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Better out than in, I always say!
~ Shrek's catchphrase whenever someone belches
WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SWAMP!?
~ Shrek's most famous quote
Look, I’m not the one with the problem, okay? It’s the world that seems to have a problem with me! People take one look at me and go “Aah! Help! Run! A big, stupid, ugly ogre!”... They judge me before they even know me... That’s why I’m better off alone.
~ Shrek telling Donkey why he lives alone

Shrek is the titular main protagonist of the DreamWorks animated franchise of the same name.

He is a gigantic, green-skinned, brash and intimidating ogre with a Scottish accent who initially lived alone in a desolate swamp, feared by villagers. This changes when he is sent on a quest by Lord Farquaad to save Princess Fiona from a dragon.

He is voiced by Mike Myers, who also played Austin Powers, Cat in the Hat, and Wayne Campbell. In Japanese, he was voiced by Masatoshi Hamada.

Personality/Biography

Onions have layers. Ogres have layers.
~ Shrek describing Ogres

In the first film, Shrek was initially overly aggressive and hostile towards strangers who wander into his swamp, an example of this is when several villagers came to kill him but then were left terrified when Shrek described ogres as ten times worse than giants after they fled in fear, the ogre gave a hearty chuckle and warned them to stay out.

However, behind this tough demeanor, Shrek is incredibly insecure and sought recluse from everyone as they judged him as a monster before getting to know him and believed that he was better off alone. When meeting new people, Shrek is heavily sarcastic; when he met Donkey for the first time and he asked for a place to stay Shrek agrees, only to say no the second time he asks. Due to all the people he meets, Shrek is used to being treated like a monster and is left surprised when Donkey has no problem with his appearance or his ogre roots.

Shrek has a short temper and is easily angered, as shown when he first meets Donkey, whom he initially considered a nuisance as he is both talkative and annoying. He normally resorts to using mild biting remarks to vent his anger or will occasionally yell towards him if he is that frustrated, though Shrek later started to develop a liking towards Donkey, who became his best friend. He also has a violent sense of humor; when Prince Charming had overrun Far Far Away, he ambushed him in his dressing room and threateningly said: "break a leg, or on second thought let me break it for you." This also shows when Donkey and he were at the Dragon's Keep and when he discovered his friend had a fear of heights, he swayed the bridge back and forth.

Shrek showed an utter disregard for personal hygiene and had little to no manners. While he would brush his teeth, it was with a bug and only made his teeth worse. In his life of recluse, he resembled that of an old man; he lived a lifestyle of relaxation, enjoyed a mud bath in peace or would relax in his chair like a grandfather, Shrek has known to be very cranky at times and enjoyed dining by himself. A running gag in the film series is Shrek's flatulence and belching actually causes animals to die, resembling toxic gas and can actually ignite an explosion when mixed with fire.

Before meeting Donkey, Puss, or Fiona, the only thing he had an emotional attachment was with his swamp. While other people saw it as "disgusting" or "filthy", Shrek truly values it as a home. He is determined and was willing to fight a dragon and rescue a princess from a burning dragon castle to get it back from Lord Farquaad, as well as preferred it to a castle in Far Far Away. Shrek had daddy issues, to say the least, as his father was an ogre and tried to eat him, which he should have realized as "he used to bathe me with barbecue sauce and put me to bed with an apple in my mouth."

Shrek has an asocial personality and not one to take no for an answer. When he and Donkey had just rescued Princess Fiona and she refused to go with them to Lord Farquaad, he instantly picked her up and dragged her towards Duloc. However, as the three get closer, Shrek and Fiona begin to develop an actual friendship, and eventually, romance. However after Shrek misinterpreted Fiona when she said "Who could ever love an ugly beast?" as being about him, they had a falling out. The two were left heartbroken, but due to a pep talk from Donkey, he interrupts the wedding between her and Lord Farquaad, learns of her ogre curse, and then calls Dragon, who devours Lord Farquaad, after which the two fall in love and get married.

All and all, while Shrek is cranky and a miserly, he is loyal, devoted, and even selfless to his friends and the people he cares about. While at first he only saw Donkey as a pest, he slowly but surely began to value him as his best friend. This is the same with Fiona; at first, he saw her as nothing more than a mission for Lord Farquaad, over time and after helping her defeat Robin Hood and his Merry Men the two begin to care for and even love another.

In the second film, Shrek's dedication to Fiona was so strong she was willing to turn himself and her back into a human as he apparently loves her more than being an ogre. Although he was at first hired to assassinate him, Puss in Boots and Shrek became very good friends, the two actually gossips which is something he has never done with Donkey. Despite that, Shrek also seems to find Puss an annoyance at times, similar to Donkey, but to a minor extent. Puss also appears disgusted by Shrek's temper at times, but nonetheless is in reality extremely loyal to Shrek, even calling him "boss" and defending the ogre and Donkey from knights all to repay his debts to Shrek.

