anon writes...

I realize this may have been answered before, but would the manhattan clan be tolerant of homosexuality? What about other clans?

Matt writes...

In the time long ago when there were gargoyle clans all over the world, how common was mating between members of different clans? Did gargoyles nearly always choose a mate from their own clan or was inter-clan mating fairly common when multiple clans existed in a general area?

Thanks Greg!

Anonymous writes...

Do gargoyles have the same nudity taboos that humans have? I know that Demona cannot go around bare breasted like Goliath does for obvious reasons of cultural modesty in the real world. But what about within the universe of the show?

happyteen writes...

What's Demona's insight towards other forms of life in earth? For example, does she share human's outlook in life that everything in this world is there to be exploit by "superior intelligent" creatures like her kind?

Does she consider human ways of exploiting animals and the enviroment acceptable (she hates us and all we do, but I mean...taking aside its us who are doing it)?

Would you say she is more of a cat or a dog "person"¡

Thanks!!

Eva writes...

Hey, Greg! If you don't remember, we met at the Gathering last year in L.A. (I was the one in the black hat and the striped scarf)

Okay, this may sound strange...
Besides Halloween, can gargoyles celebrate any other holiday?

Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

You've said gargoyles find human rascism nonsensical. Do gargoyles have their own sorts of rascisms we'd find nonsensical? If so, have we ever seen its effects? can you give examples?

Dragomir writes...

Greetings Greg,
I've read that Angela and Broadway will/would eventually have three hatchlings of their own at some point in their future. Now, while I am VERY happy for the two lovebirds, I can't help but wonder if their different upbringings and views on parentage & child raising would prove an issue for them. I mean, Broadway was raised in the traditional Gargoyle way and never knew who his actual biological parents were, nor showed any interest in learning who they were, & I've even read that if he ever did find out Hudson is his dad it wouldn't really change anything between them (which is the norm for most garg clans). However, Angela was raised by humans and cares very much about her blood ties with Goliath & Demona, wanting her father to acknowledge their bond & rejoicing once he does & over time their bond deepens, & wishing to bring Demona back into the light because of her connection to her despite being aware of her dark & troubled nature. I guess what I'm saying is, Angela strikes me as someone who'd want to raise her children personally & form a strong mother/child bond with them whereas Broadway would likely treat them the same way any gargoyle of an older generation would treat those of a younger generation. So I guess my question is, would Angela's & Broadway's different upbringings cause some problems for them in their relationship & in raising their hatchlings? Or would Angela convince Broadway to form a real parental bond with the kids as Goliath has formed with her? I can't really see Angela NOT making her blood ties known to her kids while Broadway just keeps quiet about it. Hope my questions make sense, this is my first time doing this, & thankyou for your time.

Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

A recent question about the relationship between Hudson and Demona got me thinking...

There was one off note in the question (the rest of the analysis was pretty cool)- Hudson would not have any discomfort at the idea that his rookery children were mated to each other. Given that the chance of multiple births is statistically zero and the strong predilection to marry within ones own rookery there is nearly no chance of biological incest ever happening so there would be no sibling taboo.

I recalled a factotum that caught my attention a few months back- Even the most gung-ho kibutzes in Israel got rid of true communal child raising in the 70's because their children were forming sibling bonds and not marrying. Of the thousands of children raised in the system, about 30 married within their own community and not even one married within his or her age group. (err... I suppose, by definition, two would be the minimum for that....) These children were raised with the intention of being future potential spouses but humans are hardwired not to look at siblings that way, even none biological siblings. A similar problem arises in some endangered animal sanctuaries - I remember a documentary mentioning that if male and female rhinos are housed together they eventually stop mating completely - it may have been anthropomorphizing, but they called it developing a sibling relationship. Obviously there are degenerates and incest does happen, Egyptian royalty was designed with sibling marriage, but we are biologically wired against it even when it is not based on blood and therefore dangerous on a Darwinian level.

It makes sense that Gargates, having evolved as very different species with different circumstances would be fundamentally different at times, but they are so very similar in some ways is it surprising when the differences pop up.

