Fox Xanatos is a character in the Disney animated television show, Gargoyles. She is the former leader of The Pack (the eponymous television show) and, as far as anyone knew, was the leader of the criminal Pack, until Xanatos privately revealed himself to be the creator of "The Pack".
Background[]
Physical appearance[]
Fox has long, red hair and brown eyes. Her most prominent characteristic is a tattoo shaped roughly like a blue fox's head, over her right eye. She bore this tattoo, even in her "Werefox" form.
Powers and Abilities[]
Fox is a very skilled martial arts fighter and a formidable mercenary in her own right. Due to her mother, she is half fae and possesses latent fae powers. It is unknown the extent of her powers or whether or not she has some of the other fae attributes, such as immortality or the weakness to iron. Interestingly, as a child of a Child of Oberon and a human, this could categorize Fox as a New Olympian, though it is unlikely that she is of Greek heritage. The only known magical power Fox possesses from her Fae blood is Energy Blasts, seen when she managed to tap into the power to stop Oberon from taking her son, Alex.
Alongside being a wily and determined figure (and a worthy mate for Xanatos, thereby), Fox is also well-read (she likes the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre, but considers Nietzsche too "butch" for her tastes, and Kafka reminds her too much of the cockroaches that Hyena liked shooting rubber bands and paper clips at in their prison cell).
She is also an excellent fighter, as her former role as leader of the Pack would attest. She is also a skilled helicopter pilot, as she has seemingly replaced Derek Maza as her husband's personal pilot.
When Fox came into possession of the Eye of Odin, an exaggerated face of her inner self was revealed, transforming her into a werewolf/fox-like monster. This transformation could possibly represent Fox's ambition and feral ruthlessness to acquire what she desires, such as when she tried to steal her father's company. Greg Weisman has described it is "Werefox, predatory, self-hating, conflicted".
Appearances[]
Gargoyles[]
Born Janine Renard, the unsatisfied daughter of Halcyon Renard and his wife Anastasia, Fox refused her father's inheritance. Changing her name legally to "Fox," she met the budding young businessman David Xanatos, who recruited her into the mercenary team known as “The Pack” as its leader, and with whom she fell in love. She soon headed a television show with her teammates, which drew the interest of the gargoyle, Lexington. When he sought them out, the Pack tricked Lexington into bringing Goliath to meet them, who the Pack attacked for sport. Goliath and Lexington defeated the Pack, and Fox was sent to prison.
Later, a mysterious figure named Coyote released the Pack from prison to fight the Gargoyles again; while the others broke out, Fox stayed behind, claiming she wanted to pay her debt to society. However, Coyote was actually a robot double of Xanatos, and Fox's refusal to break out from prison was actually a ploy planned in advance, which successfully allowed Fox to get paroled early for her apparently-good behavior.
Proposing to Fox, Xanatos presented her with the Eye of Odin, an ancient and magical artifact, as an engagement present. Unfortunately, Xanatos was unaware that the item brought out a person's "true nature," and thus as a side effect transformed Fox into a monstrous werewolf at night with the transformation ripping whatever clothes she had on. The transformation gradually began to destroy Fox's life-force slowly, and Xanatos was forced to team with Goliath and Elisa to remove the Eye from her, thus restoring Fox to her human form, saving her life. Elisa ended up having to wrap her dress attachment around Fox. The incident also served to reveal the face of Fox's inner character. Also after this incident, Xanatos referred to his love for Fox as his one weakness, Goliath replied to that remark saying that only Xanatos would regard love as a weakness.
Fox and Xanatos were soon married and later in the same year, Fox gave birth to a son, Alexander Fox Xanatos. However, soon after the birth, the fae king Oberon arrived and revealed that Fox's mother Anastasia was in fact Oberon's wife, Titania, who had taken human form and married during the 1,000 year-long exile when she and Oberon were divorced. Although Fox had not inherited her mother's magical abilities, Oberon decreed that they would take young Alex back to Avalon so that he could be properly trained. Fox, along with her husband, Owen Burnett, and the Manhattan Clan, violently resisted Oberon and Titania's attempts to take Alexander. During the fight with Oberon, Fox instinctively and involuntarily attacked Oberon with magic when he attempted to take her son from her, revealing that she had some amount of latent power within her. Goliath used this fact to negotiate with Oberon - if Fox, who has raised her entire life as a human, could have some amount of magic, then Alexander, if properly trained, could live in the human world and still retain his power. Oberon agreed and appointed Puck as his teacher.
When the clan rejoins the Xanatos family, Fox makes an effort of reconciling with Lexington for their previous history. For his part, Lexington agrees to make an effort to that goal for the sake of her son.
Trivia[]
- Alone among the voice actors, Laura San Giacomo went uncredited for providing the voice of Fox. This was because her agent believed it would damage her reputation to have worked on an animated series, although Greg Weisman has said that Laura herself was "nothing but wonderful, working on the show. A real pleasure." Also, Laura gave birth to her son Mason at approximately the same time as Fox gave birth to Alexander.
- Coincidentally, Jonathan Frakes' wife, Genie Francis, was also expecting at the same time as Fox.
- Fox wears size nine shoes and is fond of manolos.
- Before she got married, Fox's legal name was just Fox.
Gallery[]
External links[]