Line #122 Main/GripingAboutGremlins


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7	[[quoteright:341:[[Creator/RoaldDahl https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dahlgremlins06_4796.png]]]]
8	[[caption-width-right:341:Busy busy busy...]]
9
10	-> ''"There's something... on the wing of the plane!"''
11	-->-- '''Bob Wilson''', ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'', "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S5E3NightmareAt20000Feet Nightmare at 20,000 Feet]]" (and millions of Creator/WilliamShatner impressions)
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13	Gremlins are mythical little creatures who are said to live solely to infest mankind's machinery and tear it apart, either just to be mischievous (or downright evil), or in an insanely curious attempt to figure out how various devices work. Especially found around airfields or on airplanes, as they originated as a story told by British pilots starting in roughly the 1920s to explain various mechanical failures on their planes (and, rarely, to explain inexplicable lack of failure). They only began to penetrate mainstream culture during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII; see below under Literature. Although the name may have been derived from an Olde English word, gremian, which means "to vex", this obviously makes them NewerThanTheyThink.
14
15	One possible precursor of the gremlin is the "sea gobelin", a solitary goblin from the Age of Sail Myth/NauticalFolklore. The gobelin would set up shop on a ship, start tangling ropes, scaring seamen and stealing their stuff. Of course, the folklore gobelin was usually used by less-than-innocent sailors as a scapegoat for their misgivings. This is a subtrope to PeeveGoblins and OurGoblinsAreDifferent. See also OurImpsAreDifferent.
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17	----
18	!!Examples:
19
20	[[foldercontrol]]
21
22	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
23	* In ''Manga/FlyingWitch'', TheMasquerade is usually maintained by the "Rabbit Rule," which causes coincidences and equipment failures that prevent information about witches and magic from spreading. It doesn't work on the internet, so online information is managed by fairies known as gremlins. When Akane posts an image of a supernatural being to Twitter, a gremlin manifests to delete the post and make her phone explode.
24	* ''Anime/HumanoidMonsterBem'': Impu, the gremlin from the hospital.
25	* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' when shadow-demon summons comes to Mahora, Nanaka Earhart from aviation club calls them gremlins.
26	* ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'': In "[[Recap/PokemonS5E14ThrowingInTheNoctowl Throwing in the Noctowl]]", Ash, Misty and Brock meet an old pilot named Wings Alexander, who agrees to give them a ride back to Olivine City. Unfortunately, the plane is as old as Alexander and his Noctowl and during the flight Ash and his friends (along with a stowaway Team Rocket) must work together to help Alexander navigate through a treacherous storm and keep the plane from falling apart. Meowth spots a familiar shape on the plane's wing and it turns out to be [[OhCrap Jigglypuff]]! She then starts to sing, not only making everyone fall asleep once again, but also causing the plane to take a violent dive. But just as she prepares to draw on everyone's faces, she is swept off the plane by a strong gust of wind. Everybody then immediately wakes up and the plane is set back in gear just in time.
27	* In ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'', one is used to sabotage a plane the main characters are using to travel to China.
28	* ''Manga/UshioAndTora'': The {{youkai}} Fusuma has many things in common with the western gremlin, being a greenish, sky-bound monster who hunts planes and wrecks them apart to feed on the passengers. However, he differs physically by being huge, capable to extend his limbs and fingers to wrap them around planes and having one heck of a NightmareFace always on. He's weak to fire and [[KillItWithFire ultimately burned to death after being hit by a missile]].
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Comic Books]]
32	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Glitch is a gremlin from outer space with multiple aliens seeking him for revenge for the chaos he has caused. He's quite good at getting machinery and tech to do impossible things.
33	* ''ComicBook/WynonnaEarp'': In ''Home on the Strange'', the Cowboys send a pack of hillbilly gremlins to kill Wynonna by sabotaging her plane while it is in flight. Wynonna and Smitty escape by co-opting one of the gremlins and forcing him to use his ability to teleport to get them off the plane.
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Fan Works]]
37	* ''Fanfic/TheGreatAlicornHunt'': Malfunziona (Italian for "it malfunctions") is essentially a merger of a gremlin and a draconeqeus, especially since his power is to make technology go haywire.
