Goliath

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Goliath

Goliath was the leader of the Wyvern Clan, and is now the leader of the Manhattan Clan.

History

Before the Wyvern Massacre

Goliath was hatched with his rookery in the year 938. By the year 971, he was already one of the more noteworthy young warriors in the clan. In that year, Prince Malcolm made his alliance with the Wyvern Clan; during that time, he bestowed the name "Goliath" upon the gargoyle, comparing him in strength and battle-prowess to the Philistine giant who fought and was slain by the young David; on a darker note, the name also evoked the fear that most humans held towards gargoyles, given that its original was one of the best-known villains in the Bible. Thus, even by 994, Goliath was the only gargoyle in the clan to bear a name, and it is likely that even he did not view it as anything more than an odd human label. ("Awakening" Part One)

At that time, he and the female gargoyle later known as Demona, then known only as his "Angel of the Night", were also growing to notice each other, which would lead in time to their becoming mates. In 975, they parted the Phoenix Gate between them as a token of their love for each other. ("Vows") Together, they conceived an egg in 987. This egg would later hatch into Angela. Goliath's love for Demona may well have been deeper than hers for him, however, since even then, she was, to a certain extent, using him for her own goals (in particular, her growing hatred of humans, and her ambition for power), though Goliath never suspected it. ("Long Way To Morning")

In 984, the clan leader (who would later be known as Hudson) was blinded in one eye by the Archmage, and abdicated from his position of leadership, appointing Goliath (who was already his second-in-command by then) to take his place. ("Long Way To Morning") Goliath led the gargoyles faithfully for the next ten years, defending the castle from its enemies. Human antipathy towards the gargoyles grew steadily in Castle Wyvern during this time, particularly after the death of Prince Malcolm and the accession of Princess Katharine. Many of the gargoyles, particularly Demona, came to resent the humans for their disdainful attitude towards the gargoyles. But Goliath steadfastly continued to protect the humans, understanding that they treated the clan as they did because they were afraid of it and it seemed strange and alien to them, and hoping that relations between the two races would improve in time to come. ("Awakening" Part One)

A New Life

By 994, however, Demona and the Captain of the Guard had had enough of the gargoyles' poor treatment, and decided to betray Katharine and her people to Hakon and his Vikings. However, Goliath unwittingly helped foil their plan; when they urged him to take all the gargoyles away to pursue the Vikings, he refused, feeling that it would leave Castle Wyvern open to attack in their absence. Instead, he took just Hudson with him. The Captain consequently had to change his plan to have Hakon attack in the daytime, resulting in the Wyvern Massacre. Goliath and Hudson returned to find the rest of the clan dead, except for the Trio and Bronx (whom Goliath had sent down to the rookery for getting into a fight with some of the humans) and Demona, who had fled the castle to hide herself. Goliath believed her to be among the dead, however, and was grief-stricken. ("Awakening" Part Two; "City of Stone" Part One)

He quickly led the other surviving gargoyles to the Vikings' camp at the Archmage's Cave, for the purpose of both rescuing the humans and avenging the slaughter of his clan. While the other gargoyles were fighting the Vikings, Goliath cornered Hakon and the Captain of the Guard, with Princess Katharine as their prisoner, at the edge of a cliff nearby, and learned of the Captain's treachery. When he lunged at them in their fury, Hakon and the Captain fell off the cliff to their deaths; Katharine fell as well, but Goliath was able to rescue her. In his absence, however, the Magus, believing the Princess to be dead, had cursed the other gargoyles so that they would sleep, locked in stone, "until the castle rose above the clouds". Because Hakon had burned the page with the counter-spell on it, the Magus was powerless to undo what he had done. Goliath, filled with grief and despair at being completely alone, first entrusted the clan's eggs to Princess Katharine, and then asked the Magus to cast his spell upon him as well.

