Notes: Myth vs. Fateverse❋

[kingofallkings]

Myth vs. Canon

While Gilgamesh's Fate-Canon backstory does generally correspond to the Epic, there are a number of minor (or not as minor) changes, as well as some interpretational shifts that have deeper and more resonant implications. Keeping track of them as I find/notice them here.

APPEARANCE: Starting with the easiest, Gilgamesh and Enkidu look nothing like their mythological selves... at all. In the Epic, Gilgamesh is bearded with curly hair and Enkidu begins as a wildman with a hairy body, whereas in Fateverse they're both basically bishounen and Enkidu is androgynous as he patterns his appearance on that on Shamhat. Furthermore, seeing as Uruk was in the area now known as Iraq it's fair to say they were originally envisioned as middle-eastern whereas they're both pretty obviously not in Fateverse. For my own sanity, I'm just assuming Gilgamesh looks the way he does because he looks like Ninsun (his mother, the goddess) and since she's a goddess her appearance doesn't conform to the region's ethnicity. As for Enkidu, he's got green hair so... idk.
DESIGN REFERENCE:

Gilgamesh [Uruk Kingly Robes | Mesopotamian Armor | Knight's Armor | Snakeskin (4th War) | Pimp Suit (5th War) | Bicycle Jacket (4th War) | WTF is this (HA) | Child Form (HA) ]

Enkidu | Humbaba (unofficial) | Ishtar (unofficial) |Gugalanna The Bull [cloaked] (unofficial but acknowledged) | Ninsun (unofficial)

POWER: ...obviously, while very powerful, the heroes of the Epic don't approach the level of Gilgamesh and/or Enkidu's abilities in the Fateverse. There, Gilgamesh is the most powerful of all heroes, and one of the strongest forces in the universe - he even has the ability to destroy (or unmake) and create worlds with a single swordstroke. Enkidu is an avatar of the Counterforce - the will of World and thus capable of channeling immense power to protect the planet and/or humanity from destruction. Their strongest abilities are therefore perfectly matched and absolutely counter one another. Enkidu is also a shapeshifter who can rearrange his "stats," so to speak.

Mythological Gilgamesh is also a skilled warrior whereas Gilgamesh as Archer is not - his relative lack of prowess in hand-to-hand or martial combat is actually a plotpoint in Stay Night. That said, Extra/CCC reinstates his combat skill while also stating that his power is too great to be contained by a single class, ergo he is without a class at all. This seems to imply his loss of warrior skill may have been linked to his having been summoned in an Archer container.

PURPOSE: Probably the biggest/most basic change is the general purpose and motivation the two primary characters have to begin with. Fateverse takes a number of the epic's exaggerated claims about the hero at its center very seriously and spins them into actual canonical fact: in Fateverse, Gilgamesh is literally designed by the Gods to be perfect, and to lead mankind back to the Gods' service as the Age of Gods is fading and their power is dimming. Gilgamesh is therefore created as a shepherd to humanity:

"According to the gods, it was a “keystone.” A keystone hammered into the earth by the heavens to delay the complete fracturing between themselves and humanity. Such were the circumstances of my birth. Unlike you humans, I was not born from some honest process of life. From the very beginning, this body was designed to rule as the mouthpiece of the gods and censure humanity.” --Gilgamesh

"The gods, fearing the humans drifting from nature worship, manufactured a transcendent being who held the perspectives of both human and god, but would ultimately side with the gods." --observation of Hakuno

ENKIDU: Gilgamesh is, however, a force that can't be contained and so the Gods create Enkidu as a weapon to control and humble him. Whereas in the Epic, Enkidu's birth mirrors that of the creation of man and he is, in essence, just an especially strong human, in the Fateverse he is more like a Noble Phantasm of the Gods (as described in Strange Fake) - never fully human, essentially made of clay and able to shift his form at will. He originally appears not as a wild man but as a clay golem, and models his human appearance after Shamhat. Notably, it's Anu who brings Shamhat to him rather than Gilgamesh sending her with a hunter.

Possessing the wisdom born from his time with Shamhat, Enkidu is able to understand Gilgamesh's transformation from a golden child to a tyrant in a way that no other can: Gilgamesh's existence as both semi-human and semi-divine have made him greater than either, and so he is isolated. Enkidu is impressed by his refusal to abandon humanity even though it does not understand him:

I was all too painfully aware of the reason behind his sudden transformation. He had been born with his conclusion already drawn. He existed independent of all as a being that was neither divine nor human. As one who had acquired the characteristics of both, his field of vision reached so far and wide that not even the gods were able to comprehend what he fixed his gaze upon.

