Empath: The Luckiest Smurf (novel)

"Empath: The Luckiest Smurf" is a name given to Vic George's Smurfs fanfiction novel featuring his own Smurf character Empath. The story is set in an alternate universe, somewhere around the time of Seasons 5 and 6 of the cartoon show, incorporating elements from both the cartoon show and the original Smurf comic books.

Act 1
The story takes place on the main character's 150th birthday, and as the Smurfs prepare for the upcoming birthday party, Smurfette and the Smurflings are curious as to who Empath is. Papa Smurf tells her that Empath is a special Smurf born with "extra-smurfory perception", which means he has powerful mental abilities such as telekinesis and telepathy. As to why no one has seen Empath around in the village, Papa Smurf answers that it's because he lives in another village called Psychelia, where a group of non-emotional beings called Psyches have trained Empath in the use of his abilities. He only comes home once every ten years to visit the Smurfs, with this visit being the last, where the Psyche Master (the leader of the Psyches) promises to release Empath so he can come home for good.

In Psychelia, Empath is busy chopping down trees along with his fellow Psyches when he is summoned to appear before the Psyche Master in his chambers. In there, Empath is granted leave to attend his birthday party in the Smurf Village, but the Psyche Master tells him that this leave is now permanent, that he will no longer continue to train a Psyche whose mind is clouded with thoughts and ideas not befitting a Psyche. Empath tries to protest his case, but is forced to leave Psychelia for good by the Psyche Master, and soon as he packs up his things and says goodbye to his only friend Polaris Psyche, he gets a ride back to the village from Handy who shows up outside Psychelia with his latest invention, a smurfplane.

Back in the village, Jokey is secretly called into Tailor's workshop for a surprise that he wants to pull on Empath, while Dreamy and Tracker watch from a tower for Empath's return. Soon they see Handy's smurfplane approaching and warn the other Smurfs who now gather around the field where the smurfplane lands. Empath is warmly greeted by Papa Smurf, who then introduces her to one new Smurf that his eyes have beheld -- Smurfette. However, Smurfette seems put off by the rather too-polite greeting that she gets from Empath, since he has never heard of a female Smurf before.

As the Smurfs depart back to their duties, Papa Smurf fills Empath in with what's happened in the village since his last visit before allowing him to go into his house to unpack his things. While he unpacks, Empath notices that another new Smurf, Baby Smurf, has secretly entered and introduces himself to the infant. Papa Smurf shows up again outside Empath's house to let him know that he's going into the forest to gather up some ingredients for his experiments, so he has Empath look after Baby Smurf while he's gone.

As Empath entertains Baby Smurf and eventually the Smurflings as they visit his house, Papa Smurf is abducted by Gargamel and taken to his castle where he ponders on a plan to use him to capture the other Smurfs. However, Papa Smurf's abduction is seen by Empath in a flash vision, and instantly he races through the forest at incredible speed until he reaches Gargamel's castle, where he sees Gargamel with his cat Azrael and his apprentice Scruple. Using his mental abilities, Empath keeps the terrible trio distracted while he enters the castle to rescue Papa Smurf. But soon Gargamel spots Empath and tries to capture him, only to miss him again and again as Papa Smurf tries to make a run for it. Eventually both Smurfs leave the castle while Empath causes the three of them to stumble into each other before running back to the village, to a Smurfette who isn't pleased to see Baby Smurf being left by himself.

Later on the birthday party commences, and Empath is entertained by his fellow Smurfs Jokey and Clumsy as they put on their performances prior to Greedy bringing out the birthday cake for Empath to blow out its candles. Before the cake is served, however, Jokey presents Empath with a "smurfday surprise" of his own, which makes Empath rather wary and ready to use his mind powers to find out what Jokey was really giving him until he decides not to do so and risks opening it. Instead of it exploding, though, Empath finds a Smurf hat and a pair of pants that are both black with white silvery stars on it. Tailor reveals that he is the one who came up with this "smurfday surprise" for Empath and is hoping for him to try it on, as are all the other Smurfs. Papa Smurf has no problem with any Smurf wearing anything out of the ordinary, and so with that, Empath decides to give the new Smurf suit a try.

While Greedy is busy serving the birthday cake to the other Smurfs, Empath returns wearing the new Smurf suit, and the other Smurfs are amazed by what they saw -- he truly looked like he belonged wearing that suit. Smurfette, having no birthday present of her own to give to Empath, gives him a kiss on the cheek, which makes him feel so incredibly warm inside. Papa Smurf takes this opportunity to tell his little Smurfs that this year is when Empath is now a full-fledged member of the Smurf Village instead of a visitor, which makes the other Smurfs cheer and which makes Empath happy because he is now a free Smurf.

