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- "Legend has it that Gilgamesh knows all the elemental magics though, strangely, he has never possessed the power to use them. The King has no aura."
- — Nicholas Flamel
Gilgamesh was a legendary king of Sumerian Mesopotamia (modern-day Southern Iraq) who ruled between 2800 BCE and 2500 BCE. Despite the pervasiveness of writing in Mesopotamia at the time, much about his rule remains unknown due to the lack of historical records. Most of what we know about his history comes from the Epic of Gilgamesh, the foundation of which was written by multiple authors several hundred years after his rule. The Epic of Gilgamesh was only assembled into a complete story around 1800 BCE, and it may have combined the stories of several individuals into a single character.
In the series, he is the oldest Immortal Humani, and one of the original First People, with his elder sister Tsagaglalal, brought to life by Prometheus himself over 10,000 years ago. However, Prometheus refers to him as his friend and the Elder's aura keeps him youthful like his sister. Gilgamesh's brother-in-law Abraham the Mage granted him immortality using the magic contained in the Codex. However, the spell had two unfortunate side effects: his aura (and thus any ability to use magic) was removed, and his memory, after the end of the De Danann Empire, gradually fragmented to a point where it became difficult to remember his sister Tsagaglalal. He speaks English with a trace of a vague Middle Eastern accent.
Appearance[]
In Zephaniah's and Tsagaglalal's memories, his birth appearance had rich golden skin, jet-black hair and blue eyes. In the Nameless City, he was the paired male statue with his sister's female one.
On Danu Talis, Gilgamesh appears as a single armored warrior with a sword and battle-axe guarding an open door of Abraham's crystal tower/spire near the city of Murias. He fights against a dozen howling anpus alone. And while his weapons were dark with anpu blood, his own gray armor was cracked and broken, bright with red blood. A surprise attack catch him on the side of his head, knocking his helmet off to spin it into the air. Unlike his modern visage as old and ragged, lost and crazed, but here Gilgamesh was in all his glory, howling with laughter, teeth bared and bloody as he fought against impossible odds. An anpu's kopesh shattered against his breastplate.
In the Modern Era, Gilgamesh is described as a wild-haired, shaggy-bearded tramp wrapped in layers of cloth covered in writing. The writing, primarily done in cuneiform and hieroglyph, both serves to aid his damaged memory and to form wards of protection (as he cannot defend himself with magic). He was like a harmless old vagrant wearing too many clothes and in need of a haircut and beard trim. He was not much taller than Josh Newman, but his thickly bundled clothing bulked him out, and his mass of wild hair and ragged beard made him look like and old man. Seeing beyond the hair, he had a high forehead, long straight nose and bright blue eyes peering out of a deeply tanned face, looking around mid-forties.
Immortality & Aura[]
The immortality spell Abraham used to make Gilgamesh immortal removed his aura. Since the aura is the force which keeps living creatures alive, it can be deduced that the spell used was designed to create an alternative life-force to keep Gilgamesh alive and replace his aura. Marethyu is another example of a living being with no aura; in Marethyu's case it is his hook which provides the force necessary to keep him alive. The exact source of Gilgamesh's immortality remains unknown, but it may be linked to the Codex.
Unlike conventional forms of immortality, Gilgamesh's immortality may have also provided him with physical resilience, but not the soul. (As is commonly said throughout the series, immortality and invulnerability are entirely different; poison, illness, and injury are able to kill an immortal). Nicholas Flamel mentions he foiled a suicide attempt in 1945 in which Gilgamesh had intended to stand under a nuclear blast, thinking that if his body was sublimated he may finally be able to rest. This may indicate that Gilgamesh was invulnerable to most commonly fatal things.
In The Sorceress, Gilgamesh requests that his immortality be removed using the codex. Gilgamesh believes that when this is done he will continue to age as a normal humani would, rather than the rapid and violent aging experienced by most immortals when the gift is revoked. Whether or not he regained his aura with this process is not mentioned.
Abilities[]
- Immortality: Gilgamesh gained Immortality from Abraham's spellwork, and therefore does not age (though he is vulnerable to injury and poison). Unless he is slain by an enemy, Gilgamesh may live for thousands or millions of years.
Master of Water
- Hydromancy: Masters of water can create, move, and shape water into nearly any shape or form imaginable.
- Manipulation of Bodies of Water: Masters of water can manipulate rivers and oceans, such as impacting tidal currents, causing floods, and creating waves.
- Thermokinesis: Masters of water can manipulate the temperature of water, causing it to boil or freeze.
- Weather Manipulation: Masters of water can create rain, clouds, and storms.