A thousand years later, Goliath and his clan were awakened by David Xanatos, when he purchased Castle Wyvern and moved it to the top of the Eyrie Building in Manhattan, New York City, thus fulfilling the terms of the spell's undoing. ("Awakening" Part Two)

Goliath

Xanatos and Demona had carried out this scheme together, hoping to use Goliath and his clan for their own ends, and began by duping them into stealing three computer disks from Cyberbiotics, which they had deluded Goliath into thinking had been stolen from Xanatos. Goliath was temporarily overjoyed at discovering that Demona was still alive, but that joy faded as he gradually came to discover how she had changed over the centuries. Also, the same night that the gargoyles awoke in New York for the first time, Goliath met Elisa Maza, who had come to the castle to investigate the disturbances caused by the initial clash between the clan and Xanatos' thugs. He rescued her when she fell off the top of the castle wall in fear of him, and the two of them soon came to become friends, particularly after Elisa risked her life to protect him in his stone sleep from the Commandos in Central Park. It was Elisa who revealed Xanatos' true nature to Goliath, warning him in sufficient time that he was able to foil Xanatos and Demona's attempt to destroy the clan with their new Steel Clan robots, once it became clear to them that the gargoyles would not be quite so useful to their schemes as they had originally intended. ("Awakening" Part Two, "Awakening" Part Three, "Awakening" Part Four, "Awakening" Part Five)

Although Xanatos was sent to prison in the immediate aftermath of the Steel Clan's defeat, he still owned the castle, and Elisa urged Goliath to leave it with his clan and find a new home. ("The Thrill of the Hunt") Goliath refused, unwilling to leave his last link to the 10th century, but after the gargoyles were attacked there by Macbeth, and Lexington, Brooklyn, and Bronx were temporarily captured, he finally gave in and moved, reluctantly, to the clock tower, though vowing to someday return and win the castle back from Xanatos. ("Enter Macbeth")

Despite his anger and grief at having had to leave Castle Wyvern, Goliath settled into the clock tower soon enough. During his first winter in New York, he began to learn more about Elisa's work as a detective and her vow, as part of the NYPD, to protect the innocent citizens in the city from criminals. Realizing how much this echoed his own vow to protect the castle, Goliath used this as inspiration to redefine his role as a protector, taking a new oath that henceforth, he and his clan would protect the inhabitants of New York, both human and gargoyle, particularly through foiling criminals. ("Reawakening")

Expanded Protectorate, Expanded Worldview

Goliath took to his new role well enough, but remained torn in his heart; he still had his old feelings for Demona, despite her having turned evil, and longed to have her back with him, but was also developing new feelings for Elisa (feelings which grew stronger when Puck temporarily transformed her into a gargoyle). ("Vows"; "The Mirror")

Demona took advantage of Goliath's "torch-carrying" for her by tricking him into giving her his piece of the Phoenix Gate, which to him was only a token of her love, and using it to transport herself and Xanatos to the year 975, accidentally taking Goliath along with them. Goliath became involved in an effort by the Demona of the present to subvert the Demona of 975, and urged the younger version of Demona to not follow that dark path, but remain true to her vows of love.

Unfortunately, his hopes of changing Demona for the better in the present failed, since history is immutable; after discovering that the Demona of 1995 still had abandoned her love for him in favor of her hatred for humanity, he had to face, at last, the fact that they would never be together again. ("Vows")

Goliath had other adventures following his first journey to the past. He met Halcyon Renard, the CEO of Cyberbiotics, and with his help, learned to finally take responsibility for his part in the Cyberbiotics raid. ("Outfoxed") He also discovered the existence of Thailog, a clone of him made by Xanatos, who was even more villainous than Xanatos ever was; Goliath viewed Thailog (with a little help from Elisa) as his son and made the effort to reach out to him, which Thailog contemptuously rejected. In the time to come, Thailog would become one of Goliath's most deadly adversaries. ("Double Jeopardy")

Late in 1995, a grown-up Tom came from Avalon to New York, and warned Goliath of the Archmage's attack upon Avalon. Goliath, Elisa, and Bronx accompanied Tom there, to meet the Avalon Clan for the first time, including Angela, the biological daughter of Goliath and Demona. After Goliath defeated the Archmage, he, Elisa, Bronx, and Angela left Avalon to return to New York. But since Avalon sends one, not where one wants to go, but where one needs to be, it took a long time for them to return there. ("Avalon" Part One, "Avalon" Part Two, "Avalon" Part Three)

