| “ | I don't think you realize that our daughter has married a monster! | „ |
| ~ King Harold to Queen Lillian about Fiona being married to Shrek |
| “ | Well, I guess I gave her the wrong tea. | „ |
| ~ King Harold telling Fairy Godmother he deliberately gave Fiona normal tea, redeeming himself to his daughter |
| “ | King Harold: I had hoped you would never see me like this... Donkey: [to Shrek] Huh...and he gave you a hard time! Shrek: Donkey! King Harold: No, no, he's right - I'm sorry, to both of you. I only wanted what was best for Fiona, but I can see now she already has it. Shrek, Fiona...will you accept an old frog's apologies, and my blessing? Queen Lillian: Harold... King Harold: I'm sorry, Lillian. I just wish I could be the man that you deserve... Queen Lillian: You're more that man today than you ever were...warts and all... |
„ |
| ~ King Harold, after becoming a frog, apologizing for the bad things he did before finally granting his blessing to Shrek and Fiona, redeeming himself to them and Queen Lillian |
King Harold, also known as the Frog King, is one of the two overarching protagonists (alongside Queen Lillian) of DreamWorks Animation's Shrek franchise.
He is the late husband of Queen Lillian, the late father of Princess Fiona, the late father-in-law of Shrek, and the former associate of the Fairy Godmother and Prince Charming. His opposition against Shrek and Fiona's romance is partially rooted by the fact that he was being pressured by the Fairy Godmother into forcing his daughter in marrying Charming, which would result in the villainous duo ruling Far Far Away. Thankfully, he makes up with it by finally denying the Fairy Godmother's requests.
He is voiced by John Cleese, who also played Jean-Bob in The Swan Princess, Ape in George of the Jungle, Bulldog in Planes and Bridwell in Clifford the Big Red Dog.
History[]
Past[]
King Harold was a frog who fell in love with Queen Lillian and threw away his frog life for her and to be the man she deserves. The Fairy Godmother transformed him into a human to grant his wish. The couple fell in love and married, but he never told Queen Lillian his true past.
Shrek 2[]
King Harold makes his debut in Shrek 2. When Fiona arrives at the castle with Shrek, he is unpleasantly surprised that they are both ogres. King Harold had secretly made a promise to the Fairy Godmother that her son Prince Charming would marry Fiona. King Harold hires Puss in Boots to assassinate Shrek. King Harold then succumbs to guilt when Fiona finds out that Shrek is not around and asks about his whereabouts.
King Harold at first refuses when the Fairy Godmother asks him to give the love potion to Fiona that will cause her to fall in love with Prince Charming, because he recoils from this invasion of her free will, but he is forced to acquiesce by some dark threat of disclosure; in the event, when Fiona states that she loved the old Shrek (rather the 'new' one that Prince Charming is pretending to be), King Harold swaps the cup which contains the potion for his own.
At the ball toward the end of the film, Shrek is about to defeat the Fairy Godmother with help from his friends in order to save Fiona. After Fiona knocks out Prince Charming after their kiss and reunites with Shrek, the Fairy Godmother is outraged and yells at King Harold for not giving her the love potion, which the king replies without a show of fear and a grin that he gave her the wrong tea. Eventually, King Harold fully redeems himself and protects Shrek from a blast of magic from the Fairy Godmother's wand she used presumably to kill him in order to get revenge on him for taking Fiona away from Prince Charming, his armor causes the blast to reflect and kill the Fairy Godmother instead.
Afterwards, King Harold emerges from his suit of armor, now reverted to his original frog prince form by the blast. Queen Lillian seems not at all unhappy about this turn of events. After this, he apologizes to Shrek and accepts him into the family. He also apologizes to Queen Lillian for not telling her his past life sooner for he just wanted to be the man Queen Lillian deserved, who in return says that he is more of a man for accepting Shrek and Fiona's marriage than he ever was when he was actually human.
Shrek the Third[]
King Harold makes a minor appearance (but with an important role) in the third film in his water lily bed, gravely sick. As he lies in his deathbed dying, he gives his parting farewell to his loved ones and announces that Shrek and Fiona are next in line for the throne. Shrek does not want his father-in-law's crown; aside from not willing to give up his beloved swamp, he also doesn't think he's qualified enough to be a king. With his dying breath, King Harold gives Shrek the name of another remaining heir to the throne: Fiona's cousin Artie. He passes away after giving faith to his son-in-law. His body is placed in a shoe-box and pushed into a pond statue with everyone attending his funeral. Prince Charming, who was watching above a hill, takes advantage of King Harold's death by galloping off to recruit an army of villains to conquer the kingdom.
