Tapper Smurf (Empath stories)



"May the luck of the Smurfish be with you!"

Naomhán Críostóir "Tapper" Smurf (later Pastor Nevin) is a Smurf character who is part of the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series.

History
Tapper is born the son of Séamus and Molly Smurf, the proprietors of the Smurfrock Tavern, given the birth name of Naomhán (pronounced nee-vahn, meaning "little holy one") by his parents. In an interview with Reporter Smurf, Tapper revealed that he was mute when he was born. His father learned of the legend of the Blarney Stone in the Emerald Isle, which was able to cure any problems of whoever kissed it, granting the kisser the gift of gab. So Séamus took his wife and his son to the Emerald Isle so that Tapper could kiss the Blarney Stone, and surely enough, Tapper was able to speak his first word.

Apart from that, Tapper knew very little about the Emerald Isle except that his mother had prevented Séamus from eating an enchanted stew made of shamrocks that she discovered would have turned her husband into a leprechaun -- a bit of information that would prove to be useful later on in Tapper's life during the time-traveling adventures of the Smurfs. His father told him about the patron goddess of the island Éire who watches over all those born of the Ailill clan and grants them her blessings.

Tapper's name came about mostly as a nickname his father had given him as he was learning about brewing and bartending, always referring to him as "my little tapper". Most of his fellow Smurfs started referring to him as Tapper, as his birth name Naomhán was very difficult for them to say and Tapper didn't like having to always correct them on the pronunciation. Tapper doesn't consider the name to be offensive to him, but hardly anyone else refers to him as Naomhán except for his parents, God, and his later wife Siobhan when he shared his true name with her upon their first meeting.

Around the time that he and his fellow Smurfs lost their parents to an unknown disease and Papa Smurf adopted them as his own children, Tapper had no faith in Papa Smurf ever being able to be an effective leader of the village and thus ran away from the village, only to find himself caught floating downstream in the River Smurf. He was reportedly rescued by an angel named Agnes, who then gave him a book by God which has enabled him to put his trust in a being with much greater power, and from there Tapper lives his life through faith.

Sometime after the discovery of the Smurfettes on Smurfette Island, Tapper fell in love with and married his Smurfette counterpart Siobhan, who gave him two daughters, Fiona and Meaghan. He moved to Smurfette Island and there had a chapel set up where he spent the remainder of his life as a preacher, hoping that his fellow Smurfs and Smurfettes would become Christians, adopting the title of Pastor Nevin.

Tapper lived for a total of 781 years, after which he was buried along with his fellow Smurfs, bearing the very same Bible that he was first given in his hands as he was laid to rest.

Personality
Tapper is very friendly and enjoys conversing with his fellow Smurfs. He is usually of a temperament where it takes a lot to really get him angry. The only known occasion where he immediately got angry was when Brainy had to be put up in somebody else's house during the events of "Good Neighbor Smurf" and he was causing problems with the various Smurfs he was trying to bunk with. Tapper was glad to offer hospitality to Brainy, but gave him specific instructions not to touch any of his things, which Brainy ultimately paid no attention to, much to the displeasure of both Tapper and Brainy. Tapper regretted that he ever had to get angry with someone like Brainy, whom he generally likes despite his faults.

He tends to be a rather spiritual Smurf, for one of the things he reads is a book called the Holy Bible, as revealed in the story "The Innocence Of A Smurf". Very few Smurfs in the village are interested in wanting to read or have discussions of the Bible with Tapper, while Hefty thinks that Tapper is too pushy with his religion. Nonetheless, Papa Smurf does allow him to practice his faith within reasonable limits, and Tapper tends to be very respectful when it comes to his discussions.

In regards to his beliefs, Tapper strongly believes that the Almighty created all creatures to be united together as male and female, and disapproves of the idea that creatures are born to have a different sexual orientation, believing that it is simply the manifestation of the sin nature inherent in all created beings. His constant prayer is for his fellow Smurfs to remain pure in all things related to their existence, including their desire (and his own) for Smurfette. Sometime after his return from the Smurfs' time-traveling adventures in The Lost Year, Tapper was disgusted to hear from Empath that his Mirror Universe counterpart actually has a dating relationship with its Duncan McSmurf. Also, because of his faith, Tapper exhibits no fear of death, and will even refuse to run away from Gargamel when he is pursuing after him and his fellow Smurfs. Gargamel considers Tapper to be rather foolish compared to his fellow Smurfs, having no belief in anything but the power of evil, but Tapper's faith usually prevails in situations where he is captured, and sometimes Gargamel falls prey to his own conscience gnawing at him. A few years before Empath returned home for good, Tapper brought to the village a wounded Azrael whose leg was caught in a bear trap. Though his fellow Smurfs spoke against the idea of them taking care of Azrael, Tapper's wisdom and faith prevailed, even as when Azrael had turned against Tapper, he was chased off by a silver-fanged growler that Gargamel owned as a pet which he had no control over. In another instance where a group of Smurfs were escaping an erupting volcano in a whirlysmurfer that Handy had designed, Tapper was able to talk down a shark from devouring his friend Brainy when they crashed into the ocean after their escape.

