Aris Katsaris writes...

Why changelings? I mean: why would fay exchange their children for human ones? I am not sure it was ever that clear in the real myths but what's the reason in the Gargoyles universe?

Todd Jensen writes...

After reading LSZ's comments on the use of Norse mythology in "Gargoyles" (particularly with Odin) and your responses to them, I thought that I'd weigh in with my own thoughts on Odin as portrayed in the Gargoyles Universe.

As something of a Norse mythology buff (and, like you, I very much enjoyed the d'Aulaire book which was my big introduction to the Norse myths), I enjoyed Odin's showing up in "Gargoyles". The one detail that bothered me in "Eye of the Storm", though, I confess, was when both Odin and Goliath in his "Eye of Odin" form were wearing horned helmets. This was because I'd read that the Vikings never actually wore those kinds of helmets, and, even more significantly, Hakon and his Vikings in "Awakening" weren't portrayed as wearing horned helmets but the sort of outfits that Vikings wore in actual history. So I felt a bit disturbed by the horned helmets in "Eye of the Storm", on the grounds of "They know better, because of how they drew Hakon and his followers."

Admittedly, since Odin and the "Odinized" Goliath weren't human flesh-and-blood Norsemen like Hakon, but fantasy beings, maybe the horned helmet concept does work for them, in that their appearance would be reflecting the popular imagination view of Vikings.

Entity writes...

Hi Greg,

A belated personal reaction to THE MIRROR. In the past, you've seemed curious as to how things came off to us. Did we get the implication here, or did we correctly interpret there. Well, here's something that really threw me initially. When Goliath describes the Third Race, he uses a lot of different nouns and adjectives. At first, I thought this new "Third Race" was going to be a contrived method of stuffing all other creatures of myth and fantasy into the series, in addition to the gargoyles, without having to give each one a unique background and history. In this way, you could bring in a unicorn, a minatour, an elf or an ogre, and you wouldn't have to justify them existing as individual species like the gargs, because they're conveniently blanket-labelled as the "Third Race." In short, I thought Goliath was describing a people more akin to the New Olympians, a collective, rather than a coherent species. Elisa's response was most responsible for cementing my conclusion, when she said, "Shapeshifters, elves, fairies, you mean they're real?" It sounds a lot like Elisa's interpretation of Goliath's speech was the same as mine.

As you could imagine, I felt quite betrayed and outraged. To forge such a unique, well-shaped universe and then just lazilly toss in everything else as if you said, "Well, on second thought..."

This wasn't the case, and the Third Race wound up being a wonderful addition to the series. But it took me a while to realize that. :)

LSZ writes...

Do the smith-gods of various pantheons possess the iron-resistance?

LSZ writes...

Does Oberon's father share his iron-resistance?

LSZ writes...

Did any of the fae who got worshipped actually believe they were gods?

LSZ writes...

1) Are there any faelike beings out there in space then, if such evolution on other worlds is possible?
2) Are any evolutionary processes to start such beings beginning or halfway through or in the final stages off-Earth?
3) Are any of the three races in the Space-Spawn War on similar evolutionary lines to the fae?

Aris Katsaris writes...

As a comment to one of LSZ's posts> I'm not that certain that Ra would be the leader of the Egyptian pantheon - I think that in the myths the leadership seems to have passed from Ra to Osiris and finally to Horus the Younger when Osiris was murdered...

LSZ writes...

Who's the fae nearest in power to Titania, not counting fae more powerful than she is in raw force(Oberon, Mab)?

LSZ writes...

Are the fae leaders of the pantheons(Odin, Ra, Zeus) etc always the most powerful of that group?

LSZ writes...

Did Ragnarok occur or was even part of the Oberon-Mab war?

LSZ writes...

I think this was also lost in the queue, so

1) What would happen to Oberon when Mab returns?
2) Would Mab be around by 2158?
3) What would happen to Mab by 2158?
4) At what level of maturity would Oberon and Titania's children be by 2158?

