Dream Icon: Gizmo & Stripe (Guest Article)

This guest Dream Icon was created by @NickDaDroid on Twitter, and thanks to Cart Boy for help with edits.

Ever since I experienced the Gremlins franchise for the first time earlier this year, I’ve become infatuated with its cast and characters, leading me to work on a two-in-one moveset for the first film’s iconic hero and villain. In the time between starting this concept and publishing one for the Ice King, Stripe and Gizmo have both been revealed as fighters! While I’m excited to see how the two are handled in MultiVersus, I still would’ve loved to see them share a roster slot, so I figured I could share my ideas for a hypothetical scenario where they were a two-in-one.

Who Are Gizmo & Stripe?

Gizmo is a mogwai, a small and mysterious creature that inventor Randall Peltzer purchased from a shady store and gave to his son, Billy. The mogwai’s existence follows three rules: don’t expose it to light, don’t let it get wet, and above all, never feed it after midnight. Exposing a mogwai to a bright light will kill it, while letting it get wet will result in it spawning additional mogwai. Worst of all, if a mogwai feeds after midnight, it will metamorphize, cocooning before emerging as a horrifying gremlin.

After a glass of water is accidentally spilled on Gizmo, and then the new batch of mogwai are accidentally fed after midnight by Billy, the town of Kingston Falls quickly becomes swarmed by rapidly multiplying gremlins. The pack is led by Stripe, once part of Gizmo’s original batch and distinguished by the white streak on his head. Billy and Gizmo work alongside Kate Beringer to defeat the gremlins and their leader, blowing up a movie theater full of the beasts and defeating Stripe by exposing him to sunlight.

While Gizmo is fairly docile throughout the film, mostly getting bullied by the gremlins until Billy rescues him, he proves his worth in the climax by using a toy RC car to help in Stripe’s downfall. The gremlins’ leader, on the other hand, is mischievous and outright evil, even in mogwai form. He leaves Billy’s dog Barney out in the freezing cold and destroys the wire of the clock in Billy’s room to trick the kid into feeding him after midnight. In gremlin form, Stripe leads the monsters’ attack on Kingston Falls, terrorizing its citzens and causing catastrophic damage. Only Stripe’s greed saves him from being destroyed in the movie theater explosion, as he left for the nearby store to snack. He proves to be quite the threat to Billy when the two confront each other, attacking with sawblades, a crossbow, and even a revolver. But his efforts were not enough to avoid the light, his bubbly, melting skeleton being put on full display.

In Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Gizmo reunites with Billy in New York, where after accidentally being sprayed yet again, he accidentally spawns the titular new batch. Its leader, Mohawk, is widely believed to be a sort of reincarnation of Stripe, as the two share similar hairstyles, a disdain for Gizmo, and a knack for leadership. Compared to his earlier appearance, Gizmo is much more capable in this installment. With classic action star Rambo as his inspiration, Gizmo crafts a bow and arrow made from paper clips, rubber bands, and pencils, then uses them to defeat Mohawk.

Importance to Warner Bros. & Series

Gizmo is the face of the entire Gremlins franchise and a staple of ‘80’s culture. Sure, Stripe might be more suited for fighting, but Gizmo still has an arsenal of skills at his disposal. Regardless, Gremlins, and especially its mascot, were a massive success for Warner Bros. Adjusted for inflation, it made over $400 million dollars, making it the highest grossing feature film to never reach #1 at the domestic box office. The franchise also saw an abundance of merchandise, usually featuring Gizmo, and multiple video games. While its sequel may not have been as successful as its predecessor, it’s celebrated in its own regard, acting as a wacky parody of Hollywood sequels as a whole.

Gremlins also had major impact on the film industry at large, being one of the films that inspired the “PG-13” rating (yes, the film that vividly describes the corpse of a character’s father dressed as Santa getting stuck in a chimney for days was initially rated PG) as well as inspiring a slew of creature-based horror flicks like the not-so-subtly named Critters and Hobgoblins.