In the second film, Shrek's personality has really evolved; he is much more sensitive and caring towards people, more specifically towards his new wife Fiona, but he is still easily irritated by Donkey. This was shown when Donkey showed up unexpectedly after he and Fiona got home from their honeymoon and he angrily threw him out. While driving to the Kingdom of Far Far Away, Donkey constantly kept asking "are we there yet?" until it finally drove Shrek to the point of nearly attacking him.

After the newlyweds finally arrive at Far Far Away, the entire kingdom, including King Harold and Queen Lilian, who were Fiona's parents, were all shocked upon discovering that the two were ogres. Like many stereotypical father and step-son relationships, the two share a dislike of one another and are not afraid to openly express this, even if it was during dinner with both of their family and friends. After a fight with Fiona and reading through her old diary, it's revealed that Shrek will go to great lengths to make her happy even if it meant stealing a potion and then using it to make him human, which granted did work, but the cruel Fairy Godmother tricked the princess into believing that her son, Prince Charming was Shrek which leaves him heartbroken but after discovering it was all a ruse he attempts to put an end Charming and Fiona's love blossoming. After defeating the Fairy Godmother, Fiona and Shrek return to being ogres and he earns the respect from his father-in-law.

However, after King Harold had fallen ill, Shrek and Fiona had to manage the kingdom of Far Far Away. While he was incredibly reluctant to take any responsibility, he was still able to manage the kingdom but still missed his swamp and was eager to return there. Shrek proves he is very heavy-handed; when trying to knight someone he ends up impaling his shoulder, this also shows when he hits a boat with a bottle and ends up sinking it. After attending a ball and then nearly burning it down, it proved to be the last straw for Shrek and demanded to leave and said he wasn't cut out for being a king. On his deathbed, King Harold would have to pass his title to the ogre which he refused and sought to locate the second heir, Arthur.

Just before leaving Far Far Away to bring back Arthur, Fiona reveals to Shrek that she is pregnant, after which he shows a more anxious side to his personality and had vivid nightmares of being a father. However, this was mostly due to Shrek feeling guilty of ruining the child's life as he considers having an ogre won't bode well with him.

In a twist of irony, Shrek proves that he knows very little about children as when he found Arthur and then forced him to become a king so he can solely avoid becoming one himself. He does try to relate to Arthur by using what he considers slang but fails horrifically. It's not until the two meet Professor Merlin, his old college teacher, and began to sympathize with the boy and freely allows him to become king as it is now his choice. Shrek's dedication to Artie was so strong he was willing to allow Charming to kill himself if it allowed him to live.

After being captured by Prince Charming and put in his play, "It's A Happily Ever After, After All" where he planned to execute the ogre in front of the whole kingdom of Far Far Away, in the face of death, Shrek concerned no fear at the face of death and even mocked his killer. Charming came close to actually murdering Shrek if Dragon, Queen Lillian, Fiona, and her friends hadn't intervened. After Charming was overthrown, Arthur became King and Shrek and Fiona returned to their swamp and raised three ogre children.

Shrek is a now a loving father and caring husband to Fiona and his children Farkle, Fungus, and Felicia. However, he does miss the old days when he was a wanted ogre and became somewhat neglectful towards his family. After being constantly irritated by his friends and villagers after being described as no longer being a real ogre, he destroys his son's cake in a fit of anger and then had a massive argument with Fiona which causes him to accidentally blurt out he wished he had never rescued her from the dragon's keep. After he meets Rumpelstiltskin and helps fix his vehicle, the two bond and he gives Shrek a chance to become a real ogre again, and in return, he gives Stiltskin a day from his past. The contract works and he is able to terrify a village only to find that Fiona is wanted as well, his swamp is ruined and none of his friends, including Donkey, remember him and Stiltskin stole the day he was born and had one day until he was wiped from existence.

After escaping Rumpelstiltskin's palace with Donkey, he tries to prove to the mule that he is his friend and sings his favorite song, only for Donkey to attempt to run away. After discovering that he still had his daughter Felicia's doll, he is left crying, something which ogres rarely ever do. Once Donkey is abducted again, Shrek is able to stumble onto an entire colony of ogres where he meets Fiona however she is literally repulsed by his presence and is only focused on defeating Rumpelstiltskin and his empire.

The main focus on the fourth film is to teach Shrek that the grass isn't greener on the other side and that he had no idea what he had until it was gone. He frantically tries to get Fiona to fall in love with him again so that they may share True Love's Kiss and get his old life back however this only causes her to dislike him even more and caused the entire army of ogres to be captured, only for Shrek to turn himself in and get the Deal of a Lifetime from Rumpelstiltskin so that he may free the captured ogres. After nearly being eaten by Dragon, Fiona is Shrek are able to defeat Stiltskin however it proves as his day is over and on his deathbed he can get the princess to fall in love and was able to get his life back. Shrek now valued his wife and children above anything now.

