Brainy Smurf (cartoon era)

	"FAIRY GODPARENTS!'" — Denzel Crocker This is a good article.

Brainy Smurf "...and as Papa Smurf always says..." *gets thrown out of the village and into this site, landing on his head* Gender: Male Type: Overly Boastful Smart Aleck Age: Possibly 100 years old, in Smurf years Species: Smurf Portrayed by: Danny Goldman (Cartoon Show) Media of origin: The Smurfs and The Magic Flute The Smurfs First appearance: The Smurfs

"Never call Brainy an idiot."

— Brainy

"YOU'RE AN IDIOT, BRAINY!"

— Hefty

Brainy Smurf is one of the main characters of the cartoon adaption of The Smurfs. Throughout the series, he is portrayed as an annoying character who was supposedly meant to act out as a moralizer to the Smurfs but turns out to be a bit talkative, boastful, and somewhat of a smart aleck and spoilsport character who is more likely to blab out, much to the annoyance of everyone.

Why He Intentionally Smurfingly Sucked

NOTE: These reasons only apply to his incarnation as depicted in the 1981 cartoon series, as his later incarnations are more tolerable.

1. He was flanderized from being a smart character who was kind of an annoying character but still a good character in the earlier seasons, into a nerdy character who annoys every Smurf in the village in the later ones.
   • He also became a huge Butt-Monkey, since he gets thrown out of the village (but sometimes somewhere else in some episodes) whenever he gets too annoying.
2. He constantly boasts on and on about his knowledge, making him a big showoff. Initially in the comics, he constantly tells off his fellow Smurfs for not listening to Papa Smurf and they should always obey his orders.
3. In the Turkish dub, his voice sounds way too high-pitched and gets grating to the point where it can give Scoop's new voice a run for its money.
   • His voice in the French dub is especially estimated as rather haughty and arrogant to those who are able to listen closely, although that kind of suits his personality.
4. He talks too much. Whenever he states out something, his sentences tend to be so long that it could get on the other Smurfs' nerves, resulting in him getting thrown out of the village (which serves as the running gag of the series, making him the Butt-Monkey).
5. He behaves like a stuck-up smart aleck who thinks he knows everything at times, which makes the season 12-16 counterpart of Thomas the Tank Engine look like a poindexter in comparison. He would blab out something that is true but could lead to trouble, and even acting like he knows better than anyone, which isn't true.
   • He is also considered incompetent in most episodes (especially in season 6 and onward), trying to help around the village, usually resulting in anger from the others (especially Papa Smurf).
6. At times he acted like he was second-in-command of the village, using the excuse that he is Papa Smurf's assistant when he was actually Papa Smurf's lab assistant and apprentice, meaning he was confused. In the original comics, he never was Papa's apprentice to begin with.
   • Speaking of which, in most episodes of the later seasons, Papa Smurf no longer saw Brainy as a lab assistant and saw him as more of a disobedient child or a babysitter to Baby Smurf. If he is a lab assistant, how come it feels like he's not in that role anymore?
7. Although he and Clumsy are best friends, he didn't always treat him that way (see below). He always saw him as a pest who cramps his knowledge and tries to get away from him as possible.
8. He is unlikable in some episodes, mostly the ones where he is occasionally miscast as the antagonist dozens of times whenever Gargamel or the other villains are absent from an episode, even though he's supposed to be one of the good guys.
   • His villainous side debuted in the cartoon adaptation of "King Smurf". He ruled the village like a tyrant and started a civil war, though he does apologize at the end and is not as worse as his later appearances. In the original comic version, he was held captive as one of King Smurf's prisoners and is not the antagonist.
   • He was also unlikable in the episode "Clumsy Luck", since he was responsible for all the trouble Clumsy went though (when Clumsy broke Vanity's mirror, Brainy claimed that Clumsy got bad-luck by using the cliche about people getting bad luck from breaking a mirror and even tried to quarantine him, preventing him from having fun and seeing the meteor shower. And after Clumsy escaped from his house, a meteor crushed his house, causing the other Smurfs, especially Papa Smurf when he returned from Homnibus' place, to think Clumsy got killed and made a funeral for him. Brainy is also mourning as well (although it was all his fault, making him a hypocrite). Thankfully, Clumsy returned, and much to everyone's surprise, they were happy to see him alive and well the whole time. (Brainy, as usual, got what he deserved, but he never learned anything from it).
   • In "Brainy's Smarty Party", he ejects the Smurflings from his party, and kicks out many of the others (even Clumsy), causing the remaining Smurfs to leave.
   • "The Smurfy Verdict" is another example. He framed Clumsy for the disappearance of Baby Smurf, although it was his responsibility to take care of him in the first place. He doesn't even apologize for framing his best friend and claims to finish off his case instead, lacking any empathy whatsoever. Being thrown out at the end doesn't trigger his empathy side either, he just complains about "Some justice."
9. He was a spoilsport to Grandpa Smurf's stories in the episode "The Royal Drum".
10. He doesn't have a sense of humor and can't seem to take a joke, as seen in "April Smurf's Day". Rather than fight back fire with fire, he runs off into the forest with Grouchy.
11. He is infamous for his Quotations of Brainy Smurf series of books (beginning in season 3), which were never adapted to the original comics. They contain nothing more than nonsensical ramblings from the character (for the most part).
12. He never changes his behavior and remains self-centered, arrogant and egotistical for the rest of the series. Like Bloo, he is the opposite of character development.
13. Most episode plots revolve around him causing chaos around the village and/or trying to live up to his name. His personality bares similarities to Fred Flintstone and Daffy Duck, but without the likable qualities of either. In fact, if you take everything that's likable about Fred and Daffy (even more so than his Seven Arts counterpart), you get Brainy Smurf in a nutshell.
    • In some episodes, he serves no purpose to the story other than being a nuisance. For example, in "Happy Unhappiness Day to You", Brainy Smurf spies on his fellow Smurfs to make sure they're unhappy without a logical explanation why he was put in charge.
14. His personality isn't always consistent. In "Smurfette's Lucky Star", he was the one who suggested Smurfette to get a new star. But later in the episode, Brainy reveals to have wishes of his own and has a long list of wishes to make, proving to be not as good as any of the other Smurfs.
    • In "Paradise Smurfed", Brainy is the one resting on the job only for comedy and is later seen carrying firewood with Greedy.
15. Unlike most other Smurfs who learn from their mistakes, Brainy Smurf does not. He keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over again, without even learning from it. He never learns anything from his experiences and continues to blindly make mistakes without realizing how much trouble he's caused, resulting in Papa Smurf outright scolding him (in a simply comedic fashion) and looking for a new apprentice.
16. In A Loss Of Smurf, he disqualifes Vanity for being a Wartmonger, which is considered discrimination. Just because someone is a different species from the other Smurfs, doesn't mean they should be kicked out of an activity for how they look.

