Fairy Godmother - in Fiction

In Fiction

Fairy godmothers appear frequently in fairytale fantasy, especially comic versions and retellings of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Mercedes Lackey presents a gently lampooned version of the concept in her Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, in which Fairy Godmother and White Wizard are career options for young women and men who have access to magic, the blessing of the Fae folk, and a certain depth of character.

In William Makepeace Thackeray's The Rose and the Ring, the fairy Blackstick concludes that her gifts have not done her godchildren good; in particular, she has given two of her goddaughters the title ring and the title rose, which have the power to make whoever owns them beautiful, which have ruined the character of those goddaughters; with the next prince and princess, she gives them "a little misfortune", which proves the best gift, as their difficulties form their characters.

In C. S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew, when Uncle Andrew explains how he made the magical rings from dust left to him by his godmother, he points out that she may have had fairy blood, and so he might have been the last man to have a fairy godmother.

The Fairly OddParents is a humorous cartoon where the fairies Cosmo and Wanda are (rather incompetent) godparents.

In Shrek 2, the fairy godmother turns out to be a conniving, crooked businesswoman (with a personality rather like that of the Stepmother in Cinderella), who is quite willing to resort to blackmail and/or murder to further her own interests. The pure reason for helping princesses gain a happily ever after with Prince Charming is the fact that Prince Charming is actually the Fairy Godmother's son, and through the marriage he will gain the throne.

The Discworld novel Witches Abroad also features a plotting fairy godmother, Lady Lilith de Tempscire, who uses the power of stories to control the city of Genua. During the book Magrat Garlick also takes on the role, but throws away the magic wand at the end.

In The Dresden Files novels (primarily Grave Peril and Summer Knight), the main character, a modern wizard named Harry Dresden is revealed to have a faerie godmother by the name of Leanansidhe who enjoys ensnaring Harry in one-sided deals.

Once Upon a Midnight features the character of Angelica, the Blue Fairy, an overzealous fairy godmother.

The first King's Quest game features a fairy godmother of the main character Graham who can grant him invincibility.

Another fairy godmother is Mama Odie, the 197-year-old, blind Voodoo lady of the Bayou who appears in Disney's The Princess and the Frog. She helps Tiana and Prince Naveen find what is really important, not always what you want, but what you need. As a fairy godmother, she shows motherly actions, in showing Tiana and Naveen the right path. Mama Odie also uses her good voodoo to counter Dr. Facilier's dark voodoo magic, saving frog Tiana and Naveen from near disaster. Mama Odie also has her "Seeing Eye" snake, Juju, who helps her with her daily activities. Also referred to as "The Fairy Godmother of the Bayou", Mama Odie is also the one who weds Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen at the end of the movie. She is kind, loving, and is very motherly.

In the TV Series True Blood, Season 4, Episode 1, the character Sookie learns she has a Fairy Godmother.