Гаргамель

Gargamel's persona: Gargamel (A.K.A. "Gargy") is one of the main characters of the Smurfs comic books, the 1980s Smurfs cartoon show, and the 2021 Smurfs cartoon show. In the comic books, he has first appeared in "The Smurfnapper", one of the stories of The Black Smurfs comic book album. In the 1980s cartoon show, he has appeared up to Season 8, being the show's main villain, although several similar villains appear in Season 9. He is strongly hated by Grouchy Smurf. He is the main antagonist who, along with his cat Azrael, and later with a young apprentice named Scruple, continued to plot against the Smurfs in order to capture and/or eliminate them. He was accountable for the creation of Smurfette, who was changed into a real Smurf by Papa Smurf. Gargamel is a loathsome individual who is prepared to commit many sinister and cruel acts to achieve his goals and he can be downright ruthless on occasion, such as enjoying the time to torment the Smurfs, threatening to burn Puppy alive, and even attempt to harm the defenseless Baby Smurf. He has even gone out of his way to simply make sure to ruin the happiness of others. However, despite his dark and evil heart, there have been a few occasions where Gargamel has shown a small amount of genuine emotion, most notably with Azrael, who Gargamel has shown real care for on rare occasions despite abusing him and even goes against Lord Balthazar to guard his cat, claiming that Azrael is all he really has and is quite possibly his only real friend. Also, when he was once forced by Balthazar to behead Puppy with a guillotine, he pleaded with his godfather to find a different way before submitting to Balthazar's intimidation. Gargamel's unkindness and wicked nature seem to stem from a harsh life and upbringing. One example being that Gargamel hates having his birthday on Halloween because every year nobody wishes him a Happy Birthday or gives him a present, and all Gargamel really wants is for somebody to remember his Birthday. His mother often mistreats him and tries to make him eviler, while also resenting him for flunking Wizard's School. Deep down, Gargamel is aloof and insecure due to being ugly and even admits that no one has ever genuinely said they loved him. In the cartoon show episode "They're Smurfing Our Song", Gargamel is revealed to possess a small amount of goodness somewhere in his heart, as shown when he was moved to tears by Sassette's kind and loving words as even the force of evil within him could not withstand Sassette's love as she was the first person to ever say they loved him indeed. When affected by Woody's magic pan flute, Gargamel's inner goodness was brought out due to finally feeling happiness after so long and he revealed to Papa Smurf that he had not been his true self in a long time due to his many years of hate and even owed him an apology, and Papa Smurf accepted his apology, knowing full well that everyone had good in their hearts somewhere. The spell of happiness that brought out his goodness was only temporary, but according to Papa Smurf, the memory of the event would remain with Gargamel forever. What Does He Need the Smurfs For? Gargamel's motive for capturing all the Smurfs varies, depending on the episode or the media he is presented in. His motives are: To transform them into gold To devour them To eliminate them However, the cartoon show clearly indicates in some episodes that he wishes to do all three, as noted in his song: Oh, I'll fry a few and pickle a few and serve a few real cold, Then I'll toast a few and roast a few and use the rest for gold. But regardless of his intentions, Gargamel just plain hates the Smurfs. In the original comic book stories, Gargamel kidnapped one of the Smurfs during their first initial encounter with him and intended to use the Smurf for making gold when the other Smurfs ambushed the wizard in his castle and rescued the abducted Smurf. When trying to use one of his formulas on himself to go find and capture the other Smurfs, it ended up shrinking him to Smurf size. As he found out that the Smurfs had switched his giant-growth formula with his shrinking formula, he swore he would get his revenge on them and has been terrorizing them ever since. In the cartoon show, Gargamel's hatred for the Smurfs is explained in the episode "Gargamel's Time Trip", where a younger Gargamel, while still in wizard's school, came across some Smurfs in the forest. He walked past the oak tree when his