Appendix B: A Guide to the Gargoyles Universe

By Todd Jensen

“B”

BADER, DOUGLAS

A flier in the Royal Air Force who took part in the defence of London during the Battle of Britain. He recognized Goliath and Griff as allies to the British forces in the fighting.

"BAMBI"

A famous Disney animated movie about the adventures of a young deer, released in 1942. The trio went to see it at Times Square the same night that Xanatos and Demona revived Coldstone.

BANQUO

One of Macbeth's two henchmen, Fleance being the other. The two of them have twice assisted Macbeth in his schemes, once by stealing the Scrolls of Merlin for him, the other time by helping him in his attempt to claim Excalibur. They also attended his wedding to Dominique Destine in Paris.

At some later date, Banquo and Fleance left Macbeth's service and eventually came to work for Castaway (a somewhat ironic move in view of Castaway being descended from Macbeth's old enemies Duncan and Canmore). They helped him set up and train the ordinary citizens whom Castaway recruited for the Quarrymen, and fought against Goliath and Elisa alongside him.

Banquo and Fleance are both aware of Macbeth's true identity as the Macbeth.

BANSHEE

A Child of Oberon. The Banshee made her home away from home in Ireland, where, during the Heroic Age of Ulster (around the end of the 1st century B.C. and the beginning of the 1st century A.D.), she threatened the entire island. The Irish hero Cuchulain, aided by the Hound of Ulster, overthrew her, however.

In the mid-1990's, the Banshee had returned to Ireland, and there became aware that Cuchulain had been reborn as the young Irishman Rory Dugan. Wishing to avoid a dangerous rematch with him, she decided to see to it that he never learned of his true identity, and therefore took on the guise of a human girl his age named Molly. As Molly, she encouraged Rory to waste his time in petty thefts, and even suggested that he move from Ireland to America, hoping that this would be enough to prevent him from discovering his heritage.

When Goliath, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx came to Ireland on the Avalon World Tour, the Banshee sensed their presence, and became aware of the fact that they had come from Avalon. Convinced that they had been sent to Ireland by Oberon to drag her back to Avalon for the Gathering, and having no desire to leave Ireland, she captured all of them except Bronx and imprisoned them in Cairn na Culainn, to interrogate them. However, Bronx, searching for help, met Rory, and helped lead him to discovering his true nature. The Banshee, her plans in ruins, cast off her Molly-disguise and battled Cuchulain, but was finally defeated by him.

When Oberon held the Gathering not long afterwards, the Weird Sisters finally discovered the Banshee's hiding place, and dragged her back to Avalon. After she and Odin engaged in a brief and inconclusive battle there, Oberon pronounced judgement upon her for disobeying him; he placed a metal plate over her mouth so as to strip her of her voice, decreeing that he would lift it only when she showed true repentance for her disobedience through her silence.

[The Banshee's future is cloudy at present, but these facts are known: she will eventually, somehow, regain her voice, and she will re-encounter Rory/Cuchulain, but not quite as an enemy. She does have feelings for him, deep down inside, and these feelings will gradually come more and more to the surface.]

In her regular form, the Banshee looks like a gaunt woman in a tattered green dress with long purple hair and pale bluish-purple skin. She can also take on the form of the Cromm-Cruach, or of the human Molly. Her most powerful weapon in her regular form is her voice, which can mesmerize mortals or cause them considerable pain; indeed, her wailing is supposedly fatal to humans. [She is apparently a very minor "death-goddess", not quite on the same level as Anubis.]

<Banshees are a traditional part of Irish and Scottish legend, although not quite as malevolent as the Banshee of "Gargoyles". They are generally attached to ancient families, and whenever a member of a banshee's adopted family is about to die, she will appear to deliver her legendary wail, also known as a keening, as a death-omen. Like the Banshee of "Gargoyles", the banshees of Ireland have long hair and wear green dresses; they are beautiful, but their eyes are red with weeping. While the name "banshee" means "woman of the Sidhe" in Gaelic, implying that they are indeed faeries, some tales portray them as ghosts rather than faeries.

