"One thousand years ago, superstition and the sword ruled.
It was a time of darkness. It was a world of fear. It was the age of gargoyles.
Stone by day, warriors by night, we were betrayed by the humans we had sworn to protect, frozen in stone by a magic spell for a thousand years.
Now, here in Manhattan, the spell is broken, and we live again!
We are defenders of the night.
We are Gargoyles!"
In Scotland, 994 A.D., the castle Wyvern is guarded by gargoyles, creatures that sleep during the day, turned into stone, and are fearsome warriors during the night. In spite of keeping the castle's inhabitants safe, the gargoyles are not respected nor appreciated by them, except for the Captain of Guard who sees great value and honor in these creatures. After being betrayed by the only human they trusted, most of the gargoyles are killed while sleeping, and out of anger the Magus puts a spell on the surviving gargoyles so they also sleep during the night. In 1994 A.D., the billionaire David Xanatos purchases the castle, moving it to the top of his skyscraper in Manhattan. With the castle above the clouds, the spell is broken and now the Scottish gargoyles live again in a world that they know nothing about. The Clan is still reluctant about trusting humans, but after meeting Elisa Maza they find a reason to befriend humans again.
Gargoyles first aired in syndication on October 24, 1994, and ran for two seasons, sixty-five episodes. The first season deals with the Clan's troublesome adaptation to this strange world where it is difficult to know who can they trust. We meet the heroes: Goliath, Hudson, Brooklyn, Lexington, Broadway, Bronx and Elisa, and the villains: Xanatos, the Pack, Dracon, the Archmage and the ambiguous MacBeth. Worse than any of these foes are old friends that became enemies: Demona and Coldstone. We also meet Matt Bluestone, Elisa's family, including Derek Maza who will play a bigger part in the second season. In the end of this season, the Gargoyles accept New York as their new castle they commit to protect.
The second season had 52 episodes and it featured a bunch of new characters - the Labyrinth Clan, the Puck, the Weird Sisters, Thailog, Angela, Oberon and Titania - and the return of others. This season reveals some of the characters' backgrounds, and in the middle of the season the show endures a radical change in the series format as, during 20 episodes, Goliath, Angela, Elisa and Bronx are sent all around the world by the magic of Avalon to right wrongs. Along the way they make all sorts of allies and foes, and discover that they are not the only living gargoyles in the world. This season finishes with an astonishing and breathtaking three-parter episode that does justice to the whole spirit of the show.
On September 7, 1996 the show made its third season debut as part of ABC's Saturday line up, retooled for a younger audience and renamed
Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles. Series' creator Greg Weisman was only behind the first episode of this season, and when he left the show, he took with him the core of the show that fascinated so many people of all backgrounds, genders and ages. The animation quality dropped drastically and the content of the episodes also suffered a great loss of maturity.
Gargoyles was so skillfully done that it appealed to teens and adults as well as children... It did not feature flat characters or vulgar humor. It did feature fully-rounded, respectable characters with believable lives and personalities that soon revealed that this was not your average children's cartoon. The show ended almost ten years ago, but still today there is a legion of hardcore fans that organize an annual Gathering (a Gargoyles convention since 1997) where Greg Weisman talks about his plans towards the Gargoyles Universe.
This show was made like no other Disney series ever seen. Hardly was there a boring episode, not with villains like Xanatos and Demona, who in every episode conceived one ingenious scheme after another to achieve their goals. The drama and suspense of some episodes forced you to the edge of your seat, feeling overwhelmed by the inventiveness and originality of this carton show. This series' 'attachment' to reality is another reason for it being so appealing to a mature audience;
Gargoyles features references to literature (mainly Shakespeare's), the Illuminati Society, the myths of Loch Ness, Avalon, King Arthur, Golem, the Easter Island, the Stone of Destiny, and several other cultures and traditions.
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"One thousand years ago, superstition and the sword ruled.
It was a time of darkness. It was a world of fear. It was the age of gargoyles.
Stone by day, warriors by night, we were betrayed by the humans we had sworn to protect, frozen in stone by a magic spell for a thousand years.
Now, here in Manhattan, the spell is broken, and we live again!
We are defenders of the night.
We are Gargoyles!"
In Scotland, 994 A.D., the castle Wyvern is guarded by gargoyles, creatures that sleep during the day, turned into stone, and are fearsome warriors during the night. In spite of keeping the castle's inhabitants safe, the gargoyles are not respected nor appreciated by them, except for the Captain of Guard who sees great value and honor in these creatures. After being betrayed by the only human they trusted, most of the gargoyles are killed while sleeping, and out of anger the Magus puts a spell on the surviving gargoyles so they also sleep during the night. In 1994 A.D., the billionaire David Xanatos purchases the castle, moving it to the top of his skyscraper in Manhattan. With the castle above the clouds, the spell is broken and
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