# What Happens if You Feed a Gremlin After Midnight?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 20, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727 "2007-12-20T17:29:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/1 "2007-12-20T17:29:48Z")
See, the rules for Mogwai are as follows;
1. No Bright Light, especially Sunlight; it kills them.
2. Don’t get them wet
3. Never, EVER feed them after midnight.
See, if you feed them after midnight, they cocoon and change into evil gremlins.
Now, If you get a gremlin wet, they multiply, and sunlight kills them too…
So does the third rules apply to them too? If a gremlin eats after midnight, does he coccon and begin a third level of evolution?
A super-evil gremlin?
Cos there’s your third movie right there.
---
### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/2 "2007-12-20T17:31:40Z")
Hmmmm. That’s a fantastic idea.
This definitely requires further thought.
---
### Author:  [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/3 "2007-12-20T17:33:47Z")
My kids asked me about that after midnight bit at the time. They wanted to know how the thing could eat at all, because it’s always after midnight, you know?
---
### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/4 "2007-12-20T17:35:28Z")
I never got the midnight bit. How long after midnight is it safe to feed them? And what about when DST starts or stops, do the Gremlin metabolisms adjust for that?
---
### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/5 "2007-12-20T17:37:41Z")
Yes, after midnight definitely is a meaningless thing.
In the first one, weren’t they eating popcorn late at night? I’m not sure if it was “after midnight”–whatever that means.
---
### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/6 "2007-12-20T17:40:19Z")
No one saw Gremlins 2, in which the “after midnight” rule was completely deconstructed and mocked?
---
### Author:  [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/7 "2007-12-20T17:42:05Z")
Plus it was snowing, and they were walking through snowbanks, and no multiplication there. Surely some snow melted into water on their skin as they marauded through the town?
As someone posted in a \*Pushing Daisies \* thread…sssh…you’ll wake the inconsistencies…
---
### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/8 "2007-12-20T17:42:42Z")
[QUOTE=Otto]
No one saw Gremlins 2, in which the “after midnight” rule was completely deconstructed and mocked?
[/QUOTE]
Didn’t see it, but I know they made fun of the daylight savings time element of it–I didn’t know the whole rule was mocked.
---
### Author:  [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/9 "2007-12-20T18:11:37Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit]
Didn’t see it, but I know they made fun of the daylight savings time element of it–I didn’t know the whole rule was mocked.
[/QUOTE]
Not just that rule. I recall something about, “What if it gets something caught in its teeth, then it comes loose after midnight?”
---
### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/10 "2007-12-20T18:23:45Z")
This “after midnight” loophole exists in a few other movies too.
There’s the Arnold film where Gabriel Byrne is the devil or something. Anyway, some prophecy is in effect where things go to hell come midnight at the Millennium (exactly 2000 years after Christ’s birth).
As to why this prophecy takes effect at midnight, in a city that didn’t even exist, in an area of the world that was unknown to the Roman Empire, 7 hours past midnight in Jerusalem… well, that’s never explained.
When I saw “Gremlins” for the first time, I was wondering what would happen if you put food in the gremlins mouth then drove across a time zone before he swallowed. Enquiring minds need to know!
---
### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/11 "2007-12-20T18:49:05Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit]
Didn’t see it, but I know they made fun of the daylight savings time element of it–I didn’t know the whole rule was mocked.
[/QUOTE]
G-2 mocked all kinds of stupid shit from the original. A personal favorite was Phoebe Cates’ getting smacked down for being all phobic about Lincoln’s birthday or some other weak holiday, taking off on her ridiculous Christmas-hating rant from G-1.
---
### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/12 "2007-12-20T18:49:16Z")
> [@](#):
>
> So does the third rules apply to them too? If a gremlin eats after midnight, does he coccon and begin a third level of evolution?
Well, they’re more like guidelines…
---
### Author:  [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/13 "2007-12-20T18:59:25Z")
The good gremilns can’t eat between Midnight and Sunrise.
Midnight is a magical time and it applies to magical creatures who can all sense when Midnight occurs. It probably is technically the mid point between sunset and sunrise but that is a little complicated so 12 midnight is used.