Act 2
The following day, Empath is called into Papa Smurf's laboratory to discuss his future now that he is a full member of the Smurf Village. Empath senses that Papa Smurf is actually needing a new apprentice to teach alchemy and sorcery since he is having trouble with his current apprentice, Brainy. However, Papa Smurf gives him a different role -- that of an assistant counselor, one who can take care of the other Smurfs' problems without having to always go to Papa Smurf to resolve them. Empath accepts the role for a trial period, and as he leaves, Brainy is relieved when Empath tells him that Papa Smurf now wants to spend more time with him teaching.

After a day of working as an assistant counselor, Empath and Grouchy talk with each other until they find themselves near a crowd gathered around a table, watching Hefty arm-wrestling with some Smurf wanting to challenge him. Grouchy departs as Empath stays and watches Hefty's current opponent lose the match and another Smurf come to take his place as the challenger. Jokey joins Empath and says that there's nobody who could ever beat Hefty in arm-wrestling, except possibly for Empath...when he is inspired to have Empath challenge Hefty. After Hefty's next opponent loses, Jokey calls out and says Empath will be the next challenger. Empath is rather reluctant, as also is Hefty (who knows how strong Empath really is, or just seems to be), but soon they lock hands with each other and spend minutes exerting all their strength trying to push the other's arm down on the table...except that neither Smurf's arm seems to go anywhere. After the minutes pass, Hefty's strength gives out, and Empath pushes Hefty's arm down toward the table, causing his fellow Smurfs to cheer for Empath and Hefty to walk away with a sore arm and a bruised ego.

Smurfette, who was also watching the arm-wrestling match going on, meets up with Empath and goes away with him so she could talk to him in private. She tries to get Empath to seem interested in her as more than just some Smurf to talk to, but she isn't pleased with the response she gets from him and just walks off sorely disappointed. Later that night, though, Empath is found painting a picture in his house, using his right foot's toes to manipulate the brush and wearing nothing but a towel, due to feelings that he's starting to have about Smurfette.

The next day, Empath decides to take some time off from his duties as the assistant counselor to spend time with the Smurflings, where he flies with them over the village, with him pretending to be his favorite childhood character Smurfling Pan and the Smurflings to be the Lost Smurflings. Empath learns, though, that the boy Smurflings were actually part of the Lost Smurflings who came from Smurfling Island, where no Smurf ever ages, and that they have left that island sometime after Baby Smurf did to arrive in the Smurf Village. While Empath continues to play with the Smurflings, though, a group of Smurfs are busy working on something with a statue that they mean to show to Empath. Sometime later, Papa Smurf and Brainy find Empath playing with the Smurflings, and while Brainy thinks Empath should be scolded for abandoning his job as the assistant counselor, Papa Smurf simply decides to leave Empath be, considering all that he haven't had time for during his years in Psychelia.

That night, it's Papa Smurf who couldn't sleep. He keeps tossing and turning in his bed, fearing the very thing he felt needs to be told, when he hears a knocking on his door. It is Empath, who had just awakened from a frightening dream of seeing a younger Papa Smurf leave him in the temple of the Psyche Master and then feeling an incredible pain in his head that made him scream. Papa Smurf then tells Empath that what he must have experienced was a memory, and from there proceeds to tell him his life story. 150 years ago, there were both male and female Smurfs that lived in the Smurf Village who were having children of their own. Papa Smurf, who at that time was named Culliford, had a child through his wife Lillithina -- a child that was born with a yellow star mark on his forehead, which turned out to be Empath. Papa Smurf learned from the village archives that such a Smurf child would possess powers "beyond the five known senses" -- and as he found out when he saw his son levitating his toys around in his room, his son did possess those powers. However, it was his son's ability to sense the emotional state of his father that made Papa Smurf give him the name of Empathy.

