Puss in Boots (Dreamworks)

Puss in Boots, often referred to as just Puss is one of main characters of the Shrek franchise and the titular main protagonist of its spin-off film, Puss in Boots, and its upcoming sequel Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

He is an orange-striped cat that is skilled with a sword and whose name is derived from the hat and boots he wears. He is voiced by Antonio Banderas and first appeared as a bounty hunter but later became Shrek's faithful sidekick, until he would get tired and go to live his life of adventures.

Loosely based on the fairytale character Puss in Boots as well as being a kind of parody of Zorro, he is a smooth-talking cat with a Spanish accent, usually wearing a cavalier's hat, a belt with a sword, a small black cape, and small Corinthian boots. Puss first appears as a supporting character in Shrek 2, much like Dragon in the first film. He often overpowers his enemies by distracting them with his "cute kitten" looks. He also exhibits common cat behavior such as coughing up hairballs and chasing spotlights, usually resulting in his defeat or capture.

Puss is an orange tabby cat with green eyes and a Spanish accent. He wears a leather, broad-brimmed hat lined with red (with a fluffy yellow feather), a black leather cape, a belt with a scabbard that contains his sword, and his famed Corinthian leather boots. He has very sharp claws which he uses in his adventures.

Personality

Aside from being a protective and honorable fighter, Puss is a "ladies' cat" as well. Puss likes to tell stories, sing and dance. He is always on the lookout for an adventure and will do anything to protect his friends.

Despite Donkey's antagonizing nature towards him, Puss is the less proactive of the two as usual, as well as often trying to be the voice of reason between conflicting parties.

During his time in San Lorenzo, Puss was shown to be cocky and prideful, believing that he could solve anything on his own, which lead to most of the disasters in the town. Eventually, Puss learned to become more humble and was willing to ask for help from others. As Sino put it, his time in San Lorenzo made him a better hero.

Biography

Early Life

He was abandoned as a kitten in a basket, which somehow found its way to the doorstep of an orphanage in a Spanish town called San Ricardo. He was taken in by the head of the orphanage, Imelda, who became his foster mother.

He befriended a young Humpty Alexander Dumpty, who gave him his name Puss, and they became brothers in heart with a dream: To find the Magic Beans so they may find the Giant's Castle and get the Golden Eggs of the Golden Goose, setting themselves up for life. Throughout their childhood, Puss and Humpty got in and out of trouble, stealing various beans in their search for the magic beans until one day, Puss saved the mother of the Captain of the Guard (Comandante) from a bull, and was regarded as a hero when Imelda gave him a pair of boots to wear with pride.

This event, however, drove a wedge between Puss and Humpty as Puss didn't want to steal anymore while Humpty continued and thought Puss was breaking their promise. One night, Humpty tricked Puss into helping him rob the San Ricardo bank. Chased by the guards, they passed the orphanage and seen by Imelda, who was heartbroken to see, from her perspective, her son, Puss, having returned to his thieving ways.

The chase ended at a bridge where the money fell over the bridge and was lost, and Humpty fell and couldn't get back up as he begged Puss to help him. Angry that Humpty had tricked him and branded him an outlaw, Puss told him to help himself, left him to the guards and fled San Ricardo.

Over years, Puss became a swashbuckling hero but he was still wanted by the law, as he searched for a way to clear his name and repay the stolen money but he never found them. At one point, he discovered the hidden town of San Lorenzo and befriended the citizens. Unfortunately, he accidentally broke the town’s protective spell after taking one of their doubloons as a souvenir, causing thieves to invade the town. Puss vowed to protect the town and with the help of the San Lorenzens, he became a better hero, fought foes of all sorts and made friendships along the way. When monsters started coming from an abyss after fighting the Bloodwolf, the creator of San Lorenzo, a mage named Sino explained to Puss that his presence in San Lorenzo would only bring destruction, so he sent him back to the first episode and undid the events of the show to prevent the world from perishing. Despite his San Lorenzo friends losing their memories of him and their adventures together, Puss retained his because his adventures helped him grow as a person.

At some point, he would go to work at a bar alled Poison Apple as a bounty hunter.