Shrek prides himself on being the King of Halloween and took great delight in terrifying his friends with scary stories and helped teaching his kids how to frighten children. However despite this he knows very little about Christmas mostly because ogres never celebrate it but still tries to make it a perfect holiday for his family and friends.

Powers and Abilities

  • Ogre Physiology: Shrek has several physical attributes that surpasses that of most other ogres.
    • Superhuman Strength: As an ogre, Shrek has immense physical strength far superior to ordinary humans. He has been shown lifting a fully armoured knight above his head and throwing him like a rag doll, carrying both Donkey and Fiona at once, breaking through a wooden door with little difficulty, and moving a large rock all by himself. One of his most impressive feats was grabbing Dragon by her tail, temporarily stopping her. In the first movie, Shrek was also shown fighting Lord Farquaad's knights at the Duloc wedding, trying to overpower them. In the second movie, as a human, his strength was not strong enough whilst he was being arrested by the knights and he was easily outnumbered without any efforts, however his tremendous ogre strength is restored at the end when he and Fiona were ogres again. In the third and fourth films, his ogre abilities give him more power to fight off the pirates and the witches.
    • Superhuman Endurance: Due to his ogre physiology, Shrek can travel on foot for miles without tiring. He also survived being burned alive by Dragon and shot with an arrow in his butt.
    • Unarmed Combatant: Despite having no martial arts training like Fiona, Shrek is a capable hand-to-hand fighter and can often hold his own against multiple opponents at once.
    • Survivalist: Living in the middle of a swamp for most of his life, Shrek has learned to live off the land to support himself and later his family. He is an excellent hunter, forager and cook, creating improvised dishes such as weed rat stew.
    • Strategist: At times, Shrek displays a high degree of cunning and cleverness, using a broken sword and chains to ensnare Dragon, as well as getting the idea to create Mongo by seeing Gingerbread Man standing next to Far Far Away Castle.
    • Storytelling: Shrek has adept knowledge of fairy tales and ogre lore, such as the stories of Throwback and Bloodnut the Flatulent.
    • Fart Phantoms: When eating some particularly rancid food, Shrek created Fart Phantoms, which aren’t quite solid and can escape Shrek's grip with ease.
    • Nose Horn: Like all ogres, Shrek can make a horn-like noise through his ears when he holds his nose and blows, a skill he didn't know he could do until he met the ogre resistance in an alternate reality.

Relationships

Donkey

Shrek first met Donkey when the latter was running from Farquaad's knights who were chasing Donkey, who ran into Shrek (meeting him for the first time) and the ogre successfully fends off Donkey's threat. To repay him, Donkey decides to become Shrek's friend, and unlike most of people he never had any prejudice towards Shrek for being an ogre. However, Shrek initially did not like Donkey and considered him to be a nuisance due to his talkative and childish and tried to get rid of him in vain as Donkey sticks to him and makes him his company, not wanting to leave him in anyway. Shrek also initially enjoyed to tease Donkey and insult him very rudely. When they were at Dragon's Keep, when Shrek discovered Donkey's fear of heights, he swayed the bridge back and forth in order to playfully scare his ally. Although Donkey was visibly hurt by Shrek's rude insults, he still wanted to be his friend, believing they just needed time to know each other better (which was proven truth).

As they spend more time together, however, Shrek slowly, but surely starts to develop a liking towards Donkey, possibly because Shrek has come to realize that Donkey is the first one who has ever shown Shrek any form of kindness. However, though, Shrek overhears Donkey talking to Fiona when the princess say 'who could love such a ugly monster', and thinking they are talking about him, he felt betrayed at both Fiona (who was in love with) and Donkey, as the first one who ever showed him kindness was apparently prejudiced behind him. After Shrek hands over Fiona to Farquaad, Shrek angrily insults Donkey by calling him useless, pathetic and annoying, and tells him to go away and never come back. During the fight, Shrek says at one point 'You're great pals, aren't ya' (referring to Fiona) with a sad looking, showing that Shrek clearly has come to see Donkey as a friend, and not a pest like he initially saw him. Angry and hurt, Donkey goes to the swamp and claims half of it as his own (which is actually fair, as Donkey is the one who led Shrek to Duloc, helped him save Fiona and did half of the service, so it was more than fair Donkey have half of the swamp), leading Shrek and Donkey to a long argument, where Shrek questions why Donkey came back if Shrek treated Donkey so bad, to which Donkey answer that that's what friends do, they forgive each other. However, Shrek is still hostile to Donkey and feels betrayed by him as shown when Shrek says 'You're right Donkey, I forgive you for stabbin' me in the back', showing that he clearly wanted Donkey as his friend, but felt betrayed and crushed after Donkey's talk with Fiona. However, when Donkey reveals Fiona wasn't talking about him, but refuses to reveal who she was talking about, Shrek apologizes to Donkey for disowning him, Donkey forgives him, and they become best friends forever after. The two then ride on Dragon to prevent Fiona of marrying Farquaad. Later, during Shrek and Fiona's wedding, they throws the flowers to Donkey and Dragon, and Shrek gives a farewell sign to his new BFF before leaving for his honeymoon.

