(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Slave Island") - The slave-workers were in for a shock when three of the X-Men: Storm, Gambit and Jubilee were also imprisoned and forced to work alongside them. Gremlin was seen pouring cement alongside Gambit and Jubilee after Storm had been imprisoned in the "box" (isolation) after trying to escape. Not long after, the slave-workers stopped work when the Magistrates noticed a fire in the nearby forest (courtesy of time traveler Cable), to be safe all slave-workers were returned to their cells.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Slave Island" - BTS) - The following day, Gambit acquired the power-dampening collar's key, freed his friends and together agreed to free the slave-workers.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Slave Island") - Gremlin, Rictor, Warpath and many other slave-workers were shocked when the X-Men returned, successfully deactivating the power-dampening collars. Freed, Gremlin stood by as the mutants with more offensive powers joined the X-Men in their fight against the Magistrates and Sentinels. Having defeated them, Jubilee urged the former slaves to help them deal with the Sentinel factory. Sunfire, speaking for the former slaves refused reminding her of their last failed uprising and explained they would take over Genosha as a whole after which they left. To deal with the Sentinel factory, Storm then summoned a powerful storm causing the dam to collapse and destroy the factory.

Comments: Created by Mark Edward Edens and AKOM Productions (see Appearances list for full list of artists)

For more than thirty years, the small green mutant briefly seen running beside Warpath and Pyro in the opening credits of X-Men: The Animated Series remained one of the show's biggest mysteries. Fans variously identified him as Gremlin, Gargoyle, or other characters, while the series itself never acknowledged his existence. In truth, the character was nothing more than a background extra created for the "Slave Island" episode.

  In the wonderful book Previously on X-Men: The Making of an Animated Series, producer Eric Lewald recalled that the character was actually the result of an animation error by overseas studio AKOM. According to Larry Houston, who designed the opening sequence with Will Meugniot, another artist had inserted both the green mutant and Warpath into the opening credits after taking their models from "Slave Island" to better balance both sides of the screen. However, this was done without Houston's or Meugniot's approval. By the time Houston noticed the change and requested a correction, it was too late in production to alter the animation, leaving the mysterious green figure in the final opening credits.

  Years later, however, Houston revisited the mystery and recalled that the artist had in fact intended the character to be Gremlin, the obscure mutant son of Gargoyle. Although Gremlin never appeared in any episode of the series beyond this brief cameo in the opening titles, Houston's recollection finally resolved one of the fandom's longest-running debates and established the character's intended identity.

While Larry Houston's recollection establishes that the character was intended to be Gremlin (Kondrati Topolov), the animated design bears little resemblance to his Earth-616 counterpart. The comic-book Gremlin is not a mutant but a mutate, lacks the character's distinctive oversized bald head, has never worn a similar costume, and generally looks nothing like the figure seen in the opening credits. In reality, the character was simply a throwaway background extra whose model was reused in the opening sequence and only years later identified as Gremlin. As such, the Earth-92131 incarnation should be viewed as a unique interpretation of the character rather than a faithful adaptation of his Earth-616 counterpart.

  The same principle applies to the diminutive psychic mutant captured by Apocalypse during "Beyond Good & Evil". Although fans have long speculated that he represented either Gremlin or Gargoyle, his appearance bears little resemblance to either Earth-616 character. Since the opening-credits character has now been identified as Gremlin, the Marvel Appendix has gone with naming the psychic mutant as Gargoyle (Yuri Topolov) instead of Gremlin, thereby preserving the father-and-son relationship established in the comics. But again it's Earth-92131 incarnation should be viewed as a unique interpretation of the character rather than a faithful adaptation of his Earth-616 counterpart.

When the animated series returned in 2024 as X-Men '97, Gremlin and Warpath were replaced in the opening credits by the White Queen (Emma Frost) and Lady Deathstrike (Yuriko Oyama).

When, in 2015's Secret Wars, the Multiverse was destroyed following the incursions of planets it appeared as if Reality-92131 was drafted onto Battleworld as the Westchester domain. However, this has since been debunked. As such the reality seen in the two volumes of X-Men '92 (2015 and 2016-2017) now have their own reality-designation of Earth-15730. The X-Men '92: House of XCII (2022) series was inspired by both the animated series and Hickman's House of X run but is its own separate reality. The limited series X-Men '97 (2024), however, is Reality-92131 and bridges the gap between the original X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon and the new X-Men '97: The Animated Series cartoon.

Profile by MarvellousLuke

CLARIFICATIONS:
Gremlin has no known connections to:

• GREMLIN, deformed human mutate genius who worked for the Soviet government--Incredible Hulk I#163
• or any other "Gremlin" characters

images: (without ads)
X-Men The Art and Making of The Animated Series book, p261 (main image, digitally colored by MarvellousLuke)
X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Slave Island" (enslaved)
X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Slave Island" (rescued)
X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon intro (first appearance)

Appearances:
X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Slave Island" (February 13, 1993) - Mark Edward Edens (writer), Kathi Castillo, Rick Hoberg, Louis Williams (model design), Thibault Descamps, Steve Olds (prop design), Steve Olds (layout design), Jeff Richards, Dennis Venizelos (background design), Flavia Mitman, Trish Medelson (color key design), Dan Gausett, Michael Swanigan, Romeo Francisco, Douglas P. Battle, Clint Taylor, Grey Garcia, Adrian Gonzales, John Ahern, Armando Carillo (storyboard directors), Fred Carillo, Pat Agnasin, Rudy Mesina, Cesar Magsombal, Steve Simone, Abel Laxamana (storyboard cleanup), AKOM Productions (animation studio), Eric Lewald (story editor)

First Posted: 06/30/2026
Last Updated: 06/30/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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