Gargoyle

Gargoyles are large, vicious bat-like creatures from Northrend who have the ability to temporarily turn to stone. Most of them serve the Undead Scourge.
==Background==
The gargoyles of Northrend are voracious flying creatures who revel in slaughter and mayhem.Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Game Manual, Undead Units, Gargoyles Although they are beasts of flesh and blood,Blood of the Highborne, chapter 2 they have rough, crystalline hides which protect them from attacks and make them look like animated stone.Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, chapter 18World of Warcraft: Sylvanas, chapter 19, pg. 223 (ebook) When in danger, they can land and quickly condense their hides into a stone-like surface to make themselves almost impervious to damage. They must remain motionless while in this stone form, but it gives them time to replenish their energies. They can use this ability to pose as statues until an enemy gets close, at which point they come to life and attack.Stone Sleeper
Gargoyles make effective scouts and can be deadly if left to rain attacks from the air, but they have an obvious weakness: most of them have to go through long periods resting in stone form to maintain the energy needed to carry their heavy bodies through the air. During this time, they are vulnerable and can be easily destroyed.Stunning View While in stone form, they can be shattered into fragments.Gargoyle Fragment In combat, gargoyles use their claws and teeth or kill their enemies by picking them up and dropping them from tall heights.Parachutes for the Argent CrusadeThe Farmers' Militia Some can spit acid or poison.Plagued Gargoyle, Spire Gargoyle, Stoneskin Gargoyle abilities
Gargoyles serve as scouts,Boneguard Scout sentries,Aldur'thar Sentry, Darksworn Sentry, Stonewatch Sentry and powerful shock troopersWindrunner Village (quest) in the Scourge. Scourge gargoyles are "made animate" and given deadly attack capabilities at crypts.Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Game Manual, Undead Structures, Crypt Smaller gargoyles called grotesques are used to divert the flow of rainwater on Scourge buildings to prevent mausoleum flooding.Grotesque Statue The Scourge brought gargoyles with them from Northrend for the invasion of Quel'Thalas during the Third War.The Fall of Silvermoon The creatures wheeled above Arthas' marching army like buzzardsArthas: Rise of the Lich King, chapter 19 and notably intercepted the runners that Sylvanas Windrunner sent to Silvermoon. During the attack on the capital, swarms of gargoyles clashed with and eventually outnumbered the elven dragonhawk riders, while another flock attacked and sank three ships—the Morn'danel, the Fellovar, and the Varillian—trying to evacuate elven children.
Some gargoyles have left the Scourge and serve the Knights of the Ebon Blade.Dreadwind, Ebon Blade Gargoyle, Ebon Blade Winged Defender, Gargoyle Sentry, Vigilant Gargoyle Some death knights can summon them using special collars. Forsaken gargoyles participated in the Battle for Darkshore.
==Notable==
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==As a companion pet==
Grotesque Statue has a chance to drop from Azgalor in Hyjal Summit.
==In the RPG==
Gargoyles are not undead creatures in the Warcraft RPG, unlike in Warcraft III and World of Warcraft. Appendix Three of Manual of Monsters describes a different type of gargoyle which is described as formed of stone and earth and a proto-golem, however, the validity of the source is disputed. 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 the 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.
Language: Low Common.
==Notes and trivia==
*Death knights can summon an Ebon Gargoyle to aid them with the Summon Gargoyle talent.
*High Priestess Jeklik, priestess of the bat loa Hir'eek, could transform into a humanoid bat form resembling a gargoyle.
**A shadowy version of the same model is used for when Hir'eek guides the player character in Backdoor Dealings.
*Kirtonos the Herald can transform into a "vampire" form, which uses the same model as a gargoyle.
*The Leaper, a geist, transforms into a gargoyle instead of using a flying mount during his appearance in The Protectors of Hyjal.
*The demon Zelfrax uses a gargoyle model.
*Many gargoyle mobs have an ability called Gargoyle Strike, which inflicts Nature damage.
*Almost all gargoyles in World of Warcraft are classed as undead, except for Ebon Blade Gargoyles, Ebon Blade Winged Defenders, and the Gargoyles of the Battle for Darkshore, which are instead classed as humanoids.
*During Warcraft III's development, Gargoyle units were originally produced from a unique "Gargoyle Spire" building, before changed into being produced from Crypts. 
*The , a paladin minion in , depicts a gargoyle that more closely resembles a stone statue shaped like a humanoid gryphon than it does previously established gargoyles.
*The term originally refers to a type of architectural serving as a waterspout. In popular culture, gargoyles are often depicted as coming to life, often equipped with wings and demonic features like horns.
==Speculation==
It is not known what relation, if any, the gargoyles of Azeroth have to the stoneborn gargoyles of Revendreth. They may be a result of the Lich King seeing the stoneborn through the Helm of Domination and attempting to copy them, though the gargoyles' description in the Warcraft III manual implies that gargoyles are native creatures of Northrend that were simply recruited by the Scourge. They may be stoneborn themselves who escaped or were brought out of the Shadowlands somehow.
Alternatively, they may have been created by the aforementioned Hir'eek in the same way that other Wild Gods created humanoid animal races.
==Gallery==
Scourge v Alliance in the Third War.jpg|A battle between the Scourge and Alliance forces during the Third War.
Gargoyle WC3.jpg|Warcraft III concept art by Samwise Didier.
Gargoyle.jpg|Warcraft III concept art.
GargoyleWC3.gif|Gargoyle unit in Warcraft III.
BTNGargoyle.png|Gargoyle portrait in Warcraft III.
Reforged credits art 6.png|A gargoyle (right) in Reforged.
BTNGargoyle-Reforged.png|Gargoyle portrait in Reforged.
Gargoyle TCG.jpg|A gargoyle in the Trading Card Game.
Shatterskin Gargoyle.jpg|A gargoyle in Hearthstone.
Gilded Gargoyle.jpg|A gilded gargoyle in Hearthstone.
Blood Herald HS.jpg|A "Blood Herald" in Hearthstone.
Statue Gargoyle Pose.png|A gargoyle in Warcraft Arclight Rumble.
==References==
 
es:Gárgola