Although they are BFF (Best Friends Forever), Shrek is still very easily irritated by Donkey due to the latter's talkative nature and childlike personality, and also their differences: while Shrek is grumpy, easily irritated and serious, Donkey is cheerful, playful and childish, which causes them to not always understand each other or always see eye to eye. At the same time Shrek considers Donkey to be his best friend, he also considers him the most annoying person he has ever known. He normally resorts to using mild biting remarks to vent his anger or will occasionally yell towards him if he is that frustrated. This was shown when he got home from his honeymoon and Donkey showed up unexpectedly and the angrily threw him out. While driving to the Kingdom of Far Far Away and Donkey constantly kept asking "are we there yet?" until it finally drove Shrek to the point of nearly attacking him. In the third film, when Donkey and Puss enter Shrek's room, Shrek aggressively kicks both of them out. In the Christmas holiday, after Donkey and the rest of Shrek's friends visit Shrek on Christmas against his will, although he manages to calm down initially, he later finally loses his patience and kicks everyone out, although he later felt remorseful and guilty for his actions, apologized to his friends and invited them to spend the rest of Christmas with him, including Donkey. In the Halloween holiday, when Donkey and Puss challenges Shrek to a scary stories competition, and only Shrek and Donkey are left, Shrek cheats by making his children prank and successfully scare Donkey away so Shrek wins the competition. Additionally, Shrek has shown a visibly dislike towards Donkey's singing, as he gets angry and asks him to stop whenever Donkey starts singing.

Regardless of how much annoyance and nuisance Donkey may be to Shrek, Shrek still cares about his best friend, as whenever Shrek is on an adventure, he asks Donkey to come along, and seems to appreciate his help. When the Happily Ever After potion was about to fall down, but Donkey saved it, Shrek complimented him. When Shrek and Donkey were later turned back into an ogre and a donkey (after their temporary transformation into a human and a horse respectively), and Donkey seems sad about it, Shrek cheers him up by saying he still a noble steed for him. In the fourth film, when Shrek is the alternate timeline and Donkey doesn't recognizes him, Shrek becomes visibly sad to see his best friend didn't recognize him. While escaping Rumpelstiltskin help, Shrek did not hesitate to take Donkey with him despite the fact that Shrek already knew Donkey won't remember him as Shrek was never born in this timeline. Although Donkey was frightened from Shrek at first in this new reality, Shrek insisted in prove to him that he is his friend and even sing Donkey's favourite song, showing Shrek's strong dedication and care for his BFF. However, Donkey still thought Shrek was a threat, only believing him when he sees Shrek crying as he never saw an ogre cry. When Donkey shows Shrek Rumpel's exit clause, Shrek calls Donkey a genius. When the ogres army attempt to eat Donkey, Shrek firmly defend his friend. After the timeline is restored, Shrek seems to become a lot friendlier towards Donkey than before.

Overall, Donkey is Shrek's best friend, sidekick and partner on adventures, as well as his most faithful and loyal ally, and although Shrek finds Donkey the most annoying person he has ever known, at the same time, he cares about his best friend, appreciates his effort to help him and even seem to acknowledge and respect Donkey's intelligence.

Princess Fiona

Before meeting each other personally, Shrek heard of Fiona as he read a book about her in the first film's intro, although he didn't seemed interested at first. During the film, Lord Farquaad banished all the fairy tale people from the kingdom which forces them to Shrek's swamp. Shrek was upset about it and went to Farquaad to get his swamp back. Farquaad orders a mission for Shrek to retrieve Fiona, so she can be his bride.

When they met each other personally at Dragon's Keep, Shrek and Fiona initially did not see eye-to-eye or got along very well. Fiona was at first excited do finally being rescued, but she quickly gets disappointed by Shrek's lack of romanticism as he initially only saw her as a mission to Farquaad who would later give back his swamp. Things get worse when Fiona learns that her rescuer is not her Prince Charming, but an ogre, which angers her, especially after Shrek revealed that the man who wanted to marry her (Farquaad) wouldn't come himself. She then refused to go to Duloc with him and Donkey, which led to Shrek instantly pick her up and drags her to Duloc, which made their relationship initially rocky. As nightfall approaches, Fiona demands they stop for the night, but secludes herself in a cave for reasons unknown. However, during the night, after Fiona learns more about Shrek's past when she hears him talking to Donkey, she starts to fell guilty for her initial behavior towards him, and decides to be gentle with him, as he anyway rescued her from the Dragon's Keep, where she has been locked since her childhood. Fiona even made a breakfast for Shrek and Donkey, and then they started to get along better.

