For decades, fans of The Smurfs have pondered one of the most enduring mysteries of Smurf Village: why is Smurfette the only female in the community of tiny Belgian gnomes? Introduced in the early days of the Smurfs franchise, Smurfette’s appearance continues to raise many questions about gender and Smurf lore that remain unanswered to this day. Separately, Maestro Media recently announced a crowdfunding campaign for their new The Smurfs tabletop roleplaying game, leading many to wonder whether or not the franchise still holds relevance to warrant a new tabletop.
Well, as it turns out, both questions can be easily answered. For those who aren’t that familiar with the franchise, The Smurfs, its eponymous blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest, first appeared in Les Schtroumpfs comic book created by Peyo in 1958. Since then, the franchise has gradually expanded into advertising, animated series, movies, video games, theme parks, toys, and ice capades.
The franchise was brought into the global mainstream by Hanna-Barbera Productions’ animated series from the 1980s, which introduced the Smurfs to a much wider audience. It won multiple awards — including a Daytime Emmy Award — thus becoming a staple of Saturday morning TV and ensuring its place in the childhood memories of generations to come. It’s safe to assume that The Smurfs as a franchise would not have achieved their iconic status and such an enduring legacy without the 1980s animated series.
While the most recent The Smurfs animated series launched in 2021, there have been over 30 Smurfs video games released across various platforms, two live-action/animated movies, and an entirely animated movie, Smurfs: The Lost Village, which was released in 2017. The truth is that The Smurfs is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. That answers the question of whether or not The Smurfs is still relevant today to warrant a new tabletop game.
Funded through Kickstarter and completely unrelated to Smurfette’s story, the game promises to be an immersive tabletop roleplaying game full of adventure. The Smurfs: Roleplaying Game allows players to take on the role of classic or custom-created Smurfs, embarking on adventures and solving mysteries in an immersive story led by a storyteller, just like in your typical tabletop. What speaks volumes about the popularity of The Smurfs is the fact that the game was completely funded in under 18 minutes, amassing an eyewatering $137,342 (as of this writing), far exceeding its initial $10,000 goal.
As previously stated, the title includes over 40 different Smurfs for players to choose from, including classic characters such as Smurfette, Hefty Smurf, Jokey Smurf, Clumsy Smurf, etc. The title also promises that players will be able to create their own Smurf, just like they would create their own character in any other tabletop. The object of the game is to solve puzzles and embark on adventures as a cooperative party with friends. The game is obviously designed to be fun for the entire family, and those interested can already download a quick-start guide.
Tabletop RPG adaptations, even from unexpected franchises, have historically led to innovative game design, and The Smurfs may follow in those footsteps. A preview version of the game is already available, early playthroughs from Gen Con can be watched online, and the official release date to retail has been set for July 25, 2025, with pre-orders soon becoming available to the general public.
All of this, however, doesn’t answer the other question: why is Smurfette the only female Smurf in the Smurf Village?
Well, as it turns out, Smurfette isn’t the only female Smurf, but she is the first. According to the franchise lore, Smurfs are by nature a single-gendered race, and all natural-born Smurfs are mostly male. It’s implied (though it was never illustrated or shown) that Smurf reproduction is non-physical, and all baby Smurfs are brought to the Smurf Village by a stork on the night of a blue moon. Smurfette, first introduced in comics in 1966, is the exception to the rule.
Smurfette, who originally had messy black hair, was created by the evil wizard Gargamel using blue clay, “sugar and spice but nothing nice,” as well as “half a pack of lies, and the hardest stone for her heart.” She was originally supposed to spy on the Smurfs for the evil wizard and sow discord and jealousy among them, but through her interactions with the Smurfs, Smurfette decided that she wanted to become a real Smurf. So, Papa Smurf cast a True-Blue Spell that changed her hair from black and messy to lush and blonde as a sign of her transformation.
Smurfette was the sole female Smurf for a very long time until the introduction of Sassette, who was created by the Smurflings using the same clay and magical formula Gargamel used to create Smurfette. Just like Smurfette, she was initially evil and extremely rude, with messy red hair. However, after Papa Smurf cast a True-Blue Spell on her, Sassette became a young, playful, and energetic female Smurfling with pigtails and overalls. Since then, many other female Smurfs, such as Granny Smurf, have also been introduced, but their origin stories haven’t been explored.
So there you have it: the dual mysteries of why Smurfette was the lone female in Smurf Village for so long and why there’s a new Smurfs tabletop RPG solved. And with the new tabletop game pre-orders just around the corner, all we can say is “Happy Smurfing!”