History Main / FairyGodmother

* ''Anime/{{Daimos}}'': The anime is based on ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', but instead of the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues, the main conflict is a war between the human race of Earth and the AngelicAliens of Planet Baam. Our PrincessProtagonist, Erika, falls in love with a human, something that would get her executed if the public knew. However, her governess, Margarete, encourages her to follow her heart anyway and pursue him no matter what. While Margarete is a literal example of this as the Baam are essentially [[WingedHumanoid Human Aliens with wings]], once she's found out for assisting Erika, her wings are forcibly cut off as punishment. Nevertheless, she continues to aid Erika and help her reunite with Kazuya, as she views the girl as her own daughter.

* ''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.

* In the Creator/BruceCoville short story "Am I Blue?", Melvin is a CampGay Fairy Godfather in every sense of the term. As an [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angelic being]] who, as a human, was killed in a gay-bashing, he insisted on reclaiming the term when choosing his {{Heaven}}ly career.

* ''Film/MaidToOrder1987'' has spoiled Beverly Hills heiress (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, the woman is bailed out by Stella, her fairy godmother who reveals that, sure enough, she's used magic to effectively erase the heiress's entire existence. The woman now has to work as a maid to learn some humility.

* The 1987 movie ''Film/MaidToOrder1987'' has a spoiled heiress (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, the woman is bailed out by Stella, her fairy godmother who reveals that, sure enough, she's used magic to effectively erase the heiress's entire existence. The woman now has to work as a maid to learn some humility.

* The 1987 movie ''Maid to Order'' has a spoiled heiress (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, the woman is bailed out by her fairy godmother who reveals that, sure enough, she's used magic to effectively erase the heiress's entire existence. The woman now has to work as a maid to learn some humility.
-->'''Jessie''': Some fairy godmother you are! I thought you turned maids into princesses!
-->'''Stella''': Some maids deserve to be princesses and some princesses deserve to be maids.

Contrast FairyDevilMother, WickedStepmother and WickedWitch.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In ''Series/OnceUponATime'', Literature/{{Cinderella}}'s fairy godmother arrives to grant her wish...and is immediately incinerated by Rumpelstiltskin, who offers her a DealWithTheDevil instead.

* On ''Series/GilligansIsland'', Mrs. Howell had a DreamSequence in which she was Cinderella and Gilligan was her "Fairy Godfather".
* Likewise, on ''Series/TheJeffersons'', George has a dream wherein Tom is his [[Literature/TheGodfather Godfather]].
--> Watch it with that fairy stuff.

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* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'': 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.

* 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? ''[[BalefulPolymorph 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.

* ''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]].

* [[Creator/MadameDAulnoy Madame d'Aulnoy]] uses this trope in "Literature/TheBlueBird" and "The White Doe", where the fairy godmothers help rivals of the protagonists. Several fairy godmothers, including an evil one, appear in "Princess Mayblossom".

* In Henriette-Julie de Murat's literary fairy tale "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.

* In the Grimms' "One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes," the heroine, Two Eyes, is aided by a mysterious lady. Some translations and retellings refer to her as her fairy godmother.
* In the Grimm's "The True Bride," 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.
* [[http://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.

* In the Cantabrian mythology exist the figure of the Anjana, which is very close to the taditional depiction of fairires normally seen in different media: they help wounded or ill people, help lost children in the forest to find their way to home, benefit whit thir magic to good and honest people and punishes the evil ones, and are one of the few protections available against the attack of the ojancanu, a dire cyclops from that same mythology.

* The Fairy Godmother from Cinderella appears in ‘’VideoGame/Revolve8EpisodicDueling’’ 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]].

* 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.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'': Puck essentially becomes this when he's barred from using any magic except to teaching infant Alexander Xanatos how to use it.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'': 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 was willing to hunt down and use violence against anyone who tried to harm or kidnap her godson, turning people into mice if they wouldn't cooperate in her quest to do so.
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* Madame d'Aulnoy uses this trope in "Literature/TheBlueBird" and "The White Doe", where the fairy godmothers help rivals of the protagonists. Several fairy godmothers, including an evil one, appear in "Princess Mayblossom".

A SubTrope of OurFairiesAreDifferent.

A magical being whose role is to help out the protagonist of a tale, sometimes appearing in their darkest hour to grant their fondest wish, sometimes through less direct methods (and often with the aid of a MagicWand). Why they do this is seldom specified -- nor why they failed to appear a lot earlier in the story when a little change could have made all the difference -- But if it IS asked why they are just showing up now, normally they express in some form how previously, the protagonist needed to learn something. They sometimes are part of an agency or an organization. And yes, in early fairy tales, they were meant to be their ward's actual godmother.

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; 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.

* Charles Perrault's ''Literature/{{Cinderella}}'' is probably the TropeCodifier. While most adaptations have the godmother appear out of nowhere, it is noteworthy to mention in the original Perrault text, she is literally Cinderella's godmother and actually seems to live with the family.

A magical being whose role is to help out the protagonist of a tale, sometimes appearing in their darkest hour to grant their fondest wish, sometimes through less direct methods (and often with the aid of a MagicWand). Why they do this is seldom specified -- nor why they failed to appear a lot earlier in the story when a little change could have made all the difference -- But if it IS asked why they are just showing up now, normally they express in some form how previously, the protagonist needed to learn something. As is the case with the fairy godmother in Faerie Tale Theatre, who tells Cinderella, "Solving your own problems is part of growing up!" Cinderella presses her further, asking why she hadn't appeared during a particular instance with her stepsisters, The fairy Godmother interrupts her. "Now look, do you want to go to the ball or sit here chewing the fat?" They sometimes are part of an agency or an organization. And yes, in early fairy tales, they were meant to be their ward's actual godmother.

A magical being whose role is to help out the protagonist of a tale, sometimes appearing in their darkest hour to grant their fondest wish, sometimes through less direct methods (and often with the aid of a MagicWand). Why they do this is seldom specified -- nor why they failed to appear a lot earlier in the story when a little change could have made all the difference -- But if it IS asked why they are just showing up now, normally they express in some form how previously, the protagonist needed to learn something. As is the case with the fairy godmother in Faerie Tale Theatre, who tells Cinderella, "Solving your own problems is part of growing up!" Cinderella presses her further, "Well I just wished you had--" And the fairy Godmother interrupts her. "Now look, do you want to go to the ball or sit here chewing the fat?" They sometimes are part of an agency or an organization. And yes, in early fairy tales, they were meant to be their ward's actual godmother.

A magical being whose role is to help out the protagonist of a tale, sometimes appearing in their darkest hour to grant their fondest wish, sometimes through less direct methods (and often with the aid of a MagicWand). Why they do this is seldom specified -- nor why they failed to appear a lot earlier in the story when a little change could have made all the difference -- But if it IS asked why they are just showing up now, normally they express in some form how previously, the protagonist needed to learn something. As is the case with the fairy godmother in Faerie Tale Theatre, who tells Cinderella, "Solving your own problems is part of growing up!" Cinderella presses her further, "Well I just wished you had--" And the fairy Godmother interrupts her. "Now look, do you want to go to the ball or not?" They sometimes are part of an agency or an organization. And yes, in early fairy tales, they were meant to be their ward's actual godmother.