Back in the year 840, we all thought Floch Forster was one of those characters in Anime who at first, looked like someone who could be easily disposed of. He was a coward and constantly opposed the main cast of characters and didn’t seem to shut up about it.
But his character took a complete U-turn when he formed a group of like-minded crazy individuals called The Yeagerists. From then on, he was famously known as King Floch by many fans.
This detailed blog will cover the interesting topic of Floch and his journey to becoming one of the most important characters of Attack on Titan or in other words – The rise of Floch Forster.
Take the help of the contents table below to jump on the different parts of the blog.
- Who is Floch Forster?
- Floch in AOT Season 3
- Floch in AOT Season 4
- How did Floch React in Marley?
- The Birth of the Yeagerists
- How and Why did Floch Become a Yeagerist?
- Why is Floch Loyal to Eren?
- The Dangerous Personality of Floch
- Why is Floch Hated?
- People refer to Floch as “King Floch”, why?
- Why did Floch want to kill Levi?
- After The Rumbling
- Did Floch know about Eren’s plan?
- How Strong is Floch?
- What can you learn from Floch Forster?
- Conclusion
For starters, let us have some basic info.
Who is Floch Forster?
Floch Forster is an Eldian who loves to raise his voice and speak up whenever the time comes. And he does it very well. Also, he is very bold and has a twisted way of doing things.
But he wasn’t like this at the start.
He joined the Scouts just before their mission to take back Shiganshina District and find the clue in the basement of Eren’s house. At that time, Floch was a complete coward.
But soon, everything changed.
Floch in AOT Season 3
Even before the final season, Floch was on his way to becoming a major character when the Return to Shinganshina arc commenced. This arc completely changed his view about life and how to move forward from thereon.
In this arc, his first personality trait was discovered.
The Cowardice of Floch
Floch was one of the new Scout recruits who were up against the Beast titan and its army of pure titans. When Zeke was throwing rocks at the Scouts, Floch was terrified. He panicked and at that time Captain Levi was there to help him through it.
He cursed himself for joining the Scouts and that gave him the possible thought of dying a ‘meaningless’ death.
Judging the character of Floch at the start of his introduction, he seemed to be a confident character but this image of his was overturned in this part of the arc.
But later, a tragic event occurred and another characteristic of Floch was shown to the world.
Floch’s Questioning Behavior
After Levi took down the Beast Titan, one of the most emotional parts of the whole story put itself forward.
On one hand, Armin was burned and basically dead and on the other hand, Erwin was brutally injured and was about to leave the world. Eren and Mikasa chose Armin to survive whereas Levi and Hange vowed for Erwin to be reborn.
In this situation, Floch stepped up and put his new formed view over life.
Let’s rewind a bit here.
Floch regarded his life as something meaningless, but during the Scouts’ suicide charge towards the Beast Titan, Floch survived whereas a lot of his comrades having more potential than him including Marco, died. He thought why he was the only one alive.
This survival moment completely changed him.
This is where Floch’s new perspective was born and from here on he started gaining momentum and developed his habit of asking bold questions to our main cast of AOT.
Floch’s Ideology
Coming back to the Armin and Erwin situation, Floch straight up chose Erwin to survive as he thought that only a “devil” could take them forward.
Only a devil could save humanity and only a devil could win against the titans.
He wanted Erwin to become a devil and lead the way because to become a devil, you have to sacrifice your humanity and the one who wants to change something has to lose something in order to achieve it.
From a logical and realistic point of view, Floch was definitely right.
From a writing standpoint, Armin’s survival was the correct choice because if Commander Erwin was alive at the time of Season 4, it wouldn’t be as chaotic and entertaining as it was originally in the story.
Floch in AOT Season 4
Eren is the star of Attack on Titan Season 4 and it would not be wrong to say that Floch is the second star of the same season. Season 4 established Floch as one of the most influential and well-written characters.
A lot of things changed in this season.
- Marley’s perspective was shown
- Reiner’s depression got real
- Eren became homeless
And Floch changed his hairstyle!
