Vanity Smurf (original French name Schtroumpf Coquet) is one of the main characters of the Smurfs comic books, the 1980s Smurfs cartoon show, and the 2021 Smurfs cartoon show.
Character
He's a dandy. He takes pride in his style and enjoys looking at himself in the mirror. He loves everything related to beauty and well-being: sewing, fabrics, design - and the other Smurfs ask him for advice on style and trends, he is considered the real expert.
He is usually obsessed with his own personal beauty and is usually seen carrying around a mirror admiring himself constantly in it. He is easily identified by a flower on the right side of his hat. In the early comics prior to The Smurfette, the only thing that visually separates Vanity from the other Smurfs is his tendency to carry around a mirror.
Vanity has an identical clone of himself who first appeared (and probably made his only appearance) in "The Hundredth Smurf" comic book story.
Personality
As his name implies, Vanity is extremely vain. He thinks of himself as the most beautiful Smurf, even more beautiful than a pixie. His hobbies are:
- Looking at himself in the morning
- Looking at himself in the evening
- Looking at himself at night
- Keeping his complexion fresh
He is rarely seen without a mirror and cannot leave his own house without it, something that he claims in "A Thief Among Us!". Most of the time, he talks about himself whenever someone talks to him, but he is a good guy at heart and genuinely cares about his smurfy family (noticeably evidenced in episodes like "Clumsy Luck" and "The Curse Of The Smurfs' Treasure"). He is also seen being concerned about the creatures of the forest, such as in "Spelunking Smurfs" when the Smurfs were out of food and a squirrel wanted to share a nut with him and Clumsy, but Vanity didn't want to take it as the squirrel was a mother with two young squirrels to care for. During times of uncertainty or a rescue is needed, Vanity is usually one of the first to volunteer his help. In the episode "Once In A Blue Moon", Vanity was shown to have come to love Baby Smurf so much that when a notice came that the infant Smurf would be taken back he became so upset and angry that he smashed his mirror on the ground and later tried to pose as an infant to trick the stork into taking him instead of Baby Smurf.
Vanity is very sensitive about his looks and is always looking for any new facial cleansing techniques. If he were to find something ugly about him (like a pimple), he will not leave his house for days. He thinks he is (and might actually be) the most popular Smurf in the village. Despite looking like every other Smurf, he does appear to have some unique defining trait that makes him the "fairest", as seen in "Beauty Is Only Smurf Deep" where Periwinkle's magic mirror acknowledges Vanity as being the "fairest in the land". When he has the slightest pimple, he will go through deep measures to make it go away, shown in "Leaping Lizards".
Vanity is quite rebellious. In "Smurfboards", he and Jokey get annoyed with Brainy's endless chattering, so they respond by smurfboarding out in the forest and deliberately torment Brainy.
In the 2017 CGI movie, Smurfs: The Lost Village, he's shown to be soft-spoken, but still flirty and vain as always. He has five parts: Three in the opening and two in the ending.
Relationships
Vanity does not seem to have a "Smurf Best Friend", but he has good relationships with some of the Smurfs. He prefers for everyone to have the same view on him: Handsome, charming, and full out perfect!
However, his narcissistic personality is regularly mocked by the other Smurfs, who sometimes play tricks on him. For example, in "The Smurf Menace", Jokey lends him a new mirror in which his image will be horribly magnified, and Vanity runs to his house, upset.
Smurfette
Vanity's closest friend is Smurfette (after himself of course). The two always talk about clothing or beauty techniques. Smurfette is also really concerned about Vanity whenever he becomes saddened. Smurfette mothers over Vanity, as we see in the episode "Hats Off To Smurfs" when Vanity becomes ugly because of Gargamel's cursed, yellow Smurf hat.
Smurfette is also the only Smurf to show consistent care for Vanity when he turned into a lizard from a lotion in "Leaping Lizards" and in "The Makeover", Smurfette votes for Vanity to make the new outfit for the Smurfs. There are times, though, where the two will fight because they both think the other one is jealous of their own looks.
