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!

James writes...

If a person either spraypaints/tags a gargoyle in stone will it break off in shard with the stone or show up and if someone were to use a dremmel or other small grinding/stonecarving tool and put a design on the stone would it show up or break off and what about additions made of ground up gargoyle stone turned into clay/plater what have you and added and somehow dried quickly (hair dryer or heat gun of some kind) would the appliance become part of them or again just break off basically my querie is this how badly damaged does a gargoyle have to be in stone for it to translate to flesh and along the same token ho bad does he have to be damaged before he doesn't wake up a broken off finger an arm and if pasted back on in stone will it heal?I don't actually visit this site alot so could you please either send the answers direct or send a link to the page you answer these questions in an email to jamesmitchell29486@yahoo.com thank you and have a pleasent tomorrow

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?

Lizzy writes...

1. What would happen to a Gargoyle if only a part of it was destroyed during the day? For example, if a piece of a wing or finger was broken off, would the injury be permanent like an amputation, or would the piece regenerate during the next hibernation?

2. How resistant to erosion are gargoyles during their stone sleep? The Manhattan clan survived a thousand years of exposure to the elements and yet showed no signs of breaking down.

Robert writes...

Hello Greg. I find the reproductive system for gargoyles fascinating. Something I am wondering though is how magical forces, like Avalon, affect the reproductive process.

Is it possible for mature gargoyles who live in Avalon to leave Avalon, say 6 months before September 21 on a year for which eggs are to be conceived 2007, 2027, 2047, etc, lay their egg in 2008, 2028, 2048, etc, return to Avalon for the period of more or less one Avalon Year only to return to the natural world and par-take in the process all over again, thereby essentially having 3 eggs in under the normal 20 year cycle?

If so, would it be possible to have more than 3 eggs (I know you have said that a gargoyle who has more than three eggs is rare but possible in some circumstances.) What about 10 eggs? Technically a gargoyle would be in physical prime for 40+ years. Could a gargoyle who lived on Avalon produce 40 eggs (regardless of whether or not she would want to).

Also what sort of nutrients go into an egg? When humans give birth, many of the mother's nutrients go into the child, occasionally to the determent to the mother. Would a gargoyle in this situation only be able to have three, maybe four or five tops because of the amount of strain taking place to the mother's body?

On this topic, how many eggs could Demona produce? As an immortal, can she continue to make eggs for the rest of her life? Or is she limited to three (two more)?

Thank you for you time.

Random Fan writes...

I know you hate biology questions, but I think this ones realatively painless, so you might not bite my head off. Of course you reserve the right to bite peoples heads as you see fit so I may be a little a head of my self hear. Any way I should stop rambleing and get to the question. From what you've revealed so far on gargoyle geneologies a pattern seems to emerge. it seems like you have a 1st gender 2nd gender 1st gender pattern on couples eggs, of course I'm probably just reading to much into what little you've reaveled on the subject but it bugs me now and I'm hopeing you ,oh master of the garg universe,could confirm or denie, or at least have some comment that would put my thought to rest. thanks for the consideration and sorry for misspellings

Drew Middlemas writes...

Hullo, just wanted to say first of all that I enjoyed Clan Building and Bad Guys immensely, and I hope that someday we get to see more Gargoyles stories being told.

Anyway, I have a question that I suppose loosely connects to the 2198 spin-off (I'm not sure if this has already been asked; I couldn't find it on the archives). What would happen to a gargoyle if they were ever up in space? Since technically there's no day or night in space, how would that affect them?

Thanks in advance, and wishing you all the best with your future projects.

Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

Do Gargates nurse? I think that egg laying mammals nurse, so it isn't inconceivable. Why else evolve to have breats? (Though I vaguely remember something about Duck Billed Platapai sweating milk.)

Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

I was sure this was in the archive, but when I checked I couldn't find it. The clones coloring is different because of the forced maturation process. Is that also why Thailog's eyes glow red instead of white.

(I could've sworn I remembered you answering it, but when I looked to confirm the answer, even going into the Thailog section and manually searching for 'red' turned up nothing.)

TK writes...

Dear Mr. Weisman,

After Goliath falls in love with Elisa, would her menstrual cycles have any biological effect on him? Yes, I know...that's a very ODD question, to say the least. Thank you, regardless.

