“ | Who doesn't wanna be king? Who doesn't want blood sacrifices made in their name? | ” |
The Gargoyle King is a former anonymous character and one of the main antagonists of the third season of The CW's Riverdale.
After Penelope Blossom gathered Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead together for their final quest, Chic unveiled himself as the Gargoyle King. Chic was initially believed to have been killed by the Black Hood after Betty gave him up, but it was later revealed that Hal spared Chic and mentored him. After Hal was arrested, Chic went to Penelope in search of guidance, and with her help, he took up the Gargoyle King persona.
Throughout Riverdale[]
Season 2[]
Sometime after Archie Andrews' arrest, a travelling salesman staying at the Pembrooke murdered a woman staying with him and offered her body to the Gargoyle King at an unknown location within Riverdale. His actions in moving the body from the Pembrooke to that location provoked suspicion from Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, and Archie, who observed his actions from the Lodge's home. However, their subsequent investigation ultimately led them to wrongly conclude that they were simply overreacting from the events of Archie's trial.[1]
Season 3[]
Although the Gargoyle King does not appear, he is however mentioned by Dilton Doiley, who shows up at Sunnyside Trailer Park to warn Jughead. Dilton and Ben were playing what they initially thought to be just a role-playing game. But Dilton now realizes it's much more. Dilton states that the Gargoyle King is real. Jughead doesn't know what to make of this and he certainly doesn't have the time to figure it out. So, he tells Dilton to take a seat and they can further discuss the matter when he returns from court. However, when Jughead returns, Dilton is gone and all he finds is a map leading him to Fox Forest. When Jughead arrives at the marked location, he finds Dilton and Ben, unconscious, stripped of their clothes, with markings etched into their backs. Also on site are candles and some kind of blue liquid. It would seem a ritual of some kind was taking place. Ben wakes up, but he is unresponsive and foaming from the mouth. So, Jughead screams out for help.[2]
The Gargoyle King has its first encounter with Betty and Jughead while in the woods of Fox Forest. It's a giant imposing creature with a bloody, snout-shaped face and branches for wings. It scares Betty and Jughead off as they were headed to meet up with Ethel.[3]
After a failed attempt on Ethel's part to ascend to the Kingdom, the Gargoyle King visits her at Riverdale General Hospital, where he learns from her that Jughead is indeed worthy of spreading his gospel after Jughead completed his quest in Gryphons and Gargoyles. Ethel then bows down before the Gargoyle King, whose gospel is spreading as they speak with copies of the scripture having been placed in the lockers of every student at Riverdale High School.[4]
Twenty-five years ago, the Gargoyle King surfaced at Riverdale High during an ascension party involving Fred Andrews, Alice Smith, FP Jones, Sierra Samuels, Hermione Gomez, Penelope Blossom, Hiram Lodge, Tom Keller, Marty Mantle and Darryl Doiley. However, Alice is the only one to have come in contact with it that night, running in the opposite direction after meeting its gaze.[5]
The Gargoyle King appears in the woods outside Dilton's bunker. He turns to Jughead, who bows before him.[6]
Jughead follows him and discovers that he has a gang of disciples. He shows up at the Cooper house and is revealed to have dug up Darryl's grave and used it to scare Betty and Alice.[7]
The Gargoyle King seemingly stands behind Sister Woodhouse as Betty is being tested, on how she responds to the silhouettes. This may be a hallucination, however, due to Betty being under the influence of Fizzle Rocks.[8]
The Gargoyle King appears in Hiram's study as he thanks the governor for quarantining Riverdale. Hiram then raises his glass to the Gargoyle King.[9]
Impressed by Fangs' Fizzle Rocks sales, the Gargoyle King seeks to invite him into his Inner Circle, but first Fangs must attend the ceremony in Fox Forest. As planned, Fangs attends the ceremony. The Gargoyle Gang, led by the Gargoyle King, surrounds a fiery pit as they await Fangs' arrival. Once Fangs arrive, they instruct him to kneel before the King, which Fangs does. It seems that part of the ceremony involves branding the mark of the Gargoyle onto Fangs. Moments away from being branded, Fangs is saved by the Serpents. While the Gargoyle Gang manage to escape, the Serpents do manage to capture the Gargoyle King. After the Gargoyle King is unmasked, it is revealed to be Tall Boy.[10]
Marcus Mason also assumed the identity of the Gargoyle King to get revenge on Tom and Sierra after they announced their marriage, as Marcus' feelings for Tom were rejected many years prior. Additionally, he hoped to scare Moose straight by taking him and Kevin hostage and forcing them to drink from the chalices. However, Marcus is stopped and arrested by FP.[11]
Ricky leads Jellybean through the woods while on a quest. When she questions why they couldn’t continue the game at Pop’s, he tells her it’s because "he" wanted to meet her. He being the Gargoyle King, who appears before Jellybean and Ricky.[12]
