TV-Series
Description
In the narrative of Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, Gilgamesh is the Archer-class Servant who stands as the primary antagonist. He is the ancient King of Uruk, a figure from the oldest surviving epic poem in human history, and rules as the absolute "King of Heroes" who owned all the treasures of the world in his original life. Summoned initially in the previous Holy Grail War, he has remained in the physical world for a decade by the time the events of Unlimited Blade Works unfold, having formed a new contract with the priest Kirei Kotomine after the death of his original master, Tokiomi Tohsaka. During this route of the story, Kotomine loans Gilgamesh to the inept magus Shinji Matou to serve as his Servant after Shinji’s original partner is killed, an arrangement Gilgamesh treats with bored contempt.
Gilgamesh possesses a personality defined by towering arrogance, immense pride, and a profound sense of ownership over the world. He views all other beings, whether human or Servant, as inferior "mongrels" or "杂种" who exist only to serve his amusement or be crushed for their insolence. This arrogance pervades every aspect of his behavior; he holds no respect for the wishes or ideals of others, dismissing concepts like justice or equality as foolish fantasies. His self-assigned role as the sole arbiter of value means he believes that only he has the right to judge what is worthy or worthless in his treasury, which he considers to encompass all of humanity's creations. Despite his vicious demeanor, Gilgamesh is not a mindless brute. He is cunning, patient, and highly observant, capable of intricate manipulation and long-term planning, as demonstrated by his decade-long presence in Fuyuki City.
His central motivation in Unlimited Blade Works is twofold. On a superficial level, he seeks to reclaim the corrupt Holy Grail, which he does not wish to use for a wish but rather to enact a catastrophic culling of the human race. He openly declares his intention to destroy the majority of humanity, believing that modern society is bloated, directionless, and filled with people who lack purpose or a connection to a meaningful struggle. His goal is not simple genocide but a drastic reset; he wants to reduce the human population to a fraction of its current size, thereby weeding out the worthless and forcing the survivors to rediscover the value and nobility of life under the pressure of genuine hardship. On a more personal level, he is driven by an obsessive desire to claim the Servant Saber, the spirit of King Arthur, as his own possession. This fixation is a holdover from the previous war, and he views her as the only object of beauty and value in the modern era worthy of being his queen.
Within the story's role structure, Gilgamesh functions as the ultimate test for the protagonist, Shirou Emiya. While other antagonists represent immediate physical threats, Gilgamesh embodies a philosophical opposition to Shirou’s ideals. Where Shirou strives to save everyone, Gilgamesh believes most are not worth saving. Where Shirou forges his own path with limited power, Gilgamesh is the original owner of infinite treasures. The climax of the Unlimited Blade Works route hinges entirely on their confrontation. Gilgamesh serves as the final obstacle standing between Shirou, Rin Tohsaka, and the corrupted Grail he seeks to unleash. He shows no interest in the other conflicts of the war, instead waiting for the right moment to execute his world-altering plan, brutally eliminating other participants like Illyasviel von Einzbern to further his goals.
Key relationships define his role in the narrative. His contempt for Shinji Matou is absolute; he views the boy as a pathetic, worthless placeholder of a master and frequently mocks him. His relationship with Kirei Kotomine is more complex, built on a mutual understanding of hedonistic pleasure derived from human suffering, though Gilgamesh still clearly considers himself superior. His most significant dynamic is with Shirou Emiya. Gilgamesh initially dismisses Shirou as a hopeless fake and a noisy upstart, refusing to take him seriously as a threat. This deep-seated pride proves to be his critical weakness, as he underestimates Shirou's Reality Marble, Unlimited Blade Works, which can project weapons faster than Gilgamesh can draw them from his treasury and directly counters his favored fighting style.
Gilgamesh undergoes no moral redemption or permanent change throughout Unlimited Blade Works; his character arc is one of static, monumental pride leading directly to his downfall. His development is negative, a tragic demonstration of how absolute power corrupts absolutely. The one change observable is his growing irritation and eventual frantic realization that the "faker" Shirou is actually capable of defeating him, a truth his ego refuses to accept until the very moment his arm is severed. His defeat is not because his power fails, but because his inability to acknowledge an inferior opponent as worthy of his full strength prevents him from using his ultimate weapon, Ea, in time to secure victory. This outcome is the direct consequence of his hubris, a flaw that serves as the narrative's central commentary on the emptiness of unchallenged power.
In terms of abilities, Gilgamesh is consistently cited as the strongest among Servants, though his attitude prevents him from fighting at full capacity. His primary weapon is the Gate of Babylon, a key that opens a spatial vault containing the originals of every treasure, artifact, and Noble Phantasm ever owned by humanity. In combat, he typically opens portals in the air to fire these legendary weapons as homing projectiles, a simple but devastatingly effective technique that can overwhelm almost any opponent. Among these treasures, he has a few specific items he wields with purpose. The Chains of Heaven, Enkidu, are a Noble Phantasm named after his only friend; these chains are a formidable restraint that grows stronger the higher the target's divinity, making them nearly unbreakable for a god. Finally, his ultimate possession is the sword Ea, an anti-world Noble Phantasm that pre-dates the concept of a "sword." Its activation phrase is Enuma Elish, and when used, it unleashes a spinning, drill-like attack that shears away space and reality itself, an attack that can effortlessly destroy a Reality Marble like Unlimited Blade Works. Gilgamesh’s contempt for his opponents is such that he considers the use of Ea on a "mongrel" like Shirou to be a profound insult to his own standards, a decision that ultimately proves fatal.
