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RESPONSES 2001-3 (March)
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Sapphire writes...
The majority of the world's people believe in a creator, from the Semetic peoples of the middle east to the indigious
peoples of the Americas. I was wondering in the gargoyles universe is the god that the Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship a fay or is he truely the god of the universe?
Greg responds...
God. The one true God of the Universe is not, in my mind, a fey. On the other hand, I'm not sure I'm going to equate him with the God of Abrahamic trio of religions either. I'm looking for something bigger still. Something that includes but is not limited by those faiths.
Just my opinion, mind you.
Aris Katsaris writes...
Next ramble - Xanatos and Gilgamesh:
As I said my first thought was Gilgamesh, since he also had the wish to find immortality - yet above all because Gilgamesh is the mythological hero whose mortality is an integral part of him: the same thing that you said about Xanatos... Both have had dealings with immortals, yet both are hopelessly mortal...
Other than that, admittedly they don't seem to have any other point of similarity... Perhaps (though a bit far-fetched) that Gilgamesh also starts like a bit of a villain until he discovers friendship. But comparisons between Enkidu and Goliath seem even more farfetched and I decided to stop that train of thought.
The Gilgamesh story is among my very favourite ones... And I love characters such as Utnapishtim (the survivor of the Great Flood - the gods turned him and his wife immortal). In fact I find Utnapishtim's version of the story far more fascinating than that of Noah or Deucalion - two stories which for me are so sketchy as to be really *dull*.
Anyway...
1. Do you have any plans about Gilgamesh or Utnapishtim which are more specific than "Eventually everything?"
2. Since Utnapishtim was turned immortal - do you think he's still around? :-)
Greg responds...
Sure Noah wound up a boring drunk. And Deucalion was a bit of a stiff. But wouldn't you like to see Utnapishtim, Noah and Deucalion all sitting at one of these new post-Flood coffee houses, having a beer together, reminiscing about old times? How singers could really sing pre-Flood and how the smell nearly killed them on those damn arcs?
1. Gilgamesh, Enkidu and Utnapishtim (as well as Noah and Deucalion) all figured into my plans. Vaguely. That is, I have a few ideas for all of these characters. But they have not as yet fully coalesced in the old (and getting older) brain. But I will say that Jeff Robbins is involved with my Gilgamesh notions. (FYI - I never really made a Gil-Xanatos connection.)
2. Duh. :)
Mel. Celestial writes...
Since you don't have the characters' specific age with you now, care to arrange them according from Hudson(he's the oldest, no?)to baby Alex? A-Z? Thanks!
Greg responds...
I'm at MY office today, so I do have some access. My timeline isn't yet fully REWORKED, so all of the following is tentative. But as of 12-31-95, here are the ages of many of our cast:
King Arthur 1510 (57).
Hudson 1117 (59).
Demona 1057 (35).
Goliath 1057 (29).
Coldstone 1057 (28).
Trio 1037 (19).
Magus dead at 1029 (71)
Katharine 1019 (61).
Bronx 1017 (9).
Tom 1009 (54).
Macbeth 990 (52).
Ang, Gab, Oph, Boud 917 (19).
Fiona 107.
Mace Malone dead at 100.
Leo, Una, Kai 97 (49).
Dominic 93.
Zaf, Obsid 77 (39).
Dane 76.
Jade, Turq, Yama 57 (29).
Peter 53.
Diane 49.
Xanatos 40.
Sora 37 (19).
Jason, Matt 31.
Fox, Robyn 29.
Elisa 27.
Talon, Dracon 25.
Jon 23.
Beth 20.
Thailog 1 (29).
Note, the numbers in parentheses represent biological age when it differs from their actual chronological age.
Alex was not yet born at that time. My current thinking pegs his birthdate as 7-9-96, a Tuesday.
Corrine Blaquen writes...
What language is the Grimorum written in? I imagine the spells are in Latin, but what language did the Magus use to recount the story of the gargoyles?
Greg responds...
Most (but not all) of the Grimorum is in Latin. The Magus used Latin as well, which was in those days the language of scholars.
Jim R. writes...
matt,
I thought the skiff was blown up at first, but i remembered that only happened in the "Future Tense" episode, which I suppose wasn't real to Goliath. But no one could accidently go to Avalon, because one would first have to recite the Latin to reach it. I got you on this one buddy. :)
Greg responds...
