Appendix B: A Guide to the Gargoyles Universe

By Todd Jensen

“O”

OBA

The chieftain of the Houka tribe, whom the Panther Queen married.

OBERON

The ruler of the Third Race. [Oberon is the son of Queen Mab by an unknown father. At some unspecified point in the remote past, Oberon overthrew Queen Mab in a great war, imprisoned her somewhere, and became ruler of the Third Race, assuming the title of Lord of Avalon [choosing the title of "Lord" rather than "King", as his way of embracing a more egalitarian role than Mab had assumed during her reign], who were thereafter known as Oberon's Children. (They are not his literal children, of course; rather, they are children in a metaphorical sense, as his subjects, with he as the "pater familias").] He married Titania, [presumably after he deposed Mab], and later on passed a magical decree that barred the Third Race from interfering in the affairs of mortals.

[During the 5th century A.D., Oberon became temporarily attracted to a human woman, upon whom he fathered Merlin. Oberon and Merlin have strained relations, for as yet unknown reasons. At some point, Merlin performed a service for Oberon which placed Oberon in his debt; as a result of this, Oberon permitted the wounded King Arthur sanctuary on Avalon where he might be healed.]

Over the centuries, Oberon became increasingly displeased by the arrogant way that his Children treated mortals. At last, in 995, a particularly scornful (and as yet unknown) act of Titania's concerning mortals exhausted his patience, and became the catalyst for which he banished the entire Third Race from Avalon, to live in the mortal world for a thousand years. He also divorced Titania at this time. He lived for those thousand years in the outside world as well, but his adventures are as yet unchronicled.

In 1996, the Weird Sisters informed Oberon of the existence of the Avalon clan, and he promptly returned to Avalon in considerable anger to expel them. When the Avalon clan refused to leave, he ordered the earth to swallow them up, but Titania intervened at this point. She persuaded Oberon to fight out the issue in "single combat" (more or less), himself pitted against Goliath, Angela, and Gabriel, and temporarily weakened to the level of an ordinary faerie; as an incentive, she agreed to rewed him if he won. Oberon (who had presumably come to regret the divorce, and probably saw Titania's offer as a means of remarrying her without having to lose face) agreed to these terms, and in the ensuing battle, finally defeated the three gargoyles. But the Avalon clan, aided by a subtle clue of Titania's, made an iron bell out of the chains that the Magus had used to bind the Weird Sisters, and used it to subdue Oberon afterwards. Princess Katharine and Tom afterwards gave him their terms: if he agreed to let the Avalon clan remain on the island, they promised to no longer use the bell against him and his people. Oberon, astonished and impressed by their merciful behavior towards him (in that they had the opportunity to destroy him with the bell altogether, but chose not to use it), not only granted their request, but made the Avalon gargoyles his guard of honor, and declared that they would be from now on directly immune to his magic. Afterwards, he rewed Titania, and held the Gathering, calling back all of the Third Race to Avalon.

All of them returned, except for the Banshee and Puck. The Weird Sisters brought back the Banshee by force, and Oberon placed a metal gag over her mouth to punish her for her disobedience. He then set out for the mortal world to bring back Puck personally, and came to New York, where he discovered about Titania's secret identity as Anastasia Renard. Titania asked him to help her take away her new-born grandson Alexander to Avalon, where he could be trained in his magical heritage, and to this, Oberon agreed.

Xanatos, Fox, the gargoyles, Halcyon Renard, and even Puck (revealing himself as Owen's true identity in the process), all fought to stop Oberon from kidnapping Alex, but were overwhelmed. Just as Oberon was about to snatch Alex out of his cradle, a desperate Fox unleashed her secret magical ability, blasting Oberon with a spell that sent him hurtling through the nursery wall. Goliath used the opportunity to convince Oberon that Alex could be trained in magic in the human world, suggesting Puck as the means for this tutoring. Oberon agreed to it, but stripped Puck of all his powers except when he was protecting or teaching Alex, and banished him from Avalon forever. Afterwards, he left for Avalon.