However, Tapper's faith would be challenged during the period of The Lost Year when the Smurfs first arrived in the prehistoric past, which made Tapper wonder whether anything God said in His holy book was actually true when what he saw of the past didn't line up with his belief in how God created the heavens and the earth in six days. How this crisis of faith was ultimately resolved in this period is unknown, since during the Smurfs' time travels they were also witnesses of Jesus Christ's death on the cross and resurrection from the dead three days later.

Perhaps notable is that, despite being a brewer and a bartender, Tapper himself rarely consumes any alcoholic drinks, preferring to drink seltzer or any non-alcoholic drinks that he or his friend Vino makes for his tavern. He is also very adamant against smoking, considering it a very unhealthy habit, and forbids the use of cigarettes or pipes in his tavern, preferring to keep the air clean for all his patrons. Interestingly, Tapper still has an ornate smoking pipe that his father Séamus had used during his days as a bartender, though it is mostly used by his son nowadays for blowing soap bubbles.

In one of the stories of that series, Tapper joins with Sweepy, Miner, and Barber as a member of the Barber Smurf Quartet, practicing for the Smurfstock Festival. Mostly his singing is limited to private praise and worship. Usually Tapper keeps company with Barber and Sweepy due to their limited roles in the Smurf Village, and sometimes works alongside his friend Duncan McSmurf, whom they share an affinity for their unique Smurf cultural backgrounds. Tapper's favorite musical instrument is the harp which he uses in private worship.

Tapper's favorite holiday is the Day Of Clovers, which turns out to also be his birthday, a day that he celebrates his being of the Ailill clan. Due to having some knowledge of the Ailill language, Tapper's names for his fellow Smurfs are:
 * Empath Smurf - Ionbhá
 * Smurfette - Aoibheann
 * Sassette - Máirín
 * Brainy Smurf - Chliste
 * Hefty Smurf - Láidir
 * Handy Smurf - Seiftiúil
 * Vanity Smurf - Dathúil
 * Grouchy Smurf - Cantalach
 * Lazy Smurf - Leisciúil
 * Greedy Smurf - Ocras
 * Clumsy Smurf - Guaise
 * Harmony Smurf - Chéile
 * Jokey Smurf - Fuirseoir
 * Painter Smurf - Péintéir
 * Poet Smurf - File
 * Sloppy Smurf - Bréan
 * Scaredy Smurf - Scanraithe
 * Sickly Smurf - Breoite
 * Nosey Smurf - Aisteach
 * Chatty Smurf - Cainteach
 * Player Smurf - Buadhach
 * Narrator Smurf - Scéalaí
 * Crazy Smurf - Dúsachtach
 * Duncan McSmurf - Laoch
 * Polaris Psyche - Finnegan