Shrek 2

Recommended to King Harold by Doris (the Ugly Stepsister of Cinderella and barmaid of the Poison Apple) as a famous ogre assassin, Puss is hired and payed lots of money by the king to assassinate Shrek. However, unlike his fairy tale counterpart, he does not try to trick the ogre into changing into a mouse, but instead makes a direct, frontal assault on Shrek, which works up until the feline gags on a hairball, spitting it up. Shrek and Donkey think of what to do with him as Donkey even proposes to give him the Bob Barker treatment (neutering), but Puss begs for his life and accidentally reveals that the king was the one who hired him to kill Shrek. While Shrek is sulking about this, he says the king said Fiona would be better off with a Prince Charming but when Donkey glares at him, he apologizes, saying he thought Shrek was asking him that question. Puss proposes to the ogre he owes a life debt to him, in thanks for sparing his life and will accompany him on his quest. Shrek appears to have accepted this debt, as Puss in Boots stays with him throughout the course of the film and the two become great friends. Donkey gains a particular disdain him, considering Puss a threat to his position as Shrek's best friend. It is revealed that Puss has a litter of siblings, a sick mother and a father who lives off the garbage (although he may have been lying so Shrek would spare his life). He has also stated that he "Hates Mondays". This could be a reference to Garfield, another famous orange cat, who hates Mondays.

When Shrek and Donkey enter the castle to find Fiona and are being chased by guards; however in the Jail Tower after Shrek said "what you lack is the capacity," Puss appears to be in chains. Puss repays his debt to Shrek by holding them off (he removes his hat, looks at the guards cutely, and then attacks them when they stop and say "aww!") When Shrek and Fiona get back together and are changed back to normal, Donkey finds out he has become a dad. Due to the friendship that has developed Puss decides to be Donkey's dronkies' uncle and becomes a permanent addition to their team.

Shrek the Third

Donkey, Puss, Dragon and the Dronkeys remain in Far Far Away with Fiona and Shrek, helping the royal couple run the country in the place of the ailing king.

Puss joins Shrek and Donkey on their journey to find Artie (Fiona's cousin and heir to the throne) and later encourages Shrek to be kinder to Artie to gain the teenager's trust. He also tries, rather unsuccessfully, to advise Shrek who has just found out that Fiona is pregnant with his children, on fatherhood by suggesting they take his cousin's boat for two weeks of fishing and mojitos, but Donkey is against that.

When the group is magically sent back to Far Far Away by Merlin, Puss and Donkey accidentally have their bodies switched. The two swapped animals later join forces with the Far Far Away princesses and other captives of Prince Charming and help rescue Shrek. Towards the end of the movie, they confront Merlin and demand he put them in their correct bodies. He does so, although their tails seem to have been switched this time (in the next scene, this is shown to have been corrected as well).

At the end of the movie, Puss helps Shrek and Fiona care for their new born triplets. He has trouble with them pulling his fur and tail.

Shrek Forever After

In the fourth film, Puss is seen as a regular guest at Shrek's home, eating dinner with Shrek's family and telling the children of the tale of how Shrek met Fiona. He is not properly seen again until Shrek has entered the alternate reality made by Rumpelstiltskin. Here, he has retired from swordsmanship and has become obese and shiftless, and Fiona's pet as well. He befriends Shrek when he realizes there was a spark of romantic interest between Shrek and Fiona. Puss takes part in the ambush on Rumplestiltskin's ogre hunt, but Fiona's army of ogres are captured by the Pied Piper. Puss and Donkey rescue Shrek and Fiona from the Piper, but Fiona leaves in anger when she thought Puss told Shrek everything about her.

Puss and Donkey later lead the ogres in the battle against Rumpelstiltskin's forces, and helps save Shrek and Fiona from Dragon. Puss eventually disappears with everything else when Fiona's curse is broken and reality is restored. In the real world, Puss celebrates the ogre babies' first birthday with everyone else.

Shrek the Halls

Puss tells the story of Santa Claus as a smooth Spanish cat (similar to himself). He is distracted from telling the tale when he sees a glass Christmas tree ornament and begins batting at it. When he realises what he was doing, he walks away muttering "I have shamed myself". Later, when Shrek explains that he never celebrated Christmas before and wanted it to come right, Puss tells his friend "Christmas just comes".

