When Disney+ launched after months of building hype, and fans rushed to subscribe to the newest streaming service to get lost in their favorite classic animated films or original series like The Mandalorian. And then there were some of us who just wanted Disney+ for the Gargoyles.
The 90s animated series left an indelible mark on some of our childhoods, and it’s not just because the show features cool-looking family-friendly monsters and a voice cast full of Star Trek actors, but because the series actually devoted serious time and thought into developing their mythology with rich, well-constructed characters, including some great villains. So to celebrate the return of Gargoyles to our lives, we are showcasing the best villains that appeared on one of our favorite childhood shows.
STEEL CLAN
The Steel Clan were not necessarily the most dangerous villains that the Gargoyles ever faced, though they did appear very frequently in the first two seasons. Robots modeled after the Gargoyles leader Goliath, the Steel Clan were powerful, but easily outwitted and taken down.
However, the robotic form of the Steel Clan robots was modified and then used by their creator, David Xanatos (more on him later), to be worn as battle armor. In the episode “Future Tense” heavily armored versions of the Steel Clan were used to defend the borders of Manhattan, which had become a battleground.
OBERON
Viewers learned a bit more about the mythology of the Gargoyles universe when Goliath told Elisa about the Third Race, alongside Humans and Gargoyles. This Third Race was the Children of Oberon, beings with incredible magical abilities that were represented in fantasy literature as fairies and elves, or Fae.
The Gargoyles encountered quite a few of the Third Race, including Puck, Titania, and Coyote (not to be confused with the Xanatos robots), all of whom were Children of Oberon. Oberon himself may not have been an outright villain to the Gargoyles, but he did find himself in battle a few times with both the Manhattan and the Avalon Clans.
THE HUNTERS
While Goliath and his Clan slept in stone for a thousand years, Demona spent that same time wracking up enemies as she continued her eternal war on the human race. One of those enemies was the Hunter, who began as a small child named Gille Coemgáin who was slashed by Demona across the face shortly after the massacre at the Gargoyles’ Castle Wyvern.
Gille Coemgáin would grow to become the Hunter, and inspire an organization of like-minded soldiers tasked with hunting down Demona and her kind. Each new generation’s Hunter would continue Gille Coemgáin’s mission of vengeance, though Demona would give every one of them reason anew to hate her.
MACBETH
While the mask and title of the Hunter were passed down from generation to generation over the years, Demona’s feud with Macbeth was a personal one that had lasted for almost 1000 years due to their similar deals with the Weird Sisters for immortality that bound them permanently together.
This meant that neither could die except by the other’s hand, which resulted in their lasting conflict as Macbeth had grown tired of eternal life. Macbeth and the Hunters’ origins are also tied together, with Macbeth even serving as a temporary Hunter at one point during his rivalry with Demona.
DR. ANTON SEVARIUS
The series frequently placed the Gargoyles against modern threats like robots and advanced weaponry, as it served the premise of these ancient creatures finding their way in modern-day New York. Following this theme, one of the forms of science the team is forced to deal with is genetic experimentation, largely in the form of the evil Dr. Anton Sevarius.
Sevarius created a number of dangers that the Gargoyles would have to face, including mutated humans like Elisa Maza’s brother Derek/Talon, who would go on to form the Labyrinth Clan alongside Sevarius’ other experiments. He would also experiment with cloning using the Gargoyles’ DNA, but we’ll get to that soon as well.
JACKAL & HYENA
The first group of modern villains the Gargoyles met after being reawakened by Xanatos was the group known as The Pack, mercenaries turned reality TV stars who were all canine-themed characters, which included Canadian brother and sister duo Jackal and Hyena.
While The Pack was a dangerous team, half were motivated by greed and some even sought redemption, but Jackal and Hyena were two of the worst members. While Hyena was a psychopathic sadist, Jackal was a truly evil sociopath, and they were both made even deadlier by cybernetic enhancements in later episodes.
DAVID XANATOS
The man who broke the Gargoyles’ century-long sleep and introduced them to the Isle of Manhattan was also one of their biggest enemies, both in battle as the leader of the Steel Clan and behind the scenes as the mystery man behind the Pack, Dr. Sevarius, and other related villains.
While the character did end up following a more heroic path in the third season The Goliath Chronicles, that season has largely been considered non-canon by series fans and show creators, who took the story in a different direction in comic form, contradicting Xanatos’ new season three characterization.
ARCHMAGE
While the Gargoyles frequently found themselves up against technology and science in the modern age, they still frequently encountered magic in various forms, both in the present and in recurring threats from their past. One of those threats was the Archmage who had taught both Demona and the Magus, andwas responsible for the Gargoyles’ century-long sleep.
The Archmage held a grudge against Demona and the Gargoyles and would be instrumental in guiding certain events around Demona and Macbeth that would eventually lead him to acquire the mystical Grimorum Arcanorum along with the time-traveling Phoenix Gate and powerful Eye of Odin to become one of the most powerful magical characters in the Gargoyles universe.
THAILOG
As we previously mentioned, Dr. Sevarius’ experiments dipped into cloning as well, and he managed to create a whole clan of Gargoyles, though they were altered due to the techniques used to create them, which included accelerated aging.
Sevarius’ first clone was of Goliath, and he took the name Thailog, which matched his reverse coloring to reflect his dark and malevolent personality. Unlike many of the Gargoyles’ misguided or conflicted villains, Thailog actually took pleasure in his evil deeds. He was everything Goliath wasn’t and he delighted in proving that point regardless of who got hurt in the process.
DEMONA
Back in the Gargoyles’ past, Demona was yet to be named by Macbeth and seen as a leader of her Clan alongside Goliath. However, her distrust of the humans and the resulting influence of the Weird Sisters and the Archmage caused her to betray her Clan, launching her into an eternal struggle against the human race that she blamed for her own failures.
Demona is one of the best villains not just because of her personal connection to Goliath and the other Gargoyles, or a similar connection to other villains on the list like Macbeth and the Hunters, but because she is responsible for some of the worst acts on the series, the worst of which may be casually shattering New York citizens she had turned to stone while laughing. Pretty dark, Disney.
