Line #75 Main/FairyGodmother


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4	[[quoteright:300:[[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/godmother_3254.jpg]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:300:The dream that you wish, she'll grant you.]]
6	->'''Timmy:''' You grant wishes, huh?\
7	'''Cosmo:''' Sure do!\
8	'''Wanda:''' And we love clients with creative imaginations!
9	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', "[[Recap/TheFairlyOddParentsS0E1TheFairlyOddParents The Fairly OddParents!]]"
10
11	A fairy tasked with helping out the protagonist of a tale, whether it's granting wishes, or other things, often with the aid of a MagicWand. Why this is so is almost never said, although some stories will have an organization of them. And yes, in early fairy tales, they are actually meant to be their ward's actual godmother.
12
13	This is also a highly DiscreditedTrope these days, usually associated with the most archaic parts of {{Fairy Tale}}s, even though this trope is [[NewerThanTheyThink a lot more recent than most of those stories]], and in fact very rare in fairy tales collected by folklorists; most Cinderella variants have her aided by her [[OurGhostsAreDifferent dead mother]], or (in such variants as Literature/{{Catskin}} and Literature/CapORushes) by nothing but her own wits and some advice.
14
15	It's still often played straight too, it's just so useful that writers can't resist it, although they often disguise the fairy godmother as something else.
16
17	Some stories might make this a DeusExMachina. An occasional subversion is to make the Fairy Godmother evil, or cause problems from being not very bright.
18
19	A SubTrope of OurFairiesAreDifferent. Often associated with the CinderellaPlot.
20
21	Compare FairyCompanion, GodWasMyCopilot, GuardianAngel, MagicalNanny and MrsClaus.
22
23	Contrast FairyDevilmother, WickedStepmother and WickedWitch.
24
25	''[[TropeCo/FairyGodmother This item]] is available in the TropeCo/TropeCo catalog.''
26
27	!!Examples:
28
29	[[foldercontrol]]
30
31	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
32	* The anime adaptation of ''VideoGame/GrimmsNotes'' has a Fairy Godmother in its adaptation of Cinderella. In a blatant deconstruction of what typically happens to people helped by them, this one explains to the trio of protagonists that she has helped thousands of successive Cinderellas and that not all of them found happiness afterwards. This serves as the worry used by the Chaos Tellers to turn her into the MonsterOfTheWeek. Even then she becomes much of a WellIntentionedExtremist having decided that instead of having Cinderella fulfill her assigned role within the story, she'll [[LotusEaterMachine lock her in a very happy dream.]]
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Comic Book]]
36	* ''ComicBook/EdgeOfSpiderVerse2022'': Spinderella has a fairy-''gob'' mother, called Norma, who offers her spider powers in exchange for retrieving something Spin's mother stole from her. She also rattles off a bunch of fine print to the deal such as "no clones, no deals with the Devil, no wizards undoing everything and no Beyonders". If the deal isn't finished by midnight that very night, Spin will never find true love.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
40	* "Literature/{{Cinderella}}" by Creator/CharlesPerrault: As Cinderella cries alone because she cannot go to the ball like her sisters, her godmother comes by and asks her what is the trouble. The godmother, who, as it happens, is also a fairy, then uses her MagicWand to turn a hollowed-out pumpkin into a gilded coach, six mice into carriage-horses, a rat into a coachman, six lizards into footmen to escort the carriage, and Cinderella's ragged clothes into a bejeweled gown. She also gives a Cinderella a pair of glass slippers. Decked out in this way, Cinderella can go to the ball, where the king's son falls in love with her.
41	* In "Literature/SleepingBeauty", she had seven, or twelve, in Creator/CharlesPerrault or Creator/TheBrothersGrimm respectively. However, after they made their initially good wishes, the fairies do never return to aid Sleeping Beauty (though the seventh fairy in Perrault's version puts the rest of the palace - except the king and queen - to sleep so the princess won't be lonely when she awakens). Many variants -- such as "Literature/SunMoonAndTalia", an older variant, and in fact the oldest known -- have no fairy godmothers at all, however.
