A Station Eight Fan Web Site

Gargoyles

The Phoenix Gate

Ask Greg Archives

Unsorted

Archive Index


: « First : « 25 : Displaying #51 - #75 of 702 records. : 25 » : 250 » : Last » :


Posts Per Page: 1 : 10 : 25 : 50 : 100 : All :


Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

-(1)- When Puck created the persona of Owen Burnett, did he
intentionally leave out the pupils, or was that some kind of strange oversight?
[1a] If the first; um... why? :)

-(2)- Are gargdogs' eyes constantly glowing 24/7 (though it's probably
more like 10/7 :P), or are their irises and so forth simply not visible
for some other reason?

Greg responds...

1. Owen is fully human. His design, pupil or no pupil, is
consistent with the design of all our humans.

2. The latter.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg! Here's a few questions:

1) If Gargoyles heal when they turn to stone, how did Hudson get that scar
and discoloration in his eye?

2) How do Gargoyles clothing turn to stone with them?

3) My ABC station in Washington D.C. didn't air The Goliath Chronicles!
Any idea on who will pick this series up (i.e. USA network, Disney's new cable
channel). Thanks

Greg responds...

1. The magic that caused it didn't heal in one night, thus it
scarred and blinded him permanently.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

just a small question, if Maggie and Talon were to have a child, the child
would look human would it not?? It'd have to, unless the mutagen they were
infected with altered their DNA. I'm not sure, but you probably are,
thanks.

Greg responds...

No comment.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

Sorry to be continuously over the head with Demona questions. Anyway,
here's another. At some point, Demona has this genuine revelation that
she is responsible for all the misery in her life, Wyvern, MacBeth, her
thousand years of lonliness. Maybe I'm assuming to much but I take it her
previously stellar sense of self deception will be of no avail to her now. She is
forced to acknowledge the truth. So, with all of this self blame slamming
into her like a train wreck, a very sizeable one at that, what becomes her
new anchor. As I have mentioned in the past, what becomes her new reason
to go on.

Greg responds...

Love and redemption.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

1. I read your latest update, and sympathized with your confessed problems
over having given away the fact that Oberon was Merlin's father - and with
the general "letting slip" over this or that element about the series in
general. However, if it makes you feel any better, I'll say that
sometimes your revelations do actually *increase* my interest and hopes that the
series will be revised someday. When you revealed that Duval was the
Fisher King, for example, it actually raised (in my mind) more questions than it
answered. Likewise, when you said that the Illuminati were after the
gargoyles because they know some things, that got me wondering what those
things were (don't worry, I'm not going to ask you about them here), and
made me hope for a revival of the series in some form so that we could
someday learn the answers. At any rate, I'd say that I certainly don't
blame you for choosing to keep silent on these things; I'd do the same in
your shoes.

2. Related to your statements about Merlin: I was interested in the bit
about Oberon being Merlin's dad, since Merlin's legendary parentage (the
son of a non-human being) had long interested me. But one thing I'm curious
about: how much of a Standards and Practices problem do you suppose
Merlin's illegitimacy (which you confirmed in your last update) would have been?
(For that matter, I imagine that a lot of the main elements in the
Arthurian legend - Lancelot and Guinevere, for example - would have been real
Standards and Practices headaches).

3. What, in your opinion, is the population number (in round numbers) of
the Third Race at the time of the Gathering?

Greg responds...

1. Thanks for understanding. I'm very inconsistent. Moody, even.
2. On Oberon and Merlin, I think I just would have attempted not to
flag that. Slid by. Lance and Gwen wouldn't have been too big a problem.
For one thing, their relationship is such a huge part of our literary
tradition, it gets a bit of an exemption. For another thing, though
PENDRAGON would have had its share of flashbacks, the series was to be set
in the present, so that relationship wouldn't have been a big issue.
3. Don't know.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

There's one thing I never quite understood about Owen's stone arm: it
looks so darn heavy. Why doesn't it just snap off at the bone?

Greg responds...

Magic.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

I was wondering if you could tell me when Lexington's hatching day was.

Greg responds...

Same as Brooklyn and Broadway's, give or take a day or two. The
year was 958. The day isn't significant to a gargoyle.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

1. You said that the Phoenix Gate is caught in some sort of eternal time
loop. Is that one reason for its name? As in - the eternal time loop of
the Gate as a parallel to the legendary Phoenix rising from its own ashes,
both being an eternal cycle?