In regards to MultiVersus, while Gizmo and Stripe’ll likely still work well as separate characters, I think combining the two into one moveset could’ve made for a unique playstyle we haven’t quite seen yet. Transforming plays a major role in the Gremlins franchise, after all. Not only do Gizmo’s unwanted offspring literally transform into their gross gremlin forms, but Gizmo, Billy, and Kate also significantly grow throughout the duology. As such, having Gizmo and Stripe “transform” into each other for their moveset could’ve worked surprisingly well.

Cosmetics & Design

We’ve already seen how MultiVersus adapts Stripe, who closely resembles the appearance of his puppet from Gremlins, but for this concept, Gizmo pulls more from his look in the upcoming TV series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai. Here, he sports more cartoonish and cutesy features, like giant eyes and a bigger head. Not only would having Gizmo pull from his latest venture make sense from an advertising standpoint, but it also further exemplifies the contrast between Gizmo’s adorable presence and Stripe’s vileness.

One Variant could depict Gizmo with the wristband that he wore in the Clamp Towers lab, while Stripe would be replaced by the Brain Gremlin’s initial look. Set apart by his glasses, the Brain Gremlin acts as the leader of the “New Batch” after Mohawk’s demise, and is also incredibly intelligent and able to communicate after consuming a brain hormone serum. Brain Gremlin’s dialogue would consist of lines mentioning how “unsophisticated” all the other Icons’ fighting is and apologizing for the actions of his gremlin brethren.

To complement the last Variant, another could feature Gizmo in his Rambo-inspired outfit, sporting a red headband, yarn belt, and more determined expressions. Stripe would again be replaced by the Brain Gremlin, this time wearing his suit and hat from the “New York, New York” segment near the film’s climax.

Another Variant could be Mohawk, with his mogwai form replacing Gizmo and his gremlin form replacing Stripe. Mohawk was a particularly cruel gremlin, going out of his way to torture Gizmo repeatedly alongside terrorizing visitors at the Clamp Center. In combat, he would regularly let out maniacal laughs while muttering about searching for Gizmo.

George, another member of the “New Batch,” would also work well as a Variant, with his mogwai form replacing Gizmo and his gremlin form replacing Stripe. George is almost always seen alongside Lenny, and always has a stern expression, seemingly more concerned with causing mischief than torment. George would maintain this stern expression in his animations and often be heard grumbling.

Naturally, Lenny would have to accompany George as a Variant, with his mogwai form replacing Gizmo and his gremlin form replacing Stripe. Lenny is much more clumsy and dopey than his fellow gremlins. While fighting, he always appears distracted and clumsy, letting out occasional giggles.

A Daffy Variant would finish off the “New Batch,” with his mogwai form replacing Gizmo and his gremlin form replacing Stripe. Daffy plays a significant role in the film, initially being mistaken for Gizmo by Kate, and causing all sorts of mischief in the two’s apartment. Daffy’s dialogue would mainly consist of crazed laughter and utter nonsense, finding equal joy in hitting fighters and taking damage from their attacks.

It’s worth noting that, due to all gremlins sharing nearly identical silhouettes, there are plenty of gremlin designs to pull from for possible Variants, a factor that makes the Gremlins reps’ inclusion especially tantalizing.

How Would They Play?

Gizmo (G) and Stripe (S)’s stats and properties:

• Class: Support (G) / Bruiser (S)
• Direction: Hybrid
• Weight: 65 (~Shaggy) (G) / 48 (~Reindog) (S)
• Height: (Stripe is taller than Gizmo?)
• Jump Height: 1400 (~Jake) (G)  / 1550 (~LeBron) (S)
• Overall Speed: 1800 (~Harley) (G) / 2220 (~Garnet) (S)
• Crawling? Yes (G) / No (S)
• Gliding? No
• Passive abilities? Yes

(A more detailed look at the stats)

(Height determined by approximate y-axis height on The Lab)

