Steel Clan

The Steel Clan are fictional enemies of the Manhattan Clan, appearing in the Disney animated television series "Gargoyles". They are armored battle robots built by David Xanatos, their abilities and appearance modeled after gargoyles in general and Goliath specifically. Alone of "Gargoyles" villains, they occasionally resemble the mindless cannon fodder archetype common in some action-oriented shows. Xanatos also wears a battle armor suit also modeled after the Steel Clan (distinguishable by its red and black trim) that he frequently wears when he needs to do things beyond his normal physical capabilities, especially when battling Goliath and the Gargoyles.

When billionaire David Xanatos learned of the existence of gargoyles, he immediately saw them as a resource that could be used. He attempted to manipulate or coerce Goliath and the Manhattan Clan to serve him as a veritable personal army, though he soon realized that Goliath was not going to be as subservient as he had hoped. Having anticipated this, however, Xanatos put secondary plans into motion. Using information (which the gargoyles had unwittingly stolen for him), he activated the Steel Clan, which was designed by Xanatos specifically to replace Goliath's clan as Xanatos' muscle.

These robots resemble Goliath in general appearance and size. Unlike gargoyles, which can only glide on wind currents in the manner of gliders, the Steel Clan robots are equipped with rocket engines, giving them the power of controlled flight. They are also armed with a beam weapon that is built into the forearms, and have computerized control systems that links them to a command interface in Xanatos' own Gargoyle-like battle armor.

During the series, several versions of the Steel Clan were created. The original version, first seen in "Awakening", and an apparently improved version later seen in "The Edge", were similar in design and function. Parts of a Steel Clan robot were joined to the stone remains of Goliath's dead rookery brother to create Coldstone, and two similar but redesigned robots were later constructed to host the spirits of two other rookery siblings (dubbed Coldfire and Coldsteel).

A third and radically redesigned version, however, appeared in "The Gathering". Commissioned by Owen Burnett, this so-called Iron Clan were of a larger scale than previous models and clad with iron. They were specifically designed to engage and weaken Oberon, who like all of his race, is vulnerable to cold iron.