David Xanatos: Difference between revisions
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Undid revision 1224694430 by 2605:B40:13E7:F600:84C:E211:A269:82D (talk) Again, the result of the deletion discussion was merge, not redirect - character is mentioned at target, but only based on primary source, while here we have commentary + secondary sources, which should be added to target |
Reverted 1 edit by Daranios (talk): Stop delaying it. Feel free to add more content to the target, but there's absolutely no reason to stall the merge that was already agreed to. |
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#REDIRECT [[List of Gargoyles characters#David Xanatos]] |
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{{short description|Fictional character in the animated series Gargoyles}} |
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{{Multiple issues| |
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{{more citations needed|date=December 2011}} |
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{{Sources exist|date=September 2021}} |
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{{Unreliable sources|date=November 2023}} |
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{{All plot|date=November 2023}} |
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{{Notability|date=March 2024}} |
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}} |
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{{Infobox character |
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| image = Xanatos.JPG |
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| image_size = 250px |
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| series = [[Gargoyles (TV series)|Gargoyles]] |
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| caption = |
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| first = ''Gargoyles'' 1x02 "Awakening Part 2" |
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| creator = [[Greg Weisman]] |
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| voice = [[Jonathan Frakes]] |
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| alias = |
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| species = |
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| gender = |
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| occupation = CEO of Xanatos Enterprises |
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| title = |
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| family = *Fox (wife) |
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*Alexander (son) |
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*Petros Xanatos (father) |
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*Halcyon Renard (father-in-law) |
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*Anastasia Renard/Titania (mother-in-law) |
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*Oberon (stepfather-in-law) |
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| spouse = |
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| significant_other = |
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| children = |
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| relatives = |
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| religion = |
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| nationality = [[United States|American]] |
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| lbl21 = Abilities |
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| data21 = *Genius-level, inventive, and cunning intellect |
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*Master strategist and tactician |
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*Advanced scientific, technological, and engineering comprehension |
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*Access to vast wealth and technological resources |
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*Strong leadership skills and visionary foresight |
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*Enterprising nature and resourceful initiative |
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*Shrewd business and investment acumen |
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*Advanced proficiency in martial arts and weaponry |
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*Has mechanical suit that gives him superhuman strength |
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}} |
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'''David Xanatos''' is a fictional character and one of the primary villains of the [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] animated television series ''[[Gargoyles (TV series)|Gargoyles]]''. In the series, he is the founder, owner and [[CEO]] of Xanatos Enterprises and a member of the [[Illuminati]]. He was voiced by and inspired by [[Jonathan Frakes]], specifically his character of [[William Riker]] in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title = Gargoyles Has 'Star Trek' Ties |work= [[Orlando Sentinel]]|url= http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1997-06-22/entertainment/9706120333_1_gargoyles-sirtis-zoom|accessdate=2011-08-18}}</ref> |
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==Character development== |
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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."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Search Ask Greg : Gargoyles : Station Eight |url=https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=574 |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=www.s8.org}}</ref> |
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On naming the character, Weisman revealed "Xanatos' orignal name was Xavier, which we dropped because of Professor X from the X-Men. But I still wanted a name that had that same kind of sound to it. It's a subjective thing, but I liked it. I thought of Thanatos, which is the name of the Greek God of death, which seemed cool. X and TH sounds are often exchanged. So I tried Xanatos. Everyone liked the sound of it. Later, I checked the phone book, and the name was there, (different first name though). It all seemed to fit. The name David was chosen because Goliath's name was Goliath. The hero/villain role reversal of David & Goliath was too perfect to resist."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=689 | title=Search Ask Greg : Gargoyles : Station Eight }}</ref>{{unreliable-inline|date=April 2024}} |
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==Fictional biography== |
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David Xanatos started life as the son of Petros Xanatos, a Greek immigrant who worked as a fisherman in [[Bar Harbor, Maine]]. Young Xanatos received an anonymous letter containing a set of valuable 10th-century coins. He sold the coins for $20,000 and invested the money in a series of successful business and investment ventures, thus pulling himself out of poverty in the process. Xanatos would later embark on a business career, where he laid the groundwork in the first steps towards building his own conglomerate company, Xanatos Enterprises. Despite his father's belief that Xanatos did not deserve the gift that had launched his business career, Xanatos continued to claim that he would one day prove his worth in his father eye's by being a [[self-made man]] in his own right. |
