History WMG / Shrek

** Everything he says and does would indicate he was born an ogre.

[[WMG: The Fairy Godmother wanted to be the PowerBehindTheThrone]]

* Confirmed in the musical, where he is the son of Princess Pea (a HUMAN princess) and Grumpy from Disney's Snow White.

** She may have been sold to Farquaad by Snow White’s father, the King (the previous ruler of Duloc before Farquaad.

*** This troper started thinking about this and came up with Belle “turning traitor” instead of Rapunzel, with her twist being that she looks down on everyone, but then her double twist would be that she WASN’T evil and was siding with Charming because she related to him due to both being outcasts.

* I like to think it was the Evil Queen’s Fairy Godmother who gave them the Magic Mirror, thus making her the GreaterScopeVillain of the Shrek franchise.

[[WMG:Shrek will eat [[{{WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan}} cheesecake]] in the next movie.]]

You see, while the person who gives up a day via his contracts temporarily ceases to exist during the traded day, he himself still does. If the elf were smart and realized he could use the delay he'd created by taking the day Shrek and Donkey met to go to Duloc on the "lost" day and offer Farquadd a deal that would make him king of Duloc and remove all the fairytale creatures in his kingdom, conned him into signing his life away the same way he cons Shrek in the "real" timeline by offering to make his problems "disappear", or even simply managed to convince him to send the fairytale creatures he'd rounded up somewhere ''other'' then Shrek's swamp, the damage would be done. After all, the ''only'' reason Shrek went on the quest to save Fiona in the first place is because he’d learned Farquadd was the one responsible for forcing a gaggle of fairytale creatures to live in his swamp, ticking the ogre off enough to go directly to him and complain, and Farquadd, wanting to rescue Fiona without risking his own life fighting the dragon guarding her, took advantage of the situation by offering to move them somewhere else if Shrek saved her for him. Without Farquadd and the fairytale creatures ruining his seclusion, Shrek would've happily stayed in his swamp forever, leaving the elf to rule Far Far Away completely unhindered.

You see, while the person who gives up a day via his contracts temporarily ceases to exist during the traded day, he himself still does. If the elf were smart and realized he could use the delay he'd created by taking the day Shrek and Donkey met to go to Duloc on the "lost" day and offer Farquadd a deal that would make him king of Duloc and remove all the fairytale creatures in his kingdom, conned him into signing his life away the same way he cons Shrek in the "real" timeline by offering to make his problems "disappear", or even simply managed to convince him to send the fairytale creatures he'd rounded up somewhere ''other'' then Shrek's swamp, the damage would be done. After all, Farquadd forcing the fairytale creatures to live in Shrek's swamp is the ''only'' reason Shrek left his swamp and went on the quest to save Fiona in the first place, as he wanted to complain and saving her was the condition to get Farquadd to move them somewhere else. Without Farquadd and the fairytale creatures ruining his seclusion, Shrek would've happily stayed in his swamp forever, leaving the elf to rule Far Far Away completely unhindered.

You see, while the person who gives up a day via his contracts temporarily ceases to exist during the traded day, he himself still does. If the elf were smart and realized he could use the delay he'd created by taking the day Shrek and Donkey met to go to Duloc on the "lost" day and offer Farquadd a deal that would make him king of Duloc and remove all the fairytale creatures in his kingdom, conned him into signing his life away the same way he cons Shrek in the "real" timeline by offering to make his problems "disappear", or even simply convinced him to send the fairytale creatures he'd rounded up somewhere ''other'' then Shrek's swamp, the damage would be done - after all, Farquadd forcing the fairytale creatures to live in Shrek's swamp is the ''only'' reason Shrek left his swamp in the first place. If Rumpelstiltskin ensures that Farquadd doesn't round up the fairytale creatures and send them to Shrek's swamp, Shrek would've happily ''stayed'' there, leaving the elf to rule Far Far Away completely unhindered.

