Prince Charming (Shrek)

"Our happily ever after is nearly complete, Mommy. And I assure you... the people of this kingdom will pay dearly for every second we've had to wait."

- Prince Charming in Shrek the Third.

Prince Charming (simply known as Charming) is the secondary antagonist of DreamWorks 8th animated feature film Shrek 2 and the main antagonist of its 14th animated feature film Shrek the Third.

Charming is an English-accented prince-to-be with "softy and bouncy" blonde hair. He was originally supposed to rescue and kiss Princess Fiona, stop her "dreaded curse", and live happily ever after with her. However, she was rescued by an ogre named Shrek and fell in love with him instead.

He was voiced by Rupert Everett who also played Doctor Claw in the 1999 Inspector Gadget, Sloan Blackburn, and John Lamont, one of Mr. Barron's disguises.

Personality
In the second film, he is an egotistical, arrogant, cunning, childish, impatient, traitorous, and snobbish man who wants to marry Fiona to rule her kingdom. In the third film, he is a bit different. He is much meaner, more charismatic, aggressive, abusive, deceitful, opprobrious, manipulative, and more focused on becoming king of Far Far Away. The only person he cares for is his late mother.

Shrek
"Shrek: Oh, you were expecting Prince Charming? Fiona: Uh Yes."

- Charming's mention in Shrek

Although Charming does not appear physically in the first Shrek movie, he was briefly mentioned by Shrek, in which Fiona reveals that she thought that she would be rescued by a Prince "Charming", probably told to her by her parents.

Shrek 2
"Prince Charming: Mother. Fairy Godmother: Charming Sweetheart. This isn't a good time, pumpkin. Mama's working. Prince Charming: Whoa, What happened here? Fairy Godmother: The ogre, that's what. Prince Charming: What? Where is he mom? I shall rend his head from his shoulders. I will smite him where he stands. He will rue the VERY DAY HE STOLE MY KINGDOM FROM ME!"

- Prince Charming arriving at his mother's trashed factory and swearing revenge against Shrek.

Prince Charming later makes his first appearance in Shrek 2, where he served as the secondary antagonist, his mother the Fairy Godmother being the main antagonist.

He first appears traveling to the castle, where Princess Fiona had been imprisoned, only to discover that Shrek has already found her and married her, and that Big Bad Wolf (without any explanation how he got there in the first place) has taken to sleeping in her tower. When Charming asks Wolf where Fiona is, he tell him she's on her honeymoon. Charming, surprised, then asks whom.

Later Charming is seen with Fiona's father, King Harold the king of a kingdom called Far Far Away and Fiona's Fairy Godmother It is revealed there that Charming is in fact the son of the Fairy Godmother, and with his mother's thorough support, he wants to marry Fiona so that he can become king and he is not happy that he, as his mother puts it "Endured Blistering Winds and scorching deserts and climbed to the highest bloody room of the tallest bloody tower only to find a gender confused wolf telling him that his princess was already married." and Fairy Godmother demands that Harold get rid of Shrek so she can be with Charming.

Later in the movie, after Shrek, Donkey and their new friend Puss-In-Boots steal Fairy Godmother's Happily Ever After potion and trash her factory, Charming enters, notices the mess and asks what happened, she tells him Shrek was there. Charming then demands to know where Shrek is so he can kill him with a sword. However Fairy Godmother talks him out of him, stating he'll be king. After learning Shrek took the Happily Ever After potion. They use it to their advantage. And Charming arrives at the Far Far Away castle and tricks Fiona (who was now human again) into believing that he's Shrek, Charming greets Fiona and both her parents and convinces them he's Shrek. Harold recognizes Charming for who he really is but doesn't say so.

While Charming does this, his mother makes sure the real Shrek, who had been turned into a human by the Happily Ever After potion, doesn't reach Fiona. Later Shrek, Donkey (who drank the potion and became a horse) and Puss spy on Harold, Charming and Fairy Godmother at the poison apple. Harold tell them that Fiona is not warming up to Charming, to which he says it's not his fault. And that he can't woo Fiona, pretending to be a "dreadful ogre." Fairy Godmother then demands that Harold give Fiona a drink of a love that will make her fall in love with Charming if she kisses him. But Harold refuses, but Fairy Godmother warns Harold she could take away his Happy Ending. After Charming calls Fairy Godmother 'Mother'. Donkey shouts "Mother?", causing them to see Donkey with Shrek and Puss and realize they have been listening the whole time and having them arrested and imprisoned.