Rebel writes...

Hi Greg, I have some questions for you about the functions of gargoyle stone sleep. I checked the archives and saw lots of questions about stone sleep, but as far as I could tell, no one asked these questions specifically.

We know that stone sleep serves the following functions:
-rest and rejuvenation
-healing of injuries
-storing of energy (as hypothesized by Sevarius)

However, based on what we've seen in the series and comics, it seems like it probably serves other functions as well. So I have some questions for you about other possible functions of stone sleep.

1. Does it cleanse the gargoyle? We've never heard any mentions of gargoyles bathing and there probably wasn't a shower in the clock tower. So does dirt, grime, and body emollients turn to stone with the gargoyle, or does it sit on top of their stone skin and get sloughed off when the gargoyle awakens?

2. Does it cleanse the gargoyle's clothes? If stone sleep cleanses a gargoyle, it seems logical to me that it would clean the gargoyles' clothes as well. After all, the Humility Spell would turn a gargoyle's clothes to stone because he considers those clothes to belong to him. But, presumably, he would not consider any dirt that is on those clothes to be his, so it seems like any dirt on his clothes might get shed when he wakes up. This could explain why the gargoyles in the show are always wearing the same clothes and we've heard no mentions of doing laundry.

3. Does stone sleep serve as a way to expel wastes? When gargoyles wake up, they end up shedding a bunch of skin. Where does all that mass come from? That's probably at least a pound or two of stone skin being shed per gargoyle, and they do it everyday. If gargoyles are shedding all that stone skin AND pooping, it seems like they would constantly be losing mass or having to eat more to put on mass. Yet if the mass from their food goes towards the outer-most layer of stone skin everyday, that makes sense to me from a conservation of mass perspective. That's why I'm wondering if the stone skin that gets shed every night is mostly gargoyle solid waste.

Not a question about stone sleep functions, but a question about it in general

4. Did Lexington and Hudson get to watch the sun rise (or at least part of it) when they were in London? It seems logical that if their awakening got delayed due to jet lag, maybe their falling asleep got delayed too.

Anonymous writes...

Okay, so the London Clan has a strict limit of two eggs per breeding couple to avoid a Clan population that could not be supported at Knight's Spur. This I understand. What I'm curious about is Coco's comment about how the limitation is enforced by isolating Gargoyles from their mates “during the FEMALE'S final heat”. Does this mean that the mating seasons only affect the fertility of female Gargoyles and that male Gargoyles might possibly be fertile throughout most of their life and not just during the mating seasons? I mean, if male Gargoyles can only become fertile at the same ages as the females (50, 70, and 90 years old), then how could Yama and Sora have a third child (not that they necesarily WILL have a third child, or any children for that matter, I'm just saying COULD they have a third child?) Sora's third potential egg would be laid when she's 90, at which point Yama would be 110 years old (he's from an older rookery). Females cannot become pregnant at the age of 110 and if males are the same way, Yama would not be able to impregnate Sora with a third egg at the ag of 110. So, do male Gargoyles follow the same fertility pattern as females or could Yama and Sora potentially have a third child?

RandomStan writes...

If a gargoyle got a permanent tattoo (as opposed to henna), would it stay on their skin or would teh stone sleep break it down the next sunset?

Kozispoon writes...

"Do gargoyles suffer from gargoyle-specific illnesses or handicaps?"

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?

Gargoyle Fan writes...

in Goliath and Elisa's relationship can Hummans mate with Gargoyles.has it done so in the past?

Hyun-Ae writes...

Hello, Mr. Weisman. I was curious about Gargoyle twins, but I don't have any questions on the subject as much as I do have some rambles. Please keep in mind I am no expert on biology and I may be completely off. Having said that, here are my thoughts on twins.

I did a little research on egg twins -- double yolked eggs -- and thought it could _possibly_ be attributed to gargoyles. A twin yolked egg occurs when (for example) a chicken's ovary will make two yolks at once. The shell is formed over both yolks, and results in a longer, larger egg being laid. With chickens, twin chicks hatching is almost non-existent. Eggs must be turned so that the chick's head can reach the air cell to breath while inside the egg. Then it will peck it's way out if all goes as planned. In the case of twins, they fight each other inside the egg, fail to reach the air cell and suffocate. Human intervention can result in both chicks surviving (the egg is opened for the chicks) but, yet again, it's rare.

