Three races once lived in harmony in this world: Humans, Gargoyles, and Oberon's Children.

Humans built their stone fortresses above gargoyle rookeries and lived side by side with their winged protectors, in turn keeping watch over the unhatched eggs during the day when the gargoyles were stone. The Children lived on the isle of Avalon, and visited mischief upon the younger races as it pleased them.

One thousand and nine years ago, everything changed.

Oberon cast out his Children from Avalon. Humans broke their alliances with gargoyles, and soon nearly their entire race was smashed into rubble and forgotten. In Scotland, north of Argyle, one clan of gargoyles had been decimated by raiding Northmen from the Western Isles, reduced to seven living members, six of them turned to stone until their castle rose above the clouds and the spell was broken. The seventh wandered the Earth, alone, immortal, bitter and cunning. Humans turned to carving grotesques and gargoyles atop their churches and castles to ward them. They just didn't remember why.

Nine years ago, everything changed again...

BROADCAST HISTORY:
Gargoyles premiered October 24, 1994 with a five part premiere entitled "Awakening" which was subsequently reedited and released on video by Disney as "Gargoyles: The Heroes Awaken." After Awakening aired, the show's regular slot was on Fridays as a part of the Disney Afternoon Syndication package. First season consisted of 13 episodes, and second (which premiered Sept. 4th 1995 stripped 4 days a week) consisted of 52, making a total order of 65 episodes. A 13 episode series called "The Goliath Chronicles", produced by Nelvana and distributed by BuenaVista aired on ABC Saturday mornings in the fall of 1996. For information on "The Goliath Chronicles," see Links of Interest.

Gargoyles are not magical beings. They are not stone statues magically brought to life. They are a race that evolved separately from humans. They turn to stone with every sunrise, regardless of whether or not the light hits them ("The Silver Falcon"). They do not fly, but glide like flying squirrels. They have pupils and irises, but when angered, a male gargoyle's eyes will glow white, a female, red. Because they do not age during the day, when they are stone, their lifespans are roughly twice that of humans, ie. a 30 year old gargoyle is the equivalent of a human teenager.

Goliath is the leader of the Gargoyles. Over seven feet tall and 50-plus years old (making him the human equivalent of mid to late 20's), and weighing over 300 pounds, he is physically imposing, but not a big dumb guy. Yes, he's a little slow, but in a ponderous way. Goliath is a real renaissance guy. Fond of reading, he often spends night in the library. He has high hopes that humans and gargoyles can once again live together in harmony. He inherited leadership of his clan from Hudson in 975 CE.

He has feelings for Elisa, but since they are of different species, most of these are platonic. However, in "The Mirror" during the brief period where Elisa was a gargoyle, there was a romantic glimmer. Likewise for the few seconds both of them were human. They denied how they felt, until they survived the Hunter's Moon, and finally came clean to one another about their feelings. Goliath has a deep sense of honour and loyalty, as well as a sense of humour. Basically, an all around great guy. A hero.

Elisa Maza is 1/2 Native American, 1/2 African American. She is a police detective, 2nd class, assigned to the night shift at the 23rd precinct, and it's a family business. Her father, Peter Maza is also a cop, as was her brother Derek. She is impulsive, but never thoughtless.

She's lived in Manhattan all her life, and considers it HER city. She's young, athletic, capable, and smart, and hardly a damsel in distress. Her ability to look beneath the surface made her the perfect human friend for Goliath and his clan.

Brooklyn sees Goliath as his role model, and is de-facto leader of the trio, mainly because he has the most forceful personality. He tries very hard to adapt to this new time, and he very much wants to fit in. For that reason, rejection is all the more painful ("Temptation", "Metamorphosis"), and he's not always able to hide it, from himself or his friends. He bears a special grudge against Demona ("Temptation").

Broadway is the gourmand of the group, although when pressed he'd probably go for quantity over quality. He's a sensitive soul, very protective of Elisa ("Deadly Force"), and loves movies and television ("Deadly Force", "The Silver Falcon"). He is currently learning to read. ("Lighthouse in a Sea of Time"). Broadway has a crush on Goliath and Demona's daughter, Angela.

Lexington is the youngest of the group, and the most technically savvy. This is the gargoyle most likely to be able to programme a VCR on sight, or navigate the world wide web. He wants to know how things work, and will often take them apart to do so, but Lex is no genius, just an instinctive tech. He can't always put them back together.

Hudson is the old soldier, he lead the clan until giving it over to Goliath. He is least adaptive to this new age, the polar opposite of the Trio. However, he has decided he likes reclining chairs and television. But becoming a couch potato hasn't dulled his warrior instincts, and he is a great source of wisdom, as well as a formidable opponent. He is learning to read ("Lighthouse in the Sea of Time"), and has a human friend in Jeffrey Robbins.