Oberon is the most powerful of the Third Race, [except for his mother Queen Mab, and even then, he was still able to overthrow her]. He possesses considerable authority over Avalon, and can order its trees and rocks to attack intruders; he had this ability even when temporarily weakened by Titania during his battle with Goliath, Angela, and Gabriel. He also possesses many other great powers, too numerous to mention. Like all of the Third Race, however, he is vulnerable to iron; when struck in the chest by Petros Xanatos's iron-tipped harpoon, he was temporarily withered into a gaunt, elderly figure.

Oberon is an arrogant figure, who does whatever he pleases and will not tolerate interference with his plans. But he is not a complete tyrant. He forbade his subjects to meddle in the lives of mortals out of comparative maturity, and although he himself does not always live up to such standards himself, he still takes them fairly seriously. He can be generous to his adversaries (as when he not only permitted the Avalon clan to remain on his island in the end, but even made it his guard of honor), and does abide by the letter of his law, if not always the spirit of it. His attitude towards mortals is one of fully aware superiority; he responds to their behavior often with a sense of fascinated (and detached) curiosity, although if they defy them, he quickly loses his temper.

While Oberon, like all of the Third Race, can alter his appearance at will, his "regular form" is that of a tall, haughty, aristocratic figure in royal garb, with white hair, blue skin, and "elvish" features.

[Alongside being Merlin's father by a human woman, Oberon has also become the father of a son and daughter by Titania. We know nothing more about them than that at present, however. He had another son by a human woman, over whom he and Titania once fought - the original of the human child that they were contending over in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.]

<Oberon has been the king of the faerie-folk in traditional legend and literature since at least the early Renaissance. He is thought to have originated as Alberich, the dwarf-king of German legend (a figure particularly familiar to moderns fromWagner's "Ring" Cycle). In the 15th century, he made his literary debut in the medieval romance "Huon of Bordeaux", where he befriends Huon, one of Charlemagne's paladins. He is here described as the son of Julius Caesar and Morgan le Fay, and the height of a three-year-old child, due to a curse placed upon him as an infant. He assists Huon on his adventures, and at last, when the time comes for him to die, makes Huon his heir as ruler over Avalon and the faerie-folk.

Oberon is more familiar to modern-day audiences, however, from his appearance in William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Here, he is portrayed as the ruler of the faeries and husband to Titania, which portrait "Gargoyles" adopted in its treatment of him. In the play, he and Titania quarrel over the custody of a human boy, an Indian prince taken to the faerie kingdom in exchange for a changeling, and Oberon finally wins by duping Titania into falling in love with the donkey-headed Bottom and persuading her in her then-condition to give him the child; he also takes pity on Helena, who has been cruelly rejected by Demetrius, and orders Puck to cause Demetrius to fall in love with Helena, a command which leads to considerable confusion before everything is happily resolved.

Edmund Spenser also made brief use of Oberon in his "Faerie Queene", portraying him as the father and predecessor to Queen Gloriana of Fairyland (although Oberon here is really an idealized version of Henry VIII, in the same way that Gloriana herself is really an idealized Elizabeth I). Other Elizabethan and Jacobite poets similarly made Oberon the "faerie king", such as Ben Jonson, Michael Drayton, and Robert Herrick, and he has enjoyed that position in literature ever since.>

OBERON'S CHILDREN

Also known as the Third Race, the Fair Folk (by the Scots), the Sidhe (by the Irish), and the Dark Elves (by the Vikings). One of the Three Races, and the most mysterious and magical. They are the origin of humanity's legends about faeries, elves, and other otherworldly beings, including even the gods of mythology.

HISTORY

[Exactly when Oberon's Children came into existence is unknown, although they appeared some time after gargoyles did. They were formed from magic (evolving from such beings as will-o-the-wisps), as was their home, the isle of Avalon.

