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* There are rare times - both in the comics and cartoon show - when Gargamel was perfectly willing to put his villainy aside. Examples include the comic book story where he meets Roxanna who he falls in love with (and not only does he stop chasing Smurfs, he also lets them come close to help him [[NoSocialSkills improve his socialization skills]]), getting a job as a court mage in one cartoon episode, and giving up chasing Smurfs in favor of birdwatching in another. And all of these times, something happens that [[StatusQuoIsGod prevents him from performing a]] HeelFaceTurn; in the comic book his mother slips him a love potion (which implies she's one of the people keeping him evil) and Roxanna reveals she's been married, leaving Gargamel utterly heartbroken, and in the cartoon episodes he's thwarted by the Smurfs who anger him by showing up and/or bothering him (and it's a known fact that he despises Smurfs for his repeated humiliations so much that he can't stand them by default). No wonder Gargamel refuses to become good, he believes that [[BeingGoodSucks being a good guy won't lead to a happier life than being a bad guy]]!
* Quite possibly, his life story would go like this:[softreturn]As a very young boy, Gargamel was genuinely kind (if also a bit brash due to having a harsh witch for a mother) and he looked to impress his demanding family. Then he grew up a little and began socializing with others, which is where the problems began. As it had turned out, Gargamel was different from the others; he was scrawny, weak and clumsy in contrast to them despite his best efforts, and his physical appearance made him stick out in a crowd like a sore thumb. Seeing him as a bullying target thanks to him being less capable of success than them, his peers soon began heckling him. Unfortunately, Gargamel did not take this very well, instead perceiving the heckling as his peers being malicious towards him for no reason - [[StartOfDarkness igniting his inner resentment towards others that would grow over his lifetime]]. But at the same time he kept doing his best to succeed in hopes of earning respect, yet his flawed nature kept getting in the way... so he kept failing and failing, over and over, and his peers continued heckling him, establishing a vicious cycle Gargamel was unable to escape from. Even after growing up some more, his failures still kept coming and others kept ridiculing him even as teenagers and adults, festering Gargamel's ever growing wrath and desire to not be humiliated. He eventually gave up and stopped trying to impress all but those of high class, abandoning the wizard school he once attended and moving on to live alone in a nearby forest where he was born. After having consumed him completely, his resentment soon manifested as profound malice and desire to harm others as revenge for all the abuse he's endured - also known as his "evilness".[softreturn]Then there's his relationship with his godfather Balthazar. Have you ever seen how terrified Gargamel becomes when Balthazar is around? That's because he learned to fear him as a child. Namely, during his childhood, every so often he and his mother would pay a visit to Balthazar. Gargamel didn't mind at first, but like his mother Balthazar never showed him any positive emotions and was also quick to berate and belittle him whenever Balthazar heard something from either Gargamel or his mother that he didn't like. He would also occasionally deliver physical punishment whenever Gargamel made some sort of mess in his castle - and given Gargamel's clumsy nature, this wasn't uncommon. As a result, Gargamel's mindset became conditioned to follow one particular rule: 'Balthazar is stronger than you. You have to fear him. No fear means dire consequences.'[softreturn]And now we come to Azrael, his pet cat. Gargamel met Azrael as a kitten during his teenage years, when his dark heart grew at a steady pace but was still open enough to accept a new friend. Azrael, as a non-human, didn't judge Gargamel at all, and so the two were quick to become the best of friends. As years passed however, Gargamel's anger breached the surface and clouded his view on Azrael as someone he loves, leading to him sometimes being violent to his cat in a fit of anger and seeing him as more of a partner or underling than a friend. But as the aforementioned "Tear of a Smurf" shows, he does still care about his cat and wouldn't want to trade him for anything in the world.

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** Additionally, the kind of spell he puts on the flute and what he says the spell is may be hinting at this. Namely, Gargamel says that the spell will make all those who hear it become evil and have them do bad things, but when some on-screen characters do become affected by the spell, [[InformedAttribute their behavior is nowhere near evil]]. If anything, the affected characters act less evil and more hostile; Woody becomes extremely pissed and leaves Laconia, two kings who were playing chess get angry and declare war on each other, and a couple of bluebirds turn aggressive and attempt to attack Smurfs in their village. An evil person wouldn't just turn hostile and suddenly attack others in a fit of anger, they would (also) do things such as lie and manipulate others to gain an advantage over them, whereas here the spell-induced "evilness" fills its victims with unbridled rage instead of desire to actively cause pain to others for their own satisfaction. Gargamel wasn't turning others evil, he was making them feel the great wrath that plagues his heart.