LSZ writes...

Just what is it that makes Mab and Oberon so powerful?

LSZ writes...

Are any fae connected to bacteria or any other micro-organisms?

LSZ writes...

1) Were the heads of various pantheons(Odin, Ra, etc) also connected to the ruling class?
2) What were Thor and Loki connected to?
3) What connection is there between Titania and the Titans?

LSZ writes...

another silly question, but..are any fae connected to iron?

LSZ writes...

This is probably a silly question, but are there any single entities in the universe more powerful than Mab?

LSZ writes...

Are any fae connected to gravity?
2) To science?
3) To one race or type of human or gargoyle?

KW Keller writes...

Oberon's Children questions (maybe):

1. Are beings such as gnomes, leprechauns, brownies, etc. fay? If so, why is there such a difference in power between them and someone like Odin?

2. Are djinn/jinn/genies (or however one prefers to spell it) members of the third race?

3. We know there have been human/fay hybrids produced in the Gargoyles Universe, but have any gargoyle/fay hybrids ever been produced?

Abigail Thorne writes...

During the World Tour, Goliath and Co. ran into many members of the Third Race and screwed up their plans. Did Oberon find about about that? I was just trying to figure out if he'd find it amusing or if he'd be irritated. From his point of view, the gargoyles had already invaded his island--now these four puny mortals were besting his powerful children? I don't think he'd take that lightly, but maybe I'm wrong. What do you think?

LSZ writes...

1) Is it possible for a fae to have a connection to a single or at least a type of species?
2) If so, is Anansi connected to spiders?
3) Raven ravens?
4) Coyote coyotes?
5) Finally, is it possible and are there any fae that are connected to gargoyles or humans as a species?

LSZ writes...

What connections are the most common among the fae?

LSZ writes...

Are any of the fae 'gods' we've seen so far like Anubis or Odin older than Oberon?

LSZ writes...

1) How old is Mab?
2) How old was Mab when Oberon was born?
3) How old is Oberon?
4) Titania?

LSZ writes...

What was Puck's position during the Mab-Oberon war, if he was even around at the time?

LSZ writes...

1) If a fae's true form-appearance is determined by the true forms of its parents, is their connection also determined or influenced by the connection of its parents?
2) What is Oberon and Titania's two kids' connections?

LSZ writes...

Must all fae have a connection?

LSZ writes...

1) Does Anansi possess any connections besides trickster?
2) Raven?
3) Coyote?
4) Does Anubis have any connection besides death?
5) Is it common for Death-gods to be connected solely to Death?
6) Does Merlin have any connection?

LSZ writes...

1) What was Oberon's father's connection, if Mab's was power/chaos?
2) Does the power-ruling-class connection of the Oberon-Titania type refer solely to the fae ruling class, or ruling classes in general?
3) Does Alex have any kind of connection?
4) Do any other fae besides Oberon, Titania and Mab have the ruling class connection?
5) Can Mab be considered a trickster with the chaos connection?
6) Do any fae have a connection to off-planet things?
Further questions to stop this from becoming a marathon..

Sixshot writes...

Hi mr. Weisman

In Mark of The Panther, Goliath killed "Anansi". He used a spear, but was it in iron? If not, how could a spear make him disappear like that?

Laura aka 'ad astra' Ackerman writes...

I love this asking questions off of answers to my own questions! By the time you read this it will have been a while since you answered what I apologized being "an amorphous blob of a question" on Fox, her potential fae abilities and concrete lack thereof, as well as Titania's intentions. I now apologize for this being only a little less of a blob; I separated paragraphs- (randomly, but I did it).