Goliath dons the Eye of Odin

Goliath had more adventures during the "Avalon World Tour" of a personal nature. He encountered the ghosts of the Captain of the Guard and Hakon in the Archmage's Cave, and finally made his peace with the Captain. ("Shadows of the Past") He used the Phoenix Gate to take him back in time to 1940, to rescue Griff in the Battle of Britain and bring him forward in time. ("M.I.A.") He also briefly donned the Eye of Odin in order to battle Odin, but came dangerously close to becoming corrupted by it, only saved by Angela's intervention. ("Eye of the Storm") But perhaps the most important thing that happened to him during this odyssey was his acknowledgement of Angela as his daughter. He was reluctant to do this when he learned of their biological link, for it ran contrary to gargoyle instinct and felt like favoritism to him and was also worried about what Angela would do when she learned that Demona was her biological mother. So he rejected her urges to accept her as his child for a long while. ("Monsters") But in the end, Diane Maza persuaded him to reconsider his treatment of her, and so he acknowledged her at last, to her joy. ("Mark of the Panther")

As the four companions neared New York at last, near the end of the world tour, Goliath had one last, horrendous, adventure, when Puck visited upon him an illusion in which they had returned to New York, but forty years in the future, by which time Xanatos (or, more accurately, a traitorous Lexington masquerading as Xanatos) had taken over the city, and was preparing to take over the entire planet from there. Puck's motive was to trick Goliath into giving him the Phoenix Gate; Goliath finally realized, almost at the last moment, what was going on here, and to prevent future attempts to seize the Gate, threw it away into the timestream, hoping that it would be lost there forever. ("Future Tense")

Goliath returned to New York, to become involved in an attempt by Oberon and Titania to kidnap the new-born Alexander Xanatos. Goliath was unwilling to see even his greatest enemy deprived of his child, and so led his clan against Oberon to thwart him; they were defeated, but after Fox mustered up enough of her "halfling strength" to strike Oberon with a spell, Goliath used the incident to persuade the magical rulers to let Alex stay in the human world and be tutored in magic. Xanatos, grateful to Goliath for this act, promised to do whatever he could to repay the gargoyles; Goliath was skeptical, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. ("The Gathering" Part One, "The Gathering" Part Two)

Not long afterwards, Jason, Robyn, and Jon Canmore came to New York in search of Demona, and while hunting for her, came upon Goliath, Hudson, and Angela. Mistaking Angela for Demona, they attacked and almost killed her. Goliath angrily vowed revenge, and so began a terrible feud between his clan and the Hunters that resulted in the destruction of the clock tower, the exposure of the gargoyles to the public, and Elisa almost dying when a battle between Goliath and Jason inadvertently knocking her off the top of a dam. In the final battle with the Hunters at Saint Damien's Cathedral, however, Elisa finally arrived and managed to stop Goliath from killing the Hunters, and he, having come to his senses, quickly followed that with thwarting a genocidal scheme that Demona had developed to destroy all humanity. The gargoyles were trapped by the Gargoyle Taskforce in the cathedral afterwards, and almost captured, but Xanatos came to their aid and gave them shelter at the castle, in gratitude for their having saved his son from Oberon earlier. In the immediate aftermath, Goliath and Elisa finally admitted the feelings that they had developed for each other, and she kissed him for the first time. ("Hunter's Moon" Part One, "Hunter's Moon" Part Two, "Hunter's Moon" Part Three)

The Journey Continues

Goliath and Elisa were soon afterwards the first targets of John Castaway in his war against the gargoyles, but rescued by Vinnie. ("Nightwatch", "The Journey")