2. More a comment than a question: I didn't have any problems with the
time loops in "Gargoyles", and in fact, not only understood the ones in "Vows",
"Avalon", and "M.I.A.", but even enjoyed them thoroughly. (I think that
part of the reason for this is that I've been writing a time travel novel
for many years - conceived long before "Gargoyles" ever came out - which
used a similar time loop as its basic concept, so I felt quite at home
with the ones in the series). I just thought that you might like to know that
one person in the audience got them.

3. What metal is Guardian Tom's sword and armor supposed to be made of?
(Obviously not iron).

4. Supposedly, faerie magic won't work on iron. So how was Oberon and
Titania able to work magic on a Xanatos clad in a suit of iron armor in
"The Gathering Part Two" (Oberon sending him hurtling into the battlements, and
Titania paralyzing him alongside Goliath and Puck)?

5. Why did the Weird Sisters get Demona to reveal the changed access code
to Xanatos and Goliath (besides the needs of the plotline)? Unlike their
other interventions (such as stopping Demona and Macbeth from killing each
other), it wasn't necessary for their schemes for the "Reconquest" of Avalon, so
why did they go out of their way to save the city? (That's the main reason
why I was convinced for a long time that their later behavior was all an act,
in fact, until you confirmed that they really were the petty vengeful beings
that they appeared to be in "Avalon" and "Ill Met By Moonlight").

6. How does Owen explain that stone hand of his to people (other than
those in on the secret like Xanatos) whom he meets with? I can safely assume
that very few people would believe him if he said that it got that way due to
dipping it into a magic cauldron :)

7. Was the Cauldron of Life partly inspired by the magical cauldrons of
Celtic mythology?

8. You mentioned that the general public wouldn't have realized (at least,
not for quite a long while) that the gargoyles were sentient beings. When
the New Olympians showed up, would the humans have similarly had problems
understanding that Taurus and Co. were sentient beings?

Greg responds...

1. Uh huh.
2. Tanks muchly.
3. Good questions. Maybe steel, maybe another blend.
4. Paralysis works on the brain. (Here's a hint. Don't take your
helmet off.) Also air isn't made of iron. Ever been hit by a magically
powerful blast of air?
5. I never said that their ONLY plans involved vengeance.
6. It's an eccentric prosthetic to most people.
7. Yep.
8. No, because their 'entrance' would indicate sentience from the
get-go.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg. I have a few questions about the world of 2158 that I was
wondering if you could answer.

1) How are things around the world politically? 1a) Are there still things
like arms races between countries (like we are seeing right now in Asia)?
1b) Are most countries working together in the UN (or something like the
UN)? 1c) Would you say for the most part, there is world peace?

2) Does the human population know about the fae? Or have they kept
themselves a secret?

3) Are the fae still on Avalon with Oberon?

4) How far do you see space travel to have advanced?

5) Is Demona still in charge of Nightstone? For that matter, does
Nightstone even still exist?

6) This isn't about 2158, but I wanted to ask anyway. During the
Gathering, Oberon called for his children. Now the question is, would his children
be only pure fae or would they include those beings who had a single parent
that was fae, or just anyone that had any fae blood in them?

Greg responds...

1a,b,c. Nations still exist and there's still occasional conflict,
but the U.N. would have a substantial role, and generally there is world
peace.

2. Secret.

3. Largely.

4. Earthling space travel? Nothing significant outside our solar
system, but within the solar system we're all over the place.

5. Yes, in some form.

6. Anyone who was considered fae. That includes some half-breeds
like (in theory) Alex, but leaves out others like Fox.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

First off, Greg,thanks for producing the best animated series I have ever
seen. More thanks to all the other Gargoyles fans for keeping this show
alive. Now, on to the questions:

1) How affected would gargoyles be to disease,whether from humans or
among their own kind?

2) We know that humans and fays can reproduce, but what about humans and
gargoyles? Would thatbe possible, or would the genetic differences be too
great?

3)Did you have any future plans for the mutates and clones?

4)What about the New Olympians?

5)If Disney had given you free rein over the show after Season 2, how long
could you (or would you) have kept the show going?

6)Did you have any major problems with the Disney censors over
"inappropriate" content?

Greg responds...

1. Their healing ability makes them extremely disease resistant.
2. I've answered this before. Fae's mate with mortals by
shape-shifting into the species they're mating with, allowing for
compatibility in conception. Gargoyles and humans are genetically too
distant to create natural offspring. What could be accomplished with
science and sorcery is another question.
3. Sure.
4. Uh huh.
5. Until death, disease or senility hit. Or until they dragged me
off it kicking and screaming.
6. No.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

Had her plans suceeded, would Demona's "Hunter's Moon" virus have had any
effect on Delilah?

