Marina is a mermaid that Handy had first encountered in the episode "Handy's Sweetheart". He was busy testing out his deep-sea diving equipment when Marina, who was attempting to jump up the waterfalls of the Smurf river to find the cure for her ailing father King Aquarius, ended up drifting downstream unconscious straight toward the Smurf river bridge. Handy rescued and revived her in a tub with a smurferator that keeps the water oxygenated, then with the help of his fellow Smurfs brought her father from his underwater kingdom of Atlantica to the Smurf Village while also collecting the cure from the Pool of Avalon.
Handy fell in love with Marina, but because she was a mermaid, he was unable to keep her with him in the village, and she was unable to keep him with her in her underwater realm. Eventually they parted ways, though they continue to encounter each other from time to time.
She made her second appearance in "Marco Smurf And The Pepper Pirates" where she spotted a pirate ship with Marco Smurf taken as hostage. She sent out a message to the Smurfs to send out a rescue team. With Dreamy Smurf as the captain, the Smurfs set out to rescue their fellow Smurf. Marco at one point fell in love with Marina because of her beauty and her voice. Although she was flattered by his words, she claimed that her heart belongs to Handy. After a battle at getting pepper from the pirates, Handy and Marina once again parted ways in tears, but they still won't stop trying to find a way to be together.
Handy and Marina
She made her third and final appearance in "No Smurf Is An Island", where Handy made a smurfmarine just so that he could visit her. She claimed that she was happy to have Handy around but was also worried about the other Smurfs and how they were doing without him. While it seemed that the two could finally be together, the smurfmarine breaks down and Handy nearly drowns, but the Smurfs get there in time to save him. This is when Marina and Handy decided that they still need to find a way to be together, and even though they will miss each other, they will have to part again.
Smurfs' Village Game[]
Marina in the Smurfs' Village game
An update to the Smurfs' Village app game features Marina as an accessible character. As soon as players place her on their island, she will invite her sweetheart Handy Smurf. That is very important as it will give players the option to build Handy’s Dive Shop and unlock a new diving mini game, which in turn will allow them to go scuba diving in search of pearls to collect XP and coins.
Trivia[]
- Marina's name means "from the sea".
- On model sheets and other production material related to the cartoon, Marina's name is exclusively spelled 'Merena'. However, this isn't how her name is spelled elsewhere, such as in the Smurfs' Village game. It's possible the pun was just overlooked and "corrected" over the years.