Puss in Boots

One year later, Puss left Far Far Away to live his own life of adventures, presumably tired of living a normal life and also to restor his honor.

He gets captured by a man that wanted the reward for his capture but he luckily escapes and goes back to San Ricardo, where he hides in a bar where some men tells him that the Magic Beans are real and they take to the Golden Goose but that they're owned by the fearsome outlaws Jack and Jill. Seeing this as an opportunity to restore his name, Puss goes in Jack and Jill's house but he gets obstacolated by a female cat named Kitty Softpaws, also searching for the Magic Beans.

After almost getting killed by Jack and Jill since they both got caught by the two killers, Puss follows Kitty to a bar run by alley cats, where he finds out that she is working with his former friend, Humpty. After Humpty, who had followed the two, explains to Puss that he wants a second chance, Puss agrees to help him find the beans/golden eggs, making it clear that he is doing it for the town and his mother who adopted him, not for Humpty. The three of them set off to find Jack and Jill, finally seeing them coming towards them, hiding in a canyon type place in the desert. Kitty jumps onto their cart which is pulled by warthogs, followed by Puss, while Humpty readies their getaway vehicle. Puss lowers Kitty into the back of the cart, who struggles to open the box the beans are held in (which is around Jack's hand), with Puss urging her to use her claws. She finally admits to him that she has no claws, which wakes up one of the baby warthogs sleeping in the back. Puss drops in beside her and opens the box with his claws as Kitty quiets the baby pig, giving him to Puss as she uses her paws to get the beans from Jack's hand, giving them to Puss. Just as they are about to leave, Puss accidentally backs up and steps on two pigs' tails, alerting Jack and Jill, who drop into the bottom where they are. They manage to get outside, jam the levers to force their seats to stay up, and tie up their heads, signaling Humpty to get their own cart besides the one they're on now. Kitty jumps onto the cart, but Jill headbutts Puss before he can, briefly knocking him out and causing him to drop the beans, which bounce around the top of the cart, almost falling off. Puss gets them back while fighting Jill, who somehow escaped, but she grabs him and dangles him over the edge of the cart and the canyon, about to drop him. Humpty rams the side of their cart and Puss lands back in their cart, and they get away. Kitty explains to Puss, as they are riding in the cart, that her adoptive owners got her claws removed for an unknown reason (although she does suggest it was for shredding the curtains or "playing too roughly with the hamster").

They make it to the perfect spot to plant them, being directed in the right way by Humpty, and plant the beans in a bare, sandy area, right as a storm cloud comes overhead, and a giant funnel of green-lit clouds and wind comes spinning down the place they planted the beans, cracking the sand, then suddenly disappearing, leaving only a small weed where the beans are buried. Kitty suggests Humpty talk to it and he does, but he barely gets a few words out before a giant beanstalk shoots up out of the ground, taking them with it, higher and higher into the clouds before it finally stops. The three got off and surprisingly are able to stand and walk on the clouds without difficulty, although their voices grow higher due to the thin air (their voices return to normal in the normal air pressure of the castle.) They see a castle type building and they enter it, not having to fear the giant, as Humpty says that the Giant and his wife have been dead for years; although, there is a beast in the castle, which if gazed upon, allegedly turns the gazer to stone though no one knows for sure because none have lived to tell the tale. They cross the water far below and get to the island. With only a small run-in with whatever the beast is, they find the golden eggs and a gosling that lays them. They take the gosling because the eggs are far too heavy and make it to the edge of the island before the rope they used to get across is broken, and they fall down into the canyon, the beast not far behind. As they are trying to get away, Kitty falls into the water, unable to pull herself back onto the branch due to her not having claws, but she is saved by Puss. They escape and get back down to the ground, cutting the beanstalk down and rejoicing over getting the golden goose. They briefly dance, and Humpty pulls Kitty aside to tell her to not lose focus, obviously talking about her falling in love with Puss. Kitty seems about to tell Puss something, but is interrupted by Humpty and leaves to get rest, leaving Humpty and Puss outside with the goose. Puss tells Humpty he is glad to have his brother back, and Humpty goes to sleep with the goose lying on top of him. Meanwhile, Jack and Jill suddenly come up behind Puss and knock him unconscious.

