Vinnie Grigori
Vinnie Grigori is a New Yorker who has frequently encountered the gargoyles.
"Uh, Goliath . . . who was that guy?"
"Honestly, I was never quite sure." - Elisa and Goliath ("The Journey")
History
Can You Believe It?
Vinnie was born in New York on September 28th, 1963. [1]
The first time Vinnie encountered the Manhattan Clan was the night after the gargoyles awakened; Lexington spotted Vinnie out on a motorcycle ride, and swooped down to take a closer look. Vinnie, alarmed at the sight of the little gargoyle, fell off his motorcycle, and when Lexington subsequently made an effort at riding it, he inadvertently drove it into a wall and destroyed it. When Vinnie reported the loss of his motorcycle to the authorities, they refused to believe his story about gargoyles, considered him to have been drunk, and took away his driver's license. ("Awakening: Part Three", "Vendettas")
At that time, Vinnie was a security guard for Cyberbiotics, on board Fortress-1. The night after his motorcycle disaster, he met Goliath and Demona during their raid on the air fortress, and was frightened enough to pass out in shock at the sight of the two gargoyles. Vinnie escaped the destruction of Fortress-1, but was now out of a job. He got another security job at Gen-U-Tech Systems by 1995, but when Goliath kidnapped Sevarius on a night that Vinnie was on duty, he was promptly fired again. ("Awakening: Part Four", "The Cage", "Vendettas")
Vinnie had by now had enough. In 1996, he had Mr. Acme make a special pie-firing gun for him, which he named "Mr. Carter", and with it, hunted Goliath down and finally fired "Mr. Carter" at him, splatting the gargoyle with a banana cream pie. He then triumphantly walked away, while Goliath stared bewilderedly after him. ("Vendettas")
Nevertheless, only two months passed before he'd randomly encounter the Manhattan Clan again, this time almost being smashed by a falling chunk of the Hunters' Airship steel hatch while out for a nighttime stroll. [2] Days later, Vinnie was one of the New Yorkers interviewed by Nightwatch after the gargoyles were revealed to the world, and told his story about his revenge on Goliath to the reporters. Taro, watching in Japan, was intrigued and offered Vinnie a security job with his company. John Castaway also learned about Vinnie's exploit, and eagerly recruited him for the Quarrymen. When Vinnie quickly got a taste of Castaway's true nature, however, he decided that he wanted no part of the Quarrymen's mission, and saved Goliath and Elisa from Castaway's wrath. Giving the two his best wishes and a warning to be careful, he then left for Japan to accept Taro's offer. ("Nightwatch", "The Journey") [3]
After he landed in Tokyo, Vinnie struggled to find the train to Ishimura. As Goliath and Elisa mused, it is more than likely that Vinnie crosssed paths with the gargoyle clan there. ("The Lost")
In 1997, Vinnie returned to New York City, attending the Gathering of the Gargoyles Guild at Park Manor Hotel. There, he shared with Goliath that he had a proposition from his employer. ("Questions")
Future
Vinnie visits family in August 1998 and he will begin a quest of his own in June 2002. [4][5]
In 2014, Vinnie will be present at the first gathering of gargoyle sympathizers in five years. Demona will also be present. Her reasons and intentions are unknown. [6]
Appearances
- "Awakening: Part Three" (First Appearance, No Lines)
- "Awakening: Part Four" (No Lines)
- "Eye of the Beholder"
- "The Cage"
- "Vendettas"
- "Nightwatch"
- "The Journey"
- "Rock & Roll"
- "The Lost"
- "Questions"
- "Quo Vadis Cum Hoc?"
Production Background
Voice Actor: Jeff Bennett
The character of Vinnie originated as the dumb Gen-U-Tech security guard in the episode "The Cage". Jeff Bennett was cast in the role, and performed an imitation of John Travolta's character Vinnie Barbarino from the TV series Welcome Back, Kotter. The character impressed the show's staff and he was later brought back for the episode "Vendettas" as the nameless schlub whose life the gargoyles had affected without ever realizing it. He was named Vinnie after Travolta's character, and his pie-flinging gun Mr. Carter was also named after the character of Mr. Kotter from the same show. [7][8]
When Vinnie appeared in the episode "The Journey" of The Goliath Chronicles, which was the last episode that Greg Weisman wrote for the series, Vinnie became a stand-in for Greg himself. Vinnie's departure for Japan was an allusion to Greg's own departure from the show. [9]
Following the cancellation of the show and the opening of the Ask Greg website, Greg Weisman was asked what Vinnie's last name was and jokingly replied that it was probably Gregarino, a reference both to Vinnie's namesake Vinnie Barbarino and to Greg's own name. [10][11] Despite the flippancy of the response, the name stuck and it was the name used by the fandom until the SLG comic book series revealed that his canonical surname is Grigori. [12][13]