1) Do gargoyles have an incest taboo or does it just not come up?
2) If they do not have it, or, at least no strong one, what do they think of it when it occurs with humans? (I don't mean abuse, rather, for example, if they read about Egyptian kings marrying siblings does it give them pause or it just passes as an oddity.)
3) Are there any other instances that come to mind of there being a basic difference between humans and gargoyles? Not a culturally based one - or if it is culturally, it as outgrowth of their biological reality.

Sorry this last one is so vague. It is hard to think of examples. You once answered that racism puzzles Goliath. It makes sense that a species that seems to have nearly uinlimited skin color possibiilities even within a small and relatively isolated population would think the human skin tone based racism is plain odd. (Granted, gargoyles might have their own version of nonsensicle racism that makes no sense to humans.) I can think of where similar differences would be rooted- they are completely nocturnal, they have wings, the do not share the sleeping experience in any way etc…- but it still seems more the sort of thing that occasionally pops up and surprises you. Maybe...a creature with usable wings would be hardwired against agoraphobia or fear of heights. err. Maybe, not so much, they can still fall if their wings get bound up, so at minimum the concept of falling might lurk somewhere even in their minds.

thanks

Ariell Choy writes...

As humans, we can express ourselves culturally, emotionally and even spiritually through the arts (music, dance, drama, literature, etc). Do gargoyles practice the arts? Do gargoyles even have the capacity to create art? I have always wanted to know since having seen the episode "Kingdom" in which Broadway, Lexington, and Brooklyn return home to the Clock Tower after having attended a rock concert in which Brooklyn proclaims "did you hear that guitarist wail?"

Charisma82 writes...

Did Hudson influence Goliath’s decision at all as to who should’ve been Goliath’s second in command?

If something had happened to Goliath before he had chosen a second in command, I would assume that Hudson would’ve become leader at first, but then would choose someone else to lead since he’s older and believes that a younger leader would be best (which is indicated in the episode Upgrade). If this was the case, who would Hudson have considered becoming the new leader of the clan? Would he have based his decision along the same lines as Goliath, or would he have looked for other qualifications?

Thank you for your time and all that you do,

-Charisma82

Greg Bishansky writes...

And now I have a question on Goliath and religion.

In the VHS version of "Awakening" as the trio glide off to steal the disc, Goliath says "godspeed lads. They'd better not be harmed." In the TV version he just says "They'd better not be harmed."

Since you edited the VHS release, I have to ask. Would Goliath say "godspeed?" Considering what you have since revealed about gargoyle religious beliefs, I was wondering. In your mind, did he say it?

And while I'm here, what's the canon status of the VHS version of "Awakening?" There is some material in it that wasn't in the TV and later DVD version?

Lambda writes...

Hi Greg,
I just realized something very sad. Because gargoyles only age at half the rate of humans, by the time the Trio/Angela and Goliath are in their 40s and 50s respectively, Elisa, Fox, Matt, Xanatos and all their other 'original' human friends will have either died or be quite elderly.

1.How do the gargoyles cope with knowing they will outlive these friends (pending unnatural deaths)? It has to be depressing, especially watching your friends grow old before your eyes.

2. Was this something Elisa and Goliath considered before admitting their feelings for one another?

Thanks!

Elle writes...

The whole 'Gargoyles don't have names' thing has been bothering me for a while.
1. If Demona had been given a chance to choose her own name (not an alias), what would she have chosen?
2.Would she have chosen one at all?
2. The Wyvern clan originally didn't have names. But the Gargoyles in other countries we meet later on all have names. Did they choose the names themselves? Or were they named by their biological parents? Or perhaps the clan as a whole named them?

Random Fan writes...

Anouther question that should reach you by the holiday season. Happy Holidays!
You've gone over the importance of the equanoxis in the garg verse as they are important to garg breeding, but what about the soltices? seeing as how they are the longest and shortest nights of the year do they have any significance to gargs beyond a diffrent time frame?

Random Fan writes...

Hey there again. I have'nt found this so I'm asking. Is Demona so emotionaly attached to Angeala because shes HER daughter or because shes one of her rookery children. It seems like she values the biologic conection, and if thats true then it seems like a hipocrocy to be so bent on the "true" gargoyle and then do something so human, but thats just my misguided oppinion. If you could do something to guide it that would be most helpfull, thanks.

Paul Zimmerle writes...

