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Gargoyle (monster)
The gargoyle is a fantasy and horror monster inspired by the appearance of bestial grotesque statues in architecture – particularly those sculpted to decorate the cathedral of Notre-Dame Paris during its 19th-century reconstruction, rather than actual medieval statuary. Its name is based on the gargoyle architectural element, whose name is often incorrectly conflated with that of monstrous grotesques as a whole.
While they were believed in mythology to frighten away evil spirits, the idea of such statues physically coming to life is a more recent notion. Like golems, they are usually made of magically animated or transformed stone, but have animal or chimera traits and are often guardians of a place such as a cathedral or castle. They can also be depicted as vessels for demonic possession or as a living species resembling statues. Most fictional gargoyles throughout the 20th century have been evil creatures and horror villains, but the notion of gargoyles as heroic defenders gained popularity in the 1990s following the animated series Gargoyles, and it is now not uncommon to see them depicted as sympathetic characters who may work together with humans.
The notion of gargoyles as supernatural constructs brought to life by evil was introduced in Maker of Gargoyles (1932), a short pulp fiction story by Clark Ashton Smith where Reynard, a medieval stonemason, unconsciously infuses his hate and lust into two gargoyles that attack the town of Vyones and later kill him when he attempts to destroy them.
In the novelette Conjure Wife (1943) by Fritz Leiber, a dragon sculpture is animated by a witch and sent to kill an archaeology professor.
Such gargoyles also entered science fiction, such as in the Doctor Who episode The Daemons (1971).
The notion of gargoyles as demonic vessels was introduced in The Horn of Vapula (Lewis Spence, 1932), in which a demon familiar is bound into a horned and goatlike gargoyle.
Gargoyles appear as horned canine statues in the movie Ghostbusters (1984), where they are possessed by the demonic spirits of Zuul and Vinz Klortho.
Gargoyles may also appear as vessels for formerly human souls, such as the Marvel Comics hero Gargoyle, who later is able to transform back into a human.
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Gargoyle (monster)
The gargoyle is a fantasy and horror monster inspired by the appearance of bestial grotesque statues in architecture – particularly those sculpted to decorate the cathedral of Notre-Dame Paris during its 19th-century reconstruction, rather than actual medieval statuary. Its name is based on the gargoyle architectural element, whose name is often incorrectly conflated with that of monstrous grotesques as a whole.
While they were believed in mythology to frighten away evil spirits, the idea of such statues physically coming to life is a more recent notion. Like golems, they are usually made of magically animated or transformed stone, but have animal or chimera traits and are often guardians of a place such as a cathedral or castle. They can also be depicted as vessels for demonic possession or as a living species resembling statues. Most fictional gargoyles throughout the 20th century have been evil creatures and horror villains, but the notion of gargoyles as heroic defenders gained popularity in the 1990s following the animated series Gargoyles, and it is now not uncommon to see them depicted as sympathetic characters who may work together with humans.
The notion of gargoyles as supernatural constructs brought to life by evil was introduced in Maker of Gargoyles (1932), a short pulp fiction story by Clark Ashton Smith where Reynard, a medieval stonemason, unconsciously infuses his hate and lust into two gargoyles that attack the town of Vyones and later kill him when he attempts to destroy them.
In the novelette Conjure Wife (1943) by Fritz Leiber, a dragon sculpture is animated by a witch and sent to kill an archaeology professor.
Such gargoyles also entered science fiction, such as in the Doctor Who episode The Daemons (1971).
The notion of gargoyles as demonic vessels was introduced in The Horn of Vapula (Lewis Spence, 1932), in which a demon familiar is bound into a horned and goatlike gargoyle.
Gargoyles appear as horned canine statues in the movie Ghostbusters (1984), where they are possessed by the demonic spirits of Zuul and Vinz Klortho.
Gargoyles may also appear as vessels for formerly human souls, such as the Marvel Comics hero Gargoyle, who later is able to transform back into a human.