Shrek/Characters

Shrek

Voiced by: Mike Myers

• Acrofatic: Shrek isn't exactly the leanest ogre around, especially compared to the ogres in Forever After, but he can hold his own.
• Adipose Rex: When acting as regent in the third movie.
• Anti-Hero: Type II, ironically, considering that the trope's other name is "Disney Anti-Hero".
• Badass: Will do anything to protect his best interests, whatever he judges those to be.
• The Big Guy: In addition to being The Hero.
• Comedic Sociopathy: Somewhat in the first two movies.
• Deadpan Snarker: Also the closest to Only Sane Man.
• Deal with the Devil: In the fourth movie.
• Expressive Ears: His ears will usually show his mood. If he is happy his ears will erect if he is sad they will usually go down.
• Freudian Slip: "You're going to be a father!"
• Gasshole: A species trait, apparently.
• Gentle Giant: Or gentle ogre. There's a difference.
• The Hero: Not that he ever set out to be one.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Due to being an ogre.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: "Ogres have layers."
• Large Ham: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SWAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMPPPPPPPPPPP?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
• Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: Even after getting married. He just wants his privacy.
• Moral Dissonance: Some of Shrek's everyday actions are quite objectionable, but the movies never call him out on this issue, instead playing it for laughs.
• Papa Wolf: Prominently in the fourth movie. Also acts like this towards Donkey at times, but he'll never admit it.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly Man to Donkey's Sensitive Guy.
• Stout Strength: Incredibly strong, despite being a fatso.
• Terrifying Rescuer: Until Fiona realizes he's actually a much better prospect than the prince.

Donkey

Voiced by: Eddie Murphy

• A Dog Named "Dog": Well, he is a donkey and his name is Donkey.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass:He becomes this usually before the ending of the movie especially the first film and the fourth one.
• Cowardly Sidekick: When in action. He forgets to be afraid while talking, which kicks off his relationship with Dragon.
• Expressive Ears
• Happily Married: As the Beta Couple, he and Dragon enjoy a more stable relationship than the two ogres...
• Improbable Species Compatibility:His relationship with Dragon.
• Ink Suit Actor:He was created to look somewhat like Eddie Murphy and a Real Life donkey called Perry.
• The Lancer: Whether he's much help to The Hero often varies.
• Non-Human Sidekick: To Shrek.
• Plucky Comic Relief
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Sensitive Guy to Shrek's Manly Man.
• Small Annoying Creature: He is not small but he fits this trope. He lampshaded this in Shrek 2.

Donkey: I'm sorry, the position of Annoying Talking Animal has already been taken!

• Talking Animal
• The Alleged Steed: Lampshaded especially in the first Shrek.
• Those Two Guys: With Puss in the third film.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Waffles, as a result of Flanderization based on a comment he made in the first movie. Also parfaits, to a lesser extent—he named one of his children after them.

Princess Fiona

Voiced by: Cameron Diaz

• Action Girl: Especially in Forever After.
• Adipose Rex: When acting as regent in the third movie.
• Badass
  • Badass Princess: Possibly the definition of this trope.
• Captain Ersatz: Of just about every Disney Princess. In the fourth movie, she becomes a Captain Ersatz of Red Sonja and/or Xena: Warrior Princess in the alternate universe.
• The Chick: Albeit one who frequently has an actual purpose.
• Comedic Sociopathy: Somewhat in the first two movies.
• Cute Monster Girl / Big Beautiful Woman: When in ogre form.
• Everything's Better with Princesses: Both subverted and played straight. Notably, Fiona's perfectly willing to live in squalor with the man she loves, but she's got more of a sense for duty and family - and she's a strong feminist woman to boot.
• Fiery Redhead: Lampshaded.
• Gasshole: Although she sometimes does try being ladylike about this.
• Heroes Want Redheads: Even when they're not really heroes.
• Ink Suit Actor: Somehow manages to be this in both her shapes.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Doesn't take off her dress to do martial arts.
• Moral Dissonance: Worse than her husband, which is ironic, considering the movies' focus on Shrek's growth of character (or not).
  • Okay, she probably didn't mean to feed Ariel to the sharks for accidentally frolicking with Shrek. The fairies, though... Girl, you've been locked up in a tower for years, and you're fine with trapping little women in jars?
• Non-Singing Voice: Averted. Cameron Diaz does Fiona's (minimal amount of) singing in the movies.
• Suddenly Always Knew That: She had to keep busy somehow while locked away. Guess that Dragon allowed her some personal space.
• Pregnant Badass: In Shrek the Third.
• Redhead in Green

