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RESPONSES 2001-3 (March)

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Finally...

I thought I'd never get through the February 2001 questions.


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matt writes...

one more stab at 74...

74- potential

Greg responds...

nope

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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matt writes...

i'm going to get 74 if it kills me!

74- authority

Greg responds...

nope

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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matt writes...

i have no idea, but here goes...

74- influence

we only need 74, 517, and 519, right?

Greg responds...

No, we only need 74 and 517.

And we still need them.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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matt writes...

geez, i've finally been sucked into getting this contest solved!

74- reputable
517- consumed
519- parameters

Greg responds...

74 and 517 are wrong.

519 was answered weeks and weeks ago.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Vashkoda writes...

Goliath and Elisa have carried the theme of inter-species love throughout the "Gargoyles" series. You also implied that Terry and Sphinx's relationship would create a similar theme in the "New Olympians" spinoff. Did you have in mind any other such relationships for the other spinoffs? If so, which ones?

I always post the most right before huge exams. Ask Greg is a great de-stressor (or means of procrastination, whichever you prefer)

Greg responds...

Probably the latter. It certainly is for me.

It's always a possibility in the Garg Universe, but I wouldn't want to make it seem too commonplace.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

How did Cuchulain survive to the modern world?

Greg responds...

Reincarnation.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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TNTBONE@juno.com writes...

I have been trying to find a cell of Goliath in the episode "Ill Met by Moonlight". It is when Goliath and Overon are in a baron place and Overon is throughing rocks at Goliath. Goliath askes Overon if Lady Titania wants the land to beat them or him. He responds with come on then. Goliath lets out a roar and smashes the rocks at his feet. As the dust clears Goliath is in a muscle pose with wings spread and eyes glowing white. This is the specific cell I am searching for. Please assist me with any info you have to help seek out this picture/cell. Thanks TBONE

Greg responds...

Sorry, TBONE, but you obviously haven't even looked at the archives. If you had, you'd know I don't have a CLUE where you could find this or any other cell. I don't work in consumer products or retail. Good luck, though.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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matt writes...

okay, Dirk, i have to agree with you about Sixth Sense, the movie was awful and i guess people today will forget about an hour and a half of crap if they get mildly surprised in the end, what a dumb movie.

i don't agree with you at all about your dislike of Coldstone and "High Noon". i admit that i think there should have been more time between "High Noon" and "City of Stone" and that viewers had to understand alot to understand this episode, but that doesn't make it a bad episode. one of the best things about "Gargoyles" is that there are so many stories, so many threads and sometimes they are told alone and sometimes those threads can come together to make a great episode. its so interesting when we see the Eye of Odin in "The Edge" and who would of thought we would eventually meet Odin himself, or when Mary and Finella take the Grimorum to hide it who would've thought that they'd meet a timedancing Brooklyn, the story may seem tossed together but its really all a great pattern that makes for a really neat series.

as for Coldstone, i think he is one of the best characters in the show, actually my favirote episode is "Reawakining" where Coldstone is created and most of my other favirote episodes have Coldstone including "High Noon" and "Possesions". Coldstone portrays one of the shows many lessons to learn, that there is good and evil in everyone. Coldstone not only shows this in his behavior, but also very literally in that he has good and evil souls within him. i'm not sure why you think he is silly, he always seemed to be a tortured soul to me, did you ever notice that he has something bad happen to him or a task forced upon him at the end of every episode he is in? i'm amazed that he keeps as good of an attitude as he does sometimes, it probably helps that Desdemona is by his side. the fact that Coldstone and Elisa have the same choice in this episode really gives this episode a good theme and it reminds me of what Goliath says later in "The Hound of Ulster", that being a hero is rarely easy. "High Noon" really shows that our heroes sometimes just don't want to be heroes and don't want to do things that they need to do, but they do it anyway because it is right and the people they care for need them.

i think both Coldstone and "High Noon" were great additons to the series and "Gargoyles" wouldn't be as interesting and fun without them.

Greg responds...

Let me start by saying, I've never seen Sixth Sense. No opinion on that.

Thanks for the defense Matt.

