what are smurfs

The Smurfs are a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. They were first created and introduced as a series of comic characters by the Belgian comics artist Peyo (the pen name of Pierre Culliford) in 1958. The Smurfs fulfill simple archetypes of everyday people, such as "Lazy Smurf," "Grouchy Smurf," and "Brainy Smurf". The Smurfs have also been featured in TV shows, movies, video games, and various merchandise, and have become a well-known and beloved franchise). Additionally, the term "smurf" is also used in gaming to describe a player who creates a new account to play against lower-ranked players, and in banking to refer to a money launderer who aims to avoid attention by breaking large transactions into smaller, less suspicious transactions.