Gremlin

Gremlin
Name
Japanese	グレムリン
Rōmaji	Guremurin
Profile
Species	Yōkai
Home	Soviet Union Germany (2007)
Abilities	Architectural Skills
Affiliation	Western Yōkai
First Appearance
Manga	Yōkai Rally (1968)
Anime	Series 1 Episode 54 (1969)
Portrayals
1985 anime	Sanji Hase
2007 anime	Keiji Hirai Yūta Kasuya Yasuhiro Takato

Gremlin (グレムリン Guremurin) is a western yōkai.

Appearance

A swarm of Gremlin in the 1989 anime adaptation of Akuma-kun.

In the manga, Gremlin is a small, gray humanoid with smooth skin, a big nose, angry eyes, and small, bat-like ears and wings.

In the 1968 anime, Gremlin has smaller eyes and is bigger.

In the 1985 anime, Gremlin is bigger than later incarnations, somewhat smaller than Wolfman.

In the 2007 anime, Gremlins are small bat-like yōkai with green fur, large heads and ears, squashed noses, short spikes protrude from their head down to their backs and skin flaps between their arms and legs. They also have tails that fade to a lighter green, this also applies to their arms and legs, having hands with five fingers and feet with two toes. Their eyes have yellow sclerae, red irises and black pupils while their mouths have sharp white teeth and a pair of protruding fangs.

In GeGeGe no Kitarō: Ibun Yōkai Kitan, Gremlin appears as a small, purple humanoid figure with large, pointy ears and purple skin. He has black hair covering his arms and body. He wears a red hat, a dark green vest, and light green pants. He has small, orange wings.

Personality

In the manga, Gremlin is a competitive racer, with a particular vendetta against Yangtze Suiko. In later adaptations, this trait was less emphasized, and now he acts just as competitive with the other racers.

In the 1968 anime, Gremlin is also privileged enough to have a car with features made to halt others.

In the 1985 anime, Gremlin now physically messes with the other yōkai's cars. He also doesn't care about the well-being of humans, driving past them and into their buildings.

History

1968 Anime

Gremlin appears in episode #54 of the first anime adaptation, Yōkai Rally. In this adaptation him and the other foreign yōkai are prepared to take over Sado Island. In the rally, he uses needles hidden inside his car to deflate Witch's tires, and later him and Yangtze Suiko drain each other's oil, which causes everyone to slip and crash. He decides to help the other yōkai in stopping Kitarō from winning. As the others fight Kitarō, Backbeard hands him a spare tire, but even this isn't enough to stop his car from running out of gas. As a result, he has to manually push his car, but loses to Kitarō.

1985 Anime

Gremlin appears in episode #51 of the third anime adaptation, World Yōkai Rally. In this adaptation, he first drives into buildings of Sado Island with the other participants of the rally, calling out Kitarō's name. In the rally, he started off competing with Witch while in sixth place. After Witch flies up to move further in the rally, Gremlin drives by to hop on top of Witch's car, throwing her off the car. Backbeard sends an eye ray to his own car, which causes him to crash, and as a result, wasn't rescued by Kitarō.

2007 Anime

Gremlins appear in episode #59 of the fifth anime adaptation, Gremlins Landing in Tokyo!!

Powers and Abilities

Architectural skills:

Legend

Gremlin illustration

Trivia

• The rivalry between Gremlin and Yangtze Suiko is most likely a reference to how their representative countries, the Soviet Union and China, were clashing around the time the story was published.
• In the 1968 anime, Gremlin was the only yōkai in the rally to not have been defeated by Kitarō, despite ironically the one who cheated the most.
• He was omitted from the 1996 anime's adaptation of the Yōkai Rally story, being replaced with Nezumi-Otoko, Neko-Sennin, and Nopperabō.
• One of the Demon King's Minions (a four-armed, winged cyclops) in the 1985 anime adaptation bears a resemblance to Mizuki's illustration of Gremlins.