Gilgamesh vs Estark (Final Fantasy vs Dragon Quest)

Gilgamesh, Final Fantasy’s Wander of the Rift.

Estark, Dragon Quest’s Lord of the Underworld

These two are some of Square Enix’s most iconic bosses. No matter what the place, time, or universe, they will always be there to battle our heroes. But what if in one of these worlds, these two warriors happened to cross paths? Who would walk away to tell the tale?

Before We Start…

As Gilgamesh and Estark have appeared in a large number of games due to their decades old status as recurring superbosses, this blog will be a soft composite of the two for the sake of comprehensiveness. 

Gilgamesh’s section will include all his mainline appearances and spin offs such as the Dissidia franchise, Mobius Final Fantasy, World of Final Fantasy, etc. However appearances from IX, XI, XV, and Type 0 will be excluded since those are separate characters entirely. We also will not be cross-scaling the abilities and powers between other Final Fantasy games due to many of them containing vastly different power systems. If Gil uses an ability in one game, we will not assume its effects are the same in another unless proven otherwise.

Estark’s section will also cover all his mainline appearances and spin offs like the Monsters subseries, Heroes II, Tact, and etc. Additionally, abilities within the Monsters games obtained through the use skill books will be used for Estark, as well as synthesizing, since that is the only way to obtain him in some games.

Finally, as both characters appear within Brave Exvius, and the game itself is more of a Square Enix crossover than a Final Fantasy title (similarly to Smash Bros), it will not be used for feats, scaling, or equipment, but notable abilities and Gilgamesh’s Genji gear will be included.

Background

Gilgamesh

“Enough expository banter! Now is the time we fight like men! And ladies! And ladies who dress like men!”

Little is known about Gilgamesh’s history prior to his journeys throughout the multiverse. His village was an area that celebrated strong warriors, and being one of the finest in his homeland earned Gilgamesh the right to bear the Genji Armor. His skills in swordsmanship would catch the eye of the powerful warlock Exdeath, who required a servant to carry out his plans to merge the dimensions and take control of the void. For whatever reason, Gilgamesh obliged and began to work for the madman.

This job would eventually cause him to run into his greatest rival in all of time and space: Bartz Klauser. The hobo with a chocobo would encounter Gilgamesh multiple times throughout his journey, clashing blades at every turn. With each battle, a kinship of sorts was developed between the duo, as Gilgamesh began to respect Bartz’s skills as a warrior. No matter how many times he was beaten or forced to retreat, Gilgamesh never wavered, wanting to firmly prove his mettle towards Bartz and his band of Light Warriors. This rivalry would come to ahead inside Castle Exdeath, where Gilgamesh would unveil the legendary Excalibur as his trump card against the warriors…until it turned out to be a poor mans replica known as Excalipoor. 

After a tremendous screw up, Exdeath had enough and decided to firmly banish Gilgamesh into the Interdimensional Rift to be killed by the monster that delved within. Unfortunately for the warlock, this action proved to be a fatal mistake, as Gilgamesh was not dead! After wandering the Rift slaying monsters of all kinds, he would encounter Bartz and his crew. His newfound respect driving his heart, Gilgamesh would assist the party in their ventures to defeat Exdeath, leading to the legendary swordsman fighting the demon known as Necrophobe. With no other options to defeat the beast, Gilgamesh bid farewell to his newfound friends, as he self-destructed and took the demon’s life…

…at least that’s what originally happened. Somehow Gilgamesh ended up surviving and was left stuck in the Interdimensional Rift. With nothing better to do, Gilgamesh would begin venturing across the multiverse, finding new weapons to collect and add to his vast collection. Oftentimes this involved getting into fights with other Final Fantasy protagonists, usually befriending them by the end of the scuffle. Sometimes he would find himself participating in a war between gods of harmony and discord. Other times he’ll end up being a bodyguard who fails to stop a sword from being stolen. And sometimes he’ll randomly show up to one shot a mid-game boss the player was struggling with.

No matter the universe, Gilgamesh maintains his one desire: To fight and defeat Bartz in the rematch of legends. Perhaps one day, he’ll meet his greatest rival on the battlefield, and showcase everything he has learned across the countless dimensions of Final Fantasy. 

Estark

“My name is Estark. That is all I can recall. I do not even remember if I am good or evil.”

Tens of thousands of years into the past, a demon born within the fiery flames of the underworld managed to discover a forbidden art that would alter the course of history forever, the Secret of Evolution. By utilizing this great evil, the demon evolved into a being of such unfathomable power that he rivaled even the Goddess herself. Fearing the inevitable disaster this all-powerful demon could inflict upon the mortal world, the almighty Zenith Dragon led his army of angels down to the world below to put an end to the demon's reign of terror. After a long, gruesome, and bloody war the demon and his army were defeated, but despite the best efforts of the Zenith Dragon, he was unable to permanently destroy the Lord of the Underworld. The only thing that he could do was place the monster under a powerful seal that would keep him at bay for several millennia, until the day the prophesied chosen would put an end to him…and that is but one of the known origins for the being that is Estark.

Within the story of The Dark Prince, it is said that Estark was originally created by a Zenithian by the name of Azabel. This once holy angel, like all her other brethren, watched over the mortal world of Terrestria and kept detailed records of the affairs that take place within the realm below. However, after decades of witnessing the endless cruelty and conflicts that mortals were capable of inflicting upon themselves, Azabel eventually saw only the imperfections and injustices that took place, and became discontent watching a world where the strong could trample on the weak without remorse or retribution.

Resolved to create a utopia befitting of her own ideals, Azabel stole the Secrets of Creation from Zenithia and used it to manifest a trio of abominations to life itself. These creatures were known as Izmajurah, Venjurah, and, the most infamous of them all, Estark Dumajurah. Sending them down to the realm of mortals, she had them bring destruction of all life, paying no heed to the suffering of the inhabitants as she truly believed that the momentary pain and agony within the present is a sacrifice worth paying for the eternity of bliss she would bring. It was due to this act of near complete annihilation that these three monsters came to be known as the Unholy Trinity. With half of the world wiped out in the span of a few days, the Zenith Dragon had no choice but to wage war against his own kind, and seal the angel and her creations away, lest they bring the whole world to ruin.

Regardless of the origins, following Estark’s seal into eternal dormancy, a half-demon, half-human hybrid by the name of Psaro uncovered knowledge of this legendary entity’s existence. Viewing this Estark as the perfect pawn to fulfill his goals, he slowly began to orchestrate the events of Dragon Quest IV in order to bring about the Lord of the Underworld’s resurrection. But sadly, fate was not on the side of either, for when the half-demon finally managed to free Estark from the shackles of his imprisonment, he arrived to see only a corpse for the chosen hero slayed the famed demon before he could reclaim his true power.

…but that is not the end of Estark’s story. Though his body became a mere corpse, his soul lived on, and that condemned soul strived for his rebirth. And eventually he succeeded…but at a cost, for in his prolonged sleep, all memories he ever had of his previous existence were lost to him: his true name, his own family, his goal, and whether he was even good or evil to begin with (though somehow he remembers the existence of his T ‘n’ T board). All that remained was a desire to stay in the endless slumber, until the next unfortunate soul rouses him…

Experience & Skill

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh has been stated to be a master swordsman plenty of times, and his fights against the Final Fantasy cast back those claims up. Be it swords, axes, spears, and even firearms, Gilgamesh has displayed extreme proficiency in just about any weapon he wields. His multi armed form displays the same level of expertise in skill with each weapon, and has been proclaimed to decimate entire armies in combat.

These skills have allowed him to clash and rival many of the greatest fighters across the multiverse such as Cecil, Cloud, and of course his rival Bartz. Cecil himself has been trained to surpass knights that can analyze an opponent's movements instantly, and Bartz has been able to perfectly mimic fighting styles and develop them to specifically counter an opponent. His time in the rift has seemingly halted his aging, granting him plenty of time to adjust and develop new skills with the various weapons he’s accumulated. 

Estark

Estark’s experience is a mystery, both to himself and in game. Due to his forced slumber keeping him at bay for long periods of time, all prior knowledge of his life is unknown to him and whatever skill he might have possessed. All that can be gathered is, in spite of his amnesia, his ability to be a potent threat to anyone he encounters has not diminished in the slightest. 

Whether he is fighting humans skilled in the art of physical and magical combat, Monster Tamers who command a well-built team of creatures, or a deity itself, his overwhelming power is notable in all of those fights. With the above finding combat against him is so challenging they can scarcely believe they won at all.

Equipment

Gilgamesh

A lot of weapons

If it wasn’t clear, Gilgamesh has A LOT of weapons at his disposal, all of which he can summon at any time. His travels across the multiverse have acquired him a very large arsenal that covers just about every method of combat possible. In Brave Exvius, he’s noted to be able to wield any of the games weapons, which includes: Swords, Daggers, Greatswords, Katanas, Staves, Rods, Bows, Axes, Hammers, Spears, Instruments, Whips, Throwing Weapons, Guns, Maces and even his own fists.

Notable Weapons

	Trident	A weapon wielded by Gilgamesh before getting beaten up and having it stolen. Beyond boosting attack it can apply lightning effects.
	Rune Bow	A bow with perfect accuracy and has a chance of inflicting silence.
	Firearms	A wide assortment of guns found in the Rift that give Gilgamesh the option of long-range combat.
	Lightbringer	A legendary sword of the heavens that can randomly cast Holy as an ability. The sword excels in boosting the evasion of the user, alongside letting them consume MP for a critical hit.
	Ragnarok	A sword known for ending battles before they begin. Obtained in FF6, this sword boosts the users physicality while also having the chance to cast Flare.
	Apocalypse	A blade of unknown origin, material composition, and creator. Believed as the omen of calamities yet to come, Gilgamesh wields this in Brave Exidus as a means to deal Dark damage.
	Pradamante	A parody of Nael Vun Darnus’s “Bradamante.” Causes an instant AOE cast on a target, damaging all parties caught in it.
	Flayer	A magnificent spear wielded by Gilgamesh in Brave Exvius. The spear can deal lightning damage while also removing all buffs and debuffs.
	Osafune	A weapon exclusive to Gilgamesh in Dissidia. A sword noteworthy for cleaving through armor.
	Kotetsu	Another weapon Gilgamesh obtained in Dissidia. The weapon increases the strength of Gilgamesh.
	Yoshiyuki	A special weapon wielded in Dissidia. This sword primarily increases Gilgamesh’s strength.
	Kumbha	A red zigzag blade obtained in FF XII, focusing primarily on boosting evasion.
	Chicken Knife	A special knife that is the polar opposite of the Brave Blade. Wielded in Dissidia, the weapon increases in power the more Gilgamesh’s health begins to drop down to zero.
	Wyrmhero Blade	A legendary blade totally not based off of Dragon Quest. The sword amplifies the strength of the user.

Replica Weapons

In Final Fantasy XII, Gilgamesh carries a large assortment of weapons that are copies of other legendary weapons across the multiverse. 

	Buster Replica	A copy of Cloud’s buster sword. Can inflict the “Slow” status.
	Gunblade Replica	A replica of Squall’s gunblade. Can inflict Disease.
	Orchical Replica	A replica of Zidanne’s weapon. Can inflict Silence.
	Fraterni Replica	A replica of Tidus’s weapon. Can inflict stop.
	Kotsetu Replica	A replica of Kotsetsu that increases evasion.
	Zantetsu Replica	A replica of Zantestu that can inflict petrification.
	Tournesol Replica	A replica of the Tournesol that can inflict sleep.
	Tournesol Replica II	ANOTHER replica of the Tournesol that can inflict sap, which acts similar to poison.

Genji Equipment

A recurring series of weapons and armor from Gilgamesh’s village, passed on to the village’s best warriors after proving their worth.

	Genji Blade	A weapon stated to cut lesser weapons in two. It primarily boosts the attack power of the wielder.
	Genji Bow	A special bow that can fire multiple arrows and increase strength and magic of the user.
	Genji Armor	One-of-a-kind suit of armor crafted in a faraway land. Prevents Confusion, Toad, Instant Death, and Blind.
	Genji Gloves	A pair of vermillion gloves that grant immunity to Toad, Paralysis, Poison, and Stone.
	Genii Helm	An exptic helm from a foreign land. Grants immunity to Confusion, Mini, Paralysis, and Petrification.
	Genji Shield	A iron shield made by foreign craftsmen. It grants immunity to Mini, Paralysis, and Instant Death.

Summonstones

A series of stones from Dissidia that can grant Gilgamesh access to different summons to utilize in battle. A list of all of them can be found here. Some of the most notable ones include the following:

	Ramuh	Halts an opponent from summoning for 50 seconds by utilizing his powerful Judgement Bolt.
	Asura	The queen of multiple faces and arms, Asura can heal an opponent's injuries in battle, and notably effect summons in battle. She can seal them for 75 seconds, force them out, or render them unusable for the rest of the fight.
	Syldra	A huge sea dragon that can casts thunderstorms that can dispel any active summons on the field.
	Gilgamesh	Gilgamesh can summon…Gilgamesh somehow. Just like his non-summon self he will summon either a proper weapon in Excalibur or the piss poor Excalipoor.
	Atomos	A powerful summon that can destroy the atomic structures of those it devourers.
	Mandragora	A plant monster with a scream deadly enough to kill anyone who hears it.
	Tonberry	The almighty legendary one shotting knife shanking monster. Even its mere gaze can cause death to a victim.
	Shinryu Versus	An evolved version of the dragon Shinryu, who can utilize any of the previous effects of the summons at random.

Reoccuring/Prominent Weapons

Naginata

A standard Naginata that Gilgamesh uses frequently. Its long reach can be used to attack opponents while keeping Gilgamesh safe.

Exclalipoor

A legendary blade named after the almighty sword wielded by Sir Arthur himself…or so Gilgamesh thinks at first. In reality this is a poor copy that for some reason Gilgamesh keeps on his person EVERY time. And no, this isn’t some personal favorite of his or some kind of other legendary sword. This sword just fucking sucks. It does 1 point of damage each time in every game it shows up in. The only use the sword has is when you throw it, where suddenly it does 9999 points of damage. Nobody knows why Gilgamesh continues to use this sword even when he actually HAS Excalibur on his person. Like seriously…why?

Excalibur

The ACTUAL legendary weapon named after Sir Arthur’s blade. This sword amplifies Gilgamesh’s physicality by a great margin, alongside offering the element of light and being capable of inflicting confuse on an opponent. Gilgamesh even wields Excalibur II, which can blind, paralyze, and confuse an opponent all at the same time.

Masamune

A legendary blade from the kingdom of Doma. This sword has been known to ignore the defenses of its targets, often reducing them to the lowest health point. Beyond being really sharp, the sword can silence the magic of others, slow down their time, and cast curses that drain the magic of others.

Murasama

A sword that thirsts on the blood of its enemies and can strike down the time’s master. This weapon can drain the health of others and weaken the strength and defenses of those struck by it. He also wields the True Murasama, which increases these effects even more.

Bashosen

A large fan that fires wind like projectiles, slowing down opponents and removing any buffs they may have had. The True Whirlwind Blade can not only paralyze an opponent, but reduce all elemental resistances an opponent has by 120%.