42	* Creator/MadameDAulnoy:
43	** In "Literature/TheBlueBird" and "The White Doe", the fairy godmothers help rivals of the protagonists.
44	** Several fairy godmothers, including an evil one, appear in "Princess Mayblossom".
45	** Her story "Finette Cendroun" is an early Cinderella variant that plays the fairy godmother trope straight however, and even predates Perrault's use of the trope.
46	* In Henriette-Julie de Murat's literary fairy tale "Literature/{{Bearskin}}", the princess had a fairy godmother who is quite offended that she was not consulted about her goddaughter's marriage and so refuses to help for a time.
47	* In "Literature/{{Donkeyskin}}", the godmother delivers advice rather than gifts. Ironically, it does not help the heroine at all.
48	* Deconstructed in the story of "Literature/{{Rapunzel}}", Dame Gothel, the witch who keeps Rapunzel prisoner, is not only her godmother (which is the actual meaning of "Dame Gothel"), but was a fairy in earlier versions, including the Grimm's original publication. This is also the case in early French versions.
49	* In the Grimms' "Literature/OneEyeTwoEyesThreeEyes", the heroine, Two Eyes, is aided by a mysterious lady. Some translations and retellings refer to her as her fairy godmother.
50	* In the Grimm's "Literature/TheTrueBride" ([[https://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/the_true_bride link]]), a mysterious fairy helps the heroine complete three {{Impossible Task}}s demanded by her stepmother. Once again, some translations and retellings refer to her as her fairy godmother.
51	* [[http://web.archive.org/web/20200221215542/https://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/marianroalfecox/variants/3.html Another French version of the Cinderella story]] has the Wicked Stepmother start out as the heroine's Fairy Godmother... fortunately, the girl has a helpful aunt who is also a good fairy.
52	* In "Literature/HeartOfIceAndrewLang", Fairy Genesta raises and looks after Prince Mannikin until he has grown into a mature adult and become a good warrior and ruler.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Fan Works]]
56	* ''Fanfic/TheGreatDisneyAdventureSaga'' gives us Sophia, the fussiest fairy godmother ever.
57	* The [[Fanfic/{{Cinderjuice}} Contractually Obligated Chaos]] series features the Fairy God''father'', a Creator/MarlonBrando {{expy}} who is not really a fairy, but a LawfulNeutral ghost with a lot of unusual powers even for the [[WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}} setting]]. Fortunately for the heroes, he becomes rather fond of them and finds [[LoopholeAbuse ways to circumvent his own rules about favoritism]].
58	* In "The Adventures of Dodo and Ick," a StoryWithinAStory in the ''Fanfic/SkyholdAcademyYearbook'' series, the title characters end up taking on a number of overlapping {{Fetch Quest}}s, one of which is to find a fairy godmother for the Rainbow Princess's unborn baby. The entire series being what it is (a LighterAndSofter, somewhat nonsensical take on ''Franchise/DragonAge''), this does not get resolved the way anyone expects.
59	* In the video ''WebVideo/AnastasiaQuasimodoWeHitAWall'', Anastasia and Quasimodo's fairy godmother turns out to be their housemaid Cinderella. She grants them their wish to become more attractive, so that that they won't ever be looked down upon for their looks again.
60	* Queen Chrysalis called herself a fairy godmother to a younger Twilight in ''[[Fanfic/AskNotTheSparrow Love Bites]]''. She promises her three wishes, and while she doesn't have literal wish-granting magic, she still tries to make them come true.
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
64	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek 2}}'' has a fairy godmother for Fiona, but she's actually the BigBad and the mother of [[PrinceCharmless Prince Charming]], and is almost a throwback to [[TheFairFolk older, more malevolent fairies down to being very prideful]].
