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| Gremlins | |
| Prey: | Aircraft; miscellaneous mechanical appliances |
| 1st appearance: | Twilight Zone: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet |
Gremlins are mischievous creatures of English folklore commonly depicted as small, impish beings possessing acute mechanical aptitudes, but with a penchant for prankish behavior. Gremlins are inclined to sabotage or destroy mechanical devices and appear to have a particular attraction towards aircraft.
The Twilight Zone[]
Nick Cravat as the Gremlin.
The most famous example of a gremlin in science fiction is undoubtedly, the large, furry creature that appeared on the wing of a passenger jet in the 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone entitled "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet". This gremlin was significantly taller than the ones depicted in most mythological accounts and his body was completely colored with course, light-colored fur. In the episode, a man named Bob Wilson (played by Star Trek actor William Shatner) takes his first flight home after being released from a mental hospital. He spots the gremlin on the wing of the plane, tearing away at the metal plates that cover the engines. He tries to warn others about what he has seen, but whenever somebody looks out the window, the gremlin is gone. Bob is the only person who ever sees him. Convinced that the threat is real, Bob takes a gun from an inattentive security guard and opens the auxiliary window hatch, firing at the creature until it disappears. When the plane eventually lands, Bob is taken away. Nobody notices the torn bits of plate metal over the engine, which would prove that Bob's assertions were in fact true. The gremlin from this episode was played by circus acrobat Nick Cravat, who was only 5'4" tall. This episode proved to be one of the more popular episodes from the series and it was remade in 1983 and included as the fourth vignette in John Landis' Twilight Zone: The Movie. The gremlin creature in this excerpt looked dramatically different from the original and was played by Larry Cedar.
In the Silver Age era of DC Comics, on the reality known as Earth-One, there was a space gremlin named Glitch. He had yellow hair, green skin, pointed ears and antenna. He became friends with Steve Trevor and Eloise Abernathy.
Notes & Trivia[]
- Space gremlins redirects to this page.
- Gremlins were the subject of two comedy/horror films produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Joe Dante. Dante would go on to direct segment #3 from the 1983 film Twilight Zone: The Movie. The film featured a remake of "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", but the segment was actually directed by George Miller.
- In the Grimm Universe, Gremlins are referred to as Gremians. Physically, they bear a strong similarity to the creatures featured in the 1984 film Gremlins.