No banshees appear in the traditional legends about Cuchulain, but there is an analogous figure to the Banshee in the Morrigan. The Morrigan was an Irish goddess of war and discord, who had something of a love-hate relationship with Cuchulain. When he was fighting the war-host of Queen Maeve of Connacht single-handedly during the War of the Brown Bull, the Morrigan came to him in the form of a beautiful young woman and offered herself to him. Cuchulain sent her away, telling her that he was too busy with the fighting for her. In anger, she returned three times to hinder him in the middle of his battle with the mighty warrior Loch, one as a herd of cows, once as a large eel, and once as a she-wolf; he drove her off each time. When he fought his final battle against Maeve's warriors upon the Plains of Muirthemne, she hovered overhead in the shape of a crow, and when he was slain, flew away, mourning him. It is quite possible that, in the Gargoyles Universe, the Banshee and the Morrigan are one and the same.>

BAR HARBOR

A town in Maine, the home of Petros Xanatos (and original home of David Xanatos).

BATTLE OF BRITAIN

The aerial battle between the Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force waged in 1940 during World War II, in which the Germans unsuccessfully attempted to bomb the British into submission. Griff and a time-travelling Goliath took part in the defense of London during the fighting.

BELVEDERE CASTLE

A pseudo-medieval structure built in Central Park in 1872. Demona and Elisa had their "High Noon" battle here, and later on, it was the site of Goliath, Elisa, and Bronx's meeting with the adult Tom.

BIG DADDY

The name bestowed by Sevarius upon the "alpha-male" Loch Ness Monster, whom he attempted to capture.

BILLY

A small boy in New York, who was a great fan of the Pack. He, his sister Susan, and their parents, briefly encountered Goliath and Lexington during their first battle with the Pack. Later on, their mother joined the Quarrymen, out of fear of the gargoyles and what they might do to her children.

BLACK ROCK POINT

A place on the Atlantic coastline near New York City, by which stands an abandoned oil rig belonging to Xanatos Enterprises. Thailog arranged to have Goliath, Xanatos, and Sevarius trapped here in his unsuccessful attempt to kill them.

[BLANCHEFLEUR, LADY]

Sir Percival's wife and the Grail Queen at Castle Carbonek, where she still resides. She and Percival have become estranged for some time, perhaps on account of the unscrupulous activities that he carries out in his role as Mr. Duval, the head of the Illuminati. She will accompany King Arthur and Sir Griff on their adventures.

<Blanchefleur first appears as Percival's love in Chretien de Troyes's 12th century poem, "Perceval". Here she is a young noblewoman whose estate is besieged by one Sir Clamadeus, who lusts after her and her estate; Percival champions her, overthrowing Clamadeus in battle, and wins her heart. The two of them are afterwards separated when Percival continues on his adventures, and do not meet for the remainder of the (admittedly unfinished) poem.

Later medieval versions of Percival's story omitted Blanchefleur in order to keep Percival a virgin (an important requirement for achieving the Holy Grail in their eyes), but Roger Lancelyn Green reinserted her in his "King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table", tying her in more closely into Percival's role as a Grail Knight. Here, Percival comes upon her sleeping in a pavilion on his way to King Arthur's court for the first time, falls in love with her, and exchanges rings with her (a part of the original Percival story in Chretien, although here the lady in the pavilion is a different character than Blanchefleur); later on they meet briefly at Carbonek, where Percival learns that she has returned his love. However, when the Grail Procession takes place in the hall where they stand, Percival becomes so excited by it that he rides out of the castle vowing to go on the Quest of the Holy Grail, realizing only too late that he cannot find his way back to Carbonek or Blanchefleur afterwards. At the end of the quest, however, he and Blanchefleur are reunited at Carbonek, where she now serves as the Grail Maiden; they are wedded there (Sir Galahad himself officiating at the ceremony), and rule over Carbonek together happily.>]

BLUESTONE, DETECTIVE MATT

Elisa's partner. Like Elisa, Matt is a native New Yorker; as a boy, he spent much time in Mr. Jaffe's store, and their friendship began. When he grew up, he joined the FBI, and was partnered with Martin Hacker, but was later on dismissed because of his obssessive search for the Illuminati. Matt had somehow become aware of the Illuminati's existence, and promptly embarked upon a quest to obtain proof of its existence and then shut it down. His superiors in the FBI considered his obsessive mission an indication that he was unstable and dismissed him; Matt afterwards entered the NYPD.

