The character was originally meant to appear once, in a short story of the Smurfs. Because it was such a great antagonist for the Smurfs, Peyo recycled him in subsequent stories, and the man has became the Smurfs main antagonist character, due to his relentless pursuit to destroy, consume or turn the Smurfs into gold. In the 2011 motion picture The Smurfs he is portrayed as wanting the Smurfs “Mystical essence” in order to power his magical wand. Although, in recent adaptations, he is often depicted as more bloodthirsty than his earlier appearance, his intelligence has dulled down considerably, which improves the character’s overall comedic effect.[1]
Appearance and personality
Gargamel is portrayed as a hunched figure in tattered clothes, with decaying teeth. He lives in a shack with his scruffy feline companion, Azrael.[2]
Gargamel hates the Smurfs, although he is not above pretending to befriend them if it serves his interests. He frequently insults and mistreats Azrael, who typically responds in kind. Nonetheless, certain episodes of 'The Smurfs' suggest that Gargamel may have genuine affection for his cat.
Gargamel always wishes harm on The Smurfs, however his motives of doing so differ in many of the portrayals. In the earlier cartoons, it is revealed that he wishes to use their essence to create gold, eat them as a key ingredient for a recipe and even destroy them completely, however in the 2011 motion picture, it is revealed that the Smurfs essence can also contain mystical powers, which he uses for various means in New York.
Conflict with the Smurfs
The character of Gargamel makes his debut in 'Le Voleur de schtroumpf' ('The Smurfnapper'), published in 1959. His aim is to capture a Smurf, which he intends to use to make a potion capable of transmuting base metals into gold (the Philosopher's Stone). This leads to a confrontation with the other Smurfs, who unite to rescue their kidnapped friend. In the ensuing struggle, the sorcerer is defeated, and vows revenge on the Smurfs.
Gargamel's plans oscillate between a desire to devour the Smurfs, transform them into gold, or otherwise destroy them. There are moments of sheer rage where he exclaims, 'I don't want to see them, I don't want to eat them, I don't want to turn them into gold; all I want to do now is destroy them!' His attempts to capture Smurfs are often both bizarre and elaborate, such as his creation of a 'blue magnet' designed to attract blue objects. Gargamel has a vast library of spell books (grimoires), potions, and gadgets, all dedicated to his obsession with the Smurfs. However, his plans inevitably fail, prompting his catchphrase: 'I hate Smurfs!'
Although there have been instances where Gargamel finds the location of the Smurf village, his plans are always thwarted. Either a spell cast by Papa Smurf diverts him, or he strays too far and gets lost. Gargamel even attempts to leave a pheromone trail leading from the village to his house, but the Smurfs use cinnamon to obscure the scent and prevent his return.
In one episode, Gargamel finally achieves his goal to turn the Smurfs into gold, by turning Sassette, Grandpa Smurf, and Brainy Smurf into gold coins, only for two robbers to steal them. Gargamel goes after them to retrieve his coins, but he gets arrested by King Gerald (one of the Smurfs’ friends) and his guards. The Smurfs rescue Sassette, Grandpa, and Brainy and they are returned to their natural form.
In rare instances, Gargamel finds himself aligned with the Smurfs. In the episode 'Fountain of Smurf', Papa Smurf is transformed into a Smurfling, and needs Gargamel's assistance to return to his natural form.
At other times, Gargamel proves that even his evil has limits. In "The Smurfs Christmas Special," Gargamel gets together with a mysterious wizard in his quest to destroy the Smurfs at Christmas. However, when his new ally reveals he plans to kidnap two children, Gargamel refuses to cooperate, and ultimately assists the Smurfs in defeating the wizard.
Gargamel has a spell book known as the 'Great Book of Spells' in the basement of his home. This book is a sentient entity, bound by an arrangement requiring it to provide Gargamel with one requested spell per month, during the final phase of the full moon. The book adheres to the letter of the agreement but often interprets Gargamel's wishes literally, leading him through humiliating rituals and ingredient-gathering tasks. In later seasons, it is suggested that the book's intentions may not be malicious, and it merely disapproves of selfish spellcasting, assisting the Smurfs in resolving magical crises.
In his endeavors to torment the Smurfs, Gargamel has even created other Smurfs, most notably Smurfette. While Smurfette is eventually adopted by the Smurfs, Sassette Smurfling, created by the other Smurflings, is shaped from the same clay Gargamel used for Smurfette. Sassette holds a unique perspective in the Smurf village, referring to Gargamel as 'Pappy Gargamel' and hoping to find some redeeming qualities in him.
In more modern adaptations, such as the two live-action films and 'The Lost Village', Gargamel's goal shifts to extracting the essence of Smurfs to attain ultimate sorcerous power and conquer the world.
Relationships
One time, Gargamel did almost get married. His "mummy" decided it was high time he took a wife and introduced him to a baron's lovely daughter (Andria), who did not really love him. He did not really have any feelings for the girl either, until he saw in her hope chest a definitive map to the Smurf Village and then proclaimed his love for her and accepted her hand in marriage. (Of course, he still did not love her, just the map to the Smurf Village.) Some Smurfs showed up at the wedding and wrought enough havoc to ruin the wedding completely, so finally the ceremony was canceled.