Later, Charming tried to woo Fiona, even though she was disgusted with him. Fairy Godmother sings "Holding Out for A Hero" to which Charming and Fiona dance to. Right when Charming is about to kiss Fiona, The real Shrek arrives with Donkey, Puss and their fairy tale friends (who had rescued the trio). They then take away Fairy Godmother's wand. The Fairy Godmother orders Charming to kiss Fiona and he does so, and she appears to have fallen in love with him, but then she suddenly puts her two hands on his cheeks and does a Karate shout and head-butts him, knocking him out, as Harold didn't give Fiona the love potion. Prince Charming then recovers, grabs his mother's wand from Puss, and tosses it to her. Fairy Godmother catches her wand and aims it at Shrek but Harold blocks it. The ray reflects off his armor and hits The Fairy Godmother, turning into a burst of bubbles.

Afterwards, Charming is forced into dancing with Doris.

Far Far Away Idol
Charming later appears in Far Far Away Idol, the short film on the original Shrek 2 DVD. He sings I'm Too Sexy, but Shrek and Fiona push a remote to activate a trapdoor beneath Charming's feet.

Shrek the Third
"Once upon a time, someone decided that we were the losers! But there are two sides to every story, and our side has not been told! So, who will join me?! Who wants to come out on top for once?! Who wants their happily ever after?!"

- Prince Charming's speech to the fairy tale villains.

Charming later returns in Shrek the Third, this time as the main antagonist. He is first seen in a theater, playing himself due to his name. However, despite being the hero in his own play (which appears to be a spoof on the classic fairy tale, Rapunzel), the audience cheers when the "Shrek" Mascot comes onstage, along with Shrek's friends, who are there watching the show. Finally (in a version of a Buster Keaton gag), a prop tower falls on Charming, but he escapes injury as the window passes around him. Charming leaves the theater upset and goes to his "dressing room" (in reality, the back alley behind the bar) and starts sobbing at his misfortune. There, Charming vows to his mother (whom he has a picture of) that he will become the king of Far Far Away and kill Shrek to avenge her death.

Later, after seeing King Harold's funeral, Prince Charming goes to the Poison Apple and organizes an army of villains - Rumpelstiltskin, Captain Hook, Stromboli, Headless Horseman, Evil Trees and Witches - all upset that they haven't gotten their "Happily Ever After" and encourages them to help him in his plans of revenge.

While Shrek, Donkey, and Puss are in search of the heir to the kingdom, Fiona's cousin Artie, Charming and his new friends attack the castle. When Charming sees Wolf, Gingy, Pinocchio, and The Three Little Pigs, he demands to know where Shrek is. They deny knowing anything, then Charming orders them to corporate with him, because he will be the new king of Far Far Away. Gingy states the only thing he'll be king of is King of 'Stupid'. Then Captain Hook demands Gingy tell him where Shrek has gone, Gingy goes into a dream. Charming then asks Pinocchio about Shrek's whereabouts, knowing he can't lie. So Pinocchio told Charming a twisted up version of the truth while trying not to tell the truth but trying not to lie at the same time, something that confused everyone. One pig couldn't take it any longer and told Charming that Shrek was out bringing back the new heir. Charming then orders Hook to kill the new heir and bring Shrek back alive so he can kill him himself.

Later Charming is seen again when his new girlfriend Rapunzel who brings Fiona and her princess friends to Charming who has then imprisoned.

After Shrek, Donkey and Puss return to Far Far Away with Artie (thanks to Merlin), Charming is seen getting ready for a show where he plans to kill Shrek in front of the whole kingdom, when Shrek confronts him in the dressing room and demands to know where Fiona is. Charming then summons his soldiers to come capture Shrek, Donkey, Puss and Artie. Charming prepares to kill Arthur when Shrek tells him to spare Artie, stating that he is the one Harold wanted to be king first and Artie is just a pawn. Charming spares Artie but has Shrek restrained with chains and Donkey and Puss (who had switched bodies) imprisoned with Fiona.