Relationships

 * Empath is considered one of his closest friends, as are also...
 * Smurfette, whom he loves but refuses to push her into considering him as a love interest, and currently declines as he now sees Smurfette is interested in Empath. Although he has experienced "the Smurfette dream", Tapper's thoughts of Smurfette remain pure, and he constantly prays for Smurfette and for his fellow Smurfs to maintain their purity for the day of her wedding.
 * Grouchy, whose feelings he respects, even to the point of refusing to hug him on Hug-A-Smurf Day. In fact, Tapper won't hug Grouchy at all unless he specifically asks for one.
 * Barber, the leader of the Barber Smurf Quartet
 * Sweepy, his fellow vocalist in the Barber Smurf Quartet
 * Miner, another fellow vocalist in the Barber Smurf Quartet. In fact, Miner probably got his "Smurfin' Begorrah" expression just by being around Tapper's family so much!
 * Duncan McSmurf, who trains him in the use of a sword, though Tapper is less interested in fighting or hurting someone. He is considered both a close friend and a complementary equal.
 * Polaris Psyche, whom he affectionately calls Finnegan in Ailill. Like Empath, he never pushes Polaris into accepting the ways of the Smurf that he isn't comfortable with.
 * Papa Smurf is his adopted father, for whom he constantly prays for wisdom and guidance.
 * Brainy is one of the few Smurfs he usually has great patience with, and one he genuinely likes despite his conceited know-it-all nature.
 * Jokey is another Smurf that Tapper has great patience with due to his constant playing of pranks, often equating him to a "Smurfish leprechaun".
 * Hefty thinks Tapper is a bit too pushy with his religion, but has no animosity with him. He also thinks that Tapper is foolhardy when it comes to facing dangers without running away from them such as Gargamel, and is usually astounded that he can survive such things without a scratch or without any help at all.
 * Tracker is the supplier of herbs for his teas and coffee brews, and has taught Tapper everything he knows about nature.
 * Marco is his sailing partner on board the S.S. Smurf II, who along with Empath and Duncan sing sea chanties together.
 * Poet and Narrator are two creative Smurfs that he enjoys conversing with as well as working with when it comes to theatrical productions based on Bible stories, such as Joseph And His Amazing Smurficolor Dreamcoat and Queen Esther.
 * Eros is considered Tapper's enemy, mostly because he uses his lust arrows to go after Tapper's fellow Smurfs, with Vanity and Century being his favorite targets due to his own perverse nature.
 * Michael is the only leprechaun that Tapper implicitly trusts, as to him most other leprechauns are seen to be very mischievous.
 * Father Doyle is a human priest that he befriended during his visits to a human village. Eventually he became the minister of Tapper and Siobhan's wedding.
 * Fiona and Meaghan are his two daughters through his wife Siobhan, whom he adores as his two beautiful treasures from the Almighty.
 * The Smurflings are for the most part his friends, which he had treated as his younger siblings. When Nat and Slouchy finally decided to marry his daughters Fiona and Meaghan, Tapper treated them as his sons-in-law.

Role
He is the friendly proprietor of Tapper's Tavern, where he serves fresh-brewed sarsaparilla ale to his patrons. He also acts as an informal counselor, offering advice to anyone who wants to hear it. In Sophia Smurfette's story "The Once And Smurfy King", Tapper served the role of being part of a secret "underground railroad" that smuggled Smurfs that wanted to join the rebellion out of the Smurf Village.

Abilities

 * Master Brewer
 * Great Wisdom And Knowledge, mostly coming from his Bible reading, although he has been known to read other books like Brainy.
 * Great Communicator as both a bartender and a pastor in his later years.
 * Skilled Swordfighter, though not a master like Duncan. He mostly uses this skill for defending himself, and prefers using noncombative methods for dealing with situations. At heart he is a pacifist.
 * Empathetic Nature, a trait that he shares with Empath.
 * Bilingual in both the Smurf language and human language, as demonstrated in his talking to Sir Johan and Peewit in "The Magic Flute With Six Holes". He also has the supernatural ability to "speak in tongues", a language that was given to him by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
 * Animal Communication, as demonstrated in "Under The Cat's Paw" and "Where The Wind Carries You".
 * Spiritual Healing, used only on occasion.
 * Prophetic Vision
 * Spiritual Sensitivity, a skill that only increased in time as Tapper became more devoted to his religion and less devoted to his original trained skill.

Clothing And Appearance
He is mostly identified by a shamrock that he wears on his modified Smurf hat (made to resemble a soda jerk hat) and by his green tie and green-striped vest. In summer, his casual beach gear would consist of a green tank top with a dark green pair of swim trunks. In winter, he wears a dark green sweater and a light green undershirt with his tie. In rare occasions where he would have to engage in battle, Tapper wears the Ailill Garment that protects him from physical harm. He is one of the few Smurfs in the village who is hardly seen without a shirt or vest.

As an honorary member of the McSmurf clan, Tapper occasionally wears a kilt, such as during his wedding to Siobhan Smurfette.

Like his father Séamus, Tapper speaks with an Irish accent and in his later years wears a ginger-colored beard.

Possible Voice Actor
His speaking voice would be Karl Hanover, who is the voice of Atlas from Bioshock. Bioshock 2, and Bioshock Infinite - Burial At Sea: Episode 2. His singing voice would be that of Christian worship leader Robin Mark or a similar sounding voice.