Summary

• Fiona was cursed as a child by a witch to turn into an ogre every night, with the identity of the witch being a mystery.
• The curse was broken when Shrek kissed Fiona, but the sequels did not delve further into the curse or the witch behind it.
• A theory suggests the Fairy Godmother was the one who cursed Fiona, manipulating events to ensure Prince Charming married her.

Princess Fiona dealt with a curse before and during the events of Shrek, but the identity of the character who cursed her wasn’t revealed. Shrek arrived to not only position DreamWorks as a worthy competitor to Pixar but also to completely change fairy tales, especially those made famous by Disney. Loosely based on the 1990 children’s book Shrek!, by William Steig, and directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, Shrek took the audience to a fantasy world where different fairy tale characters, creatures, and humans co-exist. The success of Shrek was such that it made way for a franchise, which continues to expand.

Shrek tells the story of the title ogre (voiced by Mike Myers), whose swamp is suddenly invaded by exiled fairy tale characters. Shrek makes a deal with Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) of Duloc: he will rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) for him in exchange for his swamp. Shrek is accompanied by Donkey (Eddie Murphy) in this adventure, but he and Fiona end up falling in love with each other. What Shrek and Farquaad don’t know is that Fiona is cursed, and while she’s eventually freed from the curse, the Shrek franchise didn’t go further into it.

Fiona Was Cursed By An Unknown Witch In Shrek

Fiona Was Cursed To Turn Into An Ogre Every Night

The witch wasn’t revealed, which led to speculation on her identity and the curse itself.

Fiona is the daughter of King Harold and Queen Lillian of Far Far Away, and she was cursed when she was little. It’s mentioned in Shrek that Fiona was cursed by a witch, but the identity of said witch isn’t revealed in any of the movies. The curse said Fiona would be one way by night and by day another, meaning she would be a normal human by day and transform into an ogre by night. The only way to break the curse was with the kiss of Fiona’s true love, but until then, her parents hid her every night.

Some viewers suggest the curse was the other way around: Fiona was an ogre as King Harold was a frog, so her curse was to be a human and her true form was always an ogre.

It was the Fairy Godmother who convinced the King and Queen to lock Fiona away in a castle guarded by a dragon, where they would await her true love to rescue her. Shrek turned out to be Fiona’s true love and their first kiss lifted the curse, leaving her in her ogre form as she also took “true love’s form”. The witch wasn’t revealed, which led to speculation on her identity and the curse itself, with some viewers suggesting the curse was the other way around: Fiona was an ogre as King Harold was a frog, so her curse was to be a human and her true form was always an ogre.

This is debunked by Shrek as it’s shown that Fiona was born a human, but another theory, brought by Shrek Forever After, says Rumpelstiltskin was the “witch” who cursed Fiona as he can turn time and send people to other dimensions, but that twist would have surely been revealed in the fourth Shrek movie.

A Shrek Theory Suggests The Fairy Godmother Cursed Fiona

The Fairy Godmother Might Have Been A Lot More Evil Than Initially Thought

The Fairy Godmother cursed Fiona to further manipulate the King and Queen and make sure Prince Charming married her.

A popular and believable theory says that the “witch” who cursed Fiona was the Fairy Godmother. The Fairy Godmother was introduced in Shrek 2, and she was very angry when she learned Fiona was rescued by Shrek and not by her son, Prince Charming. The Fairy Godmother had a deal with King Harold: she would turn him into a human so he could marry Lillian in exchange for their future daughter marrying her son. The theory suggests that, in addition to this, the Fairy Godmother cursed Fiona to further manipulate the King and Queen and make sure Prince Charming married her.

Fiona’s curse only served a purpose in the first Shrek movie, so it’s understandable that the sequels didn’t go further into it. However, not giving more information on it and the witch who cast the curse made way for many questions and theories, and it’s up to every viewer to decide if it was just a witch who cursed Fiona, the Fairy Godmother, Rumpel, or someone else.