During the trio's journey back to Duloc, Shrek and Fiona develops a close bond, realizing they have a lot more things in common that they thought, and slowly they even fall in love with each other, but both initially to not want to assume this due to princess and ogre's stereotypes, despite Donkey's advice that they should do what make them happy. When Shrek finally decides to admit his feelings for Fiona when bringing her a flower that evening after stopping to camp to an old mill, unfortunately, Shrek overhears Fiona talking to Donkey about how no one could love an ugly monster. Shrek thinks she is talking about him and, angry and upset, Shrek hands over Fiona to Farquaad, and Fiona goes away with him willingly as she is upset by Shrek's cold behavior, although she doesn't seem to like Farquaad on sight. However, when Donkey later on reveals to Shrek that Fiona was talking about 'somebody else', Shrek feels guilty for what he did and rushes to disrupt the wedding. Shrek and Donkey then ride on Dragon to Farquaad's palace. Shrek crashes their wedding and confesses to Fiona that he loves her. At first, Fiona tells him that he is too late and prepares to kiss Farquaad. However, the sun begins to go down, and Fiona transforms into an ogre too, surprising Shrek, who finally understands who Fiona was talking about.

Shrek and Fiona kiss, breaking her curse, but permanently turning her into an ogre. Fiona is still unsure about herself, but Shrek assures Fiona he still thinks she is beautiful, and they get married. The first film ends with Shrek and Fiona's wedding, and going off in an onion carriage on their way to their honeymoon.

Along with Donkey, Fiona is one of the figures who has often shaped Shrek's destiny. Since their marriage at the end of the first film, Shrek and Fiona have been an inseparable couple; actually their relationship is the main point in every of the four films. That said however, the couple often gets into bickers, arguments and discussions, mainly due to Shrek's temper, rudeness, selfishness and recklessness, which angers Fiona, who gets easily bothered by Shrek's rude behavior, as it contrasts Fiona's more patient and compassionate nature. This is shown in the second film, after their dinner with Fiona's parents, where Fiona gets upset with Shrek both for his rudeness and for apparently don't care for what she wants. This is also shown in the fourth film, where Fiona displays some noticeable disgust when Shrek smashed their children's birthday cake out of anger for the Far Far Away inhabitants bothering him. Additionally, in the Christmas special, Fiona gets notably disappointed with Shrek for kicking their friends out of the house in Christmas Eve, including Shrek's best friend Donkey. Even so, although Shrek's flaws bothers and upsets Fiona, she nonetheless still love him more than anything and anybody and vice versa. Throughout the sequels and television series, Shrek and Fiona's relationship continues to grow, and Fiona is usually the center of Shrek's adventures, mostly due to his desire to continuously protect, impress, or otherwise prove his love for her.

In the second film, after a fight with Fiona and reading through her old diary it's revealed that Shrek will go to extreme lengths to make her happy even if it meant stealing a potion and then using it to make him human, which show how strong is his dedication to Fiona as he was willing to turn himself and her back into a human, claiming that he loves more Fiona than being an ogre, and he visibly will always make her safety his top priority. In return, Fiona loves Shrek and cares very much about his well-being, as show when she wake up and noticed she wasn't in her parents castle and grew very worried about him to the point she even considered going out to find him herself and later they head back to the swamp. In the end, Fiona prefers that she and Shrek are ogres rather than humans, showing she loves Shrek for who he is. She even wanted to have a family in Shrek as shown in the third film. Although he was initially worried about having children, he still nonetheless wants to make Fiona happy, as seen when she reveals she is pregnant, Shrek disguises his worries with happiness in order to make his wife happy. However, after meeting the teenage Arthur Pendragon and seeing a son figure in him, Shrek's worries disappears, and in the end, he is happy for his new family, and is revealed to be a loving father for the triplets Farkle, Fergus, and Felicia.

By the time of the fourth film, although Shrek loves his wife and children, he misses the old days when he was a wanted ogre and became somewhat neglectful of his family. After being constantly irritated by his friends and villagers after being described as no longer being a real ogre, he destroys his children's cake in a fit of anger and then had a massive argument with Fiona which causes him to accidentally blurt out he wished he had never rescued her from the Dragon's Keep. However, after signing a contract with Rumpelstiltskin and going to an alternate universe where he was never born, Shrek realizes that the grass isn't greener on the other side and that he had no idea what he had until it was gone. However, thanks to Donkey, Shrek discovers he can reverse the contract and get his life back by kissing Fiona. So, Shrek frantically tries to get Fiona to fall in love with him again so that they may share True Love's Kiss and get his old life back however this only causes her to dislike him even more and caused the entire army of ogres to be captured, only for Shrek to turn himself in and get the Deal of a Lifetime from Rumpelstiltskin so that he may free the captured ogres. This causes Fiona to fall in love with Shrek once again, and after defeating Stiltskin, when Shrek was about to be erased from existence, Shrek confesses that what he liked more in that day is because he got the chance to fall in love with Fiona all over again, and the two kiss, saving Shrek and restoring the timeline. Shrek now values his wife and children above anything now.

