Brainy Smurf

Brainy Smurf (original French name Schtroumpf à Lunettes) is one of the main characters of the Smurfs comic books, the 1980s Smurfs cartoon show, and the 2021 Smurfs cartoon show.

Character:

Brainy Smurf thinks he’s smarter than he really is, and he is certain that he’s smarter than everyone else. This is a Smurf who does not suffer from self-doubt. In fact, he refuses to admit when he’s wrong, and whenever someone proves it, he makes up an excuse.

Brainy considers himself the most responsible member of the band and has proclaimed himself the right-hand man to Papa Smurf. He’s often repeating phrases such as, "Like Papa Smurf always says…" or "Papa Smurf is always right, and when he says that…" (and at times he finishes his sentences with the word "Right?"). The other Smurfs just roll their eyes and find inventive ways to shut him up. One running gag is that they "eject" him from the scene - unseen to the audience, an annoyed Smurf gives him a wallop in the butt (a kick), and we see him flying through the air.

Despite his tendency to sometimes act like a spoilsport, he's still respected and deeply loved by the village. As long as he's not pushing his luck...

Between the release of "Little Comics Collection" version of "The Hundredth Smurf" and before the album release of "The Black Smurfs" (Brainy's glasses were originally exclusive to the 1961 Smurfs cartoon show prior to the album release of "The Black Smurfs"), the only thing that visually separates Brainy from the other Smurfs is his tendency to use his declarative finger when he makes speeches.

Personality:

Comic Book/2021 TV Series Version:

Brainy is the most self-centered of the Smurfs, even more so than Vanity; he annoys almost everyone, up to and including Papa Smurf. Brainy has a penchant for showing off, claiming that he knows everything about everything, although the only things he knows well are things about himself... and even that is debatable. Brainy even claims to be his own favorite subject. Despite this, he is well-liked whenever he's not being a bossy know-it-all, which is all-too-frequently the case.

His house is filled with of stacks of books all written by himself. The books are either manuals or encyclopedias. Brainy always wants someone to read them, but even the nicest people turn them down... or merely pretend to like them for Brainy's benefit. He enjoys being a leader, always eager to be one in almost any activity. He's dramatic in nature, often inflating problems or freaking out far more than other Smurfs, which can lead to them yelling at him. In general, he's not very patient.

Brainy is very cowardly. In one episode of the 2021 cartoon show, he is faced with the possibility of getting eaten by Azrael or Gargamel and panics. When the Smurfs rescue him, he believes Gargamel and Azrael are back and he suggests eating Dimwitty. When he gets out of the pot he was in, he says he was joking, but he doesn't sound very convincing. In "Where's Papa Smurf?", when Brainy hits Papa Smurf in an accident with his smurfway, he unsuccessfully blames Clumsy for it.

Brainy constantly fails to use his intelligence constructively and for the benefit of other Smurfs, including himself. He almost always believes his book-smarts are better than the hand-on smarts of the other Smurfs, which leads him to be either whacked in the head (often with a mallet), booted out of the village, or in a rivalry with another Smurf, where Brainy eventually humiliates himself. Basically, Brainy is a bruised ego who consistently bruises it himself. In the 2021 TV series, Brainy is a lot less egotistical and more knowledgeable and smarter. He still brags about being smart and still annoying, but he is very kind, caring, humble, and selfless.

Despite his little patience for tricks and fun, it does not always seem this way. In "Doctor Brainy & Mister Dumb", Clumsy and Dimwitty are alerted from the bell as members of the fire brigade, but it turns out that Brainy is just enjoying playing on the ladder. However, he denies that he was doing this when Clumsy and Dimwitty see him, as they would be surprised to see such a serious Smurf playing.

2021 TV Series Season 1 Interpretation:

While Brainy's characterization is more-or-less the same in the comic books, his lecturing patterns right before being booted out of sight sounded slightly different in episodes of the first season such as "Bringing Up Smurfy", "Fake News", "Papa Times Two" (at the end of the episode), and "Smurfing Places" -- most specifically stating to the other Smurfs if they agree with his views or ideas out of expectation regarding certain subjects, compared to his general portrayals of having the tendency of talking too much demonstrated in the original comic books and the second season onwards for the TV series.

1981 TV Series Version:

This version of Brainy was virtually identical to his original comic book portrayal in the first two seasons as a bookworm to begin with, with the only exception that he was portrayed as Papa Smurf's apprentice.

This would change in the third season where his incompetence and boasting ego started to increase around Season 3, after he started introducing his series of "Quotations Of Brainy Smurf" books --- his personal favorite books. Then by sixth season to the end, it shows that Brainy is incapable of doing anything right and causes plenty of trouble around the village such as framing Clumsy for losing Baby Smurf in "The Smurfy Verdict".

