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Aris Katsaris writes...

I was wondering about the fey's gender. Is it something that (like gargoyles and humans) they are born with, or is it completely optional and subject to their wishes and transformations?

Even if they are born with a specific gender, couldn't they shapeshift into a human or gargoyle of the opposite sex? Would they still have reproductive abilities?

Greg responds...

I'm a big fan of gender, so since this is my universe, I'm gonna say that yes, they are born with it.

But of course, they can shapeshift into either sex. And once transformed they can do what they do.

Witness the legend of the male Norse Trickster Loki -- Mother of Slepnir.

Response recorded on August 21, 1999

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Airwalker writes...

1. Which is the oldest of the three races in your mind?
2. In HERITAGE, when Raven in Gargoyle form first introduced himself to Goliath and Angela had five fingers. Later when he again appeared as Gargoyle, he had four fingers. Was this an animation error or was it done on purpose as a sort of hint to Raven's true identity?
3. Who designed the Golem? In all the legends I read of the Maharal's (Rabbi Loew) Golem, he was a huge giant but of Manlike proportions, not like he was in the episode, but more like a taller version of Bane from BATMAN & ROBIN.

Greg responds...

1. Probably the Gargoyles. I know that comes as a surprise. The obvious answer is the Children, but I have this notion that the magic that birthed them needed a longer gestation time.

The Gargoyles, on the other hand, strike me as very symbiotic with the planet. The first sentient race Earth gave birth to. (Well, the second technically, but we're only counting the three that are still hanging in.) In many ways, tragically, their time has clearly passed. Humanity is ascendant. But Gargoyles aren't dead yet. And ironically, though it was largely humans who wiped out their race, it is also humans who will help to save them in the future. Though many will be dragged kicking and screaming toward that destiny.

Response recorded on August 21, 1999

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Airwalker writes...

You said that Magic is part of the Earth, that Fey evolved from Earth's natural magic. So is this magic confined to Earth or is it Universal?

Would a Fey's power function off of Planet Earth?

Greg responds...

I suppose it's universal, but powersources aren't always compatible.

Magic is magic, but just as an example, it took the Magus a lifetime to learn how to tap into Avalon's magic, and that despite his training in human sorcery.

Puck in space, a prospect I wouldn't hold my breath for by the way, would have a similar problem adjusting to a new powersource.

Response recorded on August 20, 1999

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Nick "Elessar" Oder writes...

Actually getting to communicate with THE Greg Weisman, should I be in reverental awe or just hop-up-and-down giddy? Maybe both at the same time. Anyway, here goes my long-winded questions...

This may take a while, but yes, it does actually get to a question :)

While watching Gargoyles, I can't help but get shivers down my spine and goosebumps whenever someone starts chanting in Latin. Whether it's the actual chanting in Latin, the creepy music, or the animation, I don't know. Though I tend to think it's the Latin, because it's how I noticed the difference between the two types of magic in Gargoyles. When watching the Magus cast the spell of sleep on the gargoyles, or Goliath throwing the Phoenix Gate into the void, I always get goosebumps. On the otherhand, when Oberon, Titania, or Puck use magic, there was no tingly feeling, and that's when I finally noticed.

Humans and gargoyles (hencefore refered to as mortals, even though some aren't) always chant in Latin while using magic. Members of the Third Race (henceforth refered to as Fay) speak in plain english, although it's usually in the form rhyme/short poem.

Though there were exceptions, which all proved dangerous, sometimes fatal, as Xanatos said "I'm told mixing magics is dangerous anyway."

Now I start making assumptions, generally intelligent ones though.

First off that all mortal magic is in Latin, while Fay is in English or whatever other language they prefer at the time, or subliminal, not requiring speech.

I can think of three instances of a mortal using fay magic, and perhaps one of a fay using mortal magic, and one of a fay realizing not to get involved with mortal magic.

Let's start with the mortals. In Grief, the Emir uses the Scroll of Thoth to summon Anubis, of the Fay. I will now be brash enough to assume that the Scroll is of Fay origin, since:

a) It was powerful enought to summon Anubis, a Fay (though Demona summone Puck with a Latin spell that I assume was of mortal origin)

b) It was spoken in english, like other Fay magic.

c) If Anubis is Fay, it stands to reason that all the other Egyptian gods were also and since it's the Scroll of Thoth, an Egyptian god, it must be Fay in origin.