Gilgamesh possesses a personality defined by towering arrogance, immense pride, and a profound sense of ownership over the world. He views all other beings, whether human or Servant, as inferior "mongrels" or "杂种" who exist only to serve his amusement or be crushed for their insolence. This arrogance pervades every aspect of his behavior; he holds no respect for the wishes or ideals of others, dismissing concepts like justice or equality as foolish fantasies. His self-assigned role as the sole arbiter of value means he believes that only he has the right to judge what is worthy or worthless in his treasury, which he considers to encompass all of humanity's creations. Despite his vicious demeanor, Gilgamesh is not a mindless brute. He is cunning, patient, and highly observant, capable of intricate manipulation and long-term planning, as demonstrated by his decade-long presence in Fuyuki City.
His central motivation in Unlimited Blade Works is twofold. On a superficial level, he seeks to reclaim the corrupt Holy Grail, which he does not wish to use for a wish but rather to enact a catastrophic culling of the human race. He openly declares his intention to destroy the majority of humanity, believing that modern society is bloated, directionless, and filled with people who lack purpose or a connection to a meaningful struggle. His goal is not simple genocide but a drastic reset; he wants to reduce the human population to a fraction of its current size, thereby weeding out the worthless and forcing the survivors to rediscover the value and nobility of life under the pressure of genuine hardship. On a more personal level, he is driven by an obsessive desire to claim the Servant Saber, the spirit of King Arthur, as his own possession. This fixation is a holdover from the previous war, and he views her as the only object of beauty and value in the modern era worthy of being his queen.
Within the story's role structure, Gilgamesh functions as the ultimate test for the protagonist, Shirou Emiya. While other antagonists represent immediate physical threats, Gilgamesh embodies a philosophical opposition to Shirou’s ideals. Where Shirou strives to save everyone, Gilgamesh believes most are not worth saving. Where Shirou forges his own path with limited power, Gilgamesh is the original owner of infinite treasures. The climax of the Unlimited Blade Works route hinges entirely on their confrontation. Gilgamesh serves as the final obstacle standing between Shirou, Rin Tohsaka, and the corrupted Grail he seeks to unleash. He shows no interest in the other conflicts of the war, instead waiting for the right moment to execute his world-altering plan, brutally eliminating other participants like Illyasviel von Einzbern to further his goals.
Key relationships define his role in the narrative. His contempt for Shinji Matou is absolute; he views the boy as a pathetic, worthless placeholder of a master and frequently mocks him. His relationship with Kirei Kotomine is more complex, built on a mutual understanding of hedonistic pleasure derived from human suffering, though Gilgamesh still clearly considers himself superior. His most significant dynamic is with Shirou Emiya. Gilgamesh initially dismisses Shirou as a hopeless fake and a noisy upstart, refusing to take him seriously as a threat. This deep-seated pride proves to be his critical weakness, as he underestimates Shirou's Reality Marble, Unlimited Blade Works, which can project weapons faster than Gilgamesh can draw them from his treasury and directly counters his favored fighting style.
Gilgamesh undergoes no moral redemption or permanent change throughout Unlimited Blade Works; his character arc is one of static, monumental pride leading directly to his downfall. His development is negative, a tragic demonstration of how absolute power corrupts absolutely. The one change observable is his growing irritation and eventual frantic realization that the "faker" Shirou is actually capable of defeating him, a truth his ego refuses to accept until the very moment his arm is severed. His defeat is not because his power fails, but because his inability to acknowledge an inferior opponent as worthy of his full strength prevents him from using his ultimate weapon, Ea, in time to secure victory. This outcome is the direct consequence of his hubris, a flaw that serves as the narrative's central commentary on the emptiness of unchallenged power.
In terms of abilities, Gilgamesh is consistently cited as the strongest among Servants, though his attitude prevents him from fighting at full capacity. His primary weapon is the Gate of Babylon, a key that opens a spatial vault containing the originals of every treasure, artifact, and Noble Phantasm ever owned by humanity. In combat, he typically opens portals in the air to fire these legendary weapons as homing projectiles, a simple but devastatingly effective technique that can overwhelm almost any opponent. Among these treasures, he has a few specific items he wields with purpose. The Chains of Heaven, Enkidu, are a Noble Phantasm named after his only friend; these chains are a formidable restraint that grows stronger the higher the target's divinity, making them nearly unbreakable for a god. Finally, his ultimate possession is the sword Ea, an anti-world Noble Phantasm that pre-dates the concept of a "sword." Its activation phrase is Enuma Elish, and when used, it unleashes a spinning, drill-like attack that shears away space and reality itself, an attack that can effortlessly destroy a Reality Marble like Unlimited Blade Works. Gilgamesh’s contempt for his opponents is such that he considers the use of Ea on a "mongrel" like Shirou to be a profound insult to his own standards, a decision that ultimately proves fatal.