Jan Rott writes...

How many seasons would you have planned for Gargoyles and its Spin-offs to realize your own vision?
1. Gargoyles
2. Bad Guys
3. Time Dancer
4. Dark Ages
5. Gargoyles 2198
6. Heroes of Ulster
7. New Olympians
8. Pendragon

Todd Jensen writes...

I decided to reread "Clan-Building" as well, after rewatching the first two seasons of "Gargoyles" on DVD, starting with Chapters One and Two ("The Journey)).

The "hunting" analogy continues even past "Hunter's Moon" with Vinnie stating that he hunted a gargoyle down, and Castaway mentioning it (both specifically use the word "hunted").

In my "review comments" on "Hunter's Moon", I noted how it ended, in its final scene at the castle, on what went well for the gargoyles (they're back in the castle, they've made peace with Xanatos, etc.), with their being revealed to the public not mentioned. "The Journey" opens with it being made clear that their problems aren't that over after all, with the public's alarm, the foundation of the Quarrymen, and even Brooklyn raising the question of whether Xanatos really has changed that much. I think his sardonic "Welcome home" establishes the "It's not so happily ever after, after all" tone - in contrast to the way Elisa said "Welcome home" at the very end of "Hunter's Moon".

Todd Jensen writes...

Rewatched my DVD of "Eye of the Beholder" today. I didn't find as much new to notice with this one, unfortunately, though I was delighted to note the moment where Xanatos placed his hand on Goliath's shoulder while pleading for his help at the castle - meaning that he had an opportunity (which he used, obviously) to plant that tracking device on him. I'm glad that the episode played fair with that.

Brooklyn's eyepatch as part of his pirate costume seems all the more appropriate after the ending of "Clan-Building".

Goliath echoes "Re-Awakening" when he speaks of Manhattan as "my castle, my city".

Todd Jensen writes...

Features I'd just noticed about "Temptation", this time around.

1. When Broadway tells Goliath that Brooklyn had gone on a joyride, he makes motions with his hands suggesting someone gripping a motorcycle's handlebars.

2. Demona, when she talks about the events of "The Thrill of the Hunt", uses the phrase "hunted like animals" - which not only continues the "humans seeing the gargoyles as beasts" thread that I'd noticed all the more in "Awakening" and "The Thrill of the Hunt", but also put me in mind of the Hunters - no wonder she uses that description!

Todd Jensen writes...

I also rewatched "The Thrill of the Hunt" and "Temptation" today. Things I noted this time in "The Thrill of the Hunt".

1. Lexington, angered about the Pack's treachery, cries that they're like animals. I thought that appropriate, given the Pack's "animal names".

2. The Pack continue the "referring to the gargoyles as beasts" practice from "Awakening" and even speak of hunting them, such as Wolf's cry "Let the hunt begin!" - the talk about hunting them also made me think of the Hunters (though they wouldn't be introduced until Season Two, of course).

3. When Brooklyn and Broadway arrive at the end to tell Goliath and Lexington how they'd seen a report on the news about Fox and Wolf's arrest, they come gliding in from outside the castle - so apparently they weren't watching television with Hudson when they found out, but somewhere else. (I won't ask where, but this detail struck me for the first time.)

4. Dingo's cry of "Stone me!" upon seeing the photographs of Goliath felt like a particularly appropriate response to a gargoyle.

Derek writes...

Am I missing anyone or adding someone incorrectly? So far Sevarius has the DNA of the following?

Goliath, Brooklyn, Angela, Broadway, Bronx, Lexington, Eliza, Hudson, Yama, Robyn Canmore, Dingo, Talon, Maggie, Fang, Claw, Wolf, Demona, Nessie, Deiliah (Mix)?

TaySmith writes...

Hello Mr. Greg! I would like to start of by saying that you are very admirable in your dedication not only to previous works but also to fans, as seen in keeping up this page. You're an amazing storyteller and as an author, I admire you greatly.

My question actually pertains to your series Gargoyles, which I have been bingeing non-stop recently. I saw in another ask that some gargoyles use weapons while others don't(ie Hudson). If you had to give each member of the Wyvern Clan weapons, what would they be and why?

ANR writes...

A few things I've been wondering
1)Is Matt considered part of the Manhattan Clan or just a friend?
2)We know Broadway loves old detective movies but what film genres do you think the other members of the clan enjoy most?
3)Do any of the other Gargoyle clans enjoy aspects of human culture like music, books, comics, film or television?

Dragomir writes...

