Azrael

Azrael is the ginger cat belonging to Gargamel, the bumbling wizard who forever schemes to catch the Smurfs. Created by the Belgian cartoonist Peyo, Azrael first appeared in the Smurfs comics and became known worldwide through the hugely popular 1980s animated television series.

Where Gargamel is greedy and inept, Azrael is his put-upon accomplice — sometimes eager to eat the Smurfs himself, more often on the receiving end of his master's schemes gone wrong. Communicating only in meows and expressive grimaces, the cat became a comic foil whose long-suffering reactions frequently stole the scene. Azrael's exact character shifts between versions, but the cat is almost always portrayed as the smarter of the pair, quietly enduring Gargamel's foolishness.

Azrael has featured across decades of Smurfs comics, cartoons, and later live-action and animated films, making the cat one of the most recognisable animated villains' pets. The name comes from Azrael, the angel of death in some religious traditions — a suitably ominous choice for a cat forever hunting the little blue Smurfs.