38	* ''Fanfic/StarWarsGalacticFolkloreAndMythology'' mentions that the Frozians, a race historically known for their airship technology, believed in gremlin-like creatures which stole food and cigarettes, tore holes in parachutes, and even sang hypnotic lullabies to make pilots fall asleep mid-flight.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
42	* In ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'', giant Gummi Bears try to pull the wings of Flint's flying car apart. Since Gummi Bears are Steve's TrademarkFavoriteFood, he has no problem fighting them off.
43	* In ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania3SummerVacation'', the airliner that transports the hotel residents to the Legacy is entirely crewed by small green gremlins. By the time it begins its approach to the embarkation-point in TheBermudaTriangle, the plane has been almost completely disassembled by its own crew's incompetence and/or compulsion to break stuff. This is not helped by the fact that even before the Goblins start their antics, [[TheAllegedCar the plane itself looks like it was just recently fished out of a junkyard]].
44	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOBatmanMovie'', the Franchise/{{Gremlins}} plague the Batjet midflight with their destructive antics. Although obviously originating from the namesake movie, this is more in line with what could be expected from the traditional gremlins that inspired them.
45	* ''WesternAnimation/MadagascarEscape2Africa'' references gremlins when Alex mistakes Mort for one when he's clinging on the plane's wing. When he realizes it's Mort, he waves hi. Mort [[TooDumbToLive waves back, letting go of the plane's wing]], and is swept off by a massive gust of wind.
46	-->'''Alex:''' Oh... hey, Mort.\
47	'''Mort:''' Hi! ''AAAAAHHHH!'' ''[is swept off the plane]''
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
51	* ''Film/CastADeadlySpell'': During his investigation, Lovecraft discovers gremlins infesting a car. A man tells him that they were brought back from the Pacific theater by the U.S. military during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
52	* ''Film/{{Gremlins\|1984}}'' is the most known movie, despite being unrelated to planes or machinery in general.
53	** Here, gremlins are short, reptilian and large-eared humanoids who delight in cruelty and mayhem in general. They do sabotage some machinery and vehicles [[ItAmusedMe for the fun]] and ForTheEvulz. These movies were so popular that they have largely displaced the earlier World War II-era depiction of Gremlins thanks to PopculturalOsmosis.
54	** Here the gremlins originate as furry, stocky creatures called mogwai, which while outwardly adorable are just as wicked and destructive as gremlins are, with the sole exception of the gentle Gizmo. When fed after midnight, mogwai spin themselves into cocoons and emerge as gremlins a short while later; both mogwai and gremlins also reproduce through explosive budding when wet, spawning new members of their kind from their backs, and are [[WeakenedByTheLight destroyed by sunlight]].
55	** ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'' features a number of gremlins who are [[LegoGenetics turned into chimeric creatures after drinking "genetic samples" from a biotechnology lab]]; one becomes a PlantPerson gremlin covered in fruits and leaves, [[SpiderPeople another's lower body turns into a spider's abdomen and legs]], one sprouts bat wings, one turns into a human-like female and another develops super-intelligence (while still retaining a gremlin's destructive maliciousness).
56	* The "buzz droids" from ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' are heavily inspired by gremlins. They are tiny robots deployed by a TrickBomb that tear enemy starfighters apart in mid-flight.
57	* ''Film/ShadowInTheCloud'': A B-17 Flying Fortress during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII is menaced by a large bat-like creature that not only damages the plane but even attacks the crew directly.
58	* ''Film/TwilightZoneTheMovie'' includes a remake of the classic "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" listed below under Live-Action TV, with Creator/JohnLithgow in the lead (human) role.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Jokes]]
62	* In a [[RussianHumour Russian joke]] about gremlins, UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt and UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill are flying on a plane. Suddenly, a gremlin is spotted sawing the plane's wing with a saw. Churchill asks the gremlin to leave them alone and promises him land and peerage; the gremlin ignores him. Roosevelt does the same and offers the gremlin a billion dollars. The gremlin ignores him, too. Stalin says: "You're good with a saw! You'll make a fine ''kolkhoznik''!"[[note]]A worker on a collective farm in the USSR.[[/note]] The gremlin flees as fast as he can.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Literature]]
66	* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' originally had them as one of the fairy races, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness but they're never mentioned after the first book]] (and the second book's graphic novel adaptation).
