Leprechaun (film)

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
"Try as they will, and try as they might, who steals me gold won't live through the night."
"Your luck just ran out."
—Original poster tagline

A 1993 horror-comedy film that spawned a franchise. In all six (6!) installments, none of which seem to have any sort of continuity, the titular character is played by Warwick Davis.

In the original Leprechaun, a family moves into a rural house and discovers not only a pot of gold, but the rightful owner. The leprechaun will kill any who touches his gold, but has a weakness to wrought iron and four-leaf clovers (they cancel out his magic). They are finally able to kill it (with fire). Or do they?

In Part 2, the leprechaun is alive and well, and now for some reason living in L.A. As it turns out, on every leprechaun's 1000th birthday, he is allowed to take a bride of his choosing (without her consent) on the condition that he can make her sneeze three times, without someone saying "God bless you." He selects his target (a descendant of the only man to ever get the better of him), but her boyfriend manages to steal his gold, which he hopes to trade for her freedom.

At the start of Part 3, a badly beaten man drops off a rather peculiar looking statue at a Las Vegas pawn shop. He's willing to take whatever the shopkeeper will offer him, but warns him that he must never remove the gold medallion that hangs around the statue's neck. As soon as he's gone, the shopkeeper does this. The statue comes to life, revealing the leprechaun, who kills him and sets out to reclaim his gold. A new "rule" was added, that said if you get bitten by a leprechaun, you will turn into one, unless you kill him. Also, each leprechaun has a "lucky" gold piece, that will grant whoever holds it one wish.

Part 4 is creatively titled Leprechaun In Space, which shamelessly ripped off the tagline from Alien, "In Space, No-One Can Hear You Scream". In the future, a team of Space Marines are searching for an alien princess, who the Leprechaun intends to make his bride. Apparently, the more gold a leprechaun has, the more powerful his magic is. Combining her wealth with his own will make him the most powerful being in the galaxy!

Leprechaun in Da Hood takes place sometime between Parts 3 & 4, only the action is moved back to L.A. A local hoodlum (Ice T!) discovers the leprechaun's gold, and in the ensuing struggle accidentally tosses the gold medallion from Part 3 around its neck, trapping it in stone. Among his newly acquired treasure, he comes across a golden flute that gives its owner great musical talent. Flash forward several years, and he is now a successful rap producer. One night, three aspiring singers rob his office in retaliation for denying them a record deal. They steal the flute and the medallion, unwittingly releasing the leprechaun... in da hood.

Leprechaun: Back 2 Da Hood is basically a rehashing of Part 2 in the setting of Part 5.

And contrary to what Syfy wants you to believe, Leprechaun's Revenge is not a sequel to Leprechaun.

In 2012, Lionsgate films and WWE films announced they are planning on producing a reboot.


The following tropes are common to many or all entries in the Leprechaun (film) franchise.
For tropes specific to individual installments, visit their respective work pages.

"I'll not rest till I have me gold. Curse this well that me soul shall dwell, till I find me magic that breaks me spell!"