History Headscratchers / Gremlins

** Show a little more respect for CharlieChan, will you?

* What happened to the gremlin at the school? I guess we can assume he made it the theater and was killed but this was never explained. When first watching this movie I was wondering if at the end of the movie we would see he survived and lead into the sequel but that was not the case.

----
<<|ItJustBugsMe|>>

* Alright, here's a doozy for you. the rule that bothers me the most is the first one: Don't expose a mogwai or gremlin to bright light. Why is it that Stripe is killed by the sun, but not the lights in the Peltzer house, the lights at Dorry's Tavern, the lights at the movie theater, or the lights in the convenience store? Those lights are obciously bright enough to light up those buildings, so why aren't the gremlins killed by those lights?

*** I don't care about the whole "midnight changes around the world" thing, I'm bothered by the fact that "after midnight" is too vague for me. That point is never adressed in the movies.

** And that bugs me, a lot. Everyone is willing to discuss how international timelines affects mogway, NOBODY is willing to define "after midnight" to me.

** I'd have no problem with it if it was magic, but all the novelizations mention that the Mogway were genetically engineered...

** This was actually adressed in the novels and comic books: it has to be clear, liquid water. Non-liquid water (such as steam or snow) or water mixed with something else (such as orange juice or vodka) won't work.

*** I suppose it's just a matter of Billy getting involved in something that he doesn't understand, no matter how level his head and how good his intentions. True, it was his father who brought the Mogwai home in the first place, against Wing's wishes, but he gave it to Billy (and was absent for most of the movie anyway), so responsibilty for ensuring that the rules weren't broken ultimately rested upon his son. It's never stated what breaking rules two and three will actually do, but it's still made clear that they're to be avoided at all costs. As for Gizmo, he seemed genuinely unaware that the other Mogwai had just tricked Billy into breaking the third rule - at the time, he was merely repulsed by their lack of table manners, and didn't eat the chicken himself because he presumably wasn't hungry. You could argue that he too let his guard down (since he knows, either by instinct or past experience, that the other mogwai are no good, and becomes terribly depressed the moment they're spawned) or maybe he just felt powerless to stop them at this stage (although Billy is able to fight the gremlins from the beginning, Gizmo doesn't learn to do so until the climax, when he kills Stripe). When the mogwai go into their cocoon stage, he suddenly become very agitated - I got the impression that those little cries of his were intended as warnings, but neither Billy nor his mother could understand him. Despite their bond, Gizmo is, for the most part, unintelligible to Billy (he was surprised that Mr. Wing could understand him at the end). I agree that most of the other characters in both movies were just asking for it, though, and that Billy is presented in a much more favourable light by comparison. I suppose that's why his rewards are a) being promised that he and Gizmo will be reunited one day at the end of the first movie and b) being reunited with Gizmo and actually getting to keep him in the second.

** I always got the impression that Gizmo is the only good Mogwai; and that's the reason the other guys hate him; he's a goodie two shoes among a crew of sychopats. I've always infered from the fact that he enjoys music, and watching TV and likes to sing for Mr Wing; he's visible bothered by getting wet, shows genuine sorrow and concern when he notices the other mogwais eating past midnight and he resolves to fight Stripe to the end.
** This is discussed in the WMG section: the popular theory is that if a mogwai is exposed to water against its will, their offspring will be AlwaysChaoticEvil. If the mogwai willfully exposes itself to water, it can choose the CharacterAlignment of it's offspring. What a good mogwai morphs into if it eats after midnight is beyond me...

** Mogwai actually are creatures of Chinese folklore (They're a type of sprite). And, according to the mythos, when it rains, Mogwai..well...become horny and start to breed like rabbits (hence the whole "Water=Babies for Mogwai/Gremlins" scenario). The film simply merged the two mythologies together to form a single creature.

** Nah, if he had, then his concept of a gremlin would have looked a ''lot'' more like metamorphosed mogwai than an imp wearing footie pajamas ([[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic jump suit]]?) with a missile nose sticking out each side of its head.

