Lord Farquaad is the comically short, ruthless ruler of the huge castle of Duloc, and the central antagonist in the first film. He is voiced by John Lithgow.
In his pursuit of perfection, Farquaad attempts to rid his domain of fairytale creatures, offering a bounty for their capture and then exiling them to Shrek's swamp. Farquaad wants to become a king, but because he is not of royal stock, he cannot until he marries a princess. He decides that Princess Fiona will be the perfect wife and queen, but first she must be rescued from her tower, which is guarded by a fire-breathing dragon.
Unwilling to perform the feat himself, Farquaad holds a tournament to select the knight that will rescue Princess Fiona. But Shrek and Donkey turn up and defeat the knights, so Farquaad decides to send Shrek on the quest instead, agreeing to remove the fairytale creatures from his swamp if he rescues Fiona. Shrek delivers Fiona to Farquaad, who immediately proposes marriage, unaware that she becomes an ogress 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, claiming the title of king and sentencing Shrek to death. Before Farquaad finishes his claims to the kingdom, the dragon that had been guarding Fiona, who 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 the crown comes out. Farquaad was apparently not well liked in Duloc: when Dragon eats him, the citizens laugh and cheer.
Farquaad makes another brief appearance – in the dragon's stomach singing "Stayin' Alive" – during Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party. He is presumed to be dead when he enters as a ghost in the Shrek 4-D ride at Universal Studios and the 30-minute Shrek Special on the Nickelodeon TV channel, in which he tries to murder Shrek and Donkey and to kidnap and kill 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.
Lord Farquadd makes a cameo in Gingy's flashbacks in Shrek the Third, and during the end credits for Shrek Forever After.
Lord Farquadd is mentioned in Scared Shrekless.
Lord Farquadd appears as a zombie in Thriller Night.
Lord Farquadd does not appear nor mentioned in Shrek 2.
Read more about this topic: List Of Shrek Characters, Main Villains
Famous quotes containing the word lord:
“Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory:”
—Bible: Hebrew Psalm LXXXIV (l. LXXXIV, 9–11)