Fanfic / Christine Morgan's Gargoyles

A fascinating continuation of Gargoyles, taking the first two seasons as canon and disregarding all but the very beginning of The Goliath Chronicles (barring a couple of key episodes), Christine Morgan presents an engaging look at how the characters’ lives develop as the clan continue their efforts to earn acceptance, find new allies, live with their worst enemy and find new love, hope, and adventure in past, present, and future. Well known for its diverse cast both new and old, as well as it being darker, hotter, and sexier.

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Christine Morgans Gargoyles contains examples of:

• Absurdly Spacious Sewer: As before, the Labryinth gets this treatment, being big enough for an entire homeless shelter that the Labyrinth Clan, the Mutates, consider their protectorate. They also pick up the clones and a few other genetic oddities over the course of the series, and some areas are big enough to set up tents and lean-tos.
• Academy of Adventure: Sterling Academy, where Aiden (and Birdie) study. Its also a secret meeting place for the Illuminati, who have their Hall of Antiquities there. Apparently in the not-too-distant future, they’ll even have courses in magic and have their own gargoyles on the faculty.
• Action Girl: In addition to the original cast, the likes of Aiden, Birdie, Elektra, and many others join the cast ready to kick copious amounts of butt. It’d be easier listing the ones who aren’t this. Ventura is more of a Dark Action Girl.
• Adaptational Heroism: Partially. In the Goliath Chronicles, the only time we ever saw the Illuminati upper echelons they set up Goliath to ruin gargoyles reputation and come close to assassinating a good man, saved only by Xanatos having a change of heart. Decidedly villainous. In Christine Morgan’s stories, while the Illuminati still contain more than a few snakes, their Grandmaster is a cultured, dignified man who wants peace and prosperity for the world. The worst acts he (and the Illuminati through him) take is generally only to conceal the truth because people are not yet ready for it.
• Aerith and Bob: As more and more characters get introduced, this does become a thing as both past, future, and unusual naming conventions take place. Even amongst Goliaths clan, which already sported a bit of this during the show proper.
• All Bikers are Hells Angels: Shortly before being formally mated, the Trio again hit the road on the repaired gargoyle motorcycle, and run into these at a Bad Guy Bar. Since they’re in disguise, initially it all blows over, but eventually they’re discovered and all hell breaks loose. It doesn’t help this particular batch of bikers are also Quarrymen.
• All Myths Are True: In addition to those already known, quite a few more crop up. Psychic powers, alternate universes, and more. Including a tongue-in-cheek reference to the origins of Christianity, of all things.
• Always Chaotic Evil: Demons, even the pleasant ones, are always out to find a way to screw you over. Sometimes literally.
• Amplifier Artifact: Hecate’s wand is this for mortal sorcerers, boosting their power tremendously.
• Anachronism Stew: The Avalon clan, despite largely being medieval in nature, do know the modern world is out there, and advancing, and during Broadways visit, he introduces them to many modern delicacies, since their larder is magical and simply “creates” food out of thin air. Naturally, they all quickly become fans of nachos, pizzas, and ice cream.
• …And That Little Girl Was Me:
  • Cordelia tells a "Fairytale" about a girl who dreamed of dancing, but was seduced and left pregnant, gave birth to two girls, and had to give her dream up to raise them. The two girls grew up hated by the mother (and hating her in turn) until she one day overdosed, and one ran away. It is all but confirmed that Cordelia is the other girl in the story, and the one who ran away was her sister Cassandra. She simply chose the framing device of "fairytale" to better explain her ugly history with her mother and sister.
  • Also during a campout, the hatchlings are treated to a ghost story by the camp counselor, who tells them the tale of how a girl was murdered by her evil brother, hence the name of the nearby lake as Angel Lake. After asking what happened to the brother, he replies jokingly, that the brother became a camp counselor, and mock lunges at two of them and laughs evilly. They all share a good laugh over it. It becomes considerably less funny later on.
• Arch-Enemy: Exaggerated from the series, this trait seems to all but define Demona. Not only is she the Arch-Enemy for Goliaths clan as a whole (virtually all of them have some sort of beef with her) but she also collects them in the form of Macbeth, the Hunter, and others as time goes on. For Demona herself, its still vehemently Elisa Maza, first and foremost.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: If not the only rule to run a clan, it certainly seems to be a prominent one. Also, the Sisterhood, who prize stronger, more dangerous kills to increase their standing in the hierarchy of Hell, and lead via strength.
