Gargoyle

The Gargoyle is a Cryptid that appears in Awakening and Exodus.
==Description==
Like the Bomber, the Gargoyle possesses the ability to fly. The Gargoyle has a long, skinny body, with a long tail, large red wings, and long limbs. The Gargoyle is capable of shooting bullets from its tail, which act as a hitscan weapon similar to a seeder turret.
The Gargoyle has a large pool of health, similar to a Phantom or Seeder. Because Gargoyles are flying creatures, they tend to be harder to hit and engagements with Gargoyles tend to occur at longer distances, further increasing the difficulty of killing one. A single Venom-X shot needs to be both well-placed and able to damage the Gargoyle after the explosion to kill it in one shot. Gargoyles are able to survive one hit from a Tesla Anti-Air Defense System, although two hits will be able to kill one.
Gargoyles have three weak points. Each wing counts as a weak point, and there is a hole in the Gargoyle's head that also acts as a weak point. Because the wings move constantly unless the Gargoyle is on the ground, continually hitting the hole in its head will most consistently allow players to kill Gargoyles more quickly, despite being a rather small target.
Gargoyles have a base kill reward of $500.
One is seen in the prologue of Awakening, as it bites down the head of a soldier to kill him. This in turn causes the soldier to inadvertently drop a live grenade near the feet of David Archer, the subsequent events of which result in Archer needing his right forearm amputated.
Gargoyles appear in Exodus, and in much greater numbers. Hundreds of Gargoyles can be seen circling the skies well above the playing space. In the Prologue, one will crash through the plane that is transporting Samantha Cross, killing the Operator, and the man that threatened to kill her. It then proceeds to take out a camera recording this.
In the Epilogue, many Gargoyle corpses can be seen falling to the ground due to the radioactive blast the Medusa Device created.
==Behaviour==
Gargoyles spawn in one at a time, and Gargoyles will spawn in from the sky. Gargoyles typically don't spawn in until players complete a couple of objectives during a match. Awakening and Exodus have designated areas in the sky for Gargoyles to spawn in from. During the final base defense sequence on Exodus, Gargoyles will begin to spawn more frequently once the Ancestor that attacks the east side of the base arrives (although they will almost exclusively spawn near the west side of the base during this sequence).
In Awakening, in the third area, a Gargoyle is scripted to spawn in when a player enters the side area behind the mountain wall. Because this side area always spawns a Mammoth as well, in addition to the risk of falling off the map in this area, this makes this specific side area very dangerous.
Gargoyles make distinct noises. Their wings make noise themselves, and when a Gargoyle roars, it is usually followed up with the Gargoyle's main attack, firing red bullets at a player. Gargoyles usually fire around 10 to 15 of these bullets at a time, and getting hit by an entire volley of bullets can quickly take down a player. Every bullet takes out roughly 1/8th of a player's health bar. Each hit from a bullet can also deplete the health of a Riot Shield, allowing Gargoyles to rapidly cause a Riot Shield to go to waste. This makes the Gargoyle one of the few Cryptids capable of damaging players from a distance. These bullets cannot be blocked by Trophy Systems or the Engineer Upgrade since they are not projectiles. However, they cannot deal damage through walls, so getting behind even light cover can protect a player from a Gargoyle's fire.
A Gargoyle will descend to the ground if the player shoots it in one of the wings, as shooting it in the wing is a weak point. Alternatively, Gargoyles may retreat to the ground if it does not have a clear line of sight on a player. In Awakening, in the cavern area near the end of the river, Gargoyles can sometimes drop to the ground even when there's no ground beneath them, causing them to despawn. Once a Gargoyle is on the ground, it will continue to walk around until it can get a clear line of sight on a player, and then it will re-enter the airspace. Whilst it walks around, a Gargoyle can swing its tail at nearby players to damage them. Despite their size and appearance, Gargoyles can move on the ground in a similar fashion to Hunters.
Gargoyles can move around while in the airspace. When a Gargoyle spawns into the map, it flies to a specific point and occupies that portion of the airspace. Gargoyles can fly to a different position if need be, and Gargoyles commonly shift from side to side to avoid gunfire from players and make them harder to hit. 
Similarly to the Mammoth, a Gargoyle cannot be turned into a friendly; the Hypno Knife will only stick onto its body.
On both Awakening and Exodus, Gargoyles have a tendency to inadvertently enter walls. In Awakening, this most commonly happens in the cavern area, with the Gargoyle entering cavern walls. On Exodus, this is most likely to happen behind the fortified wall near the west side of the base. Should a Gargoyle enter one of these positions, they tend to be impossible to hit unless part of their body portrudes through the wall, but they can still hurt players with their bullets should a player have a sightline with the wall the Gargoyle has entered. This makes a Gargoyle that is stuck in a wall very dangerous, especially since players cannot damage it to force it to the ground or to force it to shift out of the wall. Sometimes part of a Gargoyle's body will clip through the wall and allow for players to damage it, but that doesn't always happen. It is possible for the Gargoyle to exit the wall on its own, but it often requires the player to force the Gargoyle to move via exiting the Gargoyle's line of sight.
Gargoyles can contribute towards two specific challenges: flying Cryptid kills, and killing a Gargoyle with a melee attack. The former challenge is one that killing a Gargoyle can contribute towards, but only if the Gargoyle is currently in flight when it is killed. If the Gargoyle is on the ground or a wall, then killing a Gargoyle won't count towards that challenge's completion. The latter challenge very rarely appears. It requires forcing the Gargoyle to land on the ground so that the player(s) can get into melee range. The Gargoyle's immense amount of health makes killing it with a melee attack very difficult, as the Gargoyle can proceed to re-enter the airspace before it can be killed, and it will usually need several melee strikes to kill it. A Tank with sufficient class upgrades makes this process much easier.
==Gallery==
CoDG Extinction Awakening Gargoyle.jpg
Gargoyle in Exodus CoDG.png|A Gargoyle in Exodus.
Gargoyle Awakening CoDG.png
Gargoyle Attacking pilot Exodus CoDG.png
Gargoyle bursting through window 2 Exodus CoDG.png
Gargoyle bursting through windscreen Exodus CoDG.png
==Trivia==
*The 20th Extinction prestige emblem features the Gargoyle.
Category:Call of Duty: Ghosts Extinction Enemies