** By drinking orange juice, Coke and Pepsi. As I said before, the comic books and novel explictly demonstrated that only clear, pure, liquid water works on mogwais.

*** Maybe as a precaution we should use sports drinks for all our water, like in {{Idiocracy}}.

* What happend to the old Chinese's grandson in between the two movies?
** Either he is no longer in the picture or he and his grandad had one hell of a falling out. When Forster sees how sick Mr. Wing is he immediately decides that they can wait for him to die. Inference: Forster knows that Wing either has no heir to pass the shop to, or his only heir is someone willing to sell to Clamp against his grandfather's obvious wishes; seeing how quickly the kid went behind Mr. Wing's back to sell Gizmo, the old man's family selling the place against his wishes is actually pretty plausible.

* Why, in the second movie, did the gremlin in the cookpot not give birth? There was water, or at least clear, water-based liquid. You can see it dripping from the vegetables or pasta on the sides of the vat.
** He did. You are mentioning the scene when the original, Gizmo-spawned Gremlins give birth to more Gremlins so they can occupy the whole building. The thing is, nobody noticed since the other Gremlins started reproducing as well (due to the sprinkler system).
*** Doesn't count. He was in the pot well before the sprinklers came on. He should have been giving birth the moment he got in that pot.
**** Well, since he was covered in food when he came out, it's probably the case that the water in the pot had been mixed with oils, spices and other foodstuffs to the point where it was no longer 'water' enough for the rule to apply. You have to remember that snow isn't 'water' enough to trigger reproduction for these guys...it's apparently a really strict rule.

* Wait, why would the GenderBender potion in the second movie even work on a Mogwai or Gremlin? They're a species that reproduces asexually, so logic would lead one to the conclusion that they don't have a gender.
** Just because a species can reproduce asexually, it doesn't necessarily follow that they are themselves asexual or hermaphroditic.
** Some species can do both (or have other types of reproduction options), depending on the situation.
** And those gremlins sure as hell ''act'' male, if nothing else. Remember the catcalls and "hubba hubba" when the female gremlin was revealed?
*** In the second movie, there was clear sexual dimorphism between the Gremlins', unlike in the first movie. This is corroborated by unused character designs for the second movie, in which apparently there was intended to be a female Mogwai named Penny.
* How could Kate possibly mistake Daffy for Gizmo long enough to take him home? I'll give her a pass on physical resemblance as she didn't know Gizmo for that long. She probably can't tell one mogwai from another and those two are at least somewhat similar in fur colors. But come on, she spent enough time around Gizmo to know he's not a hyperactive lunatic. And given how paranoid she is about the entire situation, wouldn't any deviation be enough to send up a warning flag?
** Remember how she reacts when Billy talks about having rescued Giz and wanting to bring him home with them? Her words are, and I quote: "That furry thing?!" She doesn't yet associate Gizmo as being the sole non-crazy/evil mogwai, thus wants to have as little contact as possible, which in turn means as little time checking for the close-set Loopy Eyes as she can get away with... namely zero. She just went by what she was told: he's in X drawer, box him up, take him home, remember the rules and such.
* In the second movie if there was a serum that removes gremlins' only weakness (and gives wings!), why didn't they instantly jump all over that stuff? At least why didn't the smart one inject himself with it?
** For all we know, the Brain Gremlin did inject himself with the genetic sunblock (which was different from the bat serum) offscreen once he saw that it worked; it wasn't the sun that killed him. The others likely didn't know what it was.
** Also, the sheer amount of gremlins versus what was available.
** Brain shoots a fellow gremlin for being annoying. It's obvious the guy knows that a part of every civilization is corruption and murder.
** They were waiting for the Batlin to return from his test flight.

** If the mogwai were indeed engineered, making their procreation painful would actually be a smart (if callous) measure to prevent them from breeding uncontrolably.