Timeline one (take away the day they met): Shrek and Donkey ''still'' become friends even if ''that'' particular day was "passed over" not only because they'd both still exist, but because Donkey would've been sent to Shrek's swamp regardless - Farquadd would still want to get rid of all the magical creatures in Duloc, after all - and even in the fourth movie's alternate reality, Donkey ''still'' becomes friends with him despite the circumstances the moment Shrek displayed vulnerability. All it would've done is change how and where they met, and considering his good nature, Donkey would've probably ''still'' sensed Shrek was a JerkWithAHeartOfGold and attached himself to the ogre even if he hadn't saved him from Farquadd's soldiers, and still offered to take him to Duloc to meet Farquadd when he asked for directions, meaning they'd ''still'' have gone on the quest, successfully freed Fiona from the tower, and broken her curse with True Love's Kiss.

The ''only'' reason he doesn't take this option is that his single-minded focus on getting rid of Shrek permanently ''completely'' blinds him to any knowledge about his actual history, and the one person - or rather, the ''donkey''- he should ''actually'' be targeting to create a "perfect" timeline where he'd ''unquestionably'' win.

You see, Rumpelstiltskin remembers the original timeline in the realities he creates - he's the one who creates the contracts, after all. If the elf succeded in finding a way to somehow work his way back through time with his contracts and to con ''him'' into signing his life away the same way he cons Shrek in the "real" timeline, it'd lead to an even ''worse'' series of events:

Without Donkey, there'd be no one willing to guide Shrek to Duloc (remember, all the other fairytale creatures present were too scared to really talk to him much), which would have forced the ogre to search for it by himself. Rumpelstiltskin could then take advantage of this delay to rush to Duloc and offer Lord Farquadd a no-strings-attached deal that's too attractive for him to pass up and serves his own goals: to make him king of Duloc (which removes any reason to save Fiona) and make all of the pesky fairytale creatures around his kingdom "disappear" (which would utterly erase Shrek from existence in the process). Farquadd, all too happy to have his problems solved without any effort on his part, agrees, and the elf gets to rule Far Far Away completely unhindered.

Luckily, this never happened, because while Rumpelstiltskin ''is'' cunning and extremely clever, he's not ''quite'' as smart as he ''thinks'' he is. By focusing solely on Shrek's rescue of Fiona (and taking the most obvious, seemingly foolproof route to prevent it), he completely neglects to learn anything else about him. He's ''so'' ignorant, in fact, that his response to Shrek's joke about taking the day he and Donkey met is a confused "I don't know who that is," even though he should ''already'' be well aware of Donkey and his crucial role in Shrek's story - after all, it's widely-known, public information by the time he makes his move- even though he's knowledgeable enough about Fiona to take advantage of use Shrek's wording about freeing "''[[ExactWords all'']] ogres" against him to keep her imprisoned - [[LoopholeAbuse because she's still under her curse, she's not "all ogre" and doesn't count]]. but when you stop and consider the fact that he's laser-focused on ''Shrek'', it makes sense that he wouldn't give attention to anyone else. Rumplel's obsession with Shrek ultimately leads to his defeat - because he doesn't know about Donkey or his relationship with Shrek, he unwittingly creates a SpannerInTheWorks (because the only reason Donkey learned how to reveal his contract's hidden exit clauses was because he picked up the trick during his time spent serving Rumpel's witches). If he'd actually done his homework on Shrek's history, gone after Donkey instead, and taken advantage of reliving the past with future knowledge, he'd've effectively ''won.'' Scary.

[[WMG: In Shrek 4, there were at least two other ways Rumpelstiltskin could've gotten an easy victory if he'd learned more of Shrek's history.]]

Shrek and Donkey ''still'' become friends even if ''that'' particular day was "passed over" not only because they'd both still exist, but because Donkey would've been sent to Shrek's swamp regardless - Farquadd would still want to get rid of all the magical creatures in Duloc, after all - and even in the fourth movie's alternate reality, Donkey ''still'' becomes friends with him despite the circumstances. All it would've done is change how and where they met, and considering his good nature, Donkey would've probably ''still'' sensed Shrek was a JerkWithAHeartOfGold and attached himself to the ogre even if he hadn't saved him from Farquadd's soldiers, and still offered to take him to Duloc to meet Farquadd when he asked for directions, meaning they'd ''still'' have gone on the quest, successfully freed Fiona from the tower, and broken her curse with True Love's Kiss.

