Gargoyle Djinn

The Gargoyle Djinn (ガーゴイル・ジン) is an enemy that appears in Sonic and the Secret Rings. It is a gargoyle-based djinn originating from the world of the Arabian Nights and one of the Erazor Djinn's henchmen.

Appearance
As its name implies, this djinn resembles a gargoyle statue. They have a humanoid form with gray stone-like skin, red eyes, a pair scaly wings on their back and broad shoulders, but have no lower body and only a ghostly tail. They also have a break for a mouth, a pair of outward-curving horns on their head, a read gem embedded in their chest, three golden claws for fingers and a similar claw on their wing joints and tail, and grey lines on their bodies. For attire, they have golden bands around their wrists, arms and waist.

Overview
The Gargoyle Djinns are seemingly diverse in origin, but they all share the common characteristic of being driven to madness during the events of the game. Supposedly, some were regular inhabitants, others were evil spirits sealed away long ago by King Solomon, and more were created by the Erazor Djinn from carving up the words of the Arabian Nights. Regardless, they were all recruited into Erazor's personal army and used to attack the world of the Arabian Nights in his search for the World Rings.

The Gargoyle Djinns appear exclusively in Levitated Ruin where they disguise themselves as normal statues before springing out to attack Sonic when he gets close to one. In gameplay, the Gargoyle Djinns have a diverse moveset to attack the player with: they can either release a shockwave at Sonic, dive straight at Sonic with a swift slash, or cover themselves with their wings to block Sonic's attacks. They can also immobilize Sonic by turning him to stone with a bright flash (though without damaging the player), allowing them to attack him without retaliation. To regain movements, the player has to shake the Wii remote until Sonic breaks free. The player has to hit the Gargoyle Djinns three times to defeat them, and when they are, the release Pearls.

Powers and abilities
The Gargoyle Djinns are some of the more powerful variations of djinns. They are capable of flight using their wings and are able to fly at super speeds matching those of Sonic the Hedgehog's. They also command more mystical energy-based powers, such as creating repulsion waves at foes and constructing solid energy trails in the wake of their flight path. Additionally, their sharp claws are excellent in close combat.

As their signature ability, the Gargoyle Djinns can petrify their foes by unleashing a bright flash. However, this is only superficial; rather than turning their victims fully into stone, they merely incase them a skin-close stone layer. As such, if their victims are strong enough, they can break free of their stone encasing.