Gil Snapper, also known as Gilgamesh or Gil Turtle, is an enemy from the Advance and the The Complete Collection releases of Final Fantasy IV. It appears in specific rooms of the Lunar Ruins by using siren.
Stats[]
Battle[]
Gil Snappers can cast Protect to raise their defense, but otherwise only use physical attacks. It has a large amount of HP, and Rydia's or Palom's Blizzaga deals little damage because, despite being weak to Ice, the Gil Snapper has 254 Magic Defense. Therefore, the player must rely on physical attacks to slowly whittle down its HP.
Etymology[]
"Gil Turtle" (ギルガメ, Giru-game?) is a spoof of zeni-game which literally means "money turtle," usually refers to the cub of pond turtle. Gil replaces the "zeni" in the name of the animal because it is the currency in the Final Fantasy series.
The Gil Snapper's name was originally translated as Gilgamesh for the Advance release, a mistranslation of the Japanese name. The name was corrected to the more appropriate "Gil Turtle" for the European releases, and later changed to its current name for the The Complete Collection version. Gilgamesh is the main character of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an Akkadian poem considered the first great work of literature. He is a demigod with superhuman strength who builds the walls of Uruk to defend his people and travels to meet the sage Utnapishtim, a survivor of the Great Flood.
Gilgamesh is believed to have actually existed by many scholars. It is estimated he lived sometime between 2800 and 2500 BC. The Sumerian King List claims Gilgamesh ruled the city of Uruk for 126 years.
Gilgamesh in Final Fantasy is also based on Benkei, a famous character in the Japanese mythologies and chronicles of the Genpei War. A powerful warrior monk said to have personally defeated 200 men in every battle he engaged in and said to have had the strength of demons, Benkei's introduction sees him set out to collect 1,000 weapons, and to this end he posted himself at Gōjō Bridge in Kyoto and challenged every warrior who attempted to cross. On his 1000th duel Benkei was defeated by Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the only defeat he had ever known, and became his faithful retainer throughout the rest of his life.
From the story of Benkei, Gilgamesh takes his preference for the naginata (Benkei's traditional weapon as a monk), his penchant for fighting on bridges, his collecting of weapons from enemies he defeats, and his friendship with the player's characters who defeat him. Benkei's devotion to Yoshitsune is the basis for Gilgamesh's association with Genji equipment—the Minamoto Clan is also called the Genji Clan, using the alternate pronunciation for the Chinese characters for mina and moto, gen and uji, respectively. Gilgamesh's face paint is based on traditional kabuki actors, for which Benkei is a popular character to portray.