Zantetsuken

A weapon picked up from Odin after this death, this sword is arguably one of Gilgamesh’s strongest weapons. The main property of this weapon is to induce death into anyone that’s struck by it. On the off chance the victim survives, they can be inflicted with grievous wounds or have their time slowed down. The most dangerous version of this sword however can be seen with the True Zantetsuken, a sword that bypasses even those with resistances to death to firmly destroy its target.

Estark

Weapons

Twin Sabers

Estark’s iconic pair of swords that he is always seen carrying in basically every single game or artwork, asleep or awake. Not usually wielded by players in most games, but in Heroes II said weapons are listed as being one of the stronger blades in the game, surpassing the power of famed swords like Erdrick’s Sword and the Zenithian Sword. It also slightly increases the odds of landing a critical hit.

DQMJ weapons

	Pankraz’s Sword	A sword once used by the noble king of Gotha. While it does not cast any special form of magic, it is able to wield its user with each strike.
	Zombie Slayer	A blessed blade custom made for slaying the undead.
	Dragon Slayer	A powerful blade that is especially effective on draconic beings.
	Metal King Sword	One of the strongest swords in the game. While it does not have any special power, it is able to easily cleave through metallic substances which makes it ideal for massacring Metal Slimes.
	Hypernova Sword	An almighty blade that can weaken its foe’s defense with each strike.
	Hero’s Spear	A blessed spear that is able to heal its wielder with every attack.
	Executioner’s Axe	A revolutionary, rustproof axe that triples critical hit chance.
	Gingham Whip	A legendary whip capable of hitting multiple foes at once with no damage reduction compared to other forms of multi-target physical weapons.
	Sage’s Staff	The staff of wise men, capable of shielding its wielder from breath attacks or healing them with Midheal depending on the game.
	Rune Staff	A wand with the notable ability to cast Kabuff to increase its wielder's defense.

*Note: In the Monsters titles, Estark can only equip a few types of weapons. However, if given the Master of Weapons trait he can wield any of them.

Lord’s Bracer

A special bracer Estark has in Dragon Quest 8 that is imbued with his inimitiable powers and doubles the strength of whomever wears it. According to Estark itself a strong will is needed in order to prevent the bracelet from overwhelming the wearer with its magic.

DQM2 Accessores

In the second Monsters title for the Gameboy color, Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Cobi & Tara’s Journey there exist a few accessories that can be used by any variety of monster.

• Brave Cape: Increases resistances against abilities that seal magic or techniques.

• Platinum Cape: Increases resistance against Curses, Paralysis, and Instant Death skills.

• Silver Cape: Increases resistances against Confusion, Poison, and Sleep spells / skills.

• Gold Cape: Increases resistances to all status conditions.

• Magic Cape: Increases resistance to fire, ice, wind, lightning, and explosive attacks.

DQM Dark Prince Accessories

• Ancient Ankh: Reduces MP consumption by ¾.

• Care Ring: Boosts HP and Defense, while regenerating the monster’s health every turn.

• Goddess Ring: Increases max MP and Wisdom, and regenerates MP every turn.

• Rational Ring: A ring that increases resistance to confusion, sleep, and stun.

• Tingly Ring: A ring that increases resistance to paralysis, instant death, and poison.

Abilities

Gilgamesh

Weapon Mastery

Throughout his many many battles, Gilgamesh has displayed a large amount of proficiency when wielding the various weapons in his arsenal. From short range to long range weaponry, Gilgamesh manages to wield these weapons with enough skill to compete with the best of Final Fantasy. 

Magic

Like many characters in the Final Fantasy universe, Gilgamesh can utilize various forms of magic for his attacks. Described in some games as projecting your inner mind into reality, magic can twist the laws of reality around a user to accomplish many great feats. Whether it’s casting a simple spell or even twisting space and time itself to shorten distances, the only limit a user has is their own mental strength. His journeys across the Final Fantasy multiverse has allowed Gilgamesh to pick up on several different magical powers across many different games. 

White Magic

A set of magic primarily designed for healing and support. The stronger the will of the user, the more potent White Magic becomes.

• Protect: By hardening armor and other protective gear, Gilgamesh can increase his physical defenses.

• Shell: A shield that halves magical damage to the user by enveloping them in a protective membrane.

• Heal: A spell that can restore the body’s nerves and internal molecules back to their original state. It can also recover effects from petrification, silence, confusion, and other ailments.

• Weapon Regen: As the name implies, Gilgamesh can regenerate and fix damage to his weapons if they are broken. This also removes all negative status effects placed on him.

• Mini: A spell that turns the target small, weakening their overall physical performance.

• Berserk: A spell that increases physical power through the strengthening of muscles, with a side effect of causing the target to become a mindless berserker who only uses physical power.

• Remedy: A spell that fully heals the target's HP.

Black Magic

A series of magic that primarily focuses on damaging or attacking an opponent. Said to require formidable intellect to master it, Black Magic users can gain access to destructive or debilitating spells. 

 

• Ruin / Ruinga: The application of dark magic in a wide radius.

• Earthquake: A grand scale seismic reaction that can damage the environment around Gilgamesh.

• Lv. 2 Sleep: A spell that puts a target to well…sleep.

• Lv. 3 Disable: Casts a spell that prevents actions beyond moving.

• Lv. 4 Break: A spell that can petrify a target.

Time Magic

A series of magic that involves manipulation of time and space that is often associated with the iconic Final Fantasy spells: Slow, Stop, and Haste. 

• Haste: A spell that “hastens the passing of time” by speeding up the user's own (or via suppressing gravity). This effect can additionally increase the speed of temporary debuffs, such as Poison or Sleep, and result in them dissipating much earlier. However, it can also cause debilitating effects to happen sooner, like shortening the countdown of Doom, and makes positive buffs last shorter.

• Slow: The reverse of Haste, this spell “slows the passing of time” by reducing the target’s. This effect will prolong the length of temporary status effects, causing the victim to suffer longer from debilitating conditions such as Sleep or Poison. However, it will also slow the progression of delayed status effects, like gradual petrification, and allow temporary buffs to last longer.

• Quick: A spell that speeds up the time of the user, allowing Gilgamesh to perform more than one action.

Blue Magic

A unique form of magic that replicates the abilities of monsters. Depending on the game, Blue Magic cannot be disabled by common magic sealing like Silence and some will be unaffected by Reflect.

• 1000 Needles: A nigh unblockable attack that launches needles at high speeds. 

• Aera: A wind spell that can target multiple enemies.

• Aqua Breath: Combines wind and water for an attack that launches bubbles.

• Bad Breath: By unleashing a spread of poisonous gas, this attack can inflict multiple status effects such as Confusion, Bind, Silence, or Mini.

• Dancehall Daze: A spell that causes the target to sleep.

• Death Claw: A slash that can reduce an enemy to a single digit of health. This can be manifested even as projectiles. 

• Dischord: Unleashes a soundwave that can half the enemies “level.”

• Electrocute: Summons a bolt of lightning that can paralyze enemies.

• Flash: A spell that can blind enemies. 

• Goblin Punch: An attack that can deal a random amount of damage. Should the users level be the same as their target, the damage becomes even greater.

• Hurricane: A spell that summons a large tornado that can greatly reduce an enemies health. 

• Lilliputian Lyric: With the power of song, Gilgamesh can shrink a target, drastically reducing their attack, defense, and even their speed. 

• Mind Blast: Can inflict paralysis alongside damaging the target.

• Missile: An attack that cuts 3/4ths of the targets health, while also inflict the status of old.

• Pond’s Chorus: By singing a melody (a different one), Gilgamesh can turn a target into a toad.

• Quasar: An unblockable attack that rains meteors down from space, bypassing magical resistances.

• Rocket Punch: A giant boxing glove that can confuse opponents and take away half of a target's health.

• Revenge Blast: A blast that deals damage equal to how much Gilgamesh has lost.

• Self Destruct: Gilgamesh pulls a DBZ and blows himself up, killing himself and anyone in the vicinity. 

• Time Slip: A spell that can turn a target older, while also putting them to sleep

• Venomous Gas: Sends a wave of gas that can poison all foes.

• Wind Slash: A wind attack that can send a barrage of wind blades towards the enemy

Misc. Magic

• Laser Barrage: Fires a laser that can damage opponents.

• Thunderbolt: Summons a lighting bolt from the sky.

• Embodiment: A series of clones that Gilgamesh can spawn that replicate his moves perfectly.

• Size Manipulation: During the summoning of his embodiments, Gilgamesh can increase his size.

• Lightning Orbs: He can do a variation known as Electrogenetic Force, which causes multiple orbs to eventually explode after a brief period of time.

• Fluttering Dance: A special movement that can summon a gust of wind.

• Gekko: Summons a white checkerboard that activates a series of slashes.

• Gigasplode: Creates a big explosion that can push back enemies.

• Bloomshower: A series of sword slashes that surround the area in a circular or rectangular pattern.

• Moonlight: Jumps in the air and unleashes a cyclone of slashes, appearing with the image of a full moon.

• Inoshikacho: Summons a series of butterflies that fly around and explode.

• Chicken: Turns opponents into chickens, making them weaker and unable to attack.

• Whirlwind: Creates a series of small tornados that explode when contact is made. 

• Icewind: A series of freezing wind slashes that surround the opponent.

• Iron Chain: A series of chains are attached to multiple parties, draining their health until they have nothing left.

• Tether: A variation of the iron chains that latch two people together, restricting their movements.

• Dragon Head: A mystical dragon-like construct is summoned to attack the opponents. They can fire blasts from their mouth, create damaging force fields, and rain down a barrage of energy blasts from the sky.

• Barrier: A protective wall that mitigates physical damage. 

• Valor: A spell that triples the power of the next attack.

• Vendetta: A counterattack that is unleashed after defending, with the damage increasing the more Gilgamesh is attacked.

• Spellsword Stray: Summons multiple pillars of ice beneath the opponent.

• Gotterdammerung: A special earth attack that creates a tremor that causes multiple earth spires to rise up.

• Phantom Blush: Assaults the opponent with several light based explosions.

• Ultimama: A special light based ability that creates a large explosion that nullifies defenses.

Deception

Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly), Gilgamesh isn’t a completely honorable warrior and will often employ cheap tactics to win fights. He’ll make up excuses to escape, or just pretend to be defeated only to stack multiple buffs and heal himself. Even outside of battle, he was able to somehow trick everyone into believing he was a separate being named Yojimbo, simply by wearing a detailed disguise. 

Portal Creation

Somehow Gilgamesh has found a way to create portals to the Interdimensional Rift. He can summon a portal to it out of nowhere, or cut a hole in space to gain access to it.

Summoning

Beyond the summonstones, Gilgamesh can just summon other characters to his side. This even includes characters from other Final Fantasy properties. 

Allies

Enkidu

Gilgamesh’s best friend and ally who assists him during his travels across dimensions. Whether it’s as a weird demon creature, a dog, or a dragon, Enkidu is always at Gilgamesh’s side. Across the series, Enkidu has displayed the following skills:

• Lunge: …exactly what it says on the tin. He lunges at you to attack.

• Dash: A quick dash that attacks a target.

• Growl: Grants the user a combination of Protect, Shell, and Haste.

• Discord: Temporarily lowers the attack and defense of a target.

• White Wind: Summons a wind that can heal Enkidu and Gilgamesh. Stronger versions such as Ultimate White Wind can cure negative status effects.

• Aeorga: A more powerful version of Aero, which summons powerful winds that can ignore defenses. The Ultimate Aeroga can ignore resistances to wind attacks.

• Firaga: The most powerful fire spell available, unleashing a wave of flames. The Ultimate Firaga can bypass fire resistances.

• Vampire: A spell that can drain the health of others.

• Web: Can produce a thread that reduces the movement of a target.

• Slow: Can slow down a target's time.

• Dispel: A spell that can remove buffs from a target.

• Missile: A series of missiles that can remove 3/4ths of a targets health and inflict the status of Old.

• Hurricane: Surrounds a target with powerful winds.

• Eerie Soundwave: Makes a sound wave that can inflict confusion.

• Sonic Fangs: A bite that has a chance of inflicting instant death.

• Crushing Fangs: Another bite attack that has a greater chance of inflicting death.

• Poisonous Bite: A third bite attack that can poison a target.

• Dream Hell Wind: Creates a wind attack that ignores resistances and inflicts poison.

• Ultimate Evil Mist: The same shit as Dream Hell Wind but this time it’s in mist form.

Daigoro

A pet Gilgamesh befriended when posing as Yojimbo. He can attack and claw and swipe his opponents, though he’s often bribed with belly rubs and snacks.

Chickens

A series of chickens that Gilgamesh painted green when he thought he lost Enkidu. They’re normally useless, but should the opponent be turned into a toad they will attack and possibly try to eat said opponent.

Ultros

A weird octopus-like monster who assists Gilgamesh during his special Gala. Apart from being immune to Slow and Sleep spells, Ultros can spew special ink that can slow down and debilitate foes.

Cloud Strife

The main protagonist of Final Fantasy VII who possibly died not died against a certain boy in green. Summoned by Gilgamesh for a weird party, Cloud offers his vast skill set in battle.

Tidus

Protagonist of Final Fantasy X and Blitzball god. During this event Tidus can inherently make enemies slower, shift enemies weakness and elemental affinities, and can take elements to power up his own. All accomplished through the power of Blitzball.

Lightning

Another summoned warrior to Gilgamesh’s party and possibly killed an Amazonian princess. Protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning offers a series of bladed techniques and firepower to assist Gilgamesh.

Yuna

The summoner from Final Fantasy X. In battle she summons Valefor, an Aeon that invokes the power of wind and light to Gilgamesh’s side.

Judge Garbanth

The main antagonist of Final Fantasy XII. During Gilgamesh’s party, the Judge displays many powerful skills to inflict brutal damage on the party. He can drain health, cause enemies to go berserk, invoke many dark attacks, and create barriers for protection. Gabranth resistances make him tough to put down, as he’s shown to withstand most elements (fire, water, earth, wind, darkness and light), showcased immunity towards any barrier breaking spells, and cast Renew to restore his health and remove all negative status ailments.

Sephiroth

The main villain of Final Fantasy 7 and Cloud’s greatest enemy. For some reason Gilgamesh summoned him and for whatever reason Sephiroth and Cloud complied. Apart from the usual Supernovas and illusion trickery, Sephiroth can induce many attacks that reduce a target to their lowest health, and frequently uses elements against a target.

Techniques

A swordsman isn’t without his techniques, and Gilgamesh is equipped with several different ways to cut down an enemy.

• Secret Sword Art - Excalipoor: Beyond the 1 point of damage, this technique can weaken strength, defense, magic, and spirit by 85%.

• Secret Sword Art - Kotetsu: Evades physical attacks and deals 75% of an opponent's health.

• Secret Sword Art - Naginata: Deals massive damage to all enemies.

• Secret Sword Art - Excalibur: Inflicts damage and weakens light resistance.

• Secret Sword Art - Muramasa: Inflicts massive dark damage and weakens dark resistances.

• Secret Sword Art - Zantetsuken: Applies the power of death to all enemies.

• Secret Sword Art - Genji Blade: Alongside dealing massive damage, the technique weakens all elemental resistances.