Charming then begins the plan and soon places Shrek in the play, now being performed in an auditorium before the entire kingdom. After being brought on stage, Shrek begins to ruin it for Charming by insulting him, making everyone laugh. As Charming is about to kill Shrek onstage with a sword, Fiona and the others burst in, getting ready to fight the villains. However, the villains overpower the hero when suddenly Artie arrives and convinces the villains to give up their evil ways, and they do so.

However, Charming refuses, and prepares to kill Artie, when suddenly Shrek breaks free of his chains and Charming stabs him instead, but (as Shrek reveals to the others) Shrek is completely unharmed; Charming (with his bad aim) merely stuck the sword between Shrek's arm and side. Shrek then picks up Charming and Charming says "This was supposed to be MY happily ever after!" and Shrek says "I guess you need to looking because I'm not giving up mine!" and then tosses him before Dragon, who tips over the stone tower with her tail, which falls on Charming right after he says "Mommy?", defeating him. The crown then goes rolling and Artie puts his foot on it.

It is debated whether or not he survived the ordeal, as some say the empty window of the stone tower landed on him in a similar style to the cardboard tower at the beginning of the film.

Shrek Forever After
In Shrek Forever After, he makes a cameo during the credits. He was originally meant to properly appear in the film, but was cut.

Scared Shrekless
He appears in the TV special Scared Shrekless in Puss and Donkey's scary story.

Thriller Night
He is also a zombie in Thriller Night.

Quotes
"I am the rightful king of Far Far Away!"

- Prince Charming. "This was supposed to be my Happily Ever After!"

- Prince Charming being defeated by Shrek. "Mommy?"

- Prince Charming's last words before he is seemingly crushed by the falling prop tower.

Trivia

 * In Shrek 2, he was subservient to his mother; the personality change he underwent in the third film could be because his mother died, he had to grow up and become his own person.
 * Charming has turned out to be the recurring prominent Shrek villain to date.
 * In Far Far Away Idol (a DVD extra on the Shrek 2 DVD) he is shown to be one of the contestants, though he was not hostile towards Shrek here.
 * He is quite similar to the following villains:
 * Emperor Zurg from the Toy Story franchise.
 * Both are from a computer animated film series.
 * Both were mentioned in the first film of their series (as Buzz mentioned Zurg in the original Toy Story).
 * Both later made their first appearance in the second film, as a supporting villain (as Zurg first appeared in Toy Story 2).
 * Both are introduced as the main antagonist of the second film but are later revealed to be pawns for the true main villains - Fairy God Mother and Stinky Pete.
 * Both later returned in the third film.
 * The only difference between them is that while Charming was the main antagonist of Shrek The Third while Zurg was only a minor in Toy Story 3. He was thought to be the main antagonist but later replaced by Lots-O' Huggin' Bear.
 * Emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars franchise.
 * Both are from a film series.
 * Both are uspers of a kingdom or empire.
 * Both have minions who turn on them.
 * Both were mentioned in the first film of their series (as Grand Moff Tarkin mentioned Palpatine in A New Hope, the first film in the original Star Wars trilogy.)
 * Both later made their first appearance in the second film, as a supporting villain (as Palpatine first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back, the second film in the original trilogy.)
 * Both later returned in the third film, as the main antagonist (as Palpatine was the main antagonist of Return Of The Jedi, the third and final film in the original trilogy, as well as Revenge Of The Sith, the third and final film in the prequel trilogy.)
 * The only difference between them is that while Charming has some redeeming qualities, Palpatine doesn't.
 * Lord Cutler Beckett from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
 * Both are from a film series.
 * Both are uspers of a kingdom or empire.
 * Both made their first appearance in the second film, as the secondary antagonist (as Beckett first appeared in the second Pirates of the Caribbean film Dead Man's Chest where he was the secondary antagonist.)
 * Both later returned in the third film, as the main antagonist (as Beckett was the main antagonist of the third Pirates film At World's End; coincidentally both Shrek The Third and At World's End were released in 2007 and in the month of May, At World's End was released one week after Shrek The Third.)
 * The only two differences between them are that - A. while Charming has some redeeming qualities, Beckett doesn't. and B - While Beckett surely died at the end of his MA movie, Charming may have served his fate in Shrek The Third.