Shrek (character)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This book-related article or section describes an aspect of the book in a primarily in-universe style. Please rewrite this article or section to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. |
| Shrek character | |
|---|---|
| Shrek | |
 |
|
| Gender | Male |
| Type | Ogre/Human |
| Spouse | Princess Fiona (wife) |
| Other family | King Harold (father-in-law), Queen Lillian (mother-in-law), Princess Fiona (wife), Arthur Pendragon (cousin by marriage), unknown father, ogre triplets (children) |
| Voiced by | Mike Myers (films) Michael Gough (video games) |
| Film appearance | Shrek Shrek 2 Shrek the Third |
Shrek is a fictional character from the children's book Shrek! and the Shrek films. He is also the main protagonist.
Contents |
[edit] Characteristics
Shrek is a large, green, physically intimidating ogre. Although his background is something of a mystery, it is assumed that despite these traits, Shrek has always been an ogre of the non-hostile kind as he loves peace and solitude and lives in a swamp and is befriended by Donkey, an excitable, hyperactive donkey. In the first Shrek movie, during a conversation with Donkey, he laments that people "judge me before they even know me. That's why I'm better off alone," implying that he became a recluse after trying and failing to find acceptance among others. In Shrek the Third it is revealed Shrek has a father who tried to eat him as Shrek stated, "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.” In Far Far Away Idol, he sang "What I Like About You" by The Romantics with Fiona. According to Shrek, ogres do not celebrate holidays.[citation needed]
Shrek lives in an Ogre Swamp. The swamp, like any other swamp, is green and murky. The swamp contains small and big ponds of muddy water and 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. 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.
[edit] Film appearance
Shrek has expressed rather philosophical observations on the similarities between ogres and onions, observing both have layers beyond the surface. He cooks a "mean weed rat stew" and has a sense of humor that is not always appropriate. Shrek also boasts surprising agility for a creature of his girth, possibly because of his strength. For example, he can effortlessly perform a one-handed handspring frontflip while carrying Donkey in the other hand.
He also appears to have a chronic flatulence problem, though he can use this "gift" to his advantage. He breaks wind in the pond whenever he wants to catch fish, he unknowingly passes wind when he is in the mud sauna in "Shrek 2" and also after drinking the Happily Ever After potion. In Shrek 3-D he accidentally expels gas in a stone dragon's face and shoots a large tongue of fire as he does so, though he apologises afterwards. Apparently he is not ashamed of this (but in "Shrek 2" where he passes wind in front of Fiona, he becomes embarrassed, but then Fiona joins him by passing wind with him) and even boasts to Donkey in "Shrek" that "If it [a smell] was me, you'd be dead." This seems to be true as in "Shrek 2" the fairies in the jars are gasping for air when he is passing wind in the mud bath. He is serious, in a way. In the third film he seems to have mastered some self-control, though his gas problem seems to be hereditary and he passes it on to his children.
[edit] Appearance
[edit] Shrek
In the first film, Shrek is shown as a recluse who lives a fairly carefree life in his swamp. This all comes to an end as Lord Farquaad evicts the fairytale creatures from their homes, causing them to move to Shrek's swamp. This crusade against abnormal creatures causes Donkey, a talking miniature donkey, to literally run into Shrek.
Because of the squatters in Shrek's swamp, the ogre sets out for Duloc, where he ends up being an unwilling participant in a tournament for the 'privilege' to rescue Princess Fiona who was trapped in a castle under a dragon's watchful eye. Shrek and donkey travel to the castle, managing to rescue the princess and escape the castle.
During the journey back to Duloc, however, Shrek and Fiona start to fall for one another, hinted at by repeated scenes where their similiaries were shown. After a short series of misadventures on the way to deliver her to Farquaad, Shrek finally realizes he's fallen in love with Fiona, only to become angry after hearing a conversation between her and Donkey, leading him to think she thought him as a hideous beast.
Shrek heads back to his newly acquired swamp, depressed over the recent events, until Donkey shows up, trying to claim ownership over half of the swamp. After a brief confrontation between the two, and they settle their differences, Donkey persuades Shrek to travel to Duloc, since he had realized long before that Shrek had fallen in love with Fiona. Using Dragon, whom Donkey seemed to have a relationship with, they arrived in Duloc to stop the marriage between Farquaad and Fiona, with Shrek publicly admitting that he loved her. After briefly being stopped by the guards, and the death of Farquaad, Shrek and Fiona admit their love for one another, and they kiss. Later, their wedding is shown, and the movie ends with their carriage disappearing into the sunset, where the second movie would start.
[edit] Shrek 2
After a joyful honeymoon, Shrek and Fiona return home to the annoying house-sitter Donkey, urging that they wish to be alone. Later, messengers of Fiona's kingdom "Far Far Away" deliver the invitation from her parents whom wish to meet her new husband. Shrek doesn't want to go, but Fiona feels it's important to have Fiona's father's blessing.
