Coldfire

  

 Above right: Coldfire. (Both pictures courtesy of Flynt.)

Gender: Female

First Appearance: "Legion"

Other Appearances: "High Noon," "Possession"

Desdemona was a rookery sister of Goliath. Two gargoyles, known as Coldstone and Iago, fought over her. She chose to be with Coldstone, and Iago was thereafter bitter and determined that she would be his.

Desdemona was shattered with the rest of the clan when the Vikings attacked in 994, along with Iago and Coldstone. Then, in 1994, Demona and Xanatos decided to combine their forces of science and sorcery, since neither alone had defeated Goliath and his clan before. The science combined pieces of Desdemona, Iago, but mostly Coldstone, with cybernetics. The sorcery put the three gargoyle souls matching those pieces into the body. Coldstone became in control first, and was unaware of the others presence. Demona told him that Goliath had betrayed the clan, and convinced him to hold a grudge against him as well. But in the end, Coldstone forgave his brother, and took a shot for him, causing him to fall and sink to the bottom of the Hudson River.

The body slowly repaired over a period of months. The Coldstone body returned to life, shooting out of the Hudson. It landed at a military technology facility, which it attacked. The body tried to tap into a computer, but got a virus instead. The virus caused the personalities within Coldstone to switch back and forward without warning. Coldstone was spotted by Goliath and Lexington, who brought him back to the clock tower. Coldstone seemed to be having violent mood swings, losing his memory of where they were. Desdemona took brief control of Coldstone, and, terrified of "her" appearance, "she" eventually flew out of the building, with Hudson and Goliath following. Coldstone, Desdemona, and Iago seemed to fight for control of the body, with Coldstone sometimes acting nice and wondering where they were, other times angry and confused, and sometimes acting just plain evil. Coldstone managed to get control long enough to ask for Goliath's help. Lexington got a virtual reality headset, and sent Goliath into a virtual simulation of Coldstone's mind. There, he met the three souls, as well as a program resembling David Xanatos. He found out from Desdemona that Coldstone was made up from pieces of different gargoyles, and that they were all trapped inside. A virus had started eating away at the body's memory banks, trying to get at the personalities and Goliath. Iago saw Goliath, and he and the Xanatos program tried to get Coldstone to destroy him. When that was stopped by Desdemona, Iago and the program merged, and tried to convince Desdemona to join him. Desdemona told him that she would choose who she loves, and fought him off. The virus eventually consumed Iago, drawing him into a deep portal. However, it did not destroy him, but simply rendered him powerless. Coldstone told Goliath to leave, insisting that they would be all right now that they were finally together. Coldstone's body shut down on the outside, its operating systems wiped.

Later, Lexington attempted to get the body running again. Inside the dormant body, Coldstone and Desdemona were enjoying their time together. Iago tried to separate them, but Desdemona said that he no longer had the power to come between them.

MacBeth and Demona stole the Coldstone body and replaced the program to control it. A portal appeared inside the shell, and Iago went through it. Desdemona suggested they go after him, but Coldstone insisted that it was good riddance. When the Coldstone body came online again, Iago was in control, and he recognized Demona.

When Goliath found out that MacBeth had stolen Coldstone, the entire clan went to his mansion. They "freed" Coldstone, thinking that the good personality was in control. Coldstone then woke up Demona and MacBeth, who had been brought down by the clan, who activated a trap they had laid for the Manhattan Clan. On the inside, Desdemona and Coldstone could hear evil laughter coming from the portal. Desdemona now insisted that they must go stop Iago from whatever he was doing. Coldstone still said that they shouldn't.

Later, the three villains were meeting Elisa Maza and they had the gargoyles tied up in chains while they were stone. Demona in her human form and Elisa began fighting, and while that was happening, Desdemona managed to convince Coldstone that they had to fight their evil brother. They both glided through the portal, and battled Iago, allowing Coldstone to take control of the body. He then chased away MacBeth and Demona and freed the gargoyles. He flew away, to isolate the threat of Coldstone away from everyone.

Coldstone travelled to the Himalayas, where he lived in solitude while Desdemona held back Iago. Xanatos found him, and captured him. As part of his debt to Goliath for saving his son from Oberon, Xanatos tried to transfer the extra personalities to other robot bodies, named Coldfire and Coldsteel. It didn't work, but Puck decided to help in the form of a "lesson" for Alexander Fox Xanatos. He posed as Goliath and brought Coldstone to the clock tower. He said that he could get rid of Iago by emptying Coldstone of all his personalities and transferring Coldstone and Desdemona to two of the clan. He asked for volunteers, and Angela and Broadway stepped forward. Brooklyn also volunteered, but remembered that he only needed two. "Goliath" then cast the spell, and Coldstone went into Broadway, Desdemona into Angela, and Iago into Brooklyn, although the clan didn't realize it. "Goliath" then left. Broadway/Coldstone and Angela/Desdemona went out for a glide, amazed at the marvels of feeling again. Brooklyn/Iago followed them, saying he felt sorry for them because they would have to go back into Coldstone. He remarked that it was such a shame that they couldn't keep the bodies they were inside of now.

Back at the clock tower, Coldstone awoke and attacked Lexington. He hid him so that when Goliath and Hudson came back and saw Coldstone, he convinced them that they had to wage war on Xanatos because he had created new monsters to unleash against them. When they arrived at the castle, Coldstone activated Coldsteel and Coldfire, who attacked Goliath and Hudson, defeating them.

When Broadway/Coldstone, Angela/Desdemona, and Brooklyn/Iago returned to the clock tower, they saw Lexington tied up. Angela/Desdemona and Broadway/Coldstone freed him. Lex said that the evil personality must still have been in Coldstone, because he attacked him. Broadway/Coldstone was already under the influence of Brooklyn/Iago, and said that they had better destroy the body so that they could finally get rid of Iago. They went to the castle, where they split up. Lex and Brooklyn/Iago went into the laboratory, where the battle between Coldstone and the robots and Goliath went on. Broadway/Coldstone and Angela/Desdemona went to the main hall, and pursued the possessed Coldstone's voice to the Arboretum. Once there, they were attacked by the possessed Coldstone. Angela/Desdemona was knocked out, and Broadway/Coldstone incapacitated.

Brooklyn/Iago, who had taken care of Lexington, just wanted Angela/Desdemona, so he attempted to negotiate with the possessed Coldstone. Broadway/Coldstone then realized that Brooklyn had been possessed by Iago. Brooklyn/Iago was captured by Coldsteel when he tried to leave with Angela/Desdemona, and battle ensued. Afterwards, Iago decided to go into the Coldsteel body, and Alex transfered him there. He then left, and threatened that he'd be back. Desdemona had herself transferred into the Coldfire shell, and Coldstone and Coldfire immediately set off after their evil brother, promising to return when they had defeated him.

In Greg Weisman's Master Plan, Coldstone and Coldfire would have eventually rejoined the Manhattan Clan. Desdemona was also a more spiritual gargoyle than most, almost priestly.

Coldfire is like an advanced Steel Clan robot, having tough gold-colored armor on her body, and jet-assisted flying ability. She can also project flame from her hands.

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