I never thought a cute little flower with a happy face would try to kill me as he threw “friendliness pellets” for me to catch, not to mention watching Flowey’s face distort into a terrifying smile with sharp teeth as he surrounds your soul with deadly bullets, was quite unsettling. However this intrigued me, his deception reminded me of a typical trickster trying to cease an opportunity. Undertale is a role-playing game “where [the player doesn’t] have to kill anyone.” (Undertale.com) The player controls a human, Frisk, who has fallen into the Underground, landing on a bed of yellow flowers, which are associated with Flowey as he is the only talking plant in the game. Every other monster has a resemblance animals. This pushed Flowey into a character that does not fit in only one box as he has characteristics that easily spill over into different categories . The underground is home to the monster race. They were exiled after a war broke out between humans and monsters.
Flowey is the first monster the player encounters in the underground. He appears as a helpful monster who is showing the player how to navigate the fighting system of the game. Flowey even greets the player with a cheery, “Howdy!” As his happy theme plays in the background, Flowey encourages the player to get stronger by increasing their “LV” or what flowy misguidedly calls “love.” LV stands for “levels of violence,” which the player can choose to raise by fighting monsters and gain “EXP” in video games EXP usually stands for experience points. The player can gain them by completing tasks in a gaim or killing monsters. However in Undertale EXP stands for “execution point,” bringing into question the role the player has on the Monster world. Flowey is encouraging the player to gain as much “love” as possible, being a force toward chaos and destruction.
If the player ignores his advice and evades the incoming “friendliness pellets,” Flowey shifts into a sharp creepy smile and proceeds to insult the human. Flowey sees this as a good opportunity to kill the human and steal their soul for himself in order to pass through the magical barrier since only a human soul is powerful enough to do so. However he is stopped by Toriel the caretaker of the ruins and queen of the Underground, who takes in the human after his encounter with Flowey. Flowey then follows the player’s journey throughout the game. He can be seen tailing the player for a brief second before vanishing into the ground below him.
After staying with Toriel for a while, the player quickly learns that she has no intention of letting you leave the Ruins because she wants to protect the human from the king of the underground, Asgore. Asgore is known for killing any human who falls into the underground and preserves the souls in order to become powerful enough to free the monster race, he currently has six souls. Toriel shows the player how to act and defeat monsters in various ways, like making conversation or laughing at one of their jokes. The player will then use these tactics in order to get past the Ruins to reach the surface. Once the player spares Toriel in the Ruins, Flowey makes another appearance. Flowey mocks the player for saving Toriel’s soul by questioning the player’s actions, “But what will you do if you meet a relentless killer? You’ll die and you’ll die and you’ll die.” Flowey is questioning the morals of the player, asking how long it will take before they “kill out of frustration,” because the moment this happens he will be ready to take the human soul for himself and inherit their power. Flowey admits to manipulating the save files himself, making a being that lives in-between reality and the game of Undertale. The player does not encounter Flowey directly for the rest of his journey through Snowdin (a small town of monsters) and Hotland (a sort of volcano area) before the Castle, where King Asgore lives and where the barrier to the surface is located. However, Flowey can be spotted following the player. When returning to an area he can be seen briefly at the bottom of the left right screen before vanishing into the ground below him.
Asgore is the only character in the game that you cannot spare because he destroys the option of “mercy.” Asgore is determined to free the monsters and rule the surface. The player is forced to fight him and ends up injuring him. Asgore then reveals his feelings of regret and guilt, blaming himself for the war and his son’s death, who was killed by humans. He shares how his wife left him after becoming disgusted in who he had become. The human decides to spare Asgore and as he is kneeling expressing his gratitude for sparing him and promising to take care of the player while he is in the underground, Flowey steps in to claim the kill. He takes the final hit and absorbs the soul of the king and the soul’s of the six humans. This gives Flowey enough power to transform into Omega Flowey.
Omega Flowey is unlike anything the player has encountered in the game. The design itself is an extremely photoshopped version of Flowey with extreme detail, this contrasts the game which consist of pixel art and simple design. While the rest of the fights take place in black and white this fight’s intensity is demonstrated with the vibrant colors used. Flowey has a T.V. for his face which, shifts between a black and white distorted face. Flowy uses a variety of different attacks from ultra realistic flies that damage you as a venus fly trap has a treat at the bottom of the screen. It is in this difficult boss fight that the player finds power of flowey. Flowey is able to reload a safe file just like the player. Flowely pulls this sneak move on the player as soon as he is low on health, he acts like he is spazzing out but he loads his safe file, resetting his health and smirks at the player.
Soon the human then gathers with all the monsters that have helped him throughout his journey, and as they are happy everyone is okay they soon wonder who told them where to gather. Papyrus, a skelton brother that helped the human evade persecution from Asgore’s royal guard, reveals that, “a tiny flower helped [him].” Flowey is again a sneaky guy and uses Frisk as a way to gather every monster and human soul in order to become unstoppable. Flowey is again the catalyst for chaos, as the friends who were making up Flowey used that time to steal all of six human souls as well as capture the souls of the monsters. Flowey tells the player his plan of using the souls to reach his true self and defeat the player once and for all. He wants the player to play with him forever saying, “if you win you won’t want to play with me anymore.” Flowey justifies his actions of stealing the soul by wanting to keep the player in the world for eternity and he shows that he is willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Flowey takes every monster soul in the Underground and takes the six souls and transforms into his ultimate self, Asriel Dreemur.
As each soul remembers who they are and what the human meant to them they are able to gain control and Asriel loses defense which gives hope to the player. With all the souls inside him Asriel is able to feel compassion and you learn that he once had a brother, the first human who was taken in by the king and queen. This feelings makes him realize his actions and turn into himself, his real self.
Ariel is revealed to be only a child. A child who lost hope after losing his brother and friend, Chara, the first human to land in the underground. Because every monster cares deeply about each other, Asriel is able to love again. He asks for forgiveness, and shows regret. Asriel then further embodies the trickster by becoming the savior of the monster race. It is Asriel after all who breaks the barrier and returns every monster back their soul. However without the souls Asriel explains that he will not be able to keep his form, “In a little while… I’ll turn back into a flower… I’ll stop being myself again… It’s best to forget about me.” Frisk then shows compassion and comforts Asriel in his last moments, embracing him in a deep emotional hug.
Flowey is a hard character to put into a box. He is not fully good or bad, as the player you learn to see Flowey for who he is, Asriel, a lonely kid, who just wants a lifelong friend. However, Asriel is not fully a monster either since he was injected with determination, a trait only humans are known to have, in order to keep him alive as a flower. The trait that allow a human soul to persist after death, making it extremely powerful while, a monster soul can only stay around for a few seconds before perishing forever. This is the reason why flowly is forced to live on without being able to feel. This further shows how Flowey cannot be categorized and lives in a the realm of the in between he is not fully alive because he cannot feel.
Mythology 