Greg responds...

No.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

I have a question regarding the episode "Eye of the Beholder." When Fox
wore the Eye of Odin, it changed her into the werewolf(or is it
werefox?)creature. Was this simply meant to be a representation of the
huntress/predator side of her nature, or was it in some way a
manifestation of the kind of power she could have wielded had she been taught to use her
magic as she grew up? I ask this because most of the Children of Oberon we
saw in the series demonstrated an ability to change their shape, and of
the people we saw put on the Eye( Goliath, Fox, and the Archmage), only Fox
was turned into shapeshifter. Goliath and the Archmage only changed into a new
form when they first put the Eye on, and then that form was maintained
until the Eye was removed.

Greg responds...

1. Werefox, predatory, self-hating, conflicted. It was revelatory
of her inner-self, not her fae heritage.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

1. In "Vows" and "Revelations", the Illuminati symbol is a pyramid with an
eye on top - that symbol also happens to appear on the back of the
one-dollar-bill. Is there (in the Gargoyles Universe) some ominous
connection here?

2. In "Her Brother's Keeper", Xanatos had an upstate retreat called
Xanadu. Was the name taken from Coleridge's "Kublai Khan", or from "Citizen Kane"?

3. Why wasn't Lexington as upset about Angela choosing Broadway as
Brooklyn was? Was it because he was already developing a close friendship with
Alex, or because Brooklyn's more inclined to wallowing in self-pity? (Actually,
I think that it's a combination of the two, but I'd like to know what your
take on this is).

4. Your general disappointment with "The Goliath Chronicles" is well-known
(and an attitude shared by most Gargoyles fans) - but, did the new
production team do anything in the 12 episodes following "The Journey"
that you did think worked rather well or approved of? You did mention in your
last response that you rather liked the "Thailog's death" scene they did
in "Genesis Undone".

Greg responds...

1. Yes.
2. Both.
3. Well, I don't think Alex and Angela are mutually exclusive. I
do think Brooklyn is more likely to wallow, but I think the main reason Lex
didn't feel as strongly was because he didn't feel as strongly. Brooklyn
convinces himself (as with Maggie) that it's true love. Lex had a crush
that was almost automatic because Angela was the ONLY available female he
had seen in some time. I think after a while, it became clear to Lex that
they were just friends. Brooklyn needed evidence that he was out of the
running, i.e. the kiss between Broadway and Angela.
4. I think the death scene was well-handled, but I don't actually
like it or the episode. Kill off Thailog? Not on my watch. Not in that
way. The only saving grace, which I believe I suggested was that the
"deaths" of the clones is at least potentially reversable. Otherwise... To
be honest the only things that I liked were things that were remnants of
suggestions I had made. I wasn't wild about execution on anything, save a
line of dialogue here or there. Frankly, I'm just too close to it to be
objective. I like Eric and Julia Lewald a lot, and I respect their talents
on everything else they've done. So my guess is that most of my problems
with TGC are my own, not theirs. Also, I only ever watched those twelve
episodes once each. It was very painful, and I haven't revisited them
since.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

One more question. Since you mentioned in your last batch of responses
that King Arthur and Griff would visit the South Pole in the course of their
search for Merlin - what effect would the six-month day/six-month night at
the Poles have on a gargoyle's biological clock?

Greg responds...

Good question.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

1) My thoughts on the Camelot Seven: Arthur, Merlin, the Lady of the Lake
are the gimmes... others I'd guess would be Perceval (due to other hints
you've dropped), Galahad, Morgana le Fay, and Nimue.

2) You've said that, in TimeDancer, Brooklyn 'never really gets ahold of
[the Phoenix Gate]'. So, then, how do his timedancing travels work, if he
doesn't physically carry the Gate? Or did I misunderstand what you said
and he *does* carry the Gate? 3) Another TimeDancer question: Is there an
average length for one of Brooklyn's stays in a given time and place, or
does it vary widely (i.e., a few seconds to months or years)? Thanks in
advance.

Greg responds...

1. Nope.
2. The Gate is lost in time, bopping around on its own. Opening
portals and vanishing. Brooklyn slides through these portals.
3. Vary widely. Though I wouldn't make too many stops of under a
minute. Not much storytelling fits into thirty seconds.

(GDW / 7-22-98)

Response recorded on July 22, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

Very fast:

1) From ep 1, Captain of the Guard said inhabitants of Wyvern were, ". . .
not my people." Care to elaborate?

