The Smurfs television series debuted in 1981 and lasted till 1990. The series became a hit during its run and still maintains its presence in pop culture today. The cartoon series by Hannah-Barbera was based on the original Belgium comic called The Smurfs. The show revolves around a species of tiny blue creatures called Smurfs who live in a secret village. They are half-gnome, half-human, and each Smurf has its own role in the village with a unique personality. The main adventures in the show came from the main antagonist, Gargamel, who has an evil sorcerer who hunted the Smurfs.
What made the Smurfs so lovable was their quirky language in which everything was “Smurfified”. For instance, you didn’t bake a cake in the village, you Smurfed up a cake. You wondered how you were going to make an occasion extra “Smurfy” or how you needed to “Smurf up for a rainy day”. All the Smurfs became hit cultural icons and spawned multiple spin-offs and lines of merchandise. So “la la la la la la” let’s meet all the Smurfs in the 19080’s cartoon series.
Main Smurf Characters
Papa Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 1
Papa Smurf is the most well-known smurf of them all. He is the leader of the entire Smurf species and a father figure to them all. He has been around for hundreds of years and is the wisest smurf of the village. In the cartoon series, his character is more kind and understanding compared to other versions of Papa Smurf in comics and movies.
Distinguishing Features – Papa Smurf is the easiest to identify because of his bright red hat and pants. He also has a long white beard.
Smurfette
Debut – Season One, Episode 1
Besides Papa Smurf, Smurfette is the next easiest Smurf to identify as she is female. Smurfette was the first female Smurf to be introduced to the village. A fun fact about Smurfette is that she was actually created by Gargamel to infiltrate the Smurfs and destroy them from the inside. It was not until Papa Smurf turned her into a real Smurf with a potion that she became fully accepted among the tribe.
Distinguishing Features – She has long blond hair and wears a white dress.
Brainy Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 1
Other than Papa Smurf, Brainy is considered the smartest Smurf in the village. He is an intellectual, bookworm but sometimes fails to his intellect in a beneficial way. In fact, most of the other Smurfs pick on him and become annoyed when he shares his wisdom unsolicited. He often quotes Papa Smurf and warns others that they should follow their leader’s wishes.
Distinguishing Features – He wears very thick black glasses, you might call them stereotypical “Nerd” glasses.
Hefty Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 1
Hefty is the muscle man of the village. He is the protector of the group, especially Smurfette. He is very athletic and most often you will find him working out. He is a straight-shooter and very serious, you will not find Hefty laughing much throughout the cartoon series.
Distinguishing Features – He has a heart tattoo on his left shoulder. The heart sometimes has an arrow going through it.
Clumsy Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 1
I’m sure many people can identify with Clumsy as he just can’t seem to get through a day without stumbling over himself and other Smurfs. Despite his obvious flaw, he is one of the most kind-hearted and sweetest Smurf. He just wants to help out and not feel useless. Unfortunately, his clumsiness impedes his ability to be useful to the other Smurfs in the village.
Distinguishing Features – He has a very droopy hat and is gangly seeming to not be able to fully control his body.
Greedy Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 1
Greedy Smurf is the main chef in Smurf Village. He is quite the gluten and is almost always seen with some food in his hand. He has a short fuse and is easily angered when someone destroys one of his food creations.
Distinguishing Features – He often wears a napkin around his neck and his hat resembles a Chef’s hat.
Grouchy Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 1
I hate this, I hate that, I hate everything. That is grouchy in a nutshell. He is the truest to his name and finds displeasure in almost any activity suggested by other Smurfs. He never wants to participate in any activity and is often in the background with a scowl on his face. No one really knows why he is such a grump but they accept that’s just who he is.
Distinguishing Features – Has a constant scowl on his face with angry eyebrows. He will never smile, ever.
Lazy Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 1
Lazy Smurf is a Smurf after my own heart, he just wants to lie all around all day doing nothing. When the other Smurfs are working hard you will usually find Lazy sleeping on the job. He is very soft-spoken and has a kind heart. Despite his laziness, most of the other Smurfs are friendly with him.
Distinguishing Features – He is always tired with droopy eyes. He may often be in his pajamas or carrying a pillow
Dreamy Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 1
The resident daydreamer and Smurf who pines for greater things is Dreamy Smurf. He is like the small-town boy who dreams of moving to the big city. He has a vivid imagination and is drawn to adventure. It is implied that he may be the sailor of the group as in scenes where they are at sea he is always the captain of the boat.
Distinguishing Features – He has very pronounced eyebrows that sit close to his hat. He is wide-eyed and usually has a lost look in his eyes like he is staring off into space.
Jokey Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 1
Jokey is the class clown or should I say, village clown. He loves a good prank, joke, and gag. He treats every day like it is April Fool’s day. His favorite prank is giving other Smurf’s a gift only to have it blow up in their face. His antics do sometimes help get the Smurfs out of trouble especially when he gives a gag gift to an enemy and it explodes on them.
Distinguishing Features – He has an annoying giggle and clown-like voice. He often carries around a gag gift box.
Harmony Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 1
Harmony is the town musician with his instrument of choice being a trumpet or horn. In spite of the fact that his name is Harmony, he is usually off-key with his tunes and the other smurfs find his music off-putting. He is stubborn and plays his trumpet all day despite the village’s complaints.
