First, let us start this essay off repeating these important words: Gippal. Is. Not. Dumb.
Got that? Good. Now, why do I believe this? Simple. He isn't. No where in the game does it say, or even dare to hint, that Gippal is an idiot. Animated? Yes. Good-natured? Of course. Laidback? Wouldn't have it any other way. But one banana short of a bunch? Not in a million years.
The most important hint at this takes place in the latter half of the game. Shinra, the resident whiz-kid who is supposedly one of the most brilliant people on the face of the planet (not to mention he often greets Yuna with "I know everything"), has a broken Commsphere that he dropped down into the Farplane. No one can seem to get it up and running.
Along comes Gippal.
Pretty soon Shinra is receiving transmissions in from the Gipster and Nooj, who proceed to have a lovely conversation that spurs LeBlanc onto decisive action. However, it is Gippal's words in this scene that really caught my attention: "Impressive machina! An invention like this could change the world. Whoever came up with this is a genius. ...Guess I'm a genius too for fixing it." It is true that dresspheres and their sister machina commspheres have in many ways revolutionized Spira.
And now it is true that Gippal, with (we can assume) little to no tools, a distracting Nooj glaring at him to hurry it up, and the constant pressure of racing against the clock to stop Shuyin from activating Vegnagun, has managed to get it up and running again. True, it is only capable of one-way transmission now, but given the circumstances, this is extremely impressive.
Next, we come to realize that despite the moaning of a few Faction workers who suggest the intrepid Al Bhed travels a bit too much, Gippal must be a good leader, or else he would have long ago been ousted. From a sheer, terror-filled memory (that wasn't even his own) he was able to devise a successful superweapon that mimicks Vegnagun. His brilliance in the area of mechanics and engineering must be second to none, even among the Al Bhed. In Final Fantasy X, Rikku often repaired simple machina or easily dismantled them with a swipe; in X-2, she seems confused by Shinra's inventions and some of the Faction work.
Lastly, let us once again revisit the Farplane, this time with a large portion of the cast in tow. The group has a general plan (tell Shuyin Lenne's feelings), but seem hopeless about how to take care of Vegnagun. Gippal cuts into the conversation with a clear, rational, and extremely logical conclusion: Vegnagun is merely a machina, and anything built by humans can then be taken apart by them. It is this theory that leads to the destruction of the weapon, and the defeat of Shuyin.
These are only a few of the important, yet often overlooked, moments in which Gippal's brilliance shines. So next time you open that document to begin a Gippalfic, remember: Gippal. Is. Not. Dumb.
Thank you.