Scruple is one of the main villains that appeared in the Smurfs cartoon show from Season 6 to Season 8, with his first appearance being in the episode "The Enchanted Quill". He is a rather mischievous, cunning, and sometimes rotten kid who became such a source of trouble for his teachers in the sorcerer's school that they decided to dump him on the evil wizard Gargamel so he could train him as an apprentice -- though, he often ends up doing his master's chores instead of learning.
Being very snarky, Scruple uses a lot of sarcasm and snide towards Gargamel and others. Despite his troublemaker status, he does genuinely want to be a wizard, as shown by his many attempts to get back into the school and eagerness to become a great wizard. His former classmates are not very fond of him, and usually tease and make fun of him for dropping out when they cross paths.
The relationship he has with Gargamel is rather tenuous, since neither of them like being stuck with each other and are constantly bickering. He does help Gargamel out at times when it comes to trying to capture Smurfs, usually just because he's being dragged along. He refers to his master as 'Gargy' and often has an almost fourth-wall sense of the flaws in Gargamel's many plans. On occasion, when Scruple does have a useful suggestion that Gargamel takes seriously, Gargamel takes credit for having thought of it.
He and Azrael seem to be on better terms with each other than with Gargamel. Azrael always snickers at Scruple's quips, follows him along in episodes such as "The Magic Sack Of Mr. Nicholas" and "Smurf Pet", and generally stands by his side when Gargamel is doing something. This is probably because Scruple is much nicer to him than Gargamel.
Sometimes, Scruple's own selfishness ruins plans, such as when Gargamel intercepted a shipment of Christmas toys and brought them back to the hovel in "The Magic Sack of Mr. Nicholas". Because Scruple's own toys are worn out, Scruple complains about them not being for him and replaces the toys in the sack so he can keep the new ones for himself. Gargamel delivers the stolen items to Chlorhydis, whom he was allied with in a conspiracy to ruin Christmas. However, when Chlorhydis promptly destroys the sack by burning it in her fireplace, it causes various explosions as the toys were replaced with various magical chemicals of Gargamel's. This results in the actual sack of toys being retrieved by the Smurfs. In a way, he accidentally saved Christmas that year.
His character was voiced by Brenda Vaccaro.
Trivia
- Scruple's hat vaguely resembles a Smurf hat.
- During the visit of Denisa, Scruple found her annoying.
- The comic book character Jeanty from "A Child Among The Smurfs" shares Scruple's character trait of mischief and would have become Gargamel's apprentice, but later decided that following Gargamel's path of life was not the best idea.
- Scruple appears to enjoy catching lizards, as shown in the episodes "Sassette's Tooth", "A Smurf for Denisa", and "Heart of Gold".
- Scruple's color scheme is somewhat inconsistent in the show, much more so than other characters. Sometimes his outfit is lavender, blue, gray, or even a light purple, with his cape varying from a red-violet to a deep red.
- His name is taken from a word meaning honesty, restraint and ethical behavior, some things neither he nor Gargamel are really known for.
- Scruple is shown to live in Gargamel's hovel, moving straight from his former school to there. He may be an orphan, as his parents are never revealed or even mentioned.
- His voice is reminiscent of a New York accent.