“ | Better out than in, I always say! | „ |
~ Shrek's catchphrase. |
“ | 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 "Aargh! 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 isolates himself. |
Shrek is the titular main protagonist of the media franchise of the same name, serving as the main protagonist of the films and shorts and a major character of DreamWorks shorts.
He is the son of unnamed parents, the son-in-law of King Harold and Queen Lillian, the brother-in-law of Arthur, the husband of Fiona, the father of Farkle, Fergus, and Felicia, and the best friend of Donkey and Puss in Boots.
He is a green ogre, loosely based on his book counterpart, who lives in a swamp with his wife and children. As well, he can have an anti-heroic yet caring personality which is part of what made him famous in the first place.
He is voiced by Mike Myers.
His Good Ranking[]
What Makes Him Admirable?[]
Shrek[]
- He didn't attack Donkey when the latter tried to befriend him, despite his annoyance at him.
- After seeing that Lord Farquaad has sent the Fairy Tale creatures to his swamp, he and Donkey go to his castle to get them back where they came from.
- Though he only saved Fiona for Lord Farquaad, he later begins to fall in love with her.
- It's also worth noting that by saving Fiona, he inadvertently saved his future parents in law, Harold and Lillian, from signing their kingdom over to Rumpelstiltskin and disappearing.
- He saves Donkey from Dragon despite the fact he had already freed Fiona and could have easily abandoned him. (Which would have made his escape easier).
- He expresses his insecurities to Donkey from everyone judging him as a monster before getting to know him, as a result, telling him why he wants to be alone.
- He apologizes to Donkey for disowning him and finally befriends him.
- He and Donkey go to Fiona and Lord Farquaad's wedding to tell Fiona that he loves her and found out that Fiona is an ogre at night.
- He only whistled for Dragon as a last resort, (making him indirectly responsible for Farquaad's death) knowing he wouldn't have been able to overpower the guards by himself.
- After defeating Lord Farquaad, he tells Fiona that he loves her and after they kissed and Fiona is still an ogre, Shrek tells Fiona that she's perfect just the way she is, being the voice of the theme of self-love in the franchise.
Shrek 2[]
- In the second film, Shrek was willing give up being a ogre, even though he loved it, because he believed it is what Fiona wanted.
- He spared and befriended Puss in Boots despite the fact that he tried to kill him.
- After being manipulated by Fairy Godmother he, believing Fiona was happy, decided to let her be happy with Charming, proving he truly does love her.
- After discovering that Fiona was going to get drugged with a love potion, he immediately goes to the castle to stop the kiss between her and Prince Charming from happening.
- Despite having only known Mongo for mere minutes and getting annoyed by his stupidity, he was very grateful for his assistance in raiding the castle and was distraught when he sacrificed himself.
- Saved Fiona by pushing her out of the way of Fairy Godmother's spell, intending to solely get struck before King Harold took the blast himself.
- He forgave Harold for his mistreatment towards him, likely because he understood it was partially because his father-in-law had a deal with the Fairy Godmother and overheard him initially refuse to give Fiona the love potion before she threatened him into doing so (though Harold ultimately didn't give Fiona the potion in the end).
- He also scolds Donkey for being rude and for calling King Harold out for hypocrisy when it turns out that the king was actually a frog (although, Donkey had a valid point, something even King Harold agrees with).
- When Donkey is disappointed after returning to his regular appearance as a donkey, Shrek comforts him and tells his friend he still looks like a noble steed in his (Shrek's) eyes.
Shrek the Third[]
- In the third film, after King Harold had fallen ill, Shrek and Fiona ran the kingdom of Far Far Away. While he was incredibly reluctant to take any responsibility, he was still able to manage the Kingdom.
- On King Harold's deathbed, he refused to be the new king as he thought it was a bad idea for him and Fiona to rule as ogres and sought to locate the second heir, Arthur.
- He comforted Fiona during King Harold's death.
- Just before leaving Far Far Away to bring back Arthur, when Fiona reveals that she's pregnant, he was worried about being a father because he feared he would not be a good father like his own.