It's possible Brainy is quite smart. It's noticed that he was born to be a bookworm when he first got his glasses. Even before he started writing his books of 'wisdom,' he was an avid reader of books, which may explain his mentality of doing thing 'by the book'. Besides Papa Smurf, must have had a good reason to choose him to be his assistant. However, Brainy constantly fails to use his intelligence constructively and for the benefit of other Smurfs, including himself. He almost always believes his book-smarts are better than the hand-on smarts of the other Smurfs, which leads him to be booted out of the village, or in a rivalry with another Smurf, where Brainy eventually humiliates himself. Basically, Brainy is a bruised ego who consistently bruises it himself.

Role in the village:

Apart from being Papa Smurf's apprentice, Brainy can (more often than not) be the primary or supporting source of discourse within the village. While he is knowledgeable when it comes to magic and potion making, Brainy often over-estimates himself, or doesn’t clearly follow directions, thinking that his way is best, which can cause many problems for both him and everyone else.

He will often nosily police Smurfs doing their jobs or chores as if he was an expert, even though it's incredibly rare it actually helps. Occasionally, he inspects Smurfs at night, though he often gets hit by a Smurf who wants him to be quiet. In the 2021 cartoon series, he is often seen doing this with a smurfway, which is a parody of segways.

Trouble-Trouble-Trouble:

Brainy causes a lot of problems for the Smurfs sometimes. This is mostly because all he does is make things worse.

An example is when he forced everyone to be so quiet in "Unsound Smurfs", that not even a needle can drop, only because Papa Smurf wanted some peace and quiet to get some sleep. He went so far to make everything quiet, he cast a sound-proof barrier around the village that made no sound get in or out, but this also prevented anyone else from entering.

He also believes that he is smarter than everyone else and that he should be in charge. Sadly, most of his ideas (such as mind-controlling in "Smurf, Yes Smurf!") go wrong, and he usually finds a scapegoat for the mishaps he causes.

His heart, however, is always in the right spot; in the "The Smurfs And The Book That Tells Everything" adventure he uses The Book That Tells Everything to benefit the others and when - thanks to a dam break - he and Baby Smurf were stranded on a little sliver of land in the torrent. Brainy asked the book for help and it responded by telling him that it was too important and that he should give up Baby. Enraged by that prospect, Brainy tossed the book into the river before grabbing Baby and swimming to the shore.

"It was awful Papa Smurf, that miserable book actually told me to sacrifice Baby Smurf." - Brainy, after reaching the shore saving his own life and that of Baby, thus showing that whatever his flaws, when push comes to shove, he actually knows the right thing to do.

In the comic book version of "King Smurf", Brainy was also the first to protest against the jailing of Jokey, saying to the others that good old-fashioned reasoning would show King Smurf the error in jailing Jokey. He went into the castle and started a lecture about how humor shouldn't be considered a crime and that there really was no reason for Jokey to be jailed and that he and the other Smurfs with him didn't agree with the jailing... which led to Brainy being thrown out of the castle and the other Smurfs deciding that a good old-fashioned riot would work far better than reasoning.

He Saved Them Once:

In "Papa's Family Album", Papa Smurf explains to the Smurflings about how things were like back when all the Smurfs (excluding Smurfette and Wild) were Smurflings.

Apparently, Brainy was practically blind until Papa Smurf gave him glasses. It was when he got his glasses that he started being the Brainy Smurf we all know and (sort of) love. Once Brainy lost his glasses and Clumsy had to help him until he could get some new ones.

The Smurfs have a lot to thank Brainy for, actually, as it was him who saved their lives. One time, gargoyles under the command of the evil wizard Hotap came and snatched all the Smurflings and separated them from Papa Smurf. Brainy was able to escape before he was put into a machine with the others. The machine was supposed to turn them into gold.

Brainy was able to buy Papa Smurf some time by stuffing a book into the gears, jamming the machine and preventing the Smurflings from dying.