Puss In Boots

Voiced by: Antonio Banderas

• Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal
  • Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: In the prequel.
• Anti-Hero: Type IV-Type II: When he first appeared he had no qualms about murdering Shrek for money. However, he shows a clear sense of ethics by joining Shrek in gratitude for saving him and quickly becomes a good guy for the rest of the series.
• Badass
  • Badass Adorable: Well, he IS a cat...
  • Badass Cape: Dons one from time to time.
  • Badass Mustache: It's actually whiskers!
  • Badass Spaniard: As voiced by Antonio Banderas.
• Breakout Character: He now has his own movie spin-off, which has been well-received.
• Catch Phrase: Pray for mercy from Puss... in Boots!
• Captain Ersatz: Of Zorro, another character that Banderas portrayed at one point. In Forever After's alternate universe, he becomes a Garfield Expy.
• Cool Sword: A traditional rapier.
• Cuteness Proximity: The common reaciton to his "kitty" mode is this trope.
• Defeat Equals Friendship: In Shrek 2.
• Easily Forgiven
• Enfant Terrible: Actually a heroic variant, as hard as that sounds.
• Fourth Ranger: Joins the original trio and is there to stay.
• Gratuitous Spanish: And then some.
• Hitman with a Heart
• Kitty Cat Eyes: Very effective; in fact it's what got him on Shrek's good side in the first place.
• Lightning Bruiser: Cats are very fast on their feet.
• Nice Hat: Briefly goes without in the fourth movie, but then reclaims it along with his Badassery.
• Nice Shoes: But of course!
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Just as likely to use his pintsize status to look cute. Beware.
• The Smart Guy
• Those Two Guys: With Donkey in the third movie.
• Zorro Mark

Gingy

Voiced by: Conrad Vernon

• Chew Toy: Narrowly escapes becoming a literal example... most of the time.
• Those Two Guys: With Pinocchio.
• Took a Level in Badass: In Forever After, AU!Gingy is a Badass Adorable gladiator who fights animal crackers with a lollipop. Of course, it doesn't actually make a difference against Shrek or anyone else.

Pinocchio

Voiced by: Cody Cameron

• Perverse Puppet
• Running Gag: He always seems to come close to becoming a real boy, only for those plans to fall short, like in Shrek 2, when he does become a boy, only to immediately be turned back by accident, and in Forever After, when he's about to sign a contract to be turned into a real boy, only for the interaction to be interrupted.
• Those Two Guys: With Gingy.

Dragon

• The Dragon: AU!Dragon to Rumpelstiltskin (in a literal sense, too).
• Abhorrent Admirer:She was this type of character in the first film towards Donkey.
• Babies Ever After: Before Shrek and Fiona, natch.
• Gentle Giant: Believe it or not, she is one.
• Happily Married: Yes. But the mechanics are mind-boggling!
• Heel Face Turn: A rather quick turn—all it takes is for a fast-talking donkey to woo her...
• Improbable Species Compatibility:Her relationship with donkey.
• Literal Ass Kissing: Unintentionally invoked. She was preparing to kiss Donkey (with the latter being somewhat unwilling). Shrek knocks Donkey off her, only to end up being kissed himself, right on the place that you'd expect. As soon as she found out what happened, she wasn't happy.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Initially appears to be your average guardian fire-breather. Turns out she's sapient and much more developed than classic fairytale dragons, although she doesn't speak, and she can interact with society to an extent. Also, has a thing for talking donkeys.
• Samus Is a Girl: Donkey didn't realize this till he starts fast talking her. Really improved his survival chances afterward.
• Tsundere: Type A in Shrek. Ditched in all following installments.
• The Speechless: Expresses herself mostly in grunts. Donkey does enough speaking for both of them.
  • Speech-Impaired Animal
• The Worf Effect: Used in Shrek the Third.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Though no beauty queen, definitely more attractive than Donkey (and she's "hot", geddit?)