Yup.
Entity writes...
Hi Greg,
Thanks for giving my comments about AWAKENING (the portrayel of the Trio and the cut prologue) a fair explanation. (I'm glad to hear that you would've preferred the prologue, too -- maybe I just wanted to know it wasn't cut for quality reasons.)
I understand the usage of the Next Time and Last Time segments better now, too. Though I have to ask: Is the quantity of bad animation you got back on GARGOYLES typical of an animated show?
Greg responds...
No. Actually, on the whole, I'd say Gargoyles got much BETTER animation than the average tv show. For starters, many of our episodes were done by Walt Disney TV Animation Japan. Those guys kicked ass.
And we also did very well by our Korean sub-contractors. Not every time. But often enough that I don't want to complain. Well, to be honest, there were always things to complain about. From every studio. That's the nature of tv production. But we got pretty lucky over all.
matt writes...
in "The Gathering" when Goliath and co. arrived in New York what happened to the Avalon Skiff? did it sink as Arthur's skiff had done in London? if the just left the skiff in the lake or river could anyone have gotten in it and accidently gone to Avalon?
Greg responds...
It sank. But even if it hadn't, you need to know the incantation to get to Avalon.
Durax writes...
City of Stone scenelet>> When Gil crushed the rose, I thought this was to tel the audience that, the scars on his face did more than damage his looks. I thought he had lost his sense of smell too. In my mind this provided even greater cause for him to grow more and more embittered against Demona. I don't think this is what you were intending though, not anymore.
Greg responds...
Hmmm. Interesting. Maybe I wasn't intending it. But maybe it's still true. Hmmm.
matt writes...
you've said numerous times that Bronx mated and will mate again with Boidekka, but since Bronx was born a generation after the trio wouldn't he be way to young to mate? if the fertility cycle is different for beasts than can they mate and concieve more often in life than the standard gargoyles? i understand that Boidekka, being older than Bronx, is probably able to concieve, but Bronx just seems too young. does it matter that he is male, as in males can mate and concieve earlier in life than females?
Greg responds...
Again, it depends how you're defining "mated". Do you mean "take a mate"? Do you mean "produce offspring"? Do you mean "have intercourse"?
Boudicca is older than Bronx. But Beasts mature faster than Gargoyles. The cycle is the same, but the maturity rate is different. Bronx is an adult and has been for years.
matt writes...
i have a question about when a gargoyle wakes up. in many times throughout the series we would see the gargs' eyes glow shortly before they would shed their stone skin and that makes sense to me because you've said that at sunset their entire body reverts to flesh except a thin layer over their skin, their eyes probably don't have this layer since that would probably be kinda painful to have stone flying out of your eyes. so we see the eyes first because it doesn't have to break out of a stone shell. am i at least roughly correct on this?
Greg responds...
Roughly, but no, not really. There is a thin membrane of "organic-stone" over the eyes as well. The glow sometimes shines through the membrane. Or if the eyes were closed, they blink open first, and tiny bits of stone fall away to reveal the glow. Or something like that.
Justin writes...
Greg,
A few weeks ago Anonymous writes
<Are there any female gargoyles who are obese? How about muscular or extremely skinny? Are any females bow-legged?
Are there gargoyles with differnent wing and ear types than the types that were shown on the series?
You know how some gargoyles have a sharp elbow or knee spike that juts out, I was wondering if any gargoyles have them on both knees and elbows because it was always on or the other.>
To which you replied...
<Obese? Not likely, but possible, I guess.
Look, it's all sounding possible.>
Now why is not likely for a gargoyle woman to be obese? Must all of them be fairly skinny like Demona? I don't know man, it seems like a sexist notion of what the female form is supposed to be! Sorry if offends you but with the gargoyles anatomy being similar on the surface, this might boys the neanderthal idea of what female beauty is supposed to be, and girls an impossible standard to live up to. Now don't get me wrong I love the show. Another thing that yerked me. You have mentioned that the original Broadway was going to be a girl. But you changed your minds out of fear of feminist groups being concerned about the evil/fat issue among the two female characters.
Now I would think that feminist groups with all sorts of "agendas" as you put it would love to see a none picture perfect woman in the series. Trust me having the two main female gargoyles in the series model thing didn't exactly endear the show to them I'm sure ;)
Sorry if this sounds like a rant. I just wanted your honest thought on what I've said.