And in the end the Emir presumably dies, the usual fee for mixing magics.

Second scenario. In the Avalon Trilogy the Magus casts two spells, both in english, whereas he previously used Latin. Which brings me to my next assumption, "When in Avalon, do as the Avalonians do," or that you can't even use mortal magic on Avalon, it has to be Fay in nature.

And the Magus also paid the price for magic mixing.

Part Three. All the uses of the Eye of Odin were pretty ugly, Fox almost died, Goliath went nuts, and the Archmage died since without it's assumed Fay (it's Odin's eye, he's a Fay, it's Fay) power, he couldn't contain the mortal-magic Grimorum.

Are we seeing a pattern here or what?

Ok, I lied, one more mortal use that could have been dangerous. Fara Maku and Tea being were-panthers. Um, that's just plain dangerous. :)

The fay perhaps using mortal magic. While I don't know if the Cauldron of Life is of fay or mortal origin, it was dangerous to Owen (fay in human form) and would have been dangerous/fatal to both Xanatos and Hudson. Which leads me to believe the Cualdron is of Fay origin, Xanatos probably wanted to see if this mixing was indeed dangerous. And even though it was a Fay trying out Fay magic, it did alter Puck's human form, but his natural form is still fine.

And Owen/Puck was smart enough not to try reversing Demona's spell in City of Stone, since he knew she used mortal magic. Which re-enforces the belief that the Cauldron is of Fay origin, otherwise I doubt Owen would have gone ahead with dunking his hand. Even though it was a Fay using Fay magic, his human form still got chumped. I suppose this was a learning experience for the Puck, don't use Fay magic in mortal form.

1) So the question is: Are my assumptions correct? Please correct me if I've goofed anywhere, I'd love to know the real answers if I'm wrong.

2) The Emir used the Scroll of Thoth to summon Anubis and used the Papyrus of Thoth to become a vessel. Are they two different things or one thing refered to by two names.

3) Even though the Phoenix Gate is of Avalon origin, it's used by a Latin incantation. Ermmm, why? Wouldn't this be mixing magic?

4) Why did Elisa hand Tom her gun in Ill Met?

4a) How did Tom know how to hold it?

4b) Why did she call it a revolver in Sentinel? Semi-autos have a very hard time revolving. :)

4c) Speaking of that, is it full auto, or just semi?

5) Where does Xanatos aquire all his cool stuff? The Cauldron of Life, the Star of Arabia, the Coyote Diamond, the Eye of Odin, the Grimorum Arcinorum, etc... I know where he got the diamond, but why would anyone be selling the other stuff?

Well that's it for now, my brain's starting to go numb. Thanks for taking the time to read these.

Greg responds...

1. Some of your assumptions are correct. Some aren't completely correct, but most are close enough.

Latin isn't the only language of magic. Hebrew works as well, we know. And they can't be the only ones. In theory, English could work, but it would take more than a literal translation to imbue modern English with the correct magical cadences.

The Cauldron, being iron, isn't Fay magic.

And Owen wasn't really at liberty to reverse Demona's spell or even to reverse the whole stone hand thing. He was bound by his pact with Xanatos.

2. The latter.

3. It clearly is. Don't you consider the Gate fairly dangerous?

As per our new rules, I invite you to resubmit your remaining questions as multiple separate posts.

Response recorded on August 17, 1999

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Robin Wynn writes...

Hello, and thanks in advance Mr. Weisman,

1) Would Alex have be an only child, or would Xanatos and Fox had another child?

2) Xanatos and Fox are a reasonably young couple. Would they have remained together the entire time? I ask this somewhat based on the Eye of the Beholder in which we "learned" a little about Fox's true character. There seemed to be a bit about her that Xanatos didn't know, things she was holding back (I never understood the whole "self-loathing" thing), would this have gotten in the way of their relationship later on?

3) Would Alex have been immortal like Oberon's children? If not, would he have lived longer than normal humans or anything like that?

4) Would we have ever met any of Xanatos's other relatives? We've met his father, his mother's dead, and you've already stated he is an only child, but what about Uncles, Aunts, cousins, etc? If so, who? How would they be related to him?

4) What about Fox? Is she an only child? (I assume the answer is yes, but thought I'd ask anyway)

5) a. In the Future Tense spinoff, who, of the characters we already know, would have been on the bad-guys side?
b. Who'dve been on the good guys side?

