Greg Bishansky writes...

I was reading through the archives, and I noticed that when 2198 was called Future Tense and then 2158, you described Demona as being repentant, and motivated by love and redemption. When the 2198 contest ended, she seems to be described as a lot closer to the Demona we currently know. Still plotting against humanity, perhaps her final chance to destroy the human race. Not getting along with anyone initially.

I remember that you were toying with the idea of Samson being older, more statesmanlike and a widower until you revamped 2158 into 2198. So, did Demona also undergo a revamp?

Greg Bishansky writes...

Are the gargoyles aware that the two owners of Nightstone Unlimited are Demona and Thailog? The Alexander Thailog name could be a giveaway, and did Macbeth tell them Demona's human name after the action died down in "Sanctuary?"

Greg Bishansky writes...

This is something I've wondered for a while. We know the Hunters came to Manhattan to investigate all the gargoyle sightings. But what exactly led Robyn Canmore to Dominique Destine? Why did it occur to her that this French immigrant CEO was worth investigating? I understand that she's never been seen at night, but how did that get her on Robyn's radar?

I get why Jon decided to impersonate a reporter for his investigation, and the Hunter's Moon deleted scene explained why Jason decided to go "undercover" in the 23rd precinct. But when I zoom back and pretend I don't know who Dominique Destine really is, I wonder what led Robyn there.

Greg Bishansky writes...

You've said in the past that gargoyles follow a vague religion that is both monotheistic and pantheistic, and that at present Coldfire would be the most interested in it. What are Demona's spiritual viewpoints? Was she ever a "believer." Is she still one, or is she lapsed? The closest we've ever gotten was her not considering a Wind Ceremony for her smashed clan a priority in "Tyrants."

For that matter, what are Angela's spiritual beliefs? She was raised by humans after all.

Lyla writes...

Whose idea was it for Demona to start turning into a human during the day and why did you add it to the series? Did you plan for that to happen from the beginning?

Greg Bishansky writes...

So, I was chatting with a friend about tour theories on Demona and her future, both near and far. And this subject came up, and he suggested I ask you. I said "no way, not in a million years will he answer this one." And yet, here I am...

I am not asking for any specifics or clues beyond this one tidbit; when Demona dies, will she be in her human form or her gargoyle form?

Richard Jackson writes...

In the series, Demona gave several phony explanations of how she managed to live so long. Such as, stone sleep (Awakening) and stealing minutes of life from humans (City of Stone). Of course, also in City of Stone we found out that her link to Macbeth is the secret of her immortality.

But that was revealed in season 2 before the introduction of Oberon's Children. Demona let it slip in "Temptation" that she had survived through the centuries, but didn't elaborate.

When in production on the first season, did you know what the secret to her immortality would be? And were there other explanations you thought of but ultimately didn't use?

Anonymous writes...

Does Demona keep the tiara on during sex?

Anonymous writes...

According to your timeline, Demona and Thailog were back in New York when Oberon put the city to sleep. Did Demona and Thailog fall asleep?

Greg Bishansky writes...

One more...

Settle something. When Demona sits back and relaxes, what is her drink of choice? ;)

I now return you to your regularly scheduled "fishing for Young Justice spoilers" line of questioning. Sorry, couldn't resist. ;)

Greg Bishansky writes...

And, I'm back with another Demona post. Surprise, surprise, surprise. ;)

Anyway, I've watched and re-watched the 2009 Radio Play many times. I know it's not canon, but I also know you kept everyone in character and they reacted to things as they normally would.

What's been leaping out at me was Demona's behavior towards Obsidiana, because it shows a side of Demona we haven't quite seen before.

Allow me to post the line:

"For she wears the mystic Obsidian pendant fashioned by human sorcerers. Even that is enough to put her in my thrall. She has relinquished her gargoyle birthright."

This line, and the way Marina Sirtis delivered it just hit me like a truck. So, now Demona is going around deciding which gargoyles are and aren't pure enough to be "true gargoyles?" But, as far as we know, she doesn't know Obsidiana. She's never met Obsidiana. I can understand her hatred and desire to wipe out the Manhattan Clan, they stand against her and are her enemies. She's completely wrong to do it, but I tactically understand it.

Obsidiana, on the other hand, for all she knows she had a potential ally there and among the Mayans. While the Mayan Clan, as we have seen them, don't harm the human locals, I could easily envision a scenario where she talks them into some kind of anti-human alliance in the interests of protecting the Green.

But then there is this next line:

"Impossible. I am the last true gargoyle left on this world."