Dirk asked if I could imagine this being the first episode. And my answer is of course, no. But it wasn't the first episode. And it had a "Previously on Gargoyles" clip thing to help new viewers understand. Plus, I feel anything that needed explaining got explained in the course of the episode. "Avalon II" is tough to get in a vacuum. "High Noon" isn't so much.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Dirk writes...

Musings on High Noon:

Point 1--I hate Coldstone. Quite a bit. He's so silly. I mean yes, Gargoyles is totally littered with silly things (Under Manhatten there is an abandoned industrial complex inhabited by flying electric catmen who are the protectors of the homeless. Silly.), but usually it's a case of silly things done well. The cyborg-undead-Cybil gargoyle is a) over the top. b) takes way too much explanation. and c) really never added much to the story.

Point 2--I hated the Sixth Sense. What a stupid movie. Up until the twist ending it appeared to be crappy storytelling. The pacing and the interaction between Willis and his wife seemed way off. They there is the surprise ending! Surprise! The storytelling was intentionally crappy! We end up with a crappy story with a surprise ending.

Basically, High Noon is the crappy coldstone episode with everybody vaguely off-character and Elisa being real tired.
Macbeth and Demona working together AND them knowing where the clan lives comes off as WOW this is out of character. Annoyingly so.
When they steal coldstone my thought is Huh? If I were going to loot the clock tower, Coldstone is the last thing I'd take.
And then, rather then puzzle over why these magic savy characters would steal a comatose robo-zombie rather than three of the most powerful magical items in the world, I dimiss it as another symptom of the apparent bad writing.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Apparent bad writing is the exact same as bad writing.

Furthermore, the important conflicts in this episode are very flat. Elisa's internal struggle comes off as why are they going out of the way to make her so tired? And after the Flagrant nonsense behavior of D&M, her "crisis of faith" gets lost as a little more bad characterisation.
And Coldstone I don't like. He's uninteresting, and the whole ostridge thing he does here just seems ungargoyle and makes me dislike him more.

Finally, this is a REALLY bad episode to reveal that the Wyrd Sisters aren't as benevolent as they appear. It seems so out of character from the previous movie, it's a slap in the face.

So the rundown is:
Demona: Behaving way out of character because a spell has been cast on her.
Macbeth: Behaving way out of character because a spell has been cast on him.
Elisa: Behaving signifigantly out of character because of sleep deprivation and dramatic necessity.
Othello: Not having the ability to develop his character prior to this episode, he is behaving notably different than how I would want and expect a protagonist gargoyle to behave.
The Weird Sisters: Behaving drastically different than what we had led to belive was their character.

Last negative thing I'm going to say: Putting this episode directly after City of Stone just makes it appear that much worse, and we really should have had some down time with Mac and Demona MIA.

Basically, it was FAR below par for a Gargoyles episode, but actually not all that bad.

Iago & Mac: This is Diverting. You have no Idea.
Big fun!

Morgan is so cool.

The Elisa getting no sleep could have been really neat, but It got lost in this messy episode.

Could you imagine this being your first episode!! To understand this episode you need to understand who and what Coldstone is, You need to have seen City of Stone for Macbeth and Demona's relationship to make any sense as well as to understand the Wyrd Sister's role in this. You need to have seen the mirror to get that Demona becomes human these days. And it would be nice to be familiar with the phoenix gate, eye of odin, and grimorum arcanorum so that the end makes sense. There's a lot going on.

What crawled up Iago's butt, anyways?

I don't know what this means but when watching Gargoyles... When I hear Frakes, I hear Xanatos; When I hear Sirtis, I hear Demona; When I hear Spiner, I hear Puck; But when I hear Dorn, I hear Worf! He's got a great voice, and definitely is the coolest thing about Coldstone, but it's distinct. By the same token, when ever I hear Keith's voice, I immediately hear Goliath. It was amusing hearing Goliath Narrating Jazz.

All and all, 3 out of 10.

I've said my piece.

Isaac Kelley
"All your base are belong to us."

Greg responds...

Ooookaaaay.

Well, the one thing I agree with you on is that it probably would have been better if High Noon had come later in that Tier of stories.

