| “ | "If there's something you want to do, or someone you really want to be, then the only one standing in your way... is you." | ” |
—Arthur explaining to Villains their fears. | ||
King Arthur “Artie” Pendragon is the current King of Far Far Away, succeeding King Harold.
Appearances
Early Life
Arthur was born to two unknown parents, likely still having the Pendragon name. His dad sent him to Worcestershire Academy at a certain age, and he never saw him again.
Shrek the Third
At the beginning of Shrek the Third, King Harold falls ill as a frog and his ogre son-in-law Shrek and daughter Princess Fiona are next in line to be King and Queen of Far Far Away. Shrek declines, insisting that an ogre as king is a bad idea and that there has to be someone else for the job. With his final few breaths, the king tells Shrek that there is one other heir who can become the new King of Far Far Away: his nephew, Arthur Pendragon. After a mournful funeral, Shrek sets out on a quest to bring back the new king, along with Donkey and Puss in Boots.
The trio's journey soon leads them to Worcestershire Academy, an elite high school across the sea, where they discover that Arthur ("Artie", as he prefers to be called) is a scrawny 16-year-old picked on by virtually everyone, from the cool kids down to the retainer wearing geeks. Artie stands literally at the bottom of the high school food chain. He is constantly showered with insults, used as a punching bag by the school Jousting Team, led by the obnoxious Sir Lancelot and cruelly scorned by Guinevere, the school "Queen Bee".
At the school pep rally, he was pranked by the nerds before being helped down by Shrek who tells him that he is the next line to be the new King of Far Far Away, which shocks Artie, but Lancelot, a student in the pep rally, sardonically mocks this and calls Artie the "Mayor-of-Loserville", which caused all the students to begin laughing and applauding in mockery. Encouraged by his new title, Artie delivers a heartfelt speech, berating all the high school students who were so cruel to him over the years (particularly Lancelot and the jocks), while promising to get even with banishment to them before professing his undying love to Guinevere, who was only disgusted by this. Shrek interrupts him, stating that he was overdoing it and escorts him out.
Later, on board Shrek's ship, Artie is very excited to be on his way to the throne up until Donkey and Puss inadvertently scare him by talking about the grave responsibilities of being king. Terrified, Artie balks, and begins to steer the ship back. Shrek tries to convince him to stop, but the ensuing argument they have causes their ship to crash onto an island, also nearly causing Donkey to be seasick. They continue to argue, and Artie runs into his old magic teacher, Merlin's hut. Though the wizard at first refused to help, Artie cons Merlin into changing mind, which worked, and Merlin agrees to help them, but only after taking the "Journey to their Soul" since he and Artie have only recently been in a "self-destructive rage spat".
Artie, upon looking into the fire of truth, sees a father bird leaving a chick in its nest. The chick tries and fails to fly, falling. He quickly comprehends that the bird is his father, who left him. Shrek and he have a heart-to-heart talk, where both explain the distance they had with their fathers (Artie having never known his, Shrek having been nearly eaten by his dad). They form an understanding friendship, and Artie begins to accept who he is as a person, rather than who he is as other people judge him to be. Next morning, however, they are attacked by evil trees, the Pirates, and their leader, Captain Hook, announces that "King Charming" is managing the kingdom and that Princess Fiona is in trouble. Artie manages to convince Merlin to send them back to Far Far Away.
Once they arrive in the city, they’re almost immediately set upon by guards, who Artie manages to convince that Shrek is a star (of the play, featuring Charming performing Shrek's demise). They infiltrate Charming's quarters, and Charming, anticipating their moves, sends for his guards, who held Artie hostage. Just as Charming was about to kill the latter, due to having found out that Artie is the heir to the throne, Shrek stops him and he saved Artie's life by making up a lie, saying that he was merely using him to have himself replaced as king. Charming believed in Shrek's lie and lets Artie go, who felt crushed and disheartened over Shrek's words. As he didn't know that Shrek was just lying to save his life, Artie leaves the castle in anger. As he was leaving, Puss and Donkey stopped him and they revealed to him the truth on why Shrek told Charming that he is only Artie.
