In fairy tales, a fairy godmother is a fairy or person with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone.
Typically the fairy godmother's protègé is a prince or princess, and the godparent uses her magic to help or otherwise support them. The most well-known example is probably the fairy godmother in Cinderella.
The Fairly OddParents is a humouristic cartoon where 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.
see also: godparent