Overall, Shrek and Fiona are a loving and inseparable couple who although they sometimes gets into some arguments due to their contrasting natures (Shrek is rude and selfish, while Fiona is patient and kind), but they love each other immensely and both will go to extreme lengths to ensure each other's happiness and safety. Shrek even claimed once that he didn't rescued Fiona from Dragon's Keep, and that it was Fiona who rescued him, showing how grateful he is for having Fiona in his life.

Lord Farquaad

In Shrek, Farquaad had banished all of the fairytale creatures from his land. He forced them to take refuge in Shrek's swamp. He makes a decision to plan a tournament to see which knight would be worthy enough to embark on a quest to retrieve Fiona. However, Shrek, who had traveled from his swamp to Duloc accompanied by Donkey to ask Farquaad to move the fairytale creatures off his swamp, interrupts the tournament. He then changed the tournament, as the knight that ends up killing Shrek will be named as the champion. However, despite the knights' best efforts, they were all defeated with relative ease by both Shrek and Donkey. Farquaad's archers take aim at Shrek, but Farquaad, seizing a golden opportunity, declares Shrek the champion of the tournament and gives a proposition to Shrek: if Shrek successfully completes the quest to rescue Fiona, Farquaad will restore Shrek's swamp back to normal, before the fairytale creatures took refuge.

Puss in Boots

Shrek and Puss do not meet until the second film but Puss introduces himself as a mercenary who has been hired to kill Shrek, Shrek and Donkey defeat Puss after a short fight and Puss tells Shrek that Harold hired him to kill Shrek which makes him angry but he decides to focus on his goal of becoming Human so that Fiona and the others will accept him as her Husband. Puss assists Shrek and Donkey in stealing a potion from Fairy Godmothers apothecary called 'Happily Ever After'. The former happily brings Puss along, finding him and his 'wee little boots' to be adorable. After learning that Fiona is going to be under a spell that will make her love Prince Charming for eternity Puss assists Shrek in making it to Fiona in time. Along the way Shrek, Donkey, and Puss run into some guards but Puss tells Shrek to go ahead as Fiona needs him and then proceeds to fight the guards by himself. Puss assists Shrek in defeating Fairy Godmother until she attempts to kill Shrek but is stopped by Harold causing her to accidentally use the spell on herself killing her instantly. After this Shrek, Donkey, Fiona, and Puss celebrate their victory and decide to stay in Far Far Away until the events of Shrek The Third.

Puss aids Shrek in finding a teenager named Artie so that he can become the new king of far far away unlike Shrek who believes an Ogre should not be king. After helping Shrek recruit Artie they return to Far Far Away but Shrek is captured while Donkey and Puss have switched bodies temporarily. Puss and Donkey decide to help rescue the citizens that Charming had imprisoned during his takeover until they come to help Shrek but are overpowered by Charming's forces until Artie convinces all of Charming's henchmen that there is more to their lives instead of just being losers, Charming attempts to kill Artie but Shrek quickly saves him and Charming is killed by Dragon. After Artie becomes king Shrek, Donkey, Puss, and all the others return to Shrek's swamp and meet Shrek and Fiona's three children Farkle, Felicia, and Fergus.

During the final film Puss helps Shrek with his kids birthday party by getting the cake ready but it was revealed that the three pigs ate it so Puss found another cake but Shrek smashed it in rage and left the party wishing he could be a real ogre again. In the alternate timeline created by Rumpelstiltskin Puss has grown overweight and soft due to years of pampering by Fiona. Shrek meets Puss again but Puss knows nothing about him leading to him being dismissive towards him and getting kicked out by Fiona. During the final fight though Puss assists Shrek in defeating Dragon by stabbing her saving Donkey and battling soldiers in the process. After Shrek and Fiona undo Rumpelstiltskin's timeline Shrek returns to just before he smashed the cake. Puss reveals again that he has found another cake but Shrek decides to not smash it this time finally realizing that he shouldn't be taking everything for granted and embraces Fiona and Farkle, Felicia, and Fergus again.

Prince Charming

In the first movie Shrek and heard about him asking Fiona if he was supposed to save her. They don't meet until the second film where Shrek knows about Charming's plan to have Fiona fall in love with him. They reach the ball and find out that Godmothers plan failed.

Farkle, Fergus and Felicia

Just as Shrek embarks on a journey with Donkey and Puss in Boots to find Artie, Fiona announces to Shrek that she is pregnant, and Shrek begins to panic internally. During the journey, Shrek dreams of hundreds of ogre babies, constantly getting into danger and him having trouble saving them. Shrek wakes up screaming and reveals to Puss and Donkey how shocked he is by this news. Donkey attempts to assure Shrek fatherhood will not ruin his life. Shrek says he is worried about ruining his child's life as ogres aren't known for being loving and nurturing. By the end of the film, they have been born and are shown playing around the swamp, Shrek and Fiona getting used to being their parents. Shrek now feels he is capable of being a dad. The last scene shows he is the proud parent of the triplets, although he makes mistakes, proves to be a loving and caring father.