There, after helping Captain Chavez arrest Tony Dracon for the theft of Xanatos's particle beam accelerators, he was assigned to Elisa as her partner. Matt soon became aware of the gargoyles, and began to search for proof of their existence, alongside that of the Illuminati. However, Elisa managed to see to it for a long while that he never found any.

Matt's quest for the Illuminati soon began to focus on Mace Malone, whose disappearance in 1924, Matt believed (correctly, in fact), was due to the Society. His first investigation for Malone led him down a dead end (to Tony and Dominic Dracon's search for Mace Malone's jewels, in fact), but he finally confronted the old gangster at Pine Lawn. Malone offered to induct Matt into the Illuminati if he turned a gargoyle over to them, and informed him of Elisa's friendship with the gargoyles. Matt used this information to get Elisa to introduce him to the clan, and then persuaded Goliath to accompany him to the Hotel Cabal, where Goliath was captured. However, Matt, who had by now become aware of the gargoyles' true nature, then proceeded to help Goliath escape. In spite of this, he was still brought into the Illuminati - by Hacker, who turned out to be another Illuminatus, to Matt's shock.

After the gargoyles were revealed to the world, Matt was made the head of the Gargoyle Task Force. Because he was aware of their true nature, however, he did all that he could during the Task Force's first encounter with the gargoyles at St. Damien's Cathedral to avoid capturing them, and allowed Xanatos to rescue the clan. He also appeared on "Nightwatch" in an interview with Travis Marshall to stress the fact that the gargoyles were not a danger to the public - although judging from how many recruits Castaway was able to gain for the Quarrymen, not too many New Yorkers seem to have believed him.

BODHE

Gruoch's father, and a friend and ally, of a sort, to Findlaech and Macbeth of Clan Moray. Bodhe was something of a coward throughout most of his life, always prefering to appease an enemy rather than to resist one; he stood idly by when Gillecomgain the Hunter came to Castle Moray in 1020 to assassinate Findlaech, not acting even when his own daughter Gruoch ran to Findlaech and Macbeth's aid, was willing to give Gruoch up in a loveless marriage to Gillecomgain when Duncan ordered it, and when Duncan declared war on Clan Moray in 1040, urged Macbeth to give himself up to Duncan in the hopes that Duncan would be merciful to Gruoch and Luach. After Macbeth defeated Duncan in battle, Bodhe advised him to execute the young Canmore, which Macbeth refused to do, however.

In 1057, Bodhe's cravenness helped bring about the tragic end to Macbeth and Demona's alliance, when he urged Macbeth to forswear his pact with Demona and her clan in the hopes that Canmore's English followers, who had (so Bodhe believed) invaded Scotland only to destroy the gargoyles there, would return home. This led to Demona's betrayal of Macbeth and Canmore's subsequent victory. After Macbeth's "death", however, Bodhe gained some courage and true steadfastness at last, declared his grandson Luach King of Scotland, and stood by him thenceforth. [Presumably, he was slain alongside Luach fighting against Canmore the following year.]

BOREAS

The leader of the New Olympians. When Goliath and his companions came to New Olympus on the Avalon World Tour, he presided over Elisa's trial. While he bore her no ill will, he recognized the potential danger that she might pose to his people, and so decreed that she be kept on the island. Later on, however, after Elisa helped prevent Proteus from destroying New Olympus, he revoked his decree and gave her permission to depart.

Boreas looks much like Zeus as traditionally depicted in classical art, a dignified bearded man, but with wings. He bears a great staff tipped with crossed lightning bolts, and which can deliver a thunder-bolt at will.