Why do the Gargoyles never upgrade their equipment with the changing times?
I understand from the archives that Hudson uses his to make up for his age, but, despite the number of times their stony rears were handed to them by technologically/magically superior foes, they never seem to try to even the playing field. Tradition is one thing, but I'm reminded of the famous Churchill quote on the subject of a major overhaul of British naval technology: "The traditions of the Navy are rum, the lash, and sodomy."

Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

One last question before bed....

From what little we've seen, it seems that Brooklyn and Katana are parents, not just rookery parents. (All those years with just each other would make it seem inevitable. There are no rookery siblings or other parents.) You wrote that Broadway and Angela ~choose~ to raise their children in the gargoyle style. So...

1. Are there currently any clans who have adopted human parenting, like they adopted human naming? Will there be by the future series?

2. Even those choosing to raise children collectively, are their strong human influences to that thought? (For instance, noting a rookery child looks like you.)

3. Am I correct in my assumption that Brooklyn and Katana are more like human parents in that respect?

4. It has been strongly implied that Elisa and Goliath will in some way adopt. Should they raise a child, would it be as individual or collective parents?

More later, (when I can hopefully decipher my handwriting).

James writes...

Did the Gargoyles have a diffrent title for thier race and just adopted the name Gargoyles from man, or were they always known as Gargoyles

Dean Cain writes...

Here's a question about Lexington, and how Gargoyle culture pertains to him.

According to you, Gargoyles show affection to each other by stroking each others' hair.

Lexington is (As far as I know), the only bald Gargoyle. He is also (As far as the fans know) the only homosexual gargoyle. Did him not having hair factor into him leaning toward homosexuality? Or did that just happen to fall into place?

Todd Jensen writes...

How do gargoyles feel about skin color prejudice among humans? Obviously, it would vary from one gargoyle to the next, but I wondered about that since each gargoyle clan that we've seen shows a wide variety of colors. We know that clans are family units for gargoyles (since the entire clan raises the eggs and the young gargoyles look upon all the older gargoyles as their parents), so it would seem normal for them to have such a broad spectrum of coloring in the family. And I wondered whether, under those circumstances, gargoyles might find the human attitude of looking upon humans with a different color as outsiders and "not-us" as, not just wrong, but almost alien and incomprehensible.

Clark Cradic writes...

Do gargoyles posess a written/spoken language all there own or do they just adopt ones similar to the local humans?

Clark Cradic writes...

I've loved this show ever since I was a kid. In fact you could say this show helped me get through elementary school cause I'd rush to get my homework completed so I could go right the tv when I got home to watch the newest episode. Now that I'm older I still get this wonderful since of nostalgia when I watch this and start asking questions about the Gargoyles I never thought of as a kid, specifically their biology and culture since I loved those electives in high school.

1. Are gargoyles more likely to get certain traits and characteristics if they're from a specific clan? If so, is it just genetics or do they aide them in their territory? If not, does that mean that all gargoyles are generally the same with just different looks that are just for show?

2. How do gargoyles see the sun? Do they see it with a sort of reverence like Demona and Hudson did in The Mirror, or do they see it more of a curse due to their vulnerability?

3. Are there any diseases only gargoyles can get?

The Flaming Tortoise writes...

Hi Greg,

Good to see this place open again!

My question is basically, how do Gargoyle populations sustain themselves? With females having (almost always I've believe you've said) a maximum of three eggs, and as you said in reference to why gargoyles practice communal parenting: "Perhaps this is the result of the high Gargoyle mortality rate. " would it not be an intense struggle to just maintain a clan's population?

And with this in mind, even considering that in modern day mortality rates for gargoyles has probably dropped significantly, wouldn't the practice of the London clan of limiting each pair to two eggs total be very risky for the continuation of their clan?

Thanks for you time

Demonskrye writes...

Hudson has or had a biological child in Goliath's generation, the Trio's generation, and Bronx's generation. That means that Goliath and the Trio would have considered him one of their rookery fathers and Hudson regards them as his rookery children. (I'm guessing he regards Bronx somewhat differently, though correct me if I'm wrong.) So why do we never hear Goliath or any of the Trio calling Hudson "father" or him referring to any of them as "son"?