2) You've probably been deluged with Merlin stuff since that mini-series,
so more straw for the camel's back: Didja notice the uncanny resemblance of
Frik to Puck? Yowza.

3) Finally, my ideas for the Camelot Seven: Art, Merlin, the Lady of the
Lake, Guenivere, Morgan LeFay (pleeeeeeese), Lancelot, and Mordred, on the
basis that Oberon doesn't count. Thank you for your time

Greg responds...

1. I've addressed this already, but basically he thought they were
ungrateful snobs and ignorant peasants. He identified with the Gargoyles
much more than his fellow humans. Don't read too much into the statement.
2. Yeah, a resemblance. I wouldn't say uncanny. We're all
operating in the same set of traditions here.
3. Nope.

(GDW / 7-21-98)

Response recorded on July 21, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg! Which gargoyles story would you have most wanted to bring to
life but never got the chance to do? In other words, if someone came up to you
and gave you the chance to make one more episode (and let's assume here
that any background info needed to understand that episode would be provided,
so that it doesn't have to directly follow the eps of the last season), what
would that episode be? Since this is a broad question, let me ask it in
more specific chunks (unless you want to describe the whole ep, which I
wouldn't mind at all).
1) Which characters would it center around?
2) Which spinoff would it be in (i.e. Dark Ages, TimeDancer, etc.)
3) What would the main plot points be? *note: if you have no specific answers
for any of the above Q's, could you at least provide us with a general idea of
the one story you'd most like to create? Thanks!

Greg responds...

Generally, this question is too hypothetical for me. My mind
doesn't work this way. If someone said you could do one more episode, but
only one, I'm not sure how I'd react. If literally, I couldn't even use it
for a backdoor pilot, i.e. no hope of future episodes coming out of it.
Then in essence, I'm being asked to do a season of one. (Kinda like what I
did with "The Journey".) The notion that the blanks could be filled in
between "The Journey" and this new episode doesn't play for me. It's too
detached from the reality of my creative process. So... If I only had one
episode to do. I'd try to give it the open-ended closure of a
"Reawakening," "Hunter's Moon, Part Three," or "The Journey." I'd probably
do the Halloween double date episode that I talked about. I guess. But
like I said, this exercise doesn't appeal to me much.

(GDW / 7-21-98)

Response recorded on July 21, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

First off, I have to tell you that I really appreciated the recaps in the
beginning of each episode. I only saw gargoyles every saturday, and thus
the continuity got completely screwed, and episodes were shown in a random
order. Plus, I was rather disappointed with the flying steel monsters in
"Awakenings" and the way the trio was portrayed in "Thrill of the Hunt" so
the show didn't hook me immediately. (I did like Part 1 and 2 of
awakenings) However, watching "Eye of the Storm" one morning got me completely hooked,
and soon I was scrambling to recover what I had been missing. (I still
have yet to see "The Mirror", "The Price", "Turf", and "City of Stone Pt 1."
Since all most of my questions have been asked for mine will be rather
brief.

1. Thailog seems to hold a lot of anger towards Angela, is this because
of Goliath's seeming acceptance of her and Goliath's rejection of him?

2. Did Thailog create any clones of Bronx? I would think that he would be
most inclined to have servants that were not intelligent enough to outgrow
their programming (and thus turn on him).

3. Did Thailog Clone more than one copy of each gargoyle?

4. My guesses for those still alive from the Arthurian period? Arthur,
Merlin, Lady of the Lake (thanks for the gimmes) Lancelot, The Green
Knight, Morgana la Fay, and taking a shot in the dark... mmm... Galahad?

Greg responds...

1. Possibly. But I don't think he's that angry with her
specifically. He just knows that (a) threatening Angela is a good way to
anger Goliath and (b) it makes a great way to test Demona's loyalty.
2. No. Because Bronx never guarded Demona and Fang to get bitten
by the robot mosquitoes.
3. No.
4. Nope.

(GDW / 7-21-98)

Response recorded on July 21, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

****Blaise crashes through the door.**** Sorry, I'll fix that. Well,
first I wanted to say that I agree with you; the Broadway/Angela relationship
was not rushed. Next, I have a question:

1) When you went through all the Shakespeare plays, you listed MERCHANT OF
VENICE as problematic. Care to expand on that? I ask this because I had
the pleasure of portraying Shylock (an excellent character, in my opinion)
in a production of that play, and I am interested to hear what others
think of it.