• Throw: The marvelous ability to throw a weapon at a target. Sometimes it can hurt a lot.

• Spare Change: A technique where Gilgamesh just throws random fucking magcite at you for some reason.

• Quickmove: A special movement technique that grants Gilgamesh multiple mobility options. He can run on walls, leap far distances, and grind on energy based objects or rails. 

• Divider: Gilgamesh performs three slashes that can paralyze a target.

• Blitz: A dash that strikes the opponents around him.

• Launch: Performs an uppercut-esque attack that sends the opponent in the air.

• Blade Dance: A series of rapid swings that overwhelm the opponent.

• Cross Slash: An X shaped slash to knock opponents away.

• Giga Jump: The stronger variation of the regular jump. After leaping high into the air, Gilgamesh strikes down with his weapon, creating a large shockwave.

• Dual Thrust: Moves forward with two blades to stab his opponents and performs an upward attack. 

• Swords Dance: A fury of slashes that cover a large area.

• Tsubamegeshi: Rolls while slashing, setting up his target to get moved downwards.

• Double Trouble: Performs a sweeping attack that knocks the opponent away.

• Zanma Zanmi: The art of Zanmato is channeled into a sword slice that reduces most enemies to the smallest of health.

• Epic Stormsplitter: A grand sword slash that invokes the splitting of the seas, as Gilgamesh strikes with a slash that creates waves around himself and the opponents.

• Ame-no-Murakamo: In his giant state, Gilgamesh charges a massive sword slice that almost makes you think he’s Susano.

• Whirlwind Slash: A beyblade esque series of slashes that cover Gilgamesh.

• Leg Sweep: I mean….it’s a leg sweep.

• Skull Cracker: Creates a fissure in the ground through slamming his weapons.

• Metta-giri: Gilgamesh swings his sword around creating a large slash that covers a circular area.

• Zanmato: Rushing towards the enemy, Gilgamesh creates multiple circular slashes.

• Perfect Defense: Creates an aura that grants Gilgamesh immunity from both physical attacks, magic attacks, and status ailments. Lasts up to two minutes in titles like FF12.

• Bitter End: A signature technique. Gilgamesh dashes with three blades.

• Monarch Sword: An attack where Gilgamesh summons a giant electrical sphere to rain down on his enemies after raising his blades into the air.

• Rift Breaker: A special series of three slashes that move at blinding speed.

• Bushido: A powerful technique that removes all buffs and debuffs, alongside inflicting instant death.

• EX Revenge: A skill that allows Gilgamesh to recover from an attack and rapidly attack an enemy, seemingly slowing either them down or speeding up the perception of time on the user.

• Ultimate Illusion: A combination attack that utilizes a series of weapons. The axe first cleaves the earth, followed by the Bashonen that creates a series of tornadoes, a powerful sword slash, an electric charged stab from the naginata, and concluded with a powerful sword slash Excalibur.

• Strongest Sword: A powerful combo attack that summons multiple Excalipoor’s and one Excalibur. If Excalibur is obtained, he will perform a series of grand attacks that ends with an Ultimate Illusion. If one of the Excalipoor’s are taken, Gil will perform the same attack until realizing the damage is worthless, throwing the sword while lamenting his failure.

Passive Abilities

• Auto-Refresh: A skill that refreshes Gilgamesh’s magic overtime.

• Auto-Haste: When his health is down to half, Gilgamesh gets a boost in strength and magic.

• Weapon Collector: A special ability that increases all weapon attacks by 50%.

• Hero’s Potential: Increases overall physical and magical capabilities by 40%.

• Genji Code: When dual wielding, Gilgamesh’s attack is increased by 30%.

• Collector - Swords: Increases fire resistances by 50% and increases physical and magical damage against beasts by 75%.

• Collector - Katana: Increases ice resistance by 50% and increases physical and magical power against humans by 75%.

• Collector - Staves & Rods: Increases wind resistance by 50% and increases physical and magical damage against demons by 75%.

• Collector - Axes, Hammers, & Maces: Increases earth resistance by 50% and increases physical and magical attacks against demons by 75%.

• Collector - Spears: Increases light resistance by 50% and amps the physical and magical strength against dragons by 75%.

• Collector - Whips: Increases light resistance by 50% and increases physical and magic attacks against machines by 75%.

• Collector - Guns & Throwing Weapons: Increases dark resistance by 50% and increases physical and magical attacks against birds by 75%.

• Geni Mastery: Increases Gilgamesh’s overall physical power, defense, and magic when wearing all of the Genji equipment.

• Dual Wield: Allows Gilgamesh to dual wield. Duh.

Resistances/Immunities

Like any annoying JRPG boss, Gilgamesh is either resistant or immune to most status conditions a player can throw at him.

Poison Manipulation: Poison can corrode the body and rot away the body in due time.

Power Nullification: Is immune to the spell Silence, which can destroy a target's seat of thought and prevent spells.

Transmutation: Is immune to spells like Toad, Zombie, and Pig which can rearrange the molecules of a target.

Petrification: Is immune to all petrification spells, which can stop vitals and composite molecules to stone.

Death Manipulation: Resists death related spells, which can the blood to coagulate and invoke euthanasia or reap the souls of the opponents.

Sleep Manipulation: Can resist sleep spells that stimulate the sleep center of the cerebral cortex.

Precognition: Cannot be read by Libra, which provides clairvoyant insight into a target.

Size Manipulation: Immune to size changing spells like Mini.

Age Manipulation: Cannot be affected by status effects like “Old” or spells like “Time Slip.”

Time Manipulation: Immune to spells like Stop, Time Slip, and Slow.

Mind Manipulation: Cannot be affected by spells like Control or Berserk.

BFR: Cannot be removed by spells like Encircle which remove the target from battle. That being said, he has been forcibly pulled by the rift before and was banished to it by Exdeath, making this somewhat debatable.

Gravity Manipulation: Resistant to attacks like Graviga and cannot have Float casted on him, which invokes anti gravity fields.

Elemental Resistance: Takes less damage from fire, electricity, water, wind, and earth based attacks.

Misc. Immunities: Darkness Manipulation, Paralysis, Life Absorption (Sap), and Disease Manipulation.

Estark

Weapon Skills

A variety of physical techniques that incorporate (or create) a weapon when performing. The type of weapon does not matter, as any monster can perform any technique regardless of whatever they are currently wielding.

• Mercurial Thrust: A fast thrust that sacrifices power for speed.

• Multislice: A fast-array of sword slashes capable of hitting many foes at once.

• Miracle Slash: Channels curative energy into a weapon to allow the user to heal for half of the damage they deal to the enemy. In other games, like Heroes, the effect can persist for a short period of time which can allow any physical move to heal the user.

• Hatchet Man: A powerful but risky move that has only 50% accuracy, but will guarantee a critical hit if it lands, bypassing defense entirely..

• Frenzy: An indiscriminate attack that will guarantee a critical hit on the enemy…or ally. 

• Double Edged Slash: Envelops the black with a dark aura, greatly increasing the power of the attack but at the cost of the user harming themselves in turn.

• Attack Attacker: A heavy melee strike that reduces the opposing enemy’s offense.

• Helm Splitter: A strong, overhead swing that drops the defense of the enemy.

• Shin Splinter: A low blow that slows down the target.

• Imperial Strike: A powerful slash that deals 300% damage to a single enemy.

• Lordly Barrage: A barrage of powerful attacks to a single enemy.

• Lordly Thrust: A powerful thrust that ignores the defense of the target.

• Double Break: Estark swings down his gigantic blades to damage the foe and lower their resistance to physical and dark attacks.

• Flame / Kacrackle / Lightning / Wind / Bomb / Rock / Sacred / Shadow Slash: Infuses a blade with elemental powers to exploit weaknesses on foes resistant to magic. 

• Flame / Earth / Sky / Bright / Blightsplitter: AoE variations of elemental slash that is capable of hitting multiple enemies with the power of fire, earth, wind, light, or darkness.

• Gigaslash: Slashes an enemy with a blade of divine lightning. Depending on the game, the ability is shown to enchant the physical weapon the user is holding, or create a sword made from lightning to perform the technique.

• Gigagash / Gigacross: A stronger variation of Gigaslash that enchants both weapons with the ferocious power of divine lightning and sends it flying at the opponent. In most games, it is often one of the strongest physical techniques that can be used.

• Underworld Slash: A dark variation of Gigaslash which slashes a wide range of foes with a blade of hellish lightning.

• Shadow Blast: A dark variation of Gigagash strikes all foes with two blades infused with infernal lightning.

• Dark Shackles: A unique ability that, rather than targeting the opponent’s current health, it summons hellish blades that cleave off their “maximum” health. Effectively reducing the amount of punishment they can withstand or heal from. However, since it doesn’t directly harm the opponent’s current health it won’t land a fatal blow.

• Genma’s Gaol: Similar to Dark Shackles but reduces maximum MP instead.

• Assassin’s Stab: A technique capable of instantly killing a foe in a single hit.

• Demonic Flail: A physical attack on all foes with a 15% chance to inflict instant death.

• Persecutter: A sly strike that deals 150% the damage if the opponent is confused or asleep.

• Victimiser: An underhanded technique that deals 150% the damage if the opponent is poisoned or paralyzed.

• Heart Breaker: A damaging technique that attempts to stun its target.

• Parallax: A heavy handed swing that can possibly stun the target.

• Klepto Clobber: An offensive move that attempts to rob the victim of their item too

Martial Techniques

A set of martial artist techniques that forgo the need of a weapon and rely purely on the user's own prowess.

• Knuckle Sandwich : A powerful and focused haymaker that ignores defense.

• Poison / Confusion / Sleep Attack: An offensive move that damages the opponent and possibly inflicts poison, confusion, or sleep depending on the version.

• Multifists: A quick flurry of punches and kicks capable of dealing damage to a wide range of foes.

• Body Slam: A reckless tackle that attempts to knock  the target and user into low health.

• Imperial Divide: A wide-range attack that targets foes around Estark to deal undodgable and unreflectable damage.

• Kaiser Impact: A strong, close-range move that hits all directly in front of Estark and knocks them bacl

• Muster Strength: Gathers up energy, multiplying the power of their next attack by 200-250%.

• Lordly Stance: A stance that increases physical and magical strength by 50%.

• Counter Attack / Magic / Technique / Breath / Dance: A special technique that will temporarily reflect all physical / magical / technical / breath / dance moves back at the attacker for one turn.

• Meditation: Achieves inner peace to restore a large amount of health.

• Defending Champion: A defensive stance capable of reducing all forms of damage by around 90%.

Breath Skills

A staple ability of monsters within the Dragon Quest series where they can just spew out whatever attack they want to deal damage, or inflict status effects, onto a whole party. Breath-based abilities are also unique in that they are not considered physical or magical in nature, and thus, are not affected by techniques designed to protect against either. Song-based techniques are also listed within this category for obvious reasons. 

• Hellitosis: Exhales scorching hot flames from the land of Purgatory which can possibly stop the enemy right in their tracks.

• Ice Age: Spews out a freezing blizzard that can possibly stun the enemy.

• Aurora Breath: A combination of flame and ice breath that evaporates all foes

• Black Breath: Breathes out dark flames that can possibly seal away the enemy’s ability to use magic.

• Dark Flames: Spews out infernal flames. In the Mega Boss battle with Estark he can use a stronger variation of Dark Flames that reduces resistance to darkness if it hits.

• Blessed Breath: A holy variation of Black Breath that envelops foes with sacred flames that can possibly distort a foe's senses and wrap them in a confusion.

• Shining Breath: A stronger version of Blessed Breath that blasts all foes with the power of sacred light. In some games it also reduces resistance to all elemental and status effects if it lands.

• Thunder Breath: Exhales a ferocious lightning storm that can potentially paralyze.

• Sandy Sigh: Expels a vast sandstorm that can lower the accuracy of those caught within.

• Aqua Breath: Spews a torrent of water capable of putting foes to sleep.

• Whirlwind: Breathes out holy wind to deal wind and light elemented damage to all within the vortex and raises Tension of the user and allies by one stage.

• Requiem for the Lost: A depressing ballad for the departed, deals more damage twitch each ally defeated.

• War Cry: A sudden shout that attempts to catch the enemy off guard and stun them.

• Venom Breath: A deadly haze that envenomates any who inhale it.

• Sweet Breath: A fragrant sigh to lull foes into a slumber.

• Burning Breath: A blistering burp that paralyzes all enemies.

• Bemusing Breath: A boisterous belch capable of confusing adversaries.

• Cursed Cry: A gruesome wail that inflicts a potent curse on all enemies. 

• Deadly Breath: A poisonous plume that instantly kills all who inhale it.

• Dire Dirge: Instantly kills anyone who has less than 1/8th of their max health.

• Break Breath: A debilitating sigh that lowers elemental and status resistance of all caught within.

• Blowback: A counter technique that sucks in the target’s breath ability and blows it right back at them.

• Deep Breath: The user takes in a deep breath to greatly increase the potency of the next breath attack used.

• Soothing Vortex: Blows a calming breeze that cures abnormal status conditions.

• Song of Salvation: A splendiforous song capable of resurrecting fallen allies.

• Requiem of Restoration: Blows a healing wind that steadily recovers health for all allies.

• Sonata of Serenity: Blows an arcane wind that steadily recovers magic for all allies.

• Horns of Battle: An empowering song that raises offense for all allies.

• Flute of Fortifica: A fortifying tune that emboldens defense for all allies.

• Call of the Falcon: A speedy sonata that boosts speed for all allies.

• Whistle of Wisdom: A sagacious serenade that raises wisdom of all allies.

Dancing Skills

(Unfortunately finding a video with Estark dancing is quite challenging)

Another staple, but less iconic, move of monsters within Dragon Quest: the ability to perform magic super dances!

• Sword Dance: A graceful series of successive slashes that can damage multiple foes at once.

• Wicked Waltz: A sneaky shuffle that deals damage based on the performer’s missing health.

• Electric Boogie: An electrifying jive that envelops the terrain with lightning.

• Hotstepper: A spicy series of steps that sets the very ground ablaze.

• Storm Dance: A stupendous set of steps that slices foes with wind.

• Decay Dance: An explosive display of rhythm that envelops the surroundings with explosions.

• Butterfly Bop: A bodacious bop that summons countless butterflies to attack all enemies.

• Dodgy Dance: Fancy footwork that makes it easier to dodge physical attacks.

• Death Dance: A macabre dance which attempts to send the foe to the hereafter.

• Weird Dance: An odd allegro that mysteriously saps an opponent’s magic reserves.

• Mirror Moves: A special technique that mimics the enemy’s dance move step for step, effectively reflecting their very move back at them.

• Fuddle Dance: A befuddling bop that attempts to confuse onlookers.

• Bashful Dance: A shy dance that paralyzes all foes.

• Sultry Dance: An infectious boogie that tries to force viewers to dance.

• Poisonous Prod: An intoxicating jig that poisons whomever spectates.

• Draining Dance: A dance that steals MP from a target.

• Essence Dance: A dance that steals Tension from a single foe.

• Hustle Dance: An invigorating jig that heals its user and allies. Costs no MP either in most titles making it a great way to restore health.

Elemental Techniques

Elemental attacks that often have very large AoE and can be a mixture of multiple elements at once, often targeting whatever the opponent is weakest to.

