Greedy (original French name Schtroumpf Gourmand) is one of the main characters of both the Smurfs comic books and the Smurfs cartoon show, who has appeared on the show throughout its entire run.
Comic Book Version
This version of Greedy Smurf loves to eat food and loves to get his hands on more every chance he gets. He is usually found being chased by Chef or Baker Smurf whenever he gets caught in the act of filching food from their kitchens.
Despite being separate from his cartoon self, Greedy is shown (or mentioned to be) cooking and baking twice or so in the original comics preceding the show's creation. The most significant instance of this being The Smurfette, where Greedy is seen decorating a cake he baked for Smurfette and angrily investigating when it gets stolen. In The Astro Smurf, Harmony apologizes for accidentally reading off a recipe he borrowed from Greedy. He was also once portrayed as the village baker in The Baby Smurf, as it was an adaptation of the cartoon episode and took specific elements from it.
However, the few mentions of Greedy cooking or baking in past comics were misattributed to Baker in the modern English translations by Papercutz. The reason for this is unknown, though it could've been to avoid confusion among new readers or an attempt to fully reflect the current Smurfs canon.
Cartoon Show Version
This version of Greedy Smurf is an amalgamation of the comic book Greedy as well as Baker and Chef Smurf. He is the village chef who is responsible for keeping the village well-fed with his cooking skills. However, there are episodes where Greedy is invited to parties held by other Smurfs where the food provided doesn't seem to be catered by him, which may suggest that he isn't the only one who can cook or bake, though this is never quite touched upon in a consistent fashion.
Greedy is a major food fanatic who tends to eat and hoard his own goodies. He also sometimes uses food-related exclamations and idioms, such as "Great smurfin' sugar cookies!" and "cut the mustard".
He may be named Greedy, but he's actually quite generous. He's seemingly very inclined to share his food with others, even strangers, such as in "Greedy Goes On Strike" right before he gets captured. It's also implied in that episode and previously stated in "The Bad Place" that Greedy doesn't enjoy eating alone (unless he's having a midnight snack) or cooking for just himself, proving further that he finds joy in cooking meals for others, as long as they appreciate his work and don't overwork him. However, it's his own personal gluttony that's the reason he deserves to be called 'Greedy Smurf'.
On a ton of occasions, Greedy tends to think more with his stomach than his head, resulting in situations he often regrets getting into afterwards, which can be anything from a couple of really bad stomach-aches to unintentionally getting himself or other Smurfs captured by Gargamel or another villain such as The Ninja Rat in Season 9's "Karate Clumsy".
Greedy also tends to get irritated or lose his temper often, usually as a result of someone stealing or destroying one of his many beloved desserts and meals. When he does, it is usually not for long or very extreme depending on the circumstance. He is often seen joining the village's occasional panicked frenzies and angry mobs, such as in "Memory Melons".
Despite this, Greedy does not get very violent outside of using pastries or baking ingredients as weapons or whacking a Smurf with a wooden spoon (such as Brainy in "The Master Smurf" and an attempted swing at Gawogga Wogga and Snappy in "Snappy's Puppet"). The most violent he has ever gotten was arguably in "The Smurfwalk Cafe", as he is shown throwing chairs (one occupied by a terrified Brainy) off-screen in a fit of rage. In "Big Shot Smurfs", Greedy claims "[he's] an eater, not a fighter", but then agrees to become the Downhorns' giant general when he learns food will be his reward if he helps them defeat the Uphorns. Given that his only motivation is to win more food, he proves to be as incompetent of a general as Brainy.
All in all, Greedy has a big heart and cares about his friends just as much as (if not more than) his food. The last thing he wants is for any Smurf to go hungry, which is notably shown in "The Master Smurf" when Greedy brings food to Miner so he wouldn't miss a meal as he's hacking away in the mines. In "The Smurfs And The Money Tree", Greedy never treats any of the Smurfs badly of his own accord, only taking orders from the Devil Smurf that lived within the tree who claimed to be "the real [him]". When he finds himself disinterested by the belongings the Smurfs traded him for the golden goodies, he gets upset and misses their company terribly. Greedy later claims his friends are his real "fortune", implying he wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.
He is usually identified by a modified Smurf hat that resembles a chef's hat, and a napkin tied around his neck. The latter is often forgotten by the animators or ditched in favor of a scarf for the winter or a piece of clothing for a special occasion, such as a black bow-tie for the first (and only) Golden Smurf Award event.
Relationships With Others
In the cartoon show, Greedy is friends with practically every Smurf. He has no real Smurf best friend as they all seem to have fun with him or help him carry or create his food from time to time. He does dislike his fellow Smurfs taking his love of cooking for granted, as in the story "Greedy Goes On Strike" he purposely walks out on his job when he sees that even Smurfette doesn't give him a well-deserved break.
He also allows the Smurflings to help him in his kitchen or serve the Smurfs, such as in the episodes "Denisa's Greedy Doll" and "Greedy Goes On Strike". He also sometimes offers them recently baked treats, such as cupcakes in "Snappy's Way" (although this interaction is ruined by Snappy's own greediness).