[Boreas has two sons, whose names are as yet unknown to us, at least one of whom will join Jove's faction after the New Olympians make contact with the outside world.]

BOUDICCA

A gargoyle beast living on Avalon. Like the rest of the Avalon gargoyles, Boudicca was brought from the Wyvern rookery to Avalon by Princess Katharine, the Magus, and Tom while still in the egg in 995, and there raised by them. She helped defend Avalon from the Archmage when he attacked in 1995, in consort with Bronx as well as with the Avalon gargoyles. Later on, Oberon brought her with him to New York to help search for Puck, although he presumably returned her to Avalon afterwards. [Boudicca and Bronx are currently mates, if separated ones.]

BRENDAN

Margot Yale's husband, and part of the "Yuppie Couple". Like Margot, Brendan has encountered the gargoyles many times, alongside her. His surname and occupation are currently unknown.

Brendan is just as unenthusiastic about the gargoyles as his wife is. He is also frequently subjected to her sharp tongue, and seems to be quite the henpecked sort.

BRENTWOOD

The clone made of Lexington by Sevarius for Demona and Thailog. He currently resides in the Labyrinth with the other Clones. Brentwood was named after a street in Los Angeles.

BROADWAY

A member of the Wyvern clan. [He was hatched in the year 958,] and in his youth became good friends with his rookery brothers Lexington and Broadway, forming the trio. He survived the Wyvern massacre in 994 thanks to the three of them and Bronx being in the rookery at the time, having been sent there by Goliath for getting into a fight with some of the humans in the castle (although actually, Broadway had not participated in the fight at all; he was merely sitting close by peacefully eating, and Goliath lumped him in with the others). Afterwards, Broadway was put under the Magus's curse of stone sleep with the other gargoyles, to awaken in 1994.

Broadway is the strongest of the trio, and a good fighter, but also gentle and sensitive. He is one of the best judges of character in the clan, and has a strong sense of concern about his fellow clan-mates and friends. He particularly shows this for Elisa, helping her out whenever he can. Much of this is thanks to guilt on his part; Broadway once inadvertently shot Elisa with her own gun, and feels very regretful about that still. His protectiveness towards the detective is one result of this incident; another is a very strong dislike of guns. He won't handle them, and even destroys them if he encounters them.

Broadway also displays this sensitivity in his relationship with Angela. While Brooklyn pursued her merely because of her good looks and availability, and Lexington because Brooklyn and Broadway were courting her, Broadway actually got a sense of what Angela was like as a person, her likes and dislikes, her aspirations and her fears. For example, early on, he realized that she disliked her nickname "Angie", and so stopped calling her that; Brooklyn and Lexington did not discover that on their own, but had to learn it from her the hard way. This led to her acceptance of him as her mate. [Indeed, they will even have three children in the future: Artus, Gwenyvere, and Lancelot.]

Broadway likes to eat, as his tremendous girth confirms. Brooklyn and Lexington often tease him about it, as well, which he takes with great dignity. But Broadway is no mere winged garbage disposal. Alongside his relationship with Angela, he also has a strong interest in mysteries and detective work, particularly enjoying detective movies on television. Indeed, his interest in these helped him solve the Silver Falcon case, and also alerted him, before Goliath, to the real reason for Elisa's behavior during the time that she was pretending to be a "crooked cop" in order to shut down Tony Dracon's protection racket. His good observation skills, already noted in the matter of his relationship with Angela, are very useful to him in this area.

Originally, Broadway was illiterate, and proud of it, considering books a waste of time. His attitude changed, however, during the Scrolls of Merlin adventure, when he saw how Macbeth, by reading about King Arthur's reign, could describe it so eloquently that it had seemed almost as if he had been there. Broadway began taking reading lessons afterwards with Hudson (who also learned the value of reading in that adventure), first reading the newspaper with him, and then, by the time that the gargoyles were living in the castle again, having moved on to Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", which he read with Angela.

[Broadway is Hudson's biological son. However, neither they, nor anybody else, know this, and it would not matter to them even if they did know.]

