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matt writes...

is it possible that in the distant past there were gargoyle clans living within the artic circle (I imagine mammoth and saber-tooth gargs!!)? if so, how would such clans deal with the six month day, six month night cycle of the poles?

Greg responds...

Possible. They'd adapt in some way.

But I'm not saying for certain that it's true.

Response recorded on December 22, 2000

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Tana writes...

"Or what if two interior digits fused into one?" was a response to somebody's post on gargoyle hands... I was playing around in my sketch book one day, thinking it would be cool to make an anatomical refrence book for gargoyles (okay you know you're too much of a fan when...^_^) But the idea of the fingers fusing together is what I chose to use, almost without thinking...that the way my diagram worked the gargoyle hand still has all 5 metacarpals, and the middle finger has two proximal phalanges rather than one per finger seen in humans...um, can you tell I've taken an anatomy class? I'll have to play around s'more and show you what I've done when I come to the gathering!

Aside from the wings (and therefore scapula), feet, hands, tails and brow ridges, would there be other differences you could think of between humans and gargs? Hollow bones (like birds) Perhaps a different rib structure... Not that you've probably thought about it, but like I said I'm really into anatomy.

Greg responds...

Unfortunately (for me), it's clear you know much more about anatomy than I do.

I don't see gargs as having two interior digits fused, and I can't help wondering if you aren't quoting me out of context. They evolved seperately from (and earlier than) humans with four digits, rather than five. So fusing doesn't make much sense to me.

I also doubt they have hollow bones like birds. Sure it would help explain how they glide, but the physical punishment that we've seen them absorb and dole out, doesn't suggest hollow bones to me. But I don't pretend to know this stuff. Still, I'd be very interested in seeing your work at the Gathering.

Response recorded on December 22, 2000

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zakhur writes...

Hi Greg, I was wondering, even though most gargoyles only have one egg at a time, is it possible for them to have more, what i mean is are their chances of having twins the same as humans, or is it rarer in gargoyles to have twins?

Greg responds...

Much, much rarer. Much.

Response recorded on December 21, 2000

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LSZ writes...

On Garg evolution:

Quote: As to their numbers, it's a chicken/egg thing. They reproduce so infrequently. I think that once upon a time there was a risk of Gargoyles being a species that threatened to overtake the world - as humans eventually succeeded in doing. Gargs were tough, intelligent, mobile, cooperative and nearly invulnerable- even when asleep.Maybe Mother Nature gave them some handicaps on purpose. Maybe humanity was created as competition.

*snip a lot of very interesting stuff on evolution occuring on a planetary scale and the role of humanity in it*

1) Were the gargoyles 'created' as competition for the Lost Race?
2) Were the fae 'created' as competition for any for humans or gargs, or both?
3) If so, it seems rather unfair to give humans THAT big a challenge vs. nearly unkillable godlike energy being-esque things..why is a challenge THAT big?
4) Will a challenging race arise on the planet to challenge the current three someday?

Greg responds...

1. Don't take that quote too literally.

2. Ditto.

3. See above.

4. There will be challenges -- from many sources.

Response recorded on December 21, 2000

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Duncan Devlin writes...

I'm not sure if this has come up before, but:

Do gargoyles turn back to flesh during a solar eclipse?
How about Demona's reversion.

Greg responds...

I've always wanted to do an eclipse story, so I'm going to choose not to answer this at this time.

Response recorded on December 01, 2000

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Tk writes...

hey,
Me again,
I have a question about age.
I hope this makes sense.

Ok,In the Avalon episode where they end up in Egypt. They said that gargoyles age at half the rate of humans, correct.
Well does that mean that they age at the same rate as humans but just live longer example

:a human child and a young hatchling born on the same day when the human is walking and talking so is the gargoyle.

or for they age a half the rate literally, for example

:a human 20 years of age and a gargoyle who is 40 years of a age but appears 20.

thank you for listening, if this is in the archives i am sorry but i couldn't find it.
thank you

Greg responds...

If I understand what you're asking, then the latter.

The Trio are nearly 40 years old in chronological years when we first meet them. But they have the maturity of guys in their late teens.

Response recorded on December 01, 2000

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LSZ writes...

Your stuff on the Earth's biorhythms sounds vaguely like Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis..especially the part about Gargoyles being more in tune with it.

1) Were the Lost Race even more in tune?
2) Is there any specific reasons that make humans less in tune than gargoyles?
3) What about fae?

Greg responds...

I don't know who Lovelock is.

1. I'm not answering this.

2. They make too much noise. They adapt their environment instead of adapting to it.

3. The fae are attuned to Earth's magic.

Response recorded on December 01, 2000

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Donald writes...

Hmm...with all this talk about the Phoenix Gate, I thought of an interesting question. Although it's hypothetical, I'm sure you won't mind answering it, since it doesn't really deal with characters, but "gargoyle science".

Let's say Goliath got his hands on the Phoenix Gate and decided to travel to a period in the past. However, the particular time he chose to transport to happened to be in the middle of the day. Would he immediately turn to stone since it was daylight, or is it the actual rising of the sun that triggers the transformation?

