The Worlings are a group of druids that have acted as a secret group outside of human civilizations in the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series. Their sole purpose is to subjugate humanity and the world in perpetual darkness in which they will reign supreme, but an order of sorcerers have kept the Worlings at bay for millennia, presumably since the beginning of time. With Paladore being the last of his order to deal with the Worlings, the duty fell upon a young Smurf he encountered who would become Papa Smurf, a sorcerer who would be taught everything that Paladore knew about magic during his sleep. Papa Smurf dealt with Worluk a few years before Empath returned home for good from Psychelia, using a stone axe that was sealed inside a time capsule left for him by Paladore to seal him and the Worlings inside a tree that they were imprisoned in to keep them from escaping.
The name Worlings comes from the 1981 Bally Midway video game Wizard Of Wor.