But as happy as Papa Smurf was over having a special child, his wife became fearful of Empathy's future, that he would be considered an outcast because of his powers. That led Papa Smurf to look for a way that Empathy could be taught how to use his abilities wisely, and from his searching in the village archives, he discovered a group of people called the Psyches, who also possessed the same powers and abilities Empathy had. Taking a stork to Psychelia, Papa Smurf presented Empathy to the Psyche Master and presented his case. The Psyche Master decided he would teach Empathy, but Papa Smurf must leave his son behind in Psychelia in order to do so. With sadness, Papa Smurf made his farewell to his son and left him in the temple, crying for Papa Smurf not to leave him. After he had left the temple, Papa Smurf heard screaming. Believing that the Psyche Master was killing Empathy, he rushed back to the temple but couldn't re-enter to stop his son from dying. He returned to the Smurf Village to break the sad news to his wife, who became so angry over what Papa Smurf had done that she had left him to live with his friend Aristotle, who gave her a son by the name of Brainy.

As to how Papa Smurf finally became Papa Smurf by name, he was living in isolation from his fellow Smurfs for about fifty years until an unknown disease started taking the lives of his fellow Smurfs. The disease, strangely, didn't affect either Papa Smurf or the young Smurflings that were becoming orphaned as more of their parents were passing away. His wife Lillithina also died from the same disease, leaving the care of her son Brainy in his hands. Unable to find a cure for this disease, and eventually left with 97 young Smurflings to watch over as his own, Papa Smurf brought the orphans together as a family willing to do their best to help the only adult Smurf left in their lives to keep the village running, permanently calling himself Papa Smurf. It took 20 years for Papa Smurf and his now-adopted little Smurfs to accomplish this task, but eventually they learned how to do so, and Papa Smurf couldn't have felt much happier and more relieved with the end result of their labors.

However, after those same 20 years, Papa Smurf received a letter from the Psyche Master, telling him to meet with him in Psychelia concerning his son, who is now named Empath. Realizing that his son is now alive, Papa Smurf goes to Psychelia and demands to see Empath, which the Psyche Master obliges. Soon a young 70-year Smurfling with a yellow star on his forehead wearing a Psychelian bodysuit enters the temple, greeting Papa Smurf before realizing how he shared the same skin tone with a "half-naked, misshapen, bald, bearded savage of a being". This causes Papa Smurf to reason with the Psyche Master to allow Empath to visit the Smurf Village for a year, on the grounds that what Empath learns about being a Smurf isn't shared with any of the Psyches and that Papa Smurf was never to reveal the true nature of his relationship to Empath. Soon Papa Smurf brings Empath to the Smurf Village where he discovers for himself that he is a Smurf and how Smurfs live their lives. During his visit, Empath found himself crying for no apparent reason, since Psyches do not express emotions, so Papa Smurf showed Empath what emotions were and how they were expressed. After his first visit, Papa Smurf showed his little Smurfs a statue he had made of how Empath would have appeared as an adult Smurf years ago when he thought that was Empath was lost, saying that when Empath is as old as the appearance of his statue's likeness, then "they shall be free".

Unfortunately, after Papa Smurf has told Empath the story of how he was Papa Smurf's only son, Empath becomes angry and accuses Papa Smurf of being a liar who treated his own son as if he meant nothing to him compared to 97 other young Smurfs. In the midst of the heated argument, Empath punches Papa Smurf in the face, knocking him to the floor. Realizing what he has done to the village leader, Empath asks for forgiveness, but Papa Smurf is too hurt by the bruising to forgive and tells his son to go, that there's nothing more he can say to him. Saddened, Empath returns to his own son and goes back to sleep.

Act 3
As Empath wakes up and walks off into the forest, too ashamed of himself to even do anything with the Smurflings, Smurfette is approached by Hefty who wants to do something with her, which Smurfette suspects is a date. Smurfette politely tells Hefty that she doesn't want any Smurf to try forcing her into making a decision of who she's going to make her true love for all time. However, Hefty suspects that Smurfette is already thinking about making Empath her one true love, saying that he couldn't possibly feel anything for her. Smurfette tells Hefty that if Empath did feel anything for her, it would be more from his heart than anywhere else. To illustrate that "anywhere else", she knees Hefty below the waist, leaving him in pain and yelling at Smurfette as she walks off into the forest.

On her way there, though, Smurfette finds Empath walking ahead of her, wearing a bathrobe. Curious as to why he is doing that, she takes him to a spot near the waterfall where Empath tells her about what happened last night when Papa Smurf told his son the truth about their relationship. To help Empath see that he isn't the only Smurf who wonders about what being a real Smurf feels like, Smurfette explains to him her origin as being a creation of Gargamel who was changed into a real Smurf by Papa Smurf. She also tells of Sassette being a real Smurf who was encased in a crystal that she was freed from some years earlier, who was told that she was also a created Smurf just like Smurfette in order to help her feel more like part of the village of Smurfs that became her family. As Smurfette eases Empath out of hiding himself in a bathrobe, saying that she's been around enough male Smurfs to not be embarrassed by their appearance, the two of them are overheard by a spying Hefty talking about him in such a mocking manner that makes the tattooed Smurf boiling mad.