Oh, and Morgan is cool.

But otherwise, hey, you are entitled to your opinion. But I just disagree with most of it. Oh, well.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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matt writes...

i was reading the development files for the pilot and i noticed in most versios it was written that Hudson was not the trio's babysitter, Goliath is and Hudson wouldn't like it if he was forced to be their babysitter. i understand that Goliath is the clan leader and therefore responsible for all the gargoyles, but Hudson is the trio's last living rookery father, doesn't that give him some responsibility towards them? why would he be insulted to be a parental figure to the trio, afterall Goliath isn't their father, Hudson is...?

Greg responds...

Good point. Keep in mind, that those old documents were a work in progress. The definitive version of the characters is what you saw on the screen. Not what was written over a year earlier.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Greg;

your response one time was quote, "... who can explain this crazy little thing called love?" (in reference to bronx and boudicah.)

I had a good laugh.

And you thought your smart-ass responses were getting lame!

Greg responds...

Thanks. Out of context it still sounds lame. But maybe it was funnier at the time.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Here are some of my favorite smart-ass responses

Siren writes...

So Greg, which came first...The gargoyle or the egg?

Greg responds...

I did.

Why did Lex start a business?

Greg responds...

Because it was there.

Finding myself lost in that massive "Old Ask Greg Archive," I stumbled across a mention of a missing World Tour episode featuring Coldstone in the Himalayas. What would've happened there?

Greg responds...

An entire story.

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.

Greg responds...

Then you don't watch enough Monty Python.

In the episode the gathering (part 2) what did titania whisper to fox at the end of the episode. I have been wondering this for a long time.

Greg responds...

You and what army?

Oh, yeah. That army. <WAVES> "Hi, guys!"

How do gargoyles view Homosexuality?

Greg responds...

On cable, like the rest of us.

Hey Greg ^_^

I'm a huge E&G fan (Elisa and Goliath, but I'm sure you know that o.O) and I was wondering, in absolutely any way, would Goliath and Elisa EVER have kids? *waits for beating* >;)

Greg responds...

Admit it, for a huge E&G fan, you couldn't be bothered to check either the E or G archive and get your answer immediately. Instead you post a question here and wait over a month for a response that I've already posted MANY times before. Right?

Anyway, "kids" plural?

3. *DO* the other gargs need to shave?

4. If so, what do they shave with, particularly Goliath on the Avalon tour?

Greg responds...

3. Not Angela.

4. Superman checked in periodically, and volunteered his heat-vision.

What is it like for you to have so many people worshiping the ground you walk on?

Greg responds...

Pretty cool most of the time.

And then I get an embarrassing question like this one...

Well, that's enough. Other people had submitted some very good ones as well.

Greg responds...

Thanks. Some of those are pretty funny, I guess.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Mary Mack writes...

Dear Greg,

I went through the Smart-Ass Responses Archive and hunted down my favorites. I'm cold, but I'm smiling.

1. The entire "What did Titania whisper to Fox?" controversy.

2. Wing asks, "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll tootsie pop?"
Greg responds, "The world may never know."

3. "Frank Welker" makes the Stone of Destiny special.

4. Catapult + Bacon = Flying Pigs. And Todd Jensen _definetly_ doesn't watch enough Monty Python.

5. Ed asks, "What... could Sevarius possibly cook up next?"
Greg respnds, "Breakfast?"

6. "All cookies are true. Especially peanut butter cookies." One wonders if you've received some message from a peanut butter cookie.

7. The fate of the Pack Helicopter? "They turned it into a planter." Fuschias, right? They'd look pretty.

8. LSZ asks, "What new villains... would appear in Pendragon?"
Greg responds, "There's the amazing NEW GUY. He's terrifying."

9. Puck asks, "Are gargoyles realy real?"
Greg responds, "You misspelled 'really'." He did, he really did.

10. And the ever-popular, "Do gargoyles leave marks on hardwood floors?"
Greg responds, "There's a smart ass answer in here somewhere, but I just can't find it."
Joxter thought the answer was "Doing what?"
I know the real answer. Gargoyles are just like humans in that they leave marks on hardwood floors when they wear high heeled shoes. Ask any good contractor-- Ms. Dominique Destine has gone through several, I'm sure.

