From TES issue 38 (March 2006)

Series 1/2/3. Level 3.
THE GARGOYLE

The Gargoyle resided in level three, and made several appearances in the first three series of Knightmare. Unlike the traditional small stone monsters that sometimes adorn buttresses on old buildings, this gargoyle consisted of nothing but a large human face, hewn out of the stone of the Dungeon, and with the power to hide and reveal doorways in its level three chamber. The Gargoyle's name was Mug, and it spent a lot of its time being depressed about how ugly it was. During these lengthy bouts of depression, it turned blue all over. However, when it was in a happier mood, it was red. This, at least, was the state of play in series 1 and 2. By series 3, Mug had seemingly learned to control its feelings enough to stay its natural grey all the time, and it had developed the knack of moving its lips when it spoke, which it was unable to do in the first two series.
Mug's first appearance was in the eighth and final episode of series 1 [Team 6 of Series 1], when dungeoneer Richard had to cheer the creature up so that it would open the door from its chamber. As Treguard explained, the Gargoyle "suffers from acute depression, probably because of its ugliness." - Treguard. This helpful comment was unlikely to improve Mug's mood, so it was up to Richard to flatter him into feeling better about himself. This he did very well, which caused the creature to change colour from blue to red, and to open the door from the chamber.
A very similar scene occurred in the fifth episode of series 2, when winning dungeoneer Mark had to cheer up the Gargoyle in order to get past. Again, the creature changed colour from blue to red, and revealed the exit to the dungeoneer. However, when second winner Julian met the Gargoyle in the first room of level three, the creature was red already. After passing on a few snippets of information to Julian about clue objects and the correct door to take from the chamber, it began to get depressed simply from the strain of talking to the dungeoneer: "Too much talking turns me blue!" - Mug.
The Gargoyle's fourth and final appearance on Knightmare came during the fifth episode of series 3, when Leo arrived in its chamber. The creature was now suffering from an affliction which I call wall-monster-mouth, which means that a human mouth was being projected onto its face in order to make the Gargoyle's power of speech seem more convincing. (Wall-monster-mouth was also used, of course, to provide the mouths for Golgarach, Brangwen, Oakley and the door monsters, and the whole faces of Olgarth, Granitas and Igneous.) This effect did nothing to add to Mug's character, although it did make a change to see him asking a riddle instead of needing to be cheered up. Of course, the team's inability to answer the Gargoyle's riddle led to the eventual demise of Leo's quest, which was a shame in many ways. Although the creature seemed calmer and more relaxed in series 3 than in series 1 and 2, Treguard made it clear that the Gargoyle could still turn nasty once Leo had failed to answer its riddle: "Hurry, for it may even turn hostile!" - Treguard.

So, the Gargoyle was a strange creature, and not one that was easy to deal with, although it could help the quest significantly if it so chose. Its four brief level three appearances make it one of Knightmare's more forgettable creatures, but its dreary and depressing character does fit well into the dark and mysterious depths of the early Knightmare Dungeons.

Fear Factor: 7 Large, ugly, and sometimes threatening.
Killer Instinct: 2 Sometimes hostile, but not really in a position to harm.
Gore Factor: 5 It wasn't all that ugly!
Humanity: 4 A human face, with a human spirit trapped inside? Who knows...

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