I know Demona has a superiority complex wrapped around her guilt complex, but wow. She is this much of a supremacist now? After she wipes out humanity, what happens when the surviving gargoyles refuse to acknowledge her as their divinely appointed empress? Well, I think I have a pretty good idea of that "what next" would be in that completely hypothetical scenario.

Actually, we've seen some of this already in "Reawakening" where she said "We are the true gargoyles, they have been corrupted by the humans!" But the Obsidiana moment felt even more extreme.

This attitude is actually pretty Hitler-esque, what with his witch-hunt against those who weren't German enough, a test which he'd fail also as he didn't have his idealistic blonde hair and blue eyes (and may have had Jewish blood). Actually, reminds me of Demona and her daytime form as well, but the bigot being what they despise is a trope that has always fascinated me.

By no means do I find that line out of character, actually, for me, that was one of the most chilling moments I've ever seen her depicted in. And yes, it does feel like a logical progression based on what we've seen of her. I know she's going to get better in "Gargoyles 2198" but if this is any indicator of where she was heading in your third season, or any comic book continuation, it seems like she's going to get a lot worse before she gets better.

Very cool, and by cool I mean chilling. It will be very interesting to see how her affection for Angela, who was raised by humans and is maybe more of an idealist than even Goliath would play into this.

Garth writes...

Why does Demona hate having her left shoulder covered? Her one shoulder strapped shirt never covers it. In "Sanctuary" she purposely ripped the wedding dress so she could expose that shoulder. In "Hunter's Moon p1" her suit is destroyed in a way that exposes that shoulder too, her other one, still covered. The only time it was covered was in "Future Tense" which I guess is also a clue that it was an illusion.

Anonymous writes...

Some Xanatose related questions here:

1. Is Xanatose enterprises a private corporation or publicaly traded with David obviously as majority shareholder?

2. What kind of plans does Xanatose have for that virus from legion? He seemed really impressed with it so much that he didn't even care they failed to get the defense specs but we havn't seen anything to my knowledge with it yet.

3. Was it Demona who X first learned of Goliath and his clan from or did he learn about them some other way before that like his claim of the Magus writing it down in the Grimorum for instance. Ive never been sure if that Grimorum claim was a flat out lie or not. Plus that line from awakening "At last Castle Wyvyrn" makes it almost sound like he's known about this for some time.

4. When did Xanatose first get the Grimorum.

5. When did Xanatose first get the Eye of Odin.

6. Final question. What did Xanatose exactly want the defense specs for that he was trying to steal in Legion anyway?

Greg Bishansky writes...

In 1050, when Macbeth visited the Pope in Rome, did Demona accompany him?

Greg Bishansky writes...

How does Demona feel about Coldsteel? Considering her tendencies to hold a grudge, I cannot see her liking him much after the stunt he pulled with Goliath, Othello and Desdemona. On the other hand, she didn't seem to mind teaming up with him in "High Noon." In fact, she got along as well with him in "High Noon" as we've ever seen her get along with anybody. Now, I suppose I could chalk that up to the Weird Sisters' orders, but aside from the basic order (you and Macbeth steal the talismans and steal Coldstone to distract the gargoyles), she still was very much behaving as she normally would.

WordSarien writes...

I know you hear this a lot, but I wanted to start by saying that I've always loved Gargoyles; I was raised on it. It was one of the things that started my love for the fantasy genre, and it taught me by example how to write/appreciate stories with complex characters and well-thought stories. I also love TSSM and Young Justice, and started watching both after hearing you were working on it. ;) :) Thanks for all the hard work you've poured into your work over the years. :)

My question has to do with Demona and "Operation Clean Slate". (I hope I'm not repeating a question; I tried searching for it but couldn't find anything.) Anyways, I was wondering a couple of things:

a) if Demona knows about other sentient life outside of humans, gargoyles, and Oberon's children--like the New Olympians--would she care that she's probably killing all of them, too? (I'm not asking if she does know about them--I imagine you probably want to keep that to yourself. ;))

b) Would killing the entire human race count as Demona killing MacBeth? (To be honest, I've never fully understood whether they actually have to kill each other practically simultaneously, or whether just one killing the other would be enough. MacBeth seems to believe the latter, but if he's mistaken, then I'm assuming they would both survive.)

Thanks for your time! :)

Alma writes...

Love this series, it was the best Cartoon show of my childhood and now, almost 30 I am revisiting the series and am finding ALOT of adult humor, situations and no little amount of (sexual) tension between carachters.
I could babble on but I honestly don't have the time to do it now, so I shall ask away...
At what point in Awakening do Goliath and Demona "break-up".
Yes I understand that he figured her dead for 1000 years but once he saw her, wouldn't he feel the same about her?