2) My second question deals with the Arthurian guessing game (all my ideas
have already been listed, but I'll do them anyway); Are the survivors
Arthur, Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, Percival (sp?), Nimue, Morgan la
Fey, and Bedivere? (NOTE: I would have put "Blaise" on that list, but he is
not as famous or wide-spread a character of Arthurian legends as the rest of
them are) Well, that's about it. Oh, BTW, you're explanation on Hudson's
accent was great. It really makes a lot of sense to me why you did it
that way. Have a nice day! ****Blaise fixes the door on his way out.****

Greg responds...

1. It's a tough play for me, at least. And also historically. For
a century it was performed with the subtitle "The Tragedy of Shylock"
attached. And believe me this wasn't because anti-semitism had fallen away
during those years. The problem is complex, and I'm not sure I can deal
with all of it here, but in a nutshell, the play is wildly anti-semitic...
and so is Shakespeare himself. Except it's highly likely that Shakespeare
never personally knew any Jews. He simply believed what he had been told
about them. And yet... And yet... As much as he wants to make Shylock a
monster, he can't. He imbues Shylock with so much humanity. So much that
even in his villainy, we can't help but root for him. Which would be fine,
except the plays ending doesn't really bare it out. We're also supposed to
root for Portia. Not simply to buy into her "The quality of mercy is not
strained" speech, but also to support her ultimate conclusions against
Shylock, including the forced conversion to Christianity. That's a hard
double road to walk down. Thus, I find the play (not the character of
Shylock) problematic.
2. Nope.
And thanks.

(GDW / 7-21-98)

Response recorded on July 21, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

Hi there, hope things are OK with you. 1) My vote for the seven
'Arthurians' would be Arthur, Merlin, Guenever, Nimue, Gawain, Morgan le Fay and
Mordred. I left out Launcelot as I think it would make for better stories without,
but I can't say why due to the rules. Fame ? Glory ? as it's 'Ask Greg'
not 'Tell Greg' I suppose I'd better try a question ummm..... 2) I thought
that the portrayal of Anubis was great and very thought provoking, did you have
any plans to use any of the ancient Egyptian myths or make use of the Gods
and Goddesses ?

Greg responds...

1. Nope.
2. Given enough episodes, we would have eventually returned to
Anubis and probably investigated other Egyptian pantheon members. But I had
no immediate plans.

(GDW / 7-21-98)

Response recorded on July 21, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

Just a few questions this time around. Heh heh, my definition of a few.
Mr. Greg Weisman, 1)How tall is: a)Puck, b)Owen, c)Macbeth, d)Demona, e)Fox,
and last but not least f)Xanatos? But Puck and Owen most specifically.

2)Whats the name of that Cloth piece in Pucks outfit, held up by the
broache and forming the skirt-like thing? No one seems ta know that I've asked,
people have said Sash-which would be his cloth belt, Tunic-which is more
like his shirt, and even Toga which is wayyy to big. Please please tell
me.

3)People have asked, what character you relate to the most.... but my
question is, Which was the most fun for you to write for?

4)Why do Gargoyle Loincloths turn to stone. You must have a reason
whether it be magical etc.

5)Is Owen vunerable to iron in the same context as fae? Or is he so
perfectly Human that he can handle it the same as any other normal person?

6)Was it Owen or Puck that first met Demona? If Puck, when? Be as
specific as ya want, I'd settle for the decade or century even.

7)Xanatos' reaction when meeting Goliath was like he was expecting it,
which he was. But how did he react when he first met Demona?

8)a)Did you ever plan on teaming up any of the tricksters? b) If so whom?

9)Do you ever plan on revealing what Titania said to Fox in the forseeable
future? just wondering if theres *any* hope in knowing.

10)What other business rivals would Xanatos have aquired?

11)You mentioned before, that Titania had become... lets say wiser in a
way than Oberon, because Oberon never changed over the Millienium. Well Puck
seems to be a very everchanging Character, exactly how much *wisdom* does
he have? And how much do you think he'd actually take his own advice?

12)Duh duh duhhhhnnn the Puck family question! Does Puck have a mother or
father currently living on Avalon? yeah yeah yeah, all I wanna know
basically is if they're still alive.

13)Did Puck

Greg responds...

