Dragon (Elizabeth)

• Character Name: Elizabeth
• Nickname: Dragon
• Former Occupation: Guardian of Fiona's tower
• Resides: Donkey and Dragon's House
• Gender: Female
• Family: Dronkeys (children), Donkey (husband)
• Race: Dragon
• Appearance: Dragon is a giant magenta-red female dragon, who is 100 feet (or 30 meters) long from snout to leg. She sports a pink belly, maroon spines, white spikes on her cheeks, webbed ears, bat-like wings, razor-sharp claws, and a very long 100 feet long spade-tipped prehensile tail. She also has obvious feminine features such as lipstick and large eyelashes, to avoid any mistake in identifying her as a female dragon, since this is critical to the plot of the first movie. Whether these are natural markings or deliberately applied makeup is never revealed. In some of the original conceptual drawings, Dragon was even more obese and had a mop of disheveled hair. The original intention seems to have involved making her analogous to a lonely, overweight, and unattractive woman, which would have made her spontaneous romance with Donkey more convincing. Much of this was lost in her final design of a fat, but not grotesque, classic European Dragon. She communicates using both her body language and loud roars. She and Donkey share strong affections for each other, and she is also very protective of her Dronkey babies. Despite her love for Donkey, Dragon is still a dangerous and destructive carnivore at will, who has eaten many knights and Lord Farquaad, although the latter act was to protect Shrek and Fiona. She is capable of speaking.
• Background: Dragon first appears while guarding the derelict castle, which serves as Princess Fiona’s prison. It can be assumed that this is her long-time permanent domicile, since the castle houses a large hoard of treasure and is littered with bones, armor, and weapons of the many unsuccessful knights who tried to rescue Fiona.

While searching for the princess, Shrek and Donkey become separated within the castle. Dragon chases Donkey after he accidentally awakens her. Dragon uses her tail to throw Shrek into the air, tossing him to fall into Fiona's tower. Dragon traps Donkey on a stone pinnacle, presumably planning to kill or eat him. Out of desperation, Donkey smooth talks Dragon with compliments, causing her to become infatuated with him. Dragon grabs an unwilling Donkey with her mouth and hauls him back to her lair.

Back in her lair, Dragon has Donkey wrapped up tightly in her tail, squeezing and flirting with him persistently as she towers over her captive. Her advances appear to be one-sided, but this does little to dissuade her. Before she can kiss Donkey, Shrek intervenes by dropping from above and taking Donkey's place. Dragon's kiss ends up on Shrek's butt, infuriating her, but before she can react Shrek manages to collar her with the chandelier from above. Dragon chases after Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona throughout the halls of the castle, pretending that she wants to kill or eat them, the chain of the chandelier tailing behind her. In order to prevent Dragon from pursuing them across the bridge, Shrek pins the chain links with a sword. This gambit saves Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona as they flee to safety. Dragon is left alone and devastated.

Later, Shrek and Donkey part ways after finishing their quest, and Donkey discovers Dragon crying by a brook in the forest. Feeling sorry for her, Donkey approaches Dragon and the two reconcile. Dragon helps Shrek and Donkey prevent Fiona’s wedding to Farquaad by flying them to Duloc. Upon landing, Donkey tells Dragon to have fun and so she runs off to chase the local guards. After the guards overwhelm Shrek and Fiona, Shrek whistles for Dragon to come to the rescue. Dragon, with Donkey riding on top of her, breaks through a large window and swallows Farquaad whole. This restores peace, with everyone present happy to be free from Farquaad.

During Shrek and Fiona’s wedding celebration at the swamp, Dragon dances with the rest of the fairy tale creatures. As the newlyweds leave in their carriage, Dragon catches the bouquet thrown by Fiona, and presents the flowers to a flustered Donkey. A later karaoke number was produced for the CD of Shrek. One scene features the couple performing a song-and-dance. While Donkey sings a rendition of Baby Got Back, Dragon provocatively shakes her butt at the camera, eventually knocking him off his feet with her swaying tail.

Her child-rearing responsibilities prevent her from accompanying Shrek and Donkey on their quest, choosing instead to stay behind with Fiona and the other princesses. When Fiona announces her pregnancy, Dragon is shown to be happy for her. Despite her size and ferocity, Dragon is captured relatively easily by Prince Charming and his allies during their attempt to take over the Kingdom of Far Far Away.

Once the Dronkeys are released, Dragon joins the battle to recapture the Kingdom, turning the tide by tipping over Rapunzel's model tower that crushes Prince Charming. Whether he survived or not is unknown. Her family can be seen during the credits sequence, visiting the swamp with the Dronkeys playing with Shrek and Fiona’s children.

• Abilities: Immense Strength: Her enormous size as a dragon gives her immense physical strength. When Shrek attempts to restrain her tail, she easily overpowers him, catapulting him a large distance away towards Fiona's tower. She is also seen using her tail effortlessly to destroy stone structures in order to trap Donkey. Fire Breath: One of Dragon's most powerful and feared abilities is breathing fire. During her stay in the Dragon's Keep, she used this ability to incinerate and kill many knights who had attempted to rescue Fiona. The fire she breathes is seen to be easily hot enough to melt Charming's sword. Prehensile Tail: She has a long 100 feet long prehensile tail, tipped with a thick spade tip that's powerful enough to knock over buildings. She can extend it to any length she wants and wrap it like an enormous serpent around any object, animal or human, immobilizing them in her many powerful constricting coils. Flight: Her wings give her the ability to fly like a bird and travel great distances in a short amount of time. When she allies herself with Shrek and Donkey, she manages to transport both of them to Duloc just before Fiona marries Farquaad. Carnivore: Dragon has eaten many knights when guarding the Keep. She also almost eats Donkey, until Shrek distracts her by momentarily restraining her tail. She later eats Farquaad to protect Shrek and Fiona, burping out his crown after doing so. Linguist: Despite being unable to speak, she is capable of understanding what other characters are saying. She communicates with them through body language and roars. She is good at sneaking up on others. For example, she went to the lake, where she later met Donkey, without anyone hearing her.