Hyppolyta

Hyppolyta in 971

"Hyppolyta" was a female gargoyle of the Wyvern Clan. She never possessed a name, but Hyppolyta is used to identify her. She appears in the spin-off, Gargoyles: Dark Ages.

History

"Hyppolyta" is a biological daughter of Hudson and his mate, hatched in 938, and biological sister to Broadway and True. Her rookery siblings included Goliath, Demona, Othello, Desdemona, Iago, and Brooksbro. ("The Reach") [1][2]

Greg Weisman has made some indication that Hyppolyta may have felt that Goliath's promotion to leader of the Wyvern Clan was unwise or unfair, and that she argued with Demona on a regular basis over the matter. She died in the Wyvern Massacre of 994, smashed by the Vikings. [3]

Characteristics

Greg Weisman has written that Hyppolyta was a "fine strong warrior. Fierce in battle. She was not unintelligent." Physically, she is described as tall, hairless, having light brown skin and burnt-red wings, and possessing two brow ridges running from above her eyes to behind her pointed ears. [4] The coloring and brow ridges seem to have come from her biological father, Hudson, while the hairlessness seems to have been a trait from her biological mother.

Real World Background

Hyppolyta — whose name obviously would not have been an official one in the 10th century — is evidently named after Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons in Greek mythology. One of the twelve labors of Heracles was to seize her girdle from her, which he did, although at the cost of Hippolyta's life. However, the most likely "immediate inspiration" for Hyppolyta's name, from Greg Weisman's standpoint, was that of a second Hippolyta, more accurately known as Antiope, who was Theseus' wife (and who appears alongside him in A Midsummer Night's Dream). Mr. Weisman has speculated that "Hippolyta" was a title for the Amazon Queen, rather than an actual name. [5]

Production Background

Greg Weisman first revealed Broadway's oldest biological sister online in September 2000. [6][7][8] Much like "Othello", "Desdomona", and "Iago", "Hyppolyta" is a placeholder name for Goliath's rookery sister. [9] In 2006, during the early days of the SLG Gargoyles run, Greg wrote a short piece on the character, one that might later be incorporated in a future issue. [10]