Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

I hope nothing in my previous questions about the fae bothered you.

These are the other questions I have about the Children of Oberon ... as you can see I'm very curious about them. I hope five questions are not too many. (At least I got the number right this time!)

1. In some cultures, shamans believe that they have a personal connection to an animal totem who acts as a helper or spirit guide. In the "Gargoyles" universe, is this true? (OK, all things are true, but is it correct? :) ) Do any of the Third Race such as Raven and Coyote form personal connections to shamans or other individual humans (besides the one formed in the Coyote Dance)? I understand this isn't necessarily something you want to reveal, I'm just hoping you're in the mood. :)

2. How many people can be avatars of a single Child of Oberon at any one time? Is there a limit?

3. a. Are halflings vulnerable to iron the way that the Third Race are? Fox doesn't seem to be bothered, she never suspected she was a halfling. But if for example, Alex shapeshifted into a non-mortal form, would he be vulnerable to iron?
b. Can a halfling be bound with iron, the way Puck was in The Mirror, or how the Coyote robot captured Coyote?

4. The Children of Oberon cannot use their magic on iron. But the Magus (a human) used Avalon's magic on iron. Can halflings use fae magic to affect iron? (but I don't mean to imply that Avalon's magic is the same as fae magic)

5. a. Does each Child of Oberon have an inherent sex or gender, or is their sex/gender only a shape they take? Personally I think of sex as a biological or physical trait, but gender seems to be more psychological, or even spiritual.
b. Not necessarily the same question ... can Children of Oberon take on shapes of either gender (or no gender, or hermaphroditic, or make up an imaginary gender)? Can they take mortal forms of either sex?

OK, anyway thank you again for answering our questions! It is really great to be able to find out more about the Gargoyles Universe.

Vaevictis Asmadi writes...

My favorite part of "Gargoyles" has always been the incorporation of myths and legends -- both the presence of actual gods and characters like King Arthur and Cuchullain, and the hints that gargoyles inspired some mythical creatures, such as griffins, black dogs, and feathered serpents. Greek Mythology was one of my first great loves as a child, and remains one of my favorite things to read about and study, though I've branched out somewhat into the myths of other cultures. And I agree with Chip, I'm very glad you didn't make Anubis evil. Lots of fantasy settings that use mythological characters just assume that all death gods are evil, without really reading any of the stories about them, and that irritates me a great deal.

So naturally, I am very curious about the Children of Oberon, and their connection to mythology around the world. I have a lot of questions about them, and I don't want to bother you by posting a ton all at once, so I'm only posting some of them for now. I hope 6 in one post is not too many.

1. a. Are Children of Oberon vulnerable to steel, since it contains iron? Oberon reacted badly to Elisa's gun which she said was "steel alloy" but I have no idea what bullets themselves are made of, or if Oberon knows what bullets are. And the spear that Anansi was stabbed with looked to me like steel.
b. Can Children of Oberon be harmed at all by non-iron weapons, such as a bronze sword, or fire, or a laser?

2. a. In the past when asked if the Third Race need food you answered "Yes, depending on their chosen form." To clarify, do you mean that they only need food when they take a truly mortal form like Owen, but not when they are in a Third Race form (like Puck)? Or that it depends on what shape they take even when not in a mortal form?
b. Do the Third Race need to breathe? I mean, when they are not in a truly mortal form like Owen. c. If they do breathe, what gas do they use? Oxygen, or carbon dioxide, or something else? I'm guessing I know what the answer is, somebody once asked about blood and oxygen and you said they have no blood. I'm just trying to be sure.

3. You've said that some of the Greek gods were Children of Mab but some may have been halflings similar to the New Olympians. Since Zeus and the other Greek gods were worshiped at least as early as 2000 BC, if any of the Olympians were halflings, could any of them still be alive in 1996? Can halflings actually live thousands of years? (without being enchanted by somebody else like Macbeth and Demona were)

4. Were/are the Titans members of the Third Race?

5. I think you've stated that the Aesir were of the Third Race. What about the Vanir?

Thanks again for answering questions from the fans.

Chip writes...

As I mentioned at the '06 Gathering (but you prolly forgot, no big) I am an Egyptology Major and my favorite episode was "Greif". Because A; it portrayed Anubis (Which is his Greek Name BTW, the Egyptians called him Yinepu or Inpu) in a positive light (and as one of the Third Race, cool to tie everything together) B; because it was a well written and powerful episode C; because it explained (Though not in so many words) the blending together of Egyptian Gods (They merge and change roles frequently) and D; because as powerful as Anubis was he could not undo death, even death he caused. Very powerful to me.

Which brings me around to my question, which other gods of Egypt (also called Neter or Netjer just like the Norse gods were called the Aesir) exist in the Gargoyles Universe? Because of the Shapeshifting Nature of the Third Race any number of gods could have fullfilled many roles (as they did in Eygptian Mythology)

Is Thoth in the Gargverse? Osiris? Isis? Set? Horus? Ra? Hathor/Sahkmet? Bes? Sobek? These are just some of my favorites, there are over 10,000 Egyptian gods.

In honesty, I don't expect you to have thought about this as much as I have, but you never know, I might just be surprised (you do that alot)

Rock On!

(OH! PS: if you need an Egyptology Consult for any upcoming issues I'm your guy!)

Shadow Wing writes...

When they speak of Oberon's Law and/or The Law that Cannot Be Broken, does this refer only to the law of non-interference, or in a more general, "his word is law" sense?

Anonymous writes...

Are changelings called to the Gathering?

Apostolos writes...

At Gathering, Part II, when Petros Xanatos shoot and wounded Oberon(deadly, in my opinion) with an iron arrow, why Oberon didn't died? Is he "just" valnerable to iron, or can die by it?
For example, if you cut Oberon's head with an iron sword, would Oberon died?

Raci writes...

How does Oberon maintain his rule over his Children? So far we've seen that many of them have abilities that could probably kill Oberon like Anubis's ability to manipulate life and death and Puck's ability to rewrite reality or is Oberon just much more powerful than the combined might of his children?

dph writes...

Could you please list the following events in chronological order:

1)Oberon overthrew Queen Maeve
2)in reference to City of Stone part 4 in the scene where Bodhe says the English rid their land of gargoyles years ago, the point in time in which the English thought they rid themselves of gargoyles
3)Merlin was born
4)Oberon married Titania
5)Atlantis fell
6)Last Member of the Lost Race died
7)Goliath, Angela, Bronx, and Elisa meet Nokkar

Thank you for answering this question.

Brett writes...

How did Anubis die?