Shrek Forever After[]
King Harold and Queen Lillian make a flashback cameo trying to wager a deal with Rumpelstiltskin. At the last instant, the king and queen are informed that Shrek had saved Fiona from the keep; rendering Rumpel's deal pointless.
Quotes[]
| “ | King Harold: I knew this would happen. Queen Lillian: You should. You started it. King Harold: I can hardly believe that, Lillian. He's the ogre. Not me. Queen Lillian: l think, Harold, you're takin' this a little too personally. This is Fiona's choice. King Harold: Yes, but she was supposed to choose the prince we picked for her. I mean, you expect me to give my blessings to this... thing? Queen Lillian: Fiona does. And she'll never forgive you if you don't. l don't want to lose our daughter again, Harold. Oh, you act as if love is totally predictable. Don't you remember when we were young? We used to walk down by the lily pond and... they were in bloom. King Harold: Our first kiss. lt's not the same! l don't think you realize that our daughter has married a monster! Queen Lillian: Oh, stop being such a drama king. King Harold: Fine! Pretend there's nothing wrong! La, di, da, di, da! lsn't it all wonderful! l'd like to know how it could get any worse! |
„ |
| ~ King Harold and Queen Lillian arguing about Shrek and Fiona after the dinner fight |
| “ | I know you'll do what's right. | „ |
| ~ King Harold's last words before he dies peacefully |
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Shrek 2[]
Shrek the Third[]
Shrek Forever After[]
Other[]
Trivia[]
- Although he is thought to an antagonist in the second movie, The Fairy Godmother is the real main antagonist of the movie, since King Harold only wanted what he thought was best for Fiona while Fairy Godmother was just power-hungry.
- King Harold has an Unexplained Recovery after the Fairy Godmother presumably killed him as punishment for his Heel–Face Turn while saving Shrek at the final battle, but turned him into a frog in order to betray him.
- The spell appeared to one of "unmaking," which would have killed Shrek and did kill her when is was deflected back at her. Yet, King Harold just undid the spell that made him into a human.
- Jeremy Irons, Tim Curry, Ian McKellen, Rowan Atkinson, Billy Connolly, Brian Blessed, the late Robin Williams, Robert De Niro, the late Paul Newman, the late Tony Jay, Jeff Bridges, Mel Brooks, the late Jack Palance, Simon Templeman, Jonathan Pryce, James Woods, Brian Dennehy, and Christopher Lloyd were all considered for the role of King Harold.
- When King Harold was berated by the Fairy Godmother for not giving her the potion (since Fiona headbutted Prince Charming), he explains without the slightest sign of fear that he gave her the wrong tea, with an obvious grin on his face. This indicated that he did that deliberately and this act hinted his next one when he shields Shrek from Fairy Godmother's magic.
- Throughout Shrek 2, there are several hints which foreshadow King Harold's true form as the Frog Prince:
- In King Harold & Queen Lillian's bedroom, there is a tapestry of King Harold and Queen Lillian in a lily pond. The tapestry depicts King Harold on a bridge overlooking the lily pond, in a homage to the painting Japanese Bridge in Claude Monet's Water Lilies series of paintings.
- When King Harold argues with Queen Lillian over his refusal to give Shrek and Fiona his blessing, Queen Lillian recalls that she and King Harold shared their first kiss at a lily pond.
- When King Harold is at the Poison Apple, a female frog asks King Harold if she knows him, which him to reply that she has him confused with someone else.
- Before the Royal Ball, when King Harold talks to Fiona about "the new Shrek" (actually Prince Charming), King Harold tells Fiona that "people change for the ones they love" before adding "you'd be surprised at how much I changed for your mother".
- Both Shrek and King Harold had a thing in common. They didn't start out as humans but both father and son-in-laws who were willing to throw away their old lives to be with the women of their dreams by turning themselves human (briefly).
External Links[]
- King Harold on the Shrek Wiki
- King Harold on the DreamWorks Wiki
- King Harold on the Universal Studios Wiki
[]
 Heroes
| ||
|
Ogres Far Far Away Others See Also | ||