Look forward to hearing from you, and again, thanks for bestowing the awesomeness that is Gargolyes into our lives!!!!

Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg, I'd like to ask how skilled & powerful are Demona and Katana compared to one another? I realize with the comic canceled for now we may never get to see these two in action against eachother, so I'd like to know in your opinion how well the two gargoyle femme fatales would fare against each other one on one. Would it be an even fight or would one dominate the other?

Dragomir writes...

Hi Greg, I realize that Demona is the villain and thus HAS to lose in the end, but I've always been confused by how well Elisa Maza is able to handle herself in battle against Demona. We know for a fact that gargoyles possess far more sheer brute strength and durability than a human being, we see Goliath and company throw gangsters and mercs and various other bad guys around like rag dolls all the time. Even the Pack, who were basically at peak athletic condition for humans before they underwent their "upgrades," were little match for the gargs. Now, I am aware that there are humans who can take gargs on one on one, but they are usually exceptional fighters like MacBeth who has centuries of experience and skill plus padded armor under his clothes, or have armored exo-suits like Xanatos or Dingo to even the odds. However, Elisa Maza possesses neither of these things, she's no wimp of course, she's a cop trained to handle New York's baddest of the bad, but she shouldn't be in the same league as Demona. I mean, her combat experience & skills comes from her police training and experience dealing with criminals, but Demona has over a thousand years of fighting experience at her disposal PLUS all the strength and durability that comes from being a gargoyle, and yet, when she and Maza fight it usually ends up with them wrestling on the ground & Maza fairing far better than she should against someone more skilled and powerful than she is (and equipped with claws that can rip through stone and steel). If Xanatos or Macbeth pulled something like that on Goliath he'd rip them to shreds & beat them senseless, yet Elisa gets away with it with Demona...I guess I just find it confusing and inconsistent with what we've seen in regards to how well the gargoyles handle their human foes. I know Demona has to lose in the end cuz she's the villain and that during some of their battles there were extenuating circumstances (like Demona being in human form or Maza in gargoyle form), but I still find it unrealistic & hard to believe Maza could fare so well against someone so much stronger & more experienced/skilled than she is...Even Goliath himself finds her to be a challenging opponent to face, we're talking about a lady who can lift boulders with her bare hands and chuck them at people, I can only imagine what she could do to Maza with strength like that.

So yeah, sorry for rambling, I really do love the Gargoyle series, but Elisa's ability to "manhandle" Demona despite the obvious strength and skill difference has always irked me. I mean, even when angered Demona tends to fight even harder than before, just like any other gargoyle, and usually that makes them a decisive edge unless they face someone like Oberon who can't be fazed by brute strength & ferocity.

Can you please explain to me how Maza's able to get away with fighting Demona one on one & hand to hand and get away from it in one piece?

P.S. thanks for your time & congrats on Young Justice, I'm totally loving that show thus far, Miss Martian rules! And Cheshire & the Witchboy were awesome villains, hope we see them again.

A Gargoyles Fan writes...

First and foremost, I probably should've looked more carefully when asking the previous question, and I'm sorry for that.

I've checked around the archives, and taken a better look, and haven't found an answer for this.

Sevarius stated once that if a Gargoyle didn't go through stone sleep, they would have to eat several cows in order to get the energy they need. Demona doesn't go through stone sleep anymore, so how does she get the energy she needs for when she becomes a gargoyle once more?

Ryan Eden writes...

i have a serious question if Macbeth dies of a natural cause like a heart attack or something does that mean Deamona dies as well from it?

Anonymous writes...

Brian writes...
If I could pet a gargoyle's wings, what's the closest thing they would feel like?
Greg responds...
Depends on whose wings.

Say...Demona's?

Anonymous writes...

How is it that having Robyn at her feet, Demona didnt kill her? I loved the scene and I think that there may be two possible answers:

a- Demona does seem to have a twisted sense of humor. After watching her facing Hackon, The Renaissance Hunter and the current Hunter's father (cant remembere the name)and destroying the ciberbiotics airship with a smile from ear to ear...it's evident she likes to play with her prey, so to speak. Was she just trying to put a scare on the "little hunters" and play around with them a little bit?

B- It kind of seems unlickly that something could have stopped her from killing Robyn, considering there were three unarmed children with her down there...or so it seemed, which comes to the next possibility: Did something forced her to fleed?

Thanks for any answer you may provide ;D Demona rocks!

Kuddos,

Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg!

Now that Desdemona is back on the Clan...has anyone told her about Demona and what she has become?

Anonymous writes...

Is Demona's ankle bracelet welded shut? If yes, how does she take it off when she wears high heel shoes as Dominique?