Statue of Gargamel in his patched black robe, hands on hips
Theme-park statue, not a collectible figureGargamel in his patched black robe, at a theme park in Ankara.Photo: Nevit Dilmen · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Gargamel's cat is named Azrael, so the Gargamel cat question has a one-word answer before anything else. Azrael is the scrawny ginger tom who trails the wizard through every Smurf-hunting scheme, and he has been there since the pair's first comic page in 1959. Gargamel is the bald, stooped sorcerer in a patched black robe who lives in a stone hovel beyond the forest and has never caught a Smurf for keeps. They are also the most merchandised villains in the franchise, cast by Bully, Schleich, Wallace Berrie, Jakks Pacific and Funko. The checked facts come first, then the figure history collectors need.

Statues of Gargamel and Smurfs in a theme-park garden
Theme-park display, not a collectible figureGargamel and the Smurfs at the Harikalar Diyarı park in Ankara.Photo: Nevit Dilmen · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Gargamel's debut
Le Voleur de Schtroumpfs (The Smurfnapper), Spirou magazine no. 1130, December 10, 1959, collected in the album Les Schtroumpfs noirs
What he is after
Originally the philosopher's stone; in the cartoon the Smurfs are an ingredient for making gold, and in some stories he simply wants to eat them
Where he lives
A stone hovel with a thatched roof and a tower on the far side of the Smurf forest, shared only with Azrael
Gargamel on screen
Paul Winchell for eight seasons of the 1981 series and Michael Bell in season nine; Hank Azaria in 2011 and 2013; Rainn Wilson in 2017; Lenny Mark Irons in the 2021 English dub; JP Karliak in 2025
Azrael's name
Proposed by co-writer Yvan Delporte, who thought the angel of death suited a would-be Smurf killer; Kauka's German comics renamed him Uriel
Azrael's coat
Orange with white markings and a nick in his right ear in the 1981 cartoon; the live-action films used orange-and-white tabby cats
Boy or girl
Female in Peyo's early comic strips, switched to male for the cartoon, and male ever since in comics and films
Azrael's voices
Don Messick (1981), Frank Welker (2011, 2013 and 2017), Cherise Silvestri (2021 English dub), Rachel Butera (2025)

Who is the evil guy in the Smurfs?

Hand-carved wooden sculpture of Gargamel above a hollow log
Wood carving, not a collectible figureGargamel carved in wood, seen in Hong Kong.Photo: wong chung san · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Gargamel. The bald wizard in the patched black robe is the main villain of the Smurfs in every version: Peyo's comics from 1959, the Hanna-Barbera cartoon of the 1980s and the films. He lives in a stone hovel beyond the forest with his cat Azrael, and spends every story trying to catch the Smurfs, who always get away. The cartoon added lesser villains around him, such as the witch Hogatha and his godfather Lord Balthazar, but when people remember the bad guy from the Smurfs, they mean Gargamel.

Why is Gargamel's cat called Azrael?

The name came from Yvan Delporte, the Spirou editor who co-wrote the early Smurf stories with Peyo. Azrael is the angel of death in several religious traditions, and Delporte thought that was the right name for a cat whose job is to kill Smurfs. Gargamel's own name is a joke in the same spirit: it echoes Gargamelle, the giantess in Rabelais, and gargamelle is old French slang for the throat. Both names arrived together in the second Smurf story, printed in Spirou on December 10, 1959. German comics called the wizard Gurgelhals and the cat Uriel from 1969 until Carlsen restored the originals in 1995, which is why the Bully figure carries the Gurgelhals name.

Is Azrael a boy or a girl, and what breed of cat is he?

Close view of painted Smurfs on a Brussels wall mural
Wall mural, not a collectible figureAnother corner of the Carrefour de l’Europe Smurfs mural, Brussels.Photo: -wuppertaler · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Both answers have changed over time. In Peyo's original strips Azrael was female. Hanna-Barbera made the cat male for the 1981 series, and the later comics and every film have kept him male. No breed is ever stated; the drawn cat is an orange alley cat with a bad temper, and the cartoon added a small nick in the right ear as his one identifying mark. For the 2011 live-action film the trainers hired six orange-and-white tabby cats, four of which did most of the work, with a Burmese brought in to provoke snarls. Frank Welker voiced him there and in the 2013 and 2017 films; Cherise Silvestri took the English role in 2021 and Rachel Butera in 2025.

What does Gargamel actually want with the Smurfs?

It depends on the decade. In the 1959 story he needs a Smurf to complete the philosopher's stone, the alchemist's recipe for turning base metal into gold. Repeated failure curdled that ambition into hatred, and by the cartoon years his stated goal was usually gold made from Smurf essence, with occasional episodes in which he planned to cook them instead. His catchphrase in English is simply "I hate Smurfs!". His most famous scheme was Smurfette: he shaped her from clay and sent her into the village to sow jealousy, and the plan collapsed when she switched sides. The 2011 film had him drain Smurf essence to power his wand, the 2013 sequel had him build two gray Naughties to lure Smurfette back, and the 2025 film adds a brother, Razamel.

Who else lives in Gargamel's world?

