Gilgamesh was definitely male in FFV, and the reference to 'the dimensional interval' suggests that FFVIII's Gilgamesh is the same being. (SPOILER)In FFV, Gilgamesh was banished into the N-Zone or 'Cleft of Dimension' by Exdeath as punishment for his astounding incompetence. In the N-Zone, however, Gilgamesh earned redemption by sacrificing himself to save Bartz and co. So far, Gilgamesh has been the only character to appear in more than one FF game - I mean the exact same character, too, not just a repeated name, like Cid or FFIX's Locke and Gilgamesh.

In FFVIII, Gilgamesh's four swords are Masamune, Excalipur, Excalibur and Zantetsuken.

The first is a recurring weapon in Final Fantasy, being Edge's best blade in FFIV and Sephiroth's cutlery of choice in FFVII. Excalipur is a feeble copy of the legendary Excalibur which Gilgamesh mistook for the real article in FFV, and Zantetsuken is, of course, the steel-bladed sword which (SPOILER)Odin lost when Seifer defeated him.

Does anyone have a translation for those blood-red characters which appear on the screen whenever Odin appears in FFVIII, and the different message which comes up when (SPOILER)Seifer cleaves him?