Kurtz has taken Jughead to the junkyard. Before Jughead sits two refrigerators. Behind one of the doors is Jellybean. Behind the other is Jughead’s doom. The final challenge is simple. Jughead has to choose one. When he realizes both are empty, Kurtz holds him at gunpoint and tells him to get inside the refrigerator. Once Jughead gets into the refrigerator, Kurtz calls Ricky and tells him to kill Jellybean and he then locks Jughead in. After slamming his body against the door repeatedly, Jughead manages to break the lock and free himself. When Jughead gets out, he finds that the Gargoyle King has killed Kurtz, a member of the Gargoyle Gang, after he sent the Jones family on a number of elaborate quests in exchange for the safe return of Jellybean.[13]
The Gargoyle sets his sights on Betty during the high school Prom. While getting some punch, Betty is given a letter for the Gryphon Queen, from a masked court jester. Betty’s been summoned to the place ascension night was held. She is told to come alone or else everyone else at the Prom will pay the price. Looking to prevent anyone else from getting hurt, Betty abides by the Gargoyle King’s rules and sneaks out the gym. Betty makes her way through the dark halls of Riverdale High alone. Standing in the hallway, Betty finds the Gargoyle King. She did as it asked. Came alone. But now she wants to know what it wants. Betty then pulls a gun from her purse, demanding to know who is under the mask. However, she is ambushed and knocked to the ground by the Black Hood. He stands before her with a hook in hand. Just a few feet behind him stands the Gargoyle King, who watches as this unfolds.[14]
The Gargoyle King attends the gathering hosted at Thornhill's Nature Preserve for Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead. Penelope Blossom calls in the two remaining guests, the Black Hood and the Gargoyle King. The Black Hood rips off his hood, and as suspected, it’s Hal Cooper. Before the Gargoyle King takes off his mask, Penelope gives Jughead a chance to guess his identity. Whoever is under the mask must’ve had a connection to both Hal and Penelope, but it’s not Jason Blossom because he’s dead, even though his corpse is missing. The one corpse that hasn’t been accounted for, who was last seen by the Black Hood, is Chic. The Gargoyle King unmasks, and as Jughead suspected, Chic is the Gargoyle King, though he has dyed his hair red since their last encounter. Jughead surmises he did this only after he started working with Penelope, but this was also after he got the Gargoyle symbols tattooed on his back. This is why Ethel said the Gargoyle King was Jason. Because Penelope called and dressed Chic up like Jason. Hal explains to Betty that he didn’t kill Chic because he recognized a kinship in him and spared him. He begged for mercy and pledged his life to Hal in service of his mission. But it wasn’t just Hal’s mission. He started working with Penelope, who also has a grudge against Riverdale.[15]
Physical Appearance[]
The Gargoyle King is a giant imposing creature using sticks as wings and wood for a head.
Suspects[]
Killer[]
- Tall Boy (impersonator)
- Marcus Mason (impersonator)
- Chic (present-day)
- Penelope Blossom (past)
Editor's Note: The list of suspects detailed below are of characters who have been suspected within the show of being the Gargoyle King. It should in no way list characters who fans have deemed as being potential suspects. |
Accomplices[]
- Hiram Lodge (revealed to have been working with the Gargoyle King)
- Sisters of Quiet Mercy (created Gryphons and Gargoyles and the Gargoyle King mythos)
- Hal Cooper (revealed to be a partner of the Gargoyle King as the Black Hood)
- Sister Woodhouse (revealed to be an accomplice of Penelope Blossom)
Eliminated[]
- Warden Norton † (by Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones)
- Alice Smith (attacked at her home by the Gargoyle King)
- Darryl Doiley † (disproved as the modern-day Gargoyle King as Darryl is dead)
- Hiram Lodge (disproved as Hiram was seen in the same room as the Gargoyle King)
- FP Jones (disproved as FP was out of town with Jughead at the same time the Gargoyle King was seen with Hiram)
- Fred Andrews (disproved as Fred was out of town with Archie at the same time the Gargoyle King was seen with Hiram)
- Edgar Evernever (by Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones; disproved as he doesn't have runic symbols on his back)
- Jason Blossom (by Ethel Muggs and Jughead Jones; disproved as his corpse was found by Cheryl)
- Hermione Lodge (by Betty Cooper)
- Sierra McCoy (by Betty Cooper)
- Tom Keller (by Betty Cooper)
- Marty Mantle (by Betty Cooper)
Victims[]
- Felix Featherhead † (cyanide poisoning)
- Dilton Doiley † (cyanide poisoning)
- Ben Button † (suicide; jumped out of a window)
- Ethel Muggs (alive; suffered seizures and attempted to ascend)
- Warden Norton † (cyanide poisoning)
- Joaquin DeSantos † (cyanide poisoning)
- Betty Cooper (alive; suffered a seizure)
- Josie McCoy (alive; suffered a seizure)
- Penelope Blossom (alive; suffered a seizure)
- Veronica Lodge (alive; suffered a seizure)
- Toni Topaz (alive; suffered a seizure)
- River Vixens (alive; suffered seizures)
- Numerous unnamed Riverdale High School students (alive; suffered seizures)
- Seven nuns † (cyanide poisoning)
- Baby Teeth † (cyanide poisoning)
- Kurtz †
Appearances[]
Riverdale[]
Season 3[]
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Season 4[]
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Season 5[]
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Season 6[]
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Season 7[]
Katy Keene[]
Season 1[]
- "Chapter Ten: Gloria" (mentioned)
Gallery[]
- See also: Category:Images of Gargoyle King