67	* ''Literature/BaileySchoolKids'': One story features a gremlin who ruins technology around the school.
68	* ''Literature/CityOfDevils'': Gremlins show up as one of the many creatures in the MonsterMash They appear to be highly reminiscent of the film version, and are generally named for the shock of white hair on their bodies. One has giant white eyebrows (Brows), and the other has massive muttonchop sideburns (Chops). As a race, they're obsessed with candy, clever (if weird) inventors, and allergic to sunlight.
69	* ''La Grande Encyclopédie des lutins'', by Pierre Dubois, is a whimsical catalogue of fey creatures, in which gremlins are described as spirits of technology. They are mostly benevolent (most of "human" inventions were actually gifts from gremlins) but can turn vicious if enraged. The gremlin on the illustration has the form of a tiny, anthropomorphic wrench wearing jeans and a safety helmet, but [[VoluntaryShapeshifting they can assume any form]], including an oil slick, a patch of rust, or even a computer virus. They also like popcorn and video games, which makes them true oddballs among the usually conservative and nature-loving fey.
70	* ''Literature/TheGremlins'' was Creator/RoaldDahl's first children's book, written for Disney to tie in with a movie that was never made. The characters in it, though, would go on to appear in ''VideoGame/EpicMickey''. The book was the first appearance of Gremlins outside of the Royal Air Force, making this the {{Trope Maker\|s}}. ''Literature/SometimeNeverAFableForSupermen'' was a longer adaptation, and his first serious fiction book.
71	* Gremlins appear in one of the ''Literature/{{Griezelklas}}'' books by Creator/TaisTeng. They're small, cuddly mammals who turn into vicious reptiles if water is sprayed on them. Contrary to how they're portrayed in the ''Gremlins'' films, the transformation can be reversed by getting them dry again -- Meral scares them away with a blowdryer. They're also much more intelligent, being capable of articulated speech.
72	* ''Literature/TheGypsiesInTheWood'': Construction of a faerie-themed amusement park (inspired by the artwork of an artist who was abducted by TheFairFolk as a child) is plagued by numerous problems, which rumor attributes to an infestation of goblins. The problems frequently involve malfunctions in the park's equipment or electrical systems.
73	* ''Literature/MercyThompson'': Zee calls himself a gremlin, though Mercy points out that Zee is hundreds if not thousands of years old while the term only dates back to the early 20th Century. He normally does a good job of looking the part, resembling a small, grey-skinned old man. [[spoiler:His true form does not resemble a gremlin at all, though.]] Mercy explains how he's able to do this: the fae never lie, but because there's no actual gremlin race counted among the fae, Zee is allowed to define himself as being a gremlin. Apparently, a lot of old fae do something similar to avoid telling humans what they really are.
74	* ''Literature/TheMoteInGodsEye'' features a sort of space gremlin, which humans encounter while visiting a distant planet. These gremlins are actually known for ''fixing'' things (including tech they've just recently encountered), and if you leave some food lying around, they'll eat it and then fix anything in the vicinity that seems broken. Unfortunately, this leads to the entire ship getting infested with gremlins, at which point the gremlins suddenly decide that they'd rather run the whole place themselves without those pesky humans...
75	* ''Literature/MythAdventures'': Gremlins are one of the many "Demon" (dimension-traveling) races. Aahz the Pervect [[ArbitrarySkepticism does not believe they exist]] until he meets one.
76	%%* ''Nightmare at 20,000 Feet'', a short story by Creator/RichardMatheson, is the basis for the ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' [[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S5E3NightmareAt20000Feet episode]].%%Example how?