Meanwhile, in Gargamel's castle, Gargamel is busy going through books trying to find out about the Smurf who so easily bested him inside his own castle with his own set of powers while Scruple studies the ones that were tossed aside. At the mention of a star mark that was upon Empath's head, Scruple finds the passage about a Smurf being born with such a mark granted abilities "beyond the five known senses" -- which indicates telepathy and telekinetics. Gargamel, who then realizes that such beings are also susceptible to magic, decides that he will use The Great Book of Spells to give him the ultimate power he seeks for confronting this kind of Smurf.

Back in the village, as Empath and Smurfette talk about Gargamel's previous plots to destroy the Smurfs upon their return, they are accosted by Jokey wearing a Gargamel disguise, which makes Smurfette scream but doesn't affect Empath in the least. Soon Sculptor Smurf appears to tell Jokey that a certain thing is ready, and so, by having Empath blindfolded and Smurfette not saying a thing, the two Smurfs herd the other two toward a crowd of Smurfs gathered around a statue -- the same statue Papa Smurf had sculpted of an adult Empath, but this time adorned with a cape. With the blindfold removed, and Empath seeing the statue for himself, the other Smurfs in the crowd now reveal to Empath their plan to have him totally force Gargamel out of the forest once and for all. When Empath objects to this plan, saying that they're not supposed to hurt other beings in the forest, the other Smurfs end up mobbing him and pressuring him to the point where he gets angry and, with a single amplified punch, destroys the statue, much to their shock. Empath then tells them that he thought the Smurf Village was different from Psychelia in that they cared about other beings, but seeing that all his fellow Smurfs really cared about was themselves, he decides that he wasn't going to be one of them anymore. With that, Empath strips off his new suit in front of the other Smurfs and tears it to pieces -- but not before Hefty shows up to berate Empath for Smurfette "not kissing freaks". Empath simply knocks Hefty to the ground and goes to his house to destroy everything in it while Papa Smurf arrives at the scene to tell the other Smurfs to not make anything a shrine of worshipping Empath.

Late that night, Empath's house suddenly explodes into flames, and the Smurfs instantly call forth Handy's fire brigade to put the fire out. While this happens, a mysterious shadow being kidnaps Baby Smurf and takes off into the forest. After the fire is put out, Handy investigates the wreckage and finds only Jokey's surprise packages that caused the explosion, but no sign of Empath. Smurfette then approaches Papa Smurf with a letter from Empath, saying that he is going to end his life in the heart of the volcanic Mt. Vesmurfius, and with that, the life of the youngest member of the Smurf Village -- meaning Baby Smurf. This shocks the other Smurfs into thinking that Empath has become a monster, but Papa Smurf quiets those thoughts by saying Empath had lost more than what his fellow Smurfs had lost by being away in Psychelia, and if they do nothing, they will lose him as well. Papa Smurf plans to go to the mountain to talk Empath out of committing suicide, with or without any Smurf alongside him, when Smurfette steps up and volunteers to go with him. The Smurflings also volunteer, bringing along a bound-and-gagged Hefty with them. Brainy then steps forward to volunteer, then Grouchy, and then soon the entire village joins with Papa Smurf. Along the way, Papa Smurf reveals to an appalled Brainy the truth of his relationship.

While the Smurfs journey to the mountain to stop Empath, Gargamel goes to his cellar where the Great Book of Spells is located and recites the incantation to awaken its spirit. At first the recitation does nothing, but soon it awakens, and Gargamel is happy enough to tell the Book what he wants from it.

Finally reaching the mountain, the Smurfs enter a tunnel that leads to its heart where they see Empath, blindfolded and wearing a loincloth, holding Baby Smurf while suspending himself in midair over the chasm. Papa Smurf tries to reason with Empath to not do what he's going to do with himself and Baby Smurf, but Empath is too angry to listen to reason and instead demands Papa Smurf to prove how sorry he was for leaving him in Psychelia by having the village leader walk blindfolded over the chasm to where Empath is. The other Smurfs are shocked by this demand, thinking Empath must be crazy, but Papa Smurf agrees to do this and so has himself blindfolded and walking off the ledge, being suspended in midair, to where Empath is and grabs Baby Smurf. Every Smurf cheers until Empath tells Papa Smurf to let go of Baby Smurf. Papa Smurf does and instantly Baby Smurf is transported back to the ledge where the Smurfs are.

With Baby Smurf safely out of the way, Papa Smurf angrily confronts a still-blindfolded Empath, demanding what more did his son want to prove he was sorry for ever leaving him in Psychelia. As the two try to talk out their differences, Brainy daringly tries to walk off the ledge to prove himself as a half-brother of Empath. However, this distracts Empath to the point where he loses all concentration of his abilities, causing himself, Papa Smurf, and Brainy to fall down the chasm toward a lake of boiling lava. Papa Smurf, not wishing to see his two sons perish, casts a spell that envelops Empath and Brainy in bubbles that carry them back to the ledge. Papa Smurf, however, is unable to save himself in time as his now-glowing body is swallowed up by the lava he falls into.

As Empath drifts back to the ledge, he sees an alternate scenario of what happened years ago when he was left in Psychelia -- he sees that Papa Smurf has now carried him away from the Psyche Master, saying that he will never leave him like that again. This made Empath realize how truthful Papa Smurf was in his claim of being Empath's father. Back on the ledge, Brainy tearfully embraces an Empath who senses that Brainy now knows that they are both brothers. Soon the lake of lava spews forth a bubble that turns into Papa Smurf, who has miraculously survived falling into it and now joins his little Smurfs once again. Empath falls on his knees before Papa Smurf and begs for the village leader's mercy. Papa Smurf falls to his knees and tells Empath how sorry he was for ever leaving Empath in Psychelia all those years since he last heard his son was alive. The other Smurfs also make their amends with Empath, and soon a fully-clothed Empath joins them as they happily leave the volcano together.

Act 4
A few days pass, and Scruple, left to his lonesome in Gargamel's castle, is suddenly awakened from his sleep by his master emerging from the floor of his castle, wearing strange armor. Gargamel explains that this armor, created by the Gauntlets of Gantharros, is his ultimate weapon for going after the Smurfs -- the power of which he demonstrates by destroying a table he easily picks up and by igniting the stove with a magical power blast. Scruple, who is left rather uneasy by this demonstration, begins to object to the use of this armor, saying that Gargamel must be going too far in his capturing the Smurfs. An angry Gargamel picks up Scruple and tells him that his patience with the Smurfs has run out, and now they will pay for ever crossing him -- and nobody, not even Empath, will be able to stop him from doing so. As he flies off, Scruple begins to realize that there will be no escape for the Smurfs.

Meanwhile, back in the village, Empath is busy rebuilding his house with the help of Hefty and Handy while staying for a time in Brainy's house. Empath is again wearing a white suit, but this time also wears a shirt to go with the suit. Brainy notices Empath doing a drawing with his right foot and wonders how Empath is able to do that. Empath answers that during one of his visits to the village, he had broken his arms in a rockslide, and since he was learning how to paint and draw, he feared that he would never be able to continue learning -- until he had heard of a famous Smurf artist named Christy Smurf who learned how to draw and paint with his left foot. Soon, although Empath's injuries were healed, he had gotten used to using either of his feet to do artwork.

However, during this time, Gargamel shows up with his magical armor, causing all sorts of destruction in the Smurf Village and snatching up Smurfs here and there, including Papa Smurf and Smurfette. Empath bravely confronts Gargamel, but is soon overpowered by the magical armor as he is blasted away by an energy bolt. With about 56 Smurfs captured, Gargamel warns the remaining ones in the village to surrender themselves to him before sundown or he will destroy the entire village. After the evil wizard leaves, the other Smurfs are uncertain of which course of action to take in rescuing their fellow Smurfs when Empath causes them to calm down, reminding them that they are still a family and that together there is nothing that they couldn't accomplish if they pooled their efforts together. With the remaining Smurfs now stirred up and ready to follow Empath, preparing things they would use as weapons against Gargamel and his magical armor, Empath re-dons the star-patterned suit but this time adds a cape and a Smurf hat symbol on his chest. He leads them as an army determined to stop at nothing to stop Gargamel once and for all.

In Gargamel's lair, his apprentice Scruple is busy making the final preparations for the gold-making formula when he is briefly distracted by the sound of their magic flute, causing him to dance uncontrollably. Azrael chases after the flutists, but he himself ends up chased by Puppy until he is led into a cage. Then suddenly Gargamel and Scruple deal with a swarm of Smurfs all attacking them at once. Gargamel uses the magic of the Gauntlets of Gantharros to make things in his castle come to life and also to bring about fearsome realistic illusions to distract the Smurfs -- until Empath encourages them to see the illusions for what they really are. During one of Gargamel's attacks with his energy bolts, he destroys the cage holding the captive Smurfs, and at that moment, they all join minds together, giving Empath increased mental power which he unleashes on Gargamel, destroying both the gauntlets and the magical armor. With all the Smurfs now departing the ruined castle, Empath takes on Gargamel alone, felling him to the ground and warning the wizard to depart with his cat and his apprentice from the forest or else. Gargamel fearfully surrenders and leaves, and as the Smurfs return to the village in triumph, Papa Smurf congratulates Empath for using his abilities as the situation dictated, saying that someday he will make a fine leader of the village.

As the Smurfs go about in the work of reconstructing the village, Smurfette asks Empath if he could take her out flying that evening. He accepts, and soon he shows up at her balcony bringing her fresh flowers for her vase. They soon take off flying around the forest and even high enough to see the moon clearly. But then Smurfette notices that Empath needed to do something, and so she joins him in mourning his Mama Smurf, wishing that she was alive so she could hear everything Empath wanted to say to her. Smurfette reminds Empath that she is now part of the past, as is his living away from the Smurfs in Psychelia. While Papa Smurf watches, Smurfette kisses Empath on the mouth, signifying to the village leader that not only would the two be soulmates forever, but also that Smurfette has now taken Papa Smurf's place in teaching him the ways of the Smurf.

Epilogue
The epilogue of the story takes place 10 years later, when Papa Smurf (now wearing only a white moustache) presides as the minister over Empath and Smurfette's marriage, ready to join the two Smurfs "in smurfy matrimony". Smurfette, having no other females besides Sassette to celebrate her wedding with, has Flowerbell the woodnymph as her matron of honor, plus Periwinkle the pixie, Marina the mermaid, Laconia the mute wood elf, and the Pussywillow Pixies as her additional guests. As Papa Smurf invites any Smurf to voice their objection over this union to take place, Grouchy bravely tries to do so, but timidly says that he hates for the union of Empath and Smurfette to not happen. With no further objections, Empath and Smurfette make their vows before Papa Smurf to love, honor, and obey each other for "as long as they both shall smurf", and proceed to dance to a serenade which Harmony plays on an organ to before they kiss each other amidst cheers from their fellow Smurfs.

After the wedding reception, as Empath and Smurfette are ready to go on their honeymoon, Papa Smurf makes Empath pledge that he would never repeat the same mistake of sending his child to Psychelia as Papa Smurf did to Empath. The married couple promise Papa Smurf that they would never do such a thing, with Smurfette kissing the village leader and thanking him for making her a real Smurf. As the two Smurfs depart in a wicker gondola carried by a stork, Smurfette tosses her bouquet, which Sassette catches, while Empath tosses the garter, which Snappy catches, calling it "Smurfette's slingshot". Polaris, who at that point is now a member of the Smurf Village, looks on with Papa Smurf at the departing newlyweds, saying that Papa Smurf must be a lucky Smurf for what Empath has done with his life -- to which Papa Smurf corrects Polaris, saying that Empath is the luckiest Smurf of all.

The rest of the epilogue reads (as paraphrased from the Season 1 intro narration):

''Nothing else we knew survived of them except for their stories, but the forest that was a part of their world is still there. If you listen very carefully, you might hear the ghostly wails of Gargamel’s rage.''

And if you’re good, then...perhaps...you just might catch a glimpse of them.

The Smurfs.

Primary Characters

 * Empath -- the main character
 * Papa Smurf -- the leader of the Smurf Village and Empath's biological father
 * Smurfette -- who becomes Empath's love interest
 * Psyche Master -- the leader of Psychelia
 * Smurflings -- Smurf children in the present time who become Empath's friends
 * Hefty -- Empath's main rival
 * Jokey -- the village prankster
 * Brainy -- the village intellectual who turns out to be Empath's half-brother
 * Handy -- the village mechanic and inventor
 * Lillithina -- Empath's biological mother, who also gave birth to Brainy
 * Gargamel -- an evil wizard who is the Smurfs' main antagonist
 * Scruple -- Gargamel's mischievous apprentice