- He tries to relate to Arthur by using what he considers slang but fails horrifically. It's not until the they meet Professor Merlin, his old college teacher, and began to truly connect with Arthur and allows him to become king by his own choice now.
- He was willing to allow Charming to kill himself if it allowed Arthur to live.
- After Arthur saved him and redeemed the Fairy Tale villains, he saves Arthur from being killed by Prince Charming and overthrows him.
Shrek Forever After[]
- In the fourth film, he becomes a loving father towards his children, Farkle, Fergus, and Felicia.
- After seeing a wanted poster of Fiona in the alternative world, he immediately got worried for her and rushed to his swamp only to find out it was ruined and none of his friends (including Donkey) remember him and that Rumpelstiltskin stole the day he was born.
- After escaping Rumpelstiltskin's palace, he tries to convince Donkey that he was his friend and sings him his favorite song.
- After discovering he still has Felicia's doll, he feels immense remorse for being ungrateful and telling Fiona that he wished that he never rescued her.
- He turned himself in to Rumpelstiltskin to get the Deal of a Lifetime to free all ogres, not to undo his deal, and reconciles with Fiona.
- He and Fiona defeated Rumpelstiltskin and got his life back.
- He's loved by literally everyone in the fourth film for his heroism.
- After getting his life back, he values his family and friends above anything now.
- The fourth film basically points out that had it not been for Shrek's actions, not only would ogres still be discriminated and hunted down, but fairy tale creatures altogether would be enslaved and treated like trash.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- He is very short-tempered, causing him to act in fits of rage that cause him to emotionally abuse others. However, he's quick to realize his mistakes and apologizes more often than not, so this is a minor prevention.
- After hearing Donkey and Fiona's talk, he gives Fiona away to Lord Farquaad without even hearing what she wanted to say.
- He can be rather sadistic, with some examples being when he shakes a bridge with lava below it to tease Donkey about his fear of heights or when he makes a comment towards Prince Charming saying "Break a leg, or on second thought, let me break it for you."
- It was even worse before he met Donkey, as he constantly scared people. While it can be justified as they were constantly trespassing on his property and trying to kill him, he encouraged it because he got a kick out of doing so.
- During his and Fiona's Falling-in-Love montage, they catch an innocent snake and a frog and inflate them like balloons to give them to each other as presents. Eventually, they walk and let two animals fly away in the sky, possibly causing them to die by exploding due to the pressure of the atmosphere. While frog seems to survive it, as one with same appearance (possibly that frog) appears later, there's no indication that the snake survived.
- He has many moments where he can act like a jerk, most notably during his fits of rage, and sometimes they occur even when he isn't angry, such as in Scared Shrekless, where he and the rest of his family celebrate Halloween by stealing candy from kids and top off the night by egging the Seven Dwarfs or when he went out of his way to scare townsfolk for fun.
- In the fourth film, he's grown exhausted of constantly having to take care of his children, destroyed their birthday cake in a moment of frustration, and had an argument with Fiona about it rather than apologizing for his actions.
- He ultimately ends up being responsible for what Rumpelstilskin does as his selfish desire to become feared again led to Rumpelstilskin easily manipulating him into giving up a day of his life (which backfired as it was the day he was born) to become feared for a day, causing Rumpelstilskin to become an absolute tyrant who committed very awful crimes. That said, Shrek realized his mistake and was incredibly remorseful after knowing what it cost him and his friends.
Trivia[]
- Shrek is the first character from his franchise to be Inconsistently Admirable, as he is the main character.
- There is a possibility that his status could be changed in the upcoming fifth film.
External Links[]
- Shrek on the Shrek Wiki
- Shrek on the Heroes Wiki
- Shrek on the DreamWorks Wiki
- Shrek on the Universal Studios Wiki
- Shrek on the Love Exalted Wiki
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Inconsistently Admirable | ||
Animated Features Live-Action Features See Also |
Inconsistently Admirable | ||
Animated Features Live-Action Features Animated Television See Also |