The ''only'' reason he doesn't take this option is that his single-minded focus on getting rid of Shrek permanently ''completely'' blinds him to any knowledge about his actual history, and the one person - or rather, the ''donkey''- he should ''actually'' be targeting to create a timeline where he'd ''unquestionably'' win.

You see, Rumpelstiltskin remembers the original timeline in the realities he creates - he's the one who creates the contracts, after all. If the elf succeded in finding a way to con ''him'' into signing his life away the same way he cons Shrek in the "real" timeline, it'd lead to an even ''worse'' series of events:

Without Donkey, there'd be no one willing to guide Shrek to Duloc (remember, all the other fairytale creatures present were too scared to really talk to him much), which would have forced the ogre to search for it by himself. Rumpelstiltskin could then take advantage of this delay to rush to Duloc and offer Lord Farquadd a no-strings-attached deal too attractive for him to pass up, serves his own goals, and keeps Fiona from being saved long enough for her parents to take his deal ''and'' gets rid of Shrek permanently: to make him king of Duloc (which removes any reason for him to have his knights try to save Fiona) and make all of the pesky fairytale creatures around his kingdom "disappear" (which would erase Shrek from existence in the process). Farquadd, all too happy to have his problems solved without any effort on his part, agrees, and the elf gets to rule Far Far Away completely unhindered.

Luckily, this never happened, because while Rumpelstiltskin ''is'' cunning and clever, he's not ''quite'' as smart as he ''thinks'' he is. By focusing solely on Shrek's rescue of Fiona (and taking the most obvious, seemingly foolproof route to prevent it), he completely neglects to learn anything else about him. He's ''so'' ignorant, in fact, that when Shrek jokingly says he should take the day he and Donkey met, Rumpel's response is a confused "I don't know who that is," even though he should ''already'' know about Donkey and his crucial role in Shrek's story - after all, it's well-known, public information by the time he makes his move- but when you stop and consider the fact that he's laser-focused on ''Shrek'', it makes sense that he wouldn't give attention to anyone else. Rumplel's obsession with Shrek ultimately leads to his defeat - because he doesn't know about Donkey or his relationship with Shrek, he unwittingly creates a SpannerInTheWorks (because the only reason Donkey learned how to reveal his contract's hidden exit clauses was because he picked up the trick during his time spent serving Rumpel's witches). If he'd actually done his homework on Shrek's history, gone after Donkey instead, and taken advantage of reliving the past with future knowledge, he'd've effectively ''won.'' Scary.

Without Donkey, there'd be no one willing to guide Shrek to Duloc (remember, all the other fairytale creatures present were too scared to really talk to him much), which would have forced the ogre to search for it by himself. Rumpelstiltskin could then take advantage of this delay to rush to Duloc and offer Lord Farquadd a no-strings-attached deal too attractive to pass up and serves his own goals, a deal that keeps Fiona from being saved long enough for her parents to take his deal ''and'' gets rid of Shrek permanently: to make him king of Duloc (which removes any reason for him to have his knights try to save Fiona) and make of the pesky fairytale creatures around his kingdom "disappear" (which would erase Shrek from existence in the process). Farquadd, all too happy to have his problems solved without any effort on his part, agrees, and the elf gets to rule Far Far Away completely unhindered.

Without Donkey, there'd be no one willing to guide Shrek to Duloc (remember, all the other fairytale creatures present were too scared to really talk to him much), which would have forced the ogre to search for it by himself. Rumpelstiltskin could then take advantage of this delay to rush to Duloc and offer Lord Farquadd a no-strings-attached deal that both keeps Fiona from being saved long enough for her parents to take his deal ''and'' gets rid of Shrek permanently: to make him king of Duloc (which removes any reason for him to have his knights try to save Fiona) and make the pesky fairytale creatures around his kingdom "disappear" (which would erase Shrek from existence in the process). Farquadd, all too happy to have his problems solved without any effort on his part, agrees, and the elf gets to rule Far Far Away completely unhindered.

