Gargoyle

Gargoyles are enemies in the Castlevania series. They are living statues of grotesque monsters that boast the wings of a bat, made either of terra-cotta, marble, or granite. In some instances, they are referred to as demons turned to stone. They act as watchers to prevent trespassers from wandering into the castle.

Origins
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between. Architects often used multiple gargoyles on buildings to divide the flow of rainwater off the roof to minimize the potential damage from a rainstorm. A trough is cut in the back of the gargoyle and rainwater typically exits through the open mouth. Gargoyles are usually an elongated fantastic animal because the length of the gargoyle determines how far water is thrown from the wall.

A French legend that sprang up around the name of St. Romanus, relates how he delivered the country around Rouen from a monster called Gargouille. The Gargouille is said to have been the typical dragon with bat-like wings, a long neck, and the ability to breathe fire from its mouth. In each version of the story, the monster is led back to Rouen and burned, but its head and neck would not burn due to being tempered by its own fire breath. The head was then mounted on the walls of the newly built church to scare off evil spirits.

Description
Gargoyles are flying, anthropomorphic, reptilian-like demons who are usually found as stone statues decorating some structures in the Castlevania universe. These will come to life and attack as soon as the player approaches them. However, not all statues will come to life in such cases, and sometimes they will wait until the player performs a particular action before coming to life.

Not all gargoyles appear in their stone form. Depending on the game, they can just appear already flying and attacking. Some of them will swoop at the player, while others will come armed with spears which they will hurl at them and then continue on their way.

The first game where gargoyles appeared in their stone form was in the Aqueducts stage from Rondo of Blood.

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
In the US instruction booklet for Simon's Quest, the Devil was renamed as "Gargoyle", perhaps because of Nintendo's policy of not including either religious or explicit content in games distributed for their console at the time.

These enemies only appear inside of mansions. They attack by walking and jumping sporadically at Simon, while shooting a pair of fireballs from their mouths at an angle. The first time the player finds one of these foes, is when making their way out of Berkeley Mansion. The recently acquired Dracula's Rib will prove to be quite useful in deflecting the fireballs shot by this enemy.

Castlevania Chronicles
A swarm of Gargoyles (originally named "Ogideran" in the X68000 version) can be seen flying in the background of the Underground Aqueduct. The player will be able to see their formations while this happens, so they can be prepared for when they arrive to Simon's position. This time they come armed with spears and will attempt to stab him when they arrive.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Gargoyles appear in the second section of Stage 2' in Rondo of Blood. This is the first time they appear in stone form in the series. When approached, they suddenly come to life from their statuesque condition and start attacking. They die in a single hit; however, they can be very hard to defeat as they will dodge most of the hero's attacks. They appear to be oblivious to sub-weaponry, though, so a well aimed Axe or Seiryuu, just to name a few, will dispose of them. If not dealt quickly enough, they'll spit three fireballs in a spreading manner.

Castlevania: Bloodlines
After a long and intense battle through the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the protagonists make their way to the top and it's there where they'll encounter this menacing creature. The Gargoyle attacks with tail swipes, shooting projectiles from the tip of its tail and by making flying passes. When low on health, it will start bouncing around the top of the tower in an attempt to land on the hero or knock him off to his doom. After it is defeated, it will fly into the air letting out a shrill scream as it explodes into several pieces.

This boss also makes a second appearance as part of Death's boss battle toward the end of the game, in a roulette-style card game prior to fighting Death himself.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Gargoyles are found quite early in the game (after defeating the first boss) and are a frequent enemy throughout the rest of it. They are just a stronger version of Gremlins and attack in very much the same way. They usually appear flying from one edge of the screen to the other and come armed with spears, which they may or may not hurl at Nathan.

In some parts of the castle, they can also be found in statue form until approached.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Gargoyles are again a stronger version of Gremlins and attack in exactly the same manner, by flying and making swoops at Soma.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Gargoyles are first introduced in a little cutscene in one of the rooms of the Garden Forgotten by Time. They have low HP but can be a bit difficult to defeat due to both their erratic flying patterns and their evading maneuvers. They can be found either in stone form or already flying, and can become a nuisance as they will do both, attack relentlessly and/or provide supportive offense while Leon is occupied dealing with other enemies.

They have three attacks:
 * The Gargoyle rears back very far and pegs Leon with its feet. This attack should be blocked.
 * The Gargoyle emits purple sound waves which will turn Leon to stone if hit, while dealing a bit of damage at the same time. This attack should be blocked twice, at it deals two consecutive hits. Successfully guarding against this attack will net Leon with 70 MP.
 * A little whirlwind surrounds the Gargoyle, then it will fly high up and make a quick swoop at Leon. This attack should also be blocked.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
In Order of Ecclesia, Gargoyles can be first found in the Castle Entrance, where they appear in statue form. They usually come to life and start to attack as soon as Shanoa approaches them; however, in some cases the player first needs to perform a specific action for them to attack. Being that they're made of stone, they're weak to the Strike attribute, so using a Macir glyph against them is recommended.

The Gargoyle's sprite was used as base for a later enemy: Draculina.

Trivia

 * Some enemies in earlier games were called "Gargoyles" in the North American instruction booklets. However, they were not designed to be gargoyles at all in their original Japanese versions. These include the Devils from Simon's Quest, and the Flying Skeletons from Dracula's Curse (renamed "Flying Gargoyles") and Super Castlevania IV (renamed "Gargoyle Skeletons").
 * There exists artwork of a gargoyle in the Dracula X instruction booklet. However, the Gargoyle does not appear in the actual game.