They were originally water spouts. Hence the name.
Those statues by themselves, devoid of practical function, are called “grotesques”, and they are designed that way to remind the peasantry that DEMONS ARE REAL AND YOU NEED THE CHURCH TO PROTECT YOU FROM THEM!!!!.
True story.

Makes sense.
The hideous imagination is unsettling.

Nice goin loli. I like it when out of the blue you visit us from that alternate universe.

I thought they were to ward off evil spirits?

There are reams of books and many courses on the iconography of the medieval cathedrals. Some elements were to awe, some to scare and some just for playfulness. I think the gargoyles were a combination of the latter two.

They ARE evil spirits themselves @SQUEEKY2!

Some of them are very sweet and funny looking, I can remember.
Or laughable rather.

I’ve never seen sweet ones. Or funny ones. Can you post a pic of some?

I think the gargoyles are fun.

Did you look at the pictures in my details? One of them appears to be biting the head off of a human. Not my idea of fun.

I go with Raggy’s explanation. They were meant to scare the shit out of people and only the church can save them.

This is what I got off Google about the subject…
The word gargoyle comes from the French word gargouille, which means “throat” or “gullet.” This probably comes from the gurgling sound of the water as it passes through the gargoyle and out its mouth. Some legends hold that gargoyles also protect against harmful spirits. Gargoyles have been used for hundreds of years.

Maybe we have different opinions on what is funny (or laughable) @Dutchess_III.
When I visited I didn’t see horror or fearmongerers.

You wouldn’t see any today, of course, Rebbel. I don’t think they cause any superstitious fear in today’s society.
But I think at the time they meant to represent all the “real” demons of the underworld that only the church can protect the masses from, and I would imagine they’d have an effect on the illiterate, superstitious populations of centuries past.
Look at the pics I linked to. Do you think the authors of the gargoyles meant them as a joke? Don’t you think they’d be afraid of burning in hell for making a joke out of Satan and devils and demons, things that the Bible says are real?

@Dutchess_lll If you look at the structure of the cathedral, the gargoyles are way on top where the churchgoers could not see them. They were there as rainspouts. There may have been an alternate purpose – either to scare the people which seems unlikely since they were out of sight or to scare demons away from the church. But it is also known by those who study church building that sub masons and artisans used their own creativity and humor to create the less important parts of the church. That is why there are often humorous and human elements in parts of the church such as capitols, windows and indeed, gargoyles.

I find gargoyles charming, and more appealing that martyrs and saints, personally.

But certainly many would find them less off-putting than rotting corpses of executed and mutilated Protestant Christians…

Oh Christianity…

I just learned something….“Gargoyles” are the rain spouts.
The things I’m referring to are “Chimera” (“chimère” in French.)

This picture shows a chimera above a gargoyle.

.

Ah! Wrong again. Above someone said the statues are called “grotesques,” which is not the same as a chimera or a gargoyle.

This is my favorite gargoyle on the National Cathedral in Washington DC
https://i.redd.it/e57673jfvjx01.jpg

Final answer: a gargoyle is a rain spout that may be whimsical, as in my link above. It’s like a monkey spewing water out its mouth. Yes a bit whimsical.
Grotesques are the evil bat statues perched on top of the ramparts, ready to come to life and mutilate the unbelievers.

Who is that @caravanfan? A gargoyle made into Captain Obvious?

@Dutchess_lll
It is Lord Helmet, from Spaceballs.

@Dutchess_III

It’s Darth Vader (seriously).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darth_Vader_grotesque

Hm. Well. So it is. It doesn’t look like Darth Vader.