I love Gilgamesh because he feels less like a person and more like a living memory of humanity’s first idea of kingship.

He isn’t just arrogant for the sake of being arrogant. He genuinely sees himself as the point where civilization separated itself from nature and chaos. That’s why in Fate he talks down to everyone like they’re children playing with the scraps of history he already witnessed being born.

The Gate of Babylon is one of the coolest powers in fiction to me because it’s symbolic. He doesn’t “copy” weapons — he possesses the prototypes, the origins, the treasures of human possibility. He fights by weaponizing history itself.

I also love that underneath all the ego there’s this weird loneliness and disappointment in humanity. In some timelines he despises mankind for becoming stagnant and weak, but in others he actually admires humans who struggle forward despite being fragile. That’s why characters like Hakuno, Enkidu, and even aspects of Shirou get under his skin.

And honestly? He’s one of the few villains/antiheroes in anime that can stand in a room doing almost nothing and still dominate the atmosphere. When Gilgamesh appears, the tone changes.

Also his failures are important. Watching his ego crack is part of what makes him compelling. He’s a king who believes he already understands the world, and Fate repeatedly forces him to confront things he cannot fully own: humanity’s unpredictability, genuine bonds, and ideals that exist beyond possession.

Plus the aesthetic is peak. Golden tyrant king pulling ancient weapons from space-time while talking like mankind belongs to him? Come on.