King Gerard (LD Stories)

King Gerard (formerly Prince Gerard) is a character from the cartoon show. His Wiki page is located here. He is also a character in The Reluctant Dark Knight Series and the Expanded Animated Universe.

Background Information
Straight from the Wiki: He is a friend of the Smurfs, nephew to the King, his cousin Princess Savina, and Johan and Peewit. Before his coronation, his aunt Imperia had shut him up in a dungeon, making the rest of the kingdom believe that he was suffering an illness. However, shortly before she was to be coronated as queen, Prince Gerard had an unexpected visitor in the form of Clockwork Smurf who had run away from the Smurf Village after becoming aware of himself.

With Clockwork's help, the prince fled to the Smurf Village where he received help from the Smurfs in retaking the kingdom away from his scheming aunt. From the day Gerard was coronated as king, he made Clockwork his personal advisor, and has from time to time even assisted the Smurfs.

Fanon Criteria: His majesty appears in the Season 10 Finale, The Reluctant Dark Knight, where he carries out his own plot within the story. He asks for help from his uncle, the King, about deciding a queen to accompany him and receives his friends, Johan and Peewit, as the answer.

Known Family
Throughout the cartoon series whenever his majesty appears, he is either with Clockwork, Johan and Peewit, or some relative that is seldom seen again. The following have been seen:
 * 1) Princess Savina -- his cousin (in fanon, she is several months older than him) who loves both him and Clockwork. She visits his kingdom from time to time, almost always escorted by others. He usually writes to her in times of good or ill either for advice or appearance (example: when Clockwork was water-logged, he asked her to help find Handy to have him repaired).
 * 2) The Good King  -- his uncle who also loves him dearly, but does not show as much attention to him as Savina since he has his own kingdom to look after. He occasionally exchanges letters with him, but they do not see one another often.
 * 3) Imperia - his aunt who despises him since her original plan to take his throne failed; he keeps no contact with her unless Clockwork advises so.
 * 4) Leopold -- his uncle who also tried to take his throne; with his plans thwarted by Johan, Peewit, and the renewed Clockwork Smurf, he was banished from the kingdom and has not been heard from since.
 * 5) Malcom -- A.K.A. "Malcom the Mean"; his older second cousin who, shockingly, tried to take his throne. He nearly got away with turning King Gerard into a wild stag (game deer) and having his own hunting dogs kill him, but the Smurfs managed to turn him back to normal in time to capture Malcom for his treachery. King Gerard had him banished from his kingdom, beyond the Enchanted Forest.
 * 6) Mrs. Sourberry -- his castle servant; though she isn't blood related, he considers her a mother or aunt figure because she cares so greatly for him; likewise, he cares greatly for her.
 * 7) Sir Josten -- one of his squires; also not blood related, but he is considered a brother despite their "aquainted friendship." He enjoys his company and liked growing up with him, although the three years locked in the dungeons took some time that could have made more memories.

Relationship with Falla Cye
He first meets Falla in Story One and develops a friendship as the storyline progresses.

Story One
Upon Johan and Peewit's arrival, he is introduced to a young lady named Falla who is from a Southern Kingdom, as Johan explains. He is delighted to make her acquaintence and more so when he learns she is also going to assist him with finding a suitor. Through the course of the story, he reveals a sense of comfort around her, which is best established by letting her call him simply "Gerard" while he calls her simply "Falla." This comfort is also evident by him developing a habit of removing his crown when alone with her.

Story Two
In Take Back the Knight, they continue to strengthen their relationship. More information about this section will be added after RDK is concluded and the sequel begins.

Relationship with Sir Josten
King Gerard has always known Josten as a "brother" since they would see each other around the castle growing up. He once asked Mrs. Sourberry if they were related and finally learned that they were not, and that Josten was being raised on-and-off by the village minstrel. At about the age of nine, Gerard overheard him playing a flute to a melody in progress from his bedroom window overlooking the courtyards; he enjoyed the music, but never told Josten about hearing it.

Time of Stagnation
Shortly afterwards, his aunt Imperia locked him away in the dungeons, thus beginning her wicked plan to take his throne. Because of the three years spent as a prisoner in his own home, he did not learn about Josten becoming a page, and later a squire, until he had reclaimed his throne and was updated on such matters.

General Relationship
Besides directing him to normal tasks as a squire, King Gerard may call him forward to provide summonses beyond his kingdom or read new proclamations. Conversations between them are typically brief, but he enjoys Josten's company much like he enjoys Falla's. At times, he may quietly watch his jousting lessons and finds that his progress towards knighthood is closer in reach with each day.

Rivalries
The sad truth about King Gerard is that most of his relatives are enemies; his uncle Leopold, Aunt Imperia, Cousin Malcom, and others have backstabbed him to claim his throne, but luckily each attempt was thwarted with the help of his friends. However, there are still more.

General Enemies
After his first encounter with Lord Balthazar and Gargamel in "Bigmouth's Friend" from the cartoon show, he realized they were after his beloved Clockwork and soon found his kingdom under attack as their way of forcing him to surrender the doll. When they were defeated by Bigmouth and Clockwork was later repaired (having been damaged in the battle), Gerard threatened to punish them if they considered returning to his castle.

Since then, he has not had much trouble with them, but in a later episode of Season 7 called, "To Coin a Smurf", Gargamel alerts his guards of someone stealing his gold. From this, he decides that the wizard is not much of any threat alone and has him imprisoned temporarily for illegally manufacturing gold coins.

After the events of RDK have taken place, however, he gains a newfound distain for Gargamel and his apprentice, Scruple. He never forgives them for taking Johan from the side of good and causing so much grief for his friends. However, he can't help but be thankful for the time he gets to spend with Falla as a result.

Royal Enemies
In his own kingdom, there becomes a mild dispute between him and Sir Josten: the reason behind this is to be revealed later. Otherwise, taking note of Falla's behavior towards her, he develops a wariness for Lady Pricilla and keeps his distance.

A brief rivalry sparks between him and Peewit, too, when he discovers that he has accidentally made himself sixteen and pursues Falla. When Peewit is restored to his normal age, their rivalry ends, but Gerard wonders why he became so angry in the first place.

Season 11 Episodes
King Gerard is set to become a secondary character in Season 11. In place of Johan, he becomes the boy Falla looks up to, and so he and Clockwork see her and Peewit more often, meaning their friendships strengthen.
 * Woeful Smurfs (Ep. 1) -- He is mentioned by Papa Smurf when he tells Moxette of the events of Story One, for which she and Miner were absent.
 * King Gerard's Birthday (Ep. 4) -- Pending...
 * Clockette's Upgrades (Ep. 5) -- Pending...
 * King Gerard's Squire (Ep. 9) -- He appears during the beginning and end of the episode, having invited Princess Savina, Falla, and Peewit to his castle to oversee his new list of suitors.
 * The Princess and the Peewit (Ep. 10) -- Pending...
 * Tug-O-War Court Affairs (Ep. 13) -- Pending...
 * Mechanical Hero (Ep. 14) -- Pending...
 * Mother Nature's (Re)Creation (Ep. 21) -- Pending...
 * Falla's Birthday (Ep. 25) -- Pending...
 * Crestfallen Christmas (Ep. 26) -- Pending...
 * The Dragon of the Far Land (Ep. 37) -- Pending...
 * Take Back the Knight (Season Finale) -- Pending...

Appearance
When introduced, he is a young teenager perhaps 5'5" in American measurement with pale skin, standard black eyes, and sandy brown hair usually atopped by his jewel-studded (lavender diamonds and light blue rectangles) and fur-trimmed crown, or a fur-trimmed royal blue gentlemen's hat.

His king's attire consists of a royal blue simple turtleneck robe with long light blue sleeves (cuffed), dark violet shoulder drapings lined with fur at the bottom edges, and a large diamond-shaped light blue gem on a gold band around his neck. His leggings are light blue (matchings his sleeves and gemstones) and his flat shoes are royal blue (matching his robe).

Voice Actor(s)
In the show, he was voiced by Phil Proctor. A more modern choice would be Kenneth Branagh, who voiced the con artist, Miguel, in the DreamWorks Studios film The Road to El Dorado (2000).

Trivia

 * He is the only child character in the show with more than one known relative to appear in any part of the series. And it's kind of funny - in a sad way - that most of them have tried to take his throne.
 * Clockwork is the first Smurf he met in the cartoon show; he usually does not see the Smurfs in the forest unless they need his help or vice versa.
 * He is the only male human teenager to meet Gargamel in the cartoon series aside from Prince Theodore.
 * He is a right-handed writer.
 * His birthday is February 4th and he is about a year younger than Falla (13 when they first meet). His zodiac sign is Aquarius, which happens to fit his temporary Watersprite form in "Mother Nature's (Re)Creation" - a pure coincidence by Numbuh 404's design.
 * His signature song is "Good Life" by OneRepublic.
 * Unbeknownst to all but Clockwork, he keeps a personal journal in the locked drawer of his bedroom nightstand.
 * He prefers vanilla tea, but may enjoy Chamomile with sugar if in the presence of Falla or Princess Savina.