Okay, I'm done making a fool of myself for today. You can all go about your business now, nothing to see here.

Greg responds...

At least no one can accuse us of not having a good time wasting time, right?

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Maureen writes...

As you may know, Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot is currently being re-aired (heh, mostly aired for the first time, 'cause they only showed 6 eps in Fall '99) by Fox. You wrote the second ep, "Out of Whack", with the rather scary subplot of Rusty being afraid he'd get turned to scrap in
"the grinder". You also introduced the Legion Ex Machina, their mole Dr. Gilder/Number Six, and picked a pretty darn cool (and gutsy!) way for Rusty to save the day. Any thoughts on this episode?

Also, are you related to Marlowe Weisman, who also wrote for Big Guy and Rusty?

Nosily yours....

Greg responds...

I know Marlowe, but no, we are not related. I am related to Jon Weisman, my brother, who has also written scripts for Men In Black, Starship Troopers, Max Steel, Hercules and So Weird.

As for "Out of Whack", most of the credit for that episode, and that series, should go to Producer/Story Editor Duane Capizi. The Legion Ex Machina was his idea. And my version of it was very different. Duane rewrote me quite a bit, actually.

But the basic telling of the story is mine. And I thought it was kind of fun. Originally, I was supposed to write a number of Rusty episodes. But then I wound up doing Max Steel instead. Oh, well.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Is Jason Canmore your Mary Sue character?

Greg responds...

I'll say it again. Huh?

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

How is it that the space spawn war hasn't ended after a few thousand years? I mean both sides would have felt the results of the war that they would want to negotiate a treaty.

Greg responds...

So you say.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Who really discovered the Americas in the Gargoyles Universe?

Greg responds...

Why, were they lost?

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Will any other existing characters that we know besides Robyn, Dingo, Yama and Fang serve a stink in the Redemption Squad?

Greg responds...

A "stink"?

Some typos are more equal than others.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Jim R. writes...

I don't mean to sound pecimistic, but I was thinking:

What would happen to the fae (Oberon's children) whenever our sun goes supernova or burns out in about 6 billion years? If it goes supernova it will engulf the Earth with it, or if it burns out, everything living on the planet will die. The reason I ask, is because the fae don't seem to be very interested in exploring space, so since they are immortal, what do you think would become of them? (I feel I might get a smart-ass response to this)

Greg responds...

I'm pessimistic about your spelling.

[Was that smart-ass enough? It just didn't feel like it.]

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Jim R. writes...

Greg,

I just thought to let you know, that I enjoy reading your movie reviews. You see way more movies than I do, so reading some of your thoughts about them is interesting to see whether I would agree if I've seen the movie or not, and to see whether if I should. Ebert and you would be a sight to see...

Greg responds...

If I see more than you, than you must see next to none.

Once upon a time, Cary Bates and I saw like five movies a week. But that was back in the eighties. These days, I'm lucky if I see one movie a month.

But thanks for the kind words.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Cleo writes...

Who is your favorite character on the Show?

Thanks!

Greg responds...

Don't have one. They're all my children.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Vanity writes...

In response to Jim R.

Sorry to sound pompous
But our sun is a main sequence star and thus will never supernova. Our sun will as you say in about 6 billion years grow to a red giant and it may ingulf the Earth or it just may push the planets away from itself repsecting the relations ship of mass to gravity. The last stage in our sun's life will be the white dwarf and black dwarf stages and by then all life on earth will likely be dead. Except for Demona and Macbeth if they haven't killed eachother by now. Oberon's children will most likely not die either being that eternal beings don't die.

Greg responds...

The timeline does not as yet extend out that far.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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matt writes...

i was wondering how far you were on the revised timeline of the series and if you planned on posting it here when you finish. no pressure to get it done or anything, but alot of your answers to questions say things to the effect of: "Don't know, haven't gotten that far in the chronology yet." so i'm a bit anxious to see it...

Greg responds...