Being a two-one-character, Gizmo’s & Stripe’s movesets work in tandem and cover each other’s weaknesses. Gizmo’s primary focus is to provide support for himself and his allies, with his Eggsplosion, Paper Clip & Pencil, Gizmo to the Rescue!, Mogwai Music, and Bright Light! providing opportunities for the mogwai to potentially buff allies with healing, educated, armor, rhythm, and cleansing. However, all of Gizmo’s buffing moves require a certain level of skill and cooperation from allies for them to truly be capitalized on, forcing Gizmo to go out of his way and ensure they make contact with his ally. Gizmo can still fend pretty well on his own though, with moves like Gizmo, Go! and Paperclip Poke serving as great get-off-me tools and damage dealers. His Dangerous When Wet and Balloon Burst inflict the “wet” effect on both allies and opponents. While wet doesn’t provide any buffs or debuffs, if Stripe or Gizmo manage to gain it, they will automatically use Gremlin Growth for each stack of wet they have, allowing the two to gain massive stage control. Wet will disappear from fighters after twenty seconds, though.

Stripe, on the contrary, is all about dealing damage and inflicting debuffs. Moves like Jumpscare and Gremlin Bat inflict massive amounts of stun to opponents, allowing for powerful follow-ups like his hard-hitting Gizmo Caca! or Gremlin Gunshot to land easier and be fully capitalized on. Stripe’s In Need of Patch and Groundbreaking Exploit inflict both opponents and allies with the “glitched” debuff. Glitched causes them to become inflicted with a random negative debuff for the next two attacks they are hit with within the next five seconds. Thanks to the duo’s “Like A Virus” passive ability, if an ally gains glitched from Stripe, then attacks an opponent before it expires, the remaining duration of the debuff is transferred to them, allowing what might seem like a deficit to Stripe’s ally to potentially become an asset. 

A key part of Stripe’s kit is Gremlin Web, which allows Stripe to remove all buffs from opponents and inflict them with slow, letting him perform follow-ups easier. However, if an ally enters the web, they will also have all buffs removed, but with the addition of also having debuffs cleansed and Stripe gaining whatever buffs he removed with double their power. A player can start as Gizmo, buff their ally repeatedly, then quickly switch to Stripe and use Gremlin Web to gain a massive amount of power. Gremlin Web and Gremlin Grab also allow Stripe to gain stacks of wet, giving incentive for Stripe to use them on wet allies. If Gizmo’s used Eggsplosion or TV Time, Stripe is able to ‘tamper’ with them, giving them more powerful effects and further encouraging players to be constantly switching back and forth when using the duo.

Passive Abilities:

• Rule #2: If Stripe or Gizmo become wet, they will automatically use Gremlin Growth for each stack they gain of it, then become cleansed of it. Gremlin Growth will then go on cooldown, as well as for an additional five seconds for each extra stack of wet, with a maximum of thirty seconds (there can only ever be three “wet-spawned” Gremlins on-screen at a time per team, so if wet is gained while there are already three Gremlins, it will immediately be cleansed and additional ones will not spawn).
• Like A Virus: If a glitched ally attacks an opponent, the opponent will gain its remaining duration and Stripe’s ally will be cleansed of it.

Signature Perks:

• Not Again!: The first time Gizmo uses TV Time or Eggsplosion per life, it will immediately activate its tampered effect.
• Yuck!: Stripe’s Slimy Spit applies a stack of wet to any opponents or allies it impacts.