Physically, Broadway is big and somewhat overweight, with aquamarine skin, a bald head, and fin-like ears.

Broadway took his name after awakening in New York in 1994, naming himself after Broadway Avenue in New York. (We assume that he did not have in mind any word-play involving his own bulk when he chose it, but rather its theatrical connotations.)

BROD, TOMAS

A prominent gangster in Prague. His organization had become so formidable by 1995 that even the police were unable to hold him in check, allowing him to run riot throughout the city. Halcyon Renard entered into an alliance with him, giving him a Cyberbiotics hovercraft in exchange for Brod stealing the Golem for him; since the Golem, when activated, would have been used to protect Prague from him, Brod seems to have been quite willing to carry this out. Armed with the hovercraft, he proceeded to raid an arms warehouse, but was fortunately defeated by Goliath and the Golem before he could successfully steal the weapons there.

After his defeat, Brod managed to escape from New York, where he set up a new organized crime syndicate in rivalry to Tony Dracon's, even attracting Jack Danforth into his following. A turf war between Brod and Dracon began, which Elisa, the trio, and Angela finally managed to end by defeating Brod - who afterwards found himself sharing a cell with Dracon, to their mutual disgust.

BRONX

The Wyvern clan's gargoyle beast. [Bronx was hatched in the year 978,] and quickly grew to become a formidable "watchdog" for the gargoyles, resolutely defending Castle Wyvern against its enemies. He survived the Wyvern Massacre in 994 because he had been sent down to the rookery with the trio by Goliath for getting into a fight with some of the humans, but was afterwards turned to stone by the Magus, to be only re-awakened a thousand years later when Xanatos moved Castle Wyvern to the Eyrie Building.

Bronx took less part in the clan's adventures than did the other gargoyles, largely because he lacks wings; he stays home, instead, and snoozes beside Hudson's recliner. In fact, Bronx spends most of his time there sleeping (occasionally on Lexington's magazines when Lex wants to read them). He also has a formidable appetite, and will eagerly eat anything as long as it counts as food.

But Bronx is still a redoubtable fighter (if his "stay-at-home" role gives him less opportunity to display it). He can successfully intimidate the gargoyles' opponents when he charges at them, growling, and has powerful jaws; he once chewed half the face off Coyote 1.0 (giving it its distinctive half-human half-robot visage that all future Coyote robots have borne). This makes him a valuable member of the clan. He is also an excellent judge of character, trusting those who are true friends of the gargoyles and growling in a very hostile fashion at enemies, even enemies pretending to be friends.

While Bronx's adventures in New York were few, he did accompany Goliath, Elisa, and Angela on the Avalon World Tour. His greatest adventure there came when he met Rory Dugan in Ireland, and helped him realize his true destiny as the reincarnation of Cuchulain. [He and Boudicca, whom he met on Avalon, have become mates, if currently separated ones.]

Bronx's name was bestowed upon him by Brooklyn in 1994, after the Bronx in New York (presumably because it sounded close enough to an animal's bark or growl).

[Bronx hates pigeons, with an almost savage fury.]

BROOKLYN

A member of the Wyvern clan. [He was hatched in the year 958,] and in his youth became good friends with his rookery brothers Lexington and Broadway, forming the trio. He survived the Wyvern massacre in 994 thanks to the three of them and Bronx being in the rookery at the time, having been sent there by Goliath for getting into a fight with some of the humans in the castle, but was afterwards placed under the Magus's curse of stone sleep, only awakening in 1994 with the rest of the clan.

Brooklyn is the most adventurous of the trio. He rode a horse once in the 10th century, and not long after his awakening, eagerly took to riding a motorcycle that Lexington had made out of spare parts. (He only got to ride it once, however; it was destroyed in a clash with a biker gang.) He likes exploring, and finding out more about human ways. He will even wear sunglasses because they're "cool" (and never mind the fact that sunglasses at night are pointless). He is a quick-witted gargoyle, and even has a certain fondness for making wisecracks at times.

