Hefty Smurf (original French name Schtroumpf Costaud) is one of the main characters of the Smurfs comic books and the Smurfs cartoon show, who has appeared on the show throughout its entire run.
Character
He is considered the strongest and bravest Smurf of them all who's willing to use his strength to help out his fellow Smurfs. He is easily identified by the heart-with-arrow tattoo on his right upper arm.
He spends his mornings exercising, and his house is full of work-out equipment. Hefty is also the most athletic of the Smurfs, able to climb up tall trees and bring down whatever is up there without much effort.
Role in the Village
Hefty mainly carries the heavy load that others Smurfs can't. Throughout the season, he is mostly helping Handy Smurf by carrying heavy objects. Hefty is also one of the few Smurfs who will accept any kind of dangerous journey, making him one of the top choices to send out of the Village to retrieve something.
Relationships
Hefty's best friend out of all the Smurfs is probably Handy. Their friendships is like "Brains and Brawn" kind of pair. Despite the small fights the two got into in "Romeo And Smurfette", "The Smurfic Games", and "Smurf The Other Cheek " they both had each other's backs and in the the end they were able to settle all problems. The two can be seen working together in several episodes as well.
In "Smurf The Other Cheek", Hefty felt guilty for letting Handy suffer with a red spot on his nose, and even claimed that Handy was his "Closest Friend". His other friends may be Vanity and Jokey, as he also asked them to help him in this episode. Like everyone else, Hefty's worst friend is (in spite of being smarter than Hefty and his annoyance) probably Brainy.
Hefty also has a crush on Smurfette, like most of the Smurfs. He is the main Smurf, though, who has saved Smurfette a number of times throughout the show and was the first Smurf who talked to her. He is also the Smurf who Smurfette has kissed/hugged the most. Plus, whether out of jealousy or friendly care, he gets angry whenever Smurfette is forced to marry or when she's really interested in someone. When Smurfette is asked the decision of which Smurf she will marry, Hefty is always one of her choices.
In the movie series
Hefty has a brief appearance in the 2011 Smurfs movie, as his role was given over to Gutsy Smurf who is one of the movie's main characters. He does appear in the animated feature The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol as the Smurf of Christmas Future, who shows Grouchy Smurf what the future holds for his fellow Smurfs due to his refusal to participate in Christmas. Hefty also has a brief appearance in the early and late parts of The Smurfs 2, and was one of the three originally chosen by Papa Smurf to journey to modern-day Paris in order to rescue Smurfette from Gargamel (the other two were Brainy and Gutsy), but was accidentally left out as the smurfportation crystals used for traveling through time were instead ingested by Clumsy, Grouchy, and Vanity.
Smurfs' Village
Hefty Smurf's hut in the Smurfs' Village game
In the Smurfs' Village game, Hefty's hut costs 25 smurfberries. If you purchase it, he will reduce the time needed to build things in the game by half.
Trivia
- His character was voiced by Frank Welker in the cartoon show, and by Gary Basaraba in the 2011 movie and its 2013 sequel.
- Has protected Smurfette by masquerading as Smurfette in "Smurfette For A Day".
- Hefty appears in The Smurfs And The Magic Flute without his trademark tattoos, given that the movie was produced before the cartoon show. He goes by the name Strongman Smurf in the United Kingdom English dub.
- In the comic books since "The Jewel Smurfer", Hefty wears his heart tattoo on his right arm while in the 2011 Smurfs movie and The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol he wears it on his left arm. In the cartoon show, Hefty's tattoo can be seen on both arms in the episodes "Gargamel's Second Childhood", "Swapping Smurfs", and "Smurfing For Ghosts", to name a few.
- As Hefty did not have a tattoo until the cartoon show, he tried to masquerade himself as a rebel in the comic book version of "King Smurf" by not wearing the king's medal. Because of that, he was ambushed by other Smurfs wearing medals and nobody believed he was Hefty Smurf until he gave them a good licking.
- Hefty had become nasty due to a magic spell that changed his heart tattoo into a yellow X mark, doing wicked things in "Hefty's Heart".
- Hefty is the only Smurf to sport a tattoo, a red heart to be exact.
- In The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol, one of Hefty's favorite foods is fruitcake.
- As shown in "A Circus for Baby" and "Smurfquest", Hefty is afraid of heights.
- When the animated series was made, Peyo was against the Smurfs having personalized, distinguishing looks, but allowed them in most cases. In the case of Hefty Smurf, he oppossed to having him dressed in a leopard skin like a circus strongman, so it was changed to the heart tatoo.