The first (so far as we know) ruler of these beings was Queen Mab, who was also the most powerful of them. However, at some unspecified date, her son Oberon overthrew her, and took her place as ruler of the Third Race. It was after his ascendancy that they began to be known as Oberon's Children; before that time, they were known as the "Children of Mab". (They are not - for the most part - his biological children; the title refers rather to the fact that he rules over them as a sort of "pater familias").]

Oberon's Children have spread throughout the world, and made themselves known to humans, who came to (in many cases, such as those relating to Odin and Anubis) believe them to be gods and worshipped them. Even those who did not receive worship, such as Oberon and Titania themselves, found their way into human folklore and legend. At some point, however, Oberon passed a decree which magically forbade any of his race (including himself) from directly interfering in the affairs of mortals. (This did not prevent them from finding loopholes, however, something which even Oberon has done from time to time).

Despite this, many of the Third Race, including Titania, continued to hold a strong sense of contempt for mortals, and finally in 995, Titania committed some unspecified act that angered Oberon enough to banish all of the Fair Folk from Avalon, commanded to live in the mortal world until his anger passed. The Weird Sisters alone were left behind to guard Avalon from intruders, and even they were confined to a barge floating in the waters off its shore. (They did not remain guardians for long, however, being soon expelled by the Magus when he and Princess Katharine came to Avalon).

The overall history of Oberon's Children during that time is unknown, although the activities of a few individuals have been recorded (such as the Weird Sisters' involving themselves in the affairs of Demona and Macbeth, Titania taking on the identity of Anastasia Renard, and Puck taking on the identity of Owen Burnett). Many of them, however, came to encounter Goliath and his companions on the Avalon World Tour (the details can be found in their individual entries). At last, in 1996, Oberon decided to return to Avalon and summon back the rest of the Third Race for the Gathering. All of them obeyed except for the Banshee (who had to be dragged back by the Weird Sisters) and Puck (whom Oberon in the end condemned to remain in the human world as Owen Burnett). Currently all of the Fair Folk except for Puck are on Avalon for the Gathering, although for how long is as yet unknown.

The true existence of the Third Race is unknown to humans, who, for the most part, believe them to be only mythical. [Even in 2198, the general public will not be aware that Oberon's Children really do exist.]

NATURE

Oberon's Children are beings of pure magic, not flesh and blood, although, as shape-shifters, they can assume human, gargoyle, or animal bodies at will. [Indeed, to speak of their biology is utterly inaccurate, since they have none as we understand it. They may not even have any true forms, as we understand them, but merely forms that they assume more often than others.]

The Fair Folk are immortal, [or at least, close to it. None of them have died of old age as yet, although it is not an impossibility for the remote future. They can be slain, but only with considerable difficulty.] Indeed, a Child of Oberon may appear to be slain, only to reappear later alive, as has already been the case for the Banshee and Anansi on the Avalon World Tour. [Whether any of the Third Race have already perished permanently through battle is uncertain, although rumor has it that some of the Aesir branch of the Fair Folk, including Thor and Loki, were slain in a battle that became the original of Ragnarok in Norse mythology. They are, more or less, an ageless race as well; they can take on any apparent age that they choose - as the Weird Sisters have already demonstrated - but it is only an apparent age.]

Oberon's Children all possess strong magical abilities, although the exact nature of these varies from each individual faerie to the next. [There are categories among them, not only in terms of mythology (such as the Aesir), but also in terms of function. Some of the Third Race, such as Anubis and Odin, are "death-gods", others, such as Puck, Raven, Anansi, and Coyote, are tricksters, and so on. This bent apparently determines much of a faerie's precise abilities and modus operandi.] Thus, a "death-god" can bring about the death of a mortal life-form or even accelerate or reverse its aging processes, while a trickster will specialize in magical pranks. The preferred climate of the faerie in question seems to also serve as a factor; Odin, who primarily resides in Scandinavia when in the human world, can conjure up snowstorms and take on the form of a polar bear.

