Greg responds...

Whoah, slow down there. Demona came to America for many of the same
reasons most immigrants came. There's a story behind it, but I'm not
ready to give that away yet. As I've mentioned once or twice before, Demona
and Xanatos were introduced by Owen/Puck, who had met Demona centuries
before. The Weird Sisters kept a careful watch on Demona, but largely stayed
out of her life. With two exceptions.

Greg responds...

After events in "City of Stone", Demona was persona non grata in Scotland.
She began to travel a lot. She also began to study sorcery. To accumulate
wealth. Her immortality allowed her to make long term plans. To gather
materials that might not be of use to her now, but might be very useful
later. The reason she was in Italy was to steal the Medici Tablet, which
contained a powerful magical spell. Too powerful for her to control during
the fifteenth century. But she had time.

Greg responds...

Basically, she survived. She gathered the tattered remains of the various
clans of Gargoyles in Scotland. She became their leader. She stole food to
survive, and she wasn't very careful about the humans, innocent or otherwise
that got in her way. After the original Hunter surfaced, she alternated
hunting him and being hunted by him. She hid. It was a miserable existence.

Greg responds...

You're mistaken. She doesn't smash Brendan & Margot. All those Stone
Statues look alike. That's my answer, and I'm sticking with it.

Greg responds...

The character of "Elisa Chavez" was created before Salli was cast. We had a
basic look for the character, but no final models. After Salli was cast, we
asked her what her ethnic background was. (African-American largely, but
also Native American.) That seemed like an interesting background for Elisa,
so we changed her name to "Maza" which means "iron" in the Navajo language
(or at least that's what I was told by my assistant). We gave Elisa an
African-American mother and a Native American father. Then we asked Salli if
we could give photographs of her to our character designers. She said yes,
and they adjusted our existing models to look a bit more like Salli. So her
"look" was inspirational rather than, say, "traced".

By the way, we obviously reused the Chavez name for Elisa's boss Maria.
Two other discarded Elisa last names that were reused are (Maggie) Reed and
(Matt) Bluestone.

Greg responds...

That wasn't a scientific estimate. It also depends on how you define an
in-joke. It amused me to have Xanatos quote Hamlet and Monty Python in the
same scene in "Future Tense". Is that an in-joke? Probably not. It's part
of Xanatos' personality. I'd have to watch the episodes again. Maybe when
the questions calm down, I'll do that. Watch one episode per week and write
up whatever thoughts come to my head as I'm watching. Post them as ramblings.
I'll include any in-jokes I remember. Maybe. We'll see.

Greg responds...

Ages in parenthesis represent biological age when that age differs from the character's chronological age.

As of December 31, 1996:
Hudson - 1118 (59)
Goliath - 1058 (29)
Trio - 1038 (19)
Angela - 952 (21)
Bronx - 1018 (9)
Demona - 1058 (35)
Coldstone - 1058 (28)
Macbeth - 991 (52)
Xanatos - 41
Fox - 30
Alexander - not yet 1
Elisa - 28
Talon, Dracon - 26
Beth - 21
Katharine - 1020 (62)
Tom - 1010 (52)
Gabriel, Ophelia, Boudicca - 952 (20)

Greg responds...

Yeah. Titanium mesh. That's the ticket. C'mon, do you really want to see
Broadway's loincloth get shredded? It's a family show, after all.

Greg responds...

Delilah was programmed, just like the others, but Thailog added some special
instructions to her programming. I don't particularly agree with your
assessment, though I do think his "death" would have left a void in her
life, a void she might seek to fill.

Greg responds...

They are married.

Greg responds...

It's complicated, but basically, Oberon owed someone a favor.

Greg responds...

Actually, our gargoyles were frozen in stone in 994. Oberon banished his children in 995. There is a connection though it's not directly causal.

Greg responds...

When was Merlin mentioned in Oberon's presence? I don't remember that.

Greg responds...

I'm allowed to talk about anything I'm in the mood to discuss.

Xanatos went through a protracted, gradual change over the course of 65 episodes. Hopefully, you all thought it was organic and believable. But I never said he had stopped scheming. (Keep in mind, I had nothing to do with how he was portrated in the last twelve episodes of CHRONICLES.) I don't even believe that his goals have changed that much. But his priorities have definitely shifted, plus he gained a great deal of self-knowledge and a clearer view of what matters most in life. First and foremost, his family.
Second, true friends (or at least allies) that you can really count on. He has learned that you have to give if you ever hope to take. (But that doesn't
mean he's done taking.) As to his plans, I still think he wants immortality, so that's not over. And I felt he needed to deal with the Illuminati, who are likely to expect things from him that he's not prepared to deliver. Don't expect his methods to change much.

As to the why, well, frankly, the character demanded it. The relationship with Fox manifested itself to the pleasant surprise of everyone involved. We were all even more surprised (David included) to find out that he actually loved her. Every other step along the way was a natural outgrowth of the revelation that he was capable of love. His father influenced him as well.
Though he'd be loathe to admit it, David cares what his Petros thinks of him. It wasn't an accident that Petros was invited to his wedding.

Greg responds...

Nought.

Greg responds...

The short answer is that Macbeth & Demona asked for it. The Sisters weren't enforcing their will on the mortals, (well, they were, but Mac & D didn't know it), they were simply granting a request.