The Dronkeys.

• Aerith and Bob: Their names are Peanut, Cocoa, Bananas, Parfeit, and Debbie.
• All There in the Manual: Merchandise for the Dronkeys reveals most of them (With the exception of "Debbie") are named after foods.
  • What about Little Debbie snack cakes?
• Mix-and-Match Critters: They're half dragon and half donkey.
• Gender Equals Breed: Averted. They have traits of both their parents.
• Portmanteau: Of "Dragon" and "Donkey".
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The ending of Shrek 2 showed six Dronkeys including a red-colored one - named "Eclair" according to merchandise. Though, for some reason she never shows up in the third movie.

Big Bad Wolf

Voiced by: Aaron Warner

• Adaptational Villainy: Inverted.
• Ambiguously Gay: He's seen cuddling up to, then dancing with, one of the knights at Shrek and Fiona's wedding. Take that as you will.
• Composite Character: A combination of the wolf from "The Three Little Pigs" and the one from "Little Red Riding Hood".
• Crossdresser: Spun off from the original story—however, in the Shrek series, Wolfy isn't seen wearing anything except Grandma's nightgown.
• Gender Bender: Wolf's cursed to become a werewoman during the full moon in the short The Pig Who Cried Werewolf.

Lord Farquaad

Voiced by: John Lithgow

• Big Bad: In Shrek
  • Subverted at the same time if you take the trope literally.
• Evil Overlord: Though comparatively minor (ha!) compared to the next three.
• For the Evulz: Why he tortures Gingy and such.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: Think hard about what his name sounds like. Hint: this also counts as an example of Fail O'Suckyname.
  • No mention of him getting a boner while lying in bed with the Mirror showing him Fiona on endless loop?
• Knight Templar: Literal knight who wants to clear away people he sees as scum.
• Large Ham: It more than compensates!
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Quite by accident he screws up the plans of all three other villains from the other films.
• The Napoleon: The personality also seems quite close.
• Smug Snake: Obviously.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: A world without those pesky pests from fairy tales.
• Yandere: Towards Fiona.

Fairy Godmother

Voiced by: Jennifer Saunders

• Affably Evil: Arguably, depending on how much of it is an act.
• Arranged Marriage: She and King Harold arranged this for Fiona and Charming in exchange for undoing the ogre transformation
  • Implied to have done the same with Harold and Lillian.
• Big Bad: Of the second movie.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Comes off as sweet and kind but is really quite nasty.
• Blackmail / Cold-Blooded Torture: Subverted only to be played straight later on: When she first appears to Harold, she implies that she is going to torture him when shouting at him for Fiona marrying Shrek. However, it immediately shows that the thing she was gonna do that she didn't want to if he didn't tell her was breaking her diet (apparently, she overindulges on junk food when irritated). Played straight, however, when she threatens Harold with what is heavily implied to be turning him back into a frog if he didn't spike Fiona's tea with a love potion.
• Go Out with a Smile: She takes her defeat in the video game version somewhat well ("Oh well, I guess a Fairy Godmother can't win everything."
• Hoist By Her Own Petard
• Jerkass
• Knight Templar: She acts in the name of her idea of a "happily ever after", and if something occurs contrary to how she wanted it to be, she is not pleased.
• Light Is Not Good: Despite her name, she's evil.
• Manipulative Bitch
• Never Found the Body: She got one of her spells reflected back at her and just...turns into bubbles.
• Never My Fault: She threw a fit when Harold said Charming was too late to rescue Fiona from the tower.
• Politically-Incorrect Villain: "Ogres don't get happy endings!"
• Smug Snake: Though arguably the most competent one in the series.
• Villainous Breakdown: Though it's short-lived, her final act to try and blast Fiona and Shrek shows all pretense of goodness and loving are off the table, even with the entire kingdom watching.
• Villain with Good Publicity