1. I've never measured them.
2. I don't know.
3. They were all fun to write for. Though Thailog and Xanatos
stand out. Puck too. And Vinnie. And Goliath. I even liked writing
Renard. And Titania. The Archmage. I could go on forever. They were all
interesting to me for different reasons.
4. I've answered this before. A modesty spell cast by the guy who
wrote the Grimorum back in the time of Caesar Augustus.
5. Pretty much the latter.
6. Puck. That's as specific as I want to get right now.
7. Awe, wonder and humor.
8. Yes, as I've stated before, the story that eventually became
"Ransom" under TGC's new creative team, was originally supposed to be a
multi-Trickster story featuring Puck and Raven for sure, and probably Anansi
and Coyote as well.
9. Hope springs eternal.
10. Didn't have any specific plans for that beyond Cyberbiotics and
Nightstone. But I wouldn't have hesitated to create a fourth company if I
saw a need.
11. Hard to quantify "wisdom". And which advice are you talking
about?
12. Crystal Ball is cloudy. Check again later.
13. I don't think that tricksters like hanging with other
tricksters. Small doses, please.
14. Chuck would do what?
15. If you're too lazy, why should I make an effort?
16. Nope.
17. Nope.

(GDW / 7-21-98)

Response recorded on July 21, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

1. Thanks for answering my questions about the Quarrymen's motivation -
and for pointing out about how they wouldn't have been aware that the
gargoyles were sentient beings. Which brings me to a question-cum-theory about one
of the main reasons for TGC's failure. The first two seasons had Xanatos and
Demona, two complex and intriguing characters, for their main villains,
and did a good job accordingly (plus some good supporting villains such as
Macbeth - also a complex and intriguing character, and one who quickly
became a favorite of mine - Thailog, Jackal and Hyena, Sevarius, and so
on). TGC had for its main villains the Quarrymen, who were done (after "The
Journey") as a bunch of flat, one-dimensional characters with no real
depth to them - I liked the fact that you'd chosen to give them some variety
(some being mercenaries like Banquo and Fleance, others being terrified citizens
like Vinnie or Billy and Susan's mom), but in TGC, they nearly all seemed
to have been recruited from the local "Thugs R Us". Do you think that the
way that your successors handled the Quarrymen (both making them cardboard
villains and the main villains) could have had much to do with why The
Goliath Chronicles failed?

2. A query about Jon Canmore/Castaway. When I first saw "Hunter's Moon",
I was very distressed at the way that the initially most sympathetic Hunter
wound up turning into an insane gargoyle-hater at the end. But then,
after watching it a few more times and studying Jon's actions, I found myself
wondering if his fall from grace hadn't actually been carefully prepared
for. His suggestions to his siblings that maybe Goliath and his clan
weren't evil had a rather half-hearted feel to them and he allowed Jason
to easily quell them. He spared the clan at the ruins of the clock tower,
but THEN proceeded to publicly frame them on the news at Jason and Robyn's
request, without (as far as could be told) protesting about trying to turn
the public against the gargs, now that he knew that they weren't the
monsters that the other Hunters believed them to be. During the fight at
the dam, Jon was just standing around looking miserable, while Elisa was
making an active attempt to get Jason and Goliath to stop their feud. In
fact, Jon's only pro-gargoyle action was a negative one (not killing them
at the clock tower), whereas Elisa and Jason (after he finally saw the light)
took a much more active stance (Jason actually taking a shot for Goliath
in the cathedral) in trying to stop the slaughter. (Not to mention that, in
"The Journey", Vinnie also actively resisted Castaway's efforts to kill
Goliath and Elisa). So.... am I reading too much into this, or was Jon's
rather passive behavior during his "pro-gargoyle" behavior purposely
designed that way, to show that he was weak (to fit in with his
transformation into Castaway)?

3. Another commentary rather than question, mainly. I've also been
working out why Thailog is such an effective villain, and I think that it's more
than just that he's cunning and malevolent (though he's definitely both).
He's also a clone of Goliath, and looks and sounds almost exactly like
him. But his moral character is very different from Goliath's - in contrast to
Goliath's nobility and honor, Thailog is scheming, power-hungry, and
duplicitous. So there's a matter of a very chilling incongruity. Was
this part of what you had in mind when you created the character?

Greg responds...

