Gargoyle
Gargoyles and their cousins grotesques were statues of ugly humanoid monsters, sculpted demons that were popular decorations for churches and, to a lesser extent, the homes of the rich and powerful. The idea was that with their sheer ugliness, they would frighten away actual evil spirits, so they were very popular. Gargoyles are considered an epitome of the Gothic style, and tend to show up all over the place in settings with a Gothic aspiration, especially in "gothick-punk" settings like the old World of Darkness or Gothic Fantasy settings like Ravenloft.
Technically speaking, a gargoyle is a specific kind of grotesque, having been sculpted around and incorporating a waterspout (their very name, in fact, has the same root word as "gargle"). Few people remember this who aren't history buffs.
Fantasy Gaming
Gargoyles are a common feature in fantasy games, where they are usually depicted more as grotesques. They are often creatures of living stone, similar to golems in many ways, but intelligent, often mimicking living creatures in traits like needing to feed and reproduce, and usually evil - ironically, given the actual gargoyles were supposed to be protectors. In Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder specifically, they are actually a breed of lesser Earth Elemental, originally hailing from the elemental planes before migrating to the easier, more prey-rich environment of the Material Plane. They're typically good at pretending to be statues until they're ready to ambush unsuspecting prey.
In 5th edition D&D, the fact that gargoyles are earth elementals who can fly is explained as their being the spawn of Ogremoch, the Archomental of Evil Earth, who created them in mockery of the Air creatures he so hates.
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Monstergirls
 | This article or section is about Monstergirls (or a monster that is frequently depicted as a Monstergirl), something that /tg/ widely considers to be the purest form of awesome. Expect PROMOTIONS! and /d/elight in equal measure, often with drawfaggotry or writefaggotry to match. |
Ironically, although gargoyle monstergirls rarely get much attention, they actually make a lot of sense. After all, a gargoyle is either a predatory earth elemental that pretends to be a statue, or just an Animated Object made from a statue, and statues of attractive (often naked) girls have always been popular decorations for people wealthy enough to afford statuary. It makes sense that gargoyles would evolve to resemble (or be created in the image of) statues of beautiful women, because that's a lot better way to camouflage themselves - after all, realistically, how many people would actually have sculptures of demons or hideous monstrous humanoids around the place? Everybody gets tense when you mention the presence of fiendish-looking statues; nobody bats an eye at all the naked women statues. Until they grab you and eat you, anyway.
In the Monster Girl Encyclopedia, gargoyles are believed to be demons who were sealed in stone statues before the current Succubus Lord took over. Inspired by the gargoyles of the 90s Disney cartoon "Gargoyles", they become living flesh and blood during the night, but transform into inanimate stone during the day. So, they try to get people to break the magical shackles binding them so they can use the night as a chance to go husband-hunting. And if you're still locked in coitus when the sun-rises, you turn to stone too until sundown.
Warhammer 40,000
See main page here: Gargoyle (Tyranids)