Prince Charming

Voiced by: Rupert Everett

• Ambiguously Gay: Being voiced by the openly gay Rupert Everett doesn't help. There is a huge Parental Bonus in the scene where he talks to his mother about his reluctance to marry Fiona—apparently, he is not interested in women at all...
  • He has, however, shown revulsion towards the wolf when he sees him in what is supposed to be Fiona's bed, and it is also implied that he has some reciprocation of romantic feelings for Rapunzel.
• Bishonen: Easily the prettiest male character in the series. Most likely invoked.
• Big Bad: In Shrek the Third.
• Blond Guys Are Evil: Since he not that Charming.
• Camp Straight: Although there has been speculation...
• Distaff Counterpart: He's essentially Fiona prior to her Character Development—stuck up, rude, and determined to achieve the typical fairy tale happy ending.
• The Dragon: In Shrek 2.
  • Dragon Their Feet: Does very little to aid the Fairy Godmother during the climax except to throw her her wand, which almost immediately backfires for her.
  • Dragon Ascendant: In Shrek the Third.
• Hair Flip: Constantly ("...with soft and bouncy haaaaaairrr!").
• Large Ham: Rupert Everett, 'nuff said.
• Prince Charmless: Doesn't look like one, but that's his inner layer.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Hinted at in Shrek 2 (For one thing, when Fairy Godmother is forced to break her diet, he wanted and got a kids meal, shown to be a toy battle axe), and explicitly shown in Shrek the Third.
• Smug Snake: In both his movies.
• Shout-Out: His overall appearance, and to a lesser extent, his voice, is somewhat similar to Liquid Snake in renaissance clothing.
• Villain Song In Shrek the Third.
• What Could Have Been: Could have been in Shrek Forever After, but was scrapped.

Rumpelstiltskin

Voiced by: Walt Dohrn

• Ambiguously Gay: In a different way from Prince Charming—whereas Charming was just flat-out effeminate, Rumple has extremely flamboyant mannerisms and is obsessed with wigs.
• Axe Crazy: The scene with an actual axe is mere icing on the cake.
• Bad Boss: Toward the witches.
• Big Bad: Far more convincingly than the other, halfway-sympathetic and part-ineffectual villains.
• Bunny Ears Lawyer: His aforementioned obsession with wigs doesn't make him anything less dangerous and effective.
• Deadpan Snarker: Rivals Shrek at this.
• Deal with the Devil: Pretty much his job description.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Most notably the scene with the glass of water...
• Evil Overlord: Achieves his goals more than Farquadd could ever have hoped.
• Evil Redhead/Fiery Redhead: Rumple is actually a redhead, but his "angry wig" symbolizes this trope.
• Faux Affably Evil: Initially seems to be Affably Evil... until things fail to go his way.
• Large Ham: Possibly the biggest in the series.
• Manipulative Bastard: His essential function when he's not being a Smug Snake.
• Morality Pet: Literally, his goose for him.
• Napoleon Complex: A complex because unlike Farquaad, he's literally insane.
• Smug Snake: While taking a break from manipulation. Of course, this proves to be a mistake.

Harold

Voiced by: John Cleese

• Heroic Sacrifice: He didn't die, but he took a magical blast from Fairy Godmother that turned him back into a frog, a form he previously had that he hid from everyone.
• Killed Off for Real
• Overprotective Dad: He loves Fiona, but he doesn't seem to understand her, thinking she'd be better off with Prince Charming than an ogre like Shrek. He comes around at the last minute and accepts that Shrek is right for her.
• Pinocchio Syndrome: His apparent backstory. Fairy Godmother turned him from a frog to a human so he could fall in love with his future wife.
• Taking the Bullet: How he ends up becoming a frog again... and defeating Godmother.

Kitty Softpaws

Appears in Puss in Boots. A feline femme fatale cat burglar (literally) who catches Puss' eye.

• Action Girl
• Badass Adorable
  • Badass Spaniard: She's voiced by Salma Hayek, but this is played as Spanish rather than Mexican.
• Classy Cat Burglar: Literally!
• Cool Mask: Wears a black luchadore felt mask.
• Samus Is a Girl: Puss doesn't realize his rival is female until she removes her mask.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: The main cues of her femininity are her long eyelashes.