77	* In ''Literature/{{Pale}}'', Gremlins are a subtype of [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Goblins]], with a focus on messing with technology.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
81	* One episode of ''Series/SevenDays1998'' has Parker bring a gremlin with him during a jump. The jump turns out to be a failure. Repeating it correctly is a problem because the gremlin keeps messing with the time flow.
82	* In the ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'' episode "[[Recap/AreYouAfraidOfTheDarkSeason3TheTaleOfTheCuriousCamera The Tale of the Curious Camera]]", the titular camera's ability to supposedly predict the future in its photos is actually caused by a gremlin inhabiting it, who deliberately causes disaster to those the camera photographs as well as bring misfortune to the camera's owner. In the end, when the camera is destroyed, and the gremlin thought to be with it, a shot reveals to the audience that [[TheEndOrIsIt the gremlin has escaped into a computer]].
83	* In ''Series/Charmed1998'', Page befriends some Gremlins that help her fight the bad guys in one episode. She rewards them with leaving them in a junk yard where they can destroy whatever they want.
84	* ''Series/DeadLikeMe'' has "gravelings" that look like invisible goblins and work to set up Rube Goldberg-esque accidents for those fated to die that way. The second season suggests they're produced when a Reaper kills someone who wasn't on their list.
85	* ''Series/MonsterWarriors'': In "Invasion of the Computer Bugs", computers in Capital City are infiltrated by gremlin-like computer bugs that wreak havoc with the city's infrastructure.
86	* ''Series/MuppetsTonight'': One episode spoofs the ''Twilight Zone'' example when Ms. Piggy is on a plane and spots a gremlin out on the wings. She tries warning everyone, but a man played by Creator/WilliamShatner tells her that he's been saying the same thing for years, and no one's believed him.
87	* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'': The Spellmans discover a gremlin in the dryer who appears to be made of lint. The fun starts when a repairman sets it free just as Sabrina has a friend staying the night.
88	* An episode of ''Series/SoWeird'' features a town being menaced by gremlins. Apparently, these guys [[BeenThereShapedHistory helped kickstart the Industrial Revolution]] by [[TouchedByVorlons passing along ideas to some of the great inventors of the time]], and their predilection towards mechanical sabotage is born out of spite for not being credited.
89	* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' gives us the TropeCodifier in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S5E3NightmareAt20000Feet Nightmare at 20,000 Feet]]", where an airplane passenger played by Creator/WilliamShatner sees a gremlin tearing up the wing, but can't get anyone else to see the gremlin or believe him.
90	* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1985S1E18 Personal Demons]]", Rockne O'Bannon sees strange, hooded creatures all around him but can't convince his agent Brian, his friend Herman Gold or anyone else of their existence because they're InvisibleToNormals.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
94	* ''TabletopGame/D20Modern'': Gremlins are in the splatbook ''Menace Manual''. Their entry notes that they visit planes on the ground, do their dirty work and then [[ForTheEvulz hitch a ride to see them fall from the sky]].
95	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': Various sorts of gremlins appear, and are usually portrayed as related to [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblins]] and/or [[TheFairFolk evil fey]].
96	** Gremlins exist in the Basic/Expert/etc. version of the ''D&D'' rules, in which they radiate an aura of "Murphy's Law", causing all manner of minor mishaps to occur around them. They appear prominently in "Top Ballista", in which skygnomes deflect their attentions from their Magitek airplanes by leaving complicated-looking, useless machines around to distract the pesky creatures.
97	** ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine #79 had an article on gremlins. While some gremlins were observing a nuclear test in our real world they were sent through an energy rift to the ''AD&D'' world.
98	** In ''AD&D'' and 3rd Edition, gremlins were called [[PhantasySpelling jermlaine]], and were noted for having a sweet tooth, a fondness for cruel pranks, and a connection to rats. They're also known as jinxkin, hence the jinkin gremlins in ''Pathfinder''.
99	* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': Gremlins are Autochthonian machine spirits who have gone rogue as a manifestation of Autochthon's disease, an effect known as Gremlin Syndrome. They tend to work to destroy both Autochthon himself and the humans who inhabit him, and since the latter are a lot more fragile, they tend to leave behind casualties. Killing them is a major part of the duties of the Alchemical Exalted. The problem is that Alchemicals are not immune to Gremlin Syndrome themselves. ''That'' tends to end messily for everyone concerned.