• Ax-Crazy: Demona tends to get more and more unhinged as the story goes on and her plans continue to fail and be thwarted. Naturally, her first reaction to almost any problem is murder, especially in regards to humans. Jericho tends to be the same way, in no small part because he wants to please his mother, who is also this.
• Badass Family: The Manhattan Clan, and by extension the Labyrinth Clan, the Maza Family, the Avalon Clan, and many others. Then there’s also the St John family, the Grandmaster, his nieces Cordelia and Cassandra, and that was before they added in a little fey blood thanks to Owen. The Canmore’s as well.
• Big Bad: Demon continues right where she left off at the end of the series, though as time goes on she finds she’s little more than a pawn for the Greater-Scope Villain the Dragon.
• Big Good: Goliath remains this, the greatest warrior and leader of his time (and possibly of all time). Virtually everyone defers to his leadership, and he has a way of speaking that imparts the importance of what is being done to the one doing it. Even in the near future, no one wants to contemplate the night he will pass away. In an alternate timeline where he never turned to stone that fateful night, it lead to a great age for the gargoyles at Castle Wyvern, sure, but it also lead to a much darker present in the modern age where he had long since perished centuries ago and gargoyles are hunted to the point of extinction.
• Blackmail:
  • Both Godiva and Anton Sevarius (sometimes at the same time) frequently blackmail Xanatos, knowing a lot about his dirty secrets and questionable actions from the early years, when he resurrected dead bodies and cloned gargoyles and even played at being a god, to say nothing of the countless laws he's broken. Neither of them act on it, but the fact that they can riles David Xanatos up every time he considers it.
  • While the term does not come up, Xanatos is again blackmailed by Titania, in the guise of Lydia, marrying his father. While he discovers her ruse shortly before the wedding, he can't bring himself to ruin his father’s obvious happiness with a new wife. And so he quietly says nothing, all the while worrying that “Lydia” is getting far too close to his own wife Fox and son Alexander.
• Body Surf: Anton Sevarious came up with a technique called “Brain-Tapping” that allows him to store his memories on a disk, pop it out of his head upon his death, transfer it to a clone of himself, and carry on as if nothing had gone wrong. Naturally, it all goes wrong. Later on, the same technology allows him to hijack the Godiva robot and use it for his own ends. And then, Sabrina Indra hijacks it (and him) in order to regain her mobility. When they are captured, she tricks them into downloading Sevarius (instead of her) and escapes with the robot, now for all effective purposes Godiva. Sevarius is instead put in her broken body.
• Call-Forward: During a flashback story, David and Janine meet. Spotting her in a gym leotard, he outright whistles and calls her a fox. Later, in another flashback story, Owen expresses surprise he knows her, when she is performing under the stage name Fox. His quote echoes Macbeths claim regarding Demona in his introductory episode.
  Xanatos/Macbeth: “Know her? I named her!”
• Calling Card: An incubus murderer in an early chapter of the story is hunting down and killing men, and always leaves a perfect black rose at the scene of his crimes. When Elisa has an entire bouquet of black roses delivered to her home, it alerts her that the killer is fixated on her. And then she takes another look at the list of victims...
• The Caper: One of the early chapters is focused on Demona attempting to steal from the Illuminati, using Vito Draconi as her catspaw. He executes most of the heist himself, though there is a preliminary planning chapter and then its execution when he gets the object she wants for her.
• Character Development: Across the board, as it was in the main series, characters continue to grow and develop as they become more experienced. New characters introduced early do this as well, in particular Aiden, who grows from a shy, mousy girl to a kickass sorceress over the course of the stories. David and Fox Xanatos also continue to grow into the roles of being a father and mother for Alexander, and thus less villainous as a result.
• Chekhov's Boomerang: The Grimorum Arcanorum, the Eye of Odin, and the Phoenix Gate all come back for a few cameos, mostly in flashbacks (given that most have been destroyed or removed from play). Also comes into play with the Grimorum Necronomicon, which Demona shows in a later chapter, and which subsequently re-appears in the past in the possession of the then Magus (future Archmage). Appropriate for a time traveling object, the Phoenix Gate is eventually re-constructed by Alexander Xanatos, who reveals his is the original, which is subsequently lost in the past, so it can be discovered and “fulfill its place in history” like it did/has/will/going to/before.
