Unmasking Flowey: Unveiling the True Identity of Undertale’s Sinister Bloom
Flowey’s real name is Asriel Dreemurr. He is the son of King Asgore and Queen Toriel, and his tragic backstory is central to the plot of the indie video game Undertale. His transformation into Flowey, a soulless flower, stems from a series of unfortunate events after his death, making him one of the most complex and intriguing characters in video game history.
The Prince’s Fall: Asriel’s Tragic History
Asriel Dreemurr lived a relatively normal life as a prince in the Underground, the realm of monsters. He befriended a human child named Chara, who had fallen into the Underground. They became incredibly close, essentially siblings. However, tragedy struck when Chara became ill and died.
Asriel, filled with grief, absorbed Chara’s soul. This allowed him to cross the Barrier, a magical boundary separating the Underground from the human world. Asriel carried Chara’s body to their village, fulfilling their wish to be buried among golden flowers. However, the villagers, misunderstanding his intentions and believing he had killed Chara, attacked Asriel.
Despite having the power to defend himself, Asriel did not fight back, knowing that he was fulfilling Chara’s last wish. Mortally wounded, he returned to the Underground, where he collapsed and died, his body turning to dust. This dust eventually landed on a patch of golden flowers in Asgore’s garden.
The Birth of Flowey: Determination and the Loss of a Soul
After Asriel’s death, the royal scientist Dr. Alphys began experimenting with determination, a powerful substance that could sustain life. She injected the golden flowers with determination, hoping to revive them. Unbeknownst to her, these flowers held Asriel’s dust. The experiment succeeded in giving the flower sentience, but it lacked something crucial: a soul.
This soulless flower became Flowey. He retained Asriel’s memories but could no longer feel emotions like love or compassion. This absence of a soul warped his perception of the world, leading to a cynical and nihilistic worldview. Flowey adopted a “kill or be killed” philosophy, believing that the only way to survive in the harsh world was to be ruthless. This belief fueled his actions as the game’s antagonist. He is scared of Chara because of her genocidal nature. He likely thought Chara would be proud, but it terrified him.
Flowey’s Role in Undertale: Villain or Victim?
Throughout Undertale, Flowey serves as the primary antagonist, manipulating events and attempting to gain power. He exploits the ability to reset the timeline, endlessly repeating events to achieve his goals. His actions are driven by a desire to feel something, anything, even if it’s just the thrill of causing pain.
However, Flowey’s character is not simply evil. He is a tragic figure, a victim of circumstance who lost his soul and his ability to feel. The game explores the question of whether he is truly responsible for his actions, given his lack of a soul. Flowey does not have a soul because his dust was placed on a flower in the garden and then injected with determination.
During the “Pacifist Route” ending, where the player befriends all the characters, Flowey’s true identity as Asriel Dreemurr is revealed. The power of friendship and compassion helps him to temporarily regain his soul and revert to his true form. In this moment, he experiences genuine remorse for his actions and pleads for forgiveness.
The Redemption of Asriel: A Hopeful Ending
The “Pacifist Route” offers a glimmer of hope for Asriel. After the final battle, he realizes the error of his ways and acknowledges the pain he has caused. While he cannot stay in his revived form indefinitely, he finds solace in the knowledge that he is capable of feeling love and compassion again.
Ultimately, Flowey’s story is a complex exploration of identity, loss, and redemption. It raises profound questions about the nature of good and evil, and whether individuals can be held accountable for their actions when they are deprived of their humanity. It also emphasizes the importance of empathy and understanding in a world that often seems cruel and unforgiving. Understanding the story and the impact of Undertale is a great way to learn through play, and you can find more resources about that on the Games Learning Society website. GamesLearningSociety.org is a fantastic resource for this topic.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Is Flowey evil?
While Flowey acts as the main antagonist, his actions are largely driven by his lack of a soul and inability to feel positive emotions. He’s more of a tragic figure than purely evil. Due to lacking a soul, Flowey can’t feel any positive emotions such as happiness or love. Flowey has a malevolent and cruel disposition, berating the protagonist for not following his “kill or be killed” philosophy.
2. Why is Flowey so powerful?
Flowey’s power stems from his ability to manipulate the timeline through SAVE files. This allows him to learn from his mistakes and control events to his advantage. He also becomes incredibly powerful when he absorbs the human souls. The SAVE is under Flowey’s name, his LV is 9999, and the play time is 9999:99. The player can only choose the “Continue” option, as any attempts to choose “Restart” are ineffective.
3. Can Flowey feel emotions?
Prior to regaining his soul in the “Pacifist Route”, Flowey is unable to feel genuine positive emotions like love or happiness. He can only experience fleeting satisfaction from causing pain or manipulating others. The reason Flowey is the ultimate embodiment of depression in Undertale.
4. Is Flowey stronger than Sans?
In terms of raw power, the God of Hyperdeath is literally indestructible. The only way to win against him at all is to emotionally drive him to the point of a mental breakdown. Other than that one weakness, he’s not called a god for nothing.
5. Does Flowey remember resets?
Yes, Flowey remembers resets due to his connection to determination and his ability to SAVE and LOAD timelines. This knowledge gives him a unique perspective and contributes to his jaded worldview. The reason is because Flowey is the only one who is able to remember anything after the timeline has been reset.
6. Did Alphys intend to create Flowey?
No, Alphys did not intentionally create Flowey. Her experiments with determination were aimed at reviving dead monsters, but the unintended consequence was the creation of a soulless entity with Asriel’s memories.
7. How do you defeat Flowey?
Flowey nearly wins because of save-spamming, but he’s theoretically beatable.
8. What happens to Flowey after the Pacifist ending?
After he is defeated, the protagonist has the chance to spare or kill Flowey.
9. Is Flowey depressed?
Flowey lacking a full soul prevents him from feeling anything, from feeling true emotion.
10. Is Alphys evil?
Alphys is the secondary antagonist of the Undertale fan-comic NegativeTale. She is a sadistic mad scientist who became Asgore’s Royal Scientist with the purpose of gaining funds for her own projects.
11. Was Alphys evil?
Like most Underfell characters, he has darker and more evil personality than his Undertale counterpart. Gaster was also the previous royal scientist, before Alphys took his place after the ‘incident’.
12. Is Toriel Frisk’s mother?
Toriel is the ex-wife of Asgore Dreemurr, Asriel’s biological mother, and Chara and Frisk’s adoptive mother. Toriel is first introduced at the beginning of the comic.
13. Who killed Asriel?
As his forces fight the armies of the Authority and the Church, Mrs Coulter tricks Metatron into trying to kill Lord Asriel and to take Lyra’s dæmon. As they are standing on the edge of the abyss, Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter sacrifice themselves, falling into the abyss and taking Metatron with them.
14. Can Flowey be killed?
After the protagonist completes all of the human SOUL segments, the human SOULs fully heal them and drop Photoshop Flowey’s DF to 0. When Flowey loses all of his HP, he abuses his powers over SAVE files, but is ultimately betrayed and defeated by the human SOULs and weakened to his original state.
15. Why is Chara evil?
In the Genocide Route, the player corrupts Frisk and in turn denies Chara’s salvation and causes them to become violent, similar to Flowey.
By understanding Asriel’s journey and transformation into Flowey, we can appreciate the depth and complexity of Undertale’s narrative.