Actually, they were aiding Demona & Mac's desire to trade youth for power.
They then slipped the link in by using a specific magic spell for the youth transfer that included the immortality link. Sneaky, huh?

What you need to understand is that Oberon isn't constantly watching. His magical dictate hangs in the air around them. If they can create a justification in their own minds, no matter how superficial, they can magically get away with a hell of a lot. There's a risk involved. What if Oberon found out later? Would he care or regard it as insignificant? Would he buy their justification? Depends on his mood, probably. He's not exactly Mr. Consistent-Letter-Of-My-Law. As it is, I don't think he has found out, at least not so far.

(By the way, the reason that Demona is perpetually 35 years old is because Macbeth was 35 when they made that trade. He couldn't give her youth that he himself no longer possessed.)

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. Both.

3. Marriage, etc.

4. Yes.

(That was easy.)

Greg responds...

1. I guess I could.

2. I've no legal roadblocks preventing me from telling you anything and everything. But GARGOYLES does have a chance to come back, and I don't want to give away all my secrets just in case it does.

3. You wouldn't catch up to 2158 until 2158, I guess. But the (rejected) plan was to do a spin-off series set in 2158.

Greg responds...

I love Carl's music, but I wouldn't hold my breath for the CD. You don't see a lot of CD's for animated series scores out there. (SIMPSONS being a notable and hilarious exception.) If enough people send requests to Disney Records, if they believe that they could make money off of Carl's work, then trust me they would release it. But it would take a LOT of letters from a lot of different people from across the country.

Greg responds...

1. Yes. A lot. I've been writing stories since at least 2nd Grade.
English has always been my favorite subject. I took eight full years worth of English courses during my six years of junior high and High School.
(Including AP English, American Literature, Modern American Literature, Creative Writing and Advanced Creative Writing.) I took a lot of history as well. I also took a Popular American Literature course at UCLA while I was still in high school.

I received a Bachelors Degree in English with an emphasis in Fiction Writing from Stanford University. (Coursework there included: The Short Story, Fiction Writing, Poetry Writing, Detective Fiction, Eighteenth Century Views of Women in Literature, Milton, Conrad & Faulkner, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Western Culture, Reflections on the American Condition, more Fiction Writing and Authorial Voice, among others. I also took courses in acting, dance, economics, physics, calculus and computer science, among others.
Plus I did a ton of theater -- on stage, back stage and behind the scenes.) I was a t.a. for Ron Rebholz's Shakespeare class. And I taught a seminar on the Mythic Hero in Modern Literature. At Stanford's Programme in Oxford, I took courses on the English Novel, Shakespeare and British Architecture.

I later received a Masters Degree from U.S.C.'s school of Professional Writing with an emphasis in playwriting. (Coursework included: Humor, Playwriting, fiction writing, screenwriting, etc.)

And after all that, I took a seminar on Story Structure from Robert McKee.

2. Yes. Although, I know a lot of myths and legends already, I still did research, or the other writers and story editors did. My assistant Monique Beatty did a lot of research for me, as did my good friend Tuppence Macintyre. Frank Paur also contributed a lot of research. The other producers, storyboard artists and designers also did tons of visual research.

3. While I was still at U.S.C. I started interviewing for jobs informally. I wanted to be a writer, but I also wanted to be able to pay my bills. Just before I graduated, Bruce Cranston offered me a job as a "Staff Assistant" in T.V. Animation's development department. One week after I started, Disney sent Bruce to Europe for six months and I was in effect the acting head of the department. It gave me the unique opportunity to show what I could do.
When Bruce got back, I was promoted. I moved slowly but steadily up through the executive ranks, until I developed GARGOYLES, at which point I chose to change careers (or rather to pursue the career I originally set out to get) and became a writer/producer.

4. She has a family now.

5. None that I'm currently aware of, but I reserve the right to discover otherwise later.

6. They wear a different style of glasses. Vogel wears a bowtie, Owen wears a regular one. They have different hair color. There may be subtle differences in their facial structure, but depending on the animation, that tends to be less than consistent. We strived to make them look very reminiscent of each other.

Greg responds...

It was a very strange little two-parter.

[You guys should see me now. I keep typing things and erasing them. I'm really not sure I want to reveal this. I guess I still hope to do it someday, and I don't want to blow out the shock value. But another part of me kinda wants to reveal it. But not today. Sorry. Ask me again later.]

Greg responds...

I would absolutely LOVE to continue the saga in prose. Any publishers out there listening?

Greg responds...

I'm not sure I agree with your assessment of the Oberon/Puck dynamic in Midsummer. Do Owen and Oberon really look alike? I don't really see it.
Although, I think it's funny, because for months (between the first airings of "Awakening, Part Two" and "Avalon, Part Three") all I heard was how much Owen looked like the Magus.

Greg responds...

1. No. He's a New Olympian.

2. The term "Oberon's Children" refers to all the fair folk, including Puck and even Oberon. But Puck was also Oberon's personal servant. Was.

Greg responds...

I think she loves it. She wants her father to be happy, and whatever hopes she might have for Demona's redemption, they don't include a reconciliation with dad. And Angela loves and respects Elisa tremendously. Besides, when she first met Goliath and Elisa, they were already a couple, and everyone knew it, except maybe for Goliath and Elisa.