Character Spotlight -- Rosanna

Character Spotlight Rosanna by Don A. Martinez

Name: Rose Elisa Maza
Clan: Manhattan

Bloodline: Rose is the daughter of Detective Elisa Maza and Goliath of Clan Manhattan. Of her parents, only Goliath is still with her.

Current occupation: Electronic security expert, Xanacorp Systems. (A cover, so that no difficult questions are asked.)

Background:
Rose was born on August 26th, 1999 within the safe confines of Castle Wyvern. She led a very sheltered life, mainly because, though she was half-human, she still turned to stone with the dawn, like her father and his kind. This problem was quickly solved on the girl's third birthday, when Alexander Xanatos' gift to Rose was the same spell that Puck placed upon Demona, allowing Rose to change into a fully human form. The spell wasn't cast with the same skill, however; though the rest of Rose became human, she kept her gargoyle tail all the time.

Although she had gargoyle blood in her, young Rose aged at the same rate as a human girl, up until the age of 17 when her aging simply stopped. By this time, she had already began accompanying the clan on patrols, avoiding human contact as much as possible, and allowing her mother to come up with excuses for her. But this life was a little too much for Rose's (or Rosanna's, as she preferred to be called at night) fragile psyche, so at 15 she was sent to a boarding school in Connecticut, where she stayed in a cliffside house owned by David Xanatos (who also footed the bill for her tuition.).

At 17, though, a pivotal moment in her life occurred. On a weekend break from school, she returned home and left with her father to join her mother on a gun-runner bust, to offer their assistance. Unfortunately, the bust quickly went sour, as the smugglers were using armor-piercing rounds, four of which hit Elisa, killing her at the scene. Rosanna and Goliath both witnessed this. Goliath swooped down to rescue her, but was too late.

After the death of Elisa, Goliath began shrinking more and more into his brooding state, shying away from everything that made him who he was. This left his children hurt and confused, to the point that Angela left the clan to be with her mother. When Goliath failed to even fly patrols anymore, that was the last straw for Rosanna. Since Brooklyn had left with Sata to return to her native clan in Japan, Rosanna did what she thought was the only way to keep the clan together: she assumed the leadership.

Personality:
Rosanna is committed to her clan, especially where it comes to keeping them together: after her mother's death and father's apparent nervous breakdown, they were all the family she had. She tends to fight with abandon, not caring whether she is injured, just as long as justice is served. Her relationship with her father is extremely strained, because of his constant mourning. She won't ever admit it to anyone but her mother's tombstone, but she fears for him. She's afraid that he will kill himself with his sorrow.

Appearance:
In her human form, Rose looks like an uncanny lookalike for her mother Elisa, possibly because of Alexander's spell, and except for her tail she can pass for full-blood human. When she is a gargoyle, though, she has the lavender skin tone of her father, but the webbing of her wings matches the skin color of her mother, and because of her hybridization her wings are a one-clawed, one-fingered style not seen in pure-blood gargoyles. She has brown hair, 4 short horns framing her hairline. As a tribute to her mother, she wears Elisa's gold NYPD Detective badge as her belt buckle. The transformation from human to gargoyle adds two feet in height (from 5'5" to 7'5") and approximately 120 pounds in weight (from 118 to 238) to her frame.

Appearances:
Rosanna is the featured character of Gargoyles: Clan Manhattan. The year is now 2024, and Rosanna has been the leader of Clan Manhattan for about a year.
We first see her in The Midnight Visitor, when Steve Bluestone contacts her about his own father's death (Matt). She rescues Steve from an attack apparently ordered by the Illuminati Society, brings him to the Castle and introduces him to the clan. She also learns of the clan's new mission from Nokkar, who brings Sir Griff with him. The story continues into Eyes to the Sky, when Rose and Steve begin gathering their forces for the approaching invasion. Tragedy strikes in From Ruins Will We Rise, when Rosanna and clan witness the aliens' "show of force," a strategic bombing which leaves most of New York in shambles, and results in Diane Maza's death when the Mazas' condominium collapses around them. This only serves to feed Rosanna's rage, which carries over into Pilgrims, ultimately causing Rosanna to have a heated argument with her father which leaves them both feeling awful. Her feelings for her father are tested later on when the aliens attack and brutally beat Goliath, leaving him for dead at the top of the Castle. She comes to somewhat of a truce with him in Shadows and Memories, after relating to Steve Bluestone the circumstances surrounding Elisa's death.
She led the first attack against the aliens in The Morning of the Gargoyle, an attack which ultimately fails because of the tenaciousness of the aliens' forces. As a result of this failure, Rosanna is taken captive by the aliens. In Captivity and Liberty, she is held hostage within the aliens' mother ship, ultimately using an attack by MacBeth as her opportunity to escape, thanks to the help of a dying alien, whom she brings back to the Castle. This leads into Honor Above All, which details an attack by the aliens on the Castle, an attack which is defended by Rose, Alexander, Owen, the Steel Clan, and the last remnants of the Quarrymen under Robyn and Jason Canmore. However, the fight does not go as planned, as Rose is injured badly. Unfortunately, when Alexander comes to help her, something about his magic goes haywire and winds up performing a soul transferrence. In Soulscape, Rosanna fights her own inner demons, with the help of the soul that displaced her own ... Elisa Maza, her mother.

Upcoming:
Rosanna and the clan will be kept busy pretty much throughout the rest of the year, dealing with the alien threat. However, she will be facing her own demons at the same time, which include her own feelings of guilt about her mother's death, as well as the return of The Prodigal Daughter, Angela. Among other things to look forward to in her life: she deals with the sudden appearance of the timedancing Brooklyn and (pregnant) Sata, two of the Avalon clan offers their assistance, and Alexander's father David makes his presence known. Of the two Avalon clanmembers who arrive to help fight the invasion, one may actually win Rosanna's heart!
All this will lead to quite possibly the most ambitious Gargfic story ever written, When Clans Collide! The plan for this story is to include every original fanfic gargoyle character in existence in one massive final offensive against the aliens, with Clan Manhattan (and ultimately Rosanna) taking the lead in the battle. Of course, to do this I will need permission from all the writers who have original gargoyle characters. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every fanfic author who reads this for permission to use your character in When Clans Collide! If you'll allow me use of your characters, go here for more information.

Pictures: One here and another here
Several more pictures of Rosanna are available at G:CM's gallery index. The pictures which include Rosanna are: Rose Maza, Rosanna, "The Wedge That Divides Father and Daughter" (with Goliath), "Giving 'Evil Stepmother' A Whole New Meaning" (with Demona), "Moonbathing from the Highest Battlement" (a swimsuit pic), "The Morning of the Gargoyle" (with the clan), "The Mother and Child Reunion" (with Elisa Maza), and "At Her Mother's Grave" (with Samson) by Amy K. Cyrway.

Availability:
Stories with Rosanna are available at G:CM's Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Labyrinth/2628/index.html"

Additionally, the stories are archived at the Avalon Library:

http://avalon.gargoyles-fans.org/library/ Rosanna is also available as a guest character for anyone's fanfic. Please let me know if you want to use her, so that I can link up to the story.