In the episode "The Smurfwalk Cafe", Greedy and Handy accidentally create smurf cream, resulting in them forming a partnership and running The Smurfwalk Cafe. The duo act very friendly toward each other for a short time until they lash out and dismantle the cafe over which one of them should be credited for creating the dessert. After their individual attempts at producing the dessert fail, the two go to gather more ice upon the same mountain occupied by the Snowbeast. Unfortunately, Gargamel is already near the peak forming a huge snowball, planning to crush the village. With the help of the Snowbeast, Gargamel is defeated, but Greedy gets trapped beneath the snow as a result. Handy, distressed, digs him out with help and the two happily rekindle their partnership and wish to continue serving smurf cream together.
Greedy gets very agitated by Brainy's meddling in his various cooking and baking activities, hating to be criticized by an amateur. Sick of Brainy's comments in "The Gingerbread Smurfs", Greedy challenges him to a bake-off and the two are to bake gingerbread cookies. The Smurfs show overwhelming support for Greedy, much to Brainy's dismay. After Brainy creates groups of chaotic living Gingerbread Smurfs, he desperately asks Greedy for help. The chef agrees, if only to show him that a professional knows what they're doing. He succeeds, showing Brainy that "amateurs [often] overlook the obvious": putting out the oven's fire.
Greedy seemed to have had the worst attitude toward Sweepy Smurf out of the entire village. He gets extremely frustrated during an unexpected visit from him, Sweepy cleaning out Greedy's chimney and more importantly, wanting to clean his stovepipe. Greedy angrily tells him he'll have him clean it when he's ready and orders him out. He swaps this attitude for a more positive one for a short time later, believing along with the rest of the Smurfs that Sweepy's handshake brings good luck. However, after he discovers his new pies are inedible, he hurls a slice at Sweepy as he visits and tells him he'd never let him in his home again, thinking his unluckiness is to blame. This attitude of course changes once more at the end of the episode, after Sweepy becomes a now beloved hero.
Appearances
In The Movies
The Smurfs and the Magic Flute
He appears in the animated version of The Smurfs And The Magic Flute in the form of Sweety (the original French version uses his actual French name), singing his part of the song "Just Like Their Names" as Papa Smurf shows Sir Johan and Peewit the Smurf in question eating food. He is later shown throwing a pie in Brainy's face, after getting annoyed with the latter's lecturing.
The Smurfs (2011)
He appears in the 2011 Smurfs movie racing Farmer Smurf to the village on storks carrying sacks of smurfberries. He is visually heavier than his fellow Smurfs and is voiced by Kenan Thompson.
The Smurfs 2
He also appears in The Smurfs 2 where he is shown having frosting on his face, trying to hide the fact that he ate a portion of Smurfette's birthday cake. In the animated feature The Smurfs: The Legend Of Smurfy Hollow, he is one of the contestants of the Smurfberry Harvest contest who appears on stage at the end of the contest with his face gorged and his mouth stained with smurfberries.
Smurfs: The Lost Village
Greedy has a quick background appearance in Smurfs: The Lost Village, shown eagerly following Chef Smurf and his cake.
Greedy Smurf's hut in the Smurfs' Village game
Smurf Videogames
The Smurfs (1994 video game)
Greedy appears in one of the levels in the 16-bit versions of the 1994 Smurfs video game.
The Smurfs: The TeleTransport Smurf
Greedy is one of the playable characters in the PC game The TeleTransport Smurf.
Smurfs' Village
In the Smurfs' Village game, Greedy Smurf has a hut that comes with a minigame. In the minigame, you select a pastry to make, then when the ovens appear you tap on them and the treats will appear. If one is steaming, tap on it and it will give you a 'Smurfy!' rating for that tray. But if the pastries have turned black, you will get a rating of 'Poor'. The ratings will affect the prizes you get after finish the game. His hut cost 80 coins.
Greedy's hut in Smurf Life
Smurf Life
In the game 'Smurf Life', Greedy appears as a cooking teacher. He will give a quiz to the player to complete and help them cook new things.
Trivia
- His character in the cartoon was voiced by the late Hamilton Camp.
- Greedy is allergic to pollen, as shown in the episode "Bewitched, Bothered, And Be-Smurfed" when the room full of flowers summoned by Hogatha's (at the time, Smurfette's) magic locket makes him sneeze.
- In the cartoon, it turns out that he is so well liked by his fellow Smurfs (or they considered the possibility of him enjoying the pie, thus ruining the point of getting someone pie-smurfed) that he didn't become a target in the episode "The Masked Pie Smurfer," so he had to paint a target on his face in order to actually get pie-smurfed.
- Like the majority of the Smurfs, Greedy seems to be good with animals (especially when it comes to feeding them). He is seen happily throwing smurfberries to a visiting carrier bird sent by Lord Balthazar in "Handy's Kite", cheese to a rat (and himself) in "The Man In The Moon", and cupcakes to a very hungry Puppy in "Have You Smurfed Your Pet, Today?".
- He also expressed little fear when faced with a frightening squirrel in "Scary Smurfs", guessing it was just acting beastly because it was hungry and then giving it a nut.
- Greedy has a reasonably cool head in the face of crisis in "The Smurfette" episode when he is tricked by the Gargamel-controlled Smurfette to open the dam's sluice gate in order to flood the village. After Smurfette damages the control lever, Greedy belays himself down by a rope and manages to force the gate closed by himself.