The Steel Clan is a group of robotic gargoyles, an enemy to the Manhattan Clan. They are featured in the Disney Afternoon television show, Gargoyles.
Background[]
The Steel Clan is entirely comprised of armored battle robots built by David Xanatos, with their abilities and appearance modeled after gargoyles in general and Goliath specifically. Unlike gargoyles, which can only glide on wind currents in the manner of gliders, the Steel Clan robots are equipped with rocket engines and razor-sharp wings, giving them the power of controlled flight. They are also armed with a beam weapon that is built into the forearms and has computerized control systems that link them to a command interface in Xanatos' own gargoyle-like battle armor. The second batch onwards were capable of discharging electricity along their bodies to prevent enemies from coming into physical contact with them.
Xanatos also wears a battle armor suit modeled after the Steel Clan (distinguishable by its red and black trim) that he frequently wears whenever he needs to do things beyond his normal physical capabilities, especially when battling Goliath and the gargoyles.
Role in the series[]
When billionaire David Xanatos learned of the existence of gargoyles, he immediately saw them as a potential resource that could be used. After failed attempts to coerce, manipulate, and/or employ Goliath and the Manhattan Clan to serve him, Xanatos, using information the gargoyles had unwittingly stolen for him, engineered the Steel Clan. He designed them specifically to replace the Manhatten Clan as Xanatos' muscle and personal army.
Over time, several versions of the Steel Clan appear. The original version, first seen shortly after the gargoyles awoke in Manhattan, and an apparently improved version later used when Xanatos used one of his robots to steal the Eye of Odin, were similar in design and function. Parts of a Steel Clan robot are later joined to the stone remains of Goliath's dead rookery brother to create Coldstone, and two similar but redesigned robots are later constructed to host the spirits of two other rookery siblings (dubbed Coldfire and Coldsteel).
A third and radically-redesigned version is also created by Owen Burnett called the Iron Clan.
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