Everyone remembers the rules. Don't get them wet. Keep them out of the light. And for the love of everything holy, never, ever feed them after midnight. But when people start asking what are the names of the gremlins in the movie, they usually realize pretty quickly that the list is shorter than they expected.
Most of the chaotic green monsters causing mayhem in Kingston Falls are just anonymous fodder for kitchen appliances and snowblowers. They don't have name tags. They don't introduce themselves. They just cackle and break things.
If you’re looking for a roll call, you’re basically looking for the "hero" monsters—the ones with distinct personalities or physical mutations that Joe Dante and his creature crew highlighted to keep the audience from getting confused. It’s not a huge list, but the history behind these names is actually kind of wild.
The One That Started It All: Gizmo
You can't talk about the names of the gremlins without starting with the one who technically isn't a gremlin. Gizmo is a Mogwai. He’s the eternal protagonist, voiced by Howie Mandel, and he’s basically the only one of his kind with a moral compass.
Rand Peltzer buys him in a cramped shop in Chinatown, and the shopkeeper’s grandson refers to him as "Gizmo." It’s a fitting name for a creature found in a shop full of oddities and inventions. Unlike his offspring, Gizmo is sweet, musical, and strangely resistant to the biological urge to become a scaly nightmare.
What’s interesting is that in the original Chris Columbus script—which was way darker, by the way—Gizmo was actually supposed to turn into the lead villain. Spielberg stepped in and decided Gizmo was too cute to lose, so the character remained a Mogwai for the entire franchise. This decision changed the entire lore of the series. It meant that "Gizmo" wasn't just a name; it was a brand.
The First Generation Villains
When Billy Peltzer accidentally spills water on Gizmo, five new Mogwai pop out of his back. These aren't like their "father." They’re mean, they’re coordinated, and they’re hungry. While most of them look nearly identical as Mogwai, the movie gives us one clear leader.
Stripe
Stripe is the undisputed alpha. He’s the only one of the original bunch with a physical differentiator in his Mogwai form: a mohawk of white fur. He’s also the smartest. While the others are just acting on instinct, Stripe is tactical. He’s the one who figures out how to trigger the midnight feeding, and he’s the one who leads the assault on the town.
When he transforms into a gremlin, Stripe keeps that white tuft on his head. He’s the primary antagonist of the 1984 film, and his death—melting in a fountain—is one of the most iconic practical effects shots in 80s horror-comedy history.
The Others (Haskell and the Gang)
Here is where things get tricky for fans. In the credits and the official novelization by George Gipe, the other four Mogwai from the first batch have names, even if they aren't spoken out loud in the film.
There is Barney, though that’s also the name of the family dog, which causes some confusion. Then there are Haskell, Earl, and Ryder. In the movie, we usually just identify them by their actions. There's the "Tree Gremlin" and the one that ends up in the blender. But Stripe is the only one the script treats as a "character" with a distinct identity.
The Names of the Gremlins in the Movie Sequel (The New Batch)
If the first movie was a horror film with jokes, Gremlins 2: The New Batch is a live-action cartoon on acid. Because the setting moved to a high-tech skyscraper in New York City, the filmmakers knew they couldn't just have a horde of identical monsters. They needed "The Gremlin Elite."
This is where the variety of names really explodes. Because of the "Splice o' Life" lab in the Clamp building, the gremlins start drinking potions that change their DNA.
Brain Gremlin
Voiced by the legendary Tony Randall, the Brain Gremlin is the peak of the franchise's humor. After drinking a brain hormone formula, he gains the ability to speak with a sophisticated mid-Atlantic accent and a genius-level IQ. He wears glasses, conducts interviews, and sings "New York, New York." He is arguably the most famous gremlin besides Gizmo and Stripe.
Mohawk
Many fans think Mohawk is just Stripe reborn. He isn't. He’s a new Mogwai spawned from Gizmo, but he’s clearly meant to be a spiritual successor. He’s meaner, he has a darker mohawk, and eventually, he drinks a spider serum. This turns him into a terrifying Gremlin-Spider hybrid. If you have arachnophobia, he’s the reason you probably skipped this movie as a kid.