Bronx is basically a gargoyle beast. Think Cujo meets the demon dogs from Ghostbusters.

David Xanatos owns New York, if not the world. Powerful, arrogant, and dangerously intelligent, he is a worthy opponent for our heroes. He runs Xanatos Enterprises, a multinational conglomerate with subsidiaries including Genutech Systems ("Metamorphosis"), and Pack Media Studios ("The Thrill of the Hunt"). He lives in Castle Wyvern which he moved to the top of The Eyrie Building, the tallest skyscraper in Manhattan. An excellent hand to hand combatant, master of several different kinds f martial arts, he is also very fond of his gargoyle battle armour ("The Edge"). He is married to Fox ("Eye of the Beholder", "Vows"), and is recently a father.

Owen Burnett is Xanatos' major domo. Efficient, irreplaceable, and completely loyal, Owen was a mystery until the birth of Alexander Xanatos.

"Once upon a time in my travels," the Puck revealed when the Gathering began, "I had chanced upon the queen posing as Anastaia Renard. What I thought could the queen find so special about mortals that she would choose to dally among them? I decided to find out for myself, but to choose the disguise. What role should the Puck play? Then, my eyes fell upon one Preston Vogel, the stiffest and most wooden human I had ever seen. That's it, I thought, I would Out-Vogel Vogel. After all, the trickster has played many parts over the years , but never straightman. I created Owen Burnett and worked for Anastasia and her husband Halcyon Renard. I loved being Owne! But I hated working for the Renards. Great kids, but very boring! I was more drawn to their daughter, Fox and her then-boyfriend David Xanatos. So,one night I offered him a choice: either a wish granted by the Puck, or a lifetime of service as Owen. He chose Owen." Owen did not wish to leave the World now that the Children's exile had come to an end. He was banished from Avalon for his insolence, and has no access to the Puck's magic except in the instruction of Alexander.

Demona was Goliath's mate, until she conspired with the Captain of the Guard to allow the Vikings to sack Castle Wyvern. She survived the massacre, and spent decades afterwards leading a band of gargoyles until she met MacBeth ("City of Stone") with whom she is linked for all eternity by the Weird Sisters, giving her in effect immortality. At least, until they destroy one another.

She has an unreasonable hatred for humans, blaming them for the massacre of her clan, seemingly unable to acknowledge her own guilt. Her love for Goliath was twisted into hatred, however she still loves him ("The Mirror"). By day, thanks to the Puck's spell ("The Mirror"), Demona is human. As Dominique Destine, she runs Nightstone Unlimited. Demona had no idea that her and Goliath's daughter, Angela, survived the massacre.

Fox Xanatos, nee Janine Reynard, was leader of the Pack, a group brought together by Xanatos for television. However, they moonlight as mercenaries. Sent to jail ("The Thrill of the Hunt") Xanatos staged an escape to give her a shot at an early parole ("The Leader of the Pack") and she moved into Castle Wyvern ("Eye of the Beholder") and they married. She became pregnant and gave birth to their son, whom they named Alexander Fox Xanatos ("The Gathering"). She and her father, Halcyon Reynard, have an uneasy relationship ("Outfoxed").

Captain Maria Chavez is Elisa's boss at the 23rd Precinct. She appears unaware of her subordinate's night-time activities with Goliath and his clan.

Matthew Bluestone aided Captain Chavez in the Dracon case ("Deadly Force"), and was assigned as Elisa's partner ("The Edge"), much to Elisa's dismay. However, Matt's a good partner, if a little easily lead astray by his obsessive pursuit of the Illuminati Society. A former FBI agent, Matt was let go by the bureau because of his hobby, and became a cop. His former partner, Martin Hacker, often aided him (or so he thought) in chasing down leads relating to the elusive Society. However, Matt learned that in fact, Hacker was instructed by the Illuminati, of which he was a lower echelon member, to make sure Matt never came too close ("Revelations"). However, tenacious and clever, Matt not only tracked down an infamous Illuminatus, but bested him. This proved to the Society that Matt was member material, and he was offered a membership in the very society he sought to expose. Matt was at first hurt when he learnt about the Gargoyles, but has come to understand why his partner kept him in the dark. He is a true and loyal friend, as well as head of the city's Gargoyles Task Force ("Hunter's Moon").

The "Weird" Sisters, Phoebe, Luna, and Selene, were left to stand sentinel at the shores of Avalon until they were driven away by a mortal's spell. Seeking revenge, they allied with the Archmage, who set them on their task, one which they heartily embraced. Manipulating Demona and MacBeth for several decades, forcing an alliance and then binding them to one another so that neither can die unless slaughtered by the other, they delivered them to the Archmage as soldiers to help him take Avalon from the human and gargoyle refugees lead by Princess Katharine. They failed, and were beaten once again by the human magus, who died of the battle ("Avalon"). When Oberon called home his Children, they brought those unwilling back into the fold, and also seemed to relish their continued role as henchwomen (The Gathering").