1. Todd, "failure" is one of those hot-button words that I don't
much like to throw around. Many people regarded the second season of
Gargoyles as a failure because it didn't meet those people's financial
expectations. Many people regard the World Tour as a failure because it
went on too long or whatever. I don't agree with either assessment, but
it's all subjective.
So let's not talk about failure. But now that I'm past the
disclaimer, I do agree that the villains on Goliath Chronicles were not that
well-handled, and I think the handling of the Quarrymen was particularly
problematic. You, as usual, are dead-on in evaluating what I was trying to
do with them. My successors took a different route.
2. Todd, people are going to start to think that either (a) I'm
paying you to write this stuff or (b) you actually are me writing under a
pseudonym. Again, you're dead-on correct. Jason was a strong man. Strong
in his prejudice. Strong in his resolve to change once he came to that
conclusion. Jon was a weak man. I'm gonna botch this quotation about the
banality of evil, but it goes something like, "All it takes for evil to
thrive is for good men to do nothing." That's Jon Canmore. I hope we built
him so that his transformation -- though shocking and tragic -- was
believable. If you're any indication, then I did my job.
3. Very much so. To me, the creation of a great villain depends on
making that villain a true counterposing force to the hero. Each villain
has to make us feel, at least in that individual story, that he or she is
the ultimate nemesis. This is accomplished not simply with opposition, but
by juxtaposing similarities and contrasting them with opposition. Let's
look at Batman for a moment.
a. Batman and the Joker both operate in strange, even garish
costumes, outside the law. But the Batman represents ORDER, the Joker
CHAOS.
b. Or... Batman is a man with two faces. Bruce Wayne and the Bat.
Two sides of the same coin. Personify that, and you have TWO-FACE. Now
you've got two characters who share a bond, and yet are as different as
night and day.
c. Batman was created to inspire fear in criminals. The Scarecrow
exists to inspire fear in decent people.
d. Batman is a man seduced by the darkness in his soul. Catwoman
is that seduction brought to life.
e. Batman strives to find order out of chaos, Ra's al Ghul strives
to establish his own order in place of human freedom. To me, these have
always been Batman's best villains, because they each speak to his soul.
Anytime I thought about working with any of the others, it was always more
of a struggle.
f. Take the Riddler. As fun as he can be, he was never my
favorite. The best I could come up with was to piece out a segment of the
Batman mythos, i.e. Batman is supposed to be the world's greatest detective.
Thus we pit this man of answers in a battle of wits against the world's
greatest questioner. (Not bad, but not great either.)
g. Penguin always stumped me until I saw the movie BATMAN RETURNS.
Now, I didn't care for that movie much. I thought it was a mess. But the
one truly brilliant addition to the Batman mythos was the notion that the
Penguin was a monster. Batman has a monster inside him. And he puts on a
monstrous aspect to give that monster reign. Tim Burton's Penguin was born
to that misshapen life. Suddenly, the villain worked for me.

Now. Return to Gargoyles. And specifically to Goliath. I
attempted to make every villain succeed in that manner. Thailog is of
course, obvious for the reasons you stated, but hopefully that resonance
carries through to all our antagonists. Goliath is the ultimate medieval
bastion of gargoyle morality. David is the ultimate modern stand-in for
human amorality. Demona was once Goliath's great love. Now she's his
greatest enemy because she turned away from the very things that made her
love him. Goliath is a gargoyle from another time. Macbeth is a human from
another time. Goliath is steadfast and serious, Puck is out there and in it
for the laugh. Goliath is thought of as a beast. The Pack are supposed to
be hunters. But their animal names and their actions make it clear who the
real beasts are. Etc. All this was very conscious. I'm glad it worked for
ya.

(GDW / 7-21-98)

Response recorded on July 21, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

I really love Gargoyles. You've hinted that vampires would have
eventually appeared on the show. 1. Would they have been pure evil? Or would some
be evil and some good? If they were evil it would be an interesting contrast
between Gargoyles who are hunted wrongly by humans and vampires who are
hunted by humans because they deserve to be. 2. Would vampirism have been
like a disease or would it have been magical, perhaps having something to
do with Oberon's children?

Greg responds...

1. Few things in the Gargoyles Universe are pure anything.
2. Gonna keep a few secrets.

(GDW / 7-21-98)

Response recorded on July 21, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

Here's a few questions that may have already been asked. I couldn't find
any instance of them in the archives, though, so if you've answered some
of them enough to make the answers come out your ears, sorry. :)

-[(1)]- There seem to be three megacorps that we've seen so far:
Nightstone, Cyberbiotics, and Xanatos' company (I don't recall its exact
name). Are there any others in the "present" world, or new ones you were
planning to introduce?

-[(2)]- Did Owen show his hand in public after "The Price"? {As
Executive Assistant to the richest man in the world, he can't exactly hide it all
the time without people commenting, could he? And I'd think it would be kinda
hard for people not to notice that the guy's arm is *stone* all the way up
to the elbow. I mean, that's not exactly normal. :)}

-[(3)]- If Obsidiana & Zafiro left their amulets behind when they went
to transport their plants (a possibility you suggested in "Ask Greg" a looong
time ago), then who steered the skiff in the daytime? [*cough*] Avalon?