• Child of Two Worlds: Quite a few hybrids crop up over the course of the story. Amber has it worst, however, because she knows from birth she's a half-and-half, unlike Elektra, or Fox, who had no idea of their heritage until grown and adjusted to their lives. Poor Amber also, thanks to her altered aging, remains younger than her human friends but find herself older than her gargoyle siblings, making her truly feel she has no place amongst either.
• Christmas Carolers: During the Christmas Special, Angela, Brooklyn, Lexington and Aiden go castle-to-castle singing for such characters as the mutates in the Labyrinth, Macbeth, and even Demona, of all people.
• Classy Cane: Several characters take to using them, most notably the one held by Jason Canmore (which bears his initials), and Gustav Sevarius. The former because of a lingering disability he is shaking off, the latter due to age. Both make handy weapons in a pinch too.
• Cool Boat: The Margot, a huge ocean liner prepped specifically for the Yuppie Couple’s leading lady herself. Naturally, it sinks after one story, thanks to an attack by robbers Tony Dracon and Thomas Brode.
• Cool Old Guy: A few crop over in the story, not least of which Senator Bill Harmond, who advocates on behalf of gargoyle rights and is generally a nice fellow. Also the Grandmaster of the Illuminati, who compared to the backstabbing snakes under him genuinely has the best interests of humanity at heart. Gustav Sevarius subverts this, being a lot more creepy with his work on mind control and supplication.
• Crash-Into Hello: Birdie, temporarily in the form of a gargoyle and not yet a master of gliding, does this to Broadway. She quickly rolls with it, while he’s left dumbstruck.
• Crossover: One chapter features the ER characters Mark, Carol, Doug, Carter and Jerry, working in the ER to help deliver a rather unusual baby. Later during Broadway’s Avalon World Tour, they stop at Innsmouth and battle a Cthulu-esque creature and a Squid Clan of Gargoyles. In addition, when Matt Bluestone investigates his fathers mysterious death, he instead finds out dad was apparently recruited by the Men in Black. Jay and Elle cameo. Xaviers Institute for Gifted Youngsters and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are also both mentioned in passing in a serious tone, suggesting they also exist.
• A Day in the Limelight: Virtually everyone from the series gets one of these, a chapter or story wherein they star prominently. Not all are flattering, like Jackal’s appearance working at a strip club.
• Deal with the Devil: Occasionally. Demona makes deals with hellish forces to carry out a masquerade, keeping her safe from a Hunter attack whilst maintaining the illusion that Dominique Destine is human, day or night. Dark forces released that same night also seem to infect Damien, and later he makes a conscious decision to accept such a deal to age up to adulthood and unleash Hell upon Manhattan (with intent to do the world next). Kathe likewise makes a deal with Nate, who made a deal with the same forces, and is in turn reunited with her brother. Exactly as he was on Devil’s Night.
• Dragons Are Divine: In the beginning (apparently), there were two beings, and one was the Dragon, who favored the gargoyle race.
• The Dreaded: Played for Laughs. Aunt Agnes is this to the Maza family, including Elisa. Peter Maza even puts it best when he describes giving her the same respect you should show a rattlesnake.
• Domestic Abuse: All too prevalent in an early chapter with the Scarlet Angel band, when Nick runs it. He regularly abuses, threatens, or mistreats its members, but most prominently amongst them his own girlfriend, Julianna. That all changes when Ebon takes over and forces Nick to flee.
• Double Date: During the aptly titled chapter, Birdie and Aiden decide to surprise Broadway and Lexington at a Scarlet Angel concert. In another chapter, its referenced again as Lexington and Aiden take spring break in Disneyland, and Broadway and Elektra meet up with them there.
• Eldritch Abomination: The Cthulu-esque deity the Squid Clan worship at Innsmouth, who may or may not be the inspiration (if not the real deal) for H.P. Lovecrafts stories.
