Coldfire

"Desdemona" and Coldfire.

Coldfire is the robotic body made by Xanatos to house the soul of "Desdemona", as a means of repaying Goliath for saving Alexander from Oberon. Prior to that, "Desdemona" was a member of the Wyvern Clan who studied to be their Warrior Priestess.

"Is this right? To do nothing is not the Gargoyle Way!" - "Desdemona", ("High Noon")

History

Mentored by "Sacrifice" in 971.

"Desdemona" hatched in 938 at Wyvern Hill, alongside the rest of her rookery generation. [1][2] As she grew up, she expressed an interest in spirituality and, in 971, began training to be a warrior-priestess under "Sacrifice". During this time, she also fell in love with "Othello" and he with her. Shortly thereafter, her training had advanced enough that she was able to sense the awakening of a dragon nearby. After the confrontation, she and much of the clan attended Shahrizad's nightly telling of the Three Brothers, where she calmed down "Othello" when he was described in the story. ("The Promise", "The Dream", "The Pledge")

"Iago" eventually desired her for himself, and tried to trick "Othello" into believing that "Desdemona" and Goliath were lovers. Fortunately, "Desdemona" convinced "Othello" that she was indeed faithful to him, and peace was restored. ("Legion")

"Desdemona" and "Othello" were among the slain in the Wyvern Massacre of 994, but Xanatos and Demona used pieces of her, as well as of "Othello" and "Iago", in creating Coldstone. She had no memory of the thousand year interval, believing perhaps that, "mortals are forbidden from bringing such knowledge back to the land of the living". Because Coldstone was constructed from the parts of these three gargoyles, all three gargoyle souls were restored within him, and after his raid on the Goldencup Bakery Building, began to vie with one another for control of him. "Iago" once again tried to convince "Othello" that "Desdemona" and Goliath were lovers, but "Desdemona" was able to prevent it in the end, and they and Goliath defeated "Iago" in the struggle for control of Coldstone's body. ("Reawakening", "Legion", "Mayday")

"Desdemona" in 1995

United once more, the souls of "Othello" and "Desdemona" were happy together, so happy that "Othello" decided at first to ignore "Iago" and his schemes when Demona and Macbeth took control of the cybernetic gargoyle's body. However, "Desdemona" finally convinced him of his duty to the rest of the clan (with a little help from the Weird Sisters), leading to "Othello" at last deposing "Iago" from his control of Coldstone's body and thus saving Elisa and the clan from Demona and Macbeth. ("High Noon")

In 1996, Puck and Alexander magically removed the soul of "Desdemona" and placed it in the Coldfire robotic shell, after temporarily housing it in Angela's body. After Alex transferred the soul of "Desdemona" to Coldfire, she accompanied Coldstone in her new body in pursuit of Coldsteel. ("Possession")

Coldfire and Coldstone searched the world for Coldsteel and eventually came to Tibet, where Coldstone had spent some time before. They were at a loss in their search until Xanatos activated Coldfire's tracking device in November 1996 and used it to lead the pair to London, England where they arrived just in time to prevent Coldsteel from harming Hudson. ("Rock & Roll")

Coldfire

They then helped Hudson, Lexington, and members of the London Clan fight off Coldsteel and Coyote 5.0, defending the Stone of Destiny. During the day, the fight continued over the Coldstream Bridge. Coldfire managed to damage Coldsteel, but he fell into the river and disappeared; Coyote 5.0 was destroyed by Coldstone. Later that night, Hudson convinced the pair to leave their search for Coldsteel and return to the Manhattan Clan. ("Rock of Ages")

They returned to join the Manhattan Clan in early 1997 (the same night Brooklyn returned from his adventures), just in time to handle the Pack in Times Square. ("Phoenix")

In the months that followed, Coldfire would often patrol Manhattan with her mate. She was also able to communicate with Elisa using her built-in communicator. Coldfire took an interest in the birth of Talon and Maggie's son and joined some of the clan in journeying to the Labyrinth to witness it. She ended up aiding in the rescue of the mother and child from the Nightstone Unlimited Building. During the battle, Thailog severed her arm, though her nanotechnology repaired the damage soon after. ("A Little Crazy", "Idyll or Nightmare", "Miracle Child")

Shortly thereafter, in May 1997, Broadway and Angela approached Coldfire to ask her to perform their Commitment Ceremony. She agreed to do so. The following night, she joined Brooklyn and Coldstone in the attempted rescue of Goliath. When Goliath chose to remain in captivity, Coldfire asked if he was certain of his decision, which he admitted he was not. She ultimately respected her leader's decision and flew off with Brooklyn and Coldstone. ("Render Unto Caesar", "Underwater")

In the days leading up to Goliath's Hearing, she had to assure her mate to trust their leader's judgement. She herself wondered if the clan could survive without Goliath's leadership. She and Coldstone, with the rest of the Manhattan Clan, watched the first night of Goliath's Hearing, but the proceedings proved too vexing for her mate, and he refused to watch the second night. Coldfire later reported to him that their rookery brother was released from human custody. ("Mayday", "Your Witness", "New Rules")

The night after Goliath returned to the castle, Coldfire and the rest of the clan helped to safely detonate bombs that gangster Dino Dracon and his men had planted throughout Manhattan. ("Cold Comfort")

Coldfire continued to help Broadway and Angela plan their Commitment Ceremony into the summer. Recognizing the logical difficulties in inviting everyone they'd like to have attend (notably the Avalon Clan), Coldfire also sensed Angela troubled with thoughts of inviting Demona. She was there to meet Jade and Turquesa of the Mayan Clan, eventually explaining how her and Coldstone's souls came to be transferred in their artificial bodies while the rest of the clan slept. ("Questions", "Quo Vadis Cum Hoc?")

