Todd Jensen writes...

You mentioned here recently that if the series had continued, or if it were to be revived, you'd eventually do an episode based on the Faust legend.

My question about this: would this story be a bit of a problem from the S&P level, in view of the fact that a focal point of the Faust legend is his deal with the Devil, something that could be drawing very close to elements of a living religion? Of course, you already were able to use the Golem in "Gargoyles", and had plans to make use of the Holy Grail, so it's certainly likely that you have a means of making Faust and Mephistopheles's bargain workable in the Gargoyles Universe without bringing in explicit Christian elements, but I thought that I'd ask about this one anyway.

Ruthlis Ahbanden writes...

1. Did Robin Hood exist in the Gargoyles Universe?

2. If so, do you see him as a normal human, or someone with some connection to magic?

Ed writes...

Did the mediaeval witch-hunts ever actually kill any witches? Were there even very many around to be killed at that time?

Ed writes...

In the Gargoyles universe, whatever happened to Atlantis?

LSZ writes...

Does the survival of the Loch Ness Monster have anything to do with the fae or the Lost Race?

Kayless writes...

October and Halloween are approaching so I thought I'd ask some Werewolf questions.

1. Wolf is a genetically altered Werewolf. The Eye of Odin briefly turned Fox into a Werefox. Yet we never saw a true Werewolf despite Princess Katharine's hint; 'silver be for Vampire's and Weres'. Did you ever intend on featuring one in your stories or did the aforementioned characters fill your personal quota for Werebeasts?

2. Are the Werepanthers (can't remember their names) vulnerable to silver like Werewolves? They didn't seem like true Werebeasts to me due to the fact that they changed into full panthers and not hybrids, as is customary with most Werewolf tales.

3. Is it possible for a Gargoyle to contract Lycanthropy? (Mighty inconvenient since Gargs are only active at night)

4. Or a Fae? (Highly unlikely but you never know)

5. Or a New Olympian?

6. What is cause of Lycanthropy? Is it a curse based on Fae magic like in 'Mark of the Panther' or something else?

7. Is it something you're born with or something you contract? Or possibly both?

8. What would a Werewolf change into? A full wolf or a bipedal hybrid?

9. How much control do they maintain over their altered forms? Are they savage beast like the creature Fox turned into, or do they retain their lucid thoughts?

10. Do they change ever night, during the full moon, or at their leisure?

That's probably enough Lycanthropic related question for now.

Justin writes...

Greg,
You mentioned that you consider vampirism to be a curse.
What if a gargoyle were to be cursed? Vampires can't be in daylight or they will die. But a gargoyle/vampires gotta sleep! So what chnages would happen?

Adam writes...

You gave the ages of most of the characters before. I found the answer in the Old Archives (do a search for the word "biological" and you'll eventually come to it). A few people have asked about ages on the "Questions Being Submitted" page, so it's quite possible that you'll have give this answer by the time you get to this question. Just in case you haven't, here is your original response:

Ages in parenthesis represent biological age when that age differs from the character's chronological age.
As of December 31, 1996:
Hudson - 1118 (59)
Goliath - 1058 (29)
Trio - 1038 (19)
Angela - 952 (21)
Bronx - 1018 (9)
Demona - 1058 (35)
Coldstone - 1058 (28)
Macbeth - 991 (52)
Xanatos - 41
Fox - 30
Alexander - not yet 1
Elisa - 28
Talon, Dracon - 26
Beth - 21
Katharine - 1020 (62)
Tom - 1010 (52)
Gabriel, Ophelia, Boudicca - 952 (20)

Siren writes...

1.)In the Gargoyles Universe are there mermaids?
2.) " " unicorns?
3.) " " dragons?
4.) " " Pegasus
5.) " " gryphons?

Todd Jensen writes...

One last post.

You revealed in your last batch of answers that Gabriel is the leader of the Avalon clan. I will confess that this revelation amuses me a bit because of a slight echo here with "Paradise Lost" (which might be coincidental, of course, but which I'll mention anyway).

In Milton's epic poem, the original Gabriel (the Archangel) is portrayed as the leader of a squadron of angels stationed in the Garden of Eden to guard it (and who clashes briefly with Satan at the end of Book Four). Both the Garden of Eden and Avalon are earthly paradises; both are also associated with apples (although the general consensus of biblical scholars is that the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden wasn't an apple after all). And now both have as the leaders of their guardians a figure named Gabriel. I must confess that I rather like this touch, even if you didn't have Milton in mind when you came up with it.

John writes...

Hi Greg
It is just impossible, how you beat people, asking you mad questions. So I wanna sak you a good one:
Did you EVER thought about let one of the charakters die????? That would be bad for the fans (and for you, of course) but it would be good for the story and the dramatic. Please, don´t think, that I didnt like the show. I think, that if you really decide to let one of the Gargoyles die, that I´m the first, that throws tomatos at your house;-).
cu, John

Aris Katsaris writes...

Mary Mack> "The oldest known legend about vampires comes from ancient Greece, where they were known as Vrykolakes-- uncorrupted human corpses inhabited by the spirit of a demon."

Just for the record, nowadays, the greek word Vrykolakas is the standard translation for "vampire" - however the concept conveyed by the word is nowadays the more common vampire we're all accustomed of hearing/reading about - not the variation you cite.

Aris Katsaris writes...

To Duncan Devlin who said: "I don't quite understand the response. From my experience, not ALL things are true."

Let me just paraphrase a sentence of Terry Pratchett: "All things are true, for a given value of 'true' "

Ed writes...

What species are vampires? One of the big three, or hybrids, or something completely different?

Todd Jensen writes...