I'm currently working on October of 1996 (though the entire thing is in flux until I've finished this pass -- which has to go through 2198 at least.)

As to posting it, I'm not sure. Haven't decided what I'm going to do with it yet.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

How is it that the Stone of Destiny can talk?

Greg responds...

How is it that you can?

I know the above seems only to be a smart-ass response, but think about it.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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matt writes...

would Zafiro and Una's lack of claws on their feet cause them to have alot of trouble climbing walls/cliffs? if not, is it because gargoyles mainly use their arms when climbing a wall/cliff?

Greg responds...

You use what you've got. And you find uses for what you've got.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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matt writes...

in response to "The One":

i've been thinking an awful lot about gargoyle genetics and biology lately and i have some theories, not ideas, personal theories.

in evolution, the weak do not survive to pass on genes, and the strong do. among other things this makes most beings of a species very similar in appearence, at least from outside that species. gargoyles are different obviously, even us humans can see major differences among them, like the ones you mentioned. the reason for this, i think, is because they have bypassed evolution by not raising their young individually, but communally. the strong gargs help in raising the weak gargs and vice versa, this means that strong and weak gargs make it to adulthood to have their own children, this also means that weaker traits arn't dying off and any physical mutations that occur are accepted and continue on. generally though, gargoyles are pretty similar if you look at bone structure or DNA, its like dogs, we've selectively breed them to look different or be able to do different things, but a Poodle is virtually identical to a St. Bernard in its DNA. the fact that gargoyles don't keep track of who's kid is who's also means that occasionally two cousin's or second cousin's will mate and this may cause mutations that further vary what the species looks like.

as for the rookery generations, as Greg as said, there are never actually biological brothers and sisters among a generation, the closest relation is cousins, i even did the math and found that an uncle and niece for instance can't be in the same generation. i have another personal theory that gargoyles, to prevent much inbreeding, biologically find gargoyles attractive that are very different looking from themselves. i know alot of people would say, "What about who they love?" and i agree, but don't we all have some biological prefrences?

i have no idea why the London gargs evolved the way they did, i'm anxious to see Greg's answer to that one...

ok, i'm done with my ramble, what do you think Greg?

Greg responds...

I like it. I like it.

There may actually be a cosmetic mutation gene in Gargoyle DNA.

I'm not saying there is, but I'm not ruling out the possibility.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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The One writes...

1) How do you explain the vast genetic difference in the Gargoyle gene pool? e.g. demon like appearance of the scotish breed, a lower half of the body resembling a snake in the South American, animal-like appearances in the english.

2) Why is there a particular convergance of traits in the English gargoyles to resemble animals? It seems to serve no evolutionary purpose.

3) Since the Gargoyles don't keep track on who are their biological parents and given the nature of their isolated populations, it's highly likely that the Gargoyles have inbred over successive generations. (Even in clans they refer to each other as brother and sister) Do the Gargoyles have the same stigma on inbreding that the humans do? If so, how do they avoid it?

Greg responds...

1. Check the archives. I'm tired of explaining it.

2. So you say.

3. I've answered this too. Sophisticated scent markers prevent inbreeding.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Patrica writes...

Heya, was reading through the Garg Science section, when I came upon this thought, correct anything I say if its wrong. First I'll state what I found, then I'll sum it up with what I came up with.

Females can conceive every 20 years. It takes 6 months for the eggs to develop and be layed. Then it takes 10 years for the eggs to hatch.

Going by this, there would be eggs hatching and eggs laid every ten years. So, in the rookery, every ten years, on the Equinox (I forgot spring or fall... most likely spring) there would be eggs hatching, AND eggs being laid.

So, basically, every 10 years, a different set of females would be conceiving. It'd go every-other-10-years.

Example: Female A conceives and lays an egg. Female B hatches from that egg, 10 years later. At this same time, Female C would lay an egg. 20 years later, Female B conceives and lays an egg. Females A and B are on the same cycle, while Female C is on a cycle set off by 10 years.

Or, to put it another way:
Female A lays an egg. Female B hatches 10 years later. Female A lays an egg 10 years later. Female B lays an egg 10 years later.