65	* Of all the Disney princesses, only WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} and [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Aurora]] have fairy godmothers.
66	* The titular ''WesternAnimation/ScaryGodmother'' is a friendly witch who appears to Hannah after she’s scared due to a mean prank by her older cousin and his friends. She whisks Hannah away to her haunted house and helps her conquer her fears of monsters by introducing her to all her equally, if not more so, friendly monster pals who quickly befriend Hannah and even give her bullies a good scare.
67	* ''WesternAnimation/TwiceUponATime'' has a DeadpanSnarker version who tries to help the heroes out. She doesn't seem to have much faith in Ralph and Mumford, nor in Rod Rescueman, the rookie superhero she hires to help them on their quest.
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
71	* Deconstructed in ''Literature/EllaEnchanted'', with a godmother who's a fairy but is inconspicuous about it, and another fairy who has a bad habit of going to the christenings of complete strangers and giving them magical gifts they don't want or need. In the original book, however, Mandy is Ella's actual Fairy Godmother, and she plays this straight, being a CoolOldLady; Lucinda just happened to be at the baptism.
72	* In ''Film/ASimpleWish'', Martin Short plays Murray, the world's first and only fairy godfather, whose first assignment is to grant a little girl's wish that her father could get the lead role in a Broadway musical... while simultaneously fighting an evil fairy-godmother-turned-WickedWitch's plot.
73	* ''Film/TheSlipperAndTheRose'', being a musical adaptation of "Literature/{{Cinderella}}", of course has a Fairy Godmother.
74	* In ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'', Aurora mistakenly believes that Maleficent is her Fairy Godmother. [[spoiler:And she effectively is.]]
75	* ''Film/MaidToOrder1987'' has spoiled Beverly Hills heiress Jessie Montgomery (Ally Sheedy) getting busted for drug use among her many wild acts. This pushes her father to offhandedly wish he'd never had a daughter. The next day, Jessie is bailed out by Stella, her fairy godmother, who reveals that, sure enough, she's used magic to effectively erase Jessie's entire existence. Jessie now has to work as a maid to learn some humility.
76	-->'''Jessie:''' Some fairy godmother you are! I thought you guys were supposed to turn maids into princesses, and shit like that.
77	-->'''Stella:''' Some maids deserve to be princesses. Some princesses deserve to be maids.
78	* One of the translations for the name of Xiannang from the ''[[Film/Mulan2020 Mulan]]'' remake literally MEANS “Fairy Godmother.”
79	* In ''Film/{{Descendants}}'' the Fairy Godmother from ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'' has become headmistress of the RoyalSchool with a daughter of her own. She's mostly given up on magic with her wand displayed in a museum.
80	* ''Film/{{Godmothered}}'': There's a MagicalLand called the Motherland where "fairy godmothers live and learn all they need to know about godmothering."
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Literature]]
84	* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles,'' Harry has one of these, literally, and TheFairFolk are a lot scarier than in the Disneyverse. The kick is that Cinderella's fairy godmother would have been with the more Disney-esque Summer Court, while the Leanansidhe, Harry's godmother, comes from the [[EvilCounterpart Winter Court]]. While scary, dangerous, and insane by most reasonable standards, Lea truly does want to protect Harry and wants the best for him... [[BlueAndOrangeMorality in her own way]]. Due to a MagicallyBindingContract, he belongs to her, and she sometimes tries to collect. What happens if she wins? [[spoiler: You know those hunting dogs that herald her arrival? ''[[ForcedTransformation They weren't dogs originally.]]'']] Later, Harry's "contract" is bought off by Lea's boss, Queen Mab, giving Lea the chance to prove herself to be very good (if ''scary'') to have as an ally.Interestingly, during ''Literature/{{Changes}},'' she plays with the classic Cinderella storyline by dressing Harry for [[StormingTheCastle a very different kind of party]]. Being of the Winter Court, her gifts vanish at noon instead of midnight.
