- “What are you doing in my swamp?!”
- ―Shrek.
Shrek is the titular protagonist in the franchise of the same name. He is an ogre that lives near in his own swamp, preferring to live alone and undisturbed. The name "Shrek" is derived from the German word, Schreck, and the Yiddish word, both meaning "fright" or "terror".
Background[]
Although Shrek's background is something of a mystery, it is assumed that despite these traits, Shrek has always been an ogre of the non-hostile kind (and unlike the fairytale ogre, never eats anybody), as he loves peace and quiet and lives in a swamp. It is not known exactly at what point he moved to his swamp, but it is shown in Forever After that without his presence, the swamp was just a barren wasteland, indicating he himself must have moved in at one point and kept the swamp running - indicative that he must have been born and grown up elsewhere.
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.
Shrek was shown to have no friends or close living family, until he - rather reluctantly at first - befriends Donkey, an excitable, flighty, and hyperactive donkey, who despite Shrek's initial hostility, proves to be a loyal friend.
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 that Shrek had 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.” It's possible that he could have been joking. In Far Far Away Idol, he sang "What I Like About You" by The Romantics with Fiona.
Shrek is voiced by Mike Myers (and is the only animated role Myers has done in his career), although it was planned to be voiced by Chris Farley before his death in 1997, and played by Brian d'Arcy James in the musical. On May 21, 2010, Shrek received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. In June 2010, Entertainment Weekly named him one of the 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years.
Personality[]
Shrek is a rather complex character. Towards others, he can be grouchy, arrogant, discourteous and hostile. He has been the scorn of multiple prejudices and revulsion because of his ogre background and generally appears thick-skinned to others but behind his terrifying demeanor, he possesses his own insecurities and fears. He shuts everyone out and isolates himself as he knows how judgmental the world is towards ogres and how people judge him on his appearance alone. This all has become less so since the end of the first movie.
Despite usually being cranky, sardonic, prideful, pompous, mean, and sometimes stubborn, he is a very lovable character. He is very devoted, caring, and loving towards his wife and is protective of his friends (counting Donkey) and kids. Given he is a separate species to humans, a lot of his natural and normal ogre behaviors appear disgusting but are actually practical and perfectly normal for an ogre. To prevent sunburn, he coats his skin in mud, similarly to a pig or rhino, uses caterpillar entrails to add a green colour to his teeth (gross by human standards but perhaps attractive among ogre culture), farts in a body of water to catch fish for a meal, and intentionally allows earwax to form so he can create candles to light his home.
Shrek's diet appears to be largely insectivorous, although he occasionally supplements it with vertebrate animals, such as rats and the aforementioned fish. Like humans, he can drink beer and eats eggs. He also eats cobwebs and apparently his own snot, although he doesn't know why with the latter. He also claimed to eat human eyeball juice on toast. Despite seeming like an animal, Shrek is actually very intelligent, sophisticated, and harbors a deep insight into other people's mindsets. He knows when he is being screwed over and can formulate sophisticated plans to deal with problems. His quick wit is matched with his physical and athletic prowess, as he is a great combatant. Despite this, though, he is something of a runt by ogres standards, even if he can effortlessly fight humans.
Physical Appearance[]
As an ogre, Shrek has the typical appearance one would expect from his specie. He appears as a big, green ogre, with rather cheap and crudely made clothes.
It has been shown on multiple occasions that he possesses great physical strength, and he has the ability to sound a horn-like noise by blowing air through his ears.
Quotes[]
- "What are you doing in my swamp? [Echoing] Swamp! Swamp! Swamp!"
- "No, no! No, no. Not there. Not there."
- "Ogres are Like Onions"
- "What you lack is the capacity." (in Shrek 2)
Trivia[]
- Chris Farley was the original choice for the role of Shrek and even recorded his lines, but died having completed about 80% or 90% of his lines (or 95% according to his brother, Tom). After his death, the role was given to Mike Myers. Other actors that were suggested were Bill Murray and Robin Williams.
- In the video games, Shrek appeared as an unlockable player in Tony Hawk's Underground 2, as a playable character in both Madagascar Kartz and DreamWorks Super Star Kartz, and as a Ganondolf skin mod for both Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
- During the baby nightmare that Shrek had, he was seen at a graduation ceremony wearing nothing but a graduation cap and a crowd of babies laugh at him when he sees himself completely naked.
- It is questionable as to why Shrek was actually surprised when he saw Fiona turn into an ogress, considering the fact he'd read the book about Fiona at the beginning of the movie. Also, he said Harold and Lillian had voluntarily locked Fiona in the tower, despite the book saying that the Fairy Godmother had forced them to. The only thing he was known to have taken account of from the book was the place Fiona was locked away.
- It is said that Shrek's appearance was inspired by a French professional wrestling in the late 1930s through the early '50s named Maurice Tillet AKA 'The French Angel'.
- On May 21, 2010, the same day that Shrek Forever After was released in theaters, Shrek received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This made him the eleventh animated character to receive this honor (two other characters would later receive a star). Shrek's star is located at 6931 Hollywood Blvd.
- Shrek is shown to have an evil side, as he often gets irritated with somebody and jokes about doing something cruel to them, but after he says he was just kidding he says "Still..." (Shrek, Shrek the Third).
- Despite not appearing in Kung Fu Panda 3, Shrek and Donkey are featured in the commercial for the film that spoofs the recent Snickers advertisements as Monkey and Po aren't just themselves when they are hungry. This delightful TV crossover ad gives us a few jokes, but we did't get to see much more from the actual movie itself.
- Shrek can be spotted at times as General Monger's warfare device in Monsters vs. Aliens, implying that he is his real favorite monster.
- Shrek makes a cameo as a plush in the 2014 direct-to-video CGI animated short Rocky and Bullwinkle.
- Shrek has made a couple of cameos in Dawn of the Croods: in the episode "There Will Be Eggs", he and Donkey appear as doodles on a slateboard, and in the episode "Tunnel of Terror" as a cave drawing depicting him with a spiked club glaring at a scared Donkey. Additionally, in the episode "24 Fleas Later", one of the mutated pigrats can be seen with his ears.
- Shrek the second hero in a DreamWorks Animation film to come back to life during the climax, after Insectosaurus from Monsters vs. Aliens.
- Alongside Donkey and Princess Fiona, Shrek makes a cameo appearance in the new DreamWorks logo. They've appeared twice in both Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Trolls Band Together's version.
