Prince Charming is a stock character who originates in a number of fairy tales. He is the prince who comes to the rescue of the damsel in distress, and typically must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. The name has been given to the heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, including Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella.

These characters are often handsome and romantic, a foil to the heroine, and are seldom deeply characterized, or even distinguishable from other such men who marry the heroine. In many variants, they can be viewed more as rewards for the heroine rather than characters.”

Catherine Orenstein, Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale, p 121, ISBN 0-465-04125-6

prolly the truth lies in the last sentence of the second paragraph. this prince charming is only one of all those shallow things she always gets because of the fact she is a princess. a true character instead doesn’t give a shit for the princess, he longs for the girl inside and offers a place where she can be herself. This place is where real love “ever after” exists. dont we learn that from shrek?