How did Floch React in Marley?
During the raid at Liberio, Eren destroyed a lot of lives and that was when Floch’s same, old perspective received the spotlight again. But this time his “devil” was not Erwin but Eren.
Eren had set his mind to crush Marley 4 years back in season 3 and he did exactly that in season 4. Floch knew that only a devil could take the people of Paradis forward and Eren was that devil now.
And just like that Floch had got himself a devil figure.
At that time, Floch even wanted to kill the civilians of Marley. Jean had told him to keep the civilian casualty to a minimum, but he didn’t care about that.
During the Scouts’ escape from Marley, Sasha was shot by Gabi. Floch got hold of Gabi and Falco and asked Jean for his permission to throw them off the airship.
This shows that Floch didn’t hesitate to do whatever he could to punish his enemies. According to him, it didn’t matter if they were kids, enemies had to be shown their place in a cruel world like the AOT universe.
In place of Floch, would you have thrown the two kids off the airship?
The Birth of the Yeagerists
When the Scouts came back to the island, Eren was arrested and Floch wasn’t happy with that. After all, Eren destroyed their enemies, so according to Floch, there was nothing wrong with that.
But Hange didn’t agree as she thought that the already damaged image of Eldians was now irreparable after the Marley invasion and arrested Floch too.
At this point, many would agree with Floch as he didn’t say anything wrong.
It was war.
It was either kill or be killed. Floch wasn’t happy with “be killed”. And to be honest, Eren started fighting only after Willy Tybur had declared war, so it was fair.
But surely, killing the civilians wasn’t.
For Floch though, only Eren could save Eldia. Therefore, he wasn’t going to just sit back and watch Paradis getting destroyed by the Global alliance.
For this, he gathered many soldiers, got himself free from prison, blew up Dhalis Zachary, got Eren free and created a group of like-minded people fighting for a cause.
This group came to be known as The Yeagerists (also called The Jeagerists).
How and Why did Floch Become a Yeagerist?
Floch was a loyal follower of Eren Yeager. According to him, only Eren could save Paradis as he was hell-bent on destroying Marley. Plus, he had the power of the Founding Titan and that was how Eren could destroy the nation of Marley.
Therefore, when Eren got arrested, Floch wasn’t happy with that. To get Eren free from prison, he gathered many individuals and started a faction called The Yeagerists.
Together with Eren, Floch worked on finding Zeke in order to use the Founding titan’s powers and destroy Marley.
Why is Floch Loyal to Eren?
Loyalty is one of the best parts of Floch’s character. We have seen a lot of loyalty pairs in Attack on Titan such as:
- Erwin and Levi
- Hange and Moblit (underrated)
- Eren and Mikasa
But I highly doubt that any one of the above has the loyalty of Floch that he has towards Eren.
As I mentioned, Floch believes in Eren because according to him, he is the only one who can guarantee the survival of Paradis.
Floch didn’t ask questions to Eren as for him, there was nothing wrong with Eren’s actions, unlike others, who questioned his actions to a certain degree that they had to arrest him.
But most importantly, Eren was the devil figure that Floch was looking for in season 3.
The Dangerous Personality of Floch
When The Yeagerists faction was born, Eren instructed Floch to find Zeke. Floch approached Hange and asked her to tell him the location of Zeke. Hange didn’t tell what Floch wanted to hear, so he restrained the Scouts.
And at that moment, the iconic moment of Eren’s most loyal follower appeared.
Floch wanted to recruit more members for the Yeagerists, so he approached Keith Shadis and told the recruits to fight for Eren. He even told them to show their resolve by beating Keith to a “pulp”.
Why is Floch Hated?
The merciless beating of Keith Shadis majorly started the hatred of the fans towards Floch. This moment seemed as if he was starting a gang in a hood.
He told everyone to do as he said and if they didn’t then the consequences would follow, and usually, it would be in the form of having a bullet in their heads.
This confirms that Floch is cruel.
In the Keith situation, Floch wanted to inform the new recruits that their enemies weren’t titans anymore. The enemies were humans now.