100	%%* ''TabletopGame/{{Gurps}}'': Presented as a species of TheFairFolk in ''GURPS Faerie''.
101	* ''TabletopGame/InNomine'':
102	** Gremlins are minor infernal spirits, generally resembling ugly winged creatures, sent to Earth to break and vandalize the works of humans, such as by putting sugar in gas tanks or spraying graffiti everywhere.
103	** Vapula, the Prince of Technology, can grant demons who distinguish themselves in his service the rank of Baron of Gremlins, which allows them to cause a minor defect in any technological device that they touch. Ten uses of this will cause the target device to fail disastrously.
104	* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'':
105	** Originally, the game had all of two Gremlins, discounting the every-creature-at-once Changelings of Lorwyn, both associated with Phyrexia: the really old [[https://scryfall.com/card/atq/18/phyrexian-gremlins Phyrexian Gremlins]], whose artifact-disabling ability fits the trope but is no longer considered something Black can do, and the significantly less old [[https://scryfall.com/card/mbs/41/flensermite Flensermite]], which does nothing related to artifacts at all and instead ties in to New Phyrexia's poison theme.
106	** Later, the Kaladesh block introduced a number of red-aligned gremlins, which more or less fill the niche usually occupied by goblins. Kaladeshi gremlins are a non-sapient race, resembling six-legged aardvarks with blue-tipped snouts, and feed off aether, digesting it and releasing it back into the environment. Since aether fuels most of the complex technology of Kaladesh and since gremlins are quite happy to use their acidic saliva to dissolve whatever's between them and their lunch, this has not made the locals very fond of them. Their young are called grubs, [[https://scryfall.com/card/kld/138/thriving-grubs and are rather cute]]. Mechanically, they tend to have artifact-destruction abilities or be empowered by energy counters.
107	** ''Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths'' cemented the shift of gremlins to being a red-aligned, rather than black-aligned creature, with [[https://scryfall.com/card/iko/108/blisterspit-gremlin Blisterspit Gremlin]]. It's associated with instants and sorceries, rather than any of the above themes, fitting into a few different themes in the Ikoria set.
108	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Gremlins are an evil, ugly, and small sub-type of fey who live to spread discord and mischief, usually through sabotage and dangerous pranks. Since all fey are supposed to represent some aspect of the natural world, gremlins are sometimes described as embodying nature's drive towards entropy and ordered systems breaking down.
109	** The jinkin gremlin strongly resembles those in ''Film/{{Gremlins\|1984}}''; the insectoid vexgits are the sort that love (to take apart) machines; the dog-headed pugwampi (who are quite possibly [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the most hated Tiny fey creatures]] in existence) have an aura duplicating the classic things-go-wrong ability of the classic gremlin; erinats, resembling rag-clothed children with pointy ears and yellow eyes, are social saboteurs that delight in sowing discord and causing fights.
110	** Other types are pulled from various stories across the world, like the fungus-like nunos ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuno_sa_punso from the Philippines]]), which are actually fairly passive and will only harm you if you disturb their anthills; the marine hanivers (based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Haniver Jenny Haniver]]); the hobkins (based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly-Hopkinsville_encounter Hopkinsville Goblins]]), which are especially fond of tricking people into breaking their own things; and monaciellos ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monaciello from Italian folklore]]), stout and red-skinned gremlins who delight in tormenting the scholarly and pious.
111	** There are also mites, the degenerate descendants of gremlins, who are bigger, uglier, and trade the ability to sabotage with empathy for giant insects and arachnids. Normal gremlins loathe them.
112	** Bulabars are bipedal beetle-like fey with a complex relationship with gremlins. They embody the evolution of tool use in nature, and love to invent, fix and improve machines -- unsurprisingly, they hate gremlins, and especially vexgits. Their shared insectoid appearance, Tiny size, particularly vehement hatred of the other fey and the bulabars' own ability to break objects with a touch has fueled speculations that bulabars and gremlins are closely related. Bulabars... don't appreciate this idea.