Dronkeys

Shrek is also an honorary uncle to the Dronkeys and he acts calmly to read them a bedtime story in Shrek Super Slam.

Description

Shrek is a large, fat, green, physically intimidating ogre. However, his background is something of a mystery. He speaks with a noticeably thick Scottish accent. In the musical, it is revealed that on his seventh birthday, Shrek was sent away by his parents because it was an ogre tradition. He is seen traveling alone, either being screamed at or teased by passers-by. The only time he receives a pleasant greeting is a wave from a young Fiona, who is promptly led away by her parents.

After scaring away an angry mob, he arrives at his swamp, enters an outhouse and literally breaks out as the adult Shrek. Though surly, misanthropic, and venomously cranky, Shrek is peaceful and doesn't care to hurt anyone, but he just wants to live his life in solitude and be left alone. Shrek is befriended by a donkey named Donkey. It's notable that when Shrek's first seen, he's successfully scaring off villagers by roaring at them, but it later becomes obvious that they were only attacking him because he's an ogre, not because he did anything particularly wrong. In the first Shrek movie, during a conversation with Donkey, he laments that he is constantly judged by the outside world the minute people meet him, and is thus better off alone. This implies that he became a recluse after trying and failing to find acceptance among others.

Another factor causing lack of acceptance can be found in Shrek the Third, it's revealed Shrek had a father who tried to eat him as Shrek stated, "I guess I should have seen it coming. He used to bathe me in barbecue sauce and put me to bed with an apple in my mouth". Artie thought he been jesting. Shrek lives in an Ogre Swamp, which is green and murky, like any other swamp. The swamp contains small and big ponds of muddy water and it also has geysers that squirt out mud. The swamp contains the living quarters of Shrek which consists of an outhouse and Shrek's house. The swamp is also a home to different kinds of species including the swamp slug that Shrek uses for his toothpaste. This basically beginning portrays Shrek as a real grubby beast.

When he finds squatters where he lives, he agrees to the rescue of Princess Fiona to evict all the squatters. However, during the course of the mission, Shrek falls deeply in love with Fiona. Since he's an ogre, Shrek has a considerable amount of physical strength, being able to break wood, and metal constructs, get in physical combat with a number of armored humans and usually winning, unintentionally destroying a wooden vessel with a bottle of wine, and even lifting or turning objects that are too heavy for a normal human being, such as a gigantic vat of magic potion against the maximum security of the Fairy Godmother in Shrek 2. In Shrek and the Swamp Gang Karaoke Dance Party, Shrek sings Just the Way You Are. In Far Far Away Idol, he sang "What I Like About You" by The Romantics with Fiona.

Shrek has a little problem socializing due to the fact that people think he is a mean ugly ogre, even though his appearance is remarkably humanoid, with a few cosmetic exceptions. In being in the process Shrek is said to have sociophobia.

However, from Shrek the Third onward, Shrek has become a well-liked celebrity, at least in Far Far Away. In the fourth movie, people managed to realize that Shrek isn't dangerous and lost their fear and prejudice over him, but to Shrek's dismay, they also come to regard him as a folk hero and visit him with even more frequency than before, disturbing him. But after the experiences of the movie, Shrek comes to appreciate his life more than ever.

Quotes

Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess. But she had an enchantment upon her of a fearful sort, which could only be broken by love's first kiss. She was locked away in a castle guarded by a terrible, fire-breathing dragon. Many brave knights had attempted to free her from this dreadful prison, but none prevailed. She waited in the dragon's keep in the highest room in the tallest tower for her true love and true love's first kiss. (chuckles) Like that's ever gonna happen.
~ Shrek's first words, which also foreshadow the entire film franchise
Yes. Well, actually, that would be a giant. Now ogres... Oh, they're much worse. They'll make a suit from your freshly peeled skin. They'll shave your liver, squeeze the jelly from your eyes! Actually, it's quite good on toast.
~ Shrek terrorizing the villagers
Stop singing! Well, it's no wonder you don't have any friends.
~ Shrek exasperated by Donkey
NO! I'm an Ogre! You know, grab your torch and pitchfork! Doesn't that bother you?
~ Shrek to Donkey
I live in a swamp, I put up signs, I'm a terrifying ogre! What do I have to do to get a little privacy?!
~ Shrek to Big Bad Wolf
I don't care what everyone likes! Ogres are not like cakes!
~ Shrek yelling at Donkey for thinking ogres are like cakes
NO! You dense, irritating, miniature beast of burden! Ogres are like onions! End of story! Bye-bye! (whispers) See you later.
~ Shrek yelling at Donkey for not getting his "Ogres are like Onions" saying.
Hey! I'm no one's messenger boy, alright? I'm a delivery boy!
~ Shrek intimidating Fiona
Donkey: Shrek, what are you doing? You're letting her get away!
Shrek: Yeah? So what?
Donkey: Shrek there's something about her you don't know. Look, I-- I talked to her last night... She's --
Shrek: Yeah I know you talked to her last night. You're great pals, aren't ya? Now, if you two are such good friends, why don't you follow her home?!
Donkey: But, Shrek, I-- I wanna go with you.
Shrek: Hey, I told you, didn't I?! You're not coming home with me. I live alone! My swamp! Me! Nobody else! Understand? Nobody! Especially useless, pathetic, annoying, talking donkeys!
Donkey: But, I thought...
Shrek: Yeah, you... you know what? You thought wrong!
Donkey: Shrek.
~ Shrek wanting nothing more to do with Donkey, pushing him away by talking cruelly to him
Shrek: Okay, look. I'm sorry, all right? (becomes more sincere) I'm sorry. I guess I am just a big, stupid, ugly ogre. Can you forgive me?