Distinguishing Features – He always has his trusty yellow horn on hand.
Vanity Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 3
Vanity loves himself and I mean really loves himself. He is constantly admiring his reflection in his mirror and is in love with his own beauty. He truly believes he is the most beautiful Smurf to ever live and claims he is even more pretty than a pixie.
Distinguishing Features – He has a pink flower on his hat and is always carrying a tiny handheld mirror.
Handy Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 1
Handy is of course the village Handyman. He is the jack of all trades and always inventing new tools to use throughout Smurf Village. He is one of the most needed and valuable Smurfs as he built all the houses for the SMurfs to live in.
Distinguishing Features – He almost always has a yellow or red pencil in his ear. He also wears overalls that can be blue, green, or white.
Poet Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 5
Poet is the resident Shakesperian of Smurf Village. He has a creative mind and is inspired by everything around him. His favorite type of poetry to write is “Odes”, as in Ode To The Sun.
Distinguishing Features – He is usually carrying around a scroll on which he has written his poems.
Painter Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 19
Painter Smurf is the creative artist of the group regularly painting portraits of individual Smurfs. He speaks with a French accent and is very protective of his artwork. He can tend to be a little over dramatic at times which is to be expected from the creative one.
Distinguishing Features – He is usually seen with a red jacket and black bowtie although in early episodes he just has his handheld color palette.
Farmer Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 11
Farmer Smurf is responsible for the great feasts the Smurfs enjoy on a daily basis. He is the grower and harvester of all the food and takes his responsibilities very seriously. He detests bad weather and predator birds but overall is a kind, gentle soul.
Distinguishing Features – In some episodes, he is seen with a straw farmer hat and overalls.
Minor Smurf Characters
Sorcerer Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 5
Sorcerer Smurf is the most powerful wizard of Smurfville. His magic is even more powerful than Papa Smurf’s. He only appeared in 1 episode where he helped the Smurfs escape from Gargamel.
Distinguishing Features – He appears as a shadowy figure and we never get to see his true identity. He holds a stick and has a magic glow around him.
Hundredth Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 28
The Hundredth Smurf is actually a clone version of Vanity Smurf. He came to life when Vanity was holding his mirror and it got struck by lightning. He would act in the total opposite manner as his twin Vanity. He only made one appearance throughout the TV series.
Distinguishing Features – He is an exact replica of Vanity with a pink flower on his hat.
Tailor Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 39
The man who makes and repairs all the Smurf’s clothing is Tailor Smurf. He does not make many appearances throughout the show but when he does he is almost always very busy.
Distinguishing Features – He wears a tape measure around his neck and a few pins in his hat.
Scaredy Smurf
Debut – Season Two, Episode 1
Scaredy is the Smurf most likely to be scared by his own shadow. He is literally scared of everything from bugs to the weather and even a simple hello. Due to his high anxiety and twitchy behavior, he is often teased by the other Smurfs.
Distinguishing Features – He is usually seen having a nervous demeanor such as his body shaking. He will also pull his hat over his eyes.
Sloppy Smurf
Debut – Season Two, Episode 1
There is no way to say it nicely, Sloppy is one dirty, smelly character. He actually enjoys collecting smelly objects and has a fly as a pet. He does not participate in group activities and just enjoys collecting his garbage and rotten food to pass the time.
Distinguishing Features – He has a worn-out hat with a gray patch and his pants usually droop like they are too big for him. His hat also covers his eyes.
Tracker Smurf
Debut – Season Two, Episode 1
Tracker is a very valuable Smurf as he has a great sense of smell and the ability to track many things including the weather. He is very excitable and takes a strong passion for using his skills for good. He only appeared in a few episodes after Season Two.
Distinguishing Features – He wears a red feather on the side of his hat.
Greedy Devil Smurf
Debut – Season One, Episode 39
Devil Smurf is a classic conscious devil character that appears over Greedy Smurfs’ shoulder. As you can imagine he gives bad advice and advises Greedy to be selfish.
Distinguishing Features – He is a very tiny clone of Greedy and is all red like the devil.
Timid Smurf
Debut – Season Six, Episode 11
Timid Smurf also goes by the name Actor Smurf and only had one appearance in the 1980s television show in Season 6. He is shy and introverted and most often likes being alone. He had a more significant role in the comic books than he did in the animated series.
Distinguishing Features – None, he looks just like a regular smurf besides his shy personality.
Main Smurf Villains
Gargamel
Debut – Season One, Episode 1
Gargamel is the main evil villain in The Smurfs TV series. He is motivated by money and has a strong hate for all the Smurfs. He is constantly on the hunt to find their secret village so he can capture them all once and for all. The only thing that he seems to enjoy his is loyal cat companion Azrael who is his only friend.
Distinguishing Features – He is bald with dark hair on the sides. He has a large nose and always wears an old black robe.
Azrael
Debut – Season One, Episode 1
Azrael is Gargamel’s loyal pet cat. He like Gargamel does not like the Smurfs. He is constantly chasing them in what appears to be an attempt to eat them, he is a cat after all. He has been with Gargamel since he was a little kitten and seems to have an understanding of his owner’s commands.
Distinguishing Features – He is a reddish cat of an unknown breed. He has a white mouth and yellow eyes.