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* In "Crying Smurfs", Gargamel captures Weepy and is getting ready to eat him, when the little Smurf begins pitying the wizard in tears, and Gargamel also begins crying and explaining how he feels for a minute or two before he relapses into his usual behavior. As short as it was, he tells how no one respects him at all - not his fellow wizards, not his mother, not even his own cat. Remember that he also told this to a ''Smurf'', a creature he despises more than anything.
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[[WMG:Gargamel is NotEvilJustMisunderstood - with his "evilness" being the result of ThenLetMeBeEvil.]]
Yes, Gargamel has proven to be cruel and evil, with him even having those moments where he's proud of someone else giving him negative adjectives or calling himself "evil". But this is just the exterior, heavily coating his true self - a lonely old man who only wants love and respect, but gets none and is so used to being surrounded by those who want anything but genuine friendship with him that he can almost no longer see those who do care about him. There's some evidence of this:
* In "They're Smurfing Our Song", he goes about his villainous business as usual, cursing Woody's panflute and capturing several Smurfs. And then Sassette comes and tells him she loves him, and is genuine about it. A truly evil person would most likely scoff at this, but what Gargamel does instead is kneel in front of Sassette and cry, telling no one's ever said that to him. Laconia then takes Woody's panflute and plays it, which brings Gargamel's inner goodness out and proves that deep beneath his dark personality there's still good in him. And if that wasn't all, Gargamel himself says he hasn't been his true self due to living in hate, strongly implying that the "evil" he possesses is in fact a facade.
* In "The Tear Of A Smurf", Gargamel gets angry at Azrael after a yet another failed attempt to capture Smurfs, but doesn't immediately notice that the latter disappeared due to the cat being kidnapped by Priscilla. Once he realizes Azrael is gone, Gargamel is quick to become depressed and becomes even more angry when he encounters the Smurfs than he normally does, convinced that they did something to Azrael. He also has a little gray kitten come to his doorstep in his saddened state, but swiftly rejects its presence and keeps thinking about Azrael. This should tell that Gargamel actually ''cares'' for his cat in spite of everything, and is certainly not willing to replace what's quite likely his one and only friend, something that a truly evil villain likely wouldn't possess as a genuine trait.
* Sometimes, Gargamel objects to motives of other villains. For instance, in "Puppy", his godfather Balthazar is completely indifferent to ''beheading a young, innocent animal'' just to get his hands on a magical locket, while Gargamel has second thoughts up until he submits to Balthazar's demand. Combine this with the fact Gargamel is typically portrayed as weak, and it quickly becomes apparent that the likely reason Gargamel is cruel to begin with is due to his family basically teaching him to act so to hide his fragile nature, like a wounded cat that doesn't want to show itself as easy prey.
* As a possible subtle {{Foreshadowing}}, the first episode "The Astrosmurf" has him ask his crystal ball to show him "the most miserable creatures of all", and the crystal ball responds by showing a picture of him and Azrael. While the word "miserable" can be used to describe a contemptible person (which Gargamel and Azrael are depicted to be), time and time again the show prove there are people more despicable than they are (e.g. Balthazar), so why didn't the crystal ball show one of those (if there's no {{Retcon}} involved)? The answer is, the word "miserable" can also mean "unhappy" when describing a person, and the show drops clues later on that hint at just who Gargamel really might be. Put two and two together, and it's instantly obvious: the crystal ball misinterpreted Gargamel's description as "the saddest" instead of "the most contemptible", and so it showed us that Gargamel is in fact the saddest person in the world!
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* Another part of this theory states that the word "Smurf" is used for nearly everything and is a way of dumbing down words for society, like in NineteenEightyFour.


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* Another part of this theory states that the word "Smurf" is used for nearly everything and is a way of dumbing down words for society, like in NineteenEightyFour.

''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''.

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[[WMG:Papa Smurf is secretly a Redcap.]]
No reason, just an extra evil Smurf theory.
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Wanting to eat small animals is simply a normal cat instinct, after all, and even a creature that's blue and able to speak is still just three apples high and, thus,fair game. If he occasionally mccks or torments Gargamel, well, that's well deserved... he may be a good master, after a fashion, but he's still a bumbler and a barely passable wizard.