Donkey: Hey, that's what friends are for, right?
Shrek: Right. Friends?
Donkey: Friends.

~ Shrek and Donkey reconcile
Hi, everybody, and welcome to the "Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party"!
~ Shrek before everyone in the first film performs a karaoke dance party
Well, when it comes to breaking spells, usually somebody's got to kiss somebody.
~ Shrek to Red and Yellow
The kingdom of Far, Far Away, Donkey. That's where we're going. Far, Far, (whispers) Away.
~ Shrek telling Donkey where they're going.
Oh, for 5 minutes? Could you not be yourself, FOR 5 MINUTES?!
~ Shrek yelling at Donkey for being annoying on the carriage
(screams) Are we there yet?!
~ Shrek finally fed up with Donkey and asking if they are at Far Far Away yet
Well, here's a newsflash for you! Whether your parents like it or not, I AM AN OGRE!!!!! (roars at the barking puppy) And guess what, princess? That's not about to change!
~ Shrek arguing with Fiona after dinner with her parents was a fiasco

Trivia

  • Originally, Chris Farley was to do the voice role of Shrek, and had recorded 85 to 90% of his dialogue (95 according to his brother) but sadly he passed away four years before the events of the first movie, due to his death being similar to John Belushi's death. Nicolas Cage also turned down the role and subsequently regretted it. Mike Myers then got the role.
  • It is said that Shrek's appearance was inspired by a French professional wrestler in the late 1930s through the early '50s named Maurice Tillet AKA 'The French Angel'.
  • Shrek is both The Dragon and part of the Big Bad Ensemble of the first film, until his Heel–Face Turn at the climax of the film.
  • Shrek has become an Internet meme in which he appears in a series of videos called Shrek is Love, Shrek is Life.
  • The moon on Shrek's outhouse is a reference to the DreamWorks logo.
  • Shrek appears as a cameo on the DVD case of the 2006 film Flushed Away, but did not actually appear in the film.
  • Shrek was meant to have a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy as one of the Collector's displays. However, the scheduling prevented the director James Gunn and his team from getting Mike Myers to reprise his voice role as him, so he was scrapped.
  • According to the book Shrek: The Essential Guide, his vest is made out of alligator skin.
  • According to the Via Audio Commentary, Shrek was originally supposed to rescue Donkey from an evil witch in the first movie at one point, but the idea was scrapped and the witch evolved into the old woman who would turn Donkey in. Also, Shrek wanted to be a knight in an early version of the first movie.
  • In the video games, Shrek appears as an unlockable playable character in Tony Hawk's Underground 2 and as a playable character in Madagascar Kartz and DreamWorks Super Star Kartz.
  • Shrek can be spotted as General Monger's medal of order on his right chest in various scenes in Monsters vs. Aliens. However, in one of the scenes, you can probably assume that Shrek is the general's real favorite monster.
  • In May 2022, Shrek made a big surprise comeback as a guy dressed as him in the Netflix mini-series The Pentaverate, once again voiced by Mike Myers, who also starred in that same mini-series.
  • One of the concepts from 1996/1997 by Paul Shardlow shows that Shrek's home was meant to be a garbage dump near a human village called Wart Creek. At one time, it was thought that he lived with his parents and kept rotting fish in his bedroom.

External Links

Navigation

           Shrek Logo Heroes

Ogres
Shrek | Princess Fiona | Ogre Resistance (Brogan, Gretched & Cookie)

Far Far Away
Donkey | Dragon | Puss in Boots | Gingerbread Man | Pinocchio | Three Little Pigs | Big Bad Wolf | Three Blind Mice | King Harold | Queen Lillian | Arthur Pendragon | Doris the Ugly Stepsister | Cinderella | Snow White | Sleeping Beauty | Mongo

Others
Merlin | Shrek (Book)

See Also
Puss in Boots Heroes

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