Grey Gargoyle
Real Name: Paul Pierre Duval
Occupation: Former chemist, now professional criminal
Identity: Publicly known
Legal status: French citizen with criminal record.
Place of birth: Fontainebleau, France
Marital status: Single
Known relatives: None
Group affiliation: None
Base of operations: Mobile
First appearance: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #107
|
Origin:Paul Duval was a young chemist working for a commercial pharmaceutical outfit in Paris when he accidentally spilled a potion contaminated by some unknown, organic substance on his right hand. To his surprise and dismay, his hand began to turn to a stone-like material still capable of movement. Accidentally touching his other hand, he soon learned that he could transform his entire body into the stone-like material, simply by rubbing his hand over the surface of his body. Further, he discovered that any matter he touched also turned to stone, although it was incapable of movement like himself. Mercenary by nature, Duval decided to exploit his bizarre power for personal gain, and turned to theft. He soon was bored of the ease with which he could steal, and decided to go to America to wrest the secret of immortality from the allegedly immortal Thor. Calling himself the Grey Gargoyle, Duval has proved a formidable adversary for a number of crime fighters , including the entire contingent of Avengers.
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 175 lbs (stone) 750 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
Powers:The Grey Gargoyle possesses the ability to transform the substance of any organic or inorganic object into immobile, granite-like rock by touching it with his permanently transformed right hand. This process involves a near-instantaneous atom by atom exchange with stone-like substance which, in a manner yet unrevealed, occurs upon contact with the Gargoyle’s right hand. The maximum volume of matter which can be transformed at a single touch is about 8-12 cubic feet, equivalent to an object the size of a bathtub. (An average human being possesses a volume of 1.8 cubic feet.) The Grey Gargoyle cannot control the extent of the transformations: every time his hand touches something, it transforms the maximum amount of molecularly-contiguous matter it can. (Molecular contiguity involves the magnetic flux permeability of groups of molecules determining molecular cohesion.) Thus, if he touched the instrument panel of an airplane, he would transform its metallic parts to the full extent of his power or until the metal was interrupted by some dissimilar substance, such as plastic. If he were to touch a human being who happened to be touching another human being at that moment, only the person he touched himself would be transformed, despite the fact that both persons were composed of the same organic substance. This is because the two human beings, despite being composed of the same organic substance, are not molecular-contiguous. The only exception to the molecular-contiguity limitation is certain substances (like most fabrics) which for reasons as yet unknown are “transparent” to the transformation process, allowing it to occur both to it and through it. Thus, if the Gargoyle were to touch a person’s arm through his clothing, the transformation will not only affect the clothing but the body underneath it. A sufficient number of layers of clothing, however, will protect the body beneath from being turned to stone (though wearing clothing made of stone may be quite debilitating in itself).
The Grey Gargoyle’s transformation last for about an hour, after which time the objects revert to their normal state. The period of time that an object will remain transformed after being touched cannot be increased by repeated touching. Once a person reverts to normal, however, he or she can be transformed again indefinitely. People do not seem to suffer any ill-effects other than disorientation upon returning to normal. While a person is stone-like, he or she is as susceptible to damage as granite statuary, which is their approximate equivalent in material.
The Grey Gargoyle can touch himself with his altered hand and turn himself into a living statue with all of his former sentience and mobility intact. This composition of stone-like molecules grants the Grey Gargoyle the impact resistance of stone (around 80,000 pounds per square inch), increase strength (he can lift, or press, about 11 tons), and temperature extremes (-120° to 18,000° Fahrenheit). He retains his normal human reflexes and speed in his stone-like state. If the Grey Gargoyle was damaged while in his stone-like state, an analogue of that injury would appear when he reverted to his normal state. Despite his weight and mass, the Gargoyle’s powerful legs enable him to perform a standing high-jump to 20 feet.
The Grey Gargoyle prevents unwanted use of his power by wearing a specially trated glove which is particularly non-conductive, and thus is unable to be transformed into stone. The glove has a small area in the palm that is usually left open to allow use of his power at any time. There does not seem to be any limit to the number of times the Gargoyle can apply his touch and effect a change.
Email: Thor@superherochat.com
