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Todd Jensen writes...

According to what I've heard about your discussion of "The New Olympians" spin-off that you'd planned at the Gatherings, Xanatos would have shown up in it as a sort of trading partner to New Olympus, both under his own name and under Xavier. You've mentioned here earlier that Xavier was the "first-draft" name for Xanatos, back when "Gargoyles" was going to be a comedy series. Was Xavier/Xanatos originally created for the "New Olympians" series when it was first thought up, before "Gargoyles" came along, and then transfered to "Gargoyles" when "New Olympians" didn't get off the ground (the same as the New Olympians themselves eventually)?

Greg responds...

First off, there is no Xavier in the Garg Universe. The Xanatos name completely took it's place. And Xavier never appeared in the New Olympian Pitch. We pitched New Olympians first, pre-Gargoyles. (Based on an idea by Bob Kline.) Then after Gargoyles was up and running, we trotted the New Olympian pitch back out, made some minor changes, including the addition of Xanatos and pitched the show again. Still with no success.

But Xanatos was created for Gargoyles. Adding him to New Olympians, was an afterthought.

Response recorded on July 19, 2000

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Warpmind de InzanE writes...

After a sudden impulse of creativity I forced myself to do some *gasp, shudder* RESEARCH. Okay, I just checked my dictionaries, but still... I found that, indeed, Halcyon is the name of a bird... and Halcyon Renard's right-hand man is called Vogel, which means bird in German... intentional joke, or coincidence? (Concidering that their first appearance was in an airborne vessel, I lean toward the former...) So, what's the story? Did you have a punster come up with that one, or what? :)

Greg responds...

Cary Bates came up with both names. Actually, his orignal name for Halcyon Renard was Renard Halcyon. I switched it so that Fox was adapting her last name into her new name, not simply taking adapting her father's first name. That seemed weird, considering she was basically rejecting his value system.

I was unaware of the bird connections in either name. I can't say for sure if Cary knew. The word "halcyon" suggests a phrase like "those halcyon days of yore". That is something wonderful and nostaligic. It seemed very appropriate to the guy with the seemingly archaic value system.

Response recorded on July 11, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

Oh, and this is a little "general response" to "Max Steel", since my initial comments on the pilot episode also got lost in the crash.

I haven't fully made up my mind about it. On the one hand, the genre (secret agent-type adventure) isn't as much my personal piece of cake as the genre (urban fantasy with medieval connections) of "Gargoyles" was, so I haven't gotten as much into "Max Steel" so far. But I do think that it's quite well-written, with a good job on the conflicts that the hero has to face between his everyday life as Josh McGuire and his Max Steel role. My favorite part in it so far, however, has been the scenes involving the "mastermind villain" (Dredd, I believe his name was), who's got that same "calmly logical" quality that I found so appealing in Xanatos; I like how he responds to defeat in that very philosophical fashion. (In "Strangers", when discovering that L'Etrange's attempt to kidnap the German government for him failed, he just says with a shrug, "My fault, for entrusting such an important assignment to free-lancers", and in "Sphinxes", his commentary on the whole adventure at the Pyramids at the end definitely sounds Xanatosian, as he dwells on what they succeeded at and not what they failed at. I'm finding this element very appealing, not just because of its Xanatos-reminiscent style, but also because I rather like that kind of villain in general.

Greg responds...

Yeah, Dread is very Xanatosian (or rather both of them are quite Eiling-esque). I was bothered by that for awhile. Like I wasn't being original. But the truth is I had plans for Dread that would have clearly set him apart from Xanatos. (Plans that I won't be executing now.) And at any rate, I agree with you. That's the kind of villain I like. One I can respect.

And it's Josh McGrath, by the way, not McGuire.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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Jenna writes...

You said that when Fox mainfested as a where fox, it was her own inner conflict and hatred emerging. My question is: why does she hate herself?

I've always wondered...

Greg responds...

A werefox. Not a where fox. And that's not what I said exactly. That's what I said happened when she looked at Elisa and saw herself. The Werefox was trying to kill Fox.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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The Gatekeeper writes...

My husband and I were talking this weekend about some of the great American industrialists; people like Carnegie, Pullman, and Kaiser to name a few of the better known ones (thank you PBS). We are both Garg fans, so this question came up in our rambling and I thought it would be interesting to see what your answer would be. I have my own ideas, as does DH (he thinks I'm romanticising a bit too much), but I would like to hear your ideas as well. So here it is:

In his younger days, did David Xanatos admire/idolize any of the past or present industrialists (real or fictional)? I'm sure he studied how they ran thier businesses, so did he also use any company as a model for his early empire?

Greg responds...

Probably. After all, David is without doubt a student of history. But I'd have to study those past Robber Barons to get specific with you.

But being a Stanford graduate, the name Leland Stanford immediately comes to mind. Notions of immortality included.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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Todd Jensen writes...

Do you have to be a fay in order to be a trickster? I'm asking this because Xanatos is 100 % human, and he's definitely a trickster-figure just as surely as are Puck, Raven, Anansi, and Coyote, at least IMHO.

Greg responds...

Technically, yes. But anyone with the soul of a con artist, the hands of a pickpocket and a decent sense of humor can be a trickster.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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Zeliard writes...

Hi mr. Weisman!

In Metamorphosis, why Xanatos didn't provided Goliath's DNA to Sevarius?

Thanks!

Greg responds...

He had already. That was a lie to help fool Derek. Thailog was already in the works.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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Jarrod writes...

I was watching Gargoyles today mainly the "Cities of Stone" episodes. I noticed when demona was casting her spell she said to Owen when he was in a frozen state "You are the tricky one so we will make sure you stay put". Which makes me wonder, did Demona know that Owen was Puck? And if she knew that Owen is Puck, how long has she known that?

Greg responds...

Yes, she knows. She's known since before the rest of the clan was awakened.

There's a similar clue in "The Mirror", when Demona says to Puck, "You serve the human [i.e. Xanatos], you can serve me now." (Or something like that.

Response recorded on July 10, 2000

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galvatron writes...

Is the reason that Alexander is considered a Children of Oberon while Merlin is considered a halfling because Alexander is basically more powerful than Merlin?

Greg responds...

Who made those assumptions?

Merlin's technically a halfling because Oberon is his father but his mother is human.

Fox is also theoretically a halfling. Her mother is Titania. Her father is the human Halcyon Renard.

Alexander is technically a quarterling, I guess. He's fully human on his father's side and half human on his mother's side.

Response recorded on July 07, 2000

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LSZ writes...

Wealth:

1) Who has more money, Macbeth or Xanatos?
2) How much money do the Canmores have?
3) Just how much did the Pack profit financially from their tv show?

Greg responds...

1. From a liquid standpoint, Xanatos. Macbeth may have some extremely valuable items, that would be worth a fortune if he was willing to part with them, but he's largely not...

2. An extremely large trust.

3. Quite a bit. But not as much as Xanatos did.

Response recorded on July 03, 2000


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