I suppose it would have made more sense if I had asked the question about Brooklyn with regard to his Timedancing, but you get the idea.

Thanks.

Greg responds...

I don't know if it would be instantaneous, but I guess he would turn to stone relatively quickly. It's a pavlovian response to some extent.

Response recorded on November 21, 2000

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Faieq writes...

About a week ago I asked if all gargoyles had black pupils or were there some gargoyles with a colored iris in their eyes. I'd forgotten that the iris controls the size of the pupil and therefore controls how much light enters the eye. Seeing as gargoyles are nocturnal creatures they would not need to control how much light enters the eye as they would get light from the dim moon which would enable them to see and their pupils would be dilated all the time.
But what about the Mayan Clan? Seeing as they don't turn to stone during the day, how do they control the amount of light that enters their eyes?

Greg responds...

I don't know. Magical compensation?

Response recorded on November 21, 2000

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Maria writes...

Um, one more gargoyle science question that I am stumped on; what the heck is this 'earth rythms' stuff? How are gargoyles insync to that?
And, do gargoyles generally need to - uh, well, how to put this as carefully as possible . . . Do gargoyles need to excreete waste like we do? Or is most of that done through stone hybernation? I seem to recall a similar question being asked eons ago, but I couldn't really find an answer.
Thanks.

Greg responds...

I've been dodging answering that question frankly.

As for the earth rhythms, what I'm positing is that the Earth has a certain bio-rhythm to it. Something that's part of nature as a whole. Something that we humans are generally too dense too get. But the Gargoyles' life-cycles are attuned to the cycles of the planet.

Response recorded on November 21, 2000

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Maria writes...

Hello again! ^_^
This is a gargoyles Science type question, and I'm not clear on how clear I'll come across. I'm starting to get tired now . . . it's almost 11:00 at night. ^_^
Anyway, I'm a little lost on the gargate/dinosaur evolution thing. There are hundreds, literally hundreds of different species of dinosaurs. And it seems that gargoyles have differences in their own species as well. Making them their own unigue species within a species.
But, what sort of dinosaur could have shared a common ancestory to evolve the gargoyles? What kind of dinosaur in your opinion would have been the better choice for their type of evolution? A theropod (T-Rex)? Ornithimimid (Galimimus)? Sauropoc (Brachiosaurus)? Or a teractosaur (Quetzaltous)?
I would think it would have to be a terycactyl type, don't you? I mean given the wings and the fact that a lot of the gargoyles have beaks. And the wings like Lexington. Most terydactyls' have wings that span the entire body length. Thus, the full body wing that Lex possess.
But am I wrong here? Am I confusing you? Wouldn't surprise me, I'm confused myself!! ^_^

Greg responds...

I just don't know. I'm not sure they weren't their own category from the get-go, frankly. I'm just telling you they evolved and predated standard mammals.

Response recorded on November 21, 2000

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zakhur writes...

Hi greg, thanks for answeering my last question.
my question are
1- Did you have a specific reason for giving the gargoyle eggs a ten year period for them to hatch? and if so could you please explain what were your reasons
2- Is a new born gargoyle more independent than a new born human?
thank you for your time, and such a wonderful show

Greg responds...

1. I'm sure I did. I'm not sure I remember exactly what that reason was. It may have been at least part a function of story necessity. I need the eggs laid before the massacre, and I needed them to stay eggs long enough to hatch after Avalon.

2. I've answered this already too. Yes, somewhat. At the very least they can lift their own head and neck.

Response recorded on November 15, 2000

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zakhur writes...

Hi Greg, i asked this question but it didn't show up
1- Are gargoyles in they're sleep made of real stone or something similar to stone?
2- if it's real stone, does it have anything to do with some spell, that made the race to stone by day, sometime in the past?
thanks for answering

Greg responds...

1. "An organic substance that closely resembles stone."

2. No.

Response recorded on November 15, 2000

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matt writes...

what color was hudson's hair before it went white or was it always white? did his mate have hair? do any female gargs not have hair?

Greg responds...

I'm not going to answer questions about his mate. I'm sure some female gargs have no hair, at least by choice if not by biology.

As for Hudson, I honestly haven't decided. I'm leaning toward his hair always being white, like Brooklyn's. But I may change my mind.

Response recorded on November 14, 2000

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matt writes...

why is it that we saw so few gargoyles with lex's wing structure? only one briefly in awakening and lex. there wern't even any on avalon (that we saw)!

Greg responds...

It's not as common.

Response recorded on November 14, 2000

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Aris Katsaris writes...

More cycles stuff... It seems that the gargoyles in Avalon have a mating season every ten months of their time. (sorry if I am making a wrong assumption here)

a) Have any (or many) eggs been laid and awaiting hatching in Avalon?
b) What do you feel this will do for the generations? Avalon alone from all the clans in the world will have eggs in the rookery set to hatch at different times, and gargoyles that are only ten months apart in age... There will probably be few "rookery siblings" with the earlier definition of the term...
c) How often would a female be able to conceive (Avalon-time)?

