Fulliautomatix (French: Cetautomatix) is the village smith. His father, Semiautomatix, was the village smith before him. He is tall and robust, and very strong – he is one of the strongest characters, perhaps second only to Obelix, and a bit of a bully.
Fulliautomatix's first appearance was in the first volume, Asterix the Gaul where the Roman spy Caligula Minus was amazed that he used his fists to forge iron. However, he is subsequently shown using a normal hammer and is now rarely seen without one. Fulliautomatix often interacts with Unhygienix, the fishmonger, with whom he has a friendly rivalry. Fulliautomatix constantly claims the fish Unhygienix sells are stale, and this often results in Unhygienix throwing a fish at his face, causing a violent quarrel which almost always results in the entire village being engaged in a fish fight. Fulliautomatix also takes great pleasure in bullying and breaking the lyre of Cacofonix the bard, threatening him and hitting him on the head at the merest hint of breaking into a song (the songs are so bad that the other villagers do not object). It has been stated that he is perhaps the ancestor of all music critics. On the other hand, he is occasionally beaten up by Geriatrix when he is provoked by some comment the smith makes. When this happens he will often take out his frustration on the nearest convenient bystander (Cacofonix for preference) on the grounds that he does not feel he can fight back against someone so old, which only helps to further incense the old man.
It is possible to assume that Fulliautomatix is Geriatrix's grandson. On p. 15 of the English version of Asterix at the Olympic Games, Fulliautomatix calls Geriatrix "Grandpa", although this could also simply be a nickname or the like. Fulliautomatix also has two unnamed children who have appeared in separate comics – a son with blonde hair in Asterix in Corsica, and a daughter with blonde hair in Asterix and the Secret Weapon. In Asterix and the Great Divide he is shown as having an apprentice, though it is not indicated whether or not they are related; some speculate that he is the young son grown to teenage years. Also, in
Asterix and Obelix's Birthday: The Golden Book, in the "example" of the village 50 years older than usual, Fulliautomatix is seen sitting next to his son who is smithing his own invention, false teeth.
Fulliautomatix's appearance changes in the course of time. In Asterix the Gaul we see him with his usual blonde hair, but still with no hammer. His next appearance is in Asterix and the Banquet or four books since Asterix the Gaul, here he is shown arguing with Obelix about a roman, but yet this is not the real Fulliautomatix (I mean look at him he has a shirt, Fulliautomatix is never shown having a shirt). In Asterix and Cleopatra we see a more "proper" version of him (he is shown briefly at the beginning when Cacofonix the bard tells him that he stepped on his foot) now this is more like the future Fulliautomatix. The next time we see the big bully is in Asterix and the Big Fight surprisingly he is not punching Cacofonix for his attempt to "sing a little song", but admiring
chief Vitalstatistix for wining however we finally see his hammer (he is the one right next to Cacofonix)! Then in the next book (Asterix in Britan) we again only see his back at the beginning of the book breaking Cacofonix's lyre. The "real" Fulliautomatix finally emerges in Asterix and the Normans the ninth book in the series! There he is shown having blond hair a blacksmith apron and his hammer. During the course of time Fulliautomatix changes a lot, however after the release of book nine (Asterix and the Normans) he changes very little maybe the only real change to him is his hair from blonde it swaps to orange-red, but this is only in later books!
