Gremlins/Characters

Billy Peltzer
The Hero of the films, a young cartoonist who works in Kinston Falls' bank. Receiving Gizmo as a pet from his dad, Billy quickly learns to appreciate the Schmuck Bait for caring for him. Things quickly go topsy turvy as the Gremlins rampage through the town with Billy being the only person dealing with the chaos. In the sequel, he works at Daniel Clamp's business tower in New York as a concept artist.


 * The Hero: More explicit in the original script that Billy transforms from an Adorkable Hollywood Nerd into a battered and bleeding but unbroken sword-wielding action hero, but elements remain in the finished film. Notably, he comes up with the plan to kill the Gremlin horde and engages Stripe for most of the climax, though Gizmo actually finishes him off (and even that was a clever edit, the film originally had Gizmo and Billy both opening shades to shine sunlight on Stripe).
 * Idiot Hero: Must of the other characters see him as this, yet he is the only one who deals with the Gremlins.
 * Innocent Bystander
 * My Car Hates Me: His starter has a tendency to fail on him, and naturally, it picks the worst possible time to do it when he arrives to rescue Kate.
 * Off with His Head: Billy saves his mother from a Gremlin by lopping its head off with an ornamental sword.
 * Oh Crap: When Stripe leads into a swimming pool and the giant Gremlin army is created.
 * Only Sane Man: Particularly in the second film.
 * Schmuck Bait: Billy follows the three rules of caring for Gizmo to the letter. They are all broken sooner or later.
 * Starving Artist
 * Strapped to An Operating Table: In a parody of Marathon Man.
 * You Are Not Ready: Averted in Billy's case, as Mr. Wing proclaims Billy may one day be ready to handle a Mogwai.

Kate Beringer
Billy's love interest. She works at the bank with Billy, but also part-time at a bar which is invaded by the Gremlins for a wild night out. In the sequel, she has married Billy and works as a tour guide in Daniel Clamp's business tower.


 * The Chick: With minor heroic moments, she pretty much plays the screaming damsel in distress for Billy to rescue and look badass doing it.
 * Dark and Troubled Past: Hates Christmas, . She also mentions an incident in the second film where she was flashed by a man resembling Abraham Lincoln.
 * Girl Next Door: Not literally next door, but she and Billy very much have this dynamic. Joe Dante and Steven Speilberg were even specifically looking for a "wholesome, girl-next-door-type" for Kate.
 * Groin Kick: Attacks a flashing Gremlin in the second film, perhaps as a Take That to a similar incident in the first film, and to her dark past.
 * Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?

Rand Peltzer
Billy's father. An intelligent, yet Bungling Inventor. He makes good gadgets, but they usually break down a week or two after he finishes them. He buys Gizmo as a pet for Billy.


 * Bungling Inventor: His inventions break down a lot.
 * Nice Guy: He's a good father. The reason why this whole mess starts is because he was in the city looking for a perfect gift for Billy.
 * Out of Focus: Introduced as a major character, but then takes a backseat as he heads out of town to attend an inventor's fair, but returns at the end of the film to see Stripe's death.
 * Schmuck Bait: He does do his best to pass on the rules and their importance, but isn't quite as conscientious about them as Billy. Also, every single one of his inventions are this, since they never work right and usually result in the operator or someone else being Covered in Gunge.
 * The Smart Guy: He hand-makes all of his inventions. Unfortunately, they are all an Epic Fail.
 * You Are Not Ready: Unlike Billy, he is a perfect representation of how not to handle a Mogwai.

Lynn Peltzer
Billy's mother. While usually a kind housewife, Lynn goes badass when she realises the Gremlins are loose in house and manages to kill three of them when they invade her kitchen.


 * Action Mom: She manages to kill three Gremlins by herself.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Don't mess with her kitchen. Three Gremlins learn this the hard way as they each experience violent deaths: one is chopped up in the blender, the second is stabbed to death, and the third is blown up in the microwave!
 * Knife Nut

Mrs. Deagle
Before the Gremlins rip apart Kingston Falls, Mrs. Deagle ruled the roost. A wicked old devil woman, Mrs. Deagle is a Rich Bitch willing to bring misery to everyone in town as long as she gets her money. She particularly has a grudge against the Peltzers.


