Gremlins 2: Greta, The Female Gremlin, Explained (& Why She's The Only One)

There is only one female gremlin in Gremlins 2: The New Batch and Greta is as memorable as any of the new little monsters introduced in the second Gremlins movie. Gremlins 2: The New Batch had a bit of a resurgence after the hilarious parody sketch by Key & Peele reminded viewers just how off-the-wall the sequel to the classic Christmas horror movie really is. Once again, Gizmo, the mogwai from the first film, gets himself wet and multiplying, though now he's splitting in the Big Apple rather than small town Kingston Falls.

Because Gizmo is at the mercy of a mad scientist, played by the late Christopher Lee, his clones end up drinking his sciency-serums, resulting in hybrid gremlins who take the form of everything from gargoyles to literal animated electricity monsters. That's not even the most bizarre part of the wonderfully campy sequel. That honor belongs to former wrestler Hulk Hogan's cameo in Gremlins 2 for a fourth-wall-breaking appearance. There are plenty of strange and fun new characters in Gremlins 2, with the female gremlin being a standout.

Who Is Greta The Female Gremlin?

Gremlins Drink Science Serums To Transform In Gremlins 2

Greta the female gremlin is one of the mogwai who ransack the Splice O' Life lab and drinks the serums in the laboratory, specifically one with a female label on it. He transforms into a gremlin who would be right at home on The Jersey Shore, complete with a leopard print dress, ruby red lips, eye shadow, a pink boa, pumps, and a brassy attitude. Greta violently rejects the advances of the male gremlins because she only has eyes for one man: Forster, the chief of security, played by Robert Picardo.

Forster manages to avoid the kissing gremlin for a while, but the end of the film finds him trapped in the bathroom with the only remaining gremlin, Greta. Dressed in a bridal gown, she slowly walks up to Forster as a gremlin chorus sings "Here Comes the Bride". First aghast, Forster resigns himself, and actually, seems halfway interested; she seems nice enough. Like all the specialized gremlins in Gremlins 2, the female gremlin doesn't necessarily provide much story-wise, but she's just a lot of fun, not least when she headlines the gremlins' musical number, "New York, New York".

Why Greta Is The Only Female Gremlin In Gremlins 2

Gizmo Is A Male Mogwai Who Births The Other Gremlins

There seems to be only one female gremlin in the Gremlins universe, or at least the only one identified as a female gremlin. The serum he drinks at the beginning of Gremlins 2 has both a male and female symbol on it, implying the serum will change the sex or gender or both of whoever drinks it. It's not explained why there is only one female gremlin in the Gremlins' universe, but as mogwai produce asexually and Gizmo seems to be male, perhaps mogwai he births are of the same sex and gender.

How Greta Became An LGBTQ+ Icon

Greta Has The High Femme Aesthetic

With her bold and beautiful attitude, attire, and love of performances, Greta could be a drag queen if she wanted. The LGBTQ+ community has previously adopted her as a queer icon and for good reason (via GaylyDreadful). Greta rejects the masculinity of gremlins like Spike and Mohawk, and fully dives into her high femme aesthetic. Whether viewers see Greta as a drag queen, transwoman, or cis woman, everyone in the queer community can take pride in the fabulous and funny Gremlin 2 critter.

A few years after the original <em>Gremlins, Gremlins 2: The New Batch</em> again centers around Billy Peltzer and Gizmo, the protagonists of the first film. After Gizmo's home, the Chinatown collectible shop has been destroyed; he escapes into a New York Skyscraper. Gizmo is kidnapped by a scientist who lives in the building and seeks to experiment on him, but Billy manages to rescue him. Unfortunately, after one of the rules is broken by accident and Gizmo has water spilled on him, a new batch of Gremlins are born and begin to wreak havoc on the building - leading to them taking over an entire TV station. Billy and Gizmo must again figure out how to corral the Gremlins and stop them.

Director Joe Dante

Release Date June 15, 1990

Runtime 106 minutes