85	* Played with in ''Literature/WitchesAbroad'', where the protagonists are trying to stop a fairy godmother from making the peasant girl marry the prince.
86	** Magrat is also (temporarily) a Fairy Godmother, having been left a wand with a tendency to reset to pumpkins by Desiderata Hollow.
87	-->'''Ella''': Everyone gets two. The good one and the bad one. You know that. Which one are you?
88	-->'''Magrat''': Oh, the good one. Definitely.
89	-->'''Ella''': Funny thing. That's just what [[TautologicalTemplar the other one]] said, too.
90	** In-series fairy godmothers are treated as a subset of witches, and in some cases the two seem to blend into each other; in ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'', which starts as a parody of Sleeping Beauty, the Lancre witches are invited to attend the birth of the princess.
91	* In the ''Literature/MythAdventures'' series the Mob has a [[{{Gayngster}} Fairy]] God''father''.
92	* In ''The Ugly Duckling'' by Creator/AAMilne, the protagonist (a princess, not a duckling) has a relative who fits the fairy godmother role, though technically she's actually a great-aunt.
93	* In Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Literature/TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms'' series, "fairy godmother" is a trade taken up by women who can't fill the roles that "the Tradition" tries to shoehorn them into and end up with great magical power as a result. The job of being a fairy godmother involves using the Tradition against itself to minimize the harm done to everyone involved; they were originally actual fairies, but eventually the role got handed down to human women and the "fairy" part was only retained as a title.
94	* The Godmother Corps from ''Literature/TheLastAdventureOfConstanceVerity'' are an elite organization of fairies who distribute blessings and magical gifts to designated "godchildren", Grandmother Willow having blessed Connie at infancy to be TheChosenOne before she lost her license.
95	* ''Literature/TheGodmother'' by Creator/ElizabethAnneScarborough. Dame Felicity Fortune ([[AlliterativeList "Fair Fates Facilitated, Questers Accommodated, Virtue Vindicated."]]) is a human recruited by TheFairFolk to act as an agent for them among humans, and is summoned by a social worker in Seattle who wishes for "a fairy godmother for the city". Unfortunately, since magic is uncommon in the world, she has to deal with the occasional ObstructiveBureaucrat to get things done. Sequels include ''The Godmother's Apprentice'', and ''The Godmother's Web''.
96	* In Creator/AndrewLang's ''Prince Prigio'', the queen does not believe in fairies and so insists on not inviting them for their first son. They show up anyway and shower him with gifts until the last godmother says that he shall be ''too'' clever.
97	* In the Old Icelandic "Literature/TaleOfNornaGest" (c. 1300 AD), baby Gest is visited by some norns who make wishes for his life. The set-up is very similar to that of "Sleeping Beauty", and the "norns" are functionally Fairy Godmothers. Though, like in "Sleeping Beauty", they do not return after they made their initial good wishes.
98	* In Creator/CSLewis's ''Literature/TheMagiciansNephew,'' Uncle Andrew explains that he may well be the last person to literally fulfill this trope: his godmother, [[MeaningfulName Mrs. Lefay]], was one of very few women alive with fairy blood. However, she was apparently not very nice to anyone other than him, and wound up locked up in prison toward the end of her life. She was also the one who passed on the magic dust that Uncle Andrew used to travel between worlds.
99	* In Creator/EDBaker's ''Literature/TheWideAwakePrincess'', fairy godmothers roam all about the FracturedFairyTale landscape. One made Annie's sister Literature/SleepingBeauty, and another, to protect her, made Annie immune to magic.
100	* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/CountToTheEschaton The Hermetic Millennia]]'', Narcis D'Arago sneers at the idea of natural rights, which he groups with phlogistan and fairy godmothers as unreal.