This is a sort of response to your comments on doing or not doing a Gargoyles/super-hero crossover of any sort. You mentioned that you didn't see it happening, short of a crossing between parallel universes, because the Gargoyles Universe and the super-hero universes of DC and Marvel Comics are very different in style. From what I know of mainstream super-heroes (which, I will confess, isn't all that much), I can certainly agree with you.

Take Batman, for example. The Batman Universe is clearly different enough from the Gargoyles Universe. In the Batman Universe, the "super-villains" are more out in the open, with the public all too aware of them. In the Gargoyles Universe, the "super-villains" are more low-profile; the general public don't know that Demona, Thailog, Oberon's Children, and the Illuminati actually exist. They know about Xanatos and Macbeth, but only in terms of their public personas; they know about the Pack, but only as "TV actors who went bad" - I haven't seen any indications that the general public know as yet about Jackal and Hyena being cyborgs now or Wolf being a mutant wolf-man. They don't even know for certain about the gargoyles until the end of "Hunter's Moon Part Three" - and even then all that they know is that the gargoyles exist, and nothing more than that.

In conventional super-hero universes, the weird and paranormal is very public and high-profile, known to the public. In the Gargoyles Universe, the weirdness exists just as surely, but is far more "covered up". For this reason, I can't seriously imagine Batman or Superman or Spiderman or the X-Men existing in the same universe as the gargoyles.

Todd Jensen writes...

Somebody asked a little while ago here (and you answered it) about Cuchulain's association with a gargoyle beast, the "Hound of Ulster", and how it differed from the actual real-world legends about him. For my own part, I don't really have a problem with the difference, because it makes sense to me that Cuchulain having a gargoyle beast for an ally would get left out of the legends, or altered almost beyond recognition. After all, most humans aren't too keen on gargoyles in the Gargoyles Universe, and that makes me suspect that they wouldn't want it remembered that their own cultural heroes were on good terms with them. (Which probably similarly explains why Geoffrey of Monmouth, Malory, and the rest never mentioned King Arthur being allied with gargoyles).

Todd Jensen writes...

Just thought that I might tell you that I was very amused (LOL), in fact, by your answer to the question about whether pigs can fly in the Gargoyles Universe ("I've got the bacon, do you have the catapult?") - particularly since I'd never imagined firing pigs from a catapult as a means of accomplishing that feat.

Todd Jensen writes...

This is something that I recently thought of, in light of your comments about maces being a gargoyle's natural enemy. According to what I've read and heard, "maza" is actually Spanish for "mace". While I don't think that that was a consideration in making it Elisa's surname (given that you said that you went for it because you were under the impression that it was a Sioux word for "iron" - but later on found out that it wasn't), I did find it amusing and ironic, and thought that you might be interested in learning this as well.

LSZ writes...

Were there any plans to incorporate Beowulf and the Grendel(s) into the Gargoyles universe? If so, what were they?

Joxter the Mighty (repost by Aris) writes...

Hi Greg, thanks for taking the time to answer all our questions, you don't get thanked often enough! Now, these are about the Santa Claus idea you've mentioned...

1) When you bring in Santa, do you intend to also bring in the elves?
2) Do you also intend to bring in the reindeer?
3) If you did bring in the reindeer, would they have the traditional names? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Rudolph, etc.?
4) Would your Santa have been based on the common legend or more on the original inspiration, Saint Nicholas?

Just curious, cause tho I trust ya, Santa seems a bit farfetched, even for gargs...

The Magus writes...

Greg-

Since Magus is not Magus' real name and only a title, is it correct to conclude that had his study in the magic arts continued he would one day be known as Archmage? Also, are there any titles, before/after Magus and if so what are they?

Thank you for your time sir, and I apologize for waiting two years to ask these questions.

The Magus writes...

Greg-
About two years ago you were totaly honest with me when I asked what the Magus' birth/given name was. You told me (and I thank you for your honesty) that you did not know what his name was because you had not decided on it. My question then is-
1. Have you decided on what his real name is?
2. What is the name (first, last and middle) that you have decided to give him?

ANGELA writes...

Hi, Greg. I noticed something in "Hunter's Moon: Part 2" that was inaccurate. When Angela wasn't breathing, and Elisa performed CPR on her, she was doing it wrong. Elisa was pushing directly on the breasts, when in reality you are suppossed to push just below the breastbone so that you can move the lung sac to force air into it. Now, if someone were to watch this particular show, and then in reality someone actually imitated what they saw to someone, they could make matters worse or even kill them. I was watching the news one day, and they were talking about how on the kids' show "Rugrats", a character was choking on an eraser and another character performed the hiemlich maneuver to save their life. This happened in real life at a grade school, and the child, remembering what they had seen on the TV show, preformed this procedure and ended up saving the other child's life. I was just concerned that if kids or anyone for that matter were to watch this scene in the Gargoyles show, then someone could die because the CPR procedure was not done correctly. Thanks for your time, Greg. I appreciate it! :)

Todd Jensen writes...

In your "Re-Awakening memo", you mentioned a "Madame Serena" as a character who was finally dropped from the story (and never even showed up in the series, in fact). What was she going to be?

Laura aka 'ad astra' writes...

I tend to annoying nitpicking, sorry. When somebody asked why gargoyles have breasts if they lay eggs you responded "Don't tell the platypus". I think they sweat milk all over their body to feed the younguns, and don't use actual breasts. I am less sure of it, but I believe the other egg laying mammal, the spiny anteater, feeds her young with breasts. I spent a lot of time watching PBS when I was little- it annoyed my baby sitters to no end.

The good thing about my extensive knowledge of mostly useless trivia does lead to some interesting tidbits- like: You seemed surprised to find out there is a town in Israel named Dimona. Here's the fun part: Dimona houses a 'toy factory' that is widely believed to be the nuclear weapons facilities. As for the etymology, I don't know.