| Character Name: | Brainy Smurf |
| Publisher: | Dupuis |
| Debut: | Spirou magazine, 1958 |
| Creators: | Peyo |
| Species: | Smurf |
| Homeworld: | Smurf Village |
| Powers: |
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Brainy Smurf is one of the protagonists from the comic strip The Smurfs.[1] He was created by the Belgian cartoonist Peyo and then transformed by Thierry Culliford. He is one of the recurring Smurfs in the series and appears in almost every album, as well as in the TV series episodes and movies.[2]
He is easy to recognize because he wears a pair of glasses with strong black frames. Without them, Brainy Smurf is almost blind. However, at the time of his first appearances (in the mini-stories as The Smurf Thief and The Hundredth Smurf)). he did not yet have glasses and Papa Smurf referred to him as the ‘moralizer’.[3]
He lectures the other Smurfs when they disobey an order given by Papa Smurf or when they behave badly, even if he himself is to blame. He relies in particular on moral treatises and dictionaries of proverbs, which seem to be abundant in his library. He continually supports Papa Smurf and often begins his moral lessons with: ‘As Papa Smurf says...’.[4]
As a village scholar, he has a wealth of knowledge in many areas, but he is unable to share it with his fellow Smurfs because his ability to annoy others rarely gives him the time to finish his sentences. Worst of all, he lacks Papa Smurf's wisdom, which enables him to keep a certain distance from the use of knowledge. This is particularly apparent in The Smurfs and the Book that Tells Everything, when he gains access to unlimited knowledge and decides to use it to seize power, proving that knowledge alone is not a quality and can lead to the worst extremes.[5]
Brainy Smurf seems to be the least popular Smurf in the village. He is regularly beaten with a mallet or expelled from the village when his moral lessons annoy the other Smurfs too much, and his fate is of little concern to his fellow Smurfs when he is in danger. In King Smurf, no one tries to rescue him when he is imprisoned, and in The Smurfs and the Howlibird, he is propelled out of the watchtower where all the Smurfs have taken refuge, and he has to wait until nightfall to return.
In the English version of the cartoon The Smurfs, Brainy Smurf is dubbed by Danny Goldman. In this series, Brainy Smurf is particularly annoying, proud and exasperating because he has an over-inflated ego, doesn't listen to anyone except Papa Smurf and doesn't recognize his faults, which causes disasters. But he is also a coward even when his fellow Smurfs are in danger. He is often seen teaming up with Clumsy Smurf, with whom he shares a great friendship, even though, because of his pride, he does not listen to his friend when he warns him of danger.[6]
Fred Armisen took over the dubbing of the Brainy Smurf in the 2011 American 3D animated film The Smurfs, as well as The Smurfs 2. Quentin Tarantino was cast for this role.[7] Danny Pudi took on the voice of Brainy Smurf in .[8]
In The Smurfs: The Lost Village, the Brainy Smurf has a slightly different personality: He is more likeable, more intelligent and much less exasperating than in all the other versions. He also has a laboratory where he does experiments, as well as a ladybird called Snappy. Interestingly, he never once gets thrown out of the village, and he's not afraid to fight with Hefty Smurf.
In the 2021 TV series, Brainy Smurf is still annoying the other Smurfs and still causing disasters. He gets around the village on a wooden Segway. He can also be intelligent and tenacious in certain situations.[9]
When translated, the character's name variates in other languages, but it mostly refers to his glasses (Four eyes, Glasses Smurf, Glass eye Smurf). In Spanish, the translated name is Philosophe Smurf.