On Halloween of 1996, Elisa was asked on a date by her coworker Officer Morgan - an offer she initially refused, because of her relationship with Goliath. However, because of this offer, as well as a conversation with Jason Canmore, Elisa came to believe that the practical difficulties of a relationship between a gargoyle and a human were too great to overcome. Certain things that she wanted from a long-term relationship (including children) were impossible to attain with Goliath. That evening, she ended their relationship, and encouraged him to pursue a relationship with Delilah, which he did by inviting her to a masquerade ball to be held at the Eyrie Building. ("Invitation Only")

Elisa, who had been invited to the same ball, finally accepted Morgan's offer and brought him. This "double date" (an idea of Greg Weisman's that he revealed long before the publication of the comic) only served to make Goliath and Elisa understand how much they meant to each other, but before any sort of reconciliation could be achieved the party was crashed by Thailog, who had come to collect Delilah, and stabbed Goliath in the gut. ("Masque") Goliath was then tortured by Thailog, and might have perished if not for the intervention of the rest of the gargoyles, as well as Dr. Sato. Realizing that it could no longer be denied, Goliath and Elisa finally declared their mutual love. ("Bash")

Future

Eventually, Goliath and Elisa would hold some sort of Commitment Ceremony (probably before 1999 [1]), and further down the road, even raise a child together, presumably by adoption. (It is assumed that this child is the ancestor of Nicholas Natsilane Maza.)

At some point between 2004 and 2188, Goliath would sacrifice his life for some unknown purpose. However, it is known that shortly after his death, and in no small part due to his great sacrifice, the United Nations would adopt the Gargoyle Minority Protection Act which granted gargoyles full "sentient rights", established the Gargoyle Nation and made hunting gargoyles a crime.

Apocrypha

For Goliath's apocryphal adventures, see Goliath (Apocrypha).

Characteristics

Physically, Goliath is an impressive figure, a tall and powerfully-built gargoyle with lavender skin and dark hair. He is one of the mightiest warriors alive, and even his most formidable opponents cannot easily defeat him. He is also a bold and fierce gargoyle, and his wrath is something that can be terrible to behold. While a level-headed figure in general, and a good leader, he can be very stubborn at times (such as in his refusal to abandon Castle Wyvern), or sometimes even become bitterly vengeful (as in his feud with the Hunters). But he is no mere savage, and his emotions can be held in check by his strong sense of justice and morality. He takes his role as a protector seriously, and will willingly put his life in danger to keep New York or his clan from harm.

In another way, Goliath has shown himself to be something more than a fierce gargoyle warrior. He is literate, having been taught how to read by Demona back in the 10th century, and has a particular fondness for the classics, such as Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky. Mingled in with his gargoyle instincts is a thoughtful, philosophical nature; he often ponders about the world and how it has changed since the time that he grew up in. He also eagerly learns all that he can about it from Elisa. His wisdom and sense of hope have helped him endure the fear and prejudice displayed by humans towards gargoyles, not yielding to it as Demona has done, as he continues to understand that humans treat gargoyles thus because they are afraid of them, and hopes that they will change for the better in the future, that someday, their races will be at peace.


Timeline

938. March. Hatches at Wyvern Hill.


971. Goliath is named by Prince Malcolm.


975. November 1. Splits the Phoenix Gate with Demona, and vows his love for her. ("Vows")


984. Tracks the Archmage to his cave along with Hudson and Demona. Catches the Grimorum Arcanorum before it falls into a chasm. After this adventure, Hudson abdicates as leader of the Wyvern clan and Goliath takes command. ("Long Way to Morning")


994. September 30. Sends the trio and Bronx to the rookery for getting in a fight with some humans. Later takes Hudson along with him to track the Vikings that have previously attacked them, unknowingly foiling Demona and Robbie's plan to rid the castle of the humans. They change the plan so that the vikings attack Castle Wyvern during the day. ("Awakening" Part One, "City of Stone" Part One)

October 1. Goliath realizes he's been tricked but can't get to the castle in time. Wyvern Massacre occurs. Mourns Demona, thinking she was killed. Goliath and the other survivors attack the Viking camp to save the humans. Saves Princess Katharine from Hakon and the Captain. Comes back to find his friends turned to stone by the Magus, who thought the gargoyles caused the death of the princess. Goliath asks Katharine to watch over the eggs before asking the Magus to place the sleep spell upon him. ("Awakening" Part One, "Awakening" Part Two)