Oberon's Children have one great shared vulnerability: cold iron. Their spells cannot affect it directly, and a faerie bound by iron chains is powerless to escape them unless released by someone else. (Such fates have befallen Puck and the Weird Sisters in the chronicles; Coyote was likewise rendered a prisoner when trapped inside Coyote 4.0, who was made from iron.) A faerie wounded by iron, as Oberon was by Petros Xanatos's harpoon, will wither and age dramatically, and the sound of an iron bell can incapacitate a Child of Oberon and even, if prolonged, kill him or her.

As has been said before, the Children of Oberon are natural shape-shifters, and can (apparently) take on any form that they pleased. While they are genuinely in a mortal form, however, be it human, gargoyle, or animal, they are subject to the restrictions of that form. Thus, Puck, while in Owen Burnett's body, can use no magic (except to change back into Puck).

While in mortal form, the Fair Folk can mate with mortals of the species whose form they have taken, and even have children by them. These halfling offspring often inherit a certain measure of their faerie parent's nature, although this varies from individual to individual. [Merlin, the halfling son of Oberon, was one of the greatest wizards of all time,] while Fox, the halfling daughter of Titania, has virtually no faerie magic in her due to her having been raised strictly as a human (only using her powers once, under uttermost stress, to strike out at Oberon when he attempted to kidnap Alexander). [Most unusual of halflings are the New Olympians, although they are another story, discussed more properly in their own entry.]

CULTURE

[Oberon's Children are governed through a sort of feudal system; indeed, their own feudalism may have become the inspiration for human feudalism. Oberon rules over the rest of the Fair Folk. The more powerful figures of the Third Race, such as Odin, serve as his vassals, and each one in turn has lesser Children of Oberon beneath him, such as the other Aesir under Odin. But ultimately, all of the Children are subject to Oberon.

For the most part, faerie society seems to be relatively informal. While on Avalon, they engage in various activities, including small battles (such as that between Odin and the Banshee), love-making, and contests of various sorts.]

The attitudes of Oberon's Children towards mortals vary. Some, such as the Weird Sisters, Raven, Anansi, and the Banshee treat them poorly, viewing them with scorn or contempt, often behaving as if humans and gargoyles were only playthings or nuisances. Others have been more benevolent or at least indifferent, such as Grandmother, Coyote, the Lady of the Lake, and Anubis. Oberon himself fluctuates; he decreed that the Third Race was not to directly interfere in the lives of mortals, but will bend that law himself if he sees fit (as in kidnapping Alexander). While the majority of Oberon's Children may indeed fall more into the "scornful" than the "helpful" element, it would be inaccurate and misleading to place them all in one category.

Oberon's Children have Avalon for their primary home, [but many of them have local residences in the outside world, such as Asgard for Odin and the other Aesir].

The following Children of Oberon are known to us and have entries elsewhere in the Guide: Anansi, Anubis, the Banshee, Coyote, Grandmother, [the Green Knight,] the Lady of the Lake, [Mab, Morgana le Fay, Nought], Oberon, Odin, Puck, Raven, Titania, and the Weird Sisters. There are doubtless a great many more.

<"Oberon's Children" is the term used in "Gargoyles" for the faerie-folk, a mythical race of considerable prominence in British and European folklore and legend. While their representations vary from story to story, some features remain consistent about them. The faeries are said to look more or less like humans, but are possessed with great magical abilities; they are also immortal (although, so the stories go, they are also soulless, and when the world comes to an end, they will simply cease to exist).

The faerie-folk seem to have originated in part from whittled-down versions of the old Celtic gods, reduced in rank once the Welsh and Irish were converted to Christianity, and in part (some scholars believe) from dim memories of the Bronze Age people who lived in Britain and Ireland before the coming of the Celts, who feared the iron weapons of their deposers. (The former "origin theory" fits in well with the notion in "Gargoyles" that the gods of mythology, such as Odin, were members of the Third Race). In legend, they are usually located in some sort of "faerie world" sometimes identified as a remote enchanted isle (such as Avalon in the series), though on other occasions as lying beneath the hollow hills (which fits in with the Banshee's residence in Cuchulain's burial mound in "The Hound of Ulster").