Thank you
Greg responds...
I didn't mean to say that garg FEMALES aren't likely to be obese. I was trying to say that gargs as a whole aren't likely to be obese. Broadway and Hudson may be overweight, but neither are obese. I said it was possible, and I meant it, but given the lifestyle that most gargs have, obesity isn't likely.
Sorry for the confusion.
Mel. Celestial writes...
Fox and her son has Faeye blood in them; so does that mean that they are able to age slower or become immortal?
Greg responds...
Either are theoretically possible, though it does depend on how one define's immortality.
Aris Katsaris writes...
More of a ramble (or two) than a question but here goes:
I believe that someone here in Ask Greg compared Xanatos to Prospero- both having magical assistants... Anyway I was thinking around the same lines, trying to compare Xanatos with characters from mythology:
My first thought was Gilgamesh (I'll ramble about him next) but then I thought an even better match: namely Sisyphus. And, god, this guy seems the most Xanatosian character I know (I even imagine him played by Frakes). He's *very* intelligent (him and Ulysses are pretty much the two clever men of Greek mythology); something of a trickster; he's considered to be something of a villain; and finally in certain stories he has even tried to find a way to defeat death. Two times in fact. One of them involved binding Thanatos (or Hades - not sure which) pretty similar to what the Emir did in 'Grief'...
So questions:
1. Any thoughts on the above? :-)
2. Sisyphus was punished pretty severely for what was seen as villainy (namely his trying to cheat death and angering Zeus in general)... Other than the brief (though admittedly great) scare that Oberon gave to Xanatos, do you think that Xanatos will get a comeuppance for his crimes? He's done worse than Sisyphus I think...
3. There's a third question but I'll post it serarately in case Todd thinks it a story idea...
Greg responds...
1. Interesting. I can't claim to have been thinking along those lines specifically. Though Odysseus did come to mind, more than once. I guess, I'm just not quite as familiar with Sisyphus' legends...
2. Of course the thing I remember most about Sis is the final punishment. The Sisyphusian task of pushing that boulder up the hill. Xanatos will, on occasion, continue to get his comeuppance. But I can't picture him standing for that kind of punishment -- even in Hell.
One writes...
1) Most of the fae in their "natural" (so we believe) forms have pointy ears, is there any particular reason for this? Bean Sidhe, Titania, Puck (especially Puck), the Weird Sisters, Oberon, Raven, Grandmother.
2) If a fae created a wall of stone (or any other dense material) to block a cold iron spear being thrown at them, what would happen to the wall? It's said the fae magick cannot resist cold iron but what of things created from fae magick? Say Puck created a golem would that golem be very vulnerable to cold iron?
3) How do you think Oberon would react if Titania was to be killed, hypothetically?
Greg responds...
1. Maybe it comes naturally. Who told you to have round ears?
2. It all depends on method and execution.
3. How do YOU think, hypothetically? Geez.
One writes...
1) Is there any particular reason why Grandmother chooses to look like an aged native american woman and possess the mannerisms thereof? Most fae we've seen in the series perfer a youthful or mature adult form, usually not children or the elderly. Puck, Oberon, Titania, the Wyrd Sisters, Bean Sidhe, etc.
2) Who are among the eldest of the Fae race? Oberon? Titania? Mab?
3) Is Cold Iron the only way to kill a fae, if not, what other ways are there?
Greg responds...
1. The Weird Sisters took many forms. Some very young, some very old. Grandmother is comfortable in that form. (And also as Thunderbird or the Sea Monster.) Why shouldn't she be?
2. Mab certainly.
3. If I told you, Oberon would have to kill you.
Corrine Blaquen writes...
What nationality is Titania's human form supposed to be?
I find it very cool that you have so much ethinic/racial diversity in the human cast, from Elisa's Native American/African background to Xanatos's half Greek. It's such a fresh change from other cartoon characters with no heritage at all.
I myself am French-American, and I LOVE it that Fox, one of my favorite characters, is half French-American. Thanks, Greg!
Greg responds...
Xanatos isn't half-Greek. He's 100% Greek-American. I also like mixing up the ethnic backgrounds of our characters.