Large Baby Smurf figure in a white nightcap on top of an ice-cream kiosk
Shop display, not a collectible figureBaby Smurf on an ice-cream stand in San Sebastián, Spain.Photo: Toine le voxophile · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The cartoon surrounded him with a small cast of villains. Scruple, voiced by Brenda Vaccaro, is the apprentice thrown out of wizard school who treats his master with open contempt. Hogatha, voiced by Janet Waldo, is a bald witch in a red wig who rides a vulture. Lord Balthazar, voiced by Keene Curtis, is Gargamel's colder and far more capable godfather. His mother, played by June Foray, cannot stand cats, so Azrael is thrown out whenever she visits. The Hanna-Barbera series ran on NBC from September 12, 1981 to December 2, 1989.

Which Schleich Gargamel figures exist, and from what years?

Bully comes first. During its license years in the mid-to-late 1970s the German rival sold Gargamel as Gurgelhals, a figure Schleich never issued and one that is hard to find without paint loss. Schleich's own list starts with Super Smurf 40211, Gargamel and Azrael boxed together: Coleka dates the mold to 1978, and smurfs.com.au records Wallace Berrie selling it in America from 1982 to 1985 in boxes printed As seen on NBC. The regular line followed: 20181 Gargamel with net in 1984, 20232 pouring one lab glass into another in 1992, 20418 with arms raised in 1993, and 20425 with hands on hips, nicknamed Furious or Angry Gargamel, in 1994. Party Gargamel 20702 belonged to the 50th-anniversary releases of 2008 to 2011. Gargamel and Azrael 20759, a two-part mold with the cat at his feet, came out for The Smurfs 2 in 2013, and the current single figure is 20825, dated 2020 by Coleka.

Which figures show Azrael on his own?

Painted Smurf scene on the outside wall of an Austrian building
Wall mural, not a collectible figureSmurfs painted on the wall of a house in Bramberg am Wildkogel, Austria.Photo: Eweht · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Fewer than you might expect. The cat in the 40211 Super Smurf set is a separate 4 cm piece; bluedwarfs lists that cat by itself. The first stand-alone regular figure is Azrael 20411, which collector databases date variously to 1991, 1992 and 1993; smurfs.com.au notes that early castings have a blue tip on the nose and a notch in the ear. Frightened Azrael 20439, a sitting cat, ran from 1996 to 2000, and Party Azrael 20703 partnered Party Gargamel. The present-day cat is 20826, dated 2020 by Coleka, and the Smurf house set 20803 ships with the pair. Two Smurf figures borrow Gargamel's face: 20199, a Smurf in a Gargamel mask from the 1985 Halloween releases, and Super Smurf 40247, Jokey whose gift box springs open to reveal a Gargamel head.

Gargamel's castle, his laboratory and the movie toys

White Smurf statue standing in the entrance hall of a comics museum
Statue, not a collectible figureA Smurf statue in the Belgian Comic Strip Center, Brussels, 2010.Photo: Poudou99 · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Schleich's Gargamel's Castle is the playset collectors chase. The older version, 40027, has a blue base with matching blue stones and two levels joined by a ladder, with collector records dating it to 1993 and 1994. The reissue, 49027, swapped in light gray stones and a solid yellow roof, with examples dated 1996 under an IMPS Brussels license and later ones made in Czechia. Wallace Berrie sold a cardboard pop-up Gargamel's Castle in 1983. For the 2011 film Jakks Pacific put the pair in a Grab 'Ems two-pack in July 2011 and in a Gargamel's Laboratory playset the following month, with figures of roughly two inches. Funko's Pop and Buddy pair, number 273, arrived in 2017 with Gargamel in a patched dark robe and red shoes and is now vaulted; a 2023 Asian-market bobble-head, number 210, dresses him in purple with gold trim.

Telling the versions apart, and which Gargamel pieces are scarce

Poster of smiling Smurfs with the words cuida tu playa
Campaign poster, not a collectibleSmurfs fronting a European Union beach clean-up campaign in Peru.Photo: UE en Perú · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Every Gargamel pose is different, so identification is about variants rather than shape. On 20232 compare the lab glasses, pink and purple or green and blue, and the skin, which bluedwarfs lists in light pink, dark pink and yellowish castings. On 20181 the net is always yellow but the rod can be yellow or brown. On 20759 the mold seam and the country stamp separate the Made in China casting from the German one. A 40211 pair only counts as a Super Smurf with its box, because the loose wizard and cat are routinely sold as regular figures. Scarcity, in collectors' words rather than ours: the Bully Gurgelhals in clean paint, the boxed Jokey 40247, a complete castle with instructions, and the 1980s Super Smurf in an unopened NBC box fetch several times a common loose Gargamel. Sold ranges for documented pieces appear in the figure checklist on this page, built by the method on our price method page.

Figure checklist

The photographed checklist is being prepared. Figure identities, foot stamps and sold examples must be verified before entries or prices are published.

Related characters

Cloth tote bag printed with a Smurf
Campaign bag, not a collectibleA Smurf tote bag handed out at the same beach clean-up campaign.Photo: UE en Perú · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Smurfette · Papa Smurf · Jokey Smurf

Sources

Hillside village of blue-painted houses surrounded by green forest
Júzcar, the Andalusian village painted Smurf blue in 2011.Photo: Rafael Tello · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Editorial draft · Last reviewed 2026-11-04