• Entertainingly Wrong: Harry the Hammer, the Quarryman’s Number One Fanatic, can be amusing in his inner thought process, given how much weight he puts on divine intervention for seemingly everyday mundane matters. Such as when he credits God with resurrecting Dominique Destine, rather than realizing Demona's daytime alter ego is as immortal as she is.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Demona, naturally, still loves Angela, though she tries to manipulate and control her. And then does the same (more successfully) with Jericho. They still care about one another enough that they risk their lives to save one another when Damien is bringing Hell down upon the world. By contrast, Damien hates no one, loves no one, being perfectly cold and empty.
• Everyone Can See It: Elisa and Goliath conceal their love for each other about as well as the Magus concealed his affections for Princess Katherine. Virtually anyone who knows them, except themselves, can see it. Ditto with Broadway and Elektra, virtually the only one who can’t see the big lug is in love with her is Elektra herself, and he is frequently teased about such.
• Exact Words: As in the main series, frequently comes up as loopholes to the fantasy and magic. For instance, the “Squid Clan” (as Broadway nicknames them) are gargoyles who live underwater and do not breathe the air. Since Gargoyles protect “like breathing the air” and they don't (breath air, at least), it means they're dangerous and xenophobic, instead of noble. Morganna later uses this to get around the decree that outside magic cannot be brought to Avalon. Just like the Archmage, she fuses her artifact of power to her. Apparently Birdie also makes a hobby of this (being a theater major who loves stories) and tries to find ways to get Owen to become Puck for flimsy reasons.
• Fantastic Racism: It wouldn’t be Gargoyles without it. Naturally, the Quarrymen are still a problem throughout the story, Demona hasn’t let go of her intense hatred for the Humans, and it only grows worse as Half-Human Hybrids of Gargoyle and Human are introduced, which are sometimes villified by both sides. There’s also reference to some templar crusaders who in medieval times tried to hunt the Third Race, the fey, and burned any patches of ladies veil they could find, since for them it is an aphrodisiac and power enhancer.
• Fire and Brimstone Hell: A possessed Damien opens a literal portal to this on Devil's Night, capturing Manhattan in a bubble and opens a pit that swallows Nightstone and starts unleashing unholy horrors from below, explicitly identified as Hell.
• Foil: Several arise over the course of the story.
  • Elektra seems to be one to Demona. Like her, she is able to resist turning to stone by day and is in some ways both human and gargoyle. They also both share great determination for their respective causes, and have an aptitude for magic. But unlike Demona, Elektra is kind-hearted and gentle, unable to even hate Demona (pity, yes, but never hate) and is able to find a mate and child she is happy with, rather than be left perpetually alone as continually (and repeatedly) happens to Demona.
  • Likewise, Aiden is a young student of magic and (originally) human, compared to Demona being a gargoyle and millenia old sorceress. The two share a bond through magic but apart from that could not be more different in temperment.
  • Birdie seems to be this for Aiden, being outspoken, bold, and dressing in a provocative manner, all in contrast to the shy, reserved Aiden. Never the less, the two become thick as thieves through their mutual love of the strange and unusual, to say nothing of their friendship with the gargoyles.
  • Jericho is this for Angela. Like her, he is a child of Goliath and Demona, but whereas she inherited their better traits (mainly her fathers), he inherited their worst (mainly their mothers). He too has a journey of awakening to understand the modern world, but his guide is Demona, who encourages his worst, most vile impulses, whereas Angela was taught by Goliath how to be a noble gargoyle. She has even helped to teach him how to be a better parent, whereas Jericho would never confront or disagree with Demona on anything, enabling her worst impulses.
  • Gustav Sevarius is this to his younger brother, Anton. While both dabble in genetics, the elder brother focuses on the mind, whereas the younger works on the body. Both are respected in their fields for their brilliance, but Anton is decried by the general public as a mad scientist, whereas Gustav is still reasonably respected in certain circles. Anton has also uploaded his brain into multiple bodies to remain young (and alive) whereas Gustav is still “in the original packaging” and has grown old, but in a largely graceful manner.
  • TJ is something of one to Alex. Like the young Xanatos, he is part-Fey (elfin american, Birdie teasingly calls it), but is a young adult instead of a kid, firmly grounded in reality, and comes from very much the wrong side of the tracks. Unlike the heir to a vast multinational corporation who has never truly known hardship. He can also manipulate metal (specifically, iron), unlike Alexander, who shares the vulnerabilities of the Third Race.