GIZMO

Move Type	Description
On-Screen Appearance	Gizmo emerges from his box and cautiously looks around.
Stance	Gizmo sways from side to side as his ears flop around.
Stance Change	Gizmo pulls his ears toward his head.
Walk	Gizmo tucks his ears in and sheepishly looks around.
Jump	For his first jump, Gizmo sticks his arms out as his ears flop around. For his second jump, he casually spins while doing so.
Crouch	Gizmo lays down on his back.
Crawl	Gizmo scampers around on all fours.
Neutral Attack (Ground): Mini Muscles	Gizmo lets out a flurry of punches with his eyes closed. The blows have a decent amount of end-lag, but send opponents flying in the opposite direction.
Neutral Attack (Air): Rapid Roll	Gizmo curls up into a ball and spins rapidly, doing quick multi-hitting damage on all sides.
Side Attack (Ground): Gizmo, Go!	Gizmo curls up into a ball and rolls forward. The longer the move is charged, the further Gizmo rolls.
Side Attack (Air): Dangerous When Wet	Gizmo pulls out a garden hose and blasts water forward, dealing massive knockback. If Gizmo’s ally or opponents make contact with the move, wet is applied to them. The longer the move is charged, the further the water reaches.
Up Attack (Ground): Eggsplosion	Gizmo places an egg cracking machine that fires egg projectiles forward that deal small damage to opponents. As for allies, they heal a small amount when the egg passes through them. The egg throwing machine will disappear after taking ten points of damage or after the move is used again. A cooldown of ten seconds applies.If Stripe hits the machine with any move, it will start rapidly shooting egg projectiles for a few seconds that slow opponents. Afterwards, it will explode, dealing massive damage to nearby foes.
Up Attack (Air): Paper Clip Poke	Gizmo stabs upwards with a link of paper clips, dealing massive damage and knockback with a limited range. If the paper clips make contact with the stage or a platform, Gizmo will immediately climb up to it.
Down Attack (Ground): TV Time	Gizmo places a TV that occasionally emits signals in all directions, greatly pushing opponents back while dealing decent damage. The TV disappears after taking fifteen damage points or after the move is inputted again. A cooldown of twenty seconds applies. If Stripe ‘hits’ the TV with any move, gremlins will emerge from the static, causing the TV’s signals to become glitched.
Down Attack (Air): Balloon Burst	Gizmo drops a water balloon projectile below him that applies wet to opponents and allies that make contact with it.
Neutral Special (Ground): Paper Clip and Pencil	Gizmo pulls out a paper clip fashioned to be a bow and fires a pencil projectile forward. Allies who make contact with it become educated while opponents will be dealt slight damage. Charging the move will have Gizmo light the pencil on fire, causing the projectile to deal slightly more damage and inflict ignited to opponents, but have no effect on allies. A cooldown of twenty seconds applies whenever educated or ignited is applied. On cooldown, the move acts identically, but cannot apply educated or ignited.
Neutral Special (Air): Paper Clip and Pencil	Same as ground, but can’t be charged.
Side Special (Ground): Gizmo to the Rescue!	Gizmo drives a toy car forward, dealing damage to opponents in his path. If Gizmo makes contact with an ally while driving, they automatically latch on to the car and the two gain armor for two seconds. The longer the move is charged, the further and faster the car travels.
Side Special (Air): Gizmo to the Rescue!	Same as ground.
Up Special (Ground): Mogwai Music	Gizmo starts singing, causing a music note to travel for a few seconds toward any inputted direction before disappearing. These music notes block projectiles and deal decent knockback to enemies, but if an ally makes contact with a note, they gain a stack of rhythm and become cleansed. Mogwai Music has four ammo and takes eight seconds to recharge one ammo.
Up Special (Air): Mogwai Music	Similar to ground, but music notes pulsate in all directions around Gizmo. Four ammo is required to input the move, so doing so will consume it all.
Down Special (Ground): Gizmo Grab	A gremlin hand juts out of the ground and grabs Gizmo by the foot before pulling him through the floor. Stripe then emerges from the hole and hastily patches it up while laughing maniacally. (This would be the same for Gizmo’s Gremlins 2 and Brain Gremlin Variants.) (For the Mohawk, George, Lenny, and Daffy Variants, they instead cocoon for a few seconds, then emerge in their Gremlin forms. This animation lasts as long as Gizmo/Stripe’s and has no differences gameplay-wise.)
Down Special (Air): Bright Light!	Gizmo pulls out a flashlight and begins shining it directly below himself. Opponents who make contact with the beam gain one stack of weakness for each second they make contact with the beam, and allies are cleansed of debuffs. As the move is held, Gizmo can move the flashlight around in all directions. A cooldown of ten seconds applies once the button is released, or when it is held for three seconds.
Up Emote (Default Emote): Gizmo Groove	Gizmo gets groovy and starts dancing.
Left Emote: Failed Flex	Gizmo proudly lifts a weight above his weight while smiling triumphantly, until he falls over from overexertion.
Right Emote: Gaming Gizmo	Gizmo pulls out a MultiVersus arcade machine and starts adamantly playing it while 8-bit sound effects are heard from it.
Down Emote: Now in 3D!	Gizmo puts a pair of 3D glasses on and looks around in awe.
Victory Pose	Gizmo celebrates his victory by binging some TV, watching it intently.
Defeat	Gizmo sits in a locked cage and gives a depressed expression.