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Wanting to eat small animals is simply a normal cat instinct, after all, and even a creature that's blue and able to speak is still just three apples high and, thus,fair game. If he occasionally mccks mocks or torments Gargamel, well, that's well deserved... he may be a good master, after a fashion, but he's still a bumbler and a barely passable wizard.
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[[WMG: Azrael isn't evil.]]
Wanting to eat small animals is simply a normal cat instinct, after all, and even a creature that's blue and able to speak is still just three apples high and, thus,fair game. If he occasionally mccks or torments Gargamel, well, that's well deserved... he may be a good master, after a fashion, but he's still a bumbler and a barely passable wizard.
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[[WMG:Smurfs being made out of clay by wizards is their normal reproduction, storks merely transport new smurfs.]]
This explains how papa smurf was able to turn Smurfette into a real smurf.

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** Correct. Smurfs by classical definition are socialist. Their "government" designates their division of labor and they all work together on bigger projects. Except here their "governmanet" is one smurf, Papa Smurf. In real life this often turns into a dictatorship. However Papa Smurf is probably a role model for how a socialist leader should be. Able to make decisions but not live that much above his people. As while Papa has his own jobs, you notice he also partakes in plenty of community tasks.

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** Correct. Smurfs by classical definition are socialist. Their "government" designates their division of labor and they all work together on bigger projects. Everyone works as best and are rewarded by the "government". Except here their "governmanet" "government" is one smurf, Papa Smurf. In real life this often turns into a dictatorship. However Papa Smurf is probably a role model for how a socialist leader should be. Able to make decisions but not live that much above his people. As while Papa has his own jobs, you notice he also partakes in plenty of community tasks.tasks.
** While at the same token it's important to remember the "theory of communism" states it should start with socialism, but in real life no one ever really achieved a communist state. If anything our real life equivalents were dictatorships made by corrupt socialistic ideals. If one is to turn all means of production and society to the government to bestow equally to the people, you would really need a Papa Smurf for it to turn out anyway other than a dictatorship. Once they get power they'll make themselves great and everyone else equal in poverty. Which if far removed from what the ideals of socialism and communism are supposed to be about.
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** Correct. Smurfs by classical definition are socialist. Their "government" designates their division of labor and they all work together on bigger projects. Except here their "governmanet" is one smurf, Papa Smurf. In real life this often turns into a dictatorship. However Papa Smurf is probably a role model for how a socialist leader should be. Able to make decisions but not live that much above his people. As while Papa has his own jobs, you notice he also partakes in plenty of community tasks.
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[[WMG: Brainy Smurf is a CaptainErsatz of SelfDemonstrating/TheRiddler]]

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[[WMG: Brainy Smurf is a CaptainErsatz of SelfDemonstrating/TheRiddler]]The Riddler]]
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* Centuries later, a certain Belgian comic artist decided to do some reading up on Medieval alchemy and folklore in order to get some ideas for [[JohanAndPeewit his comic]], and then he came across some book that happened to discuss, among other things, the surviving fragments of this alchemist's writings. He decided to do something with these strange little blue creatures the alchemist mentioned, and thus he worked them into his comic, and later even made a separate comic series about them. Several aspects of the original story were adapted or altered; the alchemist became an evil yet incompetent sorceror, his cat didn't die and continued to terrorize the smurfs, the smurfs did return after their exodus (e.g. the entire story of ''La Faim des Schtroumpfs''), and a female, baby and child-smurfs were introduced later on. Then the comic caught on, a cartoon was made, and the {{Disneyfication}} was tuned up even more.

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* Centuries later, a certain Belgian comic artist decided to do some reading up on Medieval alchemy and folklore in order to get some ideas for [[JohanAndPeewit [[ComicBook/JohanAndPeewit his comic]], and then he came across some book that happened to discuss, among other things, the surviving fragments of this alchemist's writings. He decided to do something with these strange little blue creatures the alchemist mentioned, and thus he worked them into his comic, and later even made a separate comic series about them. Several aspects of the original story were adapted or altered; the alchemist became an evil yet incompetent sorceror, his cat didn't die and continued to terrorize the smurfs, the smurfs did return after their exodus (e.g. the entire story of ''La Faim des Schtroumpfs''), and a female, baby and child-smurfs were introduced later on. Then the comic caught on, a cartoon was made, and the {{Disneyfication}} was tuned up even more.
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[[WMG: Azrael has descendents - one of them is a certain [[{{Felidae}} human-hating cat]]]]

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[[WMG: Azrael has descendents - one of them is a certain [[{{Felidae}} [[WesternAnimation/{{Felidae}} human-hating cat]]]]
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[[WMG: Brainy Smurf is a CaptainErsatz of SelfDemonstrating/TheRiddler]]
He's obsessed with proving his intelligence to everyone around him, but due to his milder upbringing in the Smurf village he never gained the psychopathic inferiority complex that would otherwise have led him to a path of crime.

