows. At some point when donning the armor Amnelis forged for him, he inscribed the vow he made along his comrades to protect their homeland inside of his new helmet, hinting that he still values the Sworn Eight. Over time, Gilgamesh developed feelings for Amnelis and sought for both of them to return to their homeland to live a simple, peaceful life together, and struggled with putting such feelings into words when asked to do so by Amnelis.
==Gameplay==
===Playable character===
Gilgamesh appears as a summonable unit in both Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. He is a powerful hybrid physical and magical attacker who makes use of Ice-elemental attacks and Time Magic, and can uniquely wield a powerful sword named the Excalibur, which provides him with ATK and MAG bonuses. 
==== War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius ====
Gilgamesh makes his debut as a playable character. He is a UR-rarity unit of the Ice Element whose main job is the unique Winged One, while his sub jobs are Time Mage and Soldier. He can equip the following items: Sword, Helm, Armor, Accessory. His unit cost is 100.
His first Master Ability increases his own Slash Attack by 10 and AGI by 10%. His second Master Ability further increases his own HP by 1000 and ACC by 15. His Limit Burst is Flash, which deals Dmg (L) to targets within range based on caster's MAG stat and chance of inflicting Slow for 3 turns.
Gilgamesh's main job Winged One, especializes on a mix of Physical, Magic and uniquely to him Hybrid attacks, the latter of which is affected by both Bravery and Faith. Gilgamesh is capable of greatly reducing Slash Resist before damage, move to adjacent unit before dealing damage, or even damage the opponent while decreasing damage. For support Gilgamesh can bestow himself with Haste, heal allies around himself and bestow himself with a barrier to reduce damage up to three times.
Gilgamesh's Time Mage sub job, is largely supportive, especializing in the manipulation of movement and speed of enemies and allies; Guard Haste can speeden turns for allies with a DEF buff so long as Haste is active, or accelerate their turn immediately through Quicken. Conversely, Time Mages can Immobilize or slow down enemies or inflict non-elemental damage. The Soldier sub job focuses on large damage through the consumption of HP, inflict Paralysis or weaken his own resistances for greater ATK boosts.
Gilgamesh's EX Job, enhances Kotetsu to remove Reraise from targets before damage, while Excalibur dispels buffs before damage, and grants him access to Protective Ward to give himself and an ally immunity to some status ailments and boost Magic resist. Gilgamesh's second Master Ability and Dream Ability bolster Armor of Discontinuity with Slash Damage and Accuracy buffs, and greatly increase damage for Kotetsu with added hit chance boost respectively.
Overall Gilgamesh is a flexible unit, but can be difficult to build effectively for both ATK and MAG. Furthermore Kotetsu's hybrid nature makes it susceptible to both Physical and Magic counters, making it less practical, despite its power. Gilgamesh's Limit Burst, Flash, is generally very weak unless upgraded.
His Trust Master Reward is the Helm of the Sworn armor, which bestows HP +382, DEF +8, SPR +8, and the Mystic Dash ability, which significantly raises own MAG for 1 turn and chance of raising CT.
His signature Excalibur is acquired as a pre-registration bonus via logging in for the first time. It was a powerful weapon that could easily be upgraded to its fullest potential without extensive material costs, but largely outclassed by newer content.
==== Final Fantasy Brave Exvius ====
===== Gilgamesh =====
Gilgamesh appears as a summonable unit during War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius collab events, as his Winged One variant rather than his Frostlord alter-ego. He is a 5★ base rarity unit and can be upgraded to 7★ whose roles are Physical Damage, Magic Damage and Support.
Gilgamesh is a unique Hybrid unit in that he has separate Physical and Magic damage abilities rather than Hybrid Damage abilities. Only his Limit Burst, Flash, is Hybrid Damage. Gilgamesh is a Dual-Wield oriented unit that can be built for either form of damage, or both although the latter is unwise given the lack of Hybrid Damage in his arsenal. For Physical Damage he can chain with the Absolute Mirror of Equity chain family, while his Magic Damage chains with the Chaos Wave Awakened (Mystic Cross in the Japanese Version) chain family. Gilgamesh can imperil Ice resistance to enemies, as well as use Time Magic related abilities to fill the LB gauge. He can also use support abilities like the Sworn Eight of Paladia's signature Defensive Barrier or Healing Aura to restore HP/MP to the party.
His Trust Master Reward is the Helmet of the Sworn, which proves ATK/MAG +45 and DEF/SPR +25. His Super Trust Master Reward is the Wings that Transcend Time materia which provides a boost to ATK/MAG by 60% and Equipment ATK/MAG by 50%.
In Brave Exvius, his signature Excalibur, can be upgraded in Steel Castle Melfikya with a unique ability, Dimension Slicer which provides a boost of ATK/MAG by 40%.
===== Veritas of the Frost =====
A Neo Vision rarity unit with the Super Limit Burst shift released as part of the Dark Lineage storyline. This unit is based on a copy of his armor that was controlled by Dioxus into serving as one of his enforcers. This unit especializes on Ice and Dark damage, imbue Ice element and increase Ice damage to the party's physical attacks and bestow ATK/MAG/LB Damage and Human Killer buffs to the party.
===== Solitary Warrior Veritas of the Frost =====
A Global Original Neo Vision rarity unit with the Super Limit Burst shift and part of the "Premium" units as refered by players. This unit is based on a vision made on his likeness with the armor of the Sworn Eight. It is Physical Damage and Breaker unit especializing on stat debuffs and a high focus on the Ice element and a secondary focus on the Dark element. This variant can dispel buffs from enemy, and set a field effect that decreases Ice resist of enemies, and can buff himself for enhanced damage towards Human and Demon type enemies. His skills are also fine tuned for the Global Version only morale battles.
=== Boss ===
Veritas of the Frost is a recurring Boss in Brave Exvius. He makes his debut on the Gronoa chapter, although in true it is Raegen donning his armor. He along the Sworn Eight appear as bosses for the Scorn of the Sworn Eight trial, and indirectly on the Dark Lineage storyline. He's also the main antagonist of the Hidden Behind the Mask story event.
==Other appearances==
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
==Behind the scenes==
Gilgamesh was ranked 12th with 1,113 votes in the Character Popularity Poll for the global server's Six-Month Anniversary Celebration.https://wotvffbe.com/cp-vote/index.html
In 2022, Gilgamesh / Veritas of the Frost was ranked 2nd in the Final Fantasy Brave Exvius Developers' Selection FFBE Unit Popularity Poll with 13,387 votes.https://www.finalfantasyexvius.com/cp-vote/2022/
==Gallery==
File:FFBE Sworn Six Concept Art.png|Gilgamesh (top left) alongside the rest of the Sworn Eight. Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.
File:Gilgamesh and Amnelis Illustration.png|Gilgamesh and Amnelis. Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.
File:WotV FFBE Logo.png|Gilgamesh in the War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius logo. Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.
File:Gilgamesh Popularity from WotV.png|Rank in the global server's Character Popularity poll.
;Portraits
File:Gilgamesh S3 from WotV portrait 1.png|Portrait.
File:Gilgamesh S3 from WotV portrait 3.png|Portrait.
File:Gilgamesh S3 from WotV portrait 4.png|Portrait.
File:Gilgamesh S3 from WotV portrait 5.png|Portrait.
==Etymology==
==Notes==
===Citations===
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius