Marriage

Marriage is a custom common to most races of two genders where a man and a woman are joined together for a lifetime in a ceremony called a wedding, with the possibility of a family being produced through the marriage. There is also the "common-law marriage" where a man and a woman cohabiting with each other and having a long-term intimate relationship with each other (sometimes producing children through the relationship) are considered a married couple.

Marriages in the particular time period that most of the Smurfs stories are set in were usually arranged by the parents, though as depicted in the stories themselves, the characters usually marry out of love for each other. Heterosexual marriage is considered a virtue in Christianity with the intention that families may be produced and that the virtues of godliness would be instilled upon future generations.

In Smurfs Media
There are some characters in the Smurfs cartoon series that are married. Selwyn and Tallulah are a married human couple of sorcerers that, despite their constant bickering and fighting, still show love for each other. In the cartoon special "Smurfily Ever After", Laconia the wood elf was joined to Woody through a ceremony held by the Smurfs which Gargamel had crashed with his ghoulish calliope. Bigmouth and Bignose are a couple of ogres that at some point during the cartoon series fell in love with each other and became married. In the cartoon show special "'Tis The Season To Be Smurfy", the Smurfs bring joy to an elderly human couple Gustav and Elise at a time when Elise was sick to the point where it would have been her last Christmas. In the "non-canonical" 2011 Smurfs movie, the Smurfs visit a modern-day human couple, Patrick and Grace Winslow, who are expecting their first child.

It is possible, despite the fact that the Smurfs are mostly depicted as a single-gendered race of males with a few magically-created female Smurfs, and with reproduction of new Smurfs done through non-physical means, that marriages can also take place in their culture. However, since Smurfette loves her fellow Smurfs to the point where she couldn't decide which one of them she will ever settle down with, and since very little is revealed about the nature of Grandpa Smurf's relationship with Nanny Smurf, this can only be speculated upon. Nonetheless, in the cartoon show episode "Papa's Wedding Day", Papa Smurf found himself falling in love with Flowerbell the woodnymph, who made him feel young again, and was intending to marry her until it was revealed that she was just using him so he could be captured by Lord Balthazar in exchange for her freedom.

Empath: The Luckiest Smurf stories
"As it was smurfed in the beginning, so shall it smurf by the decree of nature, that male and female shall be smurfed together as one so that they may be fruitful with the blessings of love and family. And may the bonds of unity never be broken until death do they smurf."


 * - A Smurf wedding blessing

"You are my Smurf/Psychelian brother, and you are my friend."


 * - Empath and Polaris's standard term of endearment for each other

In Smurf culture Due to the Smurfs being a race of two genders in the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series, marriages are part of their culture, though the last known case of any Smurfs marrying prior to the present time in the series was when Papa Smurf's fellow Smurfs had all married and became parents of Empath's generation of Smurfs. Although Smurfs are generally considered physically developed and capable of reproducing at 100 years of age, which is when they become adults, societal norms suggest that they must be at least 150 years old to marry and have children, and all unions of that sort must be male and female, as any same-sex unions in their culture are not recognized as marriages if indeed there are any.

Weddings in Smurf culture are conducted in a similar manner to human weddings, with a Smurf assigned as the designated minister who invokes the blessings of Mother Nature and Father Time upon the union. Brides are accompanied by a maid of honor, bridesmaids, and a flower girl, while grooms are accompanied by a best man, ushers, and a ring bearer. Brides are given a bridal shower of gifts while grooms are given a bachelor party to celebrate the end of their innocence. On the day of the wedding, the bride wears the same colored hat as her husband to indicate who she belongs to, as maiden Smurfs generally wear white hats until the wedding. Usually marriages are consummated through the intimate private ritual of "getting under one's hat" during the honeymoon.

The only known recent marriage among the Smurfs is that of Empath Smurf and Smurfette, which took place about 10 years after Empath's final return from Psychelia. The product of that marriage was a daughter named Psycheliana Smurfette, who was born about five years after the wedding. It is assumed that the rest of Empath's generation had found mates and married in the years following Psycheliana's birth. Though two adult Smurfs of opposite sexes of any age can consent to a marriage, societal norms suggest that only Smurfs of the same physical age can marry. As in mainstream Smurfs media, Papa Smurf has attempted to express a desire to marry Smurfette, but even as that desire was perverted by his exposure to "pheromone cologne" which mutated him and amplified his desire, Smurfette never reciprocated in kind, saying that she could only love Papa Smurf as a father and nothing more. In an alternate timeline explored by Traveler Smurf, however, Smurfette fell in love with and married Papa Smurf, much to the disgust and consternation of her fellow Smurfs. The act of Papa Smurf having a daughter through Smurfette drove much of the village into a rebellion led by Empath that drove the new family as well as Polaris Psyche out of the village.

In Psychelian culture In Psychelia, since any form of physical intimacy is considered taboo, Psyches of the same gender are paired together in a bonding ritual that would make them lifelong partners, allowing them to enter into a "dream space" through a dream sharing technique. The bonding ritual basically consists of Psyches removing the gloves of their bodysuits and touching the palms of each other's hands while emitting a pulse of telepathic energy through them, which at that point they both know who their partner is. It is through Empath bonding with his fellow Psyche Polaris that his partner learned that Empath was a Smurf and helped him control his emerging behaviors while still living in Psychelia.

While Psychelian culture may consider Empath's pairing with Polaris a technical form of marriage, Empath's and Polaris' feelings for each other are more closer to being brothers as neither of them feel any sort of attraction toward each other. Tapper, although devout in the belief that homosexuality is unnatural, likens Empath's and Polaris' relationship with each other to being like that of David and Jonathan from The Holy Bible, of which David said upon his partner's passing that his love for him surpassed that of "the love of women".

In the alternate timeline explored by Traveler and Empath in "Hefty, The Luckiest Smurf", where Empath was forced to return to Psychelia, he suffered a condition of a constant hormonal spike that required him to physically mate with someone. To resolve this situation, the Psyche Master commanded Cassiopeia, a female Psyche, to be Empath's mate in order to quell his desires.

In other cultures Marriage is more common among races consisting of two genders than it is among those of a single gender. Among humans, King Gerard and Princess Guinevere became married and had a child named Jared.

In the Mirror Universe, while Papa Smurf and Smurfette are both married to each other, Smurfette tends to be very unfaithful to her marriage and polyamorous in her relationships with her fellow Smurfs. Papa Smurf disapproves of this behavior with Smurfette, but allows it only on the grounds that his little Smurfs know that she is his wife first and foremost.

RDK Stories
In The Reluctant Dark Knight series, humans are a race of two genders and marriage is a part of their culture and highly revered in the Middle Ages. Several members of royalty fall in love and get married in the series (which will be revealed later). Likewise, other races take part in the same ritual such as Woodsprites, Gnomes, and Goblins: the first to get married in Numbuh 404's Season 11 episodes are Prince Pyro and Princess Glacia.

Within the series, there are a handful of characters who get married, and a few whom are not qualified for marraige (legally), but are accepted as an item by others. More to come later!

The Second Smurfette Series
In "The Second Smurfette" series. Naughty and Jokey were the first Smurfs to get married. Other races take part in marriage such as Pixies, Goblins and Nymphs. Another couple to get married are the Nymphs Luna and Hex. Skelly was about to get married to another Pixie named Dusk, but he turned out to be working for Chlorhydris.

Naughty Smurf, Naughty's parallel counterpart, is also married but is disloyal to his wife has he has had many affairs. He tried to have an affair with Naughty Smurfette but she was reluctant as she was more loyal. He had another affair with Hefty Smurfette but it is unknown so far, if that relationship lasted.

Hero: The Guardian Smurf
In the HERO: The Guardian Smurf story series, the first known marriage among the Smurfs is that of Heroic Smurf and Wonderful Smurfette, who decided to get married after spending 5 years living together and the result of this marriage was that of their daughter Saviour Smurfette, who was born 15 years after the wedding took place. Saviour herself would be married to Oracle, the Smurf formerly known as Baby Smurf. Many years after Hero and Wonder's wedding, Hero's fellow Smurfs used the Mirror Of Opposition to get female counterparts for themselves and soon got married. Around his 500s, Hero married Smurfette sometime after his first wife had passed away.

Glovey Story
In the Glovey Smurf story series, the main character is married to Smurfette. There is also Aasif and Aneeqa, a married Smurf couple who are followers of Islam. In the Sun, Glovey and Wild's parents Sol-El, a Sunwalker, and Charmeine, a Smurfette, appear to be married as well. Clumsy Smurf marries the Scottish female warrior Claire.

Gay Rights
Related article: Sexual orientation

In the Medieval Era, what would eventually be termed as "homosexuality" was never considered viable in most, if not all, human cultures. However, following the 21st Century, societies across the globe began to take note of the population that they found to be "gender queer", some of which is classified simply as defying typical rules of social roles. Up until the last several decades, society considered anything between masculine women or feminine men as improper civilians - to openly admit one was gay or lesbian meant facing severe punishment.

In the modern 2000s, more action has been taken to bestow basic rights and protections to the LGBTA community, although the subject of marraige is still controversial in the United States. Regions in Europe have already legalized gay marraige and so have several states in the US, and the number will grow in time. Despite being ridiculed and cast out in the past, this part of the human population is making themselves aware and their strength is increasing gradually, mostly thanks to newer generations. It is expected that in the next thirty to forty years, they will be equal to the heterosexual community.

While the opinions on this matter are not generally shared by everyone, it is left mostly to the discretion of the fanfiction writer whether to include such unions in their fanfiction story series.

RDK Stories
Numbuh 404 is proud to include homosexual and bisexual characters within The Reluctant Dark Knight series since, in real life, she has multiple good friends of non-heterosexual orientation.

Hero: The Guardian Smurf stories
During the brief time that the Grey Smurfs existed, its counterparts of Hero, Smurfette, and Wonder were shown to be in a three-way marriage relationship with each other.