Noggin, at one point known as Algernon, was an antagonist in Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, serving as a major antagonist of Season 1, and the main antagonist of the first half of Season 2.
He was a gremlin and a member of the old batch. He later became the sole survivor of this batch and successor to its leader. Following this and subsequent events, he became the leader of the wild batch.
Appearance[]
Mogwai[]
As a mogwai, Noggin was a short critter with brown fur and spots. He had a large head with lazy eyes.
Gremlin[]
Once he became a gremlin, Noggin grew in size. His furry appearance turned to a scaly greenish-brown with spindly limbs and sharp claws. His eyes turned red and were still unfocused. Still, following an event where he drank a magical potion, Noggin's intelligence increased dramatically, which caused his eyes to re-center and become more focused.
Personality[]
Initially, Noggin acted as destructive and mischievous as the other Gremlins. This changed when he drank a potion that boosted his intelligence and allowed him to understand all languages.
After he drank the potion, he gained the ability to speak English and other languages. He also adopted a civilized demeanor, speaking with an articulate voice, and enjoyed conversing with humans. Despite his new heightened intelligence, his mischievous nature remained, as shown when he deferred to Claw as his superior and went along with her plans to invade Shanghai, with a tendency to be blunt about his group's malevolent intentions. He also attacked a citizen of Shanghai, as well as attacking and eating a cluster of chickens, showing his vicious side.
He admitted fascination with human culture and their way of life, particularly his sense of fashion and need to accessorize, which included a ring that made him impervious to magic and dressing in sleek 1920s attire. He was intrigued to learn about compassion. Following the defeat of the Old Batch and moving to San Francisco, Noggin initially desired to reform himself but soon abandoned this. He wished to educate his fellow gremlins and make them civilized like himself, but could not succeed. He was also formal to Gizmo and addressed him as "father-brother," initially joyful at meeting one of his kind, more intelligent than others he had spawned.
History[]
Secrets of the Mogwai[]
Noggin started life as a nameless Mogwai that spawned from Gizmo after Sam Wing accidentally knocked water over Gizmo.
Along with the rest of The Old Batch, he escaped Sam's custody and broke into a restaurant, where he ate after midnight and underwent his transformation to Gremlin. As a Gremlin, he was taken captive by Riley Greene and his henchman, who took them with him on his quest for the Valley of Jade. After the Gremlins broke out of their prison cell on Riley's ship and disposed of Riley's crew, Riley struck a deal with them that they could have his ship if they helped him reach his goal.
Nogging tastes the potions.
Once the group reached the Ghost City, they followed Sam, Gizmo, and Elle through a portal into the spirit world. Here, Noggin's attention was caught by a spirit selling various magic potions, and he began to taste them all. Riley was not amused initially, but allowed Noggin to continue so he could see the effects of the potions for himself. One of the potions Noggin drank gave him the power to speak any and all languages, including The Queen's English and the tongue of the spirits. He first revealed this ability when he translated the speech of a spirit who had been shrunk by Nuwa, thus allowing Riley to question the spirit about Gizmo's whereabouts.
Noggin walks through the magic barrier.
While in the spirit world, Noggin also purchased a magic ring that would protect him against any and all magic. This ring came in handy when Greene and the Gremlins tried to follow Gizmo to the Valley of Jade but found their path blocked by Nuwa, who used a magic barrier that even Greene could not overcome to hold them off. Thanks to the ring, Noggin could walk through the barrier without trouble and attacked Nuwa, causing her to drop her weapon and the barrier to be lifted. This allowed Greene to overpower and absorb Nuwa, becoming a god himself.
After Greene and the Gremlins arrived in the valley, Noggin assisted Greene in rounding up the Mogwai. However, when Greene came back on his deal with the Gremlins and stated his intention to keep them in the valley forever rather than allow them to wreak havoc on "his" world, Noggin sided with Claw to take the Knife of Creation from Greene. With the knife now in their possession, the Gremlins ditched Greene and went to Shanghai.
While his fellow Gremlins wreaked havoc on Shanghai, Noggin took his time to observe the city and human culture. He got his hands on some fancy clothes and a monocle.
When Sam Wing got his hands on the Knife of Creation and used it to turn all Gremlins back into Mogwai, Noggin was the only one spared because he was still wearing the ring. Now, the last of his brethren, Noggin, boarded a ship for San Francisco.
The Wild Batch[]
Boss Noggin.
During the journey to San Francisco, Noggin created more Gremlins, but they did not share his intelligence and quickly got themselves killed when they tried to leave the ship while it was still day. Noggin thus arrived in San Francisco alone. He adopted the name "Algernon" and tried to make a new life. He ended up in Chinatown, where he met the local crime boss Boss Chang. Despite Algernon's struggles to control his violent impulses and repeated indignities, he managed to work his way up to Boss Chang's favorite employer. When Boss Chang was near death, he declared Algernon his successor since his son Chang was in prison at the time.
Following Boss Chang's passing, Algernon thus became the new crime lord. However, Boss Chang's former employees did not acknowledge his authority and tried to kill him by throwing him into the San Francisco Bay. This led to Noggin spawning a new army of Gremlins that helped him kill the other gang members and take over China Town. Algernon ditched his new name and declared himself "Boss Noggin," the new leader of the Chinatown underworld.
Now, the society leader, Noggin, kept trying to civilize his fellow Gremlins, even hiring teachers to help him—all to no avail. He also sealed off the old smugglers' tunnels under the city so no one could use them against him and provided manual labor to punish those who opposed him.
When Gizmo and his friends arrived in San Fransisco, Noggin was finally overjoyed to have a fellow smart Mogwai. He had Gizmo brought to him and tried to form a sincere friendship with him. He seemed to succeed for a moment, but when Sam, Elle, and Chang arrived to rescue Gizmo, Gizmo quickly sided with his human friends again. Feeling betrayed, Noggin sought to eliminate Gizmo. A chase ensued, which ended with Noggin being trapped in a fireworks factory with his fellow gremlins, whose wild antics caused the place to explode, presumably killing him.
Relationships[]
Trivia[]
- He is the first Gremlin to gain human speech and intelligence chronologically. The Brain Gremlin would do so decades later. Their means of acquiring this ability differed slightly.
- Like Greta, he is the only surviving gremlin of his batch.
- His new name, Algernon, maybe a reference to the novel Flowers for Algernon. Like Algernon, the protagonist is a mentally challenged man whose intelligence is unnaturally enhanced by genius-level comprehension.