Why are gargoyles evil?

Tormyr

Hero
Gargoyles are almost universally evil because they lack a functional society with caring communities. You never see baby gargoyles being led by their parents to an outing at the park or the zoo. No, gargoyles are abandoned at their creation to figure out the big, bad world for themselves.

Quite often a young gargoyle will try to introduce itself to new creatures it meets, but its attempts at handshakes and hugs injure most creatures who are not made of rock. They panic and attack the rock-based gargoyle out of fear. It quickly learns that the best option for survival is to hide in plain sight by being very still and then take what it needs from the squishy creatures.
 

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Kurotowa

Legend
This never made sense to me considering real life gargoyles were intended to scare away demons and the like, so wouldn't it make more sense for intelligent gargoyles to be good?

It's hardly the first thing D&D turned inside out from the Earth mythology. The original Minotaur was incapable of solving mazes, which is why it was trapped inside one. D&D minotaurs have a perfect ability to navigate mazes and build their own as homes. Or look at a lot of the fae creatures that were benevolent or at least non-hostile originally.
 

Oofta

Legend
A quick google found the following article at https://mymodernmet.com/what-is-a-gargoyle/.

Basically, gargoyles were fancy water spouts, the scary look is in part based on legend:

According to legend, Saint Romain—the bishop of Rouen in the 7th century—saved townspeople from the terror of a fire-breathing beast named La Gargouille. Though the monster was captured by Romain and burned at the stake, its head and neck mysteriously remained intact. Romain decided to nail the creature’s severed head to the church, where it served as a waterspout—and a terrifying trophy—for years to come.​

So ... the original gargoyle was an evil creature and new ones were made in it's image. While they may have scared away demons, it was because the demons thought it was a boss monster.
 


doctorbadwolf

Heretic of The Seventh Circle
This never made sense to me considering real life gargoyles were intended to scare away demons and the like, so wouldn't it make more sense for intelligent gargoyles to be good?

They aren't, in my games. They're just creatures of elemental earth and air, often posted as guardians of great treasure or other very important places and things.
 

MarkB

Legend
Because they aren't these guys?

View attachment 105082

Or these guys.

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