Why Flowery is one of Deltarune's most tragic characters.
(Spoilers for all of chapter 5's main route.)
I don't think enough people are talking about just how heartbreaking of a character Flowery really is, and the rest of the flowers too on some level.
I get that we love to joke and make memes about him, even hate on him a little just for fun, but I want to see more serious analysis of this guy, because his story is one of the most poignantly tragic in the entire game.
So I'm gonna say my piece about him, this will be a bit ramble-y but I hope it gets my point across.
Flowery is aware of the prophecy and what it means. While it's unclear exactly how, I think we can assume that at some point Asgore might've read the story to his flowers, maybe Gerson's Lord of the Hammer books? But regardless of how, we know that Flowery is fully aware of the prophecy because of his interactions with Ralsei.
So, from the moment the dark world is created, from the moment he gains sentience, Flowery knows that sooner or later the fountain will be sealed, and his world will end. From the start, everything he does is with this fact in mind.
And what does he do with this time he knows is limited? He tries to make Asgore happy.
He's very misguided about it, sure, but he so obviously genuinely wants Asgore to be happy, he genuinely wants him and his fellow flowers to be like a new family for him, because they all grew their entire lives up until now hearing Asgore's stories get progressively more sad, intimately understanding how Asgore's life is falling apart.
It's funny, as self-centered as he may come off, he spends vanishingly little of his time as a sentient being focused on himself, instead he makes it all about how Asgore feels, he makes his entire world revolve around Asgore, because even if he knows deep down that he can't be there forever, he can at least TRY to make Asgore happy in this moment.
And he knows who's gonna do it, too. He knows exactly who the people destined to destroy his world and cast him and his fellow flowers back into unconsciousness are, the heroes of the prophecy, Kris, Susie, and Ralsei.
And what does he try to do? He tries to help them, too. While yes, he's antagonistic towards the Fun Gang, he makes it clear in his pre-boss dialogue that he only acted that way because it was what he thought would make Ralsei actually realize that his mentalities were messed up, he wants Ralsei to know freedom, to realize he's allowed to be happy.
Does this excuse him bullying Ralsei? Well, that's really up to you. I think what he was trying to do came from the right place, and in many ways, it even worked, but there may have been a better way to make Ralsei have the realizations that he wanted him to without being a massive asshole. I don't think he was clearly in the wrong OR in the right here, much like in his actions towards Asgore.
But still, he became the exact person he believed Ralsei needed. He knew these people were going to destroy everything he'd built, or at least that they were going to try, and Ralsei was the most dedicated of them all, and he STILL tried to help!
And finally, when it did come time for him to stand against them in combat, he did. Even though he knew the prophecy had unfolded exactly as written so far, even though he knew he had next to no chance of actual meaningful victory, he still tried. He still fought for his world. He still stood alongside all of his friends and family and TRIED.
But y'know what he didn't do? What he wouldn't do, that every other deltarune arc villain did? He wouldn't kill them. He won't kill the heroes, even to save his world, even to save everything he loves, because at his heart, Flowery is principled. He won't cross that line, he won't kill three actual children, even if he probably has better motivations to do so than, like, any other previous arc villain.
But by not killing them, by letting the heroes try over and over again, he knows that sooner or later, they'll win. He's heard the stories, he knows they won't give up.
When Kris doesn't get up at the end of their fight, when he realizes they might be actually seriously hurt, Flowery is shocked and very obviously realizes he took it too far.
And then Asgore tells Flowery exactly what he fears most: he could never genuinely be happy there, he was just playing along with Flowery to learn more about the dark worlds. Asgore did genuinely think Flowery's attempts to make him happy were sweet, but he also intimately understands the dangers of the dark world, as perfectly demonstrated by Kris getting hurt even when Flowery didn't mean for them to.
So, the heroes say their goodbyes and go to seal the fountain, and Flowery knows his world is going to end, just like the prophecy said.
And then, finally, the Roaring Knight takes Asgore.
And even after being told to his face that Asgore was just playing along throughout it all, even after KNOWING that he and his fantasy world would NEVER be enough for Asgore, Flowery still wants to help him more than anything.
So he fights the Roaring Knight, a fight he cannot possibly win because the heroes are fated to clash with it in the end, and... He dies.
(Alright, we don't know for sure if he's dead. I suspect it might depend on player actions in future chapters, perhaps you need to make sure to go back to the flower shop to take care of the flowers while Asgore's gone, but at least for the moment, he is most likely dead. The scene is played like a character death, and thematically, that's what it is.)
And you know what he says while he's dying?
He comments on how useless flowers are. He says how he knows he could never help in any real way, literally parroting the exact purpose talk and lack of self worth he tried to discourage in Ralsei, because when you put aside all the bravado, Flowery has many of the same insecurities.
It's Ralsei who refutes this, telling him that he and his fellow flowers serve an important and beautiful purpose, in a beautiful semi-reversal of their dynamic up until this point... But it's still ultimately about innate purpose, something darkners can't seem to escape.
Flowery can only hope his words were enough, that maybe, just maybe, he might've made Ralsei think. He might've prompted some level of prominent change, because even if he does survive as a flower in the light world, Ralsei still more or less outlives him once his world is gone.
But you know what caps it all off? What REALLY makes it so tragic?
Flowery's plan never could've worked, even if he had defeated the heroes and kept his fountain.
Because the flowers are between lightners and darkners.
It's established all the way back in chapter one that food and water consumed in the dark world won't actually sustain someone from the light world, after all, it's not "real." So what about the flowers?
While, as Ralsei says, they need to be taken care of. They need water and sunlight, otherwise they'll wither. If there is a dark world in the flower shop, they can't be taken care of.
So, ultimately, Flowery's world was always doomed, prophecy or not. If it had stuck around, he and the other flowers would've all eventually died, with no one to take care of them, no water, no sunlight, nothing.
It was always a dream, beautiful but temporary.
But... At least we got to see it. At least we got to watch their dreams, to be there, to learn who all seven of them are as people, to understand them, and ultimately, at least we got to say goodbye.
I don't know. Just a thought.