101	* Inverted in Creator/TeresaEdgerton's ''Goblin Moon'', in which the Duchess (a three-quarter fairy UnevenHybrid) was ''supposed'' to become Elsie's godmother, but arrived so late to the christening ceremony that a substitute was chosen. Outraged at this perceived insult, she plotted revenge for years by ''pretending'' to consider Elsie her "goddaughter" nevertheless, but scheming in secret to marry her off... to an evil troll disguised as a PrinceCharming, who'd drink the girl's blood on their wedding night.
102	* ''Literature/OddlyEnough'': In "Am I Blue?", Melvin is a CampGay Fairy Godfather sent to help out a questioning teenager. His human life ended in a HomophobicHateCrime, so he insisted on reclaiming the term for his {{Heaven}}ly career rather than settle for "guardian angel".
103	-->'''Melvin:''' [[LampshadeHanging You know, like in 'Cinderella'?]]
104	* In the ''Literature/ATaleOf'' series, fairies go through schooling to become fairy godmothers. Maleficent had attempted this, but she was [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer bullied into homeschooling]] for her unconventional looks.
105	* ''Literature/ScaryGodmother'' revolves around a Halloween equivalent. Scary Godmother is a bit spooky and macabre but she's well-meaning.
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
109	* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
110	** Literature/{{Cinderella}}'s fairy godmother arrives to grant her wish...and is immediately incinerated by Rumpelstiltskin, who offers her a DealWithTheDevil instead.
111	** Season 7 has an alternate universe version of the Cinderella characters including Fairy Godmother. This time, the Fairy Godmother awakens to find she has been captured by Lady Tremaine and one Cinderella's stepsisters, her wand has been stolen and her wings have been cut off. Lady Tremaine promptly waves the wand and kills the fairy by turning her into dust. The Fairy Godmothers just can't catch a break in this show.
112	* In ''Series/GilligansIsland'', Mrs. Howell has a DreamSequence in which she is Cinderella and Gilligan is her "Fairy Godfather".
113	* Likewise, in ''Series/TheJeffersons'', George has a dream wherein Tom is his [[Literature/TheGodfather Godfather]].
114	-->''"Watch it with that fairy stuff."''
115	* Nora Darkh in ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' gets tricked into taking the place of Tabitha, who is supposed to be a classic Fairy Godmother, but in reality is a WickedWitch [[BecomingTheGenie forced to act as one]] due to touching the wand of the Fairy Godmother. While Nora gets exasperated by the wishes of kids under her charge, she actually takes the job seriously and grows to love her charges, and is not above helping the Legends when they need her magic.
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Mythology]]
119	* Myth/NorseMythology: ''Literature/ProseEdda'' relates that besides the three chief norns Urd, Skuld and Verdandi, "there are yet more norns, namely those who come to every man when he is born, to shape his life". Obviously these norns who visit newborn children to "shape their lives" are functionally the same beings as the fairies dispensing blessings (or curses) on newborn children in many fairy tales.
120	[[/folder]]
121
122	[[folder:Theatre]]
123	* Ms. Fairy Godmother from ''Theatre/BigBad'' is portrayed as shrill and demanding, to the point of coming off as less sympathetic than Evil Stepmother.
124	[[/folder]]
125
126	[[folder:Video Games]]
127	* In ''VideoGame/FairyGodmotherTycoon'', your faerie character is hired by a [[StealthPun Fairy]] [[TheMafia Godmother]] to run her potionerie and to knock the competitors off the town.
128	* The Fairy Godmother from ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'' will help you activate summons spells in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI''. In the prequel, ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', she plays a small but fairly critical role in Aqua's character arc early in the game.
129	* In the first ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' game, Gruntilda has a sister named Brentilda who is a fairy godmother. If you find Brenty, she will give you the answers to questions about Grunty in the "Grunty's Furnace Fun" mini-game, and refill your health if you're running low.