Overwhelming power bred overwhelming isolation. Even then he did not abandon his kingship. He did not flee from the mission imposed upon him.

...what strength of self.

And so, Enkidu approaches him, saying he will rectify his arrogance, but he really just means that he'll become Gilgamesh's friend. They fight for days, and in the end acknowledge one another as equals.

ENKIDU'S PURPOSE: He is created to anchor Gilgamesh, more or less, and return him to the service of the Gods. However, he acquires reason and chooses Gilgamesh and humanity over his creators:

A chisel that linked the Gods to mankind, that was the true nature of Enkidu. It was said that Gilgamesh was a chisel born to Earth because the Gods did not wish to lose power and wanted to be forever worshiped. Maybe he forgot, or maybe he just disregarded the order, but in the end Gilgamesh did not fulfill his duty. In fact, he ruled as if to drive mankind away from the Gods. Enkidu was the spear of discipline that was supposed to impale Gilgamesh ---- a weapon forged by Gods that penetrated all enemies and returned the Chisel (Gilgamesh) back to the Gods. ...

Just like Gilgamesh's rebellion, the Gods miscalculated again with Enkidu. The "weapon" descent to earth and acquired intelligence through interactions with men. He wished to connect the world of Gods with the world of men in his own way. Returning the chisel to the Gods, by closing the distance between Gods and men.

In other words, the Gods shall not control men. And men would advance to the level of Gods.

He thus chose to become a "system". He would become the weapon of the King that ruled the mortal world, and expend himself for the purpose of advancing the world. He chose to become a "man". He would stand beside the King and dispel his solitude.

HUMBABA: Unlike the Gilgamesh of the Epic, who hunts Humbaba sometimes for the thrill of it and sometimes to cheer up his companion, in Fateverse, Gilgamesh proclaims that Humbaba must die for the good for humanity, saying if the evils of the world are not purged, humanity will die out.

THE SOURCE OF GILGAMESH'S CRUELTY: What Enkidu comes to understand about Fateverse Gilgamesh is that this cruelty and his attitude are not a result of arrogance as such. They are the byproduct of Gilgamesh's love/hate relationship with humanity and his role as their guide and guardian. Because he sees the future of humanity as self-sufficient and full of promise, he has to disconnect himself from them because if he likes the current humanity too much, he'll be unable to act as their adjudicator and reaper. It's not the most comfortable path, but he sticks with it because he finds it necessary.

Though humanity is the epitome of ingenuity, it does not possess a shared standard. No, precisely because it has no shared standard, humanity continues to bring forth new advancements.

Thus, an absolute standard is indispensable. An adjudicator who was human while more than human, who belonged to the gods without being a god.

If merely to govern, a human would do; if merely to menace, a god would do. To the very end, the gods had not understood that.--Gilgamesh

THE DEATH OF ENKIDU: Rather than becoming a corpse, Enkidu - never truly human or alive in a certain sense of the word - is returned to clay as an act of revenge from the gods, as in the Epic. Gilgamesh blames himself as the punishment was decided because of his actions, not Enkidu's. Unlike in the epic, where Enkidu first displays anger at his fate, this Enkidu is resigned and concerned only for Gilgamesh's well being. Notably there are deviations between his death scenes, but this is still consistent. In Fate/Zero, Enkidu's concern is that, without him, Gilgamesh will return to his solitude:

"Why are you crying?" The King of Heroes had asked. "Could it be that, only now, you are regretting having taken my side?"

"It's not that," (Enkidu) had answered. "Who would understand you after I die? Who else would march forward by your side? My friend... when I think that you will live on all alone henceforth, I can't help but shed tears."

In Extra/CCC Enkidu expresses that he isn't the important one, rather it's Gilgamesh who is significant:

"There is no need to grieve. I am a weapon. I am but one of the numerous in your collection. You will find countless treasures greater than I from hereon. So there is no reason for you to shed those tears; I have not the worth left in me to deserve them."

Yes. I was a weapon. A tool. Unlike him. Gilgamesh. The hero who, despite being created as a child of the gods, continued to defy the gods. He had a soul from the very beginning. He had free will since he was born.