MacBeth mac Findlaech spent his entire life haunted by the infrequent appearances of a female gargoyle who lead her dwindling clan despite those who hunted her kind into extinction. When three old witches offered to help him win the battle against Duncan, High King of Scotland, who had murdered his father and sold his beloved into marriage to an assassin, he heartily accepted, never knowing the centuries of solitude and bitter loneliness would follow. Wishing to end his eternal torment, he hunted Demona, ("City of Stone") has since swallowed his hatred and joined King Arthur on his quest ("Pendragon").

When the northmen attacked Wyvern, Katharine was barely eighteen years old, the orphan of Kenneth MacAlpin's brother, Malcolm. She overcame her fear of the gargoyles too late to save them, but vowed to raised their eggs as if they were her own ("Awakenings"), a vow she fulfilled ("Avalon").

Though the Magus had grown up with her, and loved her desperately, he never revealed this to her, and in time she fell in love with and married Tom, The Guardian ("Avalon"). She refused to leave her adopted home of Avalon when faced first with the Archmage's invasion, and then the return of Oberon and his Children ("Ill Met By Moonlight"). She is now Oberon's honoured guest, and the eggs, now a full-grown clan, Avalon's Honour Guard.

The Magus was a boy when he became the Archmage's apprentice and was only a teenager when the Archmage was banished and he took the position of court mage ("Long Way Till Morning"). He grew up with Katharine, and was her most trusted advisor as well as closest friend ("Awakenings"). He always loved her, but never told her of his love. He is laid to rest in Authur's Cave on Avalon, having perished fighting the Weird Sisters. ("Avalon")

Tom and his mother, Mary, came to Wyvern fleeing the Vikings raiders ("Awakenings"). Tom befriended the gargoyles, and vowed to guard their eggs., becoming The Guardian. He and his mother travelled south to the court of Kenneth II. Tom witnessed the king's murder by Constantine, and when the band of humans fled the usurper to Avalon, he chose to stay with the Magus, Katharine and the Eggs.

As an adult, he took his role as Guardian very seriously. Also, though six years her junior, he fell in love with and lived as husband with Katharine. He travelled to modern day Manhattan seeking Goliath, and brought him, Elisa, and Bronx back to Avalon to battle the Archmage, ("Avalon").

Angela is Goliath and Demona's daughter , and was raised on Avalon with the rest of the Wyvern eggs. She chose to accompany Goliath, Elisa and Bronx back to New York, and is now a member of the Manhattan Clan. Having been raised by humans, she was curious about her parentage, and Goliath resisted, instead trying to instil in her the gargoyle idea of the eggs being the children of the entire clan. He also was concerned about her learning that Demona was her biological mother. Demona, when she discovered she had a daughter, claimed no interest, but secretly tried to protect Angela and wished that her daughter could see her side of things. Angela has an uneasy relationship with her mother, but clearly adores her father. She and Broadway are very close.

Halcyon Renard was a hard father. He expected a level of honesty and responsibility that his daughter Janine, and even his wife Anastasia, could not seem to meet. And so he lost them ("Outfoxed"). However, he and his daughter have reunited since the birth of his grandson ("The Gathering"). We are not yet sure if he knows his ex-wife Anastasia was in fact the exiled Queen Titania. His health is in rapid decline ("Golem"), and though a relatively young man, he is confined to a wheelchair. His is attended at all times by his faithful assistant, Preston Vogel.

Anastasia Renard was not born, but made. When Oberon divorced and exiled his wife ("Ill Met By Moonlight"), after many centuries of life in the World, Titania turned to human science and fell in love with the then young CEO and Founder of Cyberbiotics, Halcyon Renard.

As Anastasia, she bore him a daughter, Janine, who called herself Fox. Daughter and mother were close, and Anastasia went to extreme measures to make sure her grandson had a proper teacher and would not lose his fay abilities. Perhaps too extreme, as it cost Owen Burnett (the Puck) his freedom ("The Gathering"). Titania manipulates her husband Oberon with a deft hand, and he is rarely aware of the extent of her interference. ("Ill Met By Moonlight," "The Gathering").

Oberon, Lord of the Third Race, Ruler of Avalon, banished his Children to teach them humility. Alas, it is not a lesson he learned himself. He remarried Titania, and granted sanctuary on Avalon's shores to the human and gargoyle refugees from Wyvern, after being bested in battle by said refugees ("Ill Met By Moonlight"). He brought his Children home (forcibly, in some cases) and attempted, at the urging of his wife, to take Alexander Xanatos from his parents so that the child would be raised on Avalon with full access to his fay heritage. After a prolonged battle with the baby's parents and the Manhattan clan, he compromised, banishing the Puck instead, to serve as Alex's tutor. ("The Gathering")

links of interest