 * Crazy Cat Lady: Mrs. Deagle's cats are named after different kinds of currency.
 * Kick the Dog: She loves tormenting the townsfolk.
 * Manipulative Bitch: Plays Wounded Gazelle Gambit on Billy's boss after Barney pounces onto her, making him look even more like a menace.
 * Rich Bitch: One of the most wealthy and powerful civilians in Kingston Falls, to almost everyone's ire.
 * Super Window Jump:.
 * Super Window Jump:.

Gizmo
A Ridiculously Cute Critter, Gizmo is a friendly Mogwai who Rand buys from Mr. Wing (or his nephew) to give to Billy as a pet. Completely good and friendly, Gizmo is accidentally made wet and spawns a batch of Gremlins leading to the chaos around Kingston Falls.


 * Badass Adorable: It is he, not Billy, that defeats Stripe and Mohawk in both films.
 * Breakout Character
 * Butt Monkey: The other Mogwais, and later the Gremlins, engage him in slapstick torture in both films. They take this Up to Eleven when they evolve into Gremlins.
 * Cute but Cacophonic: When he screams.
 * The Dog Bites Back: Gizmo gets fed up of Mohawk's abuse in the second film, and goes Rambo on his enemy.
 * Explosive Breeder: He hates breeding other Mogwai.
 * Killer Rabbit: By the second film, he has decided to start imitating Rambo (the moment when he decides to take a level in badass even has him remembering Rambo's line in Rambo First Blood Part II, "To survive war, you've got to become war") and kills one of the most monstrous mutant Gremlins with an improvised bow and flaming arrow.
 * The Lancer: To Billy.
 * Leitmotif: Gizmo sings a lovely melody that has become the film's theme.
 * Oh Crap: Happens in both films when Gizmo gets wet.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Just look at him! He's adorable!
 * Took a Level in Badass: In the sequel, when he decides to go Rambo on Mohawk.
 * Weakened by the Light: Like all Mogwai and Gremlins, bright light is very painful for Gizmo, and direct sunlight will kill him.

Stripe/Mohawk
Defacto leader of the Gremlins, Stripe is a sadistic, maniacal monster who enjoys carnage and torturing Gizmo. He is killed thanks to Gizmo, but comes Back from the Dead in Gremlins 2 as Mohawk, and.


 * Back from the Dead: In a sort of way in the sequel, Mohawk is a reincarnation of sorts of Stripe.
 * Big Bad: Stripe was this. Mohawk is more a lone wolf.
 * Catch Phrase: Gizmo, ca-ca!
 * Eighties Hair: A tuft of white hair in the first film, and a mohawk in the second, hence his names.
 * Exclusively Evil
 * Explosive Breeder
 * Family-Unfriendly Death: In both films.
 * Frank Welker
 * Genetic Memory: Clearly remembers Gizmo when he comes back from the grave.
 * Kick the Dog: Oh, and he enjoys doing this to Gizmo and Billy.
 * Laughing Mad
 * Metamorphosis Monster: Him and the rest of the Gremlins.
 * Out of Focus: Becomes this in the second film, which shows brief intercuts of him torturing Gizmo and then randomly runs off to shoot at Billy.
 * Transformation Trauma: Stripe spawning more Gremlins whilst dying in the first film is pretty grose.
 * Weakened by the Light
 * Out of Focus: Becomes this in the second film, which shows brief intercuts of him torturing Gizmo and then randomly runs off to shoot at Billy.
 * Transformation Trauma: Stripe spawning more Gremlins whilst dying in the first film is pretty grose.
 * Weakened by the Light

Mr. Wing
A mysterious Asian Store Owner who is the owner of Gizmo. Likely from experience, he believes Mogwai must be carefully looked after and that the western world is not ready for such a responsibility.