113	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' has Glitchlings, minor [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Daemons]] of [[{{Plaguemaster}} Nurgle]] that often appear on starships infected with the Gellerpox. They're similar to the more widespread Nurglings, but whereas they spread disease amongst mortal beings, Glitchlings instead rust and disrupt machinery.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	%%[[folder:Toys]]
117	%%* ''Toys/MonsterInMyPocket'': [[http://monsterinmypocket.wikia.com/wiki/Gremlin Part]] of the line.
118	%%[[/folder]]
119	%%
120	[[folder:Video Games]]
121	* ''VideoGame/AttackOfTheMutantPenguins'': Gremlins actually help build machines rather than cause them to break down. They are also necessary for opening treasure chests; the more gremlins working on a chest, the sooner it will burst open.
122	* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCircleOfTheMoon'': Gremlins are flying spear throwing enemies.
123	* In ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'', the second [[UndergroundMonkey variation]] of the [[http://disgaea.wikia.com/wiki/Winged winged demons]] are called gremlins.
124	* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'''s gremlins like to sneak into your fortress from the caverns below, [[WhatDoesThisButtonDo pulling levers]], opening cages, and messing with various other machinery as they go, and running away once spotted. Ironically, this gives a practical purpose to the community's memetic habit of [[InventionalWisdom buildings machine that exists just to kill their operator]].
125	* ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'' has [[http://epicmickey.wikia.com/wiki/Gremlins Gus the Gremlin and his friends]]. In a bit of {{Irony}}, both the original and the second game give you at least one quest where you can break something a gremlin made.
126	* ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'': You encounter some gremlins in Year 4. They service the gondolas that lead up the mountain to the gate of the Ninth Underworld, and hold Glottis in high esteem. Coincidentally, they look and sound a lot like [[Franchise/DespicableMe minions]]. They also reveal that Glottis is the exact same species as them, only [[GiantMook much bigger]] for some reason.
127	* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic 3'' had Gremlins as recruitable units, in a technomagical city of Tower. Average unit, but upgraded Gremlins were one of the few first tier units with ranged attack. They return in ''V''. In the vanilla game their upgrade, the Master Gremlin, can repair friendly mechanical units (like golems) and war machines. In ''Tribes of the East'', their alternate upgrade the Gremlin Saboteur is closer to the classic depiction of gremlins since it has the ability to shut down enemy mechanical units and war machines.
128	* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterPC'' has gremlins as a recurring enemy type, the third introduced after {{Man Eating Plant}}s and [[FishPeople Lagoon Creatures]]. They are also the only enemy variant who is created two at a time, necessitating players to destroy both as soon as possible (since the spawner that creates monsters are invulnerable until all its creations are killed, and is only destroyable in the process of spawning creations) -- destroy only one, and the spawner will quickly create a second.
129	* ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'': Rotom is an Electric/Ghost-type Pokémon that can possess electronics, and its name even comes from the word [[SdrawkcabName "motor" spelled backwards.]]
130	* ''VideoGame/SpaceColony'' has gremlins as a type of alien that leap into base equipment and leave it inoperable until repaired.
131	* ''VideoGame/SpiralKnights'' has Gremlins as a monster type. They originally were just the "insanely curious" type, but the players stepping into their territory prompted Project Roarmulus, a superweapon to be used to destroy Haven. Gremlins actually have some form of hierarchy, but you never see it in game. [[note]]There is a king, but the only Gremlins even allowed to share an audience with him are his own PraetorianGuard, the Crimson Order.[[/note]]
132	* ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'': Gremlin appears as a [[SummonMagic summon spirit]] found in the BonusDungeon. When summoned, he and his friends bite on every enemy on-screen for over 6000 damage.
133	* ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'': Gremlins are small, pesky little creatures that move very fast and steal your food upon contact. Since they do no physical damage, one might consider them a minor nuisance -- except that [[WizardNeedsFoodBadly one tends to starve to death]] ''very'' rapidly in these games.
134	* ''VideoGame/{{Zool}}'': The eponymous character is a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Ninja Gremlin from the Nth dimension]].
