Appendix B: A Guide to the Gargoyles Universe
By Todd Jensen
“Z”
- ZAFIRO (1)
One of the Mayan gargoyles. He is one of the four current pendant-wearers in that clan, and also thus one of its four sole survivors. He helped protect the rain forest in Guatemala where the Mayan clan lived from Cyberbiotics, and from Jackal and Hyena when they entered Preston Vogel's employ. He remained behind in Guatemala with Obsidiana when Turquesa and Jade temporarily went to Avalon to plant some of the tropical plants in the clan's charge there. [He will later on visit New York to recover the Mayan Sun Amulet.
Zafiro and Obsidiana are mates, and will be the ancestors of Zafiro (2). Zafiro is the current leader of the gargoyle clan in Guatemala.]
Zafiro differs from the other surviving gargoyles in his clan in that, instead of being humanoid in appearance, he resembles a winged serpent.
<Zafiro's appearance suggests that gargoyles of his variety in Central America could be the origin for the legends in that part of the world about flying serpents. In Mesoamerican legend, these flying serpents are known as couatl, and dwell in the depths of the rain forest. They are also linked to the legend of Quetzalcoatl, a culture-god of the Aztecs who was often depicted as a winged serpent. In the Gargoyles Universe, the story of Quetzalcoatl could well be a distorted memory of gargoyles that looked very much like Zafiro.>
- [ZAFIRO (2)]
- [A descendant of the original Zafiro and Obsidiana in 2198, around the same age as Samson and Delilah (2). The three of them all learned bushido together at Ishimura and became close friends, in an almost Three Musketeers-manner. Like his ancestors in 1996, Zafiro wears one of the magical pendants powered by the Mayan Sun Amulet, which keeps him from turning to stone in the daytime. He resembles the original Zafiro in physical appearance, but has Obsidiana's coloring. He is less of a warrior than Samson and Delilah (2), being more of a bookish scholar. He will take part in their resistance movement, and eventually follow Nokkar into outer space.]