And finally...

d) How does Princess Katherine feel about the frequency of the mating seasons? :-)

Greg responds...

You are making an incorrect assumption. It's every twenty years for them too. Or at least close to that. But they also attune to the closest outside world cycle.

The cycle is both internal and external. It is theirs. But tied to the earth's bio-rhythms.

All things are true. Which makes the math very damn complicated.

Response recorded on November 14, 2000

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Aris Katsaris writes...

You've revealed to us (through chronological info) that the gargoyles' twenty-year cycle is "attuned to the earth" rather than something which is mostly internal (as I had earlier assumed).

How did this affect Katana during her timedances? Her and Brooklyn's two children are twenty years apart in age, as if the cycle had been internal for her, affected only by the time which passed for her, rather than affected by the "earth's cycles" and the different times she would journey to.
Is that simply a coincidence? Did she just happen in her travels to journey to two mating seasons, with a period of twenty years inbetween as subjectively perceived by the timedancers?

Greg responds...

As I've stated recently, very little is truly random in the Gargoyles Universe. My mind just doesn't work that way.

Response recorded on November 14, 2000

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Maria writes...

Okay, got another question for ya. But it doesn't focus on
one character in particular. But rather on all gargoyles in General.
What sort of enzyme or bacteria in a gargoyles eye would cause his/her eyes to glow the way they do? How does that work?

Greg responds...

I don't know. Then again, I don't know what causes yawns in human beings either. But I know they happen.

Response recorded on November 09, 2000

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Almighty Hat writes...

AH-- Hey, is Griff (or any other Garg) fuzzy all over?

GW-- By fuzzy, do you mean furry?

Yeah, I kinda do. So... Is there an answer in sight here, or is Gargoyle hirsuteness too personal? (Is "hirsuteness" even a word?)

Greg responds...

Leo's furry. Una too.

Response recorded on November 09, 2000

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Almighty Hat writes...

Hey, is Griff (or any other Garg) fuzzy all over? Just curious.

Greg responds...

By fuzzy, you mean furry?

Response recorded on November 02, 2000

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Maverick writes...

Greg;
Something you mentioned from the Ep "Silver Falcon,":

'Elisa nearly shoots brodway.'

1) What would happen if a bullet go lodged in Broadway? Would it vanish at dawn with the wound or would it stay there forever? [Apu on the Simpsons has something like 8 in his body.]

2) If *Elisa* was *Showing* Broadway the gun (In deadly Force) and it went off, hitting him, how bad would the wound be? Life threatning like Elisa's wound was, or would he have much more stamina to survive untill dawn like Goliath did in 'Long way 'till morning'?

3) When a gargoyle gets shot in the wings, are there nerves that allow it to feel the shot?

4) Can gargoyles, during the day, stop a bullet, [assuming they are stone]? Would it just bounce off him, or actually make a hole?

B) Would the gargoyle then wake up?

Greg responds...

1. It wouldn't vanish.

2. It depends where he was shot. It could kill him instantly.

3. Yes.

4. Probably make a hole, but it depends on other factors like range, caliber, etc.

B. No.

Response recorded on November 02, 2000

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Siren writes...

I might spark a debat in the comment room on this one...but it's a free country!...
Are there gay and lesbian gargoyles in the Gargoyles Universe?

Greg responds...

Yes.

Response recorded on November 01, 2000

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Aris Katsaris writes...

A weird biological comment:
I read that in almost all vertebrates (with the exception of newts and salamanders) digits II and III are formed first, then IV and finally I and V (digits being numbered from the thumb and moving to the pinky)

Now, when in the course of evolution a species of animal loses a couple of fingers, it's always done in the *reverse* order (because losing an "early" digit would destroy the development of all the following ones). So in evolution, when individual digits are lost, it's always either the "thumb" or the "pinky" first, followed by the other, then IV, and then II and III.

Which means that since Gargoyles have four digits in each hand, (and since they *do* have a thumb) it means that most probably it's the "pinky" that they are missing, and not one of the three fingers inbetween.

Now, was that more about digit evolution than you ever wanted to know? :-)

Greg responds...

Uh. Actually that was kinda fun.

But what if instead of "losing" a digit, they never had one in the first place?

Or what if two interior digits fused into one?

Response recorded on October 26, 2000

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Faieq writes...

1)How many sets of teeth do gargoyles have? Humans have two sets: their milk teeth and their adult teeth, (three sets if you count false teeth.) Do gargoyles have two sets of teeth as well, or just one set of teeth? Or do they have more than two sets of teeth?
2)At what age do the hatchlings start to teeth?

Greg responds...

1. I haven't given it any thought.

2. Born with teeth, I'd think.

Response recorded on October 26, 2000

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Faieq writes...

Are their any gargoyles that have eye color or do all gargoyles just have black pupils.

Greg responds...

Pretty much

Response recorded on October 20, 2000


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