An example of them fighting (from "The Masked Pie Smurfer"):
- Smurfette: "Admit it Vanity, you wanted me for a Pie Smurfing because I'm BETTER looking than you!"
- Vanity: "I did not, and you ARE NOT!"
- Smurfette: "I am too, and you DID TOO!"
He is one of the only Smurfs who does not want Smurfette in a romantic way all of the time as he is usually too busy fawning over himself. Although in episodes where the Smurfs have romantic holidays or a desire to date or court Smurfette to a celebration/party (such as "Romeo And Smurfette", "The Mr. Smurf Contest", and "Prince Smurf"). Vanity naturally lets his affections for her be known, but mostly he still regards her as only being as lovely or slightly as lovely as himself when compared to his own "beauty". When they are being at all romantic, it is Smurfette that kisses him and half the time, he replies with it being the second most smurfiest thing ever (the most smurfiest thing is a kiss from himself, which Smurfette misunderstands and gets upset because he didn't kiss her), the other half he does act like he could be blushing (although they did kiss in "The Adventures Of Robin Smurf"). Despite wanting Smurfette to pick him out of all the Smurfs, he hardly ever compliments her during his courting rituals or gives her good reasons to pick him other than that he is a "smurfy catch" and that together they would make a handsome couple because of his own looks, showing that even when his heart may be focused on someone else, he is still mainly obsessed with himself. Regardless, like all the other Smurfs, Vanity treats Smurfette like a friend first and a romantic interest second, and 90% of the time, she is his best friend, and when he is not talking to himself, he is talking to her, which is rather rare as no other Smurf is ever able to stay around him for long without losing interest on his favorite subject, himself. In "A Circus For Baby", Vanity turns down the chance to kiss Smurfette to kiss his own reflection.
Brainy Smurf
Vanity is one of the many Smurfs often seen arguing with Brainy. In "Smurfboards", he and Jokey are constantly annoyed with Brainy's rules when riding smurfboards around the village and race into the forest to get away from him. However, he shows concern for him and tries to save him with Jokey... at least until Brainy gives him a ticket.
Painter Smurf
Vanity asks Painter to paint portraits of him often, as shown in a couple episodes. Most of the time, he criticizes these portraits as something that cannot capture his own beauty, which only makes Painter angry.
Hefty Smurf
Vanity usually gets kicked out of the village by Hefty, who views his constant announcements where he boasts about his own good looks as annoying. The sentiment is also shared by many of the Smurfs, as Vanity often makes these announcements while the Smurfs are doing important work, which is seen in "A Loss Of Smurf".
In "Leaping Lizards", he and Smurfette search for Vanity, who has turned into a lizard, in the forest together.
Jokey Smurf
In the 2021 cartoon, Vanity has frequently been seen with Jokey. In "Joke's On You", Vanity is annoyed from Jokey's pranks and decides to use magical explosive powder from Papa Smurf's laboratory. Later, he and Jokey save Papa Smurf from the Mini-Jokeys. They also interact in their Pluff version in "The Pluffs!". In "Smurfboards", they appear together again as they smurfboard around the village.
Wild Smurf
Vanity dislikes a lot of Wild's animalistic habits and often tries to change him to his liking. In "Smurf On The Wild Side", he tries to spray some of his perfume on Wild while he takes a bath, but he ends up sneezing, causing the bath to overflow.
Sexuality and Controversy
There have been some rumors about Vanity's sexuality. However, his flower, concern about looks, and voice (in both cartoons) do not prove he is homosexual. There is no proof that Vanity likes other male Smurfs (like he loves himself and his appearance), even though his character is clearly defined as effeminate. It is more likely the character is simply a narcissist who is sexually attracted to himself. Signs of his vanity include his highly obvious self-focus in interpersonal exchanges with the other Smurfs. He is also shown to have highly haughty body language as well as a sense of arrogance about himself. In the end credits of Smurfs: The Lost Village, his reflection comes to life and gives him a kiss on the lips.
Vanity's clone (Hundredth Smurf)
Vanity had a clone who was simply referred to as Hundredth Smurf who appeared in the comic book story and cartoon episode of the same name.