• Forced Transformation: The aptly named “Menagerie” story begins when Aiden has another mishap with Hecate’s wand and turns everyone in the castle into animals. Damien later uses this on Demona during Devil's Night, turning her into her human form despite it being (we think) night so she is less of a threat to him.
• Friendly Enemy: Jericho tries to be this, particularly with Hudson after the two have a bonding experience at a private military camp. After all, his mother Demona may hate humans (and he certainly doesn't care for them), but other than Goliath, he hates no other gargoyles, not even Goliath's (in his view) misguided Manhattan Clan, so why not all be friends? Hudson is about the only one whom the feeling is mutual with.
• Freudian Excuse: Defied with Jericho. He himself brings up Freud’s theory that men develop complexes because they want to kill their fathers and make love to their mothers but never do. He, on the other hand, embraces such impulses.
• Good Is Not Soft: Gargoyles may be good (most of 'em), but they are far from soft. Arguably, this trait helps Harry the Hammer see the truth about their existence as benevolent, thought he does still manage to be entreatingly wrong about their divine origins (or is he?).
• Grand Finale: The story wraps up in the near-future, perhaps thirty or forty years, after most of the main cast have grown middle-aged (or passed on), and their children are already having children of their own. It also covers Goliath and Elisa undergoing a “World Tour” with Xanatos Enterprises backing, seeking out gargoyle clans new and old to catalogue more about their species and their place in the world. It even features a remorseful, changed Demona and her husband Macbeth and their own half-gargoyle child.
• Grand Romantic Gesture:
  • Lexington proposes to Aiden while they’re vacationing at Disneyland.
  • In a truly disturbing way, this is what Jericho tries to do when he steals away one of the Manhattan Clan’s eggs to give to Demona, who was deep in mourning of their unborn child.
  • The Incubus also likely views murdering Elisa's ex-boyfriends as this.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Half-Gargoyles are introduced in the story, in addition to the Half-Fey such as Fox, and several others as well. Later we start to learn of others, including a Half-Gargoyle/Half-Dragon.
• Hate Plague: Less of a plague and more of a switch, but when Demona uses an ancient spell on an artifact of great power (an apple), she turns everyone in the worlds love to hate. The stronger the love, the greater the hate. Naturally, this means as a sociopath she is unaffected, but we see Goliath and Elisa, but this point deeply in love, ready to tear each other apart before the spell is broken. Demona even gleefully anticipates lovers and siblings will kill one another and parents will murder their own children when the spell goes off worldwide.
• Healing Factor: As in the show, surviving ‘til sunrise allows a gargoyle, in stone sleep, to complete rejuvenate and heal all wounds. Two variations occur, however. In “Kittens”, Goliath embraces a mortally wounded Elisa as the sun rises, and to the shock of all the observers, they both turn to stone, and are subsequently healed the next evening. No one has any explanation for how this happened. Badly subverted when Goliath is exposed to the lethal-to-gargoyles contents of the Seventh Vial, he awakens each night worse than when he turned to stone, still dying.
• Hollywood Exorcism: Julian casts the dark forces out of Damien’s body after his resurrection, restoring him to normal (and infancy, since he’s been possessed all of his life).
• Hotter and Sexier: Quite a few chapters can get very risqué, if not downright pornographic, which you wouldn’t see on the Disney show. Fox does a lapdance for Xanatos in a flashback chapter, the girls visit a male stripclub for Elisa’s bachelorette party, and the boys are entertained by a robot-gargoyle-stripper that Xanatos had invented just for Goliaths bachelor party. And that’s just to start.
• A House Divided: The Avalon clan fractures frequently over the course of the stories, members leaving for new ventures almost every month (as time flows for them), sometimes in twos or threes. Leadership changes just as often, more than not.
• Hypothetical Voice Casting: It becomes pretty obvious as time goes on that Christine Morgan had only one voice in mind when they wrote the Grandmaster of the Illuminati. Another Next Gen alumni, Patrick Stewart, was largely the inspiration for their design and mannerisms. Who better to voice him?
• The Incorruptible:
  • Elektra is unable to hate even Demona or Jericho, only pity them.
  • Little Julian, rescued from the Institute, hasn’t a malicious bone in his body despite all the horrors he’s endured. He only wants to use his healing abilities to help. He’s the same way as an adult, holding zero grudges even when attacked and being perfectly forgiving of everyone for their sins.
