Far, very far from here, deep in the forest, there was a hidden village full of mushroom-shaped houses where tiny creatures lived. They called themselves the Smurfs. They were only three apples high, had blue skin and dressed in white trousers and a cap. Yet they are a happy, easy-going bunch - give or take one or two. The Smurfs were good. Then there was Gargamel, the evil wizard. He was bad. Well, the forest is still there. And if you listen, you may hear Gargamel's rage. But if you were good, you may just catch a glimpse of the Smurfs.
Papa Smurf is the village leader of the gang, and is easy to recognize with his white beard and red clothes. Papa Smurf is no less than 542 years old - and no more either. He is extremely wise and always willing to help any fellow smurf who needs it. He's also a pretty good alchemist.
Brainy Smurf is constantly by Papa Smurf's side, and is a moralizer who believes everything Papa Smurf says is sacred. He is the only Smurf to take everything seriously. He sometimes seems to make more trouble than good. He always seems to be around whenever a problem needed solving and is usually somehow able to use his smarts to escape from Gargamel's many traps.
Jokey Smurf spends all his time concocting pranks and has an endless stream of jokes. Sometimes, he gets on everyone's nerves. He is a particularly generous smurf though. He is so generous in fact that he gave packages to all the other Smurfs. However, the joke is that the packages often exploded (although a lot of them blow up in his face). The others eventually caught on to his jokes though.
Baker Smurf makes the most delicious desserts for the Smurfs. You can't miss him with his tall white hat and apron. And his house is always the source of the delicious smell of hot bread, muffins, pies and sweets. Needles to say, he is a "cordon bleu". He gets mighty upset if anybody steals food or eats out of turn. He is very picky about his selections, which always makes for a wonderful baker and chef.
Greedy Smurf's motto is: "One should live to smurf, and not smurf to live". Eat, eat, eat. Everything is tasty: sarsaparilla, soup, cheese, fruit. But what he really prefers are the goodies he often steals from Baker Smurf.
Baby Smurf was brought into Smurf Village by a stork on a blue, moonlit night. (No baby-making here). He is really playful and sometimes annoys the other Smurfs who don't understand that he is only a child having fun. No-one knows where he came from, but everyone immediately adopted him - even though he breaks the routine of their lives.
Poet Smurf spends his days scribbling prose, quatrains and essays. He daydreams so much he doesn't realize the danger he gets himself into. His latest tale is called: "Smurfy Dumpty sat on a smurf".
Painter Smurf lives only for his craft. Canvas, brushes and colour are the joys of his life. He paints portraits and landscapes dressed in an apron with an oversized bow tie. Smurfette is his favourite model.
Lazy Smurf only thinks of sleeping. When he painfully wakes in the morning, he waits for the evening to go back to sleep. He loves his pillow. He isn't idle, but any little job tires him. Lazy's laziness doesn't bother the other Smurfs except Brainy who's always after him, admonishing him each time he dozes off.
The Schlips are what the Smurfs turn into after the Smurfs carry the spaceship into the crater of an inactive volcano, where they drink a secret beverage of Papa Smurf. Their skin turns orange, long black hair grows on their heads and they wear furry loincloths. After this peculiar adventure they all turn back into Smurfs.
The Smurf Apprentice is the Smurf who wanted to make magic just like Papa Smurf. He tried a magic recipe taken from one of Gargamel's book of spells. He drinks the beverage and turns into a big nosed monster with green skin covered in scales and a long fat tail. As he can't find an antidote, Apprentice sneaks into Gargamel's place, where with the help of the other Smurfs, he returns to normal.
Clockwork Smurf was invented and built by Handy to help him out with domestic work. He is useful to everyone and makes delicious sarsaparilla soup for the whole village. From time to time he leaves the Smurfs but comes back regularly to say hello to his friends and takes this opportunity to have his mechanical insides overhauled.
Smurfette is the only adult female smurf. She was created by Gargamel as a purple Smurf with dark hair in order to lure the other Smurfs, but her innate smurfiness shined through and she became accepted into the smurfy society. She is also intelligent, using her "girliness" to her advantage.
Vanity Smurf loves to look good, and usually for Smurfette. He always has a pink flower on his hat because it makes him feel good and adds to his natural charm. Vanity simply adores himself. He thinks he is the smurfiest Smurf in the village and love talking fashion with Smurfette. He is there to help any fellow smurf when needed, but he always makes sure to look his best while doing it.
Grouchy Smurf is never in a good mood. No matter what anyone says, Grouchy is against it. He grumbles and mumbles and always thinks negative. If he ever feels even the slightest bit cheerful, he would never admit it. He is quick to find faults with all the other Smurfs, expressing doubt about the Smurfs plans to escape Gargamel and company. But underneath it all, he's a softy and loves Sassette and Baby. But he'd hate it if people knew.