• Cremate: Consumes all foes with a towering inferno.

• Tidal Wave: Sends a tsunami crashing down on all foes.

• Wind Shear: Tears up foes in a vicious vortex.

• Hellfire Hurricane: Sends out a hurricane straight from the depths of hell to deal potent wind damage.

• Boulder Toss: Chucks big boulders that crash onto all foes.

• Black Hole: Creates a black hole that nothing can escape from, not even light.

• Big Banga: A violent and massive explosion of malevolent energy that disintegrates all enemies..

• Lightning Storm: Summons unholy lightning from the depths of hell to electrocute all foes and lowers their resistance to dark based abilities.

• Solar Flair: Blasts all foes with the dark energy of a cosmic explosion.

• Pearly Gates: Prays open a portal to heaven to smite all foes with divine wrath. Deals additional damage against those of the undead. Depending on the game it ranges from Wind, Light, to Lightning elemented.

• Hand of God: Calls down a fist of light from the heavens to smite all enemies for light and gravity elemented damage.

• Bad Hand: Summons a hand from the infernal abyss to unleash a hellish explosion for dark and explosive elemented damage.

• Judgment: Beckons the intertwining powers of heaven and hell alike to destroy all enemies with light and dark damage.

Special Techniques

• True Complete Awakening: Estark awakens to his full potential, reducing the amount of damage he takes by a third and bestowing complete resistance to all elemental and status moves.

• Right as Rain: Calls forth a revitalizing rainfall that can heal 40-100% of the user and their allies’ health next turn.

• Eerie Light: An ability Estark uses if he’s induced into a slumber. He emits a powerful blast of mysterious light from all around his body to damage anyone within range.

• Disruptive Wave: Emits a frigid wave of energy that removes all forms of status changing effects, both good and bad, from all allies and enemies alike. In some depictions it can exclusively be used to remove only beneficial effects on foes. Outside of just status changing spells, Disruptive Wave also dispels transformation spells like Puff! /Kaclang / Morph, invincibility, clones, and rage-based power ups.

• Wave of Relief: Emits a benevolent wave of energy that cures the user and all allies of negative effects.

• Wave of Panic: Emits a malevolent wave of energy that lowers all stats of the opposing foes.

• Spooky Aura: Emits an eerie aura of energy that lowers enemy resistance to elemental moves, debuffs, and status effects. The effect can stack to the point any immunity can be negated and eventually turned into a weakness

• Teeming Miasma: Emits a dark mist that confuses all foes and greatly reduces their defense.

• Dazzleflash: Emits a glaring light from the in an attempt to reduce the accuracy of enemy attacks.

• Curse: Curses an opponent, causes a wide variety of negative effects to happen. Depending on the game, curses can range from cutting the max HP or MP in half, sharply reducing their MP at regular intervals, forcing the victim to attack an ally, randomly causing their abilities to fail, preventing them from acting, etc.

• Blade Blunter: Prevent a foe from being able to use weapon-based skills.

• Gobstopper: Forcefully shuts a foe’s mouth to make them unable to use breath or song-based techniques.

• Ban Dance: Takes away the enemy’s ability…to dance. 

• Abiliterator: Temporarily disables the effect of most passive abilities.

• Brake Wind: Conjures up a tailwind that reflects any breath attacks back at the user one time. This effect will not dissipate until it is either dispelled or has reflected an attack.

• Cursed Roulette: Randomly converts an opponent’s resistance to Poison, Stun, Curse, Death, Paralysis, or Sleep into a weakness.

• Red Fog: Summons a red mist around the battlefield that prevents all from being able to use physical / slashing moves. Note: Fog abilities are not considered status effects and are unaffected by resistances to ability sealing as well as dispelling methods.

• Black Fog: Summons a black smog that prevents all allies and enemies alike from being able to use any techniques (such as Martial, Elemental, or Special techniques mentioned above). Fog abilities, uniquely, are not labeled under the Technique category and thus are not affected.

• White Fog: Summons a white haze that seals the ability to cast magic.

• Underworld Fog: Summons the air of the undead that turns most forms of healing (including natural regeneration) into damage. Depending on the version, items can still heal or not be used at all.

• Unnatural Order: Alters reality so that those with lower speed act first (it’s basically Trick Room from Pokemon). Also reverses the effects of priority moves, causing any move with high speed to act later and moves known for their delayed action to happen first.

Offensive Spells

Outside of his great physical strength, Estark is also skilled in the art of using powerful and destructive magic spells. In most depictions where he is a boss, he tends to prefer using fire, explosion, and dark-type magic.

• Kafrizzle: Summons a colossal fireball to cremate a single foe.

• Kasizzle: Calls forth a terrain of blazing hellfire to incarnate a group of foes. Depending on the game this can be either fire or light elemented.

• Kacrackle: Envelops the field with icicles to pierce all foes.

• Kaboomle: Creates an enormous explosion to engulf all foes.

• Kaswooshle: Whips up a tornado of razor sharp wind to slice a group of enemies to pieces.

• Kasplashle: Summons a powerful delug of water to deal damage to a single foe.

• Kacraggle: A delay-action spell that will puncture all foes with huge stalagmites from below 1 turn after it is cast. This spell is also, uniquely, not affected by reflect-type magic.

• Kazapple: A spell that calls down divine lightning (or holy energy) to vaporize all enemies with the fury of the Goddess. Depending on the version, the spell is either electric or light elemented.

• Kazammle: The dark counterpart to Zap which smothers a single foe with a blast of hellish lightning.

• Kadonkle: Hits a single enemy with a powerful wave of gravity to wring out ¼ of their max health. Depending on the game, the standard Donk spell will have that effect, while Kadonk will instead target all enemies but will only reduce their health by ⅛.

• Spell Flurry: Rains down one of the many elements listed above, depending on the version used. Low in power but can hit several times.

• Frizz Cracker: Combines the power of fire and ice magic to create a violent disturbance in the world’s natural equilibrium to damage a single target. Often one of the most powerful single-target spells in the games.

• Magic Pop: A spell that uses a quarter of the caster’s remaining magic to deal reasonable, light-elemented damage to a single enemy.

• Magic Burst: The ultimate magic spell which consumes every last drop of the user’s magic to create a powerful, all-consuming explosion that cannot be resisted nor reflected.

• Kamikazee: A sacrificial spell that converts the user’s remaining life-force into an explosion to instantly kill all foes by blowing them up into thousands of pieces. Depending on the game, this spell ignores conventional resistance to instant death and cannot be reflected. Within the Dark Prince this spell’s odds of success are dependent on how much MP the caster had when using it.

• Puff!: Transforms the caster into a powerful dragon.

Healing Spells

A variety of healing magic often used by the pious or kind-hearted. These types of spells are useful for providing much needed restoration to the caster or allies, allowing them to patch up wounds or cure illness.

• Fullheal: A healing spell that fully heals wounds to revitalizes the target.

• Omniheal: A multi-target healing spell that completely heals all allies, or greatly heals them depending on the game.

• Remoreheal: A regenerative spell that envelops the target in a holy light that heals them for 20% of their maximum health at regular intervals.

• Kazing: A revival spell that returns an ally to life at maximum fighting capability.

• Prezing: A pre-emptive spell that automatically revives the user, with half their max health, should they fall in battle. The revival spells within the franchise are shown to be capable of returning the user to life even if they are blown into thousands of pieces by spells like Kamikazee. It will not, however, work if the user casts Kamikazee themselves.

• Defuddle: Cures confusion.

• Tingle: Cures all allies paralysis and sleep.

• Squelch: Cures poison.

• Sheen: Cures curses.

Support Spells

Support-type magic that can strengthen the castor and allies or protect them from harm.

• Oomph / Oomphle: Raises the offense of a single / all allies to increase the damage of their physical moves.

• Buff / Kabuff: Bolsters the defense of a single / all allies temporarily to reduce damage taken.

• Accelerate / Acceleratle: Heightens the speed of a single / all allies. 

• Ping / Kaping: Enhances the wisdom of a single / all allies to increase the strength of their magic and probability of landing status effects.

• Magic Barrier: Increases resistance against magic and status effects. Can be used multiple times to further boost resistance. It cannot grant immunity, however.

• Bound: Summons a wall of light around all allies to reflect the next magic attack. Only works for one spell, however this effect will not dissipate unless dispelled or it has reflected.

• Bounce: Temporarily summons a wall of light that reflects all spells back at the caster. Healing and support magic cast on oneself will be unaffected by the reflect and will work as intended. In games like DQV and DQTact, Estark automatically has a Bounce set up.

• Counter: Temporarily smmons a barrier that reflects physical attacks back at the attacker.

• Kaclang: Turns the caster and allies into indestructible steel to avoid taking damage for a few turns.

• Insulatle: Envelopes the caster and allies within a light mist that reduces damage from breath attacks by half.

Debilitating Spells

A variety of spells made to weaken foes with numerous enfeeblements to reduce their capability for harm and make battles easier.

• Blunt / Kablunt: Greatly dwindles an opponent’s physical might. The Kablunt variation has only half the debuff effect, but is capable of affecting multiple enemies at once. This same effect applies to other stat or resistance altering spells.

• Sap / Kasap: Vastly reduces the defense of a single opponent.

• Decelerate / Deceleratle: Significantly decreases the speed of a single opponent.

• Dim / Kadim: Sharply lowers an opponent’s wisdom, weakening the strength of their magical capabilities and reducing the probability of status abilities succeeding. 

• Strip / Kastrip : Drops the resistance to all forms of elemental damage or status effects by around 50% for one enemy. 

• Giga Drain Magic: Drains MP from an opponent four times.

• Giga Essence Extractor: Absorbs the Tension out of an opponent four times.

• Katoxle: Summons a large poisonous bubble that explodes into a toxic haze in an attempt to severely poison all foes.

• Kanumb: Paralyzes a group of enemies.

• Dazzle: Envelops an enemy in illusions, greatly decreasing the accuracy of their physical attacks.

• Fizzle: Seals off an opponent’s ability to use magic. In other games, such as Heroes, it is shown to seal away all skills, while in Builders it can prevent the opponent from using their items.

• Kafuddle: Messes with the senses of an enemy to put them into a state of confusion.

• Kasnooze: Puts a group of foes into a deep sleep.

• Thwack: A cursed incantation that sends foes to the hereafter. 

Summoning

In Tact, Estark is shown to summon Gigantes, Bahlib, and Mechan O’Wyverns during the boss fight in order to provide support and overpower his foes. Though given his status as Master of Monsterkind, he should be able to call upon all different kinds of monsters should the need arise. Additionally, within the Gameboy color titles it is possible for Estark to call upon the spirit of four entities, who were all noble figures turned into summons because of their good deeds.

• Tatron: a saintly priest turned demigod. This summon is a midlevel jack-of-all-trades that can use Midheal, summon lightning for offense, and protect allies with Selflessness.

• Deago: A monstrous entity raised by a kind girl from infancy. Deago can increase attack power with Oomph, debilitating enemies with Tongue Bashing, and incinerate foes with Scorch.

• Samshin: A knight with a famous two-handed sword style that diligently served her queen up until the collapse of the kingdom. As expected of a swordsman, Samshin is very skilled with a blade and can use many sword arts like Hatchet Man, Mercurial Thrust, Multislice, etc. 

• Bazhoul: A mage of unparalleled magic who managed to unite the world up until his passing. Bazhoul specializes in overwhelming offense, being capable of obliterating foes with blizzards or hellish lightning, and can even use the iconic Disruptive Waves to prevent foes from getting more powerful.

Tension

A special ability within many Dragon Quest titles. By psyching themselves up, the user increases their overall Tension, which multiplies the power of the next offensive or restorative action depending on how high their number is. Aside from just a general power increase, offensive moves performed while under the effect of Tension are capable of partially bypassing reflect based abilities. However, Tension is also capable of dropping into the negative through the use of Tension lowering, or stealing, abilities which can greatly weaken the next action should it stack

While Tension typically only affects a single action in Monsters and mainline titles, in Heroes II Estark is able to channel his Tension to affect all his attacks the entire fight. Only ever resetting should he get lulled into a slumber.

Frenzied State

If a fight is beginning to turn dire, a monster can possibly release a sudden explosion of anger in a final desperation attempt. When this state activates the monster is able to act more often each turn, deal 150% more damage with all forms of offense, and take half damage from all attacks for a short period of time. 

Misc. Skills

• Teleportation: When beaten in V and VIII, Estark will teleport himself, or the party, away, requiring them to go through the entire challenge in order to speak with him again.

• Flight: Apparently in Monsters Joker 3, Estark is somehow capable of flying from island to island.

• Regeneration: As shown with Psaro when he evolved into a being similar to Estark, he can autotomize his limbs and head mid fight, and regenerate them if needed. But, it is worth noting that Estark used the Secret of Evolution when it was incomplete, while Psaro’s used a more refined method, so whether this is an ability unique to Psaro, is unknown.

• Malevolent Aura: When the Hero of DQV explored Estark’s Labrynth with his family, they noted to have felt a wave of aura so powerful they began experiencing sharp headaches or felt to be on the verge of being blown away by it.

• Space-Time Trasendence: In Dragon Warrior Monsters Estark is stated to no longer be affected by time and space. This is most likely the reason why he appears in several different games, which are often in other universes or separated by time gaps spanning hundreds to thousands of years, despite always being asleep in every appearance he is in.

Passive Abilities

• Critical Stance: Increases critical hit rate by 40%.

• Lordly Fighting Spirit: Increases offense by 30% when dual wielding and regenerates 15% MP per turn.

• Lord of the Underworld: Raises attack power when damaged.

• Imperial Authority: Restores a large portion of Estark’s health once it drops below 50%. Only works once per fight.

• Late Bloomer: At regular intervals, all of Estarks stats will increase.

• Sleep Twitch: Allows the user to attack all enemies when asleep.

• Adrenaline Rush: Raises attack power when landing a critical hit.

• Comeback Kid: Gives the user a small chance to revive, should they be KOd.

• Auto Restora: Regenerates health over time.

• Auto Cadabra: Regenerates magic over time.

• Magic Scrooge: Cuts the MP cost for all moves by 1/2.

• Secret of Evolution: Increases strength but reduces wisdom. 

• Rando Disrupt: Allows the user to passively use Disruptive Wave to nullify enemy buffs.

• Rando Panic: Allows the user to passively emit Wave of Panic to weaken the enemy.

• Rando Relief: Allows the user to passively use Wave of Relief to heal debilitating effects.

• Chance Mister: Allows the user to randomly emit one of the Fog abilities mid fight.

• Status Ward Skills: A variety of abilities that increase Estark’s resistance to Poison, Instant Death, Stun, Drain, Paralysis, Sleep, Fizzle, Blade Blunter, Abiliterator, and Debilitating abilities by about 50% each. These abilities are also capable of stacking with each other, granting nigh immunity to almost any status effect.

• Elemental Ward Skills: A set of abilities that greatly boosts resistance to fire, ice, water, wind, lightning, explosive, gravity, dark, and light elements by about 50%.

• Crafty Skills: A set of traits that allows the monster’s elemental or status moves to partially bypass natural resistances. In prior Monsters titles these abilities could not bypass inherent immunity, however in The Dark Prince all Crafty skills now do.

