Lord Farquaad

Shrek character
name=Lord Farquaad
gender=Male
films=Shrek
status=Dead
form=Human
spouse=
family=Not Seen
voiced by=John Lithgow
appearance=Shrek, Shrek the Third (cameo)|

Lord Farquaad is the main antagonist from the 2001 animated feature film "Shrek". He was voiced by John Lithgow.

History

Lord Farquaad is the comically short-in-stature, ruthless ruler of the huge castle of Duloc. Several times in the film it is commented that, in Duloc's towering height, Farquaad may be compensating for something (in reference to his private parts).

In his pursuit of perfection, Farquaad attempts to rid his kingdom of fairy tale creatures, offering a bounty for their capture and then exiling imprisoned creatures to Shrek's swamp. However, because Farquaad is not of royal stock, he cannot become a king until he marries a princess. He decides that Princess Fiona will be the perfect wife and queen, but she first must be rescued from her tower guarded by a fire-breathing dragon.

Unwilling or unable (likely both) to perform the feat himself, Farquaad decides to hold a tournament to discover the knight that will rescue Princess Fiona when Donkey and Shrek arrive. Shrek and Donkey defeat the knights and Farquaad decides to send Shrek instead on the quest. Lord Farquaad agrees to move the fairy tale creatures out of Shrek's swamp if Shrek rescues Fiona. Shrek delivers Fiona to Farquaad and Farquaad immediately proposes marriage, unaware that she becomes an ogre at sunset. Shrek disrupts the marriage ceremony, delaying a kiss between Farquaad and Fiona until after sunset. Fiona makes the transition from human to ogre form, upon which Farquaad rejects his new bride, banishing her to the tower and claiming the title of king. He also sentences Shrek to death at that time as well. Before Farquaad finishes his claims of becoming the new king, the dragon, that had been guarding Fiona and has since developed a relationship with Donkey, crashes through the window and eats the monologuing Farquaad, thanks to Shrek, who whistles for her. Moments later Dragon burps and his crown comes out.

He makes another brief appearance in the dragon's stomach singing "Staying alive, staying alive" during Shrek in the Swamp Karoke Dance Party. It is presumed that he is dead when he enters as a ghost in the 30 min. Shrek Special on Nick in which he attempts to murder Fiona so that she can be his ghost queen. Princess Fiona is again rescued when Lord Farquaad is presumably killed by Dragon a second time.

Outside of the film series, Farquaad appears in the Universal Studios Theme Parks ride Shrek 4-D and its comic book adaptation by Dark Horse Comics. In the series, Farquaad returns as a ghost, with plans to make Fiona his queen of the underworld. However, he is once again defeated, only to reappear in the second issue; this time, he orders a man named Ferret and his hitman Thelonius to kill Shrek, who at the moment is investigating a foul-smelling gingerbread house. Farquaad's appearance here is comparatively minor. He does not appear in the third and last issue, save for a brief mention. Farquaad once again appeared as an evil spirit in the Game Boy Advance game "Shrek: Reekin' Havoc", in which he made evil copies of fairy tale characters such as Pinocchio, the Big Bad Wolf, Peter Pan, and a giant from the world of Jack and the Beanstalk. After these bosses are defeated, he kidnaps Shrek before the final face-off.

Lord Farquaad made a cameo appearance in "Shrek the Third" during the Gingerbread Man's flashbacks, in which the lord was mocking the Gingerbread Man with his legs. He also makes a cameo in "Shrek Smash and Crash" as a ghost.

The inspiration debate

There is some speculation that Lord Farquaad's appearance may be inspired by Michael Eisner, the ex-CEO of The Walt Disney Company, owing to producer Jeffrey Katzenberg's animosity toward his former employer [http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2005/commentary05022303.htm ] .

The name "Farquaad" originates from one of the "Shrek" producers/writers who is a University of Notre Dame alumnus. The Notre Dame Campus has many large quadrangles (quads) located in between buildings. Over time, each quad has been given a name. In this case, the residence hall that the writer lived in was along the "Far Quad". The writer also incorporated other hints of Notre Dame in the movie "Shrek". For example, the castle is a replica of the Notre Dame Library. Also, Notre Dame's full name is The University of Notre Dame du Lac (The University of Our Lady of the Lake)--which is where Duloc got its name. [Notre Dame Campus Tour Guide, December 2007]

References

* [http://www.idontlikeyouinthatway.com/2007/03/tom-cruise-is-not-wanted.html Tom Cruise referred to as Lord Farquaad]

External links

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