Well, that's all i can think of now, (gosh, i used to have a whole bunch of em, but as soon as I get on to ask questions i always forget em....)

Thanks for your time!

Greg responds...

1. Only child. Definitely.

2. I think, to their mutual surprise, they would have been a Til-Death-Do-We-Part kind of couple.

3. Yes.

4. I didn't have any plans for other Xanatypes.

4. (The second question four.) Yes, Fox is an only child, though she has half-siblings foster-siblings and step-siblings on her mother's side.

As per our new rules, I invite you to resubmit your remaining questions as multiple separate posts.

Response recorded on August 17, 1999

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Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...

Hi Greg. It was great meeting you again in Dallas. Great seeing Thom too.

On to the questions.

1. I was asking you about Queen Mab's form at the G99, but you never got to answer my question because we were interupted. So, what did you mean by "Mab human? That is too laugh."?

2. How does Demona get along with Samson and the rest of the cast in Gargoyles 2158?

3. What is it like for you to have so many people worshiping the ground you walk on?

4. Is the Space Spawn really the name of their race?

5. What is Jove's rank (or job) in New Olympus society.

6. At the Gathering you showed the Dark Ages pitch showing that Iago would've been allied with the Archmage. We know that Demona was his apprentace, but what does Iago have to offer him?

My Guess as to the Eight Arthurian Survivors

1. Arthur
2. Merlin
3. Lady of the Lake
4. Percival
5. Morgana la Fay
6. Nimue
7. Igraine
8. Guinevere

Greg responds...

Hey Greg, it was great to see you too.

1. Mab's not human. She's fae. In fact she's uber-fae.

As per our new rules, I invite you to resubmit your remaining questions as multiple separate posts.

Response recorded on August 17, 1999

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Todd Jensen writes...

A few more questions that I forgot to ask.

1. How did Oberon get around his non-intervention edict when he put everybody in Manhattan to sleep in "The Gathering"? I'd have thought that that definitely counted as interfering in the lives of mortals.

2. You said once that there were so few gargoyles left that there was a big question over whether they could survive. In your opinion, has Demona ever considered this? Has it ever occurred to her that even if she did succeed in wiping out humanity, it might come too late to save her species from extinction? I don't know that that would really make all that much difference to her, mind, since I have the feeling that her genocidal attempts are based more on revenge and an effort to avoid facing her own responsibility for the Wyvern Massacre, but I'd still be interested to know the answer to this one.

3. Does Thailog have an Oedipus complex? I mean, he tries to kill his "father" (Goliath - and also Xanatos and Sevarius), and his two choices of mate are first Demona, then a combined clone of Demona and Elisa.

4. I read once about a race of beings in Japanese legend called tengu, who had wings and sometimes taught humans bushido. Was this a partial inspiration for the Ishimura clan?

Greg responds...

1. Not from Oberon's point of view. If they're asleep, then they won't witness the battle and his gigantic form won't be part of their consciousness. He won't have interfered. When you think of it that way, it kinda makes sense.

As per the new rules, I invite you to resubmit the rest of your questions as multiple separate posts. I hope you do.

Response recorded on August 17, 1999

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Todd Jensen writes...

A few more questions I forgot to ask last time.

1. Some months ago, I saw a television documentary on gargoyles (the real-world architectural kind) and it said that there were more gargoyles per square foot in New York City than anywhere else in the United States (or something along those lines). Was this a factor in choosing New York as the main setting for the series, or just a coincidence? (I do know that I sat up and took notice at that particular comment when I heard it!)

2. Most of the mythological beings in "Gargoyles" were portrayed as being "Oberon's Children", i.e., members of the Third Race. However, the beings from Greek mythology were portrayed as being from a separate race, if of partly faerie origins: the New Olympians? Just out of curiosity, why did the production team take a different angle for the Greek mythology beings than the ones from Norse, Egyptian, Native American, etc. myth and legend?

3. I read somewhere that Eric Lewald was on the production team for the "X-Men" series on FOX before he worked on "The Goliath Chronicles". Do you think that this could have been a factor in why The Goliath Chronicles took a different angle on gargoyle-human relations (as in, it being taken for granted that the humans would know that the gargoyles were sentient beings); that is, that Eric was seeing "Gargoyles" in an "X-Men"-related light?