Okay, I know Gargoyles are _not_ chickens, but it still got me to thinking. IF a female gargoyle did lay a twin yolked egg, it would stand out as being a bit bigger than the other eggs. Surely the soon-to-be parents would notice this and probably deduce what the larger egg meant. I believe you said that gargoyle parents do not aid the hatchlings to break out their shells, but MAYBE an exception could possibly be made for the unhatched twins since such a phenomenon doesn't happen often anyway. IF the developing babies survived to the point of hatching and IF they either a) somehow managed to successfully escape their egg themselves, or b) had adult intervention, you would be left with fraternal twin gargoyle hatchlings, not identical twins. In theory, this could also further support the idea that no two gargoyles look exactly alike.

Oof, sorry if I am making no sense. I never was good at being succinct, but I suppose that's why they are called 'rambles'. Anyway, these are just some ideas on the subject and I thought you might like to hear them. :) Of course please feel free to disregard anything I've said. I am not out to "trip you up" or tell you what is what in the world you created.

On another note, I just wanted to say that Gargoyles is a wonderful, thought provoking universe with deep, multiple layered characters and absolutely terrific stories! I am deeply sorry that I will not be able to attend the final Gathering (you have no idea how sorry!!) but I'm still glad to have been given the chance to experience the world of Gargoyles. Thank you so much for sharing them with us!

the shadow writes...

I'd like to Know something.Why does it take ten years for a Gargoyle egg to hach

Clark Cradic writes...

Can gargoyles recieve the same negative side effects from cigarettes or alcohol like humans do or does their stone sleep negate these effects?

Clark Cradic writes...

Can Oberon's Children breed with Gargoyles?

Matt writes...

I have a question about this response you gave to Rebel:

Rebel writes...
Which part of the world did gargoyles first arise in? For example, humans apparently arose in Africa and then migrated almost everywhere else, and then evolved. I'm curious to know which continent gargoyles first came from. If you'd care to narrow it down even further, that'd be great, since a continent is a really big place.

I did a search to see if this had already been answered, but I didn't see anything. If you've answered it already and I missed it, my apologies.

Greg responds...
Pangea.

Response recorded on April 22, 2009

Did you mean that the gargoyles species as it exists today originated on Pangea or that gargates as a whole originated on Pangea?

Nelio writes...

Thank you again Mr. Wiseman for answering these question from your fans. I have two related questions for you this time.

1. In regards to stone sleep, I had always imagined that the Gargoyles always biologically shift into "stone". The Gargoyles wiki talks about how when gargoyles are "stone" they are not actually stone but just really hard material that resembles stone. Assuming this is all true, I was wondering if then in the case of a broken statue, if you would be able to see the internal biology of the gargoyle such as bones, organ, blood vessels, etc. Granted they would be stone, but would they still be there?

2. This relates to Cold Stone and the stone pieces of his make-up. It was stated in the show that Cold Stone is made up of stone from three different gargoyles. Assuming that the various parts of the gargoyle anatomy would still exist in a stone state, would these not be visible upon inspection of Cold Stone's body?

3. When Demona turned the citizens of Manhattan to stone in City of Stone, was their stone sleep the same or similar to the Gargoyles? More importantly did their anatomy stay in tact like I am imagining the Gargoyle's do when they undergo stone sleep?

I have a lot of cool, though slightly morbid imaginer in my head about all of this. As always, I look forward to your response.

Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

This isn't really a question, but a conversational response to a question Rebel asked.

"Which part of the world did gargoyles first arise in? For example, humans apparently arose in Africa and then migrated almost everywhere else, and then evolved."

While there has been disagreement for years about precisely where and when our species evolved, the evidence is now accumulating very strongly on the side of the "Out of Africa" theory. The evidence is pretty strong now that our species had fully evolved into our modern form before migrating out of Africa, although other human species had migrated to Asia and Europe before we did.

rick writes...

Dont think Im perverted for asking this but after seeing Goliath and elisa's relationship on the show I just got really curious,is it possible for gargoyles to mate with humans not reproduce just simply mate.