1940. A time traveling Goliath helps Griff fight the Nazis in London during the Battle of Britain. ("M.I.A.")


1994. October 4. Goliath and the others awaken at Castle Wyvern after the breaking of the sleep spell. The Manhattan Clan is born. The gargoyles meet David Xanatos, who broke the spell by placing the castle above the clouds. A group of commandos attack the castle. They "steal" three diskettes and escape. ("Awakening" Part Two)

October 5. Goliath saves Elisa Maza's life after he scares her and she falls off the castle. He arranges to meet her the next night right before being asked by Xanatos to get his disks back. Goliath meets with Elisa again and they take an aerial tour of Manhattan. In Central Park, they are attacked by the Commandos again. They escape but Goliath has been hit with a tranquilizer dart and has no choice but to turn to stone at the coming dawn. ("Awakening" Part Three, "Awakening" Part Four)

October 6. Wakes up to find that Elisa has watched over him during the day. Their friendship is cemented. Goliath returns to the castle and is reunited with Demona. She and Xanatos convince him to get the disks back. Goliath and Demona attack Fortress-1 and Demona destroys it. Goliath is disturbed by her behaviour. He meets with Elisa who tells him the disks were the property of Cyberbiotics and that Xanatos had been using the gargoyles. ("Awakening" Part Four, "Awakening" Part Five)

October 7. Returns to the castle to find Steel Clan robots attacking his clan. After the robots are defeated, Demona reveals she has been working against the clan and she tells Goliath of her plan that led to the Massacre. She reveals her name and is about to shoot Goliath but Elisa tackles her. Both Demona and Elisa fall off the castle, and Goliath saves Elisa before mourning the loss of his love once again. Elisa stops him from killing Xanatos, who is arrested for recieving stolen property. ("Awakening" Part Five)

November 5. Lexington convinces Goliath to meet The Pack. The Pack attacks them but are defeated. ("The Thrill of the Hunt")

November 12. Lured to the Cloisters by Brooklyn, where Demona casts a spell on Goliath from the Grimorum Arcanorum, enslaving his mind. ("Temptation")

November 13. Elisa uses the spell to free Goliath's mind. ("Temptaion")

November 15. Owen gathers genetic material from Goliath. ("Double Jeopardy")


1995. January 3. Macbeth attacks the gargoyles, and abducts Brooklyn, Lexington, and Bronx. Goliath confronts Macbeth at his mansion, who reveals he is after Demona and that he named her. The gargoyles escape and Macbeth flees. ("Enter Macbeth")

January 4. Elisa, who has been trying to get Goliath to leave the castle, finally convinces him to do so with the help of Hudson and Broadway. The gargoyles move into the clock tower above the 23rd Precinct. ("Enter Macbeth")

January 20. Walks into a trap set up by Demona in order to try to reason with her. Demona shoots Goliath with a laser cannon, but he survives the night, thanks to Hudson's assistance. ("Long Way to Morning")

February 3. Accompanies Elisa on her shift, and confronts Coldstone in Times Square. Battle between the gargoyles, Coldstone, and Demona takes place at the George Washington Bridge. Goliath falls into the icy water but is saved by Coldstone, and then saved by him again when Demona shoots at him, supposedly sending Coldstone to his doom. Goliath declares his clan's new purpose; to protect the citizens of Manhattan. ("Reawakening")

September 9. Raids the Gen-U-Tech lab along with Brooklyn and Lexinton in order to free Maggie, just as Sevarius seems to be giving Derek Maza a cure. Goliath kicks Sevarius into an eel tank, supposedly killing him, and destroying Derek's chance for a cure. Derek becomes a mutate permanently and blames Goliath for his condition. ("Metamorphosis")

September 20. Confronts Coldstone again and enters his mind via RECAP in order to side with Othello and Desdemona against Iago and a program designed by Xanatos. Goliath is successful and returns to his body, but Coldstone is rendered temporarily dormant thanks to a virus. ("Legion")

