Tear Jerker / Shrek Forever After

"You know what the best part of today was? I got the chance to fall in love with you all over again."

"I've never seen an ogre cry."

— AU!Donkey

Shrek Forever After closes the book on the subversive fairy tale series, but it doesn't do that without tugging at your emotions one last time.

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

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• Shrek's argument with Fiona after the birthday party. After an in-universe year of constant shenanigans, annoyances and not being taken seriously, it all finally takes its toll on Shrek, causing him to wish life was back to the way it was before he rescued Fiona, back when he was feared and hated. The result is a fine example of Parting-Words Regret:
  Fiona: Unbelievable!
  Shrek: Tell me about it! Those villagers-
  Fiona: I'm not talking about the villagers, Shrek. I'm talking about you. Is this really how you wanna remember the kids' first birthday?
  Shrek: Oh, great. So this is all my fault?
  Fiona: Yes, but... you know what? Let's talk about this after the party, at home.
  Shrek: You mean that roadside attraction we live in? "Step right up! See the dancing ogre! Don't worry! He won't bite!" I used to be an ogre. Now I'm just a jolly green joke!
  Fiona: Okay, okay. Maybe you're not the ogre you used to be, but maybe that's not such a bad thing.
  Shrek: Ah, I wouldn't expect you to understand. It's not like you're a real ogre. You've spent half your life in a palace.
  Fiona: And the other half locked away in a tower.
  Shrek: (sighs) Look, all I want is for things to go back to the way they used to be. Back when villagers were afraid of me, and I could take a mud bath in peace, when I could do what I wanted when I wanted to do it. Back when the world made sense.
  Fiona: You mean, back before you rescued me from the dragon's keep?
  Shrek: Exactly!
  Fiona: Shrek, you have three beautiful children, a wife who loves you, friends who adore you. You have everything. Why is it the only person who can't see that... is you?
  (Fiona turns and approaches the palace door. She opens the door and glances at Shrek. Shrek doesn't move. Fiona shakes her head and closes the door behind her.)
  Shrek: That's just great.
  • Shrek smashing the cake. He didn't want to deliberately ruin the party and what he did wasn't out of malice: he just let his anger get the better of him. It was heartbreaking to watch the reaction of the partygoers after Shrek's tantrum. Heck, Fiona and Donkey look the most heartbroken.
    • Before Shrek smashed the cake, Fiona's line even emphasizes this:
    Fiona: Shrek, are you okay?
  • The sequence of events that lead us to this point. It's pretty apparent that what Shrek needs isn't to trade in his life... he needs the celebrity tour carriage to go away, to be allowed five minutes of mud bath time or cocktail time once in a while, and for Donkey to stop making everything worse. These are simple problems with obvious solutions, and because they're allowed to fester, they end up growing so bad to the point that Shrek seems to actually be falling out of love with Fiona.
• Shrek's enjoyment of being a "real" ogre is soon completely shattered as he discovers his swamp home to be totally barren and dry, and his house containing nothing but a few scurrying rats. Just seeing this iconic setpiece from the series in such a shocking state is a horrifying gut punch at its finest.
• There's the moment somewhere right after Shrek's beginning to understand what his impulsive wish did — he finds his daughter's doll still in his back pocket from where he'd put it very early on in the film, and the look on his face as he realizes that she doesn't exist anymore due to his selfish wish is absolutely heartbreaking. It's also the only time we've ever seen Shrek cry.
  • In the audio commentary, Head of Story (& voice of Rumpel) Walt Dorhn confirms every time he sees that scene, it makes him cry.
• The flashback to when Harold and Lillian ultimately signed over their kingdom to Rumpel in exchange for Fiona - the moment they finish, Rumpel’s promise that all their problems would disappear turns out to have been a flip that they themselves would disappear. The pair only realize what’s happening a moment before they disintegrate into thin air, and they only have enough time to briefly scream and try to embrace each other before they die. And as we know, they gave away their lives and kingdom for nothing as Fiona had to free herself anyway.
• After finding out the exit clause of the contract, Shrek runs to the Castle to find Fiona, only to find out she's gone. There's nothing but the room decay, the count marks of every day she waited for someone to rescue her, her crown of the regal status in the bed and the handkerchief of the first movie that represented as a "token of thanks". Shrek sits on the bed alone, sad and confused. And did we mention that the music playing through this scene is a slow piano rendition of "Fairytale"?
  Shrek: If I didn't save Fiona... then who did?
• This piece from the movie's score "Fiona Doesn't Love Me" and the accompanying scene. Shrek thinks all he has to do to break the spell is get Fiona to kiss him, par the rules of True Love's Kiss. He manages this, but because she doesn't know him that well, and has had a pretty bad first impression of him so far, she does not love him and therefore nothing happens.