Puss wakes up and goes back to San Ricardo, believing Jack and Jill kidnapped Humpty and Kitty. There he discovers that Humpty bertrayed him and that everyone was involved, even a regretful Kitty.

Puss gets arrested for the Bank Robbery and in primo he discovers from the real Jack that the mother of the Golden Goose is coming for her baby and will destroy San Ricardo, just like Humpty planned.

He gets saved by Kitty and escapes from prison to confronti Humpty and convinces him to help him to save the city and that he's better than that.

The Golden Goose gets given back to her mother but Humpty dies sacrificing himself to save Puss and the Goose, leaving a Golden Egg which the mother takes back to the Castle.

Now famous as an hero that saved the city, Puss leaves the city with Kitty and later they share a kiss becoming a couple.

Puss in Boots: The Three Diablos

A few days after saving San Ricardo, Puss is riding his horse in the deserto until he gets captured by Italian guards. He gets hired by the Princess to stop a criminal called The Whisperer and to do that she asks him to bring his three minions, called Three Diablos with him as they know where he is.

When he discovers they're three cute innocent kittens Puss is surprised that they're so infamous minions of The Whisperer but later he finds out about their devilish nature when they turn on him as they're walking in the desert and bury him alive.

Puss survives and, using his cute eyes, captures them and tells them that he's gonna bring them back to prison until he finds out they're orphans, just like him.

Understanding that they got bertrayed by The Whisperer just like he got bertrayed by Humpty, Puss decides to help them going in the right path and gives them names: Gonzalo, Sir Timotheo The Third and Perla. Togheter, they fight The Whisperer and accidentally kills him when he falls from the cliff where they were fighting.

The three kittens becomes the new guards of the Princess and Puss says goodbye to them, proclaiming that they will not forget about him but before he can finish the guards close the door.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

TBA

Video Game Appearances

Puss in Boots appeared as a playable character in Shrek 2, Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After. In Shrek 2 he also appeared as a boss.

He also appears in Shrek Super Slam as one of the 10 starting characters. His Super Slam is that he uses his "cute face" and stuns the opponents with that.

He also appears in Shrek Smash and Crash Racing. Puss in Boots is one of the eight unlockable racers in this game. Puss's kart is a Bull and his personal item is his hat.

He is also the main playable character in the video game : Puss In Boots.

Trivia

• In Shrek 2, when Shrek grabs Puss, he mentions his parents. However, it is revealed in Puss in Boots that Puss is an orphan, though he might have been referring to Imelda as his mother and the Three Diablos as the litter of little brothers (although there is a girl).
• In Shrek 2, when Puss is fighting with Shrek, he sneaks into Shrek's clothings, and he burst through the ogre's shirt, this may be a reference to the chestburster scene in the sci-fi/horror film Alien.
• In the Shrek 2 video game, Puss weighs about 50 pounds.
• Puss calls Shrek "boss" or "señor" instead of his real name.
• Puss' Shrek form is based on Zorro's (whom Banderas also portrayed in the The Mask of Zorro and The Legend of Zorro) fighting style, accent (Spanish) and personality. While attacking Shrek, he used his sword to scratch up a P, a parody of Zorro's trademark move. In Shrek the Third, Donkey, while in Puss' body, scratches a D instead. Puss also hates Mondays, as revealed in the Poison Apple bar (a similar trait to Garfield).
• He makes a very strange appearance on the casual game "Indy Cat" (the parody of Indiana Jones) by PlayFlock. The outfit used for the cat appears to be the Deluxe Indiana Jones costume. The boots used in this variant of Puss in Boots isn't intact on that game.
• He does not appear in the first film or 4D ride for obvious reasons, though he does make a non-speaking cameo in the musical.
• Puss in Boots stars in the Netflix series The Adventures of Puss in Boots where he protects the hidden city of San Lorenzo. The series is not canon to the movie or the Shrek franchise at all.
• When Puss cries, as seen in Shrek 2 and Puss In Boots: The Three Diablos, he wipes his nose, not his eye.