After a long carriage ride, Shrek and Fiona make their grand appearance in front of the entire kingdom, resulting in everyone being stunned. With some awkward greetings and suggestive angry stares, the meeting moves onto a dinner where Shrek and King Harold fight over dinner. Shrek and Fiona argue about not staying, though Fiona feels the relationship is one-sided since she changed for him and yet he remains unwilling to accept her family or even try to be friends with them.
After being threatened by the Fairy Godmother, Harold convinces Shrek and Donkey to meet them on a hunting trail where they can get to know one another. They are then attacked by Puss in Boots. When the misunderstanding is resolved, Puss vows to accompany Shrek to make amends for the mistake. Shrek then uses a card the Fairy Godmother had given him earlier and decides to meet with the Fairy Godmother at her factory for help in mending his relationship with Fiona.
In the factory, the trio are dismissed by the Godmother's bigotry against Ogres having happily ever afters and instead went to search for a beauty potion under the guise as workers. Shrek grabs the potion and the trio escape. While leaving, Shrek reads the potion though Donkey tries it first to see if its effective. Shrek drinks as well, thinking it doesn't work on donkeys, though the results are the same except with more gas. The trio find shelter from the rain in a small barn where Donkey and Shrek inexplicably pass out, with the same effects happening to Fiona in Far Far Away when she wanted to leave since her parents never gave Shrek a chance.
In the morning while the potion activates, Shrek was turn into a handsome human and Donkey into a stallion, greeted by three farmhand girls. In Far Far Away, Fiona surprisingly finds herself back in human form as well, but mistakes Charming for Shrek. After being manipulated by the Fairy Godmother, Shrek leaves believing Fiona would be happier with the prince of her dreams until he discovers that the Godmother is Charming's mother and is going to force Fiona to fall in love with him. Shrek, Donkey, and Puss are arrested after being spotted and later rescued by Gingy and the others. To storm the castle, Shrek and Gingy visit the Muffin Man whom creates a giant gingerbread man to help in their quest. Shrek and Donkey storm through the castle with Puss fending off the guards. Later, Shrek battles with Fairy Godmother whom tells Charming to kiss Fiona. The kiss proves ineffective since Harold didn't spike her tea with the love potion that was intended. Out of rage, Fairy Godmother strikes at Shrek with her wand, but Harold's inference reflects the magic back at her, reducing her to bubbles. It's revealed he is actually a frog whom Fairy Godmother had given a happily ever after and gives his blessings to Shrek and Fiona. When the clock strikes midnight, Shrek tells Fiona that if she wishes to stay in their human forms, then a kiss at that moment would make the spell permanent, despite him giving up his joy and lifestyle of being an ogre. Fiona makes him wait until they return back to normal, declaring she loves him as he is as the one she married. A celebration goes underway with the seemingly dysfunctional family becoming a truly grand one in song and dance.
[edit] Shrek the Third
Shrek and Fiona take on the responsibilities as King and Queen while Fiona's father Harold remained bedridden. After many overwhelming mistakes and disasters, Shrek is ready to give up and leave until a messenger tells them that the Frog King was dying. Despite Harold's confidence in Shrek being a good king, he did mention of another heir named Aurthur, and left it to Shrek to do the right thing.
Not wishing to rule and rather return to the swamp, Shrek, Donkey, and Puss start heading to search for Arthur with upon their leave Fiona telling Shrek that she is pregnant. Shrek starts to have a nightmare of having too many babies, later, seeing Donkey with a baby's face as the nightmare continues. Admitting to being afraid of being a parent.
Shrek first finds Artie at his high school, which everyone was bullying him. Shrek starts to make Artie to go to Far Far Away, but Artie becomes uneasy by Puss and Donkey's bantering of his the royal duties that await him. After being ship-wrecked, Shrek begins to lose his patience with the boy, but in light of Donkey's advice, attempts to communicate with him in "street". His attempts all fail until it's revealed Artie's father had abandoned him, which allows Shrek to find kinship with Artie since he too had father-issues with his own dad. In the morning, Shrek defeats Hook and the others sent by Charming, then with Merlin's help, returns to Far Far Away.
When Artie's life was threatened by Charming, Shrek boldly insulted the boy, stating that he needed a patsy loser to fill the royal job. Shrek becomes disenchanted over hurting Artie's feelings, but keeps his sense of humor until his friends arrive to the rescue with Artie talking the villains into reforming themselves. Artie assumes the role of king and Shrek now feels he is capable of being a father. The last scene shows he is the proud parent of triplets, and though makes mistakes, proves to be a great dad.
[edit] Other appearances
Shrek has also made appearances promoting breakfast cereals and candy, such as M&Ms that were colored swamp green. Wal-Mart also hired Shrek and Donkey to appear in a commercial as part of their "Wal Mart Customers" commercial series. In the commercial, Donkey and Shrek enter a Wal-Mart, where Shrek purchases and is then seen wearing blue jeans and an aloha shirt. Shrek and Donkey also appeared alongside the other Shrek characters in an announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services urging children to engage in physical activity.
[edit] References
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (August 2006) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
