Donkey is introduced at a fairytale market where owners are given money for fairytale creatures, which are then packed into cages and carriages by med-evil armour clad soldiers, presumably to be put in a prison camp. The creatures look very upset and unhappy including donkey who has not been sold yet and is arguing with his owner about being sold, Donkey is being treated badly and this creates sympathy for him, he also makes a lot of jokes “You may have seen a housefly, maybe even a super fly but I bet you ain’t never seen a donkey fly,” he is then chased by soldiers untill he meets Shrek. Then through his conversation with Shrek his character is created; he is a loud, chatty, slightly stupid talking donkey with no friend who is highly amusing to watch. The audience like Donkey from the start because he is treated badly, he's funny and because he accepts Shrek for who he is and not what he is.
When Lord Farquaad is introduced the camera angle shows him walking but from below making him look tall, majestic and menacing. The music playing is scary an the corridor huge and dark grey creating a scary atmosphere, the audience is manipulated to think Lord Farquaad is a scary villan but then as he passes to guards who stand to attention at his presence the audience realise he is very small with a huge head. The audience immediately don’t like him and laugh at his tiny figure. This introduction establishes him as the head villan by the scary atmosphere and the way the soldiers solute him. Then the camera cuts to the torture room where an innocent looking Gingerbreadman is being tortured on Lord Farquaad’s request, confirming his evilness. This scene quickly establishes his two main priorities, to rid Dullock of Fairytale creatures (because he alone does not like them) and to marry a princess because until then he is technically not a king, as explained by the magic mirror. This scene shows his cruelty and cowardice in many ways for example he tortures the Gingerbreadman and is too scared to rescue Fiona so he holds a tournament to find someone who will.
Princess Fiona is introduced slightly later on in the film when the Dragon throws Shrek into her tower. She assumes that Shrek is a handsome, valiant, brave, knight who she will marry and have a traditional fairytale life with. She pretends to be asleep and as Shrek approaches she keeps her eyes shut and puckers her lips to be kissed. Shrek then shakes her telling her to wake and then takes her out of the tower. Fiona speaks in posh Shakespeare like short poems and seems very boring and stubborn. Then when she learns that Shrek is an Ogar (he was covered in concealing armour) she is disappointed as she was expecting “Prince Charming”. This makes the audience think of her as posh and stubborn but does not yet set her as a villan or a heroine.
The events of the plot create sympathy for the three heroes and make us dislike the villan, Lord Farquaad. Lord Farquaad blackmails Shrek to go on the quest, because he’s too cowardly, and imprisons the fairytale creatures. The audience are made to dislike Farquaad by this because he is hurting the heroes and innocents of the story. Farquaad marries princess Fiona only so he can be king and when he finds out she is an ogar he tries to lock her back in the tower. This shows Farquaad’s selfishness and evilness with no regard to anyone else. Every event that lord Farquaad is involved in clearly portrays him as a villan.
Shrek is hated and feared wherever he goes simply because of his outward appearance. The villagers try to attack him, Farquaad sets a band of knights to kill him, the man at the entrance of Dullock runs away from him, everyone is scared of him (with exception to Donkey and Fiona) and he hates it “they judge me before they even know me”. This creates a lot of sympathy for him. Sympathy is also felt for Shrek because he loves Fiona but can never be with her. Shrek is liked because he is the hero and very brave, for example he rescues Donkey and Fiona. He fights evil without killing and he wins the fight eventually. Every fairytale (included modern inverted fairytales) has a main hero and Shrek is the film’s main hero.