I did not truly express myself well so you could not fully answer that question- (you did cover most of it). The main thing that has been bothering me, and which prompted me to assess the situation as I had, was that thought that Titania would intentionally put herself through the pain of having a child that will live, grow old and die in a fraction of her own lifespan. I realize that even Titania cannot foresee and account every happening, but I figure that she can handle birth control if she wanted to. [Given the cross species thing, I assumed she had to work at the non-compatibility problem. Different species should be nearly automatic birth control for the most part.] Basically, I assume she intended to have Fox- or at least a halfling child. [A correct assumption?]

You answered me on July 19 saying there was no exterior block on Fox practicing fae magic- only the atrophying of unused talents. The implication of The Gathering seemed to be that that bolt at Oberon was Fox's first act of magic. The thing I am curious about is whether or not Titania tried to make Fox a magical being as a child, or even as a baby, or, at any rate before issues of atrophy could come up. I assumed she would have tried, if for no other reason than giving Fox access to a lifespan of a short lived Oberati instead of a long lived human. [I really can't understand people willingly putting themselves through the pain of losing a child when there is any viable alternative.] Continuing with what were probably faulty assumptions I deduced that Titania must have tried in a direct fashion to get Fox used to magic until Fox was old enough to talk about it credibly (4 or 5?). After that point, through the events of the Gathering, I assumed she tried less direct methods- perhaps even things that would be dangerous for a child had her mother not been there to step in to save her. Fox of course would have generally found her own way out of dangerous situations using her mind and body and circumventing the whole experiment. This all seemed a rather logical set of deductions except for figuring out why a child version of Fox could not do magic. From there I hypothesized some sort of exterior block, which you said does not exist.

So…
Did Titania conceive Fox intentionally?
Did Titania desire to have a child that was human or halfling in point of view and ability?
[Oddly enough it seems to me Fox has a rather Fae POV despite her lack of magic]
Did Titania try to train Fox in fae magic as a small child?
If so, why didn't I work at the time?
Did Titania try indirect methods throughout the rest of Fox's life?
Now that Fox has touched on her fae potential- should she desire and be able to reclaim that 'muscle' and strengthen it, in effect become more a halfling than a human, could her life expectancy jump from what I would guess to be low hundreds to several hundred?

You wrote in your answer:
"Titania/Anastasia may have made some mistakes, may not have thought things out in advance. May have had one or more changes of heart."

I am beginning to getting a bit of a picture of Titania like the cat I once saw described in a birthday card- the sort of animal that can perch on your Tv, fall off with an ungraceful plop and then jump up with an "I meant to do that" look and walk proudly and disdainfully away. Perhaps all that wonderful manipulation I give her credit for is actually (in part) post facto saving face on an incredibly skill level.

LSZ writes...

Did gargoyles ever worship fae as gods?

Jeff N. writes...

Hey there Mr. Weisman,

In an answer to an earlier question about the origins of the New Olympians, you said that the first New Olympians were the result of various fae-mortal unions, and I was just wondering if, in the Gargoyles Universe, all of the original 12 Olympians from Greek mythology would be classified as full-fledged members of the Third Race (i.e. Oberon's Children)?

Thank you and good luck on resurrecting Gargoyles.

LSZ writes...

1) Do fae grow weaker magically as they grow older?
2) Is there any limit to how powerful a fae can grow unaided by any magical artefacts?
3) How seriously can fae be hurt by human magic?
4) If gargoyles could develop their own sorcery, would the magic they utilise be identical to human magic?
5) Did the Zeroth/Lost Race use magic?
6) Do the New Olympians use magic these days?

LSZ writes...

How does Demona feel about Oberon?

Laura 'ad astra' Ackerman writes...

In answer to a series of question I asked about Oberon and Titania's children (together and otherwise) and the events of Midsummer Night's Dream you mentioned "the pedophile theory" and said, "(platonic or otherwise) [it] still may fit the play best. Haven't worked out whether it applies to the Garg Universe." I must admit to ignorance, what theory?

