David Xanatos

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David Xanatos
David Xanatos
Publisher Disney First appearance Gargoyles 1x02 Awakening Part 2 Created by Greg Weisman
Characteristics Alter ego David Xanatos Species human Affiliations Xanatos Corporation, Illuminati Abilities Advanced martial arts skills, advanced weaponry handling techniques, extremely sharp intellect, mechanical suit that enhances his physical abilities to that of a Gargoyle.

David Xanatos is one of the primary characters of the animated series Gargoyles. In the series, he is the founder and CEO of Xanatos Enterprises and a member of the Illuminati. Xanatos was voiced by Star Trek: The Next Generation's Jonathan Frakes, to whom he bears a resemblance.

Xanatos is incredibly amoral, although his personality is slightly softened later in the series by his affection for his wife Fox and their son Alex. His plans are often intricate and Machiavellian. However, he is notably not vindictive as he sees revenge as foolish and tends to try to see the positive side of even his defeats. He is obsessed with obtaining immortality for himself and his family. His loyal right-hand man is Owen Burnett.

Xanatos is a formidable fighter in his own right. In addition to advanced Karate and Judo skills, he also has a specialized red armoured suit that he modeled off his Steel Clan that he wears frequently. He also has a highly advanced AI and cyborg clone modeled after himself, designed to do his bidding; it impersonates and represents him whenever he needs it to. This robot became the leader of the criminal group The Pack under the name of Coyote and there was a time where he actually used it to try to capture the actual Coyote spirit.

[edit] Biography

David Xanatos started life as the son of Petros Xanatos, a fisherman from Bar Harbor, Maine. Young Xanatos received an anonymous letter which contained a set of priceless 10th century coins. He sold the coins for $20,000, investing the money in a series of successful ventures and eventually building his corporation. Xanatos's holdings include Xanatos Enterprises, a genetics company Gen-U-Tech, the Scarab Corporation robotics firm, and the television franchise Pack Media Studios. Despite his father's belief that Xanatos did not deserve the gift that had launched his career, Xanatos continued to claim that he would one day prove himself a self-made man.

Xanatos learned of Castle Wyvern from Demona, the only remaining Gargoyle from the Wyvern Clan, and proceeded to purchase the castle and transport it, brick by brick, and reconstruct it atop his New York skyscraper, the Eyrie Building. With the castle "above the clouds," Xanatos successfully released the Manhattan Clan from their frozen sleep.

Xanatos initially posed as the Gargoyles' friend, convincing them to "acquire" technology from his rival Cyberbiotics for him and ultimately attempting to destroy the gargoyles once their replacements, the Steel Clan, came online. The Steel Clan was defeated, however, and Xanatos was convicted for receiving stolen property ("Awakening, Part V"). Xanatos continued to plot against the Gargoyles from prison, testing them and attempting to remove them from the castle. Upon his release, he committed himself to getting his own clan of gargoyles that would be loyal and obedient to him. To that end, he tried several attempts throughout the series to do that such as resurrecting Goliath's brother Coldstone and some of the other dead Gargoyles from the Scottish clan; genetically creating his own clan of mutant gargoyles, one of whom was Elisa Maza's brother, Derek; creating a clone of Goliath, and perfecting the Steel Clan. When these attempts failed, he changed focus to continuing his quest for immortality but by using sorcery, magic, and even involving himself with children of Oberon, the King of the mystical island Avalon, instead.

Xanatos would meet an equal in Fox and marry her. It was on this occasion that, by inviting Goliath to the wedding and luring him into seeking reconciliation with Demona, Xanatos was able to reconstruct the Phoenix Gate. The wedding party was brought back in time to the 10th century, where Xanatos arranged for the ancient coins to be delivered to himself a thousand years in the future, as well as a message to himself detailing the instructions how to do it that he had received a some time ago. In this way, Xanatos fulfilled his own history through a predestination paradox, at the same time proving himself to his father as a "self-made man" ("Vows").

When Demona finally betrayed Xanatos to advance her own goals of destroying the human race, Xanatos was forced to call a truce with Goliath to stop her ("City of Stone, Part II"). Goliath was later instrumental in saving Xanatos's newborn son Alexander, at which time Xanatos pledged to pay the debt back to him ("The Gathering, Part II"). When the existence of the Gargoyles is revealed to the public, Xanatos ultimately calls an end to the feud and restores the Gargoyles to their ancestral home in the castle ("Hunter's Moon, Part III").

On The Goliath Chronicles, Xanatos was portrayed as a benefactor to the Gargoyles. Greg Weisman has stated that while the feud with the clan ended, he still seeks to achieve his own goals (As according to Greg will be demonstrated in #4 or 5 of the comic). This is acknowledged by Brooklyn and Goliath in #1 of the Slave Labor Graphics comic book series continuation that while he isn't 100% trust worthy, they trust him not to smash them during the day. Also, Xanatos has to deal with pressure from The Illuminati in terms of turning the clan over to them.