Luckily, this never happened, because while Rumpelstiltskin ''is'' cunning and clever, he's not ''quite'' as smart as he ''thinks'' he is. By focusing solely on Shrek's rescue of Fiona (and taking the most obvious, seemingly foolproof route to prevent it), he completely neglects to learn anything else about him. He's ''so'' ignorant, in fact, that when Shrek jokingly says he should take the day he and Donkey met, Rumpel's response is a confused "I don't know who that is," even though you'd expect him to ''already'' know about Donkey and his crucial role in Shrek's story - after all, it's well-known, public information by the time he makes his move- but when you stop and consider the fact that he's laser-focused on ''Shrek'', it makes sense that he wouldn't give attention to anyone else. Rumplel's obsession with Shrek ultimately leads to his defeat - because he doesn't know about Donkey or his relationship with Shrek, he unwittingly creates a SpannerInTheWorks (because the only reason Donkey learned how to reveal his contract's hidden exit clauses was because he picked up the trick during his time spent serving Rumpel's witches). If he'd actually done his homework on Shrek's history, gone after Donkey instead, and taken advantage of reliving the past with future knowledge, he'd've effectively ''won.'' Scary.

Luckily, this never happened, because while Rumpelstiltskin ''is'' cunning and clever, he's not ''quite'' as smart as he ''thinks'' he is. By focusing solely on Shrek's rescue of Fiona (and taking the most obvious, seemingly foolproof route to prevent it), he completely neglects to learn anything else about him. He's ''so'' ignorant, in fact, that when Shrek jokingly says he should take the day he and Donkey met, Rumpel's response is a confused "I don't know who that is," even though you'd expect him to ''already'' know about Donkey and his crucial role in Shrek's story - after all, it's well-known, public information by the time he makes his move- but when you stop and consider the fact that he's laser-focused on ''Shrek'', it makes sense that he wouldn't give attention to anyone else. Rumplel's obsession with Shrek ultimately leads to his defeat - because he doesn't know about Donkey or his relationship with Shrek, he unwittingly creates a SpannerInTheWorks (because the only reason Donkey learned how to fold his contracts to reveal their hidden exit clauses was because he picked it up the trick during his time spent serving Rumpel's witches). If he'd actually done his homework on Shrek's history, gone after Donkey instead, and taken advantage of reliving the past with future knowledge, he'd've effectively ''won.'' Scary.

Luckily, this never happened, because while Rumpelstiltskin ''is'' cunning and clever, he's not ''quite'' as smart as he ''thinks'' he is. By focusing solely on Shrek's rescue of Fiona (and taking the most obvious, seemingly foolproof solution to prevent it), he completely neglects to learn anything else about him. He's ''so'' ignorant of Shrek's life, in fact, that when Shrek jokingly says he should take the day he and Donkey met, Rumpel's response is a confused "I don't know who that is" even though he ''should'' know about Donkey and his crucial role in Shrek's story - it's well-known, easily accessible, ''public'' information by that point. By only focusing on ''Shrek's'' life, he's made himself completely ignorant of ''Donkey's'' significance, allowing him to become an unintentional SpannerInTheWorks (as the only way he learned how to find Rumpelstiltskin's exit clauses was by being forced to work for his witches in the alternate timeline ''he himself'' had created), whereas if he'd actually done his homework on Shrek's history, gone after Donkey instead, and taken advantage of reliving the past with future knowledge, he'd've effectively ''won.'' Scary.

