Who is Korul? Korul Al-Wassar (pronounced KOR OOL AL WASS ARR) is a gargoyle, a member of the oldest race in the galaxy-- the CABAL-- a winged humanoid race that also includes the Kerubim (or angels) and Daemons.  The gargoyles don't have the powers of their cousins, but they alone have mastered the art of turning their flesh to stone and that secret has allowed them to survive throughout the millenia. 
These days, gargoyles are very rare, and Korul is a gargoyle lost and separated from his race, uncertain of his origins.  The broken cabalic shield on his belt is the key to his power and his origins.  Korul originally was a character in a role-playing game, that I made into a costume.  Though the character came before the popular TV show about gargoyles, I think that had a big part in why I made the costume. 

Korul on DVD. Korul has recently been included in the gargoyles TV show fan section on the DVD for season 1. Here is another review featuring Korul.

Korul in the Movies Here are some links to AVIs which contain our scaley pal, taken from a popular conference show at CF8 and CFE2, which was his first appearance. There are also tiny snippets of him in news reports (but as yet no headlines in his home town.) Plans are also in the works for him to star in a short rock video called Beach Blanket Gargoyle, though at present distance has stymied production because the film-maker is down in California and I'm up here in Montreal. 

Korul sure has changed my life.  More than my fifteen minutes of fame I still get fan letters to this day, and I was even in TVGUIDE because of him!  (Even if I claimed that wasn't a thrill, you wouldn't belive me.)  I also found Korul one day on the Lycra Fetishists Home Page (don't ask me what he's doing there..) 

I'll tell ya something else you (and filmmakers) might not know. THE HUMAN WORLD ISN'T BUILT FOR GARGOYLES! They don't fit through doors, they can't go in cars.. It's a real obstacle course.  Those people who write films about creatures like me (Korul) should spend an hour or two in my skin before they go off and write about how SWELL it is to be a creature. 

I still make little improvements to him, and appear in costume in various shows, but my costuming passion has moved on.  In some ways, Korul had become a hurdle I had to cross, a challenge I had to best, because people said I would never do better than him, which IRKED me.  Did they think it was a fluke?  Anyway, since then my later costumes have got the attention Korul did, so I no longer feel at odds with my gargoyle-buddy. 

Korul took a lot of work, every ounce of strength I had, and every technique I had newly learned with sculpting plus some prosthetic techniques to complete.  I worked for about 5 months before Hallowe'en till 2am in the morning often, to complete him.  I remember being begged to go to sleep, but I wouldn't, not until it was all done.  Ironically, Korul wasn't even finished in his first appearance at ARCHON20, and that win really helped me to finish him up for Hallowe'en and his main appearance -- CFE2.  Hehe, I remember being followed by gargoyle fans at that con. 

Why do you do it? One might ask.  Like Stephen King said, "What makes you think I have a choice?" But, in addition, there's very good reasons why I do these things. 

  • One reason is that there's a primal, therapeutic quality to working with these things.  Sure, I take joy in my art, but it's fun to get dirty, play in muck and mud and chemicals and use your hands.. and then when you've done to have a physical object you created gives one a very special thrill. 
  • Another big reason is -- How many of your talents can you wear? People like me art or the way I work, but with a costume people will come up and talk to me and smile. 
  • The smiling is the third and most important reason.  I'd be lying if I said I don't do it for the fans, cause it gives them such a thrill, and I feel, puts something special in lots of people's lives.  I love the attention, and the feeling that I've done something really remarkable for all those people who got to meet and talk to a real, living gargoyle.  Just look at the SMILES on the faces of the people on these pictures and you'll know WHY.
I think it creates, for a few minutes, a sense of wonder (like that fellow reaching for the tail) that people rarely get to feel, and I'm priveleged to be the one to bring that to them.  Besides, its colorful and interesting and the world is just too drab, anyway.  This is my way of SPICING things up.