Faeries were feared by humans, and believed to be dangerous to them. Legend claims that, when angered, they could strike humans and animals alike with illness, blight the crops, and send all manner of misfortune upon one; they were also said to kidnap human children and replace them with their own young as changelings. But they could also aid or bless humans, if they chose. As per the series, cold iron was indeed believed to be a strong defense against the faerie-folk.

More information on the mythical roots of Oberon's Children can be found in the entries on the individual members of this species in "Gargoyles".>

OBERON'S LAW

A magical decree passed by Oberon, which forbids the Third Race from directly interfering in the lives of mortals. It is unknown as to when it was passed, although it was already in effect by 1020 (and most likely was already in effect by the Children of Oberon's banishment from Avalon in 995, for that matter). The Law magically bars any member of the Third Race from being able to directly intervene in the lives of humans and gargoyles; [even Oberon himself is subject to it]. However, the key word is "directly"; the Third Race can find ways of getting around it, loopholes, if they are clever enough. Thus, the Weird Sisters could still interfere in the lives of Demona and Macbeth by tricking them into consenting to it, for example, and likewise Anansi the Spider could turn Fara Maku into a werepanther because Fara Maku had sought him out and requested that Anansi do so. Oberon's Law is the very reason why the Third Race act so subtly in their dealings with mortals; they have to, in order to avoid transgressing it.

[OBERON'S MIRROR]

[A magical mirror, twin to Titania's Mirror. Unlike its twin, Oberon's Mirror was not destroyed.] Oberon currently keeps it in his throne room in his palace on Avalon. The Mirror's powers have allowed him to communicate with Princess Katharine in another part of the palace, summon Boudicca from her chamber to his throne room, and travel through it with the gargoyle beast to the outside world. [It can probably also be used to summon Puck, like Titania's Mirror, although Oberon chose not to use its powers for that purpose at the time of the Gathering, preferring to drag Puck back to Avalon himself.]

OBSIDIANA

A gargoyle of the Mayan clan. She is one of the four pendant-wearers in that clan, and thus survived the massacre of her clan by the poachers. She helped defend the rain forest from Cyberbiotics, and from Jackal and Hyena in Preston Vogel's employ. Afterwards, she remained in Guatemala with Zafiro to continue protecting the forest, while Turquesa and Jade went to Avalon to plant some of the flowers and herbs in their charge there.

[Obsidiana and Zafiro are mates, and will be ancestors of Zafiro (2).]

ODIN

A Child of Oberon, [and the leader of the Aesir branch of the Third Race]. At some distant point in time, Odin gave up one of his eyes in order to gain greater wisdom, which later on became the Eye of Odin. While Odin indeed gained the wisdom that he had so desired by this sacrifice, he also lost some of his innate magical strength thereby.

Before the Vikings and other people of Scandinavia were converted to Christianity, they worshipped Odin and held him to be a god, indeed, the most powerful of their gods. Even nowadays, the inhabitants of Norway still remember him, and the children there have even read about him and his fellow Norse gods in school, although they do not suspect him to be real.

When Goliath and his companions came to Norway on the Avalon World Tour, Odin sought them out, and tried to obtain the Eye of Odin from Goliath, first by offering to trade a warm coat for Elisa to wear in exchange for the Eye, and then attempting to seize it from Goliath by force in his polar bear form. When both attempts failed, Odin in desperation kidnapped Elisa to use as a hostage. In equal desperation, Goliath donned the Eye of Odin to increase his power, becoming strong enough to vanquish Odin. However, in the process, he became corrupted by the Eye, and changed his goals from protecting his companions (although he still claimed to be doing just that, and may have even believed it) to battling Odin over ownership of the Eye. Odin was brought to the point of near-defeat, but used his last ounce of strength to free Goliath's companions from the cave where Goliath had imprisoned them so that they could bring him to his senses. After Goliath realized what he had become, he relinquished the Eye, which Odin reclaimed. He afterwards apologized to Goliath and his friends for the trouble that he had earlier caused, ruefully admitting that he was somewhat out of practice in dealing with mortals, and rode away.