STRIPE

Move Type	Description
On-Screen Appearance	Stripe emerges from a cocoon.
Stance	Stripe swings his arms while devilishly smiling.
Stance Change	Stripe looks around in both directions while drooling.
Walk	Stripe creeps around with his arms raised.
Jump	For his first jump, Stripe leaps upward with a crazed expression. For his second jump, Stripe tucks his appendages in as if he were about to do a cannonball.
Crouch	Stripe hunches downward while snarling.
Neutral Attack (Ground): Munchies	Stripe rapidly bites forward, doing three chomps. The attack must be rapidly inputted three times in order to activate all of its hits.
Neutral Attack (Air): In Need of Patch	Stripe tears open the background behind him as code consisting of 1s and 0s starts spewing out in all directions for a few seconds. If Stripe, his allies, or opponents make contact with the code, they become glitched. A cooldown of twenty seconds applies.
Side Attack (Ground): Gizmo Caca!	Stripe grabs a tied-up Gizmo and throws him forward as if he were a flail. While this move deals massive damage when it connects, it also would deal half of its damage back to Gizmo/Stripe’s health.
Side Attack (Air): Gremlin Gunshot	Stripe pulls out a revolver and fires a bullet projectile forward that deals massive damage upon first being fired, then gradually decreases in power the further it travels.
Up Attack (Ground): Jumpscare!	Stripe leaps upward while letting out a piercing scream, creating sound waves in all directions that deal knockback to opponents that make contact with them. The closer to Stripe the opponent is, the further they will be launched and the more damage they will receive. Allies will also become stunned, but take no damage or knockback, and gain a speed boost after recovering.
Up Attack (Air): Slimy Spit	Stripe spits a loogie projectile upward that comes hurtling downwards after a second. While its hitbox is small, it deals solid damage when it hits, and deals more damage the longer it takes to hit an opponent.
Down Attack (Ground): A Groundbreaking Exploit	Stripe rips open the ground in front of him, causing code that makes opponents glitched to come spewing out for a few seconds. A cooldown of ten seconds applies.
Down Attack (Air): Cha-Cha-Chainsaw	Stripe swings downward with a chainsaw. Charging the move increases its damage and range, and its chains will still spin while charging, dealing quick multi-hitting damage.
Neutral Special (Ground): Gremlin Growth	A gremlin emerges from Stripe’s back that hones in on nearby Icons. Upon getting near an Icon, whether it be a teammate or foe, the gremlin will use Gremlin Grab. The gremlin disappears after either taking eight damage or landing one move. Twenty seconds of cooldown apply after the gremlin disappears. If Gizmo or Stripe gain wet, “Rule #2” takes effect and Gremlin Growth will activate for however many stacks of wet they gain.  (How Gizmo looks using his version upon gaining wet.)
Neutral Special (Air): Gremlin Growth	Same as ground.
Side Special (Ground): Gremlin Grab	Stripe leaps forward and latches on to any opponents in his path, gnawing on them repeatedly until they struggle enough to be rid of him. If Stripe latches onto an ally, he begins transferring some of his damage to his ally, healing Stripe while hurting his ally. Allies can mash out of the move significantly easier than opponents. If the Icon Stripe latches onto has wet, he steals all of their stacks.
Side Special (Air): Gremlin Grab	Same as ground, but unable to hit allies.
Up Special (Ground): Gremlin Bat	Stripe readies a bat as if he’s preparing to hit a home-run, then swings it forward. While it has a significant windup, opponents hit by the blow are dealt massive stun, allowing the opportunity for Stripe to follow it up with various options. If the bat makes contact with any projectiles, they will be reflected.
Up Special (Air): Bat Gremlin	Stripe sprouts bat wings and fans them out, swatting away any opponents in his path. If a direction is held immediately after inputting the move, Stripe will do a mighty flap in that direction before retracting his wings, propelling him.
Down Special (Ground): Stripe Snatch	A paper clip tears open a hole in the floor below Stripe, who immediately falls through while screaming. Gizmo then quickly climbs out of the hole using a paper clip chain and laughs cutely as he patches it (this would be the same for Gizmo’s Gremlins 2 and Brain Gremlin Variants). (For the Mohawk, George, Lenny, and Daffy Variants, a bright light would cover them as they let out screams. When the light is finished, they emerge in their mogwai forms. This animation lasts as long as Gizmo/Stripe’s and has no differences gameplay-wise.)
Down Special (Air): Gremlin Web	Stripe temporarily sprouts two spider legs and an abdomen, then uses them to spin a web where he was standing. Opponents who get caught in the web will be cleansed of all buffs and become slowed. If an ally makes contact with the web, they will be cleansed of all buffs and debuffs, and Stripe will gain their buffs with twice their power. If an Icon enters the web that has wet, Stripe steals all their stacks. A cooldown of twenty seconds applies, and on cooldown, Stripe simply thrusts down with his legs instead of making a web.
Up Emote (Default Emote): Now This Is Getting Good!	Stripe starts snacking on a bowl of popcorn while watching the ensuing battle, only stopping his eating to laugh.
Left Emote: Conga Cavalcade	A gremlin sprouts from Stripe’s back and starts forming a conga line that circles around where Stripe was standing.
Right Emote: Mind the Flash!	A gremlin appears in front of Stripe, who pulls out a camera and takes a photo of the gremlin with the flash on, causing it to become a skeleton and fall to the floor, turning to dust.
Down Emote: Gremliny Groove	Stripe starts breakdancing, spinning endlessly until a move is inputted or he takes damage.
Victory Pose	Stripe begins laughing as countless Gremlins start emerging from his back and filling the screen, covering other fighters and eventually climbing onto the camera itself. The chaos settles after a few seconds, returning the results screen to normal.
Defeat:	Stripe starts crying, and upon making himself wet with his own tears, spawns a second gremlin who gives him reassuring back pats.