In "Future Tense" Puck depicted Demona & Brooklyn as mates, now obviously that's not happening considering Brook found Katana & started a family, but was there ever a point in time in which you were seriously considering the idea of a reformed Demona hooking up with Brooklyn in the future? OR, was Demona & Brooklyn's illusionary relationship meant to be a hint towards the eventual pairing up of Delilah and Malibu later on? Or was that all just coincidence and Puck's "shipping" of Demona & Brooklyn was never meant to be a clue as to their future or the futures of their clones? I only ask because I was always interested by Puck's ominous warning to Goliath regarding how his portrayal of the future, while not one hundred percent accurate, could still give hints as to the possible futures of the gargoyles as well as their friends and foes, i.e. like how although Lexington himself didn't turn evil as he did in Puck's illusion, his clone did indeed "join the darkside" by siding with Thailog. Thanks for your time!

Alex Costa writes...

Hi Greg, I read somewhere you're a big X-Men fan. Now that I think about it, I do see some surface similarities between Brooklyn and Scott Summers. Would you say there was some inspiration there or no?

Graham T. writes...

Topic: Phoenix Gate and time travel to the future

In regards to Gargoyles 2198, we know the Phoenix Gate cannot allow someone to change the past as it is part of the history, but how would the Phoenix Gate and time travel work if someone from the present were to go to the future?

During planning, were there problems with figuring out how Brooklyn's presence in 2198 would relate to his "historical self" (either "disappeared" when the Gate took him; the "historical Brooklyn" never time-travelled), or did you always have it in mind that time-travel to the future from the present was also immutable - Brooklyn factus erit iam illud (Brooklyn already shall have done that)?

P.S. I apologize in advance if my Latin is off.

EXALT writes...

I've recently rewatched Awakening, and the scene where Goliath tells Demona that she can't kill an enemy unless it is "in the heat of battle" sparked a question in me: as of Phoenix, which members of the Manhattan Clan have actually killed someone?

Richard Jackson writes...

In "Temptation", Lexington comments on how Brooklyn once rode a horse. How was the experience for Brooklyn and the horse?

Anonymous writes...

Hello! Big Gargoyles fan here! I want to ask about Katana, Nashville, and Fu-Dog! This is probably be too spoiler-y, but I'm gonna give it a shot.

1.) We don't much about Katana as a character. Are there details you can give to the fans about her personality, her interests, her quirks, etc.? You described Brooklyn and Katana's relationship as a Sam-Diane, Bertrand-Beatrice thing, so I imagine Katana being a lot of more serious than the wise-cracking Brooklyn, which probably why the had conflict. Being raised in the way of Bushido, I also imagine she's honorable and from what we've seen from her appearance in the comics, she's very protective over Egwardo (Taichi).

2.) Nashville is about 10 in human years, and 20 in gargoyle years, right? He's really young, though, no matter how you look at it. I find it a little hard to imagine Brooklyn and Katana allowing him on dangerous missions. I think he is quite skilled, but are there any limitations they set for their son?

3.) Katana and Gnash are both bilingual. What's their speech pattern like? Gnash seems more like Brooklyn in personality, so his way of speaking is probably similar to his father. I imagine Katana being more formal with her words. When they speak, do they string English and Japanese words in a sentence? Does Katana speak solely in Japanese sometimes when speaking to Gnash?

3.) Fu-Dog is Brooklyn's first companion in his TimeDancer adventures. What kind of personality does he have, besides being fiercely loyal to Brooklyn? Is he similar to Bronx or dissimilar?

J writes...

Hello Greg,

I have a question about the Avalon Clan and their biological relationships to the Manhattan Clan. I am going to use the "placeholder names" for those Gargs that don't have given names in cannon.

Can we assume that Hudson does not have any biological children there because Hyppolyta, Broadway, and True are his only three offspring?

You've mentioned before that Angela is the only biological child of Goliath's, and she is no longer there, so none for him either.

Brooklyn had at least one brother, Brooksbro...was he and older or younger brother? If older, then there is a potential for him to have a biological sibling on Avelon...is that the case?

Does Lexington have a younger biological sibling on Avelon?

Does Bronx?

ashley. B writes...

Dose Brooklyn have a younger sibling I read gargoyles couples each normally have three eggs/ three children so I know he has a brother dose he have a younger sibling.

R.J. writes...

A friend of mine admires and identifies with Brooklyn very deeply. So deeply, in fact, that he sometimes wishes he WERE Brooklyn. He's having a rough time right now, and "just be yourself" isn't helping. I was wondering, could the man that understands Brooklyn better than anyone - his creator - give my friend a little encouragement or wisdom? It would mean a lot.

Anonymous writes...

I just realized that the second question I asked two days ago (about how Tom got from Avelon to Manhatten) is REALLY stupid...for some reason I was misremembering the entire situation and was thinking Tom went to Manhatten AFTER Goliath and co. got back from their trip (which makes absolutly no sense now that I remember correctly)...OOPS! Sorry. I'm verry much expecting a "Hey stupid, what the heck are you talking about?!" response to that question.