Trivia:

Danny Goldman reprised the role of Brainy Smurf for some adult-level "non-canonical" Smurf segments on Robot Chicken.
Before Grandpa Smurf, Nanny Smurf, Therapist, and the "non-canonical" Narrator appeared, Brainy was the only Smurf who needed glasses.
- Brainy's glasses were originally exclusive to the 1961 Smurfs cartoon show prior to the album release of "The Black Smurfs".
In the 1980s cartoon show, Brainy has a habit of saying somebody's name three times.
Despite Brainy being a very common character in the show, he is one of the least liked Smurfs, basically the Butt Monkey of the village.
Brainy, along with Papa Smurf and Hefty, appeared in the 1990 drug prevention TV video, "Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue".
The 1981 TV series is the only piece of media where he is best friends with Clumsy. In other iterations of the franchise, they don't interact often.
Brainy's hair color is red, as indicated by the incredibly long beard he had grown from using a magical hair tonic in "Symbols Of Wisdom".
The times when Brainy isn't an annoying pest and when the other Smurfs actually enjoy his company are mostly during smurfball games or when they're swimming.
Despite being so arrogant and self-centered, Brainy always wants and seeks to be respected by the other Smurfs. He would go so far as to use magic to make himself strong to take back their food from Bigmouth, and also risking his life to save a wildcat to prove that he lives up to his word, only to lose consciousness after that.
In the 2011 movie, Brainy is depicted with freckles.
Brainy was voiced by Fred Armesin, known for being on Saturday Night Live, in the live-action film and was voiced by Danny Pudi, known for being on Community, in The Lost Village.
Brainy's glasses are seldom seen with lenses.
The glass on Brainy's glasses is made from the magic sand of the Sandman.
In "Smurf To The Future!", it is revealed that Brainy's prehistoric self did not have glasses, as this is before glasses were created.
Brainy gets seasick easily.
Brainy plays detective four times: "The Masked Pie Smurfer", "They're Smurfing Our Song", "The Village Vandal", and "Gargamel's Quest". In the last two episodes mentioned, he refers to himself as Sherlock Smurf.
In the 1980s cartoon, at least, although the Smurfs get really annoyed by Brainy and always booting him out of the village, they still seem to care about him. Examples such as in "Smurfette's Sweet Tooth" when Brainy was turned into a candy statue, the Smurfs seemed concerned. Also, in "Essence Of Brainy", they ended up not liking the 'nicer, less annoying' Brainy, and they worked to get the old Brainy back. They love him, though that doesn't mean they don’t find him annoying.
The only Season 1 episodes of the 2021 series not to feature Brainy are "Unsmurfable Smile", "Smurf Your Seat Belts!", "Funny Mommy", "Storm Loses Her Mojo", and "Smurfy Mother's Day!".
The only Season 2 episodes of the 2021 series not to feature Brainy are "Mommy's Masterpiece", "Blossom Goes Wild!", "Smurfy Magic Duel", "Baby Sensei", "Gargamel Goes Gaga", "Wild Gets Tamed", "The Sarsaparillo Run", and "Gargamel, Queen Of The Prom".
Brainy is alongside Papa Smurf and Greedy as the only character to appear in every 1980s Season 1 episode.
- He and Papa also appear in every 1980s Season 2 episode.
In the original French version of the comics, Brainy's name translates into "Smurf with Glasses". At the time, this name was more appropriate than his English name, as his "intelligence" was mostly in his mind and he was not really smart.
In Smurfs: The Lost Village, Brainy and Hefty get along better than in most source material.
Brainy was Gargamel's first victim as seen in "Gargamel's Time Trip".
In the 1981 series, Brainy started off as a bookworm. It wasn't until Season 3 that Brainy started publishing his ego-tripping books.
He is one of the Smurfs who were featured in the National Benzole animated commercial series, where he is often seen with a book that is titled "Rhymes". It also seems as if he was treated just like how he was treated by the other Smurfs in the entire franchise, which is in the first and second commercial, when he inflated a tire, he was blown away and laughed at by the other Smurfs, and in the third commercial, when he sang his part of the song "...or elves!", he is immediately pulled away, and his head is covered by his hat when a Smurf who was standing on him slipped accidentally. His glasses are also red instead of dark colored.
- He was also one of the Smurfs (alongside Chef) who were featured in the Benco animated commercial. His pants and hat are also yellow instead of white.
Brainy is the only Smurf to be crowned King more than once during the original cartoon series: he was King Smurf in the Season 1 episode by the same name, and he was later made King of the Trokels during "Long Live Brainy" under false pretenses (unbeknownst to him). In both instances, he demonstrated a decent understanding of human-based culture and applied this knowledge during both reigns. Unfortunately, his hubris led him to be more tyrannical than beloved as a ruler, so he was denounced of his kingship by the end of both episodes.
He, Papa, Grandpa, Baby, Smurfette, Clumsy, Hefty, Handy, Greedy, Grouchy, Lazy, Vanity, Jokey, Painter, Wild, Sassette, Snappy, and Smoogle are the only characters who timed travel during Season 9 with the Time Scrolls.
In Italian dub of the 1980's cartoon, Brainy is usually to ending always his phrases saying "Che è meglio" (literally "... that it's better" or "that would be better") when he gives some advice to the other Smurfs.
He, Papa Smurf, Hefty, Grouchy, and Lazy are the only characters to be in every incarnation of the franchise.

