Pack (Gargoyles)

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In the Disney animated television series Gargoyles, the Pack are a group of actors-turned-mercenaries, who primarily serve as antagonists to the Manhattan Clan.

Each character is named after a pack animal (with the exception of Fox, as foxes tend to hunt alone), and their namesakes correspond (sometimes loosely) to their personalities. For example, the character of Hyena is known to laugh easily (though maniacally), and Dingo is Australian.

The Pack was the main opponent of the gargoyle Lexington, following the events of the episode "The Thrill of the Hunt" (other gargoyle characters had similar arch-foes). In the episode, Lexington revealed himself to the Pack (whom he believed were truly the heroes they seemed on television), but they turned on him. In the same episode, the Pack were revealed as mercenaries and some were jailed. They were reunited in the second series episode "Leader of the Pack", when Dingo and new character Coyote broke the others out of prison. At this point, Fox left the team, which continued to break down during the course of the season until Pack members appeared solely and not part of a group - the only exceptions to this were Jackal and Hyena, who always appeared together.

The Pack became especially dangerous in the episode "Upgrade", which saw them utilise a series of procedures (genetic manipulation, bionic implants, etc) to gain the extra strength they needed to fight the Manhattan Clan. Only Dingo refused to participate. However, while they were able to capture the Clan's elders and Elisa Maza, the younger gargoyles were still able to defeat them thanks to Brooklyn's tactical expertise.

A future plan by the show's creator Greg Weisman would have had Coyote, a robot, freeing himself from David Xanatos and reuniting the last members of the Pack (Wolf, Jackal and Hyena) into a new Ultra-Pack along with a new character. With the end of the show's production, this did not occur.

Contents 1 Fox 2 Wolf 3 Jackal & Hyena 4 Dingo 5 Coyote

[edit] Fox

Main article: Fox

Fox was the leader of the Pack up until, ironically enough, the episode "Leader of the Pack", whereupon she quit the group altogether. Fox was voiced by Laura San Giacomo, although Giacomo went uncredited for the role.

[edit] Wolf

The strongman of the group, voiced by Clancy Brown, Wolf sought leadership of the Pack several times, though he remained a vocal second in command to Fox and, later, Coyote. He was descended from Hakon, the Viking leader who was responsible for the massacre at Wyvern castle. In one episode, he and Hakon's spirit teamed up to attack Goliath and Hudson.

In the episode "Upgrade", Wolf underwent genetic manipulation, splicing his genes with that of a wolf. He became stronger and more ferocious, and could be considered the Gargoyle Universe's analogue to the werewolf. In his wolf form, he is equal in strength to Goliath, but not nearly as intelligent.

[edit] Jackal & Hyena

Jackal and Hyena, voiced by Matt Frewer and Cree Summer respectively, were a pair of insane fraternal twins who always appeared together, even when not as a part of the Pack. Jackal, the quieter of the two, is a sociopath, whereas his more vicious sister is a psychopath, and these key differences in their characters mean they bicker often. Their twisted idea of family is often used as a counterpoint to more traditional concepts, such as the bond between Elisa Maza and her brother Derek.

In "Upgrade", they allowed themselves to be turned into cyborgs, and continued to receive upgrades throughout the remainder of the series. It was at this point that Hyena began to show romantic feelings towards the robot Coyote, a thought that even her brother finds disturbing.

[edit] Dingo

An Australian weaponsmaster voiced by Jim Cummings, Dingo was one of the more sympathetic characters of the Pack. He refused to sacrifice his humanity with the others during "Upgrade", and opted instead for a powered exo-suit. Dingo, disgusted of the others, left the Pack shortly after to go to work for Fox and her mother Anastasia. In the episode "Walkabout", he joined with the nanotech creature called the Matrix, to teach it about law and order, and defend Australia. His real name is Harry Monmouth,[1] a reference to Shakespeare's version of Prince Hal.

A potential spin-off series called "Bad Guys" would have seen Dingo join with other former antagonists from the series into an international organisation designed to combat the Illuminati, but it was cancelled before production was complete. In it, he would've also formed a temptous relationship with Robyn Canmore, the Hunter, who would have been the team's field leader.

[edit] Coyote

Coyote, voiced by Jonathan Frakes, was introduced in the episode "Leader of the Pack" (making him the last member to join the group). He revealed himself to be billionaire David Xanatos, and took control of the team in the wake of Fox, though by the end of the episode it became clear that Coyote was not Xanatos at all. Rather, Coyote was a humanoid AI robot created by Xanatos, and was almost completely destroyed at the episode's end.

In subsequent episodes in which he appeared, he had new and less human forms (as well as a new designation: Coyote 2.0, Coyote 3.0, etc). The only repeating factor, besides the yellow-gold colour of his body, was a half-robot, half-Xanatos face, similar to the famous film android, the Terminator. In each subsequent appearance, he was destroyed again, by the dog-like gargoyle beast Bronx, by Goliath, and even once by his own Pack-mate Jackal using the power of Anubis, one of the children of Oberon. Xanatos himself used the Coyote robot, recently remade using a melted-down Cauldron of Life, to try to capture another child of Oberon, Coyote.

Coyote (specifically Coyote-X) would have been one of the main antagonists of the spin-off show Gargoyles: 2198, but it was never put into production.