Resistances / Immunities

It would not be a JRPG boss if they were not immune to most status effects in order to show you how useless they actually are.

Poison: Immune to abilities like Poison Breath or Venom Breath.

Instant Death: Cannot be killed by death spells like Whack. Within the realm of Dragon Quest, death magic most likely the Goddess herself taking life away from the living, as the abilities of the clergy come directly from the Goddess herself.

Kamikazee: Unaffected by the infamous spell Kamikazee which blow up targets into thousands of pieces.

Sleep: Depending on the game, sometimes Estark is outright immune to sleep-inducing spells like Snooze. However, within many mainline titles like IV, V, VIII, and IX he only has a partial resistance toward this status effect, and his defeat by the Zenith Dragon was because he was placed in an eternal slumber within the original story of IV, so this resistance can be argued.

Paralysis: Unable to be paralyzed by abilities like Burning Breath.

Curses: Immune to curses, which, outside of the common forms of debilitation they are known for, are shown to be able to induce mind control, seal away memories, prevent harm to monsters, and even transmute others into animals, stone, or etc (which is done in many, many, many, many games).

Power Nullification: Unaffected by all forms of power nullification within the games, which can range from magic sealing (Fizzle), physical technique sealing (Blade Blunter), breath sealing (Gobstopper), dance sealing (Ban Dance), and ability sealing (Abiliterator).

Illusions: Immune to spells that create illusions like Dazzle.

Mind Manipulation: Immune to spells that cause confusion like Fuddle, and unaffected by the Darkonium’s mind breaking corruption when transformed into a Break monster.

Draining: With proper abilities, Estark can be immune to moves that can drain his magic or Tension. 

BFR: Immune to battlefield removal spells like Poof.

Space & Time Manipulation: While space & time magic is not prominently shown within the games, it can be argued Estark would not be affected by such forms of hax given the statement of how spacetime no longer affects him. This can be contested though, as the Sands of Time will still work when used during his boss battle.

Charm: Within DQIX Estark has a high resistance towards being Charmed.

Stat Reduction: In most versions Estark typically has a high resistance, or full on immunity, towards most forms of debilitation.

Resistance Nullification: With certain ward skills Estark can have high resistance or immunity towards moves that weaken his elemental or status resistances.

Elemental Abilities: Depending on the game, Estark possesses some resistance to most forms of elemental attacks (fire, ice, earth, wind, lightning, explosion).

Misc: Including appearances within Brave Exvius, Estark can also be immune to Disease, Stun, Petrification, and Blind.

Forms (If Applicable)

Gilgamesh

Yojimbo

A disguise that Gilgamesh takes on in Final Fantasy XIV while hired as a mercenary. Initially hired to prevent the robbery of the sword “Soboro Sukehiro”, Gilgamesh would eventually drop the disguise after taking the blade himself…which happened because the sword was stolen under his watch. 

Gilgamesh Transformed

A special power up in Brave Exvius that increases all of his stats and grants Gilgamesh access to his secret sword techniques. 

Multi-Armed/Morphed Gilgamesh

The state Gilgamesh takes when it’s time to get serious. After uttering the phrase “It’s morphin time!” Gilgamesh transforms into a warrior donning six arms. Each of these arms can carry any weapon of Gilgamesh’s choosing, while also gaining a notable boost in overall physicality and magical potential. 

Estark

Break Estark

A form given to monsters when exposed to excessive amounts of Darkonium. Granting them greater power than their current form can provide, at the expense of their mind. Through unknown methods, Estark himself is somehow corrupted and turned into a Break Monster in Monsters Joker 3. Outside of a power boost, he is able to utlize the Break ability provided with the form, which will increase all of his stats should he sustain large chunks of damage.

Feats

Gilgamesh

Overall

• Battled many of several of Final Fantasy’s greatest warriors

• Escaped the Interdimensional Rift multiple times 

• Collected several weapons across the multiverse

• Killed Necrobe and somehow survived his very own self-destruct in the process

• Helped Jack Garland save the multiverse

• Participated in the War of Discord and Harmony and claimed a nail from Chaos

Power

• Shatters the earth which his blows

• Creates massive earth spires with a sword strike

• A swing of his sword creates a gust of wind that one shots Seifer

• Creates an explosion with a sword slash

• Causes eruptions around the battlefield

Speed

• Moves faster than the eye can see when using Rift Breaker

• Creates a Mach come when being summoned

• Strikes his opponent multiple times in a second with Swords Dance

• Returns to a battlefield at blinding speeds after Sephiroth sends him flying

Durability

• Has withstood multiple blows across many many different Final Fantasy teams on his own

• Withstands a sneeze from Typhoon which creates a miniature whirlwind

• Gets sent flying through a wall by Julyan’s frying pan attack

• Tanks Necrophobe’s Flare

• Is launched by Sephiroth’s attack and remains fine

Estark

Overall

• Fought against several protagonists, monster tamers, and nigh-almighty beings

• Allied himself with not one, not two, not four, but 7 different monster tamers on their journey

• Somehow, probably through some dark magic performed by an evil sorcer, managed to conceive a child

• Is really good at keeping track of how long all of his battles take, down to the seconds

Power

• Capable of one shotting endgame DQ8 party members

• Is stated to have obtained power to rival the Gods

• Razed half of Terrestria in a few days

Speed

• Can hop around kinda fast

• The visual image of this thing being capable of running at all

Durability

• Can withstand beatings from many characters and monsters from across several titles

• The Zenith Dragon, a being viewed as nigh omnipotent entity (and married to The Goddess), could not destroy Estark

Scaling

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh usually shows up as a superboss in most of his appearances, often being treated as a high level threat who poses a great challenge to the party. While not usually relevant to the plot, he’s usually treated as a serious threat in combat and often requires an entire party of people to take on. This is most evident in Final Fantasy V, where he was consistently keeping up with Bartz and his party until the very end, despite Bartz’s crew gaining multiple new powers and abilities over time.

Because of these factors, Gilgamesh can scale to some of the best feats across the Final Fantasy multiverse.  

Final Fantasy I

The game that started it all. Gilgamesh would appear in updated versions of FF1 as an optional boss character. Naturally he should scale to the feats performed prior to his arrival.

• The Crystals losing their power causes worldwide disasters

• The world is shrouded in darkness

• The seas violently rage (1 teratons)

• The flow of the winds die (61.5 gigatons)

• The earth decays and rots (71 teratons)

• The fiends are stated to have the power to “scorch the world” (227 teratons)

Final Fantasy IV

A SNES classic makes its way into the scaling section for Greg. Summoned by The Creator themselves in The After Years, Gilgamesh serves as a notable challenge for our heroes. Naturally, this lets him scale to the accomplishments in this game. 

• Cid survives his explosion (27.7 gigatons of TNT)

• Cecil and Golbez part clouds in a clash (1 teraton)

• Cecil and Kain survive a direct earthquake from Titan which causes a massive chasm. (920 Petatons of TNT)

• Bahamut fires a Megaflare from the moon to the Earth in seconds (35.8% the speed of light)

• The party faces the “The Lost Babil” in the After Years, an out of control prototype of The Giant of Babil

• The Giant of Babil’s lasers annihilated a large portion of land (74.26 exatons to 13.04 zettatons of TNT)

• Yang is stated to move at light speed

• The Creator moves the moon (9.16 yottatons) (Mach 3003)

Final Fantasy V

The original game our boy comes from. As a frequent boss throughout the game all the way until the end, Gilgamesh consistently battles the party, and by proxy should scale to a majority of the feats in the game.

• Karlabos creates a whirlpool (89.5 kilotons of TNT )

• Bahamut sinks a peninsula 

• Exdeath sinks an island. (877 petatons of TNT)

• Exdeath travels across the planet (1% the speed of light)

• Gaulf overpowers and shatters one of the eight crystals. The crystals have performed the following feats:

• The Water Crystal being shattered sinks the island. (6.297 exatons of TNT)

• The Wind Crystal is responsible for the wind of the world.

• The crystals magic can travel across the planet (1.6% the speed of light)

• The crystals combined could split the dimensions in two.

• The crystals being shattered reemerged the dimensions together

• Neo Exdeath was causing the laws of the universe to be in chaos

• Neo Exdeath claims he would return all memories, dimensions, and existence to the void. (see, Before the Verdict)

Final Fantasy VI

In this game Gilgamesh is actually one of the Espers captured by the Gestahlian Empire, who later escapes and is fought as an extremely powerful boss. While he’s not biologically the same as his other appearances due to being an Esper, Gilgamesh’s general personality and quirks remain the same, fitting in line with the composite rules. With that in mind, he should be able to scale to following feats:

• Kefka drains the power of the Warring Triad. The Warring Triad have accomplished the following:

• Split a continent from the Earth (1.62-34 zettatons of TNT)

• Create magic explosions that annihilates a large portion of land (121 zettatons-12.96 yottatons of TNT)

• Levitate a continent (5.65 to 600 yottatons of TNT)

• Espers cause an earthquake around the world (294 exatons to 9.32 zettatons of TNT)

• Terra flies across the world (Mach 6237 to 1.8% the speed of light)

• Espers travel across the world (Mach 8190 to 2.36% the speed of light)

• The cast can move relative to a Diffractive Laser (1.5 times FTL)

Final Fantasy VII Remake

After 32 years, Gilgamesh makes his debut in the biggest game of them all thanks to the FF7 Rebirth. As a notable superboss and summon, he should safely scale to a majority of the cast. 

The remake timeline should also be mostly comparable to their original counterparts, as while there are notable differences, there are also many shared events between the two timelines. It’s unlikely they are massively weaker or stronger than their original versions.

• Bahamut Arisen creates the Cosmo Canyon with a roar (576 petatons)

• Zack defeats Bahamut Fury

• Bahamut can destroy the moon (31 yottatons) and fly across the solar system (17 million times FTL)

• Typhoon flips the world (795 ronnatons of TNT)

• Red XIII’s limit break summons a comet from a nearby solar system (65 million times FTL)

• Knights of the Round destroy their home dimension

• It possibly contains a galaxy cluster within (947 yottaFOE)

• Super…nova (9.8 kiloFOE) (20.5 trillion times FTL)

• Dissidia states that the Supernova destroys dimensional space (Credit to this blog for the translation)

• Sephiroth Reborn seeks to “pierce the layers of existence and re-unite fragmented space-time”

• Sephiroth himself states that he will reunite the worlds (3:07:07-3:07:24)

• During the final battle, Zack and Clouds worlds are merged together.

Final Fantasy VIII

In Final Fantasy VIII, Gilgamesh is a pseudo Guardian Force who randomly shows up, one shots Seifer, and then takes Odin’s Zantetsuken and replaces him on Squall’s team. Given Seifer one shot Odin prior, it’s no surprise that Gilgamesh is a powerful force in the game, and manages to keep pace with the party all the way until the end. 

• Squall’s limit break creates a sword beam that can be seen from outer space

• The party defeats Griever, who’s stated to be the strongest Guardian Force, born from what Squall envisions to be the most powerful

• Other guardian forces like Eden can shoot lasers that travel to another galaxy and cause it to explode (8.13-136.7 zettaFOE) (78 billion-6 trillion times FTL)

• Ultimecia pulls planets together with “Great Attractor” 

• Ultimecia’s time compression absorbs and compresses all of time and space. (742 unvigintillion FOE or 1.76 tredecillion times Universal) (see, Before the Verdict) 

Final Fantasy XII

Gilgamesh is a boss in both the original Final Fantasy XII, and its sequel “Revenant Wings”, thus letting him scale to the party and monsters of both games.

• Chaos, Fury, and Humbada have the power to lay waste to the entire world

• The Sun Crystal’s power can conduct a large storm (1 petaton of TNT)

• The Sylphi Elite uses energy that turned the world to dust (55 exatons) 

• Exodus calls down a meteor (1 teraton-7 petatons of tnt)

• Tiamat is stated to be able to “lead the entire world to ruin”

• Ultima fires a blast from outer space to Earth in seconds (Mach 894)

• Zodiark destroys the universe

• Zodiark’s beastiary states that he creates the universal laws and destroy everything

Final Fantasy XIII

In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Gilgamesh appears as a DLC boss that can fight on par with the main protagonists Serah and Noel seemingly during the late game. As such, he should be able to scale to featswithin FF XIII and XIII-2.

• The Phoenix adjusts the weather in the Cocoon (15 teratons of TNT)

• Orphan holds Cocoon in the sky (106 exatons of TNT)

• Omega seeks to crush all of time and space

• The Heart of Etro being destroyed kills Etro, who held back the Chaos of Valhalla

• Etro is the power that “makes their universe whole”

• The Chaos is stated to warp the timeline and destroy the past, destroying history and all of space-time (2.53 quadrillionFOE-179.16 undecillion FOE or Solar System-Multi-Galaxy) (see, Before the Verdict)

Final Fantasy XIV

Gilgamesh is battled three times throughout Final Fantasy XIV, managing to keep up with the Warrior of Light and his crew in all three. While the WOL has gotten notably stronger after these fights, Gilgamesh should at the very least scale to feats performed before or around the time period that he clashed with the WOL, and possibly some after. 

• Ifrit flies from the moon to the planet (42.7% the speed of light)

• Bahamut breaks out of the moon and destroys it completely (173 yottatons of TNT)

• Knights of the Round destroy the dimension…hey wait a minute

• Omega flies past four stars in seconds. (67 million times FTL)

• A weakened Meteion restores life to the universe in seconds. (490 quadrillion times FTL)

• Alexander attempts to condense infinite timelines into the fabric of reality

Final Fantasy Dissidia

NOTE: see Before the Verdict

Final Fantasy’s big crossover series that summons the best of the best to compete in a war between gods. Gilgamesh briefly participated in Dissidia 012, and has been mentioned multiple times to have participated in future conflicts. His ability to keep up with the warriors participating should allow him to scale to the feats performed in the games. 

• Cosmos’s warriors defeated Chaos and the stronger Feral Chaos

• Chaos is stated to use his powers to erase everything

• Chaos’s death released energies that distorted time and space and created new possibilities. 

• Cosmos claims Chaos threatens the fabric of reality

• Cosmos maintains the World B with fragments of her power

• Mog has the power of the void, which could swallow all worlds.

• The Final Fantasy multiverse is stated to have infinite worlds

• Materia and Spiritus created the World of Respite

• Materia and Spiritus are the reborn wills of Cosmos and Chaos

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

Gilgamesh appears as a recurring boss in the DLC “Wander of the Rift.” He’s able to keep up and fight Jack Garland’s crew after they evolved into becoming Chaos and the Fiends. This lends Gilgamesh scaling to feats across the entire game.

• The Dimensional Matrix Crystal is stated to erase dimensions

• Mog states Nil was planning on erasing the dimension

• The Lufenians planned on using it to reset the world

• Jack Garland infuses the Dimensional Matrix Crystal to reset the world.

• Gilgamesh states the dimension was unraveling like a ball of yarn

• Nil states she would return the world to nothingness and remake it anew

• Jack defeats Nil and The Emperor once they merge with the Crystal

World of Final Fantasy

A really weird and random spinoff game that Gil appears in. While it is a copy of Gil, it’s noted that the copy has more of Gilgamesh’s actual proper memories and acts more like him compared to the clones, keeping in line with the composite rules. 

