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!"
Gargoyles (first aired from October 24, 1994 – February 15, 1997) is a rare breed of a show, particularly for The '90s (and even more so for a Disney series— the show was originally released under their Buena Vista banner, albeit on The Disney Afternoon). A dark, violent series with a story that follows deliberate arcs and does things very rarely seen in the average Western animated show of the time.
The main characters of the series are gargoyles, large winged humanoids (their appearance is vaguely demonic, though saying so is insulting to them) that are extremely (almost literally) nocturnal — they turn to stone, no matter what, when the sun rises. Once, there were many gargoyles, but interactions with humanity have led to their species becoming endangered. The main characters survived a purge in the year 994 thanks to a magical spell that made them permanently statues — at least, unless the castle which they were protecting were to ever "rise above the clouds".
One thousand years later, it did. Billionaire David Xanatos (yes, that Xanatos) bought the ruined castle, then had it transported brick by brick from Scotland and rebuilt on top of his skyscraper in New York City. This action broke the curse for good, reviving the dormant gargoyles in a land and time far from their home. He didn't do it for altruistic motives, though; eventually, Xanatos and the clan of gargoyles became enemies. The clan manages to make an ally in New York detective Elisa Maza, however — and with her help, they work to protect their new home while simultaneously adapting to it.
Gargoyles spans fantasy and science-fiction genres, and its plot would eventually involve magic, robots, The Illuminati, god-like fairies, numerous characters straight out of Shakespearean plays, and much more. In general, All Myths Are True in this show.
The show is also famous for the intricacy of its villains and plots (though a small handful are Card Carrying Villains while others can be shallow Jerkasses); in particular, the charismatic and manipulative nature of Xanatos is why the Xanatos Gambit was named after him. Even the heroes are individuals with their own wants and desires that don't always lead to peaceful relationships.
The initial incarnation of the show lasted two seasons and sixty-five episodes. It was followed by a retooled third season — Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles — but since most of the original writers, including Michael Reaves and Brynne Chandler (who wrote the majority of Season 1, and much of the best of season 2) were no longer involved, and there was Executive Meddling, in addition to extreme tightening of schedules as well as Charles E. Bastien of Nelvana fame taking creative control, The Goliath Chronicles took Gargoyles from being a serialized, dark action series into a more lighthearted, and at times, comedic romp. Most fans and series writer/producers (including Greg Weisman) consider the third season to be subpar and almost certainly noncanon.
The series has had Comic Book series including:
- Gargoyles (Marvel) (1995) - Series from Marvel that makes references to elements from Season 1 but is different enough to be considered a separate canon.
- Gargoyles: Clan Building (2006-2008) - A resurrection of the series in canonical form, picking up with an alternate timeline after a comic-book retelling of the opening episode of The Goliath Chronicles before going on to weave an entirely new story; it also resulted in a spin-off title, Gargoyles: Bad Guys. When the publisher, Slave Labor Graphics, was hit with higher licensing fees imposed by Disney, both books were cancelled. Greg Weisman has vowed to find a way to continue the story, leading to:
- Gargoyles (Dynamite) (2022-present) - In July 2022 it was finally announced
that Greg Weisman would return to write a new series of comics under Dynamite Entertainment that take place after the events of the previous SLG continuation. In addition to reprints of the Marvel and SLG comics, the revival has included:- A "season 4" with the first twelve labeled as the Here In Manhattan arc.
- A prequel miniseries titled Dark Ages.
- Two one-shots. One set in Halloween and another set in winter.
- A 5-issue arc after Here In Manhattan titled Quest that involves another attempt by Demona to rule over the human race via three new Keys of Power.
- An 5-issue Demona-centric series starring the eponymous character and set after the events of the City of Stone flashbacks.
- Two official crossover one-shots with The Fantastic Four arriving in October 2025.
- An official crossover with Darkwing Duck arriving at January 2026.
The show and the universe it created still has an active online fanbase — well, semi-active through late 2020, anyway. (But they did apparently read this site.)
As a side note: in what became somewhat of an inside joke, many Star Trek actors, particularly those of The Next Generation, but including The Original Series, Deep Space Nine and Voyager, had at least cameo roles in the series. Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis played the primary villains Xanatos and Demona; Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, and Kate Mulgrew all played recurring roles; and the guest stars included Avery Brooks, Colm Meaney, LeVar Burton, and Nichelle Nichols.
DVDs of the complete first and second seasons are available for sale, with all episodes uncensored. The complete series, including the non-canonical third season, is available to stream on Amazon.com as well as on streaming service Disney+. In addition, filmmaker Jordan Peele has expressed interest in making a movie based on the property, and Weisman has raised the possibility of reviving the series on Disney+. In October of 2023, a live action series based on the cartoon was announced to be in development for Disney+. Horror veteran Gary Dauberman (It, Annabelle Comes Home) is attached to showrun with James Wan executive producing though his Atomic Monster production label.
The show was animated by 14 different animation studios: Disney Japan (19 episodes), Koko Enterprises, South Korea (17 episodes), Tama Productions, Japan (7 episodes), Sunwoo & Company, South Korea (7 episodes), Animal Ya, Japan (6 episodes), AKOM, South Korea (6 episodes), Hanho Heung-Up, South Korea (5 episodes), Hong Ying, Taiwan/China (2 episodes), Saerom, South Korea (2 episodes), Sunmin Animation, South Korea (2 episodes), Toon City, Philippines (2 episodes), Disney Australia (1 episode), Wang Film Productions, Taiwan (1 episode) and Hahn Shin Corporation, South-Korea (1 episode)note .
A video game loosely based on the series' Season 1 was released for Sega Genesis in late 1995. Almost 30 years later, it was reworked into Gargoyles Remastered for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on October 19, 2023.