As for Anastasia, however, you need to remember that the identity was a fiction. Her first name suggests a Russian background, but her voice suggests that she's lived in the U.S. all her life. And we don't know her maiden name. So I don't really know how to answer this question.
Basilisk writes...
A note to Greg:
'Horae' is the plural of the Greek word 'hora' or fairy/goddess of a season. To the Greeks, there were only three seasons, spring, summer, and winter. So I can see why that person might have thought that the Weird Sisters could be the horae.
Greg responds...
Hmmm...
Then I tend to think NO. Because at some point we pull in a fourth season at a minimum. And there's no fourth sister. (Living in SoCal, I've always felt that there are five very subtle seasons here.)
Oberon writes...
The horae were the three female guardians of olympus in greek mythology, I thought they might be the weird sisters because the weird sisters guarded Avalon. So were the Weird Sisters the Horae
Greg responds...
So the Horae aren't the "Hours"?
Tentatively, I'll answer yes. But I really have to do more research first.
matt writes...
among the British gargs would a female gargoyle that has the lion genes still have the mane that Leo has? i would think she would because Leo is not a lion and while he looks like one probably shares very few of the same characteristics of a lion.
i've also noticed that Maggie the Cat has lion genes and is the only mutate with hair and i assume this is because of the animal she was mutated from but of course Leo wasn't created from a lion...
Greg responds...
There is a chameleonesque characteristic (metaphorically) to the various superficial gargoyle differences that seem so pronounced. That might suggest a female of Leo's type might look lioness-esque as opposed to Lion-esque. But it might not. I hate to tie my hand frankly, or rather I hate to tie the artists hands in advance.
matt writes...
Faieq, Goliath said, "I grow tired of this, take whats left of your men and begone!" i think he meant he was tired of that particular battle and i doubt there had been previous encounters with Hakon.
Greg responds...
Yeah. That sounds more like it.
Thanks, matt.
Faieq writes...
In Awakening Part one, the Vikings or at least Hakon, are convinced that the gargoyles are just stone statues. This suggests that this is the first time Hakon has attacked Castle Wyvern. But when Goliath awakens he says something like, "I grow tired of these attacks." That means that the attack was only a middle of a series of attacks by the Vikings. Was the battle at the beggining of Awakening part one, the vikings first battle with Castle Wyvern. Or had another party of Vikings been attacking Wyvern and had moved on, leaving Hakon's army in charge of that area.
Greg responds...
Well, Hakon had never been there before. But you're quoting something that Goliath said in the MIDDLE of the battle. So he may have been talking about the fact that Hakon's crowd was still fighting. Or he may have been refering to the fact that Wyvern's isolated location often made them targets of attack. From other Vikings, etc.
michael regan writes...
Dear Greg
can you answer this,cause their is no scientific way about it(maybe magic,anyway)
a gargoyles flesh and bone turns to stone in the day,but how is it their clothing does as well?
Greg responds...
The clothes thing is magic. Part of a modesty spell cast in the year 10 A.D.
Cherubique writes...
Okay, maybe you won't reveal Lex's mate, but will you tell us if he has any childrens>?
Greg responds...
Sure, all the eggs of certain generations would be children to every member of the Clan including Lex.
QUIT THINKING LIKE A HUMAN!
Spore-chan writes...
Ok, I've got a question on gargoyle suicide, and I can't find the answer in the archives, but feel free to give me a smart-ass response if I have missed it. Let's say a gargoyle slshes their wrists, and does not bleed to death before sunrise. Would the fact that they do not want to be healed have any effect on the sun healing them? And how would a clan regard suicide anyways? As a crime? A cry for help? Something else?
Greg responds...
I don't feel right about being a smart-ass when the topic is suicide.
A simple cut on the wrist would heel over the course of a day. Mindset might effect a more devastating injury. Of course the scary thing is how easy it is for a less-than-devastating injury to have devastating results.
I think garg suicide is fairly rare. Gargoyles are a primal race in many ways, and the will to live is VERY PRIMAL. But I suppose it's not unheard of. Most gargs would regard it as a MASSIVE cry for help. And they would certainly attempt to prevent their clanmate from taking his or her own life.
Sapphire writes...
In the proposed spin off series The new Olympians you said something about David Xanatos trying to take advantage of the New Olympians. Can you give some details on how he might take advantage of them?
Greg responds...
It's complicated.
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