Shrek, a green ogre who loves the solitude in his swamp, finds his life interrupted when many fairytale characters are exiled there by order of the fairytale-hating Lord Farquaad. Shrek tells them that he will go ask Farquaad to send them back. After his swamp is filled with magical creatures, he agrees to rescue a princess for a villainous lord in order to get his land back.