135	[[/folder]]
136
137	[[folder:Webcomics]]
138	* In ''WebComic/LeftoverSoup'', computer technician Ellen says that gremlins don't infest machines, they infest ''people'' who are perpetually unlucky with technology. While attempting to repair her roommate's computer [[https://www.leftoversoup.com/archive.php?num=19 she comes to suspect]] that he is a host for gremlins.
139	[[/folder]]
140
141	[[folder:Web Originals]]
142	* WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd often butts heads with the [[AlliterativeName Game Graphic Glitch Gremlin]].
143	* ''[[Creator/DropOut CollegeHumor]]'': There's a sketch called "I Swear I Didn't Wreck the Bathroom" that involves one of these. Zac goes into the bathroom to wash his hands, and hears some strange noises coming from inside one of the stalls. He is concerned, because he's worried that one of his coworkers is sick or something, and opens the stall only to find... a goblin [[ToiletHumour spraying its poop all over the stall]], intending to blame it on Zac. Sure enough, Zac's coworkers come in and start berating him for the mess and the smell, though he [[CassandraTruth tries to convince them it was the goblin]]. Long story short, he gets fired, as this sketch [[RealLifeWritesThePlot marks his leaving of]] ''[=CollegeHumor=]'' (voluntarily).
144	* Gremlins as seen in ''Website/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'' are small imps, who describe themselves as "wee sprites of mischief-making", with a predilection for dismantling aircraft. They are physically described as somewhat bird-like, but without any beak or nose, instead having [[PerpetualSmiler big, toothy grins]].
145	* In one of Krissy Vaine's columns on ''Website/DivaDirt'', she compares UsefulNotes/{{Depression}} to a gremlin disrupting the way the human mind works.
146	* ''Website/{{Mortasheen}}'':
147	** The [[http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/dingnut.htm Dingnuts]] are creatures resembling malformed monkeys with mechanical clamps for hands, and while normally helpful mechanical monsters, feral colonies often do imitate the behavior of gremlins, and are especially prone to sabotaging military aircraft. Tame and feral dingnuts don't mind each other -- if anything, each group gives the other more work to enjoy.
148	** [[https://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/hobkin.htm Hobkins]], based on the Hobkinsville goblins, are peculiar and uncommunicative alien creatures that compulsively pick apart and disassemble any small object that can get their hands on, both mechanical and organic, and then either reassemble it in working order (and seamlessly restoring it to life if it was a living thing to start with) or rearranging its parts in abstract patterns of unknown purpose or meaning.
149	* In ''Literature/TheQuestportChronicles'', dimwitted gremlins act as servants for [[TheChessmaster the Lord of Angels and Demons]].
150	[[/folder]]
151
152	[[folder:Western Animation]]
153	* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'': Gremlins are slippery and hard to catch and can only be caught if they're put to sleep by Hawaiian Folk Music.
154	* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'': When Maxie Zeus loses the mayoral election and decides to conquer Gotham by force with a flying fortress, Batgirl manages to sneak aboard and does whatever she can to impede his attack without getting noticed, which mainly involves identifying wires that look important and ripping them out. The crew refers to having a gremlin. At first, they seem to be sarcastic, assuming it's standard issues, but eventually they become convinced someone is there and start looking for their gremlin in earnest.
155	* ''WesternAnimation/BeCoolScoobyDoo'': One episode has the gang aboard the world's largest airplane, and the MonsterOfTheWeek is a gremlin determined to cause the flight to fail.
156	* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'':
157	** One of Ben's alien forms in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', Jury Rigg, is basically an alien gremlin. It has a powerful compulsion to take machines apart [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody that Ben can't control]]. Fortunately, it's also very good at ''fixing'' machines, though it does so with a mischievous twist.
158	** In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'', Jury Rigg even wears a little aviator outfit. We eventually meet two more of the race; they're {{Lawyer Friendly Cameo}}s of Click and Clack from ''Radio/CarTalk''. (AllThereInTheManual: Their names are even Grick and Grack.)