Basically: Mother and Daughter alternate on the 10 years. If Daughter has a child, then that child, Granddaughter, would be on the same cycle as Mother. If Granddaughter has a child, Great-Granddaughter would be on the same cycle as Daughter, and so on.

I just looked at how many times I tried to simplify what I was saying... a lot!

I hope I got whatever point I had across.

Here's a note: It's almost midnight here, so if things don't line up well, let me know :).

Greg responds...

No. Because they are all on the same schedule. Half the females aren't laying while the other half are conceiving.

Eggs are layed every twenty years and hatch ten years later. Thus eggs hatch every twenty years too.

Mother's and Daughters don't alternate. For starters, because a ten year old gargoyle is only biologically five years old. Hasn't come close to hitting puberty yet. Even a twenty year old gargoyle is only ten biologically. Gargoyle females basically have three fertile cycles. At the ages of 40, 60 and 80 (biologically 20, 30 and 40). This puts them right in synch with their parents, cycle-wise.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Demona Taina writes...

Well, this is one silly question that I've been pondering about ever since.. well, ever since I first saw the Steel Clan. Why did Xanatos model them after Goliath? I mean, look at the hair, the wings, the face; it is clearly him. Why did he choose Goliath out of the other gargoyles?

Thanks for your time. :)

Greg responds...

Goliath was the biggest and strongest.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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The One writes...

1) When the Magus died, why didn't Goliath try and use the Weird Sisters to resurrect him? Obviously, they had the power to keep MacBeth and Demona's lifeforce going on forever, it seems likely that they could also restore life.

2) Was the Katherine the Magus' only love? By that I mean did he ever have any other serious romantic relations or "crushes" on, and if so, with whom?

3) What was the Magus' real name? I assume he had another name and that his mother did not name him a word that's synomous with sorceror at birth.

Greg responds...

1. I don't agree with your premise. Mac and D had the power. Not the Sisters. They just linked them.

2. Katharine was it.

3. He wasn't born with the name Magus, you are correct about that.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Vashkoda writes...

Iron is obviously harmful to the fey--even deadly. However I don't understand why it is that once Puck and the Sisters were wrapped in iron chains, they followed the orders of whoever captured them. It's not like they weren't able to use magic to free themselves, as Puck was obviously able to cast spells for Demona. I don't see why they couldn't do something simple like turning themselves into mortals or teleporting away and leaving the chains behind. Similarly, I don't see why Oberon couldn't use his powers to escape from the bell (unless the bell shorted out his magic completely, but then I don't understand why this is more harmful than being in direct contact with iron chains).

Any clarification would be appreciated!

Greg responds...

You're just being too literal minded. The iron bell sent out waves of ANTI-MAGIC against a creature of pure magic.

The chains created a bondage/servant situation.

Etc.

Or come up with your own explanation.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Josh Wurzel writes...

Dear Greg,

Puck seems like a pretty powerful little fae, what with the whole soul transferrence thing and turing all the humans in Manhattan into gargoyles (with help from Titania's Mirror) If Puck really wanted to, could he break the Weird Sister's spell over Demona and Macbeth? And why did he serve Oberon? Was he created/bred/conceived for that purpose? Or did he just sign up for the job? And if he did sign up for the job of Oberon's lackey, in god's name WHY did he do it?

Greg responds...

It's harder to interfere with the magic of others than it is to just cast spells of your own.

And as usual, I'd prefer not to quantify who's more powerful.

As to why Puck once served Oberon, that's a long story.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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One writes...

1) The Weird Sisters are capable of mental manipulation and coercion, e.g. MacBeth and Demona stealing the Eye of Odin, Phoenix Gate, and GA. So why didn't the Bean Sidhe simply extract the information that she believed Goliath, Angela, and Elisa through mental manipulation. Is she really fond of torture?

2) Why do Puck, the Weird Sisters, Oberon, and Titania use rhymes and iambic pentameter in conjunction with their magicks while other Oberati such as Anubis, Odin, Bean Sidhe, and the Lady of the Lake do not use such verse to tap into their magick? Is it preference or does the verse somehow enchance the effect of their magick given a certain amount of energy?

