David Xanatos is the founder, owner, and CEO of Xanatos Enterprises, as well as a multi-billionaire and a member of the Illuminati. He is responsible for breaking the Magus' spell over the Wyvern Clan.[1]
History
David was born in Maine, to Petros Xanatos, a fisherman. At a young age, he received a letter containing gold coins from the 10th century, worth $20,000 in historic value each. He sold the coins, invested the money into various stocks, and founded Xanatos Enterprises. Due to his father's belief that his fortune was unearned, their relationship became strained.[2]
Xanatos's holdings include Xanatos Enterprises, Gen-U-Tech[3], the Scarab Corporation[1], and Pack Media Studios[4]. 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.[2]
Xanatos learned of Castle Wyvern from Demona and purchased the castle, transporting it brick by brick and reconstructing it atop his New York skyscraper, the Eyrie Building. With the castle "above the clouds," he successfully released the survivors of the Wyvern Clan from their frozen sleep.[1]
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.[1] Xanatos continued to plot against the gargoyles from prison, testing them[4] and attempting to remove them from the castle[5]. Upon his release, he became one of their greatest enemies, engaging in a particularly fierce rivalry with their leader, Goliath[6].
Xanatos also committed himself to getting his own clan of gargoyles that would be loyal and obedient to him. To that end, he made several attempts throughout the series to do that, such as resurrecting Goliath's brother, Coldstone[7]; genetically creating his own clan of mutant gargoyles, one of whom was Elisa Maza's brother, Derek Maza; creating a clone of Goliath[8], and perfecting the Steel Clan. When these attempts failed, he changed his focus to continuing his quest for immortality by using sorcery, magic, and even involving himself with Children of Oberon, the King of the mystical island Avalon, instead.
Xanatos met an equal in Fox and married her. It was on this occasion that, by inviting Goliath to the wedding and luring him into seeking reconciliation with Demona, he 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 coin 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. 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."[2]
When Demona betrayed Xanatos to advance her own goals of destroying the human race, Xanatos was forced to call a truce with Goliath to stop her. [9]Goliath was later instrumental in saving Xanatos's newborn son Alexander, at which time Xanatos pledged to pay the debt back to him.[10] When the existence of the Gargoyles was revealed to the public, Xanatos called an end to the feud and restored the Gargoyles to their ancestral home in the castle.[11]
SLG Comic
Soon after, Owen received a call from Mr. Duval from the Illuminati for Xanatos. Xanatos refused, as he spent some time with his son that night. On Halloween Night, he was later visited by Martin Hacker who gave him an invitation to the White House. From there, he met another Illuminati member, Quincy Hemings who gave him a mission from the Illuminati.
The nature of Xanatos' mission hasn't been revealed. To succeed in it, he recruited Coldsteel and activated Coyote 5.0.
The Goliath Chronicles
Xanatos was portrayed as a benefactor to the Gargoyles.
Characteristics
One of the primary antagonists in the series, Xanatos's plans are often intricate and Machiavellian. His behavior is often ruthless and amoral, although his personality softened later in the series by his affection for his wife Fox and their son Alex. He is obsessed with obtaining immortality for himself and his family.[12]
Perhaps Xanatos' greatest strength is that he lacks the typical cartoon villain weaknesses. For example, he notably views revenge as foolish and even tends to try to see the positive side of his defeats. In fact, his plans often work out beneficially to him one way or another, despite the frequent intervention of his arch-rival Goliath and his clan. This win-win duality of his schemes is so paradigmatic among pop culture that such plans are often referred to in the real world as the "Xanatos Gambit."
Another example is that, despite his clear intelligence and skills, Xanatos is not conceited. He is fully aware of his strengths and limits, apparently by conscious choice. In The Edge, when Owen beat him in a sparring match, by his own statement, for the first time and Owen offered to pretend to lose, he responded by saying he'd "fire [him] if [he] did".
Another typical villainous quality found in most of the gargoyles' enemies that Xanatos lacks is prejudice. While Xanatos often tries to exploit the gargoyles, he is equally driven to exploit humans. He never seems bothered by the gargoyles' appearance nor does he ever treat them with fear, scorn, contempt, hatred, or any other emotion that humans have often displayed towards gargoyles.
Even before his more amoral tendencies abated due to the birth of his son, Xanatos was never truly sadistic or cruel. Although he has no qualms about stealing, defacing sacred and historical landmarks, or experimenting on sentient beings, he did have his limits. During the City of Stone arc, upon discovering Demona's plan to kill every human in New York City, he immediately makes plans to stop her. This shows that while he was capable of manipulating people to serve his needs, violating their trust, or even ruining lives, he draws the line at senseless mass murder or genocide.
After Goliath helped save his son from Oberon, Xanatos decided to put aside his more selfish goals and methods and ceased being an enemy to the Gargoyles. He even restored them to their ancestral home after the Hunter's Moon arc, claiming to have no ulterior motive, and attempts to help them following their public revelation.
Xanatos is a formidable fighter in his own right. In addition to advanced karate and judo skills, he has a specialized red armored suit modeled on 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 Pack under the name of Coyote[13] and there was a time where he actually used it to try to capture the actual Coyote spirit.
Relationships
Though Xanatos initially seems to have an on-and-off partnership with Demona when neither magic nor technology seem to be enough to accomplish their goals, neither Xanatos nor Demona seem to truly trust one another. This proves to be a fatal flaw on their part that tends to doom their plans to failure.