September 28. Demona summons Puck using Titania's Mirror. Puck transforms all the humans of Manhattan into gargoyles, and turns the gargoyles themselves into humans. Mayhem ensues, but Puck is captured and then released by Goliath after he changes everyone back to normal. Goliath realizes his feelings for Elisa go deeper than friendship and tries to talk to her about it, but she cuts him off. ("The Mirror")

October 31. Xanatos asks Goliath and Elisa for help in getting the Eye of Odin away from Fox, which they refuse. Goliath attends a Halloween block party with Elisa and dances with her. The werefox attacks and Goliath aids Xanatos in removing the Eye from her. Goliath takes possession of the Eye. ("Eye of the Beholder")

November 6. Attends the wedding of Fox and Xanatos, which is really a trap to get him to give his half of the Pheonix Gate to Demona. Travels back to 975 with Demona and tells her younger self to remember to keep her vows of love. He returns back to the present, and seeing that Demona is unchanged, realizes that he has lost her forever. ("Vows")

November 11. Agrees to ally with Xanatos to help him break Demona's "stone by night" spell. ("City of Stone" Part Two)

November 14. Goliath and the clan are saved by Elisa and Othello at Belvedere Castle while in stone sleep. They have been captured by the Weird Sisters working through Demona and Macbeth as part of their plan to obtain the Phoenix Gate, Eye of Odin, and Grimorum Arcanorum from the clocktower. ("High Noon")

November 15. Injured during a fight with the Pack. Hudson tells him to choose a second in command amongst the trio. ("Upgrade")

November 17. Captured by Renard while following Fortress-2. He works with Renard to save the ship after Vogel and Fox try to sabotage it. ("Outfoxed")

November 24-25. The clan is introduced to Matt Bluestone who involves Goliath in his plan to bust Mace Malone and the Illuminati. He's put through his paces at the Hotel Cabal before escaping with Matt. ("Revelations")

November 29. Makes a bad first impression with Thailog until Elisa convinces him that the clone is his son. Thailog chains Goliath up in an oil rig along with Elisa, Xanatos and Sevarius. Working together they escape, and after a failed attempt to reason with Thailog, Goliath fears that he's failed him. ("Double Jeopardy")

December 14-15. Captured by the upgraded Pack along with Elisa, Hudson, and Bronx. They are saved by the trio, and Goliath chooses Brooklyn as his second-in-command. ("Upgrade")

December 19. Goliath and Broadway help Elisa bust Tony Dracon during his protection racket scheme. Goliath eats a jalepeno pepper before yelling out the infamous catchphrase. ("Protection") Later he informs Elisa that he's seen the mutates back at the Eyrie Building and the two of them confront a resistant Talon. ("The Cage")

December 20. Goliath kidnaps Sevarius in order to try to force a cure for the mutates out of him. Elisa convinces him to release him right before Talon attacks Goliath. He's nearly killed by Talon, but Xanatos arrives and Talon realizes his error. Goliath acknowledges that Elisa is part of his clan. ("The Cage")

December 28. Departs to Avalon with Tom, Elisa, and Bronx. There, he is introduced to his rookery children and meets Angela for the first time. ("Avalon" Part One, "Avalon" Part Two)

December 30. Fights with the enhanced Archmage during the Avalon battle. He manages to remove the Eye of Odin from him, causing the Grimorum Arcanorum to destroy the Archmage. Goliath reclaims the Eye and the Phoenix Gate. ("Avalon" Part Three)

Appearances

Behind the Scenes

Voice Actor: Keith David

Goliath was not part of the original comedy development of Gargoyles. He first appeared as the title character of "The Gargoyle", the first attempt at turning the show into an action-drama. In this proposed show, "the gargoyle" was the immortal magical creation of an evil wizard who becomes a hero in the modern world.

Some of the names considered for Goliath included "Gar", "Griffin", "Lear", "Calaban", "Othello", "Atlas", "Stone", "Prometheus", and "Titan".

See also