Voice Actor 

Gizmo would be voiced by AJ LoCascio, who will voice the character in Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai. While Howie Mandel has been the voice of the character since the beginning, voicing Gizmo in the duology and even Lego Dimensions, the fact that he will not be reprising the role in the series’ newest venture feels indicative that Warner Bros. is not looking to continue with him. Stripe and the Mohawk Variant would be voiced by Frank Welker, who provided the voices of the characters in their respective films, as well as Stripe’s in Lego Dimensions.

Stripe’s Brain Gremlin Variants would be voiced by Christopher Swindle, who voiced the character in Lego Dimensions after the passing of Tony Randall. The Daffy, George, and Lenny Variants would be voiced by Mark Dodson, who voiced the characters in Gremlins 2, as well as various other gremlins.

Dialogue

Dialogue when a character is versing Gizmo/Stripe: 

Dialogue when a character is teamed with Gizmo/Stripe:

Closing Thoughts

While Iron Giant is a good start for the premise of characters with multiple movesets in MultiVersus, I would love to see this expanded on by seeing two completely different characters share a roster slot. Gizmo & Stripe would’ve worked as an excellent duo, but MVS’s emphasis on team-based gameplay makes it understandable as to why it might be better to split characters up instead. Regardless, I’m very excited to see Gizmo & Stripe join the roster, especially the Variants they’ll bring!

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Hamada

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