• The party battle Enna in a boss fight

• Enna created the Realms of Fantasy

• She is stated to have made an infinite amount

Shinryu

An otherworldly beast from the Interdimensional Rift. A frequent antagonist in the Dissidia titles, Shinryu was firmly defeated in Dissidia NT by the summoned warriors. As Gil has kept up with many of these fighters, he should be able to scale to the feats performed by Shinryu across the various games. 

• Shinryu is stated to be a world devourer

• Shinryu’s planesgorgers are “Dimension Eaters” and are considered his scales.

• The Planesgorgers/Dimension Eaters devour the World B dimension overtime and would eventually collapse it’

• It’s implied they can compress all of time and space by Ultimecia.

• Shinryu surpasses the Legendary Weapons that defeated Enuo

• Enuo was able to control the Void itself

Estark

Similarly to Gilgamesh, Estark is a recurring superboss in every game he appears in after his debut appearance. Oftentimes, he is only allowed to be challenged once the game is completed and the final boss is beaten. And within his many superboss appearances, he is treated as a threat far greater than anything encountered prior, including the final boss.

Additionally, when capable of being recruited onto a team in the many Monsters titles, Estark is often categorized as being one of the most powerful monsters (From the official website). Somehow even considered stronger than entities like Psaro and Aamon despite the fact both used a perfected version of Estark’s evolution.

Because of these factors Estark is able to scale to some of the most notable feats within the franchise.

Dragon Quest IV

The very first game Estark appeared in! Unlike all of Estark’s other appearances, where he is a powerful, post-game superboss that eclipses even the final boss, here he is a standard boss fight encountered near the end portion of the game. This was because his infamous status of being a rampaging monstrosity encouraged Solo’s party to hurry to Estark’s place of slumber, and kill him before he completely woke up and regained his full strength.

• Meena can summon meteors (178 kilotons of TNT)

• Borya can TK icebergs

Dragon Quest V

The game which started the tradition of Estark becoming an amnesiac, post-game superboss. Here Estark is found sleeping in his labyrinth that, magically, appeared out of nowhere deep within the depths of Nadiria. As he is fought after beating the game (or in story terms, right before the final boss) he should scale to everything within the game.

• The Ring of Water can create tsunamis

• Deborah splits a mountain (8.2 kilotons of TNT)

• The Ring of Fire can cause volcanic eruptions (365 megatons of TNT)

• Magma Staff causing a volcanic eruption (38 petatons of TNT)

• Grandmaster Nimzo is stated by both himself and descriptions to have surpassed the Goddess

Dragon Quest VIII

Similarly to V, Estark is an optional superboss unlocked after beating Rhaphthorne and the Lord of the Dragovians. Found at the very end of a special training ground known as Memories Lane, where the party of VIII fought previous foes with newfound power. Narratively though, the party engages in battle with Estark directly before their confrontation with Rhaphtorne. Considering this, Estark should likely scale all the feats within the game.

• Rhapthorne lifts a mountain (41 exatons of TNT)

• Rhapthorne’s goal was to fuse the World of Light and Darkness into one universe

• Rhapthorne supposedly created the World of Darkness itself

Dragon Quest IX

Fought as a Legacy Boss within the game of IX. The legacy bosses also grow in power the more you fight them meaning they can keep up with the protagonist before and well after the final encounter with Corvus.

• Zenus created the entirely of the Proctectorate

• Corvus is stated to have surpassed Zenus

• Corvus intended on destroying all of reality in an instant

• Corvus is able to fly into the sky and become a constellation (33 million times FTL)

• The Solar Flair ability blasts enemies with cosmic light from another galaxy. Enemies (and allies) in game are able to parry any attack, including Solar Flair. (1.6 - 58 trillion times FTL)

• Zenus tries to eradicate the Protectorate (367 quadrillion times FTL)

• Corvus’s eruption of dark energy reaches the Realm of the Almighty and kills Zenus (44-88 quintillion times FTL)

Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland

Terry faces off against Estark in both the original and remake version of his game, albeit under different circumstances. Within the Gameboy title, Terry returned to the world of Great Tree in order to face off against the Dark Lords that are threatening the realm, visiting the games of I - VI to fight the Dragonlord, Hargon, Malroth, Baramos, Zoma, Psaro the Manslayer, Estark, Nimzo, Murdaw, and Mortamor. And he beats them all up to teach them a lesson.

In the remake, the Dark Lords are no more. Instead Terry is able to encounter Estark within the Sleep Gate after registering enough Monsters. With Estark trying to vaporize a little boy because he got very cranky when woken up.

• Mortamor, the final boss of VI, created his own universe that was going to swallow all worlds

• Mortamor imprisoned Pegasus, the only horse capable of flying into the Dread Realm (332 quadrillion times FTL)

Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Cobi and Tara’s Marvelous Mysterious Key

Once again Estark is a post-game boss hidden within a world of magma, a world that can only be entered with a key obtained by defeating the Nameless King of Destruction. 

• The final boss, Potentiate of Portals wanted to steal light and devour the world

• It’s violent form Nameless King of Destruction desires to return all worlds to the void (This sounds familiar)

Dragon Quest Monsters 3: The Dark Prince

While not fought in this game, Estark is a prominent figure in the background lore of the game, and his siblings Izmah and Venjah do combat with Psaro instead.

• The Ifreann Eagle is said to be able to envelop all of the Circle of Temper in flames (supposedly in a moment)

• A powerful elf is able to create universes (162 quadrillion times FTL)

Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 1

The first and only depiction of Estark where he actually does not have amnesia. Here he is somehow locked in the basement of the main antagonist of the game, because he kept throwing a tantrum whenever he lost a fight. The protagonist is able to enter this locked basement and do battle with the Estark after beating the game and doing battle with Solitaire.

• Incarnus to closed the dark gate that was flooding the human world with dark matter 

Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2

An unspecified amount of time after Joker 1, Estark is eventually encountered by the second protagonist, hidden within the mystery uninhabited island that has been lost to time. On the island, he is snoring away within the cave of a giant mountain….somehow encased entirely in ice until the game is beaten.

• Rigor Mortex’s ultimate form is said to “return all dimensional worlds to nothingness beyond time”

Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 3

Here Estark is actually fought after completing a special sidequest that will, magically spawn him on top of a building (still sleeping of course).

• Metal Goddess illuminates the world with light (1.7 kilotons of TNT per second)

• Black Hole skill (4.26 yottatons of TNT)

• The protagonist fights three creation gods: Wadatsumi who is the creator of oceans, Attihocc who is the creator of the lands, and Hoakari, the creator of the atmosphere / sky.

• Darth Garma absorbs the Planet Seed with the power of all three creation deities

Dragon Quest Heroes II

Within Heroes II, Estark debuts as one of the two optional superbosses that is unlocked by completing a series of challenges involving the party hopping around various dungeons in other dimensions. While he can be fought whenever, he is more than able to keep up with the party at their endgame so he should scale to what happens throughout the story.

• Carver chucks a mountain (385 tons of TNT)

• Fractos summoned a storm (1.48 megatons of TNT)

• Fractos Unfettered surpassed the gods when he drank the Cup of Kings

Dragon Quest Tact

Appears within Tact as both a summoned unit and a boss in two separate challenge modes. While the game itself does not have many notable feats, as a giant crossover of many titles it does allow scaling to other series, such as the manga Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai.

The Goddess

A prominent deity featured in many Dragon Quest titles as the primary creator and central figure of worship. As Estark was stated to have attained power to rival the gods within the title she is from via a method of evolution that is hinted to have used her own power, he should scale to this deity and the many worlds she makes. (see, Before The Verdict)

Weaknesses

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh can be notably clumsy and a bit stupid. He often comically injures himself, has frequently had his equipment robbed from him, and repeatedly mistakes Excalipoor for Excalibur over and over and over.His pride can also get the best of him.

He’s also a prideful warrior, and might often sacrifice proper tactics to show off. For example he finds the use of firearms boring, and much prefers fighting in close quarters combat, and has participated in multiple beefs over making perfect entrances.

Lastly, the Interdimensional Rift isn’t too kind to Gilgamesh. While he’s managed to learn how to navigate it properly, sometimes it’ll just pull him into a random dimension, or interrupt a fight just to suck him back in. 

Estark

Due to his long slumber Estark developed complete amnesia, outside of his general fighting skill he remembers absolutely nothing about any of his prior experiences against others. His constant state of being asleep is also his biggest bane in many boss fights, as getting induced into a slumber is often one of the few status conditions shown to work on him. In rare instances he even falls asleep as soon as the fight starts or can accidentally cast his own Snooze spell on himself to do the same.

Additionally he is shown to be susceptible to having his soul expunged from his body, as his only death and defeat by the Zenith Dragon (in The Dark Prince specifically) was due to those circumstances.

And lastly he is also kind of a sore loser.

Before The Verdict

Dissidia 

“We’re back here again?”-Bartz

Okay so nipping this in the bud now because I know despite the disclaimer I put in the beginning people will ask about this and will laser focus on it anyways so might as well get my feelings out there now.

Dissidia has been a contentious part of FF discussions with people having their own takes on its power, canoncity, and mainly the way it could possibly influence certain FF matches would everything go through. This segment will present our thoughts on the matter on where it stands for this blog.

Is the game canon?

Probably the biggest point of contention is just if the game itself is canon as a whole, as if it’s non canon most of these discussions would be kinda pointless. In our opinion we do believe the games are canon overall to the Final Fantasy Universe.

The first major element often brought up is the Warrior of Light and how Dissidia serves as a prequel story for the character. The Warrior of Light in Dissidia is established to be a manikin created by Cid the Lifunae (keep this guy in mind). Unlike the other warriors he does not have memories of his past and does not originate from a homeworld, rather being built from Cid’s own memories. It’s a big part of his story and character arc in the game, with the finale culminating in the Warrior of Light arriving at the opening of FF1. It’s pretty clear the story of Dissidia serves as an origin point for the character.

Garland’s role is also something to take note of in Dissidia. The game firmly establishes that Cid summoned him in order to instigate Chaos into participating in the war. This is in part due to Cid wanting Chaos to become strong enough to tear a hole in the rift and return to World A (The FF1 world) and seek revenge on the people who killed his wife. Garland even recounts his experiences in Report 12 that detail his first meetings with Cid, Cosmos, and Chaos, taking note of how Cid realized he wasn’t in the past but the future of his world. Garland even points out how Chaos would tell stories of his realm, with Garland confirming these stories became “lore” of his time. The ending of this report even implies Garland was the one to give Chaos his name. Garland’s entire motivation for starting this war stems from his kinship with Chaos, noting how both of them are trapped in the same cycle of violence. With all of this in mind, the game establishes Cid communicated and summoned Garland from his homeworld far before the Dissidia plots began, mainly so he could build Chaos’s strength and return back to his main universe (FF1). All of this adds more character to both Garland and Cid, something which only is present through the Dissidia titles.

And on the topic of Cid it’s about time we tackle what makes him so special. In Final Fantasy 1 “Cid of the Lufaine” is a character mentioned by the people of Lufaine as the creator of the airships. Beyond said mention Cid doesn’t show up at all and isn’t given loads of story to work with. The Dissidia games greatly alter this, revealing loads of information about Cid and making him one of the most important characters both in the game and to FF1 as a whole. He’s still mentioned to be the creator of the Airships, a researcher from Lifune, and is stated to be from World A (the FF1 world). Most importantly, he’s also given an entire backstory relating to wanting revenge on the military that killed his wife, the creation of the same Warrior of Light who becomes the protagonist of FF1, the creator of both Cosmos and Chaos (the latter who is the future version of Garland), and the instigator behind the entire war (11:26 and onward). For a minor character with no appearances, Cid is given A LOT of importance in these games, and it’s clear they didn’t just pick him by chance given his ties to the other big FF1 characters.

Lastly, the video game Strangers of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin has some interesting tidbits within it’s DLC. In the game’s story the antagonist Nil uses her dimensional matrix to open rifts between dimensions. This attracts the attention of Gilgamesh and Mog from Dissidia Opera Omnia, while also bringing forth Emperor Maetus from Final Fantasy 2. The most important detail is all three are already familiar with Garland as a person. When the party wants to know why Gilgamesh and Mog explain that they became familiar with Garland due to encountering him in a world of endless battle, with Mog explicitly stating that the conflict was instigated by two gods. (11:50-12:18). Mog even arrives with the mission of turning Jack and the Warrior of Light into the new gods of harmony and discord to replace Spiritus and Materia. If it wasn’t obvious, Dissidia is the game in question. They even reaffirm that the Garland they knew isn’t the same as Jack Garland. This isn’t new for Strangers Paradise mind you, as the game’s various areas are noted in-universe to be modeled after different dimensions and reference other Final Fantasy games, something intended by the developers.

Now is Dissidia perfect in its consistency? Of course not. Cecil being able to constantly swap back and forth between his Dark Knight and Paladin states is weird and is never explained properly. Zidanne and Kuja’s Trance states work entirely differently and Kuja being able to just turn on Trance in general is never explained, especially given he needed loads of souls to do so. Even when Dissidia is referenced in other media such as the XIII-2 Ultimania for Gilgamesh, they just get information completely out of nowhere like claiming he received the nail from participating in the war against Chaos, despite never fighting the dude nor being an active participant in the war prior to Opera Omnia.

In spite of these issues however, it’s hard to ignore the large amount of world building Dissidia does, namely on the side of the FF1 cast who play a major role in the story and influence a lot of the lore within both their own games, and FF in general. They even confirm minor stuff like the people of FF1 opening a gate to the rift and encountering Shinryu prior to the events of the Disisdia titles. It also helps that most of the other cast members are properly returned to their worlds without any memories of the Dissidia world unless they return to it, allowing for their stories to not be disrupted by the experience.

Overall we believe the intention was to make Dissidia a canon title of the Final Fantasy games in spite of its spinoff nature. So with that out the way this must mean everyone you know is Multi++++ right? Well let’s slow down there.

Arguments in favor of scaling

The most simple form of scaling would just boil down to the events of Dissidia NT, where the cast are relative and are at their endgame states apart from Noctis who’s new to the conflict. Unlike the previous games there are no statements that confirm any amp or power buff is in play. The only hint would be in the ending where Materia states to “bequeath the vestiges of my power to each of you,” but this in reference to the memories left behind by the warriors, with Materia granting them actual life.

Said crystal buff in the last games also has a bit more context to it. It’s stated that by participating in battles, the Warriors of Cosmos would have their wills formed into a crystal, thus granting them the power of the Gods. (9:56-10:38). This point is reinforced when Vaan states at the end of 012’s “Treachery of the Gods” story mode that the crystal more than likely didn’t show itself due to their goals not aligning properly with Cosmos, thus being unable to unlock her power. (18:13-18:44). This would suggest the powers need to be unlocked through regular combat first, thus meaning the amp is not actively present throughout the story mode.

Arguments Against Scaling

Within many of the links there are statements that the power of Cosmos is dormant within the fighters. The Warrior of Light is even stated to be granted Cosmos’s power when he was made, and Jecht was granted Chaos’s power before he died in the game. Even if the power isn’t “awakened” the god’s influence is clearly present, making it possible to argue that Cosmos and Chaos are amplifying the warriors throughout the events of the game, with the awakening of the Crystals maximizing said power. 

