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Adam Carlson writes...

how many eggs can a gargoyle female lay at one time? during there life time?
And, if there are 36 eggs taken to Avalon, how many gargoyles lived at Castle Wyvern before the massacure.

Greg responds...

1. One. Two on EXTREMELY rare occasions, maybe. Maybe.
2. Three or four tops.
3. I've answered this before, and I don't remember what I said exactly. About forty. But nearly half the clan migrated to form a new clan sometime before the massacre. So there are more eggs than you'd expect from the small numbers that were massacred.

Response recorded on April 22, 2003

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Dragon7 writes...

Dear Mr. Weisman I find your posts on gargoyle physiology and culture very fascinating. Having recently read some of your earlier answers to the newly identified Loch Ness Clan a question came to my mind as to how this clan raised and cared for its offspring. It is widely known that gargoyles in the other clans in the gargoyles universe lay eggs is this also true of the Lochness Clan and if so do they put their eggs into caves until hatching as the Wyvern Clan did in generations past?

Greg responds...

Yep.

Response recorded on April 15, 2003

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Vashkoda writes...

I've never bother to question any of the following, and I still pretty much accept it as "just the way things are", but I figured I'd still ask about it just in case it led to any interesting revelations:

1) Why *do* gargoyles assume threatening poses while they sleep? You've mentioned that gargoyles have a similarity to scarecrows. Also, one explanation for building gargoyles on medieval churches was to scare away demons. But what's the "Gargoyles-Universe" explanation? Is it really that effective in scaring away predators (and what kind of animal would attack something made of stone, anyways?). Even scarecrows lose their effectiveness over time, once birds get used to them.

2) In Japan, where the clan said that they face inward as a sign of trust to the humans, they still strike frightening poses. Is this "pose-behavior" therefore something instinctual?

3) Similarly, why did the trio, Hudson and Bronx assume threatening poses as the Magus's sleep spell took place? I'm not sure the gargoyles even understood what was happening, or identified the Magus as a threat (Lex says, "What's he talking about?" and Hudson asks, "What's all this?" just before the spell). As they see the magic swirling around them, I think they get suspicious, but it still seems odd for them to assume attack poses at that moment (I would have expected them to be confused or afraid, but not violent, especially if they haven't had time to understand what's going on). I was wondering whether the fact that they were becoming stone had triggered their instinctual pose-behavior, or were they indeed getting ready to attack the Magus?

Greg responds...

1. Partially, it's just tradition. Keep potential enemies away. A reminder to any potential attacker of what they might face.

2. Possibly. You're in a state of relative vulnerability. The pose might lend some sense-of peace-of-mind.

3. That's possible too, although I always assumed that they were on the verge of leaping into action at the attack when they got caught in it.

Response recorded on April 11, 2003

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The Endless writes...

1) Are the Gargoyles and the Garg-Dogs (prolly not correct, please don't yell!) related evolutionarily to humans, animals, plants, and cells as are all other known denizens of the biological kingdoms? i.e. Did Gargoyles and Garg-Dogs emerge from the same kind of ancestral single-celled organisms that every other animal comes from and if so, what are the closest evolutionary relatives to the Gargoyles besides the Garg-Dogs?

2) Does a Gargoyle in stone form weigh as much as he does in flesh form?

3) Why is the humanoid form (arms, upright walking, opposible thumbs) most prevalent in the known sentient races? (Fae, Gargoyle, Human)

4) Are Gargoyles photosynthetic organisms? If not, how much food do they need to eat and do they actually produce some type of feces or is stone skin their waste product?

Greg responds...

1. Yes, but I'm not going to answer your question specifically.

2. It seems like it must, but I don't know.

3. I don't know this either.

4. Everytime I even try to answer these types of questions, I wind up digging a deeper hole for myself. Tonight, I'm shovel-free, so I'll demure.

Response recorded on July 22, 2002

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Galvatron writes...

2.Are there any viruses and bacteria within gargoylesthat can survive stone sleep? If not why? If nature can develop such a defense system as the stone sleep surely nature can develop something that can allow viruses and bacteria to survive (if theres a niche in nature waiting to be filled then it will be filled) unless gargoyles are fundamentally different from humans and other animals on this planet?

Greg responds...

Galvatron,

Again, I kinda feel like you're TRYING to stump me. To make me or the show look foolish.

If that's the goal, congratulations.

If not, I'm not sure how to help you feel comfortable. I've said time and time again that I'm not a scientist. I don't have all the answers. You seem much more well-versed in this then I am. So figure it out to your own satisfaction based on the evidence in the aired episodes.

Response recorded on June 10, 2002

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Galvatron writes...

Gargoyle diseases
1.Do gargoyles get cancer? If so can they die from it?

Greg responds...