Anyway, since I don't want to clog the que with just an apology for screwing up a previous one, I'll ask a couple of actual questions too, this time regarding Brooklyn and Katana.

1. You once described their relationship as: "there's conflict." Can you elaborate (in a general sense, not specific situations...ie. they bicker a lot, they disagree on many things, ect.)?

2. I know that the real-world reason for Katana's name is the sward, but in-universe, did her clan use names? (Also, I know it's a "spoiler request," but if you feel like saying who gave her the name if it wasn't her clan, that would be awesome -- same for Foo Dog).

3. Were the parallels between the casts of the World Tour and Timedancer (ie. the lead Gargoyle: Goliath/Brooklyn; his mate: Elisa/Katana; the child: Angela/Nashville; and the beast: Bronx/Foo Dog) a deliberate decision or just a coincidence?

4. Has/will Foo Dog ever had/get a mate?

Anonymous writes...

my question must have gotten deleted last time i asked this, because i cant find it anywhere. it was part of a post with a bunch of questions, but this one is the only one i really want to know about, so i hope this one wasnt the one that made it not go through

after his journey through time, does Brooklyn still consider himself a rookery brother to Lexington and Broadway?
also, since he is a generation older than Goliath, does he still consider himself his rookery son?
would he now technically be a rookery uncle to any or all three of them, and Angela?
if so, how does he view his relationship to Hudson, since they cant technically be rookery brothers? (like cousins mabey?)

Greg Bishansky writes...

One aspect that I always liked about "Gargoyles" was that most of the individual characters had someone they considered their own personal nemesis.

Brooklyn had Demona (but I doubt she thought enough about him to feel the same, her focus was always on Goliath). Lexington had the Pack (though, again, I doubt they gave him as much thought as again, Goliath). Broadway had Dracon (again, I tend to think Dracon gave Goliath more thought, and especially Elisa).

Actually, while writing this post, it just occurred to me that these people the trio despised probably didn't give them individually all that much thought... kind of says something about how the futility of holding such contempt for someone, only for that other person to probably not spend all that much time thinking about you. See, I love "Gargoyles," I'm always seeing things in new ways.

But I guess what I was originally going to ask, before my little revelation there was this. Did you have any rivalries like that planned with the Redemption Squad?

For Hunter, Demona or John Castaway being her personal nemesis seems like a given. Though I wouldn't be surprised if we get a new character there. Dingo seems to have Falstaff for that role, especially if he ever discovers how his mother died.

Yama, Fang and especially Matrix are harder to pin down for this. I suppose for Yama it could be Taro, but I'm not sure... he seems to blame himself for what he did rather than Taro. Fang doesn't seem to hold any real ill will towards Sevarius. And Matrix doesn't even have emotions and can't take things personally.

Diana writes...

Hey Greg,

it's known, that to control the phoenix gate, one has to think of a special place and time.
Now, that the gate was released by Goliath, one question popped into my head.
Brooklyn couldn't control the gate during his Time Dancer adventures.
But could it be that his subconscious mind influenced the gate's „direction"?
Could the gate (or rather the phoenix) have probably sensed his feelings like fears, inner conflicts or wishes?
Or did the phoenix just follow its own reasons without noticing such things?

By the way … I liked the character of Brooklyn before, but it's due to the Comics (especially Clan building Vol. 2) that he became one of my ultimate favourites. ;)

LiLi writes...

Hi Greg -- thanks so much for taking time to answer fan questions like this! I have been a fan of your work since the 90s and Ask Greg is an amazing resource.

My question is: Back in the 10th century, did Brooklyn have a girlfriend or female clan mate he was close to romantically?

Thanks!

Derek writes...

Now that Brooklyn is older than Goliath does that mean he needs to appoint a new second from Angela, Broadway and Lexington or even Eliza? You mentioned the second in a Gargoyle clan is of a younger generation than the clan leader and groomed to take over, now that Brooklyn is older does that invalidate him from the position?

Esteban writes...

Hey Greg, I'm a big fan of Gargoyles and I actually have a question for it concerning Brooklyn. How much has his personality changed after he got back from his Timedancing adventure? I didn't see this question posted at the archives but if you did post it then I apologize.

Greg Bishansky writes...

Not a question, but a comment. I was watching "Temptation" again, and when Demona first approaches Brooklyn she has this line "wasn't this like old times, fighting together side by side, comrades in arms..." and I have to say, kudos. Thanks to "Tyrants" and "The Gate" there so many more layers upon layers to that line especially. I could be wrong, but I never got the impression that they knew each other all that well prior to the massacre, so I used to wonder if the reference was generic or if she was just trying to make an appeal. Now, well... now the context of the line has changed, and for the better.

I don't know if the idea for their team up against Constantine existed in your head way back when "Temptation" was written, but I love moments of creative serendipity.