Master of Air
- Aeromancy: Masters of air can greatly compress and decompress air. Air can be manipulated to form tornadoes, walls, and shields. Highly pressurized air can be shaped into blades, orbs, blasts, and explosions.
- Exnomophis: Masters of air can alter the balance of the components that make up air.
- Flight: Masters of air can fly by manipulating air currents.
- Manipulation of Weather: Masters of air can create powerful tornadoes, hurricanes, twisters, whirlwinds etc.
- Thermokinesis: Masters of air can change the temperature of air, either freezing it or heating it to extreme temperatures.
- Typhokinesis: Masters of air can manipulate air particulates, such as smoke, mist, and clouds.
Master of Fire
- Healing: Masters of fire can heal certain types of wounds with fire by fusing and reforming tissue.
- Pyromancy: Masters of fire can create, extinguish, manipulate, move, and throw fire. Fire can be formed into shapes.
- Thermokinesis: Masters of fire can greatly heat an object or enemy with a touch.
- Welding: Masters of fire can melt and fuse stone, metal, and many other substances.
Master of Earth
- Lithomancy: Masters of earth can create, form, and move earth at will.
- Phytokinesis: Masters of earth can create and manipulate earth-based life, such as plants.
- Thermokinesis: Masters of earth can manipulate the temperature of earth, causing it to boil and turn into a molten state.
- Transmutation: Masters of earth can alter the composition of earth.
Early Life[]
Known as Bilgames in the earliest Sumerian Texts, Gilgamesh is first featured in history as the Fifth King of Uruk, a Sumerian city-state, and ruled for 126 years according to the Sumerian List of Kings. In the series, however he is said to have lived for ten-thousand years, and was granted his immortality by Abraham the Mage. He claims that the Gilgamesh Epic, the oldest surviving text in history, is "missing all of the good parts". Regardless of what history tells us, he disappears after his reign ends and leaves only one son, Urlugal. Mars Ultor lives near as Nergal.
He permeated as a ruler in various civilizations: Sumerian and Akkadian, Babylonian Egyptian, Greek and Roman, and then the furs and leather of Gaul and Britain. He was a warrior, leading Celts and Vikings, Rus and Huns into battle against men and monsters. He was a teacher, in the plain white robes of a priest, oak and mistletoe in his hands.
In one point while watching over the line of gold he came across Arthur Pendragon. Who he believed to be the true gold and raised and trained him and helped him become king. When King Arthur died he was unable to accept the loss and his mind broke. He became forgetful, easily confused, and quite insane; he is even unable to remember his own sister and name unless reminded. However he tries to write things down in order to remember them, showing he is aware of what is happening to him, which is why he wants to reverse his immortality. When Shakespeare, Palamedes, Scathach, Joan, and Saint-Germain journey back in time to witness the fall of Danu Talis, they meet Gilgamesh, no longer an old man, but a warrior in his prime.
Last time they met, his sister visited him after the Second World War, at his bombed home on East End of London. The pair of siblings worked chronologically through his written records to find her name and they wept afterwards even while she knew he would have amnesia within an hour.
In the Series[]
The Master of Water met Sophie and Josh Newman at Palamedes's taxicab on Monday, June 4th. He later taught them the Magic of Water, enabling both to become Masters of Water in London.
He is also seen fighting many anpus while guarding his brother-in-law's crystal spire's open door during the fall of Danu Talis, on a past parallel timeline. Prometheus and Scathach's group arrived just in time to free him of the invasion.
He is remembered by his sister Tsagaglalal when she renewed herself and searched her storage room for her weapon and armor.
The Epic of Gilgamesh[]
Main article: The Epic of Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story following the Sumerian King Gilgamesh, terrified of death, on a heroic quest as he seeks a way to become immortal. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest known work of literature, with some fragments dating back as far as 2100 BCE. There are large discrepancies between the Epic and the version of Gilgamesh in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. Based on how the Epic was put together (seemingly a collection of shorter stories written by independent sources and at different times), it is possible that when the Epic was assembled, it incorporated accounts of different heroes and merged them into one character. If true, the Epic of Gilgamesh would be a poor representation of his true self.
Trivia[]
- Gilgamesh is a master of all four Elemental Magics, though without an aura he lacks the ability to use them after attaining immortality. His most famous is being a Master of Water.
- His Danu Talis connections include (except his sister) Prometheus the Firelord, Abraham the Mage, Zephaniah the Witch and Huitzilopochtli the Champion. They are all Masters of magic or military might.
- He is the younger brother of Tsagaglalal. Due to his mental condition, he has trouble remembering who she is. This made her have some hate for her husband Abraham.
- His brother-in-law Abraham views Gilgamesh as his wife's irrepressible brother.