Handy Smurf is the village handyman. He has become an expert in building houses out of mushrooms - the only one in the world. He will also build furniture and any other items the Smurfs may need out of the goodness of his heart. He is also a creator. The pencil behind his ear is always being used to sketch things like a robot, a choo-choo train or a machine to smurf rain.
Harmony Smurf has the soul of a great musician, but not the talent. He plays in the philharmonic smurfestra. But the only sounds that come from his cornet are Kwaaak and Pweeet. He is always playing his horn announcing important Smurf issues. But, he really cannot play his horn very well and has lots of problems trying to get his fellow Smurfs to listen to his performances. Smurfs who want to nap need a stock of earplugs.
Astro Smurf is the Smurf from space. Does he wear that helmet all over the village? I would guess anytime that he wants to differentiate himself from the rest. I have a feeling he was introduced to the series during the big "space excitement" campaign from the 80s.
Enamoured Smurf is in love with Smurfette ever since her arrival. He dreams about her, carves her name in trees and pulls the petals off daisies, reciting "She loves me, she loves me not...". When she loves him not, he cries all night.
Farmer Smurf is the opposite of Poet; he is a Smurf of the earth. He's never satisfied. When he needs a little rain to help his salads grow, the sun shines, and vice versa. His speech is rough but he's the best at sorting out fertilizers and growing the tastiest vegetables and fruits in the world.
Hefty Smurf can be distinguished by a heart-shaped tattoo on his arm. Hefty is the strongest Smurf in the village. He exercises, he is a sportsman and has even organised the Olympic Smurfs. One can always depend on him if there is any hard work to be done. He is kind of a lout but everyone loves him.
King Smurf appears while Papa Smurf is away on a trip. The Smurfs decided to appoint themselves a new leader. One of them is elected and immediately puts on a crown, an ermine coat, takes a scepter and calls himself: "King Smurf". He acts like a dictator. The Smurfs rise up against him and take to the bush, it's a civil war. Fortunately, Papa Smurf returns to the village and everything returns to normal.
Flying Smurf has but one dream: to rise up in the air and fly like a bird. He tries all possible means to fulfill his dream. He sticks feathers to his back, builds fabric wings, tries a kite, a magic broomstick, springs on his feet, the wings of a windmill and even a rocket. After having tried soap bubbles and a hot air balloon, he drinks a special potion that makes him lighter than air. But bewildered that he cannot come down anymore he has to eat bricks to touch the ground again.
Grandpa Smurf is the oldest of all Smurfs, and comes back to village after a five hundred-year leave. He has not taken Papa's leading role but his energy and enthusiasm are impressive. Besides wearing a bright yellow cap and pants, Grandpa always wears pince-nez glasses. He's an avid storyteller and loves to show off some of the souvenirs he has collected during his travels.
Then, there are the Smurflings. After they got caught in Father Time's clock, these three Smurfs became the only ones who are not 100 years old. They are actually getting younger! Their names are Slouchy, Nat and Snappy.
Slouchy is not lazy. He just doesn't care for anything. If he is asked to do anything, he will. But slowly. He plays mellow sax in the Smurfling band. Slouchy will never have a nervous breakdown.
Nat loves nature, and more than anything else he is crazy about animals. Of all his furry and feathered friends, he prefers the caterpillar that turns into a butterfly. Barefoot and wearing a straw hat, Nat is a genuine ecolosmurf.
Snappy lives up to his name by being a ball of energy. He goes absolutely berserk when he doesn't get his way. He is so impatient and bad-tempered that only Papa Smurf can calm him down.
Sassette Smurf is the second girl in Smurf Village. (Yes, there were two!). She was created by the Smurflings to keep Smurfette company. She has red pigtails and pink overalls. She is a bit of a tomboy and younger than Smurfette, but I'm sure kept Smurfette company. Girls have to stick together in a village filled with over a hundred other boys.
Puppy was a gift from Homnibus to Papa Smurf. But even a dog this small is big by Smurf standards, which can be a problem. As only Baby Smurf managed to open the locket around his neck, he became the dog's master. Puppy often protects his friends from Gargamel and Azrael's attacks.
Then, of course, there are the bad guys, and these guys were BAD!
Gargamel just couldn't get enough of the Smurfs. He was always out to capture them for one reason or another. Maybe he needed them for a magic spell or food, or maybe he had nothing better to do that day. For whatever reason, every episode he attempted to capture them in different "ingenious" ways, but was (luckily) never successful. He's not the smartest villain of the bunch because other bad guys could easily influence him with threats. Actually, he was too much of a coward to pick on anyone his own size.
Azrael is one of those rare cats who seems to think that mice are blue, or maybe that's what Gargamel wants her to think. Whatever the reason, during every episode she was chasing those lovable Smurfs. She knew that Gargamel didn't really know what he was doing, but begrudgingly went along with his plans. She certainly wasn't fond of the Smurfs though.