That evening, Coldfire helped defend the castle when the clan was ambushed by an army of exo-frames, later learning from Owen Burnett that the attack was but a diversion for Demona to acquire one of the Three New Keys to Power. With the rest of the clan, Coldfire patrolled the city for the next few months, noticing how her mate would seek Demona out more and more on his own, day and night. By November, she began to find the search to be fruitless, lamenting how she once could have been more helpful, recalling how her living body was more attuned to the kind of power her rookery sister sought to possess. But Goliath disabused her of that notion, reminding Coldfire that she was defined not by her artificial body, but by her heart and soul. It was during this time that she confided with her leader the distance that was developing between her and Coldstone. Considering Goliath's words, she began to recall her old lessons, stilling her circuits to commune with her soul, and successfully touching the infinite wonders of the world. In doing so, she sensed something off-kilter with the humans gathered in Times Square. ("Acquisitions", "Unequivocal Success")

Coldfire quickly returned to the castle to alert Goliath of the enchantment affecting the city, only to find Demona there, basking in the "compromise" she was offering the clan. When Demona made her exit, Coldfire recalled her lessons once more and tracked Demona to LaGuardia Airport, but not before showing concern at Coldstone's remark when he asked Goliath to consider the "potential advantages" of Demona's subjugation of humanity. When she confronted her rookery sister on the tarmac, her man-made robotic shell became a liability once more when Demona's interpretation of her spell briefly denied Coldfire of her free will. Using the terms of the spell, Angela offered Coldfire some relief by granting her the permission to be in no rush to follow Demona's orders and, as Angela and Goliath began to fight Demona for control of the Three Keys, Coldfire began to openly attack Demona once more. When the three talismans were finally wrestled away from the rogue gargoyle, Coldfire instructed Angela, Goliath, and Turquesa how to release the humans from their collective curse. When it was clear the spell had been broken, Coldfire directed the the three to destroy the Keys – witnessing the mystic energies leave their conduits, destined to find and create another iteration of the Three Keys to Power in the future. ("Queen of All She Surveys")

With the main crisis finally averted, the Manhattan Clan returned to the Eyrie Building. It was then that Coldfire confronted her love of conspiring with Demona, asking how long he had been doing so. Knowing her mate would not deny it, she insisted that Goliath banish him until she herself judges him worthy to return. Coldstone accepted his permission and flew off into the night. ("Queen of All She Surveys")

Characteristics

"Desdemona" sleeping

Coldfire uses her flame thrower.

Coldfire's eyes glowing.

"Desdemona" had tan skin, blond hair, and large curved horns. She had most unusual wings, which seemed to be shaped almost like a butterfly's. When she glided, each wing appeared to emerge from her back in two separate parts.

The façade of Coldfire bears a striking resemblance to her original body (thanks to Xanatos accessing Coldstone's memory banks when designing the robotic body). [3] Unlike Coldstone, she is completely robotic. She has a golden "skin" and can shoot flames from the palms of her hands in battle. Unfortunately, her robotic body does not seem to work well in water. When submerged, her flame weapon does not work at all. Coldfire tends to avoid water. She has a built in communication device, internal clock, infrared eyes that enable her to see warm bodies through walls, and nanotechnology that allows her to repair her robot body quickly. She is able to offer additional protection for the Manhattan Clan during the daytime, which has proven especially helpful while they remain wary of their current landlord, Xanatos. ("Underwater", "Mayday")

"Othello" and "Desdemona" are the biological parents of Gabriel, although neither of them consider this important or see themselves in such a light, rather seeing themselves as parents to all their rookery children.

Appearances

"Legion" (First Appearance) "City of Stone" Part One (No Lines) "High Noon" "Shadows of the Past" (Illusion of "Desdemona") "Possession" "Reunion" (No Lines) "The Rock" (No Lines) "Rock & Roll" (No Lines) "Rock of Ages" "Phoenix" "A Little Crazy" "Idyll or Nightmare" "Miracle Child" "Tale Old as Time" (Mentioned Only) "Render Unto Caesar" "Underwater" "The Reach" (No Lines) "Mayday" "The Draw" (No Lines) "Your Witness" "The Oath" (No Lines) "New Rules" "The Promise" "The Dream" "The Pledge"

"Cold Comfort" "Questions" "Quo Vadis Cum Hoc?" "Acquisitions" (No Lines) "Unequivocal Success" "Queen of All She Surveys"

Real World Background

The name Desdemona is borrowed from Shakespeare's Othello, thanks to her role in "Legion" having a strong echo of the original Desdemona in the play, whom Iago falsely accused to Othello of having an affair with Cassio.

Production Background

"Desdemona". Production sketch by Frank Paur.

Voice Actor: CCH Pounder

The name Desdemona was never actually used in the series, but merely in the ending credits to "Legion" and "High Noon"; her name does not actually exist in the Gargoyles Universe as Coldfire's does.

As far back as 1997 fans knew about Coldfire's spiritual interests. [4]

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