Othello was hatched in the year 938, a member of the same rookery generation as Goliath, Demona, Desdemona, Iago and Hyppolyta. As he grew older, Othello fell in love with Desdemona, and she with him. However, Iago wished to split them apart, since he lusted after Desdemona himself, and told Othello that Desdemona and Goliath were lovers. Othello believed his lie, and fought against Goliath in anger, but Desdemona convinced him that Iago was lying. Othello and Desdemona were destroyed by Hakon's Vikings, alongside most of the Wyvern Clan, in the Wyvern Massacre of 994.

In the beginning of 1995, Demona and Xanatos plotted to resurrect another gargoyle to assist in defeating Goliath. The remains of Othello were chosen both because Xanatos had been able to retrieve several pieces of his body (and unwittingly those of two others who had been sleeping nearby) and because Demona felt that her rookery brother's indifferent attitude towards humans was closer to her own than Goliath's. Bringing Coldstone to life through a combination of sorcery and science, they also unwittingly resurrected Desdemona and Iago, whose souls were likewise confined in Coldstone, although they did not immediately reveal their presence.

Demona and Xanatos then duped Coldstone into helping them against Goliath, but he ultimately sided with him. He saved Goliath from a laser shot and fell into the river, deactivated. Months later, Coldstone repaired his own damage and emerged from the river now controlled by a computer program that Xanatos had installed in him. Under Xanatos's control, Coldstone broke into the Goldencup Bakery Building and downloaded a series of files on secret weapons being designed for the military there; however, these files were protected by a powerful computer virus that began to destroy his memory banks. This triggered the surfacing of the additional souls of Desdemona and Iago inside him, and both they and his original soul began surfacing at different moments, all controlling him randomly. In the end, the virus did enough damage to erase Xanatos's computer program and temporarily shut Coldstone down. The Manhattan clan brought him to the Clock Tower.

Lexington worked hard at this task, but was unable to make any progress. Demona and Macbeth kidnapped Coldstone under the Weird Sisters' instructions, however, mainly as a decoy to hide the thefts of the Grimorum Arcanorum, Eye of Odin, and Phoenix Gate. He left New York, unwilling to remain in the area as long as Iago could regain control of him at any point and use his body to endanger the gargoyles once more.

Coldstone wandered about the world, finally coming to reside in the Himalayas for a time due to its isolation. There he somehow encountered Master Dawa, a wise monk, who agreed to work with Coldstone in controlling his inner demons, namely the Iago soul inside him. Later, after Goliath helped thwart Oberon's attempt to kidnap Alexander, Xanatos decided to repay his debt to Goliath by finding Coldstone, bringing him back to New York, and constructing two additional robotic bodies to house Desdemona and Iago's souls in, Coldfire and Coldsteel respectively. Coldstone and Coldfire, realizing that Coldsteel had become more dangerous than before in this form, set off in pursuit of him. They plan to eventually join the Manhattan Clan, but only when Coldsteel is no longer a threat.

Eventually, the couple tracked down Coldsteel to London, England and helped Hudson, Lexington, and members of the London Clan fight off Coldsteel and Coyote 5.0, defending the Stone of Destiny. Later that night, Hudson convicted the pair to leave off the search for Coldsteel and return to the Manhattan Clan.

In the months that followed, Coldstone and Coldfire would often patrol Manhattan together. Together they disrupted a fight between Glasses and Jack Dane and their people and ended up destroying a Dracon drug lab. Coldstone questioned why the Clan bothered to protect humans and doesn't seem to value them much, but he follows orders (whether coming from Goliath or Brooklyn) to protect them and not do unnecessary harm.