[[WMG: The Smurfs aren't actually real.]]
Everyone who sees them is actually on mushrooms and hallucinating. Gargamel, as a potion-brewer, has the most contact with components that aren't exactly conducive to good mental health, so his obsession with capturing the little creatures is a sign that he's permanently insane.
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2. Various smurfs fell in love with Smurfette and [[spoiler: females of other species]]. If they were ACTUALLY one-gendered, they wouldn't have any interest in them because love for females would not be on their minds.

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2. Various smurfs Smurfs fell in love with Smurfette and [[spoiler: females of other species]]. If they were ACTUALLY one-gendered, they wouldn't have any interest in them because love for females would not be on their minds.
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2. Various smurfs fell in love with Smurfette and [[spoiler: females of other species]]. If they were ACTUALLY one-gendered, they wouldn't have interest of them because love for females would be isn't in their mind.

3. Storks get smurflings and baby smurfs from somewhere because smurfs don't have many females in their village.

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2. Various smurfs fell in love with Smurfette and [[spoiler: females of other species]]. If they were ACTUALLY one-gendered, they wouldn't have any interest of in them because love for females would not be isn't in on their mind.

minds.

3. Storks get smurflings Smurflings and baby smurfs Baby Smurfs from somewhere because smurfs Smurfs don't have many females in their village.



5. Its not normal for Mother Nature to make one-gendered, sapient, human-like species.

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5. Its It's not normal for Mother Nature to make one-gendered, sapient, human-like species.
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[[WMG:The Smurfs are [[MassEffect Asari]] in terms of reproduction.]]
They live long, and they can breed with a female (or male) of another species, mainly because the male-to-female ratio of their race is 9.5. to 0.5. Also, in ''Papa's Wedding Day'', Painter makes a painting of Papa Smurf and Flowerbell's marriage, and their children are smurfs.
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**About the in-universe version, such a change wouldn't be a good idea. The Smurfs "names" are actually more akin to nicknames, and the same BigEater Smurf can be called Greedy Smurf or Sweety Smurf at different times, while others are just called "Smurf" until they get find what do they want to do, therefore Sassette has an OddNameOut due to being an actual name. Now, in American media these are portrayed more like actual names, but given that the english names of the better known Smurfs tend to end in -y. In any case, changing her name would also make her fit less than before.
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biggish grammar clean up


...In the eusocial, egg-laying sense. All the "male" smurfs except Papa Smurf are [[strike:drones]] worker "bees"-- neutered females. Only the male, Papa Smurf, can mate with the Queen. The "smurflings" are males from another nest and a proto-queen, which are exchanged between nests to promote genetic diversity (and because the lone true male is getting too old to perform his Smurfly duties). As soon as the smurflings mature, Smurfette and Sassette will fight to the death to determine [[ThereCanOnlyBeOne who will be Queen]]...

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...In the eusocial, egg-laying sense. All the "male" smurfs except Papa Smurf are [[strike:drones]] worker "bees"-- neutered females. Only the male, Papa Smurf, can mate with the Queen. The "smurflings" are males from another nest and a proto-queen, which who are exchanged between nests to promote genetic diversity (and because the lone true male is getting too old to perform his Smurfly duties). As soon as the smurflings mature, Smurfette and Sassette will fight to the death to determine [[ThereCanOnlyBeOne who will be Queen]]...



Smurfs are Pokemon who have evolved into a higher state of being and achieved enlightenment as a race, giving them inate (rather than leared) speech and allowing them to live in a peaceful society. The only relic of their genetic past is the continued use of the word 'smurf' as both a Noun and a Verb, a throwback to when 'Smurf' was the entire vocabulary.

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Smurfs are Pokemon who have evolved into a higher state of being and achieved enlightenment as a race, giving them inate innate (rather than leared) learned) speech and allowing them to live in a peaceful society. The only relic of their genetic past is the continued use of the word 'smurf' as both a Noun and a Verb, a throwback to when 'Smurf' was the entire vocabulary.



Because they are human-shaped, have no fur, and are [[HalfDressedCartoonAnimal generally shirtless]] (with the exception of Smurfette, who was an artificial Smurf who weark a skirt anyway), they've adapted to being in a constant state of near-hypothermia and no longer recognize being at a "comfortable" temperature as comfortable.

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Because they are human-shaped, have no fur, and are [[HalfDressedCartoonAnimal generally shirtless]] (with the exception of Smurfette, who was an artificial Smurf who weark wears a skirt anyway), they've adapted to being in a constant state of near-hypothermia and no longer recognize being at a "comfortable" temperature as comfortable.



