Griffin Rock

Griffin Rock is a location from the Rescue Bots portion of the Aligned continuity family.

The small island town of Griffin Rock, Maine, is a testing bed for all kinds of new experimental technologies and gadgets. It has a long history of fostering scientific research and producing many of the world's leading scientists. Most of the advanced technology on the island has a propensity for running amok or malfunctioning spectacularly, endangering the town's population. It's a good thing the island has its own team of alien robots to protect the populace.

When ruled by Doctor Morocco, Griffin Rock becomes Moropolis.

Fiction

Rescue Bots cartoon

The town was established in 1649 Family of Heroes by Horace Burns. The Reign of Morocco In 1812, the settlement was attacked by the pirate ship Oaken Crow, and the Settlers' Bell stolen. The Lost Bell Around the same time, Charlotte Wayne's family set off for the mainland and disappeared. The Haunting of Griffin Rock In 1939 the Griffin Rock Technology Expo was held It's a Bot Time and Mount Magma was moved to the island after the World's Fair. Under Pressure For the town's tricentennial in 1949, a number of famous citizens including its first woman scientist, Elma Hendrickson, were reproduced as holograms. The Haunting of Griffin Rock In the late 50s, scientists devised the Sanctuary Plan to keep the townspeople safe in the event of a cataclysm. Countdown During the 1960s, scientists set up a safe zone on Griffin Crest for people to go should the technology ever turn rogue. Rules and Regulations Professor Baranova used the town as a base when she investigated the Griffin Rock Triangle during the 1980s. The Griffin Rock Triangle Doctor Morocco was originally the island's chief scientist, but was expelled by Chief Charlie Burns, Mayor Luskey and Doc Greene after his inventions proved inferior. The Reign of Morocco

The Rescue Bots were assigned to protect the island after arriving on Earth, and were presented to the population by Chief Burns as hi-tech robots which would assist him and his family. After they successfully dealt with a fire at the natural history museum, Cody Burns discovered that the four robots were aliens. He showed them the tunnels which ran all over the island from the Cold War bunker beneath the fire station, and they managed to stop a rampaging robotic Tyrannosaurus rex that had escaped from the museum and was threatening the drive-in theater. Family of Heroes

Further trouble came when Chase and Chief Burns had to stop a robo-landscaper that had gone rogue and begun carving up downtown. That same day, the rescue team had to deal with lava flooding out of the sewers, thanks to Mount Magma building up too much pressure. Under Pressure The town was also briefly threatened when Doc Greene's experimental solar car careened through the streets out of control. Hotshots During the Lobster and Technology Festival, an accident with floatium and some lobsters created flobsters. The flying crustaceans quickly spread out over the town, causing damage everywhere, and had to be rounded up by the Rescue Bots. Flobsters on Parade

The town's population panicked when Huxley Prescott reported an alien invasion. When the power went out as well, many of them tried to evacuate on the ferry, only to overload it. The Alien Invasion of Griffin Rock The escape of the lion and lemurs from Griffin Rock Zoo resulted in the destruction of the new Mayor Luskey Library before they were rounded up. Walk on the Wild Side

Nanites from Doc Greene's lab caused the Scrapmaster to go berserk, and also made Boulder knock down trees in the park until the nanites were lured to the power plant. Cody on Patrol A blocked sewer pipe caused a sinkhole that almost swallowed the bank. During the rescue operation, the town's central water supply had to be shut off, forcing Cody to switch the island's power from the hydro-electric plant to the wind farm. Four Bots and a Baby

Griffin Rock was struck by a heatwave so hot that eggs didn't just cook on the pavement, they burst into flame. Doc Greene set up a weather machine that created a localized snowfall in the central park, but it went out of control, creating snow all over Griffin Rock and threatening city hall with a roof collapse until Greene could get it fixed. Christmas in July

A robotic shark destroyed the automated lighthouse's sensors and disrupted the annual Miss Griffin Rock pageant. Deep Trouble After the town's technology went wild thanks to a virus, the mayor fired Doc Greene as lead scientist. Return of the Dino Bot The return of Doctor Morocco with a new MorBot resulted in the mayor shutting down the Rescue Bots, despite the fact that the MorBot caused as much damage as it prevented. The Other Doctor After Cody and Frankie uncovered evidence condemning Morocco, he fled the island and the Rescue Bots were reinstated. The Reign of Morocco

Griffin Rock dam nearly burst after Kade carelessly left a minivan blocking one of the overflow pipes. Small Blessings The Settlers' Bell was recovered by Cody Burns and the Rescue Bots, and used to mark Founders' Day. The Lost Bell Tracers, a leftover part of the Sanctuary Plan, teleported most of the townsfolk to a cavern under the mountain of Griffin Rock. Countdown The town experienced a plague of so-called ghosts when Myles and Evan escaped and used the holograms from the tricentennial to distract the population while they went on a crime spree. The Haunting of Griffin Rock A series of earthquakes struck the town and were eventually traced to a subwoofer in a secondary storage facility under the island. Shake Up

Down in front!

A temporal jaunt back to 1939 by Cody, Frankie and the Rescue Bots caused Dither to fall into Doctor Morocco's hands. This spawned an alternate timeline, in which Morocco built an empire from technology gleaned from the robot, taking over Griffin Rock and redubbing it "Moropolis". While MorBots patrolled the town, keeping its citizens oppressed, Morocco had the tunnels under the island sealed up for fear of the townspeople rebelling. In fact the Burns family was working on a rebellion but it wasn't until the arrival of the time travelers that they were spurred into action. Once time was corrected, Griffin Rock was restored to its normal state. Bot to the Future

Notes

• The town's (and island's) name appears to be principally derived from the largest mountain on it, the peak of which resembles a griffin.
• A town that's a testing ground for new technology is also the premise of the SyFy television series, Eureka. Griffin Rock's resident scientist, Doc Greene, also bears more than a passing resemblance to their chief scientist, Henry Deacon.