The Dissidia NT variation of World B also has statements that would imply notable power shifts. In Dissidia Opera Omina, a main plot point is how the world is designed to respond to the will of the user, with a strong will capable of overwriting the rules of said world. While Dissidia Opera Omnia takes place in a different world, the events are written to be in tandem with NT, with the Opera Omnia world serving as parallel to NT World. This willpower mechanic can induce massive fluctuations in power in the game’s story, and it’s fairly reasonable to say NT’s world operates under similar logic. It would explain why Noctis, far from his endgame can match or keep up with everyone else who is at their peak of power within the story. 

Summary

If it wasn’t clear, Dissidia as a series has a fair amount going on and there are plenty of arguments to be made for and against it in a VS sense. For the purposes of being comprehensive and covering our bases, we will be factoring in Dissidia for this blog. This does not of course mean we would consider or use Dissidia in every context relating to a FF character. Given we’re including elements like Brave Exivus and World of Final Fantasy it should be clear that this isn’t designed to be a 100% definitive take on how we or others should use Gilgamesh in a VS sense, much less other Final Fantasy characters.

We also want to emphasize at the end of the day this is just our personal take and you are free to agree and disagree (respectfully) with our thoughts. Subjects like these tend to invite discourse and as obvious of a statement this is, VS isn’t a monolith and everyone should be allowed to have their own take on a subject regardless of how spicy it may be. 

Exdeath Consuming Dimensions

In Final Fantasy V, Neo Exdeath makes a claim that he would erase all dimensions, memories, and existence with his power. This claim has been a bit divisive, so let’s look at the events of FFV to see how this holds up. 

First of all it should be made clear the Void is not the same as the Rift and was destroying things rather than just dumping them inside of the Rift. We know the Void existed long before the Rift and needed to be sealed away prior to the events of FFV. We also ironically see the Void being used in the Interdimensional Rift during the battle against Neo Exdeath. It’s also fair to say Neo Exdeath’s claims aren’t just random hogwash given the cast began to panic when the Void didn’t stop after Neo Exdeath, implying at the very least the void was capable of performing the acts Exdeath claimed to be capable of. The end of the game even notes that as long as the Four Crystals exist, the world can be reformed even if the Void consumes everything, which happens at the end of the game.

That being said, does that entail Exdeath is Multiversal+? Well not exactly. Obviously just given the events of the game it’s clear Exdeath isn’t wiping out the multiverse all at once, as shown with the portions of destroyed environments populating portions of the rift. Even when Exdeath begins to take control of the Void, his erasure doesn’t instantly consume everything. While it’s unlikely that Exdeath was going to take billions upon billions of years to destroy everything, the multiverse wouldn’t be wiped out in mere moments.

To summarize, we believe Neo Exdeath’s potential lies closer in the range of at least Universal to the lower end of Multiversal. Multiversal+ could be a feasible high end, but not one we at least would want to push aggressively hard.

Ultimecia's Time Compression

In Final Fantasy VIII the main antagonist of the story, Ultimecia, desires to compress all of the past, present, and future into a single point in time using potent time magic known as Time Compression. To accomplish this, Ultimecia needed to travel back in time to a certain degree, use Ellone to send her back in time far enough, cast the magic, and sit on her tush until it’s done. At the climax of the story she nearly succeeded in accomplishing her world of compressed time but got killed before it was completed due to setting up the very circumstances that let Squall time travel to her era to stop her.

There is some contention on whether or not Ultimecia’s Time Compression was actually accomplished with the single time she used it in the story, or if it was merely her first attempt of many at compressing time between her mind and body, with her planning on using it multiple times to compress the past to her present. And if time compression was capable of compressing all of time, or if it has a defined limit since Squall and the others had to exit the compression in order to arrive at Ultimecia’s time period.

If Time Compression operated on the rule that it is only capable of compressing time between the past the user’s mind is in, and their physical body is in the present, it would not be capable of compressing the future. The Junction Machine Ellone was designed by Dr. Odine to mimic Ellone’s powers to send people into the past, neither are capable of sending people forward in time. And within FFVIII, the only methods of being able to travel through time is either being sent to the past through Ellone’s powers, or by using Time Compression to warp yourself to a different era through the power of friendship. Ultimecia couldn’t compress all of time if she couldn’t travel to the future and if said magic had no effect on it.

It is also mentioned that the machine Ultimecia uses to travel back in time, is unable to send her back far enough to use the spell, and the only known person capable of sending her back even further in time is Ellone. Ultimecia only knew of Ellone due to the name of the machine she used (Junction Machine Ellone), and there is no knowledge of any other human in the world of FFVIII who possesses the ability to send people back in time. 

The game also contradicts the idea that Time Compression operates on a limited scale both in how it describes the ability, and during the climax against Ultimecia. When the concept of Time Compression is first brought up within the story it is simply described as a form of time magic that compresses the past, present, and future. The in-game terms also details Time Compression as a mystery with the only information being that “various states of the present are believed to be compressed”. And during the final confrontation against Ultimecia, it openly says that all of time is being compressed and assimilated by her in her Scan description.  

But this does lead to the question of, if Time Compression actually did compress all of time, how did Squall and the party manage to exit it in order to defeat Ultimecia? The best answer you can get from the question would be during the encounter with Ultimecia herself, as she states upon seeing SeeD that “In just a little longer, my perfect world of Time Compression would have been completed...” in the Japanese version and “The world was on the brink of that ever-elusive 'time kompression'.” in the English version. With her wording leaning to the interpretation that she viewed the effects of Time Compression as having been successful, but not finished yet. Factoring in the scan bio description during her final, the conclusion that can most likely be drawn is that Squall and company managed to exit the world of compressed time as the full compression had yet to take place. 

With all this in mind, you might wonder why the feat would be way higher than universal. The calc in question takes the energy of the universe across all of its history and condenses it into one second. That being said, this calc doesn’t take into account the shifting energy of the universe throughout history, as energy is constantly lost throughout the universe overtime. While the feat is likely higher than baseline universal, it’s possible that there is a quantifiable way to calculate such a feat. The calc should be taken as a possible high end. 

Odin Cutting Time

“We’ll cut through every hole in time!”- a totally real quote Odin said

In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, a claim is made that Odin can cut “the time between the seconds.” This could mean infinite/immeasurable speed right? Well…probably not.

It’s never actually displayed how this ability works and even taking it at face value, it doesn’t suggest that he’s reducing the amount of time to zero. It’s just as likely for Odin to simply be reducing the amount of time his attacks are taking, but not to a level where said attacks happen in zero time. Without any real clarification, it’s hard to really gauge what this statement even means. 

Chaos destroying the universe (FF XIII-2)

Wrong game buddy

In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Etro’s heart is stabbed, thus killing the goddess herself who held back the force known as Chaos. The Chaos would eventually destroy the universe and it’s stated a number of times to be all of reality that’s affected. You may be semi confused as to why a feat involving the destruction of the universe reaches only Solar System to Multi Galaxy levels. Rest assured, there is an explanation.

In the game Lightning Returns, it’s revealed that the universe wasn’t destroyed instantly. In fact, it’s explicitly stated multiple times that it took 500 years for all of reality to be at the brink of destruction. While still impressive, it wouldn’t be nearly the amount of energy required to fully destroy the universe in one go. 

Dragon Quest Scaling

Outside of the games listed prior, Estark should be able to scale to most feats and characters from across the franchise. This is because Dragon Quest, similarly to titles like Shin Megami Tensei, is very open with making its numerous characters and monsters interact with one another. Whether through having someone hop across dimensions for a fun cameo or including an iconic boss fight for the sake of a legacy battle, there are many games both mainline and spinoff alike where this occurs. With some of these being either a major plot point or the entire premise of a game. Outside of the previous examples mentioned earlier:

• In Dragon Quest III, Erdrick travels from his world to Torland, because the Archfiend Zoma connected both worlds.

• In Dragon Quest VIII, both Ragnar and Torneko make appearances as friends of Morrie. And they are not treated as alternate versions of the character who happen to live in VIII, as an NPC directly mentions they are from Burland and Lakanaba, confused as no such towns exist in VIII.

• Additionally within VIII, the Godbird Empyrea is revealed to be Ramia from DQIII who has the ability to hop across worlds. With future products using her updated form in anniversary trailers with Erdrick and mentioning her power to alter her appearance.

• Within Dragon Quest IX, legacy bosses from I-VIII show up

• The Questers Rest from Dragon Quest IX somehow has guests from all over the franchise appear, and this massive cameo-fest was even referenced in Erinn’s special cinematic for how the inn became famous

• In Dragon Quest XI, the Luminary visits the world of every mainline title from I-X in order to fix mistakes in the timeline which would prevent that title’s protagonist from being able to meet their ally or continue their journey

• Additionally the Luminary also engages in battle against enemies who all state to possess the power of the final bosses of DQI-X.

• In Terry’s Wonderland the young monster scout visits many staple areas across the titles of DQI-VI  such as Gwaelin’s prison and Damdara ruins from DQI, Orochi’s cave and Aurhea’s Spring from DQIII Saber’s cave from DQV, and Blackmar’s Gallows Moor & Jamirus’s Isle o’ Smiles from DQVI. And in most of these scenarios he fights the same enemy from the main title.

• King Trode’s bestiary description in Monsters Joker 1 imply he was warped to the world

• In Caravan Heart, Keifer is transported to Torland (Caravan Heart & DQII’s World Map) and fights the Dragonlord 

• A child version of Yangus and Red get transported to another world where he meets Torneko…again. Morrie is also there.

• In Dragon Quest Rocket Slime, Morrie appears, but in the form of a She-Slime

• In Dragon Quest Heroes 1 characters from the Zenithian trilogy and DQVIII are (mostly) unwillingly transported to Arba via the Godbird Empyrea to ve playable characters. It also has Zoma from DQIII and Nokturnus from DQVI appear as superbosses.

• Dragon Quest Heroes 2 has the same reasons as before, this time including Maribel and Ruff from DQVII. And, like before, has superbosses in the form of the Dragonlord from DQI and Malroth from DQII

• Dragon Quest Tact frequently has events where the cast visit the worlds of DQI-XI and an alternate version of the story plays out. Some events even have characters get transported to Orchesterra, namely the child version of Terry from Monsters, and the Incarnus species from Joker.

Estark’s Supposed Immortality

Estark is a unique being within the franchise of Dragon Quest due to the effects of the Secret of Evolution. According to the history records of the Zenithians, when he evolved into his advanced form, he reached a point where even other supreme beings, like the Zenith Dragon, are unable to permanently destroy him. With the most that could be accomplished by the dragon, was to place Estark into a deep slumber never to awaken again. This inability to be destroyed is reinforced by the Zenith Dragon again when Psaro evolved into a being similar to Estark in The Dark Price, getting described as something “incapable of death”.

This supposed inability to die has extended even to Estark’s defeat being different compared to other beings who have utilized the Secret of Evolution. When Estark is slain by Solo, his body does not get destroyed nor does he revert back to his previous form like any other user, it simply becomes an empty corpse after his soul leaves. This is reinforced in Azimuth where a devout follower of the Goddess mentions that, even though Estark is slain, his soul is striving for his eventual rebirth. A statement which is not applied to anyone else who used the Secret of Evolution, including Psaro and Aamon who attained a similar form to Estark they evolved. Additionaly when Estark is encountered by the protagonists of V and VIII at his full power, both parties fight Estark with the intent to slay him, but he does not die when defeated, or even turn into a soulless husk. Estark simply gets back up and says he will not lose when you fight him again (which he often encourages and welcomes).

The actual answer to this is not fully known as it is not elaborated on, but it can be argued that Estark’s physical form is presumably not capable of being destroyed because of his evolution. But if his body sustains enough damage, a task made easier if he’s in a weak state, his soul will get removed and leave an empty husk until he’s eventually reborn. Something which has some consistency thanks to the Monster subseries, which has two immortal beings, Hoakarai and the Ifreann Eagle, both state they will simply resurrect, after an unspecified amount of time, should they be defeated. Meaning that even if Estark is an immortal being, it is still possible to incapacitate him long enough for it to count as a victory for his opponent.

Dragon Quest Spell Effects Between Series

You may have noticed that for some of Estark’s section, it mentioned effects from games he does not appear or is playable in. The reason for this was both for the sake of comprehensiveness and because Dragon Quest, unlike Final Fantasy, does not change its power system across titles. The various mainline, spin off and crossovers have shown that all characters and monsters operate on the same system of magic.

Sometimes a move might be listed under a different element or category for the sake of elemental variety (Sizz and Zap often flipping between Light or Fire/Lightning in the spinoffs games, Pearly Gates being considered a spell or not) or perhaps an ability will have an additional effect in a spinoff (such as Fizzle being a more general power seal in Heroes or Miracle Slash being more than a single slash technique and instead acts more like a temporary buff) to better match the type of genre the game is handling.

The games do not treat these variations as special or unique versions of the ability that only specific characters can do, rather just the standard ability that is the same as it always was: Pearly Gates is a holy move that deals effective damage to the undead by smiting foes with the power of the Goddess, Sizz calls forth flames from below regardless of whether it is listed as fire or light elemented, Zap is described as being holy lightning regardless of whether it looks like lightning or light, Miracle Slash is a healing technique that heals the user when they land an attack, and etc.  And in some of these instances, these moves were performed by a character who debuts in a game where it has a completely different effect. If the ability is considered to be a special version, the games give it a unique name to differentiate it.

The Goddess’s World Creation

Throughout the franchise of Dragon Quest, deities play a prominent role throughout the story. Often within the background lore of the game itself: known as the creator of the world, the predominant holy figure worshiped by mortals (and occasionally monsters or demons), the being whom churches (or sages) call upon to perform their miracles, and divine protector who watches over the protagonist's journey to ensure their survival. Due to its long standing history and large amount of spinoffs, a good number of Dragon Quest titles often have their own worshiped deity such as:

 

• Rubiss, the creator the world of Torland in I&II

• Numen, The Almighty, who is the creator of the world of VII

• Zenus, the other Almighty, made the Protectorate in IX

• Goddesses Zenesia and Luciana, are the respective creators of Zenias and Astoltia in X

• The Yggdragon, the other form of Yggdrasil, created Erdrea in XI

• Many unnamed draconic gods within Treasures, two of which are the creators of Draconia

However, there is one deity that is used more often than any named one, a deity referred to only as The Goddess, or Goddess of Light. Known for being the primary creature and figure of worship of the worlds of the III, IV-VI, and VIII, she presumed to be the one responsible for the making of the realms of many of the spinoff titles such as Swords, Rocket Slime, Monsters 1, Monsters 2, Monsters Joker, Heroes, Heroes II, and Tact as all of these titles feature members of the clergy (or divine servants) who serve a creator Goddess, and do not imply the existence of another type of deity, like Treasures. Titles such as VIII, Terry’s Wonderland, Cobi & Tara’s Adventure, Heroes, and Tact further imply the existence of a vast multiverse beyond what is currently seen, with countless, possibly infinite worlds.

