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|[[The Twilight Zone|Bob Wilson]], and millions of [[William Shatner]] impressions. }}
 
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. EspeciallyTheir foundorigin aroundis airfields or on airplanes, as they originated asfrom a story told by British pilots starting in roughly the 1920's to explain various mechanical failures on their planes; as a result, gremlins are often said to be especially common around airfields or on airplanes, as. They only began to penetrate mainstream culture during [[World War II]]; (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 [[Newer Than They Think]]).
 
The name "gremlin" is derived from an Olde English word ''gremian'' ("to vex"), though the creatures themselves are [[Newer Than They Think]]. Depending on your definition of "gremlin", this might or might not be a subtrope of [[Our Fairies Are Different]].
 
Not to be confused with any book by [[Harry Potter (novel)|Gilderoy Lockhart]].
 
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Impu, the gremlin from the hospital in ''[[Humanoid Monster Bem]]''.
* In ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' when shadow-demon summons comes to Mahora, Nanaka [[Meaningful Name|Earhart]] from the aviation club calls themthe shadow-demons summoned by Mahora "gremlins".
* In ''[[Rosario + Vampire]]'':, one was used to sabotagesabotages a plane the main characters were using to traveltaking to China.
 
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Gremlins]]'' is the most known movie, despite being unrelated to planes.
* ''[[Twilight Zone the Movie]]'' remade the classic Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.
 
== [[Literature]] ==
* The first children's book by [[Roald Dahl]] was ''[[The Gremlins]]'', a book written for [[Disney]] to tie in with a Moviemovie that was never made., Thethough the characters in it, though, would go on to appear in ''[[Epic Mickey]]''. The book was the first appearance of Gremlinsgremlins outside of the Royal Air Force, making this the [[Trope Maker]].
* Gremlins are one of the many "Demon" (dimension-travelling) races in Robert Asprin's ''Myth'' books. Aahz the Pervect ('''NOT''' "pervert") does not believe they exist until he meets one.
* There's a ''Bailey School Kids'' episode featuring a gremlin who ruins technology around the school.
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* ''[[Seven Days]]'' had Parker bring a gremlin with him during a jump. The jump turned out to be a failure. Repeating it correctly was a problem because the gremlin kept messing with the time flow.
 
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* Gremlins of various sorts appear in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', in which they are usually portrayed as related to [[Our Goblins Are Wickeder|goblins]] and/or [[The Fair Folk|evil fey]].
** In ''[[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. The jinkin gremlin strongly resembles those in the ''[[Gremlins]]'' movies.
 
== [[Toys]] ==
* Part of the ''[[Monster in My Pocket]]'' line.{{context|Which toys?}}
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Epic Mickey]]'' has Gus the Gremlin and his friends.
* ''[[Disgaea]]'' has gremlins as recruitable units.
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* The titular ''[[Zool]]'' is a [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|Ninja Gremlin from the Nth dimension]].
* In ''[[Attack of the Mutant Penguins]]'', 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.
* ''[[NetHack]]'' has gremlins that take primarily after the ones from the movie franchise, what with the game being a smorgasbord of 80s cultural references.
 
== [[Web Original]] ==
* ''[[Mortasheen]]'' has the [http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/dingnut.htm Dingnut.] It is normally a helpful mechanical monster, but in feral colonies, they often do imitate the behavior of gremlins.
* In ''[[The Questport Chronicles]]'', dimwitted gremlins act as servants for [[The Chessmaster|The Lord of Angels and Demons]].
* [[The Angry Video Game Nerd]] often butts heads with the [[Alliteration|Game Graphic Glitch Gremlin]].
 
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' gives us "Terror at 5 1/2 feet", replacing the plane with a bus and [[William Shatner]] with Bart.
* ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' had two appearances of gremlins in two [[Wartime Cartoon]]s: "Falling Hare", a [[Bugs Bunny]] cartoon, and "Russian Rhapsody", involving ''[[Glorious Mother Russia|Soviet]]'' Gremlins making [[Adolf Hitler]]'s life a hell.
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