4. You've told us a bit about gargoyle religious beliefs; do the Third Race have any form of religion?

Greg responds...

1. I was aware that NYC had a ton of gargoyles. (I lived there for two plus years in my DC Comics days.) But I didn't have the stats. So I guess the answer is both.

2. We did and didn't, just for starters. What was revealed was not comprehensive, as I think I've mentioned. But the main behind-the-scenes reason was that we had this ready-made show NEW OLYMPIANS that I wanted to try and get on the air via a "back-door pilot" on Gargoyles. Didn't happen, but I'm glad we tried, and I felt the concept fit rather nicely into the Gargs Universe.

3. I haven't seen Eric in years, but he and his wife Julia Roberts Lewald are good people, who I like a lot. (I attended their wedding.) They're good writers too. And no, that doesn't mean I like what was done on Goliath Chronicles, but I don't think I COULD have liked anything that anyone else did. Anyway, any further speculation on my part is, I believe, inappropriate.

4. Plenty.


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Aris Katsaris writes...

Nice to have this place back up... Well here are my questions...

1. The Arthurian survivors' list (by the way I assume that fays like Oberon which are known from other stories aren't included in the seven survivors list though they were alive back then): 1. Arthur 2.Merlin 3. Lady of the Lake 4. Duval 5. The Green Knight 6. Blanchfleur 7. Morgana
2. We know about human and gargoyle attitudes towards parentage; but what's the attitude of fays concerning it? Do they raise their children collectively like the Gargoyles do? Or is it a more human-like system? Or something else entirely?

3. How long since Oberon overthrew his mother?

4. How did his father feel about it? (about the whole overthrowing business I mean)
5. I was intrigued by the maiden-mother(or atleast adult)-crone appearances of the Weird Sisters. So:
5a. Was this an intentional reference to similar maiden-mother-crone trinities in various mythologies?
5b. Did they have a particular reason for their form and apparent age in each scene? Or was it just what felt cooler to the writer?
6. Have you decided what it was that made Anubis (a normal fay originally I'd guess) be connected to death? Will you tell us anything about it?
7. Do halflings like Merlin, Fox and Alex age slower?
8. What made Oberon create the non-intervention law?
9. Would the mutates' mutation also affect their children?
10. If the Talos we saw in 'New Olympians' is the same robot, built time and again since ancient times... who had the technology back then (somewhere between 1400-1200 BC I'd guess) to build the original?
11. Angela in 'Grief' implied that Sphinxes could have been gargoyles. From New Olympians it seems that sphinxes were New Olympians. So... what were they, Gargoyles or NOs?
12. Is there faster-than-light travel in the Gargoyles Universe? Faster-than-light communications? If yes, why is Nokkar so isolated and uninformed about outside happenings?
13. How long has Nokkar been on Earth anyway?
14. Do Oberon and Titania have any children? (With each other I mean)

Greg responds...

1. Try again with eight on a separate post. See the new contest rules.
2. Every fay is different. The only custom (other than fealty to or rebellion from one's lord or lords) is no custom.
3. Saying when would reveal too much. Just saying that reveals too much.
4. Father's a whole 'nother story.
5a. Yes.
5b. It had more to do with the person being spoken to. What they expected to see. But it wasn't random.
6. Fay are tied to the pure magic of Earth. Individual fay have different "connections ", just as individual humans have different talents, etc. Anubis and other "death gods" come by it naturally.
7. Depends.
8. Relative maturity.
9. Not answering that now.
10. Well, the original was fairly primitive. I think Daedelus had a hand in it. Maybe Hephaistos too. Or a cyclops.
11. Some gargoyles may have been mistaken for sphinxes and vice versa.
12. This is so complicated. See, the problem with asking eight hundred questions in one post, is that I get exhausted and tend to just give short answers (or non-answers) to everything. Like here for example.
13. A long time, ya whipper-snapper. (Didn't I just do that joke.)
14. Titania has (as of "The Journey") given birth to two children by Oberon. Two. One male. One female. (After all the abbreviated stuff above I thought you deserved one good juicy tidbit. Hope that qualifies.)


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Lady Shadow writes...

In City of Stone, when Demona is going to 'shoot" Owen Burnett, while he is stone and on the phone; if she had what would have happened to Puck?

Greg responds...

Dead is dead.



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