Brainy has his name in six episode titles which are "Brainy Smurf, Friend To All The Animals", "Brainy's Smarty Party", "Essence Of Brainy", "I Was A Brainy Weresmurf", "Long Live Brainy", and "Brainy's Beastly Boo-Boo".
- Brainy has his name in two episode titles of the 2021 series which is "Doctor Brainy & Mister Dumb" and "Brainy Gets Ghosted!".

Relationship with Others:

"We have this annoying Smurf who lives in our village who wears spectacles and is always going that we 'Should beware' and that we're 'Not supposed to be like that' and 'I'll tell Papa Smurf about that if you don't'. We all dislike him because of his constant meddling."

"What?! But I..." (He's forcibly silenced)

Astro Smurf to Papa Smurf (as Grandpa Swoof) talking about how life is in the Smurf village.

Brainy is the least liked out of all the Smurfs. This is proven in the episode "The Masked Pie Smurfer". A masked Smurf has given every Smurf a chance to get back at someone they dislike by just giving him some smurfberries. In exchange for the berries, the Masked Pie Smurfer will throw Pie at the designated Smurf's face. Unfortunately for Brainy, he was a main target. If the Smurfs play pranks on one another, Brainy is often involved.

In "The Talented Justa Smurf", he is one of the Smurfs that Justa (who had just become "Mimic Smurf") imitates. He is visibly annoyed by his imitation while all of the Smurfs laugh. This is more proof that various Smurfs dislike his ramblings.

In the comic book "King Smurf", he is convinced that the Smurfs will elect him to replace Papa Smurf during his absence, but he ultimately receives only two votes, his own and Dopey's.

The main reason why the Smurfs dislike him is due to his endless chattering and his occasional use of abusing his role as Papa Smurf's assistant. In "Brainy Gets Ghosted!", he uses his authority to boss Painter and Chef around because there is an upcoming event that Papa Smurf is going to perform at. During his bossing around, he throws out all of Painter's paintings of Papa Smurf that "do not look good" to him and eats several of Chef's desserts, claiming that as Papa Smurf's assistant, he gets to "taste test" his meals. Both of these interactions are what directly lead to Painter and Chef attempting to prank him.

Papa Smurf:

Being Papa Smurf's assistant and apprentice, Brainy seems to always pester him and if the leader thinks of a plan, he will always say "That's exactly what I was thinking!". It isn't a secret that Brainy is such an admirer of Papa Smurf, always wanting to be like him in some way, and always defending Papa Smurf's wisdom even if it's only to gain some advantage over his fellow Smurfs. If Brainy Smurf is threatened or mistreated by a fellow Smurf, or if things don't go the way he wants them to, he'll usually spout, "I'm going to tell this to Papa Smurf". Even though Brainy is constantly hit in the head with a mallet or thrown out of the Village, Papa Smurf appears to be the Smurf that best knows how to put Brainy in his place. In the "The Smurf's Apprentice" episode, Papa declines Clumsy's offer to be his assistant, as Brainy is "more than enough". Brainy once referred to his own assistant role as "self-appointed" in "Born Rotten", implying Papa Smurf himself didn't assign him the job.

Their relationship becomes more strained by the end of the 1981 series (most notably the ninth season), with Papa Smurf often openly expressing any frustration he feels toward Brainy instead of trying to approach it with a patient or gentle attitude. That was usually Papa's best attempt to avoid yelling at Brainy, although his apprentice had pushed him to such a boiling point more than once before. In "Cave Smurfs", when Brainy tried to help Papa Smurf reassemble the time crystals by dropping one on top of the structure being assembled, causing it to collapse, Papa Smurf became so mad that he booted Brainy outside the cave, with him being inside his own book.

Clumsy Smurf:

Due to being a major nuisance towards the other Smurfs, Brainy doesn't seem to have an actual "Best Smurf Friend" in most iterations of the franchise. Though exclusively in the 1981 television series, his best friend, and the only Smurf who enjoyed Brainy's company, is Clumsy Smurf.