 * Asian Store Owner: Looks like your stereotypical "mystical store owner" from many an urban fantasy show and text. Deconstructed to an extent because his grandson complains that Mr. Wing's stubborn, pernickety attitude has turned the store into a money pit (which is why he sells Gizmo to Randall behind Mr. Wing's back).
 * Grumpy Old Man: He is furious when he confronts Rand at the end of the first film, but makes peace with him upon leaving and accepts a unique ashtray from Rand as a parting gift.
 * Mentor Archetype
 * You Are Not Ready: Says this to the Peltzer family about the responsibility of handling a Mogwai, but states that Billy may one day be.
 * You No Take Candle: His English starts off bad, but it becomes good by the end of the film.
 * You No Take Candle: His English starts off bad, but it becomes good by the end of the film.

Murray Futterman
Billy's neighbour, Murray Futterman often is seen Griping About Gremlins and is very proud of his snowplough. He and his wife are attacked by Gremlins when they steal his snowplough. They reappear in Gremlins 2 as New York tourists.


 * Badass Normal: In the second film, he doesn't even has the benefit of experience in how to deal with Gremlins that Billy does.
 * Cranky Neighbor: His Establishing Character Moment (and second scene) have him complaining about how foreign, allegedly unreliable products have apparently taken over.
 * Griping About Gremlins
 * Took a Level in Badass: He was just another victim of the Gremlins' Comedic Sociopathy in the first film. In the second film, he is pivotal in stopping the invasion and even takes out a few of them singlehandedly.

Kingston Falls Citizens

 * Chekhov's Gunman: Pete.
 * Cool Teacher: Mr. Hanson, Billy's science teacher who is given the Gremlin named Earl to study.
 * Police Are Useless: They just gawk at seeing all of the chaos going on (including seeing Mrs. Deagle flying out of the second story of her house) and then they find out the hard way that the Gremlins tampered with their patrol car's breaks when they stopped (to see the aforementioned absurd death) and are out for the rest of the film after they crashed (seriously, it's never said whether they're still alive or not).
 * Police Are Useless: They just gawk at seeing all of the chaos going on (including seeing Mrs. Deagle flying out of the second story of her house) and then they find out the hard way that the Gremlins tampered with their patrol car's breaks when they stopped (to see the aforementioned absurd death) and are out for the rest of the film after they crashed (seriously, it's never said whether they're still alive or not).

Daniel Clamp
An eccentric corporate manager who works in New York. He runs a completely automatically-powered skyscraper, hates black and white films, and wants to make the world a better place through good-intentioned projects.


 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: He is an eccentric idiot, but he knows when he sees a good idea.
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: Subverted. Early on, Clamp is portrayed as being this from the views of other characters, but when he shows up, he turns out to be a nice, easygoing guy who is easily inspired and quickly befriends most of the people he meets.
 * Crazy Prepared: Clamp has a video ready to play on his cable network in case the end of the world comes, inspired by a video Joe Dante found whilst visiting CNN.
 * Eccentric Millionaire
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: A mixture of Donald Trump and Ted Turner.
 * The Wonka

Forster
Daniel Clamp's assistant.


 * Bad Boss
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: He's more of this trope than Clamp.
 * Jerkass: Even when it turns out Billy is right about the Gremlins, he won't stop being a complete cad. Since he likely hold him responsible for the Gremlin takeover.

Marla Bloodstone

 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Meganekko: Though her glasses were gone by the end of the film.

Grandpa Fred

 * Cool Old Guy: He's elderly (or at least middle-aged) and takes it upon himself to report on the Gremlin attack from inside the building, and even lands an interview with the Brain Gremlin.

Mr. Katsuji

 * Japanese Tourist: Pretty much one of the defining examples of this trope.

Dr. Catheter

 * Mad Scientist: Catheter has some traits of one, although he's very darkly subdued and laid back example.
 * Mad Scientist: Catheter has some traits of one, although he's very darkly subdued and laid back example.