Lord Farquaad

"Knights, new plan - the one who kills the ogre will be named champion! Have at him!"

- Farquaad ordering his knights to murder Shrek with the reward of naming the successful knight champion.

Lord Farquaad was the main antagonist of the first installment of the Shrek franchise from DreamWorks Animation. In the film, Farquaad spent the first part capturing fairy tale creatures so he could find the magic mirror. Once he did, he asked if DuLoc, the place he ruled, was the most perfect kingdom, but as he was not a king, DuLoc was not a kingdom, so he tried to marry Princess Fiona to become king. He despised monsters of any kind and sought to relocate the fairy tale creatures to Shrek's swamp. He attempted to cut a deal with Shrek by promising to remove the monsters from his swamp if Shrek could bring Princess Fiona to him, as he wanted to marry her. However, after learning that Fiona herself became an ogre at night, he attempted to have her executed. However, Shrek summoned Dragon, who ate Farquaad. Farquaad is voiced by John Lithgow.

Shrek
Farquaad has banished all of the fairy tale creatures from his land, forcing them to take refuge in Shrek's swamp. Back at his castle, Farquaad tortures the Gingerbread Man into revealing the location of the other fairy tale folk that he hasn't been able to capture or banish. Just as the Gingerbread Man is going to reveal what he knows, the captain of the guards arrives and announces that they have found the Magic Mirror. Lord Farquaad asks the mirror if Duloc is the perfect kingdom of them all. The mirror tells him that he's not truly a king, but he can become one if he marries a princess. In a parody of dating shows, the mirror introduces three different princesses for Farquaad to choose from: Cinderella, Snow White, and Princess Fiona. At his henchman Thelonious' suggestion, Farquaad chooses Princess Fiona, who is locked away in a castle tower guarded by a ferocious dragon. Despite the mirror's attempt to warn him about what happens at midnight, Lord Farquaad decides to plan a tournament to see which knight will be worthy enough to embark on a quest to retrieve Fiona.

However, Shrek, who had travelled from his swamp to Duloc accompanied by Donkey to ask Farquaad to move the fairy tale creatures off his swamp interrupts the tournament. Farquaad changes his mind and decides that whoever kills Shrek will be named champion. However, despite the knights' best efforts, they are all defeated by Shrek and Donkey. Impressed by Shrek's actions, Farquaad awards the ogre with the quest he had set to his knights. Shrek remarks that he's already on a quest to get his swamp back. Farquaad makes a deal with Shrek that if his is successful in the quest to rescue Princess Fiona, he will give the ogre his swamp back, fully restored to the way it was before the fairy tale folk overran the place. Shrek and Donkey successfully rescue Princess Fiona from the dragon and the trio journey onward to DuLoc. Shrek and Fiona start falling in love, but Shrek overhears Fiona talking about how no one could love a hideous beast and thinks she is referring to him.

The next morning, Shrek brings Lord Farquaad to Fiona. After handing over the deed, Farquaad immediately proposes marriage to Fiona, who agrees on the condition that they have the wedding before sunset. He takes Fiona back to his castle, while a heartbroken Shrek returns to his swamp. But then Donkey comes to Shrek and tells him that Fiona was not referring to him when she said no one could love a hideous beast. So Shrek and Donkey go to crash the wedding, where Shrek admits his love for Fiona, Farquaad found it amusing and then tries to get Fiona to marry him, but then Fiona sees the sun setting and decides to reveal her spell. Disgusted, Farquaad orders for Shrek to be executed, and Fiona locked back at the tower and he crowns himself king. But then Shrek whistles for Dragon, who bursts in the window and devours Farquaad, and belches his crown back out.

Shrek 4-D
In Shrek 4-D, a short featured in a simulator ride of the same name at Universal Studios Florida, Hollywood, Japan, and Singapore, Farquaad returned as a ghost and sent his henchman Thelonius to take Fiona to him so he could kill her by sending her over a waterfall, to make her his ghost queen so he could rule the underworld. He also sent a giant stone dragon to eat Shrek and Donkey, but this failed, as during the fight between Dragon and the stone dragon, the stone dragon lost its wings in a tunnel and fell to a watery grave. After Shrek, Donkey, Fiona, and Thelonius fell over the waterfall, and were saved by Dragon. Dragon killed Farquaad (again) by breathing fire at him. The short is also known as The Ghost of Lord Farquaad.

Shrek the Musical
In Shrek the Musical, his role is the same as the movie. Unlike the movie however, Farquaad was portrayed as a comedic and less-dignified egomaniac. It was revealed that he was raised by Grumpy, but got kicked out due to him being 28 years old and that he lived in his basement, which explains his "little" height.

Trivia

 * He sported a cameo in Shrek the Third in Gingy's flashback, playing with Gingy's legs and laughing in an evil manner.
 * He's based on Michael Eisner. He may also be based on Napoleon Bonaparte due to being short yet ruling with an iron fist.
 * Alan Rickman was originally offered for the role of Lord Farquaad, but he turned it down to play Severus Snape in Harry Potter instead.