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During this time, Xanatos took on Owen Burnett under his wing, a former employee of business rival Halcyon Renard, as his assistant. Eventually, Burnett revealed that he is actually [[Puck (mythology)|Puck]], a Child of Oberon, and offered Xanatos a tempting choice: a single wish to gain immortality or a lifetime of service as the mortal Owen Burnett. Against Puck's expectations, Xanatos, confident that he could achieve immortality through other methods, chose Owen's service, and the decision deeply impressed Puck to keep his end of the bargain, with the inference that, should Xanatos achieve his goal, he will be guaranteed Puck/Owen's services for eternity. |
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Xanatos learned of Castle Wyvern from [[Demona]], the only gargoyle from the Wyvern Clan who had neither been destroyed nor put into stone sleep. He purchased the ruins, transported them to Manhattan, and had it rebuilt atop his New York skyscraper, the Eyrie Building. With the castle "above the clouds," Xanatos successfully released the Manhattan Clan from their frozen sleep.<ref name="Hollywood">{{cite news |title=Six Cartoons That Should Be Movies |work=Hollywood.com |url=http://www.hollywood.com/content/feature_detail.aspx?id=6973247&p=5 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004135255/http://www.hollywood.com/content/feature_detail.aspx?id=6973247&p=5 |archive-date=2012-10-04 |accessdate=2011-08-18}}</ref> |
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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 with replacements he has built, the Steel Clan, when the gargoyles proved too hard to control. The Steel Clan was defeated, however, and Xanatos was convicted for receiving stolen property. Xanatos continued to plot against the Gargoyles from prison, testing them and attempting to remove them from the castle. Upon his release, he became one of their greatest enemies, having a particularly fierce rivalry with their leader, [[Goliath (Gargoyles)|Goliath]]. |
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Xanatos also committed himself to create his own clan of gargoyles that would be loyal to him. To that end, he tried several attempts throughout the series to do that such as resurrecting Goliath's brother Coldstone and other dead gargoyles from the Wyvern Clan; enlisting the services of a "freelance geneticist" named Dr. Anton Sevarius to craft unwitting human subjects towards genetically creating gargoyle-like mutates from humans, one of whom was [[Elisa Maza]]'s younger brother, Derek; creating a clone of Goliath named Thailog, and perfecting the Steel Clan. During this time, he also discovered the existence of the [[Illuminati]] and attained membership, though the lowest-ranked. |
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Xanatos' goals shifted to acquiring immortality for himself through the use of sorcery and magic, even involving himself with children of Oberon, including Oberon himself—the formidable Lord of the mystical island of Avalon. |
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Xanatos would meet an equal in [[Fox (Gargoyles)|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, via Illuminati, as well as a message describing what to do with them. In this way, Xanatos fulfilled his own history through a [[Causal loop|predestination paradox]], at the same time proving himself to his father as a "self-made man" in his own volition. |
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When Demona finally betrayed Xanatos to advance her own goals of destroying the human race, he was forced to call a truce with Goliath to stop her.<ref>"[[City of Stone|City of Stone, Part II]]"</ref>{{tertiary source inline|date=April 2024}}<ref>{{cite news|title = 10 Villains Who Changed Sides (But Stayed Cool) |work= [[io9.com]]|url= http://io9.com/5823222/10-villains-who-changed-sides-but-stayed-cool|accessdate=2011-08-18}}</ref> Goliath was later instrumental in saving Xanatos's newborn son Alexander, something which Xanatos owed him a great debt, and pledged to pay back to him. He soon created new robotic bodies for Coldstone's other personalities to inhabit, which he named Coldfire and Coldsteel. Since these gargoyles were also created by magic, though, it was impossible for mind transfer to occur. While he and Fox were out to dinner, Puck and Alexander performed the transfer for him. When the existence of the gargoyles was revealed to the public, Xanatos puts an end to the feud between them and voluntarily allows the gargoyles to come back to live in their ancestral castle. |
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==The Xanatos Gambit== |
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Xanatos' plans often include numerous outcomes meant to serve as a success when one outcome seems to have failed.<ref>{{cite web|title = Gargoyles' David Xanatos is so evil and cool, a 1,500-year-old trope was named after him |
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|url=https://www.polygon.com/23592498/gargoyles-david-xanatos-gambit0-explained |website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]|date=15 February 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/XanatosGambit |title=Xanatos Gambit }}</ref> This form of planning has been made into the Xanatos Gambit. The Xanatos Gambit involving multiple goals to substitute for success when one part of the plan fails has become a popular trope amongst villains. |
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==In Other Media== |
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*Funko and NECA have produced figurines of Xanatos. <ref>{{Cite web | url=https://geektyrant.com/news/disneys-gargoyles-get-their-own-set-of-funko-pop-figures | title=Disney's GARGOYLES Get Their Own Set of Funko POP! Figures| date=12 July 2018}}</ref> |
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*Xanatos has been parodied in [[Robot Chicken]]. |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==Further reading== |
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*{{cite news|title = How Gargoyles Redefined Cartoon Villainy|author=Samantha Nelson |publisher= [[IGN]]|url= https://www.ign.com/articles/how-disney-gargoyles-cartoon-redefined-cartoon-villainy|accessdate=September 24, 2021}} |
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{{Disney's Gargoyles}} |
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{{Disney TV Animation characters}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Xanatos, David}} |
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[[Category:Animated characters introduced in 1994]] |
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[[Category:Animated human characters]] |
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[[Category:Disney animated villains]] |
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[[Category:Fictional businesspeople]] |
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[[Category:Fictional characters from Maine]] |
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[[Category:Fictional judoka]] |
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[[Category:Fictional karateka]] |
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[[Category:Fictional members of secret societies]] |
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[[Category:Fictional socialites]] |
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[[Category:Gargoyles (TV series) characters]] |
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[[Category:Male characters in animated television series]] |
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[[Category:Male villains]] |
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[[Category:Television characters introduced in 1994]] |
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[[Category:Villains in animated television series]] |
Latest revision as of 20:59, 20 May 2024
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