159	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Another spoof of the ''Twilight Zone'' example in "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E15IDatedARobot I Dated a Robot]]" has a man who believes he's died and gone to Hell finds out he isn't, but is on an airplane. He sees a gremlin dismantling the wing, but his claims are immediately ignored because he turns out to be UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler (much to his own surprise).
160	* ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'':
161	** One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' has the team hired to deal with a pack of gremlins that have infested a car factory.
162	** In ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeGhostbusters'', gremlins here excrete an ectoplasm-based monkey grease to enable them to dismantle machines. Also, it's mentioned that [[HistoricalInjoke apparently a gremlin sunk the Titanic in The Ghostbuster Verse]].
163	* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' features the Gremloblin, which is [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent half-goblin]] and [[NonHumanHumanoidHybrid half-gremlin]].
164	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
165	** Gremlins feature in two {{Wartime Cartoon}}s: "WesternAnimation/FallingHare", a WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon, and "WesternAnimation/RussianRhapsody", involving ''[[GloriousMotherRussia Soviet]]'' Gremlins ("Gremlins from the Kremlin") making UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler's life hell.
166	** ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' has two more appearances of the gremlins from "Falling Hare". The first is in "[[Recap/TinyToonAdventuresS1E7JourneyToTheCenterOfACMEAcres Journey to the Center of Acme Acres]]", where the gremlins living in the center of the earth cause earthquakes after Montana Max [[PlanetaryCoreManipulation steals their gold nugget]]. The second is another parody of "Terror at 20,000 Feet" in the "[[WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventuresNightGhoulery Night Ghoulery]]" special, this time with Plucky Duck in the Bob Wilson role.
167	* ''WesternAnimation/MightyDucksTheAnimatedSeries'': In one episode, Draganus unleashed a mischievous gremlin-like energy creature against the titular ducks which was capable of blowing up or controlling any technology it touched, and [[AsteroidsMonster multiplied every time it was struck]]. The ducks managed to get rid of most of the creatures [[note]]Thwarting Draganus's plan to take control of a KillSat at the same time[[/note]], but found one last one in their wrecked computer, which they end up [[ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine sending right back to the Saurians where it reeked havoc on their ship]].
168	* ''WesternAnimation/MonsterLovingManiacs'' depicts gremlins as short wingless bat-like humanoids dressed like flight engineers. Their style of sabotage tends to involve cartoonish antics involving mallets, dynamite, and the like, but it's possible to distract them from their shenanigans by putting on a show for them (provided they ''like'' the entertainment).
169	* ''WesternAnimation/MrBogus'': Averted with the titular character, who may be a gremlin but is actually often shown to have a good heart as well as displaying heroic feats in the line of duty.
170	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Noveltoons}}'': In the cartoons starring the short-lived character Goodie the Gremlin, gremlins are a race of green-skinned {{Card Carrying Villain}}s who live to pull cruel pranks, start fights, stir up trouble, and generally make things difficult for people in any way they can... except of course for [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch the eponymous Goodie]].
171	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E5TreehouseOfHorrorIV Treehouse of Horror IV]]" gives us "Terror at 5 1/2 Feet", replacing the plane with a bus and Creator/WilliamShatner with Bart. Of course, when Bart tells Otto "There's a Gremlin on the side of the bus!" Otto sees an AMC Gremlin ''car'' and sideswipes it off the road.
172	* ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'': In one episode, a one-shot villain named Crazy Edie has several small, furry creatures equipped with radio-control collars which, when activated, cause them to take anything mechanical apart -- especially airplanes.
173	* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRescueBots'': The episode "Blame the Gremlins" reveals that Kade has been afraid of gremlins since he was a little kid. In an effort to help, Dr. Greene uses a device that manifests his nightmares as constructs of energy and crystal particals for Kade to confront. This backfires when, not only do they engage in the usual chaos from this trope, but they're also able to drain energy from machines in order to fuel themselves.
174	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollz}}'' zig-zags this with Simon the gremlin; while he's skilled at building magical machines, he has no aptitude for modern-day technology.
175	[[/folder]]

Context Main / GripingAboutGremlins