But underneath his thrill-seeking exterior, Brooklyn has a lonelier, almost "Gothic melancholic" side. He has had his share of misfortunes in the 20th century that have shaped him strongly. One of these was when Demona tricked him into stealing the Grimorum Arcanorum for her, so that she could use it to magically bring Goliath under her control. Brooklyn has never forgiven Demona for it as yet, and holds a bitter grudge against her to this day for having used him (fueled in part by his guilt over having helped her enslave Goliath). [He will someday forgive her, after his Timedancer adventures, however.]

Brooklyn also has a weakness for the ladies. He first eagerly pursued Maggie, and it took a long while for him to realize that she wanted nothing to do with him, a realization that crushed him. Next he pursued Angela when she joined the clan, and again, felt devastated when she chose Broadway for her mate instead. Brooklyn is still young, and has not yet learned to distinguish between infatuation and true love; [however, he will learn during his Timedancer adventures].

After the clan's first battle with the upgraded Pack, Goliath appointed Brooklyn his second-in-command, and intended successor. While Brooklyn is, overall, pleased with this new role, he has no desire to become the actual leader of the clan for a long time. Nevertheless, he did have to temporarily take command of the other gargoyles during Goliath's absence on the Avalon World Tour, and after a brief period of resistance, finally accepted it.

[Not long after the gargoyles moved back into the castle, Brooklyn embarked on his most unusual adventure of all. The Phoenix Gate, thrown into the Time Vortex by Goliath, re-appeared and whisked him away on a series of adventures. It first transported him to Scotland in the year 997, where he met Mary and Finella, still being pursued by Constantine's soldiers for the Grimorum Arcanorum. He protected the two women until the Phoenix Gate re-appeared and transported them all to the United States in the late 1970's. From there, they worked together behind the scenes at setting up the alliance between Xanatos and Demona that led to the transporting of Castle Wyvern to New York and the re-awakening of the gargoyles, with a little help from Owen/Puck. After that, the Phoenix Gate whisked Brooklyn off on more adventures. Among other places, he visited the world in the year 2198, for many adventures in the company of the natives of that time period (including Samson, a repentant Demona whom he learned to forgive, Owen, and Nokkar), helping them battle the Space-Spawn invaders, and feudal Japan, where he finally found true love, with a female gargoyle named Katana. The two became mates, and in the course of their travels together, had a son named Nashville, and also acquired a gargoyle beast for a pet named Fu-Dog. (Actually, Brooklyn acquired Fu-Dog as a companion in Xanadu before meeting Katana; Fu-Dog took part in his adventures in 2198 as well.) At last, after forty years of wandering, from Brooklyn's perspective, the Phoenix Gate deposited him and his family back at Castle Wyvern (including a fresh egg which Katana had laid; this would hatch at Castle Wyvern into their daughter, Tachi) - only five minutes after he left. He rejoined the clan, adding his family to its ranks, and resumed his position as second-in-command.]

Physically, Brooklyn is a wiry red-colored gargoyle. He has a mane of wild white hair, an enormous beak, two long horns, and hang-glider-shaped wings.

Brooklyn received his name after he awakened in New York in 1994, naming himself after the borough of Brooklyn.

BROOKLYN BOTANICAL GARDENS

A noteworthy garden in Brooklyn, stretching 52 acres. King Arthur and Macbeth came here during Arthur's quest for Excalibur, and found it embedded inside a statue of a dragon in the center of the garden's maze, from which Arthur finally reclaimed it.

BRUNO

Xanatos's chief of security and head of the Xanatos Goon Squad.

BURBANK

The clone made of Hudson by Sevarius for Demona and Thailog. He currently resides with the other Clones in the Labyrinth. Burbank was named after a street in Los Angeles.

BURNETT, OWEN

Puck's human alias, and David Xanatos's right-hand man.