When an evil Gremlin eats after midnight, nothing else happens, except your food is gone. They were rather ravenous eaters if you recall.
---
### Author:  [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/14 "2007-12-20T19:07:38Z")
[QUOTE=Otto]
G-2 mocked all kinds of stupid shit from the original. A personal favorite was Phoebe Cates’ getting smacked down for being all phobic about Lincoln’s birthday or some other weak holiday, taking off on her ridiculous Christmas-hating rant from G-1.
[/QUOTE]
Query! I recently (well, within the last year or so) had a go at watching G1, and couldn’t make it through. I don’t recall exactly what ticked me off about it, but I think it was this sort of stupid stuff. Is there some possibility I might actually dig G2, which seems to exist primarily to mock G1? 😃
---
### Author:  [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/15 "2007-12-20T19:14:26Z")
Why isn’t this thread in Great Debates?
---
### Author:  [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/16 "2007-12-20T19:26:02Z")
[QUOTE=LawMonkey]
Query! I recently (well, within the last year or so) had a go at watching G1, and couldn’t make it through. I don’t recall exactly what ticked me off about it, but I think it was this sort of stupid stuff. Is there some possibility I might actually dig G2, which seems to exist primarily to mock G1? 😃
[/QUOTE]
Gremlins 1 is a comedy that dressed up as a horror film. Gremlins 2 The Next Batch is a comedy. It makes the Gremlins more cartoony and wacky yet still with an edge of danger. The Brain Gremlin is hilarious while the Spider Gremlin is “scary”.
I LOVE both movies.
---
### Author:  [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/17 "2007-12-20T19:32:07Z")
[QUOTE=Push You Down]
Gremlins 1 is a comedy that dressed up as a horror film. Gremlins 2 The Next Batch is a comedy. It makes the Gremlins more cartoony and wacky yet still with an edge of danger. The Brain Gremlin is hilarious while the Spider Gremlin is “scary”.
I LOVE both movies.
[/QUOTE]
The presence of John Glover in the second makes it superior to the first. I have never seen that guy in a movie that he didn’t make better. Sometimes he won’t be able to make it good, but he always makes it better.
---
### Author:  [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/18 "2007-12-20T19:32:36Z")
I haven’t seen either movie in quite awhile. I think it’s time to update my netflix queue. My favorite line from G2 (from memory - from several years ago)
Brainy Gremlin After shooting another Gremlin in the face: Was that civilized? No, clearly not!
---
### Author:  [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/19 "2007-12-20T19:40:00Z")
The full converstation from IMDB:
> [@](#):
>
> Grandpa Fred: [interviewing Brain Gremlin] Creature what is it that you want?
> Brain Gremlin: Fred, what we want is, I think, what everyone wants, and what you and your viewers have: civilization.
> Grandpa Fred: Yes, but what sort of civilization are you speaking of?
> Brain Gremlin: The niceties, Fred. The fine points: diplomacy, compassion, standards, manners, tradition… that’s what we’re reaching toward. Oh, we may stumble along the way, but civilization, yes. The Geneva Convention, chamber music, Susan Sontag. Everything your society has worked so hard to accomplish over the centuries, that’s what we aspire to; we want to be civilized.
> [a Gremlin with a beanie cap acts goofy next to Brain]
> Brain Gremlin: You take a look at this fellow here.
> [Brain shoots the Gremlin in the head. The Gremlins in the bar laugh. Grandpa Fred and Kujitsu leave]
> Brain Gremlin: Now, was that civilized? No, clearly not. Fun, but in no sense civilized. Now, bear in mind, none of us has been in New York before. There are the Broadway shows - we’ll have to find out how to get tickets. There’s also a lot of street crime, but I believe we can watch that for free. We want the essentials. Dinettes. Complete bedroom groups. Convenient credit, even though we’ve been turned down in the past.
---
### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727/20 "2007-12-20T20:06:00Z")
[QUOTE=bubastis]
So does the third rules apply to them too? If a gremlin eats after midnight, does he coccon and begin a third level of evolution?
A super-evil gremlin?
[/QUOTE]
No. As an [American Motors car](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Gremlin).
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-feed-a-gremlin-after-midnight/430727.md?page=2)