A being with true life, unlike me. A star with true worth, unlike me. I was expendable.

In either case, Gilgamesh refuses the assessment of Enkidu as unimportant, and makes his mourning the basis for his continued solitude:

"You do have worth. You alone have this worth. I hereby declare. In all this world, only one shall be my friend. Thus, not for all eternity, will his worth ever change."

Enkidu regrets having condemned Gilgamesh to solitude and wishes to be "forgotten." But, from this point on, Gilgamesh has no companions. He names his great weapon, the Chain that Binds the Gods, after Enkidu but never speaks of him directly, and claims to have forgotten his name -- but this is obviously and somewhat painfully untrue as the protagonist in CCC notes that Enkidu's wish to be forgotten by Gilgamesh will never come true.

THE QUEST FOR IMMORTALITY: Unlike in the Epic, Gilgamesh was aware of the herb of immortality before being set on this quest: he intended to collect it at some point because of his freakish obsession with hoarding. Previously he hadn't even thought about death, but after Enkidu's death, he fears and hates what that took his companion, and goes off to achieve immortality. He wanders the world for decades in search of that secret. But what Hakuno realizes is that his obsession with immortality was not driven by something as simple as the fear of death or even simply anger at Enkidu's fate. Rather, Gilgamesh did not want to abandon his role as the shepherd - he wanted to see his guidance of humanity through to the end of time, which meant he had to... not die:

He had determined to be the discerner. He had determined to be the adjudicator of the people. He had determined to see through to the very end, not the everyday contentment, but the deeds, the future of the people,.

That was his kingship. And that's why -- to witness their end, he had sought an enduring body that would last until the end of this world.

Gilgamesh gets the plant and it's taken by the snake, but while in the Epic the herb's loss is complete and he knows he can't return to the ocean to retrieve another, what keeps him from doing so in Fateverse is quite different. He comes to land and, rejoicing in his victory, begins to imagine returning home to Uruk as a hero. Once he starts imagining that, his vanity returns, and he's bothered by the unkempt state of himself, and decides to rest and clean himself up. It's then, as he rests, that the snake steals his herb. In that moment, he reaches a realization:

What struck me then, was laughter. I laughed and laughed until my sides ached. It was all just so absurd that I couldn't help it. ... All that I stand to gain, all that I stand to take pride in, is naught. Oh, it is not that I cannot attain anything. At the end of it all, not one thing shall remain for me and that, I understood then, is my sole reward. The fulfillment in life, the joy of living that I'd attained for the first time, vanishes in the blink of an eye, like so.

This was the world of humanity. This was what I must observe. What would I understand of this unique appeal in an undying body? Immortality is but the incompleteness of the common fool. The dream of the mongrels who cannot face the end.

I had no need for immortality. These eyes foresee the future to begin with. There had been no reason whatsoever to fear death.

His realization is, in essence, that he doesn't need immortality - it would only hinder his mission to oversee mankind, as he would no longer be able to understand mankind. And since he can see the future anyway, there's no real necessity to being there personally. This is when he reaches maturity (as in the Epic, albeit for different specific reasons), and retires to Uruk to live the remainder of his lifetime. Even so, he continues to watch over the world and the humans there:

I'll experience death as many times as necessary.

Time and again I shall revive.
Time and again I shall observe.
Until the end of this world.

Until the day comes when humanity reaches beyond my garden (planet), setting sail for the dark sea. Until the day when humanity reaches the end of the sky and strikes its final note."

THE HERB OF IMMORTALITY: Another major difference? Gilgamesh actually went back and got the herb, but didn't use it. He chose to remain mortal, and grow old, and die. He does use it during the course of the Fateverse, though, becoming his much mellower child self when he is too annoyed to cope.

Also notably, in the Fateverse, Utnapishitim's immortality involves having become half-plant.

POST-DEATH: The Mythological Gilgamesh ascended to godhood after his death, becoming the ruler and judge of the dead. It's arguable that Gilgamesh's status as King of Heroes reflects this in a way - as all Heroes exist within the Throne of Heroes, you could call him the King of the Heroic Dead in a certain sense, although it's unclear what the Throne is actually like and whether he literally rules it. In any case, Fate!Gilgamesh never did learn to embrace the gods again, unlike the hero of the Epic, and in fact dislikes them so much that his own divinity has been suppressed.

 

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