Strangely enough I never really enjoyed reading Midsummer. Usually I like reading Shakespeare as much as watching, but I just couldn't get into it when last I tried. As a result I can't stand by my inability if seeing anything fitting that description in the play. In seeing the play the boy barely did anything but be handed around and look cute, but performances are already interpretations with choices. Are you saying there is a theory that Oberon wanted the kid for reasons other than being annoyed Titania was ignoring him, or that Titania was interested in the kid in ways other than adopting a dead friend's (or was it worshiper?- I don't remember well enough) child. I don't remember having that sort of theory come up outside of Hamlet. {In Hamlet I can see that there might be elements, but usually find it overplayed. Then again, I am a prude and often wear rose tinted glasses.}

I had also commented on Oberon's amusement at discovering Fox's existence. I would have expected him to be jealous, and wondered if he was exhibiting some maturity in recognition of his own track record. You said that Oberon wouldn't have been jealous because he was divorced from Titania at the time. Since when has Oberon been strictly logical or mature? Until that moment I wouldn't have put it past him to begrudge the fact that the woman he divorced had remarried and had a child with someone else despite any children he had hanging about. When we first meet Oberon, the way he responded to Titania's offer of remarriage seemed to me as if he had been quite anxious for that to happen. It almost seemed to me he had offered before and been turned down. I don't mean that he went begging her, just that he had made gestures of reconciliation and she turned him down in no uncertain terms making clear she was his subject, not love. Mostly it signaled to me that the big blue jerk had some genuine feelings for Titania, and was emotionally invested in her being his wife again. Was my reading completely off? And why was Oberon so amused?

Anonymous writes...

Who was the centaur guy we saw in the gathering part 1?

DrFaust writes...

Where is Mab imprisoned?

Did you ever mentally cast a particular actor in Mab's role? And if so, who?

LSZ writes...

Could a fae as powerful as Oberon or Mab transform a gargoyl or human into a fae weaker than them?

LSZ writes...

1) How did Oberon succeed in defeating Mab if she was stronger than he was?
2) Why didn't Mab approve of Titania?
3) Just how was Mab trouble? Trouble for whom, specifically?
4) Does Oberon feel any regret about overthrowing his mother?

April writes...

Does Fox love her mother Titani?

Siren writes...

A little question from The Gathering eps
With Boudicca (sp?) and the Oberon thing...
Is she just very obidiant or did he place a spell on her?

Scott Iskow writes...

On Fae Magic:

1) It's been a while since I've seen "Mark of the Panther," so I'm a little unclear on how Anansi "spins his wishes." Can you describe the process, please?

2) Did Oberon remove Puck's magic, or was it merely suppressed? If removed, where did all the energy go? Did Oberon absorb it into himself, or did he do the fae equivalent of throwing it into the garbage?

3) On a similar note to 2, how much energy does it take to strip another fae of magic? My guess would be some amount equal to the magic being removed, but I'm not well versed in cartoon magic. (I can't even rhyme well.)

Wing writes...

Salutations!
Here's a question guised in the form of a question for you.
If Oberati can chose their form at will, why was Anansi so massive, huge, and ungainly?

Faieq Ali writes...

1)If The Children of Oberon are creatures of pure magic, then why did Anansi need the panther Queen and the people of Karadigi to hunt for him?
2)Do the Children need to eat food?

Matthais writes...

Hello! First of all, I thought I should say that I really love Gargoyles, I write role playing games and a lot of Fae concepts comes from the show. So, without further ado:

At the end of "Ill Met By Moonlight", Oberon says something like "From now on you and your clan shall be imune to all our powers" to Goliath. You have mentioned before that Oberon uses the royal "we", or "us", or "our", but says "I" if it would be confusing otherwise. This is certainly a confusing instance. I hope by "our" powers he dosn't mean the powers of all Fae? I couldn't remember if any of the clan are affected by Fae powers after Ill Met. (Unless "Future Tense" was after it?)

Duncan Devlin writes...