Again, he wasn’t wrong. But his ways of doing things were harsh.
People refer to Floch as “King Floch”, why?
In season 4, Floch behaves like a literal king. These are the things that he did to be called a king: –
- He acts as the leader of the Yeagerists
- Orders people around
- Forces Hange and the others to spill out the location of Zeke.
Why did Floch want to kill Levi?
It isn’t sure if Floch really wanted to kill Levi, but surely, humanity’s strongest soldier was his enemy because according to him, Levi was the biggest hindrance in Eren and Zeke’s plan.
Just before the Rumbling started, Zeke had injured Levi to a near-death state.
At first, Floch was relieved that without getting in direct combat with Levi, his opponent was already rendered out of the battle.
Again, this moment fueled the hatred towards Floch.
After The Rumbling
When Eren activated the Rumbling by betraying Zeke, everyone was shocked. I bet you were too!
The Rumbling meant that Floch’s enemies outside Paradis would be killed without him doing any of the work. The millions of wall titans would crush everything, therefore, securing the victory for Paradis.
While Eren did all the work outside, Floch wanted to do the “work” inside.
He wanted to kill all his enemies inside the walls so that only Eldians would prevail. Jean questioned Floch asking him who was it that told him to act like a king.
Floch’s cruel behaviour was again given light as he shot a guy who liked Niccolo.
Who did Floch shoot in the head?
Floch shot an unknown guy three times while Jean and the others watched in horror.
At this moment, Floch dropped another truth and solidified himself as being one of the most important characters in AOT.
Did Floch know about Eren’s plan?
Yes, Floch knew about Eren’s plan of the rumbling the whole time. This was the truth that Floch told everyone present in the “cleansing ceremony”, including Jean.
Eren’s master plan of destroying everything outside Paradis was known to Floch even when Eren’s closest friends didn’t know anything about it. Jean was shocked at this reveal.
This reveal alone shows that Floch was Eren’s best man.
Eren trusted Floch as his approach toward having a free Eldian Empire was beneficial for the people of Paradis.
How Strong is Floch?
Floch is a very strong soldier for Paradis. This was evident when in episode 86, at one point, he went up against the Jaw Titan and the Cart Titan alone, and survived! Not only this, but he also blocked an attack and kicked Hange Zoe, Commander of the Scouts.
Floch is one of the most experienced soldiers that Paradis has and he finally showed why. Many viewers were stunned after seeing a fire show from Floch.
What can you learn from Floch Forster?
There are multiple things to learn from this character. They are:-
Loyalty
I believe, no one needs any more info on this as Floch’s whole character arc is based on being loyal to someone. First, it was Erwin and now, Eren.
Determination
Floch wanted to free Paradis from the wrath of the world and show them their place after all the cruel atrocities they committed toward the island.
After so much time, with the help of Eren, he could finally destroy his enemies. Although his ways were truly harsh, this showed that he could do anything to achieve what he wanted.
He even worked with Zeke, the guy who killed everyone except Floch back in season 3. Floch suppressed all the hatred towards Zeke and worked for a better cause.
Any other character would have wanted to kill Zeke and take revenge. Floch … was different.
Conclusion
It doesn’t matter that there are many people who hate Floch, but his cause to die for Eldia is no match for anyone. Most of the time, Floch was right as his harsh statements spoke the truth which others didn’t like to hear.
Although the genocide was very cruel, Floch was all right with it and didn’t care about anyone, not even the kids, outside Paradis.
He thought that the crimes committed by the people outside and their hate for the people of Paradis had to be demolished. And that demolition was to happen with a genocide.
Floch Forster, without a doubt, has one of the best character developments in the story.
If Erwin was alive in season4, Floch and Erwin would be one of the most interesting and menacing duos in the entire story.
Is Floch a good character?
Yes, he is a very well-written character.
What are your thoughts about Floch Forster? Do you like him or not?
Don’t forget to share this post with your friends and loved ones or the hardcore Yeagerists!
