15 Fan Theories About The Fairytale Creatures In 'Shrek'

From Redditor u/puffpastry2001:

In Shrek 2 it's clear that the Fairy Godmother has been planning to get her son into power for a long time. She's not above using manipulation, potions, and force to get what she wants. 

[It's known that she found the cure for Fiona's curse, and some theorize that she created the cure herself (to further her own plans)], but would it be out of character for her to curse someone? By cursing Fiona to begin with, she ensures that her parents will become dependent on her for a cure. Then she can use this to her advantage by [manipulating the cure]. If she can "remove" curses, she can likely cause them as well. 

From Redditor u/Extent-Timely:

In the Shrek musical, we learn that Shrek was forced to leave home at seven years old due to "ogre tradition." Other than this, when Shrek mentions that his father tried to eat him in the third movie, we don't hear about Shrek's parents. 

In the fourth movie, we do see Shrek being referred to as small by the other Ogres and they show him an ability that surprised him (ears being able to be used as horns). It's weird that he wouldn't have been taught this ability, even before he left. Additionally, the end of the movie shows Shrek finding other Ogres in the original timeline and socializing with them normally - despite the "100-year-old tradition of isolation at a young age."

From my point of view, Shrek's parents were embarrassed by him not being a large "real" Ogre. So they lied to him in order to get rid of him, [the isolation tradition doesn't actually exist].

From Redditor u/scienceboy2000:

I think Donkey is Lampwick from Pinocchio, or at least one of the kids-turned-donkeys. He seems oddly close to Pinocchio and seems to have a human backstory - he's scared of college kids, said he went to college, and told Puss that he'll eventually learn to control his donkey noise [(an odd comment for someone who's always been a donkey to make, but a rational one for one who became a donkey and had to learn all about his new body from scratch)]. 

From Redditor u/premeddit:

Duloc was the capital city of Lord Farquaad in Shrek. It's prosperous, clean, has a large population, and must have a decent economy for such a big city to stay afloat. 

A few years later in a Shrek miniseries, we see that Duloc has been destroyed and depopulated, but it's never revealed how. I believe that, after the events of the first Shrek movie, the fairytale creatures took their revenge against the city, pillaging and burning it to the ground.

Evidence:

1. Cities wouldn't get abandoned that quickly otherwise. Farquaad dying would mean that the city would just have someone else take his place. It's likely that his death could cause economic issues, but it would take more than a few years for a large capital city to be entirely empty. Historically, the only times a city has been suddenly depopulated is due to either natural disasters or... razing by an invading army. 
2. There is evidence of violence. The miniseries only takes place a few years after the first movie, but Duloc shows broken glass, broken furniture, burn marks on trees and houses, and abandoned carriages discarded in the streets. Clearly, a great battle had been fought there. 
3. There is a clear motive. The first film shows Farquaad torturing magical creatures and exacting all sorts of atrocities. If you put yourself in the shoes of these magical creatures - your own friends and neighbors turned you into the secret police for a reward. Everything you owned was seized by the state. You were forcibly relocated and could've died from exposure. You may have been tortured (like Gingy). Entire families were separated and murdered (Mama Bear was made into a rug). At the end of Shrek, Farquaad has been assassinated and the military leadership is in disarray. Dulac, once the oppressor, is now helpless. Your allies are already inside the palace and ready to open the gate (Shrek, Dragon, Donkey, etc). You are traumatized and full of rage - what are you going to do next?

From former Redditor u/[deleted]:

Despite being good [seen in the Puss in Boots movies, set before the Shrek movies], Puss had an awful addiction to catnip [he was caught with it several times in his movies and TV show]. In Shrek 2-4 he's caught with it 5 times, [once getting arrested for it]. Catnip is like marijuana to cats and is probably expensive, so at one point he realized that he'd have to turn to a life of crime in order to pay for it. So, he moved near the big city of Far Far Away and started taking shady jobs. 

From Redditor u/9fingeredbandit96:

In Shrek 4, Shrek sees Rumplestiltskin and makes a deal with him to have a day to himself where he has no family and no responsibilities. Of course, Rumple takes the day he was born so when the day ends, he'll no longer exist. 

Along the way he meets Donkey, Fiona, other Ogres, and finally Puss in Boots. We learn Ogres are being hunted down and in this reality, Fiona is the leader of the Ogres and Puss is her pet - nobody except Puss knows that she isn't a true Ogress. 

Puss in the real world is a GOOD assassin, hired by many. We see in Shrek 2 that he's known to deal with Ogres [and goes after Shrek], but Shrek spares his life and Puss becomes his faithful companion. 

In the alternate reality, Puss is extremely obese and gives up his life as an assassin. Why though?

I think Puss was hired to kill Fiona in the alternate reality and Fiona spared his life, [perhaps after he learned about her secret]. Then Puss decided to hang up the sword and become Fiona's pet.