In the movies
The Smurfs
Vanity has a role during the early part of the 2011 Smurfs movie as the choreographer of the Blue Moon Festival dance. Apparently, he is the one behind having Clumsy not taking part in the rehearsals and has Brainy, Grouchy, and Gutsy stand guard to prevent Clumsy from gaining entry. However, Brainy got catapulted into the line of dancers on the stage by Grouchy and Gutsy kicking him in the behind, causing them to be knocked over and for Vanity to stop the rehearsal just before he notices a worry line on his face. Later on in the movie, during the Smurfs' battle with Gargamel, Vanity is the Smurf who gets caught on the line that the frying pan is attached to, which Chef and Baker use to hit Gargamel in the face with.
The Smurfs 2
He is one of the main stars in The Smurfs 2, being one of the three Smurfs that goes with Papa Smurf to modern-day Paris in order to rescue Smurfette.
Smurfs: The Lost Village
Vanity spends most of his time in Smurfs: The Lost Village looking at himself in the mirror and saying how beautiful he is. In the closing credits, his reflection comes to life and kisses him on the mouth.
Appearances
Trivia
- Vanity has been noted to be the "Most Beautiful Thing Around" by a few female characters, despite looking like the other Smurfs. TV Tropes describes this as the Informed Attractiveness trope.
- Vanity is a good singer. He was the temporary replacement for Glammy in "Who's In The Band?" and sung a song about the cursed amulet in "The Curse Of The Smurfs' Treasure".
- His most repeated expression in the show is, "My mirror(s)!".
- Vanity is the only male Smurf to have a flower on his hat, although various female Smurfs such as Smurfblossom, Smurflily, Smurfbegonia, and occasionally Smurfette are seen with a flower on their hats.
- Despite Vanity's namesake and personality, Brainy has shown instances of being more self-centered than him. The only difference between Vanity and Brainy is that Brainy often annoys the other Smurfs with his ego, but they don't seem to mind Vanity's ego.
- Vanity along with Sweepy, Tracker, and Marco are the only the Smurfs that have had a British accent, though Vanity's British accent only applies to the live-action movies.
- He is one of the main Smurfs who doesn't have a designated job and is rarely seen taking part in work, although in Season 9, he is made to do serious work when he lost one of the time crystals in Antarctica in an ice cave while admiring himself. Papa Smurf orders Vanity to find the missing time crystal fast, or else all the Smurfs will freeze to death, including him.
- Vanity's flower changes color in each media; white (comics), pink (1981 TV series), bright yellow (live-action films), and creamy yellow (Smurfs: The Lost Village and the 2021 TV series). In The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol, he wears a poinsettia to suit the occasion, and in The Smurfs: The Legend Of Smurfy Hollow, he wears a cornucopia for a hat. Vanity does not have a flower in the early comics.
- Alan Oppenheimer has stated in an interview that he based Vanity's voice on Jack Benny.
- In the Polish dub he gets redubbed as "Laluś" (Fop) and not "Próżnik" (which is the Polish translation of Vanity).
- During the credits of the French dub of the 1981 Smurfs cartoon which used the song "Smurfy Way", Hanna-Barbara created an animation exclusive to Belgium where Vanity is seen walking across the station's logo and places the flower on his hat onto the logo before winking at the viewer. Although there's no proof to confirm, but 1988-1992 re-runs aired on Tele 5 in Germany have a variant of the channel logo which features the same Vanity animation, as shown at the end of this video.
- He, Papa Smurf, Grandpa Smurf, Baby Smurf, Smurfette, Brainy, Clumsy, Hefty, Handy, Greedy, Grouchy, Lazy, Jokey, Painter, Wild, Sassette, Snappy, and Smoogle are the only characters who time traveled during Season 9 with the Time Scrolls.
- Despite being one of the main characters, he only appears in five episodes of Season 8 and only speaks in two of them.
- Vanity has his name in four episode titles which are "Vanity Fare", "Vanity's Wild Adventure", "Vanity's Closest Friend", and "No Reflection On Vanity".