Gargoyle

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"Out of nowhere, he was grabbed by stony talons and whisked away into the night sky ..."

— Commander Falstaav

The dreaded gargoyles of Northrend are voracious flying creatures who revel in slaughter and mayhem.

Background

Gargoyles were brought to Lordaeron from the frozen Northrend by Arthas's armies for the siege of Silvermoon. Now, gargoyles live in the Eastern Plaguelands and the Ghostlands. These strange, wiry flyers have rough, crystalline hides which protect them from all manner of attacks.

Gargoyles make effective scouts and can be deadly if left to rain attacks from the air, but they have a very obvious weakness. Most of them have to go through long periods resting as stone to maintain the energy they need to carry their heavy bodies through the air. In times of great peril, gargoyles also land and condense their crystalline hides into a stone-like surface to make themselves nearly impervious to any form of attacks. Though they are unable to attack in this state, they can take time to regenerate their wounds and replenish their energies.

The grotesque is a smaller gargoyle used to divert the flow of rainwater on Scourge buildings to prevent mausoleum flooding. There are also gargoyles affiliated with the Twilight's Hammer and the Old Gods. It is unknown if these are related to the Scourge gargoyles or if they have been created by the Old Gods.

Notable

A gargoyle in the TCG.

•   Dreadwind <Flight Master>
•   Effritus
•   Gish the Unmoving
•   Shalewing
•   Stonespine
•    Kirtonos the Herald
•   Zelfrax (actually a demon)

Types

A gargoyle in World of Warcraft.

•  Aldur'thar Sentry
•  Boneguard Scout
•  Deathless Watcher
•  Ebon Blade Gargoyle
•  Ebon Gargoyle
•  En'kilah Gargoyle
•  Frenzied Gargoyle
•  Gargoyle
•  Gargoyle Ambusher
•  Gjalerbron Gargoyle
•  Lesser Gargoyle
•  Plagued Gargoyle
•  Putrid Gargoyle
•  Rockwing Gargoyle
•  Rockwing Screecher
•  Spire Gargoyle
•  Stone Sleeper
•  Stoneskin Gargoyle
•  Stonespine Gargoyle
•  Stonewing Tracker
•  Vigilant Gargoyle
•  Wrathstrike Gargoyle

As a companion pet

Main article: Grotesque Statue

 [Grotesque Statue] has a chance to drop from Azgalor in Hyjal Summit.

Notes

• [Summon Gargoyle] is an Unholy death knight ability that summons a gargoyle to aid the death knight.
• Some gargoyles are used by the Knights of the Ebon Blade as flight masters.
• Many gargoyle mobs have an ability called Gargoyle Strike inflicting nature damage.
• The Leaper has no flying mount, but shifts into "Gargoyle Form".
• Kirtonos the Herald, a vampiric undead, could transform into a gargoyle.
• Hir'eek, the bat loa of the Gurubashi trolls, takes the form of a shadowy gargoyle in Quest:Backdoor Dealings.

Speculation

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

• It is possible that the Scourge took control of the gargoyles the same way as with the obsidian destroyers.
• It has been speculated that gargoyles may be of titan origin given their ability to become stone-like.
• Hir'eek may have a connection to gargoyles since during Quest:Backdoor Dealings the Totem of Hir'eek turns the player into one. He may have created them in the same way other Wild Gods created races, such as Cenarius and the dryads.

Inspiration

In contemporary fiction, Gargoyles are typically depicted as a (generally) winged humanoid race with demonic features: generally horns, a tail, and talons. The term technically refers to any stone carving used as a waterspout, and not a specific creature at all.

In the RPG

This section contains information from the Warcraft RPG which is considered non-canon.

Gargoyles are not undead creatures in the Warcraft RPG. They are marked as undead in Warcraft III and WoW. Appendix Three of Manual of Monsters describes a diferent type of gargoyle which is described as formed of stone and earth and a proto-golem, however, the validity of the source is disputed. Although, it does say that they are part of the Scourge and gargoyles are known to use their Stoneform in Warcraft III and WoW. Many kinds of gargoyles can be found around Azeroth, some of the more common types include the subspecies of gargoyle represented by various groups of mobs, as well as Dire gargoyle (subspecies, possibly to differentiate from the normal gargoyle in Appendix Three). In Manual of Monsters Appendix Three, there are other subspecies of gargoyles: Four-Armed Gargoyle, Green Gargoyle, and Margoyle, however, the validity of the source is disputed.

Gallery

• 

  Drawing of a gargoyle by Samwise Didier.

• Dire gargoyle.jpg

  A dire gargoyle.

• Twilight's Hammer Gargoyle.jpg

  A gargoyle in the service of the Twilight's Hammer.

References

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