-[(4)]- Is Alexander susceptible to iron like the Children of Oberon
are? He looks pretty calm around metal stuff. We know that Fox isn't weakened
by it, but she was raised human and Alex's only quarter-fae. And the
(non-garg) New Olympians spend all their lives hanging around huge
machines made of what looks like steel. [scratches head] Hmmm.

-[(5)]- Would Brooklyn's status in the clan have changed significantly
post-TD?

-[(6)]- Coldstone's 'flesh' parts are just animated stone, right? {Just
going over the facts, sir. :)} So instead of going through all that fuss
in "Possesion", couldn't Xanatos just have 'de-animated' the guy, picked
through and decided whose parts were whose, and reassembled them into 3
different bodies (replacing missing parts with machinery as necessary),
and re-animated each of them? [thinks briefly about how much work that'd
entail] Oh, never mind. :)

-[(7)]- Just how many stone bits would one need to bring back a
gargoyle? Are there some essential parts you have to have, like the head or
something?

-[(8)]- I'm confused. By "animated stone" did you mean that he's
stone-turned-to-bodily-tissue {that sounds horrible, but I'm about as bad
as turning a phrase as I am asking silly questions}, meaning he has normal skin and
stuff, or that he's living' rock like the statues Oberon enchanted in the Gathering?

-[8a]- (If it turns out the 1st is true) -- Do Coldstone's flesh parts
turn to stone in the daytime?

-[8b]- (If it turns out that the 2nd is true) -- Is he grey because
that's just the color that rocks usually are, or because that was
Othello's natural coloring {as seen in "Legion"}?

-[(9)]- Last one, I promise: If a rock scientist got his or her hands
on a gargoyle's pseudo-stone skin, what would he or she possibly think of it?

Greg responds...

1. Not per se, but that's not to say that I might not have at some point.
2. He tended to keep it in his pocket, but he wasn't exactly religious
about it. I'm sure some people saw it. Most were too polite to comment.
Or too confused.
3. They probably parked it during the day.
4. Iron and Steel are two distinct things. I doubt Alex is quite as
suseptable as, say, his grandmother.
5. It depends what you mean. It also depends on how postTD you mean.
6. Yeah, never mind.
7. C'mon....
8. Yeah, living rock.
8b. Color of the stone.
9. It depends on what kind of tests he or she ran. If any.

(GDW / 7-20-98)

Response recorded on July 20, 1998

Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

I would like to say I loved the series "Gargoyles". I believe ABC's
cancellation of the show is the same kind of mistake that NBC did when
they cancelled "Star Trek". It was a unigue one of a kind show that offered
people a chance to look at things from a different perspective and that
that we should not fear what we don't understand. Now, if you don't mind, I'd
like to ask you a few questions.

1)Where did you get the inspiration for the character Angela? I've always
found her interesting due to her background and personality.

2)Have any Canmores ever openly defended gargoyles or expressed any
concern for them? If so, what would happen to them?

4)What sort of attempts have you made to get the show back on and what can
the rest of us do to help?

5)If the show went back into production, would any of the actors/actresses
be in it?

6)Since "Future Tense" was an "Escape From New York"/"Terminator" spoof,
would there have been an "ALIENS" spoof? 'Cause Marines kick ass!!!

Greg responds...

1. Angela was a natural, almost automatic addition to the tapestry. She
was so right, she had to be created. There wasn't a single "inspiration",
unless you count Goliath, Demona, the eggs, Katharine, the Magus, and Tom,
i.e. everything else we had woven up to that point.
2. I don't want to say definitively that no Canmores ever expressed some
concern, but historically, I don't think you had a big pro-gargoyle
faction within the Canmores.
3. No number 3.
4. I've answered this before. Check the archives.
5. I assume they'd all be willing to come back in. It was a fun work
experience, decent money and a relatively benign time committment.
6. I don't agree with you assesment of FUTURE TENSE, per se. That is,
you're not going very far back. There are probably loads of things that
influenced all three. I do know that I didn't specifically base Future
Tense on Escape, which I've never seen or on Terminator (who's parallel's
don't seem that obvious to me).

(GDW / 7-20-98)

Response recorded on July 20, 1998


: « First : « 25 : Displaying #51 - #75 of 702 records. : 25 » : 250 » : Last » :