Artie returns at the climax of play and convinces all the villains to surrender their evil ways by reciting what Shrek earlier told him: Just because you may be treated like a loser or a villain, it doesn't mean you are one. He helps Shrek defeat Charming, and once the tower is knocked on top of the latter, he takes the crown that had fallen from Charming's head. After Shrek gives him the choice to do so or not, Artie puts the crown on his head, and begins his reign as King. In the yearbook photo, he is shown to have his arms crossed and either him or the others are trying to keep their distance.
Shrek Forever After
Arthur is neither seen nor mentioned once in the film for unknown reasons. In Rumpelstiltskin's new world of Far Far Away, he does not appear because in the alternate universe, he was never proclaimed king by Shrek. After the curse was broken, Arthur presumably took his place as rightful king of Far Far Away.
After Shrek Forever After was released, Mike Myers stated Artie was in the film, but his scene was deleted. When the DVD was released, only three deleted scenes were shown- those being "When Fairy Tale Creatures Attack", "Gingy Attack", and "Emperor No Clothes". Artie did not appear in the DVD for unknown reasons, mostly since the scenes weren't animated and were in storyboard during that time. The deleted scenes mentioned above shown in the DVD were either nearly animated or in storyboard, but with voices included.
Note: Artie wasn’t written out, as they would have given an explanation to why he wasn’t in the film. His voice actor, Justin Timberlake, was unavailable to provide the voice as he was on tour. To focus on Shrek, Artie wasn’t fitted to the plot, which was further confirmed by director Mike Mitchell- who claimed that the film was already crowded with a large cast, and that Artie would've been too busy in-universe to appear anyway.
The alleged storyboards are the following-
- Artie is running the kingdom as Shrek invites him to the party. Though, he declines, saying that he cannot hang around ogres any longer (including his cousin, Fiona). Abusing his power, he manages to chuck Shrek out and banish them to the Candy Apple, where they will have their party.
- When Shrek is in the alternate reality, he travels back to Worcestershire by boat to find Artie. He is indeed no longer the King but is his previous school-life self, being bullied and picked on. Shrek explains that Artie is the king of Far Far Away, but Artie, having no clue of who Shrek is, runs off (like he did in the third film) and in the assembly, he is hung by his shirt onto the scaffolding. Shrek is declined entry to the Assembly hall by the guard after failing to remember what Puss and Donkey did to him, such as kicking him in the hip and groin. Shrek then leaves and goes back to Far Far Away.
- After Shrek returns to the real world, Artie enters and has a change of heart, claiming that he was wrong about Shrek and hereby grants all Ogres to live in Far Far Away as citizens, no longer as neglected monsters.
Personality
Like Shrek, one of Artie's greatest fears is inadequacy, as they both mention having had difficulty in their relationships with their respective fathers. "He dumped me at the school the first chance he got, and... I never saw him again"- Arthur on his Father.
While at the Worcestershire Academy, Artie was the most unpopular kid in school and was constantly picked on and bullied by his more athletic and popular peers, even as far as the entire student body, including his principal, urging Shrek to eat him.
However, Artie is revealed to be super sword fighter and capable of showing bravery when necessary, as he helps Shrek and his friends fend off The Evil Trees, and later, assists Shrek when Prince Charming treacherously tries to take over the kingdom and murder him. Artie is noble, brave and kind-hearted, and in the end, he courageously accepts the responsibilities of being King of Far Far Away.
Trivia
- Arthur is voiced by American singer Justin Timberlake. Timberlake was previously referenced in Shrek 2, as a poster hanging above Fiona's bed labelled "Sir Justin".
- Arthur's personality in the deleted Shrek Forever After scenes was someone who abused power. After he became king of Far Far Away, he rejected his friendship with Shrek, Fiona, and their new family as he branded ogres as monsters and not the true friends that they were. However, another deleted scene made him change his ways and realize that he was wrong and that ogres aren't bad as they're supposed to be.
- Arthur is voiced by James Arnold Taylor in the video game adaptation. He also serves as a voice double for Justin Timberlake in various projects.
- His existence is indirectly referenced in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, where Excalibur is shown, but is still engraved in its stone. This implies that Arthur never got to claim the weapon as his own.
- Arthur makes his first major appearance in 16 years in the Lords Mobile "Shrek's Adventure" event. A new render was created for him in honor of this event, and he appears on a selection of emotes.