Prince Charming Shrek: Character Profile and Voice Actor

Prince Charming is Fairy Godmother's son in Shrek 2 (2004) and Shrek the Third (2007), and Rupert Everett voices him in both films. He first appears in Shrek 2, directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon, and the credits list him simply as Prince Charming (voice). He is billed seventh in Shrek 2 and ninth in Shrek the Third, which was directed by Chris Miller.

The story gives him a clear place in Far Far Away. Shrek and Princess Fiona arrive in the kingdom after their honeymoon, and Fiona's parents, King Harold and Queen Lillian, are shocked to find that their daughter and her husband are both ogres. Fairy Godmother, voiced by Jennifer Saunders, has her own plan: she wants Fiona to marry her son. That plan puts Charming directly against Shrek, the ogre who has just married the princess.

A few common questions have short answers. Is he Lord Farquaad's son? No. Lord Farquaad is the villain of the first film, Shrek (2001), voiced by John Lithgow, and the films present Charming as the child of Fairy Godmother instead. Is he Cinderella or Snow White? No again, since he is a prince; Cinderella (Amy Sedaris) and Snow White (Amy Poehler) are separate characters who appear among the princesses in Shrek the Third. As for who he is supposed to be, the credits name him only as Prince Charming, the title of the dashing fairy tale prince, and the films define him through his mother and his claim on Fiona.

Both of his films have their own pages on Cinvibe: shrek 2 and shrek the third.

Prince Charming's story runs from a failed romance in Shrek 2 to a failed takeover in Shrek the Third, and it is a steady slide from suitor to villain. In Shrek 2, the swordsman cat Puss in Boots is sent to get rid of Shrek, but Puss fails and ends up working with Shrek and Donkey instead. The three break into Fairy Godmother's factory and steal a potion called Happily Ever After. Shrek and Donkey drink it, Fiona later does too, and Shrek and Fiona wake up human while Donkey becomes a white stallion.

That is the moment Charming steps in. The change lasts only if Shrek and Fiona share a true love's kiss before midnight, so Fairy Godmother sends her son to pass himself off as Shrek. Shrek, believing Fiona may be better off without him, walks away. Charming then kisses Fiona at the ball, but she punches him out instead of falling for him. His scheme is finished by the end of the night, and Fiona chooses Shrek as he really is.

In Shrek the Third, Charming returns with a motive that is no longer romance. The film sets him up as a prince who wants revenge, and he starts gathering the fairy tale villains while Shrek, Donkey and Puss are away looking for Fiona's cousin Artie. With Shrek gone, Charming leads the villains in a takeover of Far Far Away, and Fiona and the other princesses are captured. It is a clear step up in ambition, from one stolen kiss to an entire kingdom.

Prince Charming's most important relationship is with his mother, Fairy Godmother, and the rest of his ties are rivalries. Fairy Godmother drives his plot in Shrek 2, since it is her wish to see him married to Princess Fiona that sets the story in motion. She is the one who sends him to impersonate Shrek, and she is the one who ends up destroyed when a spell aimed at Shrek bounces back. Her own profile is at fairy godmother shrek.

His rivalry with Shrek is the other thread that runs through both films. Shrek is the ogre who holds Fiona's heart, and Charming is the prince Fairy Godmother wants her to marry. Fiona treats him with open disdain at the ball, which is the clearest rejection in the series, and her full story is at princess fiona shrek. King Harold and Queen Lillian are caught in the middle, and Harold turns out to be the Frog Prince who used the same potion years earlier to win Lillian, which ties the family into the same story.

In Shrek the Third, his circle changes. He draws the fairy tale villains into a gang, and he faces Shrek's two companions again: Donkey, the talkative friend who sticks by Shrek, and Puss in Boots, the swordsman cat who switched sides in Shrek 2. The princesses he has captured escape through the prison wall by themselves. Artie, Fiona's cousin voiced by Justin Timberlake, is the rival Charming faces in the final showdown, and Artie's speech turns the villains against him.

Prince Charming is defeated in the theater showdown of Shrek the Third. His Shrek 2 plan had already ended when Fiona punched him at the ball, so this is his second and final loss.

In the showdown, Artie speaks to the villains about being accepted and valued, and they turn away from Charming. His sword attack on Shrek then misses, and he is beaten. Artie is crowned king of Far Far Away, and Shrek and Fiona are free of the throne.

In my opinion, Charming's best scene is the ball in Shrek 2, when he kisses Fiona and she answers with a punch. It works because the film spends its whole second half building him up as the answer to Fiona's family problem, and then lets her dismiss him in a single beat. It is also the point where Rupert Everett's performance lands hardest, since the character has put so much effort into looking like the perfect prince.

My second pick is his impersonation of Shrek earlier in the same film. Fairy Godmother sends him in as a substitute while the real Shrek walks away, and it gives the story its sharpest tension: the audience knows the trick, and Fiona does not yet. It is the film's cleverest use of the potion.

My third is his return in Shrek the Third, where he gathers the fairy tale villains and seizes the kingdom. It is a bigger, sillier stage than his first outing, and the theater showdown lets him share the screen with Artie, Shrek, Donkey and Puss in Boots. The film rewards the princesses more, since they free themselves from prison.

If you are choosing tonight's film for a family, both of his films carry a PG rating in the US, so they suit the same age group as the rest of the saga. Start with Shrek 2 if you want Charming at his sharpest.