• Interspecies Romance: Crops up a lore more than the original cartoon, given that a fanfic is more able to freely explore romance, sexuality and shall we say “breeding” than a Disney cartoon would ever be. Honestly, it’d be easier listing the examples of those who don’t.
• Japanese Politeness: A pair of Ishamura gargoyles who come to live at the Coventry and accept Godiva as the head of their “clan” are unfailingly polite and defer to her in almost all things. And even when Hoshi tells Godiva not to seduce her mate Ohta, or herself, she remains perfectly polite about it, if catty.
• Killed Off for Real: A few characters do not make it through the course of the story unscathed. Julianna is murdered by Demona to spite Ebon/Thailog, Jericho, Ventura, Jason Canmore and Maggie perished during Devil’s Night. Matt Bluestone dies in the final Demona v Hunter showdown, and takes his wife Eurydice with him (its complicated). Hudson also passes away in the finale, albeit in a truly peaceful fashion. Some of them do manage to come back, or else be resurrected, but its rarely instantaneously, and their deaths do impact the story.
• Legend Fades to Myth: The chronicles do wonders to explore the creation of the gargoyle race, which most have long forgotten about by now. Apparently a lot of religions got the broad strokes right, but missed key details. Then again, the source of such information is a demon, and by her own admission has lied at least a little about what she’s told Demona (and thus the audience).
• Mama Bear: “Kittens” features a half-dozen of them all in the same room. When Sevarius’ Goon Squad attacks, they’re quickly handed their own asses by Diane Maza, Fox Xanatos, and Maggie Reed (heavily pregnant and about to give birth) before they can rally to take them down. Elisa then goes fully Auntie Bear to rescue her just born niece and nephew from the mad doctor before he can experiment on them. She later upgrades to a proper Mama Bear when her daughter Amber is born.
• Meaningful Rename: Thailog undergoes this to become Ebon, named for his glossy skin, when amnesia prevents him from remembering his life and he becomes a good character (as well as an excellent musician). After he regains his memory and loses his love Julianna (at the same time, no less), he suggests other possible names he could go by for this new life he’s in, such as Job (from the Bible), or Ahaz, cursed by god. He remains Ebon for the rest of the story, however.
• Mayfly–December Romance: Birdie hooks up with Macbeth later in the story (she has a schoolgirl crush on him almost from the beginning), and of course, given he’s a millenia-old immortal, any romance he has is this. Arguably also applies to Demona and Jericho for much the same reasons. Zig-zagged a bit with Owen and Cordelia. While Puck is thousands of years old, Owen, genetically, is only about twenty or so.
• Noodle Incident: Because the stories are told out of order and can time skip occasionally (both forwards and backwards), chapters concerned with the future can feature these. Some are later explained or shown in detail, others remain a something of a mystery.
• Opposites Attract: Remarked upon with at least a few of the newly developing gargoyle couples, such as the Bad Boy/Good Girl pairing of Brooklyn/Angela.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Apparently THE Dragon, the one others swear by, is the patron of the Gargoyle race but wants to use them to wipe out all others.
• Our Gargoyles Rock: Or in some cases, wood. Over the course of the story they find a crew of seabound gargoyles who turn to wood and serve as the figureheads of ships during the day. Unfortunately, they’re also vicious pirates. In the finale, they find more of the same, and even one clan that turns into a sort of petrified wood neither one nor the other. Other variants emerge over time, including the Squid Clan in Innsmouth, who seem to less turn to stone and more melt in the sunlight. And a clan in Greece that resemble marble statues during the day.
• Pair the Spares: Preston Vogel winds up with Robyn Canmore. The two have very little in common apart from being single, and in fact during the show never meet. Yet by the mid-point they’re a happy enough couple.
• Psychic Powers: Later in the stories an Institute for the Human Mind is found, which is explicitly designed to find ways to locate and harness psychic powers. Several of its subjects, the majority of which are children, have developed such powers under their care. Unfortunately they also awoke the latent psychic powers of Ventura, which made them an even more formidable One Gargoyle Army than they already were, as well as largely drove them insane.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: As always, female gargoyles and cloned males exhibit this trait. Damien also, though for entirely different reasons. Half-Gargoyles like Elektra or Amber tend to glow jack-o-lantern orange when they're pissed off.