1. Tend to think not, but I'm not ruling it out.

Response recorded on June 10, 2002

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Galvatron writes...

Stone Sleep
1. Do Gargoyles cells engage in mitosis/reproduction during stone sleep?
2.How can they be in suspended animation during stone sleep when many biological functions are still active? It doesn't make sense.

Greg responds...

1. I don't know what that means, so I cannot answer.
2. Makes sense to me. But I'm no scientist. How about you come up with an answer?

Response recorded on June 10, 2002

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Vanity writes...

I have a question. Relating to biology.

In the animal kingdom, animals(let's use chimps), chimps show a ratio in the wild and in captivity to be 50% right handed and 50% left handed. In the human population as a total about 75% are right handed and 25% Left handed. Some human societies vary of course some being 95% to 5% right to left up to 70% and 30% right to left. I couldn't find this in the archives so, do gargoyles have handedness, and if so of the gargoyle population are they like chimps with a 50/50 Right to left handers or more like humans with a heavy slant to Right handers?

Greg responds...

Some facts about animation "handedness..."

It's very hard to keep track of.

Storyboard artists like to have the freedom to allow characters to freely use either hand, depending on how they want to stage a scene.

To some degree, particularly in an action show, this might make sense. I.e. the heroes and villains all TRAIN themselves to be at least semi-ambidextrous, because their lives may depend on it.

So although I have no idea what handed our various human characters are, I'm going to say that Gargoyles are ambidextrous. Because visually, the series seems to confirm that fact.

Response recorded on April 16, 2002

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While I'm thinking of it....

Behold the following exchange (then skip to the bottom):

Received from pc-17.di.uoa.gr on Monday, September 17, 2001 04:52:03 AM
Aris Katsaris writes...

'kay, you were in your Disney office and couldn't answer this the last time I asked it, so you told me to repost it... Here goes:

<g> Another timeline thingy - this time less of a question though and more of a possible correction (unless I'm missing something)...

You recently said that Tom, Katherine and Magus entered Avalon on September 28th 995. But we also know that the eggs would normally hatch on the spring equinox (about March 21st) of 998. This means that there normally remained 2 and 1/2 years for the eggs to hatch... This time they spent on Avalon.

You can probably see where I'm going... Multiply by 24, and we see that they had to spent 60 years (Earth time) on Avalon. This takes them all the way to 995+60 = 1055.

Obviously the closest "20-year circle of the earth" was 1058... Quite near by. So why did you have them hatch on 1078, 20 years later, instead?

I don't think I've made any errors with the math... :-)

Greg responds...

The eggs were laid in 988. From 988 until 995 (seven out of the normal ten years for gestation) time passed normally. That means they needed @three more years to hatch once they arrived on Avalon. One year on Avalon equals 24 in the real world, as you noted. 3 x 24 = 72. 995 + 72 puts us at 1067. Making the closest twenty year cycle at 1078, as I noted.

You're calculations assume two and a half years instead of three to hatch. And that makes sense given the dates listed. The obvious dopey answer is that I was not calculating to the month but to the year. And so I could acknowledge the mistake and redo everything. And maybe on my next pass through the timeline, I'll do just that.

But to be honest, maybe I won't. When dealing with Avalon's mysterious flow of time, I believe my calculations are close enough. If the eggs weren't ready until March of 1059 even, then I'm still correct -- so it's not quite as big an error as it appears at first glance. Four years passing in the real world represents only two months on Avalon. Perhaps all that traveling and magic, etc. set the eggs back just a bit. If it set them back two months, then I'm right, and they're just slightly late bloomers.

And yes, I'm making excuses. So I'll save this exchange and decide at a later date.

For now, I'm sticking with my current calculations.

recorded on 03-04-02

With all this in mind...

I know I've established -- both here and in my own head (particularly with regards to G2198) that eggs hatch on the Spring Equinox.

But does anyone remember whether (and where) I've established what month the eggs are laid in?

I can't recall if this has come up yet.

Anyone know? And would this solve my problems at all?


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Creamy writes...

Yeah I knowm, stupid questions but...

1)When Gargoyles hatch are they infant or toodlers?
2)When first hatched can they crawl right off?
3)At about what time(month)of the year do they hatch?
4)You said that gargoyles nurse. So do the females take turns nursing all the hatchlings or just one?
5)For how long?
6)What age do gargyles usually learn to glide?
7)What did gargoyles do with hatchlings that were deformed or were found to have a mental retardation later on in life?

Greg responds...

1. Right when they hatch? Closer to infants.

2. No.

3. Generally, around Spring Solstice.

4. It's communal.

5. I'm not sure.

6. I'm not sure of this either. Something I wanted to explore in the future.

7. The clan takes care of its own.

Response recorded on January 15, 2002


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