XVII. Gargoyle Culture


1. What led to the decision that gargoyles do not traditionally use names?

It made them more culturally unique, for one. It also allowed them to take on their New York-based names later, which in turn made Goliath and Demona seem more apart from the others.
 

2. Why don't gargoyles (generally) kiss?

Kissing is a human custom. The gargoyle equivalent is the stroking of hair and/or brow ridges. In the case of Broadway and Angela in "The Journey," remember that Broadway has been exposed to a lot of modern pop culture, and Angela was raised by humans. In the case of Desdemona and Othello in "Legion," consider Coldstone's muddled state of mind. (Alternately, consider it as a mistake.)
 

3. What are the gargoyles' spiritual beliefs?

Greg's answers:

Currently, none of the Manhattan gargoyles worship the Judeo-Christian God specifically, though they wouldn't recognize that God as being inconsistent with their faith. And they do have a faith. Though I don't think they've practiced it much since arriving in the twentieth century. I don't think the particular group who survived the massacre included anyone who was particularly priestly (except maybe Desdemona). (As with science or music, a gargoyle might have pursued a spiritual interest, without letting that interest define him or her as a priest or priestess.) This faith is both monotheistic and pantheistic, though a gargoyle would not see any paradox in that. "All things are part of the whole." Their most important credo has to do with how they perceive their part of that whole: "A Gargoyle can no more stop protecting the castle than breathing the air." Gargoyles don't simply exist. They protect their community. It was a    primitive belief when our gang lived in the tenth century. Goliath found a modern application by the end of our first season. But I think the credo will continue to have validity even as our characters continue to redefine and evolve its parameters. (GDW/12-10-97)

[Later, he adds...] Gargoyle myths and legends would probably differ in different parts of the world, just as human myths and legends do. But I'm sure there are thematic consistencies.

[Still later, he adds...] Their beliefs are both simple and complex. Animistic, pantheistic and  yet, ultimately, monotheistic. But they don't personify their god the way we tend to. Their god, no surprise, has no name. He/She/It cannot be limited or defined by a mortal word.
 

4. What kind of funeral customs do the gargoyles have?

The gargoyles' funeral custom is called the Wind Ceremony. Click here to read what Greg wrote about it.
 


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