Hi Greg. I posted a question in March that I guess was a little confusing. I asked about Annubis being in line at the Gathering. Since he was presented as the Grim Reaper (essentially) and the only being to represent a "taker of souls" in the Gargoyles universe, I found it a little odd that he be taken from his duties to attend The Gathering. Since the Amir returned control to Annubis, I assume he did not take his place. The Gathering seemed to have an indeterminate length of time (Puck seemed way too concerned for just a hiatus), so the world would be without death. Who takes care of the duties of death while he is at The Gathering.

I don't want to go any furthur, because there will be an idea imbedded in the question.

I apologize for calling Nought a "dube", I was a typo I didn't pick up on until mid-May. I intended to say "dude".

LSZ (repost by Aris) writes...

Why I didn't like Odin's portrayal so much and Odin in general.

First of all, Odin was supposed to be the wisest of the gods, who sacrificed his very eye for wisdom and had to hang from a tree nine days dead, really dead, gone-to-Helheim-dead to gain even more wisdom of rune-making knowledge. He also interacted with humans frequently in the myths, and not always as a god-to-lesser-beings attitude. Odin in Gargoyles seemed kinda..dumb. His comment to Goliath about not being used to dealing with mortals seemed out-of-character. The mythological Odin seemed the type of person to try more subtle methods to gain the Eye. And also:

1) Where were Odin's ravens at the time?
2) Why has Sleipnir so few legs? He should have eight.
3) Where's Odin's magic spear Gungnir?

Fenrir (repost by Aris) writes...

Norse myth again:

Hope this doesn't count as an idea but..this is just a comment I want to make because it seems that ths is commonly forgotten by most people who want to do stories about the Norse gods and just concentrate on the 'heroic Aesir/Vanir' or 'malicious Loki/Frost Giants', and seem to forget about other major figures who just don't talk much like Hel.

So my comment is:
Fenrir can talk. There's a precedent. In the story about him and Tyr, it is said he cheerfully agrees to being bound with chains, which may or may not mean he can talk. But when the gods bring him the magic ribbon Glaupnir, he is suspicious and challenges them, and states that as a test of good faith, someone must put his hand in Fenrir's mouth. So Fenrir _can_ talk.

LSZ (repost by Aris) writes...

Norse myth:
1) Jormungandr was the Midgard/World Serpent, the monstrous brother of Fenrir and Hel, and like them, another bastard child of Loki and the Frost-Giantess Angrboda(anguish boding). Odin cast him into the sea not long after he was born, but there he grew to immense proportions until he encircled the entire world(which the Norse thought shaped like a disc with a huge ocean circling the sides), and had to hold his tail in his mouth. Jormungandr was also(this is from memory, may be wrong) the arch-monster-enemy(the way Fenrir is Odin's) of Thor, due to an event that occured before Ragnarok; Thor used Mjolnir as a fishing hook while fishing in a boat and caught Jormy, bashed him on the head with the hammer once or twice, but the Serpent got away, being the earliest recorded story of the Big One..

2) Jormungandr was huge, serpentine, extremely formidable in the water, and equipped with poisonous breath/bite.

3) Until Ragnarok, Jormungandr cannot heave his immense body unto the land. At Ragnarok, when the stars start falling from the sky and the huge earthquakes start, the land heaves and manages to lift Jormungandr onto the shore. He will then slither all his way to Vigrid, the battlefield. At Vigrid, his breath will poison the air, being responsible for the death of many. Thor will engage him in a long long battle, and not too long after Odin gets eaten, finally slay Jormungand. Thor will then walk nine steps away, and fall down dead, too heavily injured in the battle to survive. So it'll appear Jormungandr would be dead..but if Odin can survive Ragnarok, why can't Jorm?

2) How many tricksters do you need? Loki's got other aspects besides tricktser-he's also a fire-god and shapeshifter of great power and skill.

And an actual question:
3) How did Odin survive Ragnarok?

Next Norse myth thing in seperate post, unsure if that counts as seperate topic.