Ea

Sword of Rupture, Ea (乖離剣・エア) is the most powerful Noble Phantasm contained in the Gate of Babylon and the pinnacle of all those used by Servants, and is Gilgamesh's final Noble Phantasm. Unlike all of his other nameless weapons that were able to be passed on to other wielders over the course of history, it is a sword only Gilgamesh possesses, a completely unique existence that can only be possessed by him, that is suited only for a ruler's use and makes him transcendent. Rider comments that the nature of the sword becomes more absurd as he views its power. It can be used as a close combat slashing weapon wielded much like a regular sword as shown in Fate/unlimited codes, and even with its dull tip, it is able to pierce directly through Rider's chest and slowly grind at his vitals inside.

It has an abnormal shape that doesn't match what would normally be classified as something specialized like a sword. It is something that was born before the appearance of the concept that the world calls a "sword", so it is not something that can truly be called a sword or have the shape of any known blade. While it has a grip, handguard, and is the same length as a longsword, the section that should contain a blade deviates from the normal form of an edged weapon. The "blade" itself and the tip of the sword, spun in a spiral shape, are dull. It has the shape of a cylindrical, drill-shaped pillar made up of three independently rotating segments engraved with crimson cuneiform lettering that spin slowly in alternating direction like querns, the middle segment spinning clockwise and the top and bottom segments spinning counterclockwise. The drill design was modeled after bedrock excavators used to drill underwater tunnels. While Ea is categorized as a blade, its way of being is closer to a wand. Its three litographs respectively represent the heavens, the earth, and the underworld. It exemplifies the world's way of being by having each one of them rotate in opposite directions. The "cosmos" is thus represented by matching all three of these representations. Everything together represents the universe.

Gilgamesh considers it his greatest and most trusted treasure next to Enkidu, one of the few he trusts implicitly which is only used against those he deems worthy of facing it. While he uses it against Shirou Emiya simply for the fun of showing off his treasure, he claims that he does not want to sully the sword against a lowlife for when he uses it against those he truly recognizes as fitting. He claims that only Saber and her Excalibur are worthy of fighting it during the Fifth Holy Grail War. Rider is accepted as a worthy opponent during the Fourth Holy Grail War, and Ionioi Hetairoi is considered a stage befitting its usage. He becomes enraged when Tohsaka Tokiomi even suggests that he use it to vanquish the creature summoned by Caster, and he abhors the thought of having to seriously use it against Shirou for a second time once inside Unlimited Blade Works. He will only use it for Hakuno Kishinami should he deem their cause worthy, but his enmity towards an Alter Ego born from Ishtar would be enough to unseal it immediately. He greatly admires the weapon, claiming to True Archer that it is no less than his other half, and often speaks to the Noble Phantasm as if it were a living being. During a once in a lifetime whim to not hold back his treasures while fighting the creatures spawned from Avenger during Fate/hollow ataraxia, he comments to it that it has an ugly job in destroying them, but its duty as a forerunner is to bestow upon them one lesson about the "Truth" of the world.

The sword itself is nameless, with "Ea" simply being the name that Gilgamesh chooses to call it, and it is described by Shirou as "the only sword that does not exist in this world." It is something that does not appear in any modern legends, crystallized during the Age of Gods at the beginning of the world. It is the primordial sword that is the actualization of the works of a god recorded before humanity came into being, and it is that which divided the formless into a distinct heaven and earth in ancient Mesopotamia. It is a Divine Construct created by a god, unable to be replicated by Unlimited Blade Works, and its status as a unique existence means it cannot be reproduced in any way. While Shirou is capable of determining every single Noble Phantasm from a vast number of different legends and origins brought forth from the Gate of Babylon, he is unable to tell the nature of Ea or even begin the process of analyzing it. Simply looking upon the weapon causes Shirou's senses to completely cease, and it makes even the greatest Noble Phantasms look like third-rate weapons. The names given to the sword and its ability by Gilgamesh are thought to be references to the Great God of Earth and Water,, of the Mesopotamian and Babylonian myths, and the Genesis Epic of the Babylonian myth,.

Gilgamesh claims that the sword "knows the truth" of the world where it once existed, and by using its power, it is able to bestow its knowledge upon others. As it is "The Sword That Cut the World Apart", he calls it “something that knows the hellish planet before genesis”, the planet's primordial form before heaven and earth were split, where it was a land filled with naught but lava and gas and a hell of scorching heat and intense cold. Referring to it as hell, Gilgamesh states that it is the source of all legends of the land of the dead. The memory of the time before the existence of the planet, a place and time when organic existence had been impossible, is something possessed by all organisms, but it is no longer found in the imaginations or spoken memories of people. It is the first memory of life that is a genetically inherent and repressed knowledge which can only be shown to those looking upon the sword. The weapon "Slash Emperor" used by Ado Edem is also capable of showing a "Truth" similar in nature to that shown by Ea. In the desolate Land of Steel, it gives a glimpse of the blue sky before it was stained with blood.

Enuma Elish
"I speak of genesis. The elements amalgamate, coalesce, and bring forth the stars that weave all of creation."

