Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance daily demon vol. 16 – Gremlin

Today’s Daily Demon video for Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance has been released by Atlus, giving us a better look at Gremlin.

A demon of the Jaki race, Gremlins have appeared several times in the Megami Tensei franchise, and will be making a return in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance with a new design. The Megami Tensei Wiki has quite a bit to tell us about the creature’s origins:

Gremlins are tiny, goblin-like creatures that are mischievous and like to play with machines, often breaking them in the process. The gremlins were created as a legend in the 1920s-1950s by the British Royal Air Force to explain mechanical problems. Depictions of these creatures vary. Often, they are described or depicted as animals with spiky backs; large, strange eyes; and small, clawed frames featuring sharp teeth.

These beings became more well-known thanks to the 1984 horror/comedy film Gremlins and its 1990 sequel, which depict them as the main antagonists.

Although their origin is found in myths among airmen, claiming that the gremlins were responsible for sabotaging aircraft, John W. Hazen states that “some people” derive the name from the Old English word gremian, “to vex,” while Carol Rose, in her book Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia, attributes the name to a portmanteau of Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Fremlin Beer.

Check out the trailer below:

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance launches for Switch on June 14, 2024.