kitten Azrael sniffed and spotted something hiding behind the bushes. The "something" in question turned out to be a Smurf, and soon Azrael tackled the Smurf to the ground, allowing Gargamel to get a better look at his catch. After searching through his wizard's book, he found out what it was and realized it was a Smurf, a necessary ingredient in the formula for turning base metals into gold. With this, he realized he would be a shoo-in at the school's science fair. He decided to go home with his prize catch but Papa Smurf tripped him, rescuing Brainy and apologizing to the wizard for hurting him while standing on a tree stump. Gargamel then tried to catch him and the other Smurfs as they stood on the tree stump, but as the Smurfs jumped away from the stump, a large boulder fell on Gargamel, crushing him and hunching his back. He then furiously promised that he would find the Smurfs no matter what and have his revenge. Unbeknownst to Gargamel though, the boulder was actually dropped by his future self who had traveled back in time to crush the Smurfs, hence making Gargamel's hatred for the Smurfs his own fault. Family Gargamel's mother has appeared in several episodes. Gargamel and Azrael are afraid of her and her cooking because it's so disgusting. She wants her son to be a very great wizard but has shown to be very disappointed in him at times. Gargamel has a fiancée that his mother and Madame Lavinia has scheduled him to wed named Andria in "Wedding Bells For Gargamel" However, he was only interested in an item the Smurfs had put into her hope chest, which turned out to be a map to the Smurf Village. As he caused havoc trying to get his hands on the map, which the Smurfs were trying to get back, the wedding was canceled. Gargamel had a cousin named Argus who appeared in the Smurfs cartoon special, "The Smurfic Games". His cousin only appeared in that special, and it seemed like he was good friends with Papa Smurf. He dies, though, and he claims that he's not fond of Gargamel. A common relative shown throughout the show is Gargamel's godfather, Lord Balthazar - a more evil wizard who looks down on him. Lord Balthazar is easily angered by Gargamel and his stupidity. He also didn't believe in Smurfs until he saw them in his castle at one point. Gargamel is sometimes asked to take care of Lord Balthazar's castle, but this mostly ends up with Gargamel getting in deep trouble. In Season 8, Gargamel is shown to have a god niece named Denisa in Season 8, who only appeared in 3 episodes. She is the niece of Balthazar and comes to Gargamel's hovel to play. Both Gargamel and Scruple find her annoying. Her only role was to probably be a human friend for Sassette and to be another headache for Gargamel. In Season 9, ancestral relatives of Gargamel and Scruple have been encountered by the Smurfs in different time periods, ranging from a pharaoh's servant, a Roman chef, to even a Dutch wizard. In the comic books, Gargamel has two cousins, Sagratamabarb and Barbapapa, a twin brother named Gourmelin, and three lookalike nephews. A crossover comic with Sophie Karamazout also featured a modern-day descendant, Edgar Gamel, who continues his ancestor's pursuit of the Smurfs. A father is mentioned in the Sony Pictures' live-action film series. In the 2021 cartoon show, "Smurfy Mother's Day!" reveals that Gargamel has a cousin named Marmagel, who Mummy believes does everything superior to him. As far as his own offspring, Smurfette, Sassette, Vexy, Hackus, and Dufus the giant are considered this, either by Gargamel or by the characters themselves, depending on the media. Skills While Gargamel isn't the strongest villain, he is a highly competent wizard. He has many books of spells and knows how to do them right. His Great Book Of Spells can be used when there is a full moon for things beyond his normal repertoire. In contrast to his skills in the mystic arts, Gargamel at times is clumsy, foolish or gullible. While he is generally regarded as a wizard, his methods seem to imply he is more of an alchemist. Two of the most renowned "holy grail" objectives historically sought in alchemy folklore are: Transmuting elements into gold (a process known as Alchemy, though the word is never used) (Gargamel seeks Smurfs to create gold) Creating artificial lifeforms called golems or homunculi via chemical means (Gargamel created Smurfette and has transmuted himself into a baby Smurf). 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