  Shrek: I don't understand. This doesn't make any sense. True love's kiss was supposed to fix everything!
  AU!Fiona: Yeah, you know, that's what they told me, too. True love didn't get me out of that tower. I did. I saved myself. Don't you get it? It's all just a big fairy tale.
  Shrek: Fiona, don't say that. It does exist!
  AU!Fiona: How would you know? Did you grow up locked away in a dragon's keep? Did you live all alone in a miserable tower? Did you cry yourself to sleep every night, waiting for a true love that NEVER CAME?!
  Shrek: But... but I'm your true love.
  AU!Fiona: Then where were you when I needed you? (Picks up a lantern and leaves)
  AU!Donkey: Maybe you kissed her... wrong?
  Shrek: No. The kiss didn't work... because Fiona doesn't love me.

  • Here's a bit of gut punch. When Fiona asked Shrek where he was, he could have told the truth that he's from an alternate reality and arrived after being tricked by Rumpel. But Shrek stays silent, because it would having having to admit why he signed that contract: he, her so called "true love", considered her a burden and wanted to get away from her for a day.
  • Later on, we have this exchange after the kiss didn't work at all:
    Shrek: Oh, what's the point? The kiss didn't work. It's over.
    AU!Donkey: Look, Shrek, I know things might seem a little bleak right now, but things always work themselves out in the end. You'll see. I bet by this time tomorrow...
    Shrek: Hey, don't you understand? There is no tomorrow. There's no day after that, and there's no day after that day after that! My life was perfect and I'm never gonna get it back!
    AU!Donkey: If your life was so perfect, then why'd you sign it all away to Rumpelstiltskin in the first place?
    Shrek: Because I didn't know what I had until it was gone, alright?! (sigh) I didn't know what I had.
• Alternate!Donkey's fear of Shrek is sort of a Fridge Tear Jerker. The Donkey that Shrek knows was afraid of him for maybe five seconds when they first met, then decided they were best friends and couldn't be scared away after that. Considering this misadventure was set off by Shrek missing the days he was feared, Donkey running away from him in terror even after Shrek tries to explain and win his trust by singing must be a nasty hit to the irony bone.
  • Adding to the sadness: earlier when Shrek is about to make his deal with Rumpel, he offhandedly jokes that the day he should give up was the day he met Donkey. While it's Played for Laughs at first due to Rumpel not knowing who Donkey is, Shrek is basically joking about giving up the day he met the first individual that he opened up to, and who wasn't afraid of him. Similarly to Fiona just before, Shrek has forgotten why they were friends to begin with. Then he sees Donkey pulling his prison carriage and tries to strike up a conversation, and Donkey doesn't even know him.
• Shrek thought it was better when people were scared of him and other fairytale creatures. If he didn’t change their perception by saving Fiona and stopping Farquaad, Fairy Godmother and Prince Charming, not only would Rumpel have taken over the kingdom, but fairytale creatures would’ve been treated even worse and used as slaves. Just look at how shocked Shrek is when he sees his friends being enslaved.
• (Pictured Above) At the end, there's an extended amount of time where it appears that Shrek failed. Technically speaking, he was dead for a while. This movie being Darker and Edgier than the others, it wasn't unbelievable that they'd do it.
  AU!Fiona: Shrek?
  Shrek: It's alright.
  AU!Fiona: There has to be something I can do.
  Shrek: You've already done everything for me, Fiona. You gave me a home and a family.
  AU!Fiona: You have kids?
  Shrek: We have kids. Fergus, Farkle and a little girl named...
  Shrek and AU!Fiona: Felicia.
  AU!Fiona: I always wanted to have a daughter named Felicia.
  Shrek: And someday... (Hands Felicia's doll over to Fiona) ...you will. You know what the best part of today was? I got the chance to fall in love with you all over again.
  [Fiona kisses Shrek, just as the last traces of sand fall down Rumpel's hourglass, and Shrek fades away into nothingness].
  • When the alternate universe starts falling apart, even knowing things are going to be set to rights, Fiona calling and reaching for Puss when he dissolves strikes a chord for many pet owners.
• Rumpel's dismayed expression when Fiona makes Fifi blow up. Rumpel was the bad guy, but Even Evil Has Loved Ones. It doesn't help that Fifi never really did anything villainous, or that Shrek reacts by laughing and pointing at Fifi's smoking remains.
• The ending credits, which feature a montage of scenes from the previous three movies, can strike as both this and Heartwarming, especially for those who have grown up with the entire Shrek series.