Puck "created" the role of Owen Burnett after discovering how Titania had taken on the role of Anastasia Renard, and becoming intrigued enough with her so doing to decide to create a human identity for himself. He therefore took on the identity of Owen Burnett, deliberately modeling this alter ego of his, in both appearance and character, after that of Preston Vogel (choosing Vogel for his "original" since he had never played a "straight man" before). Originally, Owen was an employee of Halcyon Renard at Cyberbiotics, but he quickly found Renard too "dull" for his tastes, and entered the service of David Xanatos instead, delighted and intrigued by Xanatos as a kindred spirit, a fellow trickster.

Not long after entering Xanatos's service, Owen revealed his true identity as Puck to his new employer, and offered him a choice: a single wish from Puck, or a lifetime of service as Owen Burnett. Xanatos chose Owen's service, much to Puck's surprise and interest. Since then, Owen has loyally served Xanatos in the role of his [Executive Assistant], carrying out his work in a very efficient and admirable fashion.

[It was Owen who introduced Xanatos and Demona to each other, leading to the alliance which resulted in the re-awakening of Goliath and his clan.] Throughout the period following Goliath and his clan's awakening in New York, Owen loyally and efficiently served Xanatos's interests, including those relating to the gargoyles.

Remaining aware of Anastasia Renard's true identity, Owen also anticipated her plan to kidnap Alexander at birth, and set up a defence system for the Eyrie Building in case of that attempt, an attempt which was, in the end, carried out by Oberon himself. When Oberon overcame all the other obstacles in his path, Owen, who had originally hid himself out of fear of Oberon's wrath (knowing that, as Puck, he had earned that wrath for refusing to heed the Gathering), finally realized that he would have to help the Xanatoses against Oberon, and revealed his true nature as Puck. Even he was unable to hold off Oberon for long, but Goliath at last offered a compromise solution whereby Puck would remain in the human world to tutor Alex in magic, if Oberon and Titania would relinquish their claim upon the child. Oberon agreed to this, but stripped Puck of his powers except when he was teaching or protecting Alex, trapping him on all other occasions in Owen's form. And Puck has been trapped in the human world as Owen ever since.

[At present, Owen still becomes Puck on regular occasions to teach Alex magic, and reverts to Owen after the lesson is over, even going back to the same apparent age that Owen was when Puck first "created" him. This will change dramatically in 2198, when the grown-up Alexander, now Secretary-General of the United Nations, is abducted by the Space-Spawn alongside the rest of the human and gargoyle world leaders. Owen, at that time serving as Alex's Chief of Staff, resigns when Alex's successor makes it clear that he is uninterested in opposing the Space-Spawn, and joins forces with Samson and his resistance movement, secretly placing the assets of the Lexington-Xanatos Corporation at their disposal. Because of Alex's capture, however, Owen has no occasion henceforth to become Puck - it's too late to protect him and he can't teach him anything - and is trapped as Owen.

While Puck is in Owen's form, he is unable to use any magic (other than to change himself back to Puck), and is even vulnerable to magical assault (such as Demona's turning him to stone by night) - also, if Owen were to actually be killed, Puck would die with him. This limitation is partly due to the general limitations of a faerie in a human body, but, more significantly, also due to his deal with Xanatos. Since Xanatos chose Owen's mundane services rather than a wish from Puck, Owen has to adhere to this, and cannot use his magical abilities as Puck to assist Xanatos in any way.]

Owen's most distinguishing feature (beyond his close resemblance of Preston Vogel, of course) is his stone hand, which became that way when he dipped it into the Cauldron of Life. [Because of his aforementioned deal with Xanatos, he cannot undo that condition, so his hand remains stone permanently.]

BUSHIDO

A "warrior code of honor" from the time of feudal Japan, which was to the Japanese what chivalry was to medieval Europeans. The Ishimura gargoyles practice bushido, and often teach it to humans; Taro was one of their students, though not a very good one. After the Ishimura clan's temporary capture by Taro and subsequent escape, they have begun teaching bushido to the humans living in Ishimura, as a strengthening of their covenant with them.

[In 2198, the gargoyles of Ishimura regularly teach bushido to young gargoyles from around the world, including Samson, Delilah (2), and Zafiro (2). The Order of the Guardian is strongly linked to these teachings.]

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