130	* The Fairy Godmother from Cinderella appears in ''VideoGame/Revolve8 Episodic Dueling'' as Cinderella’s producer (with Cinderella being a motorsports enthusiast pop idol). Not only is the Fairy Godmother depicted as being a lot more attractive than most versions, she’s also a lot harsher, having roped Cinderella into a contract that has to be renewed every single night before the stroke of midnight. Ultimately, as revealed in both her storyline and Cinderella’s, [[spoiler: she was once an idol herself in her younger days and that she truly believes that Cinderella could one day be the perfect idol]].
131	* The ''Fairy Godmother Stories'' series of {{hidden object game}}s from Domini Games has a fairy godmother as the player character, helping assorted fairy tale characters in the storybook community of Taleville.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Web Animation]]
135	* A rather dark example can be found in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''. In keeping with the FairytaleMotifs, BigBad Salem acts as the fairy godmother for her subordinate Cinder Fall (who's based on Literature/{{Cinderella}}). Cinder's fondest wish is power, so Salem helps Cinder acquire power and learn how to properly use it so she can better serve Salem's goals.
136	[[/folder]]
137
138	[[folder:Webcomics]]
139	* In the setting of ''Webcomic/{{Peritale}}'' and ''Life of Melody'', being a Fairy Godparent is one of the fairy realm's most prestigious jobs, tasked with fulfilling fairy tales in the human world. The protagonists of these tales usually have no actual say in the matter, which can lead to... complications:
140	** ''Peritale'''s main plot centers around an eager young [[MuggleBornOfMages magic-less]] fairy named Periwinkle and her quest to become a godmother. Her first case brings her to a bright young witch named Vallery, who's destined to fall in love with the Prince and live HappilyEverAfter... but is also a huge recluse who's generally satisfied with her life, and not particularly interested in the whole "fall in love" arrangement. Over the course of Peri's journey, she learns a great deal about humans [[TheFairFolk and fairies]] alike.
141	** The B-plot focuses on Peri's eldest sister Hydrangea, an experienced godmother... who finds out that her latest charge, Agatha, is actively working to keep fairies and other magic types like her from meddling in her affairs. The pair do ultimately reach an agreement to carry out Agatha's tale, and [[HourglassPlot swap positions on the matter]] very quickly; Hydrangea immediately regrets her choice to attach herself to someone so [[TheGadfly insufferable]], while Agatha is ''delighted'' to learn of her destiny as [[spoiler:"Greatest Champion"]].
142	[[/folder]]
143
144	[[folder:Western Animation]]
145	* Cinder-Weasel gets a Fairy God''father'' in the ''WesternAnimation/IAmWeasel'' episode of the same name.
146	* ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatiansTheSeries'': Spot has a Fairy God-Chicken in the episode "Spot's Fairy-God Chicken" that transforms her into a dog like she's always wanted.
147	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' stars Timmy Turner and his Fairy Godparents Cosmo and Wanda. Fairies are an entire species who seek out miserable children to grant their wishes and help improve their lives until the day the children no longer need them.
148	* In ''WesternAnimation/MagicAdventuresOfMumfie'' episode "Scarecrowella", Electric Eel appears as Scarecrow's [[PunnyName Fair-Eel Godmother]].
149	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyAndFriendsE40WouldBeDragonslayer Would-Be Dragonslayer]]", the characters encounter Emilda, a princess's fairy godmother, who's an actual fairy resembling a short, squat and insect-winged woman in high medieval finery, complete with a horned headdress. She seems to be responsible for the princess's well-being, and erected a forest of brambles around the castle to keep danger away for her wedding.
150	* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'': "Janine, You've Changed" shows Janine under the influence of an evil demon passing as her fairy godmother. This as a way to explain Janine's radical changes in look and behavior throughout the series (which were due to ExecutiveMeddling).
151	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'': One appears and, in a rather extreme variation of the theme, she's the ''actual'' godmother of a young child, and also a MamaBear who is willing to hunt down and use violence against anyone who tries to harm or kidnap her godson, turning people into mice if they won't cooperate in her quest to do so.
152	[[/folder]]

Context Main / FairyGodmother