Like the other Children of Oberon, Odin soon afterwards returned to Avalon for the Gathering. There he entered into a brief fight with the Banshee, before Oberon intervened and brought it to a sudden end.

Odin usually looks like an old white-bearded man, sometimes dressed in a black hooded robe studded with starry glints, sometimes in a "fantasy Viking" outfit of furs, armor, and horned helmet. However, he can take on the form of a polar bear at will, as well. While he was missing his eye, every form that he took on, whether human-like or bear, had only one eye to mark this.

Odin can control the weather, usually in such a way as to produce snowstorms, no doubt thanks to his being a "god of the north". [He is also a death-god, like Anubis.] He often rides his horse Sleipnir, when interacting with mortals.

<Odin was the chief of the Norse gods or Aesir, and was worshipped not only by the Scandinavians of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland under that name, but also by the Saxons as Woden. (This form of his name has given rise to the day of the week "Wednesday", which is a whittled-down form of "Woden's day"). He was the favorite god of chieftains and poets, although the common people prefered Thor. Kings and noblemen among the Norse and Germanic peoples prior to their conversion to Christianity even traced their descent back to Odin, as did the various Saxon kings in England, for example.

Odin had a great thirst for wisdom. To gain it, he not only gave up an eye for a drink from Mimir's Well, as per "Gargoyles", but even hanged himself from the World Ash-Tree of Yggdrasill to gain even greater knowledge. Alongside his horse Sleipnir, he also had two pet ravens, Hugin and Munin, who would daily fly through the world and report back to Odin on all that they had seen and learned, and a pair of pet wolves, Geri and Freki. In battle, he wielded a great spear named Gungnir, which had been made for him by the dwarves.

While Odin spent much of his time holding sway in Asgard, and in particular, presiding in his great hall of Valhalla, he also spent much time in the human world, often disguised as an old traveller, leaning on a staff (the form that he assumed in "Gargoyles" when he first met Goliath and his companions). He would visit various households, sometimes to dispense wisdom to his hosts, and at other times to engage in a riddle-game with them. Odin always won these games by making his last riddle, "What did Odin whisper in the ear of his dead son Balder?", which, of course, only he could answer (shades of the ever-popular question among "Gargoyles" fans of what Titania whispered in Fox's ear!).

Odin was not only the chief of the Norse gods, but also a death-god; he had custody over the souls of warriors slain in battle. These souls his handmaidens, the Valkyries, brought to his feasting-hall of Valhalla in Asgard, where they lived a life of eternal feasting and battle; Odin kept them in his service for the time of Ragnarok, where these warriors, known as the Einherjar, would help him and the other Aesir in battle against their enemies, the frost giants and monsters. Odin would often arrange for the finest warriors to be slain in battle by inferior men in order to be able to recruit them for the Einherjar, something that did not make him particularly popular among many of the Vikings.

Despite these precautions, however, Odin's forces were still overwhelmed at Ragnarok when it came, and he himself was devoured by the Fenris-wolf. (Greg Weisman has stated that some form of Ragnarok has already taken place in the Gargoyles Universe, although not quite as devastating as the Norse myths claimed. Presumably, if Odin's being eaten by the Fenris-wolf took place during it, he was not permanently swallowed, but freed from the wolf's interior afterwards. The Norse myths state that his son Vidar slew the Fenris-wolf afterwards by ripping it asunder, and perhaps in the Gargoyles Universe this deed freed Odin).>

OLD YORK OPERA HOUSE

An opera house in Greenwich Village, where Goliath and Hudson came to meet Demona after she attempted to poison Elisa. She ambushed them there and badly wounded Goliath before the two gargoyles managed to escape.

OLYMPIANS

The original name for the New Olympians, before they withdrew to New Olympus. Some were believed by the humans of ancient Greece and Rome to be gods, while others were feared and persecuted as monsters, prompting their decision to isolate themselves on New Olympus.