Daffy
While Stripe was a calculating leader, Daffy is pure chaos. He’s the "wacky" one. He’s high-energy, constantly laughing, and seems to have no goal other than being annoying and destructive. He’s the one who ends up in the dental chair, which is a scene that still feels weirdly uncomfortable today.
George and Lenny
These two are a direct homage to John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. George is the grumpy, short-tempered leader, and Lenny is the dim-witted, large-jawed follower. They are almost always seen together. They represent the more "theatrical" side of the sequel’s character design.
Greta
Greta is the only female gremlin in the series, created after drinking a "female hormone" potion. She’s notable because she’s one of the few gremlins who survives the film's climax (well, depending on which version of the lore you follow, she at least makes it to the final wedding scene). She spends the movie hunting down the character Forster, played by Robert Picardo.
Phantom Gremlins and Deleted Concepts
Beyond the main cast, there are several gremlins defined by their mutations rather than "human" names. You have the Bat Gremlin, who becomes immune to sunlight after being injected with bat DNA and a "sunblock" formula. There's the Electric Gremlin, who becomes pure energy and eventually gets trapped in the building's phone system.
In the early drafts of the scripts and the various tie-in comics, other names have floated around. Flasher is a fan-favorite, named for his iconic trench coat scene in the first movie’s tavern sequence. There’s also the Veggie Gremlin from the sequel, who is basically a walking salad.
Why the Names Actually Matter for SEO and Fans
When you look for the names of the gremlins in the movie, you’re usually trying to settle a bet or identify a specific toy. Back in the 80s and 90s, NECA and other toy manufacturers leaned heavily into these names to sell action figures.
The naming conventions also show the evolution of the franchise. In the first movie, the lack of names made the gremlins feel like a plague—an unstoppable, faceless force of nature. In the second movie, giving them names like Brain and Greta turned them into characters we could almost root for, or at least be entertained by.
A Quick Reality Check on Gremlin Lore
There are a few misconceptions that often pop up in forums and fan wikis.
- Is Gizmo a gremlin? No. He is a Mogwai. Mogwai are the larval stage, and while they can stay in that form forever if they follow the rules, they only become gremlins after eating after midnight and pupating in a cocoon.
- Is Spike the same as Stripe? No. Spike is often a name used in localized dubs or misremembered by fans, but the leader of the first movie is Stripe.
- Are there names in the new animated series? Yes. Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai introduces a whole new set of names like Nugget, but these are set in 1920s China and aren't part of the original movie's Kingston Falls or NYC timeline.
Identifying Your Favorite Monster
If you’re trying to identify a gremlin based on what they did in the movie, here’s the shorthand:
- Stripe: The one with the white hair and the crossbow.
- Brain: The one who talks and wears glasses.
- Mohawk: The one who turns into a spider.
- Greta: The one with the green dress and lipstick.
- Daffy: The one with the googly eyes.
- George/Lenny: The duo that looks like old-school cartoon gangsters.
The brilliance of Rick Baker’s design in the sequel was making sure you never needed a name tag to know who was who. Each creature had a silhouette and a personality that popped off the screen.
What to Do With This Gremlin Knowledge
Knowing these names is the first step toward diving deeper into the franchise. If you’re a collector, knowing the difference between a "Stripe" figure and a "Mohawk" figure is going to save you a lot of money on eBay.
For those looking to revisit the films, pay attention to the background. While the named gremlins get the spotlight, the "extras" are where the puppeteers really had fun. Look for the gremlin wearing the Mickey Mouse ears or the one playing video games in the department store.
If you’re planning a movie marathon, watch the first film for the atmosphere and the second for the character designs. The contrast between Stripe’s menacing leadership and Brain’s ego-driven monologues shows just how much range you can get out of a green puppet.
Check out the official "Secrets of the Mogwai" series if you want to see how the names and lore are being handled in the modern era. It’s a prequel, so it handles the origins of the shopkeeper and a young Gizmo, adding even more layers to the names we’ve known for decades.