- Gilgamesh, Fate/Extra CCC

Unlike most other Noble Phantasms, the ability of the sword has its own unique name instead of simply chanting "Ea" to use its function as a Noble Phantasm. The attack, Enuma Elish: The Star of Creation that Split Heaven and Earth, signifies the overloaded state under which it releases its maximum output. While normally listed as the Noble Phantasm in his status, Ea is the actual Noble Phantasm. Upon activation, the triblade segments of Ea gradually begin to rotate faster with each revolution, acting in concert with the movement of the Heavens. As they begin rotating rapidly, each creaking with weight and power equivalent to, they create a shrilling howl once Gilgamesh commands it to "wake up." Whereas Excalibur releases air outward like a whirlwind, Ea begins to swallow, compress, and accelerate wind pressure into a storm of wind and light on the same magnitude as Excalibur. Emitting gaseous energy from the seams between the segments, the generated air pressure faults compressing and smashing against each other, it simulates spatial rends to create an artificial space-time dislocation that acts as a crushing torrent capable of pulverizing any opposition. The actual output of the attack equals or slightly surpasses that of Excalibur, but the swirl of air behind it and the enormous amount of seething and overflowing magical energy within it are on an entirely different level beyond measurement.

There are several different variations that he has displayed, depending on the seriousness behind the attack. The level he utilizes against Saber in Fate/stay night is held back for most of the time, and it is blocked the one time he decides to get serious about killing her. It appears as a reddish torrent around the same magnitude of Excalibur, allowing it to clash with it. It still easily surpasses the Holy Sword, and Saber is only able to push it back for a brief moment, creating a boundary in space, even if she puts everything into the strike and stake her life on blocking it. She comes out of the attack extremely injured and unable to act for a period of time until she heals. Differing from Enuma Elish in Fate/Extra CCC, the ability is simply listed as Ea when utilizing this function.

He displays more of its true nature in Fate/hollow ataraxia, Fate/Zero, and Fate/strange fake. Showing its power as an "Anti-World" weapon, it attacks everything in sight with a single strike. It cannot be said that what the blade cuts down is limited simply to "the enemy", as it is not matter of aiming it, and it is impossible to even discuss as to whether it will hit its target or the practicality of the force behind it. Grinding at the laws of space with its power, it creates a rip in space that extends from not only the earth, but also to the sky and atmosphere. It is a crack that distorts space to pierce the very nature of the World itself to show the "Truth." All that uses the cut space as a foundation is swallowed and crushed by the void, and the dazzling light only continues to grow as it continues to complete the destruction. Its use in a fight is not something that can be called a battle, but rather the wrath of nature itself.

Performing the miracle of genesis, something that reveals creation - the beginning of everything, the attack opens an abyss capable of crushing all of creation, and the center of the storm is not calm, but rather a hole to hell itself that returns all that enters its realm to the nothingness from which it originated. The wind pressure creates a vacuum that takes all things with form, the land, the atmosphere, and the sky into the whirling void. The tumult of genesis takes everything that was nothing more than chaos which could not form any meaning, and creates a new truth that divides and distinguishes Heaven, Sea, and Earth. Within the darkness where everything is returned to nothingness, only Ea is left to shine with brilliance like a Star of Creation amidst the destruction, the first thing illuminating the new world. The ability takes the entire world within the Reality Marble Ionioi Hetairoi, and cracks, shatters, and collapses it into the abyss like the ending of an hourglass. The entire world inside the Reality Marble would have been completely destroyed had the field not collapsed due to a lack of energy.

When Gilgamesh decides to use the full strength of Ea against Enkidu in Fate/Strange Fake, the World itself is sucked into the Void created by the sword, and it begins tearing apart; Enkidu's own Enuma Elish, however, was able to hold the world together. The Sacred Prostitute once described the clash in ancient times as: "I felt as if the World was born seven times, and destroyed seven times."

He displays a different usage of it in Fate/Extra CCC, where he plants Ea in the ground, causing it to spin rapidly and instantly shatter the area where he is fighting. He is left standing far above the opponent with three enormous fields of force below him. Picking up Ea and lifting it above his head, the fields are directed at the opponent and begin to rotate, causing a space-time ripple that causes space itself to fluctuate. Calling out Enuma Elish and thrusting Ea downwards, the fields begin rotating to the point where they merge, dwarfing the opponent as they crash down. The ability instantly defeats the opponent within the game, regardless of their status.

The attack power is based upon twenty times Gilgamesh's Strength statistic with a possible boost by adding his Mana statistic to his Strength statistic at random. The maximum output of the sword is four thousand damage, compared to an A+++ Noble Phantasm outputting an attack power of two hundred. This number can be further increased by the amount of wealth of Noble Phantasms contained in his treasury with more wealth providing more power. It can only be defended against by an elimination rank "Armor Class" statistic or by being nullified by a counterattack with an equivalent level of power. Rho Aias projected by Archer is able to protect Shirou while Gilgamesh is holding back, but he still receives grave injuries. Avalon is the only defensive ability shown to completely defend against it, something which Gilgamesh truly thought to be impossible.