The Smurfs (French: Les Schtroumpfs) is a Belgian comic and television franchise centered on a group of Smurfs: small blue fictional creatures that live in mushrooms. The Smurfs were first created and introduced as a series of comic characters by the Belgian comic’s artist Peyo (pen name of Pierre Culliford) in 1958. The word “Smurf” is the original Dutch translation of the French "Schtroumpf", There are more than one hundred Smurfs, whose names are based on adjectives that emphasize their characteristics, e.g. "Jokey Smurf", who likes to play practical jokes on his fellow Smurfs, "Clumsy Smurf" and "Smurfette"—the first female Smurf to be introduced in the series.