Why Dragon Is Barely In Shrek 2

Despite being a pivotal presence in the first movie, Dragon's role was drastically reduced in Shrek 2 - but there's an interesting explanation to account for her absence. All the Shrek movies create an epic saga that satirizes the fairy tale genre while also becoming a great addition to the category in its own right. The series uses just about every fantasy trope that exists, and one of those hallmarks is what allows Dragon to enter the story in the franchise's inaugural installment back in 2001. However, after debuting as Princess Fiona's captor, Dragon all but vanishes from the sequel.

Dragon's Shrek timeline takes her from one of the story's biggest villains to a vital ally of the franchise's titular green character. DreamWorks fails to explain how she came to be the one keeping Fiona imprisoned in 2001's Shrek, but the general situation is so recognizable from fairy tale lore that it almost doesn't need to be addressed. It's Shrek's blend of pre-existing tropes and fun twists that has resulted in the saga falling into the category of DreamWorks' best movies through the years. That being said, Dragon's absence from Shrek 2 is one of the saga's frustrating blind spots.

Dragon's Pregnancy Was Too Difficult To Work Into Shrek 2

Dragon's condition prevented her from being a major part of Shrek 2's story

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Dragon and Shrek begin a romantic relationship at the end of the first Shrek movie. Despite this, her role in the sequel is nowhere near what one would expect given her ties to one of the franchise's main characters. However, Shrek 2's DVD commentary reveals Dragon was intended to have a much larger role, but she was all but removed from the movie due to the difficulty of hiding the fact she was pregnant with her and Donkey's four children. Test audiences were afraid of Dragon's hormonal moodiness, so she was relegated to a mid-credits scene only.

Dragon's pregnancy is quietly referenced near the beginning of Shrek 2 when Donkey claims she has been "all moody and stuff lately. "

Dragon wasn't just intended to appear before Shrek and Fiona departed for Far Far Away. She was also supposed to show up during Shrek 2's final battle scene to assist her friends. Unfortunately, the producers wanted to keep her pregnancy a surprise until the last possible moment, and it would have been difficult to conceal this reveal if Dragon was onscreen so close to giving birth. So, although there were big plans to include her in Shrek 2, Dragon's condition worked against her realistically being a big part of the project.

Dragon's Canceled Shrek 2 Storyline Still Happened Off-Screen

Dragon still had an interesting (albeit hidden) arc in Shrek 2

Dragon's planned arrival to help Shrek and the others near the end of the movie wouldn't have shown her in her known form. Just as Fiona was transformed by Shrek drinking the Happily Ever After Potion, the Shrek 2 producers have confirmed that Dragon also underwent a change when Donkey consumed the magical liquid. With Donkey turning into a horse, Donkey transformed off-screen into a talking Pegasus - and this is how she would have looked if she had appeared in the fight sequence.

Related 10 Dark Shrek Theories That Will Change How You See Dreamworks' Movie Franchise Due to its ties to fairytale stories, Shrek has a lot of intersecting characters & plots, but certain theories change the movies' tone completely.

Perhaps even more interestingly, Dragon would have been able to speak in her transformed state - which would have made it even more challenging to keep her pregnancy under wraps. Still, the fact Donkey's drinking of the potion transformed Dragon confirms that the two are each other's true love. It's a sweet way to find this out, even if it isn't actually confirmed within Shrek 2's runtime.