Provided this single deity did make these many worlds, it would place Estark well within the multiversal range. However, even if she did not make the worlds of the spinoffs, she would still be a lower range of multiversal as the creation of the mainline titles mentioned, are done by her hand.

Verdicts

Stats

If it wasn’t obvious, neither Gilgamesh or Estark are exactly well known for crazy direct feats. At most Estark’s feat of razing half of Terrestria is more notable than anything Gilgamesh has done directly, but the full potential of both characters lies in the people they’ve fought across the multiverse.

If we look at purely just the mainline titles, Gilgamesh has fought plenty of notable Final Fantasy characters near or at their endgame states. This is most obvious in his debut game, where he’s able to compete with Bartz and his crew time and time again despite the various upgrades and boosts they get in between their fights. On the lower side of things, you can scale him to Gaulf being able to hold back one of the eight crystals, which separated two universes. At minimum this would be multi-galaxy level, which is consistent with his showings against characters like Noel, who killed a being withholding energy that would destroy the universe over the course of 500 years. 

Cranking it up a bit, we can look back again to Bartz’s performances against characters like Neo Exdeath, who was breaking universal laws with his presence and planning on consuming dimensions with the power of the void. Greg would land in the realm of Universal with these feats, which once again is supported by his ability to keep up with the cast of games like FF8 and FF12. In those titles, we witness beats like Zodiark destroy a universe and control its laws, and witches like Ultimecia compress all of time and space across history, potentially reaching numbers as absurd as 1.76 tredecillion times the energy to destroy the universe. 

At the highest, we can potentially push Gilgamesh to multiversal levels of power. Taking a look at Neo Exdeath once again, should we take his feat at the absolute highest interpretation, he could be seen as a threat to the Final Fantasy multiverse, of which there are infinite universes involved. His fights against the Final Fantasy XIV cast could make this consistent, as they were able to defeat Alexander, who attempted to condense infinite timelines into a finite space. 

This level of consistency still remains for Greg when looking at the spinoff titles for him. He can fight Jack Garland, who reset the universe and defeated characters who could erase dimensions. He’s on par with the Dissidia cast, who defeated the universe eating Shinryu and was stronger than Chaos, whose death gave birth to multiple timelines. Even in the weird as hell World of Final Fantasy, he battled Enna Kros, who was stated word for word to create “infinite realms of fantasy.” Overall, Gilgamesh would hit safely universal levels of power, with his higher ends reaching into multiversal ranges.

So how does Estark hold up? Well unsurprisingly very well. Starting off small, we can see lower level characters with plenty of cosmic feats. We’ve seen random spells create black holes, explode stars across galaxies, and bosses like Corvus turning into stars. Impressive for sure, but a little more firepower is needed to take on Gilgamesh.

Taking a look across the main series and even spinoffs, we can see the Dragon Quest cast consistently deal with threats of a universal to multiversal scale. Between Rhapthorne fusing universes, Mortimer creating a universe to swallow all others, and Rigor Mortex returning all worlds to nothingness, there’s plenty of feats that hit multiversal levels of power. In a majority of his games, Estark is treated as one of or the biggest threat our heroes face, solidifying his scaling to the big feats within the games.

At the highest level of this scaling, Estark has been directly compared to The Goddess herself. The series has reaffirmed the Goddess as the creator of many worlds in the series, with implications that there are countless to infinite amounts in games such as Dragon Quest Monsters II and Dragon Quest Heroes. Even without his own direct statements, there have been different characters stated to achieve or surpass the Goddess in power, and as mentioned before Estark is considered to be the biggest threat in many of his entries.

So as we can see both characters are roughly in the same league of power, hitting universal to multiversal levels of power, with Estark scaling a little bit higher in his own series compared to Gilgamesh. Ultimately it will come down to speed, and sadly for Greg this is where things begin to shift out of his favor.

On Gil’s side of things, most of the notable speed feats such as Omega’s flight, Eden’s Eternal breath, and Sephiroth’s telekinetically moving the meteor can range from millions of times to trillions of times the speed of light. At the absolute highest, we could scale Gilgamesh to Meteion restoring life across the universe in mere seconds, hitting around 490 quadrillion times the speed of light. Admittedly, Meteion is a more powerful boss that is fought far later within FF XIV’s storyline and in most cases it’d be questionable to scale Gilgamesh to her. In this moment, however, she was in a weakened state and it’s unlikely Greg would be leagues below her in power, letting him scale to this feat at least as a high end for his speed. 

The Dragon Quest end of things displays many notable speed feats hitting trillions to quadrillions of times FTL, namely Solar Flair hitting targets across a galaxy, Pegasus flying to another universe, and a random elf creating a universe in seconds. The fastest of these comes from Corvus, who sniped his target from across the universe in about 1/30th of a second, granting speeds of around 44-88 quintillions of times FTL. A speed like that might seem a bit absurd, but not only is the only way to reach Zenus’s realm is to travel between the cosmos, but the purpose of this attack was to kill the god from another universe, and it’s implied from the moment the beam strikes down that he was killed and didn’t have time to react to the attack. A beam moving that fast would also be in line with Corvus surpassing Zenus himself, who’s own similar feat of attempting to nuke the Protectorate across the cosmos was around 367 quadrillion times FTL.

When looking at things holistically, no matter how far you push either the ballpark lands in Estark’s court when it comes to speed. At best, Gil will be able to be around the same range as Estark with his high ends. At worst, Estark can be over 179 times faster. Combine that with their relatively close physical stats, Estark will solidly take the stat category overall.

If you couldn’t tell by both fighters' resistance sections, a lot of their more haxier abilities are basically just going to be null in void due to being JRPG bosses that ruin status effects. They can’t turn each other into stone, cast any death hax related powers, poison each other, use mind control, etc. It’s going to come down to what they don’t resist, and the options at their disposal in order to exploit those weaknesses.

Gilgamesh Options

And speaking of options, Gilgamesh has plenty of them to say the least, namely when it comes providing himself with even more. In terms of just sheer numbers, Gilgamesh can create multiple clones of himself, summon traditional monsters to assist him, and notably gain the assistance of other Final Fantasy characters. It’s no surprise actual characters of Final Fantasy outclass most of Estark’s monsters in terms of power, variety, and skill. Combine that with Gilgamesh’s various support abilities such as healing and stat boosting, Estark could be overwhelmed by the amount of problems he has to deal with.

Greg’s magic can also be keen in exploiting some of the few abilities Estark may not resist. Powers such as time manipulation have proven to work, giving Gilgamesh leeway to slow or stop him in place. The bug man may also be a big boy at first, but Gilgamesh’s various shrinking spells combined with his own size changing abilities can swap that dynamic for a while and lend Gil and even bigger range of attack. Arguably the most notable power is Gilgamesh’s methods of putting targets to sleep. While in some games Estark has resisted the spell snooze, in many others he has fallen to the spell before, and Gilgamesh has many different ways of invoking the sleep status. Whether it’s using Time Slip, Dancehall Daze, or even one of his weapons, Gil has many ways of exploiting this weakness.

Speaking of weapons, Gil’s favorite thing in the world will be a massive help in dealing with the Lord of the Underworld. The sheer quantity of equipment outdoes Estark’s by a notable margin, forcing the bug man to adapt each time to all sorts of different gimmicks Gilgamesh can throw out. Even if he cannot affect him with some of the hax of said weapons, the different ranges and sizes that these weapons can attack from alongside the various buffs gives Greg plenty of ways to change and alter the pace of the fight whenever he wants.

Arguably the most notable weapon in this kit is absolutely the True Zantetsuken. This variation of Odin’s sword has the specific ability to bypass the typical death resistance and kill its target guaranteed. Estark’s resistances wouldn’t hold up to this weapon, and given Zantetsuken is one of Gilgamesh’s most recurring weapons, it’s very likely in the middle of battle he will go for this option.

So that’s a lot Gilgamesh can throw at Estark. Fortunately for the bug man, he has plenty of answers and then some for the wander of the rift.

Estark Options

If Estark has any advantage in this fight, it’s his various methods of debilitation. Spells such as Spooky Aura, Frizzle and Disruptive Wave are some of Estark’s most consistent spells, and both of them can negate some of Gilgamesh’s tools in the fight. Disruptive Wave can remove all of Gil’s clones while also removing the buffs he could get from other weapons, Frizzle can prevent the use of any items, and Spooky Aura would consistently lower the resistances of Gilgamesh and even turn them into weaknesses. Even with skills like Perfect Defense to nullify all negative effects, Estark has access to traits like the Crafty Skills, which inherently allow him to bypass traditional immunities, opening up A LOT of Estark’s kit to work when they otherwise wouldn’t. It also helps that some of Gil’s spells that could affect him such as Stop are temporary, and even the infamous sleeping weakness has been averted thanks to Estark showcasing he can fight while sleeping. 

This trend continues when we look at the multiple fog spells that Estark has access to. These wide scale AOE attacks are not affected by typical immunities and grant the Lord of the Underworld several methods of shifting the battle. Underworld Fog would make any form of healing fatal to Gilgamesh, White Fog would turn off his magical capabilities, and just the regular Black Fog would nullify most other abilities outright. Arguably the most devastating of these would be the Red Fog, a spell that specifically prevents all physical and slashing attacks, something which Gilgamesh would heavily rely on given his weapon loadout. While each fog technique will disable some of Estark’s own skills, he has been shown to work around these issues in game by using whatever options are not disabled, establishing some layer of planning when it comes to using these powers rather than just throwing them out wildly. 

Even in direct confrontations, Estark has plenty of advantages to utilize. Off the bat his sheer size alone not only makes him more difficult to damage, but makes his range of attacks even considerably larger; and that’s before taking into account his ability to make city sized explosions. Should any damage come his way? Characters who have been granted his power have regenerated entire limbs, and that’s before healing spells are involved. To round everything off, Estark has access to multiple different reflection spells such as Bounce, Bound, and Counter, which can send back any physical or magical attacks Gilgamesh has on his person. This can even make the True Zantetsuken a fatal option, as should the attack be reflected back at Greg, it’d obviously bypass his death resistance and kill him right there.

Comparison

When looking at the kits of both overall it’s no secret Gilgamesh has many options for attack and could overwhelm Estark if given the chance. Unfortunately for him, Estark’s many ways of shutting down his kit are just as vast, and far more fatal to Gilgamesh by comparison. Any of his magic can be sealed away, his physical weaponry can be disabled, and Estark has more consistent methods of bypassing Gilgamesh’s immunities, thus lending him more leeway to use what would usually be his useless hax in the fight and ending it right there. Despite all of his weapons and tools, this category goes to Estark.

It’s no surprise that both bosses have lived for a very long time, and by proxy have flexed their skills against many warriors across the series. Fortunately for Gilgamesh, his experience and skills are far more documented by comparison. He has been stated consistently to be a master swordsman, and displays proficiency with all the weapons in his collection. Comparatively, Estark is only known to wield his two blades with notable skill, and consistently forgets his battles with past warriors, making it difficult for him to carry over knowledge into new encounters.

Even when looking at the warriors they have fought, the Final Fantasy has more clear statements and feats illustrating their tactics. Bartz for example has displayed proficiency in perfectly copying fighting styles and tailoring them to defeat opponents, yet Gilgamesh is able to rival him in all of their encounters. Even when factoring in Estark being able to keep up with many talented warriors within his own series without prior knowledge, Gilgamesh has done the same thing, while also learning from previous encounters and improving his own skills as a result.

Lastly, while Gilgamesh might be a bit ditzy at times, he’s shown to be clever when the situation calls for it. He’s managed to fool multiple characters in the middle of battle, and assess situations carefully, as displayed when he used his knowledge of the multiverse to assist Jack despite only being in the world for a few moments. Comparatively, Estark hasn’t displayed any notable feats of trickery or strategy, often relying more on his power to win. In most cases that tactic is useful, but against someone roughly as strong it’s unlikely to work as effectively, much less against a warrior as skilled as Gilgamesh. 

Conclusion

Gilgamesh

"So for Gilgamesh...it’s morphin time!"

Advantages:

• Larger variety of weaponry at his disposal

• Vastly more skilled in combat

• Capable of instantly killing Estark with True Zantetsuken

• Can seal off summon options

• Liliputian Lyric / Mini Song can shrink his opponent

• Bushido is able to dispel any positive moves his opponent can place on himself

• Has options to counter status debuffs

• Perfect Defense provides nigh complete protection

• More numbers via clones and various summons

• Naturally immune to almost any hax Estark has

Disadvantages:

• Slower

• Susceptible to abilities that weaken resistances, making him vulnerable to any move Estark has if not dispelled

• No counter to the Fog abilities sealing his arsenal 

• Bushido is a physical attack, and thus can still be affected by moves that reflect it

• Is vulnerable to his own True Zantetsuken, should it get reflected

• Excalipoor. Just Excalipoor.

• Between the two you wouldn’t expect the giant, bipedal, immortal, roach-demon-monster to be the one to have procreated first now, would you?

Estark

"You roused me from my slumber for nothing. A crime for which you will pay dearly."

Advantages:

• Faster

• Attacks have a much larger AoE

• Can still fight even when asleep

• Disruptive Wave dispels most buffs Gilgamesh has

• Dark Shackles and Genma’s Gaol can cripple stamina and magic reserves

• Some moves weaken Gilgamesh’s resistance to elemental attacks and status effects

• Crafty Skills partially bypass opponent’s immunity

• Able to seal off large portions of Gilgamesh’s arsenal with Fizzle, Fog moves, etc.

• Can reflect Gilgamesh’s physical, magical, and misc. attacks

• Resistant or immune to a good number status effects his opponent has

Disadvantages:

• Estark’s pool of weapons is much less diverse and useful compared to Gilgamesh’s

• The average monster is nowhere near as useful as a Final Fantasy protagonist

• Lacks any resistance to Mini or True Zantetsuken

• Resistance to Time and Sleep magic can be debated

• There is a non zero chance Estark will fall asleep during the fight

• Has yet to have a voiced line in all 34 years of his existence

It’s no surprise that these two have plenty to dish out given their history across their respective series. Unfortunately for Gilgamesh, he just didn’t have the tools to fully overpower Estark. 

While both characters are about even in terms of power and durability, Estark has a notable speed advantage across the board, and that speed opens up more ways for him to unleash his bag of tricks. Gilgamesh may have many ways to overwhelm the beast, but Estark has far too many potent options to shut down Gilgamesh. Between bypassing immunities, disabling and sealing techniques, and his far greater defense, Estark can slowly turn the battle in his favor and score the killing blows he needs. While it may not be impossible Gil could score a win with items such as the True Zantetsuken, it’s far more likely Estark will be able to eliminate his resistances and score multiple killing blows with his various spells.

It appears that Estark will be collecting his gil from killing Gilgamesh, as he stands as the final boss remaining.

Hey everyone. Another blog out. Obviously big shoutouts to Zenni for helping me with this blog especially when it came to the Dragon Quest side of things. It was a fun time learning about the series and he really helped pull this blog together.

I also of course want to give a shoutout to Tommy and Rina who’s calcs have been sprinkled throughout and helped give us some solid numbers for some of these feats.

And lastly credit to all the different sites such as VBW and some of the Reddit forms for translations, their own calcs, translations, etc.