3) Since the fae can change their physical form on a whim, why does Odin prefer to stay in the physical form of such an old man?

Greg responds...

1. Mac and D. had to get extremely vulnerable, emotionally exhausted before the sisters could control them. And even with that, they began to fight off the spell in High Noon. The Sisters had to give them a booster. And then let the Archmage+ take over. The Banshee didn't have the patience to be quite so manipulative. Also, don't assume that every power that one Child has another has. Life doesn't work that way. We all have strengths and weaknesses.

2. For casting spells, an entity less powerful than Oberon uses the words to focus the magic. Rhyming helps that. Anubis never cast any spells, that I can recall. And Banshee was using her voice. The Lady did rhyme, as I recall.

3. He's earned it. NOT ALL OF US VIEW AGE AS A NEGATIVE, One.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Jim R. writes...

What was your very first job? And what was the first job that was relevant to what you really wanted to do for a living or that you enjoyed? Was it working on Gargoyles?

Greg responds...

My very first job was in a mail room at American Medical International, Inc.

It had nothing to do with my career aspirations.

My first career oriented paying job was for DC Comics, as a freelance writer.

Gargoyles was YEARS (and many other jobs) after that.

It'd be pretty astonishing if my first job was as the creator and producer of a nationally syndicated tv show, don't you think?

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Andrea L. Marbry writes...

Dear Greg,
Just wanted to offer my very belated congratulations on the Starship Troopers video Roughnecks: The Pluto Campaign, coming out in March 2001 (according to Previews Magazine). Hopefully, this will be the beginning of getting out a whole lot of your work out,
including a certain other show of mine that's near and dear to my heart. Do you know who I can write to in order to get more dvd's and videos of Sony's animated stuff out?

Greg responds...

I don't, no. But you might try RoughneckChronicles.com or something.

I got a copy of that first DVD. I didn't work on those episodes, but they are coming out with a second DVD that has my five Tesca Nemerosa jungle shows on it. It also has a commentary track with me, Producer Audu Paden, Executive Producer Jeff Kline, the various directors of each episode and Rino Romano, the voice of Johnny Rico.

By the way, Troopers has just been nominated for two Emmy awards. One for sound, and the other for Best Animated Series Special Class. If we win the latter than a bunch of us will actually walk away with statues. This is my first emmy nomination. I'm pretty psyched about it.

FYI Gargoyles was nominated for sound emmys. Didn't win, unfortunately. But I was never nominated for that show.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

What legends were the Korean clan based on?

What legends were the Xanadu clan based on?

What legends were the Loch Ness Clan based on?

Greg responds...

It's not quite that straight forward.

And also, I don't want to tip my hand.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Who is going to the gargoyle leader of the labyrinth clan?

Greg responds...

In what era?

Right now, Talon is the leader.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Why didn't we see the Loch Ness clan in Monsters?

Greg responds...

I was saving it.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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matt writes...

do the pendant wearing gargoyles in Guatemala have to sleep as a human does to rest their bodies or does the pendant's magic cover that too?

Greg responds...

They have to rest periodically. Sometimes they nap as humans do. Sometimes they take off the pendants and sleep as stone. But the magic also helps compensate. SO ALL OF THE ABOVE, I guess.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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matt writes...

in the archives someone asked who would be the human leader of Wyvern in "Dark Ages" and you responded, "Malcolm once the war was won." what war are you refering to?

Greg responds...

Take a look at "Once Upon a Time There Were Three Brothers" in the OLD ASK GREG ARCHIVE.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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matt writes...

i was wondering what your thoughts were on the fact that the English rid their lands of gargoyles before many other gargoyle/human relationships fell apart. in Scotland, Japan, Guatemala, and probably other clan locations, humans and gargs were getting along alright in the 1000's but the English got rid of the gargs, why? what really bugs me about them doing this is that like in many other places in the world, gargoyles were having an effect on myth and culture, more so in England than many other places. gargoyles seemed to have been a very positive influence in England because lions, unicorns, griffons, etc. all became English symbols of honor, strength, courage, and power, why use and keep these symbols when banishing the people who influenced them, the gargs? unless somethng happened in England to make them hate gargs alot, i don't understand how a people could honor a people and then turn around and banish them...