At first glance, it would seem that their friendship is only one sided, as Brainy sees Clumsy as an annoyance, but this is proven untrue in "The Dark-Ness Monster", where Brainy and Clumsy’s friendship is developed the most when Brainy can finally relate to Clumsy’s own experience in being, well, clumsy. Once he loses his glasses, Clumsy agrees to help him around the village and he tells Clumsy that he ‘actually trusts him with his life’ and that ‘being clumsy isn’t so bad, when he’s with him’, as well as writing him a very heartfelt quotation: 'It is easy to pretend we are strong. It is much harder to admit we are weak. A true friend, by loving every part of us, teaches us to love our weaknesses.' After reading, he allows Clumsy to keep the scroll, even offering him all of his quotations if he wanted them.

The two often seen (or are appointed to) watch(ing) Baby Smurf together and are together around the village more often than not. Overall, while Brainy does get frustrated with him, there are episodes where they get along perfectly fine, such as in "Dreamy's Pen Pals" and "The Gingerbread Smurfs". He even expresses great concern about Clumsy being missing in "The Pussywillow Pixies" and being hurt in "The Chief Record Smurf" (where he also says, "Your best friend would never let you down!").

In other iterations of the franchise, specifically the 2021 TV series, they do not seem to interact much, and when they do, it is not always positive; in "The Smurfs Show", he is among the Smurfs that call Brainy "annoying", and in "Doctor Brainy & Mister Dumb", he threatens to break his glasses because Brainy (who had used a brain boosting spell which instead made him dumb) becomes Dimwitty's best friend. However, they are still on slightly better terms than most of the other Smurfs, as Brainy comforts Clumsy when he fears he will smell the forget-me-what flower in "Forget Me What?".

Wild Smurf:

In the 1980s cartoon show, Brainy often shows disdain for Wild and his animalistic habits, such as licking others. Despite Brainy's opinions, he proudly takes opportunities to 'educate' Wild, such as reading his own books to him after his back injury in "Grandpa's Walking Stick" or teaching him how to dance in the episode "Dancing Bear", albeit with little success.

In the comic adaption of "Smurf On The Wild Side", Brainy is very close with Wild for whom he has put himself forwards as a mentor figure, trying to teach him how to behave like a proper Smurf. To his credit, Brainy succeeds in teaching Wild Smurf to talk (somewhat) normally and when it becomes clear that Wild Smurf doesn't want to wear normal Smurf clothing, he doesn't press the issue. As a result, Brainy and Wild Smurf have a mutual understanding and respect for each other.

In the 2021 TV series, Wild speaks in Smurf language, implying that Brainy tutored him like the comics. They are not as close to each other as in the comics, though they can be considered friends. However, like every other Smurf, Brainy annoys Wild at times, to the point of kicking him away in "Back To Nature".

Smurfette:

Brainy is considered friends with Smurfette. They are often seen together, teaming up regularly in episodes such as "Mind The Cat".

Unlike other Smurfs, Brainy does not always want Smurfette in a romantic way. Brainy often doesn't appear in episodes in which Smurfette wants one of the Smurfs to be her escort to parties, such as "Prince Smurf". However, Smurfette is often annoyed with his talking, though the only thing Smurfette hates about Brainy more than his endless speaking and egoism is when all the other Smurfs are mean to him. This goes to show Smurfette is one of the few Smurfs who likes him more no matter how much talking he does.

Smurfblossom:

In the 2021 cartoon series, Brainy is often seen with Blossom. He is sometimes annoyed by her overly long talking. Blossom, likewise, shows annoyance when Brainy claims girls are always getting into trouble in "Mirror, Mirror On The Armoire" and fears if Brainy will read the encyclopedia to her if he finds out she misplaced his smurfway. However, the two are still seen as friends. In "Where's My Smurfway?", Blossom repairs it and Brainy kisses her as a thank-you.

Unlike with Smurfette, Storm, or any of the other girls, Brainy seems to display a more protective nature towards Blossom. Though he is still his usual cowardly self when facing danger, he surprisingly does show a braver side of himself and seems to prioritize her safety, as seen in "The Pluffs!".

Blossom is the only Smurf that Brainy seems to trust that is able to use the smurfway, as he lets her ride it in "Relaxosmurf" in exchange for a blueberry pie.

Hefty Smurf:

Another Smurf seen often in Brainy's company is Hefty, most of the time to clobber him, but during the "The Smurfs Of Order" comic adventure Hefty became Brainy's deputy and the two shared a mutual understanding in upholding the law. Also, in another comic story "A Smurfy Party" when Gargamel was lured into the village and then doused with glue so he couldn't move, Hefty and Brainy did their normal roles, but with a difference.

Brainy: (As Hefty is clobbering Gargamel's foot) No, no Hefty, you shouldn't do that. Remember what Papa Smurf always says: "You shouldn't smurf an enemy when he's down!"

Hefty: (Slamming away) You're right (Boom) I will (Boom) never (boom) do it (Boom) again