In the episode "Gargamel's Sweetheart", he does fall in love with Evelyn, a glamorous but evil witch who he tries unsuccessfully to impress with his claims of being a rich, powerful wizard, but he does catch her interest when he also claims to know how to turn lead into gold, and gets her to agree to help him catch the Smurfs to do so. Their efforts go unrewarded thanks partly to his bungling.
In 1988, the eight season of the series, Gargamel was forced to deal with Denisa, Balthazar’s niece. In "A Smurf for Denisa", he was forced to take care of her while Balthazar was busy. Later, Gargamel captures Sassette (who befriended Denisa), but Denisa gets angry at this and stops him. He then takes the two girls to his home, but while Denisa was away, he tries to eat Sassette, but she runs away after Gargamel captures Papa, Nanny, and the Smurflings. Sassette, Denisa, and Smoogle then go to Gargamel’s home, and while Smoogle makes a distraction, Sassette and Denisa rescue their friends. Gargamel tries to stop them, but he gets stopped by Balthazar, who zaps him. In "Denisa’s Greedy Doll", he uses Denisa’s doll to make into a voodoo doll, by using Greedy’s apron, but then Denisa arrives and takes her doll. Later, Denisa tries to get her doll back, but the doll falls right into Papa, who uses it to reverse the spell on Greedy to Gargamel. Denisa finally gets her doll back, and Gargamel captures the Smurfs, but when Denisa goes to visit Balthazar, the spell on her doll controls Gargamel. In "Denisa’s Slumber Party", he and Azrael (Scruple does not appear in the episode) are forced to babysit Denisa when she hosts a party (in which she also invites Sassette). But when Gargamel hears Sassette, Papa, Smurfette, and the Smurflings trying to rescue Denisa from a dragon, he captures Sassette and tries to get the other Smurfs, but only the get stopped by Denisa. To making things worse, he and Azrael accidentally break Balthazar’s crystal, and this makes Balthazar very angry, and he zaps them.
Cartoon series
Being the earliest of the Smurfs' sworn enemies, it was inevitable that Gargamel would be a recurring character in the Hanna-Barberacartoon series. In the opening theme, he shouts out his hatred for the Smurfs and begins his desperate attempts to catch them.
Despite his never-ending hatred and frustration for the Smurfs, more than once has he had to rely on Papa Smurf to help save him from a more wicked enemy's plans (such as Balthazar) or to rescue him from a potion gone horribly wrong. Other times, they have had to team up to fight a common enemy. On another occasion, the episode "The Fountain of Smurf", Papa Smurf drinks too much water from a fountain of youth and becomes a smurfling. The Smurfs are forced to rely on Gargamel to come to their aid and help turn Papa Smurf back to his proper age. Gargamel and Azrael themselves fall into the Fountain of Youth, and become a child and a kitten again, respectively.
In later episodes, he acquired an apprentice named Scruple, who was frequently rejected from a boarding school for young wizards (which Gargamel himself had been expelled from in his youth) and only Gargamel was willing to teach him magic, and only because he was bribed by the wizards in charge of the school. Scruple seems moderately brighter and savvier than his master, though still inexperienced in the ways of magic. Although Scruple aids Gargamel in capturing the Smurfs, his main problem is with the students of the wizard academy who berate him for failing to qualify for admission. However, in the scheme of things, the smugness of the students proves to be a weakness for them, as Scruple has some success using Gargamel's magic to cause them problems. In one episode, Scruple finds the Great Book of Spells.
In 1989, the final season of the series, where the Smurfs are constantly traveling through time, different incarnations of Gargamel would appear, such as showing him as an Indian fakir, a Russian peasant, or a Spanish bullfighter. In one of the earlier episodes of the final seasons, where Gargamel is shown as an Egyptian pharaoh's aide, Papa Smurf believes that all these similar-looking men (and their cats) seen must be ancestors of the infamous Gargamel and Azrael of their present time.
The name "Gargamel" resembles François Rabelais' classic Gargantua and Pantagruel, where the giantess Gargamelle is the mother of Gargantua. This is appropriate since Gargamel is a giant compared to the Smurfs. The word gargamelle in French is also a slang term for "throat".
Yvan Delporte suggested the name "Gargamel"; he also proposed the name "Azrael", considering "angel of death" an appropriate name for the would-be killer of Smurfs. He also liked the rhyme with Gargamel.
Names in other languages
In many languages, the name Gargamel is kept in the cartoon series, e.g Croatian, Czech, Dutch/Flemish, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.
However in a few languages, the character's name is different:
Finnish: Velho, directly translated from English word "wizard"
German: Gurgelhals (literally "throat neck", implying strangling). From 1995 onward, the original name Gargamel is used in Smurf comics publications. In the TV series the original name Gargamel was always used
Disenchantment has some parody elements upon the Smurfs.
Related Research Articles
Smurfette is one of the protagonists from the comic strip The Smurfs. Smurfette was created by the evil wizard Gargamel, the Smurfs' archenemy, in order to spy on them and sow jealousy. However, she decides that she wants to be a real Smurf and Papa Smurf casts a spell that changes her hair from black to blonde as a sign of her transformation. She was the only female Smurf until the creation of Sassette. A Granny Smurf was also later introduced, although it is unclear how she was created. Thierry Culliford, the son of the comics' creator, Peyo, and current head of the Studio Peyo, announced in 2008 that more female Smurfs would be introduced in the stories. Smurfette has stereotypical feminine features, with long blonde wavy hair, long eyelashes, and wears a white dress and white high heels. She is the love interest of almost every Smurf.
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