Luckily, this never happened, because while Rumpelstiltskin ''is'' cunning and clever, he's not ''quite'' as smart as he ''thinks'' he is. By focusing solely on Shrek's rescue of Fiona (and taking the most obvious, seemingly foolproof solution to prevent it), he completely neglects to learn anything else about him. He's ''so'' ignorant of Shrek's life, in fact, that when Shrek jokingly says he should take the day he and Donkey met, Rumpel's response is a confused "I don't know who that is" even though he ''should'' already be well aware of Donkey and his crucial role in Shrek's quest to rescue Fiona - it's well known, public information by that point. By focusing only ''Shrek's'' life, he's made himself completely ignorant of ''Donkey's'' significance, allowing him to become an unintentional SpannerInTheWorks (as the only way he learned how to find Rumpelstiltskin's exit clauses was by being forced to work for his witches in the alternate timeline ''he himself'' had created), whereas if he'd actually done his homework on Shrek's history, gone after Donkey instead, and taken advantage of reliving the past with future knowledge, he'd've effectively ''won.'' Scary.

Luckily, this never happened, because while Rumpelstiltskin ''is'' cunning and clever, he's not ''quite'' as smart as he ''thinks'' he is. By focusing solely on Shrek's rescue of Fiona (and taking the most obvious, seemingly foolproof solution to prevent it), he completely neglects to learn anything else about him. He's ''so'' ignorant, in fact, that when Shrek jokingly says he should take the day he and Donkey met, Rumpel's response is a confused "I don't know who that is" even though the fact that Shrek has a donkey friend (and his crucial role in Shrek's quest to rescue Fiona) is something that he should be ''expected'' to know, considering their story's widely known by this point. By focusing only ''Shrek's'' life, he's made himself completely ignorant of ''Donkey's'' significance, allowing him to become an unintentional SpannerInTheWorks (as the only way he learned how to find Rumpelstiltskin's exit clauses was by being forced to work for his witches in the alternate timeline ''he himself'' had created), whereas if he'd actually done his homework on Shrek's history, gone after Donkey instead, and taken advantage of reliving the past with future knowledge, he'd've effectively ''won.'' Scary.

Luckily, this never happened, because while Rumpelstiltskin ''is'' cunning and clever, he's not ''quite'' as smart as he ''thinks'' he is. By focusing solely on Shrek's rescue of Fiona (and taking the most obvious, seemingly foolproof solution to prevent it), he completely neglects to learn anything else about him. He's ''so'' ignorant, in fact, that when Shrek jokingly says he could take the day he and Donkey met, Rumpel's response is '' I don't know who that is'' - something that he ''should'' know, considering Shrek having a donkey friend, as well as his crucial role in Shrek's quest to rescue Fiona, is public knowledge by this point. By focusing only on one fact of Shrek's life, he's made himself completely ignorant of Donkey's significance, allowing him to become an unintentional SpannerInTheWorks (as the only way he learned how to find Rumpelstiltskin's exit clauses was by being forced to work for his witches in the alternate timeline ''he himself'' had created), whereas if he'd actually done his homework on Shrek's history, gone after Donkey instead, and taken advantage of reliving the past with future knowledge, he'd've effectively ''won.'' Scary.

Luckily, this never happened, because while Rumpelstiltskin ''is'' cunning and clever, he's not ''quite'' as smart as he ''thinks'' he is. By focusing solely on Shrek's rescue of Fiona (and taking the most obvious solution to prevent it), he completely neglects to learn anything else about him, to the point that he doesn't even know things that he should be ''expected'' to know due to it being public information - after Shrek jokingly says he could take the day he and Donkey met, Rumpel outright says that he doesn't know who Donkey is, despite that fact that ''everyone'' knows Shrek has a donkey friend, and how significant he is to Shrek's story. By focusing only on one fact of Shrek's life, he's made himself completely ignorant of Donkey's significance, allowing him to become an unintentional SpannerInTheWorks (as the only way he learned how to find Rumpelstiltskin's exit clauses was by being forced to work for his witches in the alternate timeline ''he himself'' had created), whereas if he'd actually done his homework on Shrek's history, gone after Donkey instead, and taken advantage of reliving the past with future knowledge, he'd've effectively ''won.'' Scary.