In general, Xanatos has an odd way of dealing with those he "loves". One example can be found in Thailog. While the clone was being grown, Xanatos had a program playing, giving him information about the world and his (Xanatos') beliefs. He seemed to have a paternal feeling towards Thailog as, when the gargoyle was kidnapped during his stone slumber, he would not let Owen fire on the kidnappers out of fear of hurting Thailog, and handed over $20,000,000 for his safe return without a second thought. He even showed pride in Thailog's manipulative abilities and genius when he found out the clone had engineered the entire plot to abscond with the money, referring to him as "a chip off the ole block". He even expressed to Thailog that if he wanted the money, he would have given it to him if he had asked for it. However, his paternalism seems thin as, when he thinks Thailog died during battle with Goliath, he states that he knew the whole time that a copy (Thailog) couldn't match the original (Goliath), which infuriates Goliath as Xanatos was able to dehumanize a living being. Though arguably lacking romance, Xanatos asks Fox to marry him on the basis that "it makes sense" because they are genetically compatible, share the same interests, think the same way, enjoy the finer things in life, and "love each other" as much as two people such as themselves can. Fox accepts, yet Xanatos' feelings for Fox are largely debatable.
Though he does love Fox, Xanatos is shown using her to get what he wants as well. In the Halloween episode, Xanatos gives her the Eye of Odin as an engagement gift. The necklace turns her into a large red-haired beast, looking like a fox or large wild dog. Though Xanatos suspects it has an effect on her, he does not fully understand until he witnesses Fox transform in front of him. Terrified by what he has set into motion, he asks Goliath and Elisa for assistance, though they are initially reluctant. Goliath seems especially perturbed at how Xanatos has treated Fox and seemingly disregarded her life. As Fox's rampage continued, Xanatos, Goliath, and Elisa scour the city for her. Eventually, they chase her to a rooftop and Goliath is able to free Fox from the Eye of Odin after electrocuting her with a neon sign. While preparing to leave and holding Fox in his arms, Xanatos regretfully informs Goliath that now he knows his only weakness. Goliath turns to him, slightly disgusted, and remarks, "Only you would regard love as a weakness." These words leave Xanatos speechless.
In the episodes of the Gathering, Xanatos seems instinctively protective of both Fox and Alexander, seemingly having come to terms with the idea of love not being a weakness.[10]
Notes
- On October 31st, 1995, David Xanatos was released from jail. January 4th, 1996, David began serving his probation until October 31st, 1997.
Trivia
- Xanatos is one of several characters played by a Star Trek cast member, in this case Jonathan Frakes, who portrayed William Riker.
- During the show's development, Xanatos was originally known as Xavier and he was the descendant of the wizard that originally cursed the gargoyles to sleep for a thousand years. According to Greg Weisman, he was, "rich, powerful and petulant. Very Captain Hook."
- The name Xavier was eventually dropped because of the similarity to Professor X (Charles Xavier) in Marvel Comics X-Men. Still, Greg Weisman wanted a name with a similar sound to it.
- Thinking of Thanatos, the Ancient Greek God of Death, and since X and TH sounds are often interchanged, he tried the name Xanatos, which was quickly accepted by other crew members.
- Sometime later, he checked the phone book and found that Xanatos was in fact a real name.
- Weissman chose Xanatos's first name to be David as Goliath was his former enemy, a reference to the biblical story of David & Goliath except with the roles of hero and villain reversed.
- Odysseus was also in Greg Weisman's mind when developing Xanatos into a human trickster, particularly when the character became Greek-American.
- Coincidentally, Jonathan Frake's wife, Genie Francis, was expecting at the same time as Fox.
- Xanatos's plans throughout the series have caused his tropes to be recognized. The Xanatos Gambit, Roulette, and Speed Chess all are tropes that basically cement victory no matter where the plan takes.
- Greg Weisman has confirmed David's height as "Xanatos is 6' even"
Gallery
Image Gallery for David Xanatos. Click here to see all of the images, featuring David Xanatos.
Appearances
| Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2. Awakening, Part Two 3. Awakening, Part Three 4. Awakening, Part Four 5. Awakening, Part Five 6. The Thrill of the Hunt 7. Temptation 8. Deadly Force 9. Enter MacBeth 10. The Edge 11. Long Way to Morning 12. Her Brother's Keeper 13. Reawakening |
2. Metamorphosis 3. Legion 4. A Lighthouse in the Sea of Time 5. The Mirror 6. The Silver Falcon 7. Eye of the Beholder 8. Vows 9. City of Stone, Part One 10. City of Stone, Part Two 11. City of Stone, Part Three 12. City of Stone, Part Four 13. High Noon |
15. The Price 16. Revelations * 17. Double Jeopardy 18. Upgrade 19. Protection 20. The Cage 21. Avalon, Part One 22. Avalon, Part Two 23. Avalon, Part Three 24. Shadows of the Past 25. Heritage 26. Monsters |
28. Sanctuary 29. M.I.A. 30. Grief * 31. Kingdom 32. The Hound of Ulster 33. Walkabout 34. Mark of the Panther 35. Pendragon 36. Eye of the Storm 37. The New Olympians 38. The Green 39. Sentinel |
41. Cloud Fathers 42. Ill Met By Moonlight 43. Future Tense 44. The Gathering, Part One 45. The Gathering, Part Two 46. Vendettas 47. Turf 48. The Reckoning 49. Possession 50. Hunter's Moon, Part One 51. Hunter's Moon, Part Two 52. Hunter's Moon, Part Three |
2. Ransom 3. Runaways 4. Broadway Goes Hollywood 5. A Bronx Tail 6. The Dying Of The Light 7. And Justice For All 8. Genesis Undone 9. Generations 10. ...For It May Come True 11. To Serve Mankind 12. Seeing Isn't Believing 13. Angels In The Night | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SLG comics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes & References
References
External link |
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