Redeeming Qualities

1. He was a more tolerable character before season 6.
   • That being said, he was clearly supposed to be annoying during his flanderization.
2. Although the other Smurfs get annoyed by his behavior, they still love and care for him, especially Smurfette, who sometimes hates to see the other Smurfs bully him (although she too despises his behavior).
3. Danny Goldman did an admittedly good job voicing him in the US dub.
4. He was likable in some episodes such as "Cave Smurfs", but that's not saying much.
5. To be fair, the other Smurfs never give him a chance or at least tolerate him. Instead, they always throw him out of the village pretty much every time he talks, even though the Smurfs are supposed to be kindhearted and forgiving, especially to each other.
   • However, it still does warrant his treatment, whereas he always gets his comeuppance by getting thrown out of the village. Unfortunately, in the ninth season, the gag seemed to get old pretty quickly (even by late 80s standards). Throwing Brainy out of the village didn't seem to make sense anymore, with the Smurfs jumping to various time periods.
     • That being said, at least he’s not the dreaded karma houdini.
6. Some of Brainy Smurf's quotations can be considered quite useful, as shown in the episode, "The Dark Ness Monster".
7. After the cartoon was canceled in 1989 and Peyo's death in 1992, Brainy became less annoying and more likable in later media and redeemed himself in the infamous 2011 live-action film by Sony Pictures Animation. He also became more likable in the 2021 series too.
8. Some Smurfs/Hanna-Barbera fans still like him, or may be possibly still be a fan of him.

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