One day, Gargamel flooded the Smurf's village and the all got washed out to sea. Papa Smurf put a spell on everyone to allow them to survive underwater. As a side effect of a spell, the Smurfs form changed, and it also caused them to start reproducing normally without the need of a stork or a blue moon, which resulted in more females being born.

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One day, Gargamel flooded the Smurf's village and the they all got washed out to sea. Papa Smurf put a spell on everyone to allow them to survive underwater. As a side effect of a spell, the Smurfs form changed, and it also caused them to start reproducing normally without the need of a stork or a blue moon, which resulted in more females being born.



It is something else. In Baby's First Word, he remembers that his first word was [[spoiler: gobbledygook]]. Knowing that it indicates smurf's occupation, do the math. Because that, whatever it is, isn't related to anything smart. His little intellegence and a large ego somewhat confirm that.

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It is something else. In Baby's First Word, he remembers that his first word was [[spoiler: gobbledygook]]. Knowing that it indicates smurf's occupation, do the math. Because that, whatever it is, isn't related to anything smart. His little intellegence intelligence and a large ego somewhat confirm that.



3. Storks get smurflings and baby smurfs from somewhere because smurfs have not much females in their village.

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3. Storks get smurflings and baby smurfs from somewhere because smurfs don't have not much many females in their village.
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[[WMG: There are Smurfettes, they are just not around]]

1. Nanny Smurf. [[spoiler: It is uncertain if she was a magical smurf.]]

2. Various smurfs fell in love with Smurfette and [[spoiler: females of other species]]. If they were ACTUALLY one-gendered, they wouldn't have interest of them because love for females would be isn't in their mind.

3. Storks get smurflings and baby smurfs from somewhere because smurfs have not much females in their village.

4. In the "Once In A Blue Moon", [[spoiler: the stork that gave them a Baby Smurf wanted to return it because of an error.]] To WHERE, exactly? Maybe to another village? Or to his real family.

5. Its not normal for Mother Nature to make one-gendered, sapient, human-like species.
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[[WMG: Azrael has descendents - one of them is a certain [[Western Animation/Felidae human-hating cat]]

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[[WMG: Azrael has descendents - one of them is a certain [[Western Animation/Felidae [[{{Felidae}} human-hating cat]]
cat]]]]
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[[WMG: Azrael has descendents - one of them is a certain [[Western Animation/Felidae human-hating cat]]]]

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[[WMG: Azrael has descendents - one of them is a certain [[Western Animation/Felidae human-hating cat]]]]
cat]]
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[[WMG: Azrael has descendents - one of them is a certain [[Western Animation/Felidae human-hating cat]]]]

It SO makes sense. Seriously - [[spoiler: Claudandus also lived in a lab, and he wanted to make a strong and fierce breed that looks like Egyptian primordial race. Azrael looks like them and looks like Claudandus as in the book]]. Who are they fooling?
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It is something else. In Baby's First Word, he remembers that his first word was [[spoiler: gobbledygook]]. Knowing that it indicates smurf's occupation, do the math. Because that, whatever it is, isn't related to anything smart.

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It is something else. In Baby's First Word, he remembers that his first word was [[spoiler: gobbledygook]]. Knowing that it indicates smurf's occupation, do the math. Because that, whatever it is, isn't related to anything smart. His little intellegence and a large ego somewhat confirm that.
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It is something else. In Baby's First Word, he remembers that his first word was {{spoiler: gobbledygook}}. Knowing that it indicates smurf's occupation, do the math. Because that, whatever it is, isn't related to anything smart.

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It is something else. In Baby's First Word, he remembers that his first word was {{spoiler: gobbledygook}}.[[spoiler: gobbledygook]]. Knowing that it indicates smurf's occupation, do the math. Because that, whatever it is, isn't related to anything smart.
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[[WMG: Brainy's trait is NOT being the smart one]]
It is something else. In Baby's First Word, he remembers that his first word was {{spoiler: gobbledygook}}. Knowing that it indicates smurf's occupation, do the math. Because that, whatever it is, isn't related to anything smart.
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\n* Another part of this theory states that the word "Smurf" is used for nearly everything and is a way of dumbing down words for society, like in NineteenEightyFour.

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[[WMG:[[CaptainErsatz Vexy]] will change her name to Sassette.]]
In-universe, she'll want a new name to go with her new life with her new family. Out-of-universe, come on! Who are they fooling?!
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[[WMG: Male smurfs have female reproductive systems, and female smurfs have male reproductive organs.]]


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[[WMG: Smurfette's smurf trait isn't being TheChick.]]
She's actually Action Smurf, the one who's supposed to spearhead events and kick serious butt.
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\n* Having a leader is incompatible with communism.

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