• Redemption Rejection: When Ebon (formerly Thailog) first tries to meet up with the gargoyles after his accident, they assume it is part of an evil plot and attack him. Later subverted, they welcome him easily enough as Ebon, and later still even with his memories restored, proves he’s on the up and up.
• Second Love: Comes up for a number of characters, such as Demona/Macbeth (who himself is easily on his fifteenth or sixteenth love).
• Sexy Soaked Shirt: During an incident at the castle, virtually everyone (sans Puck) finds themselves soaking wet, one way or another. Aiden and Birdie provided the wet t-shirt angle, while the gargoyles showcase wet tunics and loincloths.
• Shout-Out: Numerous. Red Dwarf, Speed 2, Aliens, Lion King, and more besides. Star Trek and Shakespeare often get mentioned, appropriately enough.
• Sigil Spam: For a secret society, the Illuminati love their eye-and-pyramid emblem, which pops up everywhere they have a vested interest, such as the Sterling Academy.
• Spell Book: In addition to the Grimoire Arcanorum, there's also the Grimoire Necronimicon, which is far, far worse. Spells to raise and control the dead, spells to summon demons and devils. Even the old mentor of the Archmage (who wrote both books) warned him never to open it.
• Spin-Offspring: Over the course of the series, many of the cast have offspring. Elisa herself lampshades this in one story when they find out that even Jon Canmore is having a child (a new Hunter, no less), saying its become “Gargoyles, the Next Generation.” Hell, even Wolf manages to get a kid.
• Strong Family Resemblance: More than a few can recognize certain gargoyle family lines by their features and skin tones, and how their offspring tend to look like a mix of the parents. It’s even more pronounced than when it involves humans.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
  • Crops up from time to time, though special mention has to go to Tony Dracon and Thomas Brode teaming up to attempt a raid on a rich cruise liner, when the last time we saw them they were literally at each other’s throats. They still very much don’t care for each other.
  • Demona and Jericho occasionally have to team up with the Manhattan Clan to take on worse threats as well, which they of course abhor. Somewhat averted when Hudson and Jericho team up during a vacation to take down some mercenaries. Hudson wants to protect the good humans on the island, while Jericho wants to slaughter the enemy, so their interests weirdly align with no real strain between them.
• The Name Is Bond, James Bond: Apparently this is how Xanatos, David Xanatos, first introduced himself to Janine Renard. Right after he remarked on what a Fox she was.
• This Is Reality: Many of the recruits for Club Gung Ho! were raised on cool action movies, and are anxious to enjoy the same sorts of thrills. When things start to go south, most of them don’t even realize it until they end up dying in very gruesome ways. Jericho even lampshades this towards the end, accurately (if sarcastically) predicting the Token Female Tora is going to get captured by the villain so she can get rescued in a hapharzdous rescue attempt.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Cordelia and Owen, which virtually everyone can see no matter how frosty they are with each other. Thankfully, it gets resolved once Aiden accidentally casts her spell.
• Villains Act, Heroes React: Discussed by Xanatos during a dry spell wherein the Clan has no ability to do anything to Demona’s latest scheme (which they don’t know what is anyway) and must wait until she acts before they can react. Xanatos even remarks its one of the things he misses about being the villain.
• Virgin Power: Demona has an artifact that summons Unicorns, but without a virgin to control them with the appropriate spell, they turn monstrous and dangerous. Thus, she stages an attack and kidnaps Aiden to cast the spell on her behalf, unaware that conditions have recently "disqualified" Aiden. Fortunately, Broadway, who comes to her rescue alongside Birdie and Lexington, still qualifies to cast the spell and regain control of the unicorns before anyone is seriously hurt (except Demona).
• Walking the Earth: Broadway and Elektra embark on a world tour of their own midway through the story. In the finale, Goliath and Elisa also go on one, albeit by normal, non-Avalonian means, in order to make contact with the myriad gargoyle clans scattered around the world.
• Weather-Control Machine: Apparently Halycon Renard was working on one in the past, with the assistance of Cal, when he first met David Xanatos (and he met Fox). It was also the incident in which he lost the use of his legs during a fatal accident.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: With such a large cast, its understandable a few characters fade into the background or vanish entirely. In one chapter, Dee Maza even wonders what became of Fang, but imagines he's long dead by now.

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MORE TO COME