<The Olympians, in Greek mythology, were the twelve gods of Mount Olympus, over whom Zeus ruled. The other eleven were Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Ares, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Demeter, Hermes, and Dionysus. Hestia, Zeus's sister and the goddess of the hearth, was originally one of the Olympians, but gladly abdicated from their number when Dionysus was admitted to Olympus.

The exact relation between the New Olympians and the Greek gods is uncertain, since the bulk of the New Olympians encountered in "Gargoyles" belong more to the "monsters" of Greek mythology than to the gods (with the exception of Boreas, Helios, and in the unmade "New Olympians" spin-off, Jove). Greg Weisman has commented that some of the younger Greek gods may have been Olympians, such as Apollo and Artemis, while the older ones, such as the Titans, may have been members of the Third Race who begat the Olympians - he has, incidentally, called these fay "Children of Mab", suggesting that the early events of Greek mythology may have taken place before Oberon overthrew Queen Mab.>

OPERATION CLEAN SLATE

Demona's term for the scheme that she devised to destroy humanity. To carry out this scheme, she first obtained the Medici Tablet in Florence in 1495, and then the Praying Gargoyle in Paris in 1980. Then she employed Sevarius to develop the CV-1000 Carrier Virus, and stole a canister of DI-7 detergent from Xanatos Enterprises. She took all of these to St. Damien's Cathedral on the night of the Hunter's Moon in 1996, where she used the Fulfillment Spell engraved on the Medici Tablet to magically combine the CV-1000 Carrier Virus with the DI-7 detergent to produce a powerful plague that would wipe out all humanity if released. She would activate the Praying Gargoyle to keep her own race safe from the effects of the plague, and then release the virus. Fortunately, she was foiled at the last moment by Goliath, who destroyed the Praying Gargoyle, thus ensuring that if Demona released the plague, the gargoyles would perish as a result as well as the humans. The gargoyles captured the vial with the plague inside it, [and afterwards destroyed it].

OPHELIA

A member of the Avalon clan. She participated in the defense of Avalon from both the Archmage and Oberon. During the latter battle, however, she raised her doubts about whether her clan truly had the right to battle against Oberon, since he was merely seeking to regain what was rightfully his. [She and Gabriel are mates; Ophelia has become second-in-command to the Avalon clan since Angela's departure for the outside world.]

Ophelia's most distinctive feature is her triceratops-style crest.

[ORDER OF THE GUARDIAN]

[A sort of "warriors' society" in Ishimura, in existence by 2198. Its purpose is to train young gargoyle warriors in the ways of Bushido. Humans can enter it as well, however, such as Nicholas Natsilane Maza.]

OTHELLO

A gargoyle from the Wyvern clan. [Othello was hatched in the year 938, a member of the same rookery generation as Goliath, Demona, Desdemona, and Iago.] During his original life in the late 10th century, Othello and Desdemona fell in love, and became mates. However, Iago wished to split them apart, since he lusted after Desdemona himself, and so lyingly told Othello that Desdemona and Goliath were lovers. Othello believed Iago's lie, and fought against Goliath in anger, but Desdemona finally managed to somehow make peace between them. Othello and Desdemona returned to their mated life afterwards in peace, until they were destroyed by Hakon's Vikings, alongside most of the Wyvern clan, in 994.

In the winter of 1994-95, however, Xanatos and Demona revived Othello through a mixture of magic and technology, in a new body composed both of animated stone fragments from the shattered bodies of himself, Desdemona, and Iago, and cybernetic parts. In his new cybernetic form, Othello now bears the name of "Coldstone"; the remainder of his adventures can be found within that entry.

[Othello and Desdemona are the biological parents of Gabriel, but they do not know this as yet, and probably would not care if they did, being more likely to see the entire Avalon clan as their children as per gargoyle tradition.]

OTOSHIANA MARU

An oil tanker in New York Harbor where the gargoyles battled the Pack following its escape from Riker's Island. It was destroyed in the course of the battle.

Previous | Introduction | Next