Greg responds...

England considered itself more civilized. They weren't the only "nation" (and I use the term loosely and anachronistically) to get rid of their 'goyles. And England did a worse job than most.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

What body parts did Jackal and Hyena sacriface for the upgrade?

Greg responds...

Arms and legs mostly. Body mass.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Vashkoda writes...

1a) Which race and civilization (or "clan" if they were gargoyles) created the Cauldron of Life? b) Which was the Cauldron made of--mortal, fairy, or some other magic? c) If it was made of mortal magic, did the mortal energies have any adverse effect on Puck when he dipped in his hand (other than the petrification itself), or was he spared any possible additonal effect because he was in mortal form as Owen?

2a) When the Cauldron's iron was reforged into the Coyote robot, was its ability to turn objects to stone lost? b) Did the Cauldron have any magical abilities other than petrification? c) Did the magic in the Cauldron's iron really make it more effective at capturing the Coyote fae, or would regular iron have been just as effective? If the Cauldron was made with mortal magic, did these mortal energies play a part in its effectiveness as a prison for fey?

3) What did Xanatos do with the magical iron after that Coyote robot was disabled?

Greg responds...

1a. That's a story in its own right.
1b. Mortal, largely.
1c. No adverse effects on Puck.

2a. Not necessarily.
2b. Not necessarily.
2c. Didn't hurt.

3. Wouldn't you like to know?

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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matt writes...

i know Xanatos used the Cauldron of Life in Coyote's reconstruction cuz it was iron and would hold Coyote the Trickster, but couldn't he have used any old iron to do this? some may say that Xanatos used the Cauldron so as not to be wasteful, but i think he really was wasting the Cauldron on something that any iron would do. so why did he use the cauldron?

Greg responds...

He wasn't taking any chances, I guess. He wanted his robot to not merely be iron, but to be magically powerful.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Anonymous writes...

Why does Boreas resemble Highfather?

Greg responds...

Well....

There's no doubt that Kirby strongly influenced the entire NEW OLYMPIAN concept.

Having admitted that gladly, I don't think they look that much alike. Boreas is long and lean, with strange eyes and wings. Highfather is big and bulky, with a completely different attire.

The only thing they really have in common is a white beard.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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matt writes...

at the end of "The Mirror" Demona is looking out the window at the sun and she says, "I can't believe it, he actually did it. And the sun is so warm." i'm wondering, did she say she can't believe it because she thought Puck was playing games with her when he cast the spell or because she was astonished that the spell actually worked?

Greg responds...

The former. Which includes the latter.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Vashkoda writes...

1) Have you given any thought to how MacBeth and Demona will die--if they ever do?

2a) Can you think of any specific way in which the magical bond between them can be dispelled (other than through death)? b) Can the bond be altered in any way, or are the conditions fixed?

3) Demona and MacBeth asked for the Sisters' help, and thus they were justified in magically linking the two together and "interfering in mortal lives". But once that act is ended, how can they put the two under a geis and force them to steal the magical artifacts and fight for the Archmage (I doubt they were given permission)? Does Oberon's law permit them to continue interfering with any mortal whose life they've already once affected?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2a. Not telling.

2b. Not telling.

3. Emotionally exhausted, Demona and Macbeth relinquished their personal sovereignty. Watch the scene again.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Vanity writes...

Hey:
1) Does Burbank have a bad eye like Hudson?
2) Does Burbank,(after adjusting to making his own choices) like the same activities as Hudson?
3) Whose idea was it to make the clones? I don't mean YOU I mean Demona or Thailog. I mean I am sure that making clones is a very expensive and time consuming endevour and it seems odd to think Demona would be happy to have clones of the clan she hates. Of course Demona doesn't exactly think things out very well....

Greg responds...

1. No.

2. Not necessarily.

3. Thailog's initially. But Demona didn't resist the idea.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001

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Solicia writes...

Any big plans for Demona?

Greg responds...

Sure.

Response recorded on March 29, 2001


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