Fu-Dog
Fu-Dog is a gargoyle beast, originally part of the Xanadu Clan in China at some unspecified point in time, and later a member of the Manhattan Clan.
History
Fu-Dog hatched at an unspecified point in time. When Brooklyn visits Xanadu during his Timedancer adventures, however, Fu-Dog joins with him as his first companion. Fu-Dog is fiercely loyal to Brooklyn. The two of them will visit 2198 together, and jointly battle the Space-Spawn as part of Samson's resistance movement. Later they will visit feudal Japan and many other locales and times. Like Katana, Nashville, and Tachi, Fu-Dog will become a part of the Manhattan Clan after Brooklyn returns to the Eyrie Building.
Characteristics
Greg Weisman has described Fu-Dog as "big, strong, fast and darn smart for an animal. The ultimate wachdog." No other details known, though it is very likely Fu-Dog will greatly resemble the Fu-Dogs of Chinese architecture.
Real World Background
"Fu-dogs", in the real world, are statues of strange beasts found in East Asia, sometimes known as "Fu-lions". They are believed to be protector-figures, and therefore function quite effectively as a Chinese equivalent to gargoyles. Fu-dog's name obviously reflects this, suggesting that in the Gargoyles Universe, Fu-dogs were inspired by local gargoyle beasts in the same way that the architectural gargoyles on the castles and cathedrals of medieval Europe were inspired by gargoyles living in those regions. In the real world, the fu-dog originated in China, and is believed to be a combination of travellers' descriptions of lions (which are not native to China) and common breeds of dogs. They are placed in pairs outside of doorways and gates, or along the sides of roads and bridges, which they are believed to guard from danger. Traditionally, one of a pair of statues is female, indicated by a cub under its paw, while the other of the pair is male, identified by a ball under its paw.
Fu-lions are only the most numerous and well-known of the East Asian guardian beasts. Other types of statues included the Korean haetae and the winged bixie or pi-xiu.
See also
- [1] at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
