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| “ | I don't want to eat them, I don't want to turn them into gold, all I want now is to DESTROY THEM! | „ |
| ~ Gargamel |
Gargamel is the main antagonist of the Smurfs franchise. He is an evil wizard of debatable skill. Since his first defeat at the hands of the Smurfs, his main goal in life is to capture the Smurfs, the reasons varying from story to story, but in general, so as to either eat them or use them as ingredients in one of his potions.
Personality
Gargamel has a nasty and objectionable personality - being a vain, menacing and manipulative old man who dislikes pretty much everybody, but his hatred of the Smurfs is a particular fiery and vocal one. Gargamel will feign friendship for personal gain and is a coward at heart from time to time just like many cartoon villains. His abode is a rundown hut which he shares with his cat named Azrael - who can be considered an enemy of the Smurfs as well.
Gargamel's plans to capture the Smurfs are always elaborate and bizarre but doomed to failure - this failure seems to have given him a very bad temper as he commonly yelled out his hatred for the Smurfs after every defeat (a trait not dissimilar to a certain Dr. Robotnik in the old Sonic cartoons). In his efforts to cause trouble to the Smurfs Gargamel created Smurfette. Despite his hatred of the Smurfs, he has had to be aided by Papa Smurf on a few occasions - usually when he is targeted by a more wicked (and competent) villain or to rescue him from a potion gone horribly wrong. Despite his antisocial nature, he has an apprentice named Scruple, a magical troublemaker that only he is willing to teach magic.
Gargamel's living relatives include his hag of a mother who regards him as a failure, and his godfather Balthazar who also regards his godson as a pathetic amateur. In the final season of the cartoon, the Smurfs encounter many other villains that look like and act like their foe, whom Papa Smurf theorizes are ancestors.
In a Smurfs story, he is the twin brother of Gourmelin, who is the contraries because his sibling is gentler than him. Anyone supposes that they got one of the different side of their parents Gargamel have the evil side from their mother and his twin have the good side from their father. he also have three nephews who are triplets they are maybe from a other brother he have. He force them to capture the Smurfs. But they trapped him by make him go to a lynx cave. He also have a cousin a other warlock, who is also gentle than him he hate all of his family member who are nice.
Powers and Abilities
Although he is a wizard, Gargamel almost never serves magic spells, preferring to rely on his other skills.
He has shown himself to be quite competent in magic potions, able to create many of them almost always successfully and possessing many spell books (although he does not know his formulas and compositions by heart).
Gargamel's main ability is still his intelligence; he has proven to be able to create many effective traps and machines and to manipulate many people to achieve his goals.
In other media
Robot Chicken
Gargamel appears as a recurring character in Robot Chicken. In the shorts the he has appeared in, Gargamel is typically portrayed similarly to in the animated series. But due to the Robot Chicken's comedic nature, fun is constantly poked at his evil schemes and varying motivation for wanting to capture the Smurfs.
In one episode, Brainy Smurf accuses Gargamel of being the murderer who has been plaguing Smurf Village, but Gargamel states that he actually just wants to turn the Smurfs into gold and when Brainy tells him that he thought he wanted to eat the Smurfs, Gargamel states that his motivations were never fully clear. In another episode, after a disastrous flood ravages Smurf village and leaves dozens dead, Gargamel takes advantage of this and finds and cooks dozens of dead Smurfs, only to find that he doesn't like their taste and sadly orders takeout instead. In another episode, after the Smurfberry crop is destroyed by Gypsy Moths, Gargamel finds Smurf Village on Google Maps and offers to hand over his Smurfberries in exchange for having twelve Smurfs fight to the death in a Hunger Games style tournament, although he is later killed when Azrael returns to his lair with an exploding steak. In his most notable appearance, in a parody of Avatar, Gargamel turns himself into a Smurf in order to infiltrate Smurf Village but ends up enjoying being a Smurf instead and reforms, unknowingly leaving Azrael to starve.
The Smurfs live-action films
- Main article: Gargamel (The Smurfs Film Series)
Smurfs: The Lost Village
- Main article: Gargamel (Smurfs: The Lost Village)
Britney Spears Oh La La Music Video
Gargamel makes a cameo appearance when he accidentally zapped Britney Spears by transferring her in Smurf Village.
The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol
Gargamel appears in the story in the future shown to Grouchy by the Smurf of Christmas Future, who has captured nearly all of the Smurfs and proceeds to capture Grouchy as well.
The Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow
Gargamel appears in the story to collect the Smurfs that his traps have captured, only to be chased after by the Headless Horseman. He finds temporary safety inside the covered bridge which the Headless Horseman cannot cross through, but when he taunts the spirit, the Headless Horseman throws a flaming pumpkin inside the bridge, causing Gargamel and his cat Azrael to fall into the river and be carried away toward a waterfall.
Trivia
- According to French sociologist Antoine Buéno, it is believed that Gargamel represents a Jewish stereotype, due to having a big nose, magic powers, love of gold, and balding looks.
- He was created by the late Pierre "Peyo" Culliford.