History Franchise / Gremlins

* AdaptationalHeroism: Daffy and Lenny, while arguably the least malicious of the known ''mogwai'', were still antagonistic and ultimately evolved into dangerous Gremlins in the second film. In the ''Gremlins: Gizmo'' video game, they are Eternals you can choose to take control of like Gizmo.

* BizarreAlienBiology: The Mogwai and gremlins don't operate under normal biological rules. [[WeakenedByTheLight Most forms of light are painful to them]], and sunlight is outright fatal, they reproduce asexually just from contacting water, and they metamorphosize from the former to the latter just by eating after midnight. The novelization justifies this by saying they are literally aliens.

** The first rule was never to place a Mogwai [[WeakenedByTheLight near bright light, especially sunlight as that would kill them]].

* ImMelting: Prolonged exposure to sunlight causes gremlins to melt. For added points ''Gremlins 2'' has one dressed as a witch recite the [[Film/TheWizardOfOz trope namer]] as he melts.

* MammalMonstersAreMoreHeroic: While Gizmo is the only truly heroic Mogwai, it's clear that part of the reason why he ''remains'' heroic is because he never transforms into a Gremlin, which are larger and more muscular, obviously reptilian with scales instead of fur, and sharp claws and fangs. In an earlier draft, Gizmo would have become a Gremlin and tried to kill Billy.

* MonsterDelay: In both films, we at first don't see much if anything of the gremlins except glimpses of their arms and shadows and hearing their voices after their cocoons hatch. After a short time, we finally see them in all their monstrous glory, and from then on they get a lot of screen time for the rest of either film. This trope's re-use in the second film remains effective due to the four metamorphosing Mogwai's unique appearances.

** For that matter, while some manage to kill at least one gremlin, it always seems to be Billy's plan that exterminates the entire horde of Gremlins except the leader.

* AllThereInTheManual: Several of the Mogwai and Gremlins are only given names via merchandise or the novelisations. The beady eyed second in command in the first film is called Haskins, while the one tested on by Mr Hanson is called Earl. The second film's initial spawn of Mogwai are Mohawk, George, Lenny and Daffy.

* ExplosiveBreeder: Mogwai start to pop out new mogwai whenever they get wet. Gremlins do this too, and they make more gremlins rather than mogwai.

* TheFairFolk: The novelisations outright state that the Mogwai/Gremlins are their direct inspiration, and they are modelled after a particular fey creature anyways. [[spoiler:If you consider the novels' statements about them being aliens to be true, then they also reference the similarities between traditional fairies and the grays]].

* IncongruouslyDressedZombie: Whenever a Gremlin bothers to wear clothes, it's liable to be this trope. The bar scenes from the first movie in features Gremlin bar floozies, Gremlin beatniks, a Gremlin in a ''Flashdance'' outfit, a ski-masked Gremlin armed robber, and even a Gremlin ''flasher''.

* InfantilizationRetaliation: Gizmo gets water spilled on him, and promptly spawns several Gremlin eggs. While initially cute, they actually hatch into Mogwai, where the ominous music, Gizmo's pained screaming, and the malevolent gazes of the babies as they hatch lets the audience these new Gremlins are very different from Gizmo. Billy's little brother thinks they're cute, and reaches towards one while saying "Hi Cutie". It promptly snaps at his finger.

* ItCanThink: A lot of the problems arise from the human characters fatally underestimating the Gremlins' intelligence. After the evil Mogwai are spawned, they trick Billy into feeding them after midnight by sabotaging his analog clock, and on several other occasions they damage equipment to cause accidents, like cutting the brakes of a police car. Stripe knows full well that water creates more Gremlins, so he jumps into a pool when Billy pursues him, and also knows how to operate tools (he attacks Billy with a pistol and a ''mini-chainsaw'').
* KillerRabbit: The mogwai, save for Gizmo. Gizmo himself qualifies when he TakesALevelInBadass and models himself after Franchise/{{Rambo}}.

* LaughablyEvil: Most gremlins in general. They're both incredibly dangerous and ''very'' funny.
* MagicAIsMagicA: Sunlight kills mogwai and gremlins who are also afraid of bright lights. Water splashed onto either of the two produces more creatures spawned from their backs. Feeding a mogwai after midnight causes it to metamorphosize into a gremlin. This gets played with in the second movie.

* MonsterDelay: In both films, we at first don't see much if anything of the gremlins except glimpses of their arms and shadows and hearing their voices after their cocoons hatch. After a short time, we finally see them in all their monstrous glory, and from then on they get a lot of screen-time for the rest of either film. This trope's re-use in the second film remains effective due to the four metamorphosing mogwai's unique appearances.

** While no one seems to make a big deal out of who kills what gremlin, it always seems to be Gizmo's destiny to be the one to destroy the lead gremlin which seems to be his main rival.
** For that matter, while some manage to kill at least one gremlin, it always seems to be Billy's plan that exterminates the entire horde of gremlins except the leader.

* RestrainingBolt: In the novelization, Stripe tells Gizmo right to his face that he wants to kill him but can't for some reason. Gizmo explains that their alien creators made sure that Mogwai could never kill each other. That RestrainingBolt vanishes after Stripe becomes a Gremlin, since he isn't a Mogwai anymore.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: The mogwai, particularly Gizmo. At least before they have an after-midnight snack.

* ThrewMyBikeOnTheRoof: In addition to enjoying scaring people, gremlins seem to like wrecking property just to be dicks.

Characters from the franchise also appeared in Franchise/{{Lego}} form in the video game ''VideoGame/LEGODimensions''. Gizmo and Stripe also appear as playable characters in ''VideoGame/{{Multiversus}}''.

It is centered around the mythical Mogwai and the creatures they turn into if wet, the Gremlins. While principally composed of two feature films, it has branched out into other media, including video games, theme park rides, and animation.

It is centered around the mythical Mogwai and their EvilCounterpart the Gremlins. While principally composed of two feature films, it has branched out into other media, including video games, theme park rides, and animation.

''Gremlins'' is a horror comedy franchise created by Creator/JoeDante and Creator/StevenSpielberg.

* FollowTheLeader: There were oodles of gremlins-like creature features in between the two films, including ''Film/{{Ghoulies}}'' and unfortunately ''Film/{{Hobgoblins}}''. (The movie ''Film/{{Critters}}'' was ''not'' following the lead of ''Gremlins'', as it had been in the works before ''Gremlins'' went into production.)