Vikings: 5 Reasons We Love Floki (& 5 He’s The Worst)

Vikings boasts many colorful characters, but none of them are so unique nor remain so close to fans’ hearts as Floki. Floki appears early in the series as the master boat builder with a namesake one letter off from that of a trickster God, Loki–and the name befits the character.

Floki can tell the wood of a tree just from looking at the outside of it, as he memorably proclaims to Bjorn, and such is his whimsical nature that fans grow accustomed to. There are countless things about Floki that make him easy to love, but he doesn’t always make it so easy. He is, after all, a Viking.

10 Love Him: He Loves Ragnar

It’s hard not to find Floki’s loyalty to Ragnar touching, even if it is often expressed in less than preferable ways. Everything Floki does is, in some way, a testament to how much Ragnar means to him. This isn’t a healthy relationship, necessarily, but it remains true that Floki’s misguided attempts to help Ragnar are well-intended at heart, even if fueled by delusion.

9 He’s The Worst: He’s Jealous

Jealousy is never attractive, be it from a friend or a lover–and Floki is no exception to this. Floki’s resentment of Athelstan rears its ugly head in increasingly intense ways. At first, Floki is suspicious because Athelstan is a Christan, but eventually, his distaste for him becomes pure hatred due to Athelstan’s friendship with Ragnar.

8 Love Him: He Adores His Wife

Flok and Helga make the show’s most heartwarming couple; at first, at least. The two go through many trials and tribulations together, making fans love or hate Floki all the more or less…but when looking back on the roots of their relationship, one has to recognize the easy and adoring love they shared, one defined by a basic understanding and empathy for one another.

7 He’s The Worst: He Takes His Family For Granted

It’s possible that what makes Floki and Helga’s love so remarkable isn’t so much them as a couple, but more Helga’s love for Floki. Helga understands Floki better than anybody, and she has an immense capacity for tolerating his difficult behaviors.

It’s lovely just to watch Helga in her interacting with Floki–even he says to her that she is “too good”–but the fact that he means this seriously, and takes time away from her for more excitement than her goodness, is a bad point for his character.

6 Love Him: He’s A Skilled Craftsman

Floki is undeniably a ridiculous person in many respects, so much so that one is likely to forget that he is actually a very serious and skilled specialist in woodwork. That is, after all, the reason Floki was brought into the fold of the narrative in the first place; Ragnar needed him to make boats for his journey. Floki has many flaws, but it’s there’s a certain pleasure taken in watching a character who is passionate about their art, and good at it.

5 He’s The Worst: He’s Self-Obsessed

Floki will claim that everything he does is for the good of others until the cows come home–he’s doing it for the Gods, he’s doing it for the Viking people, for Kattegat, he’s doing it for Ragnar–when the reality is that much of his behavior comes from an obvious self-interest. Floki is insecure, something completely normal and human, but something so simple he also can’t face it for what it is.

4 Love Him: He’s Devoted

It’s enjoyable to witness a person who puts their all into everything they set their mind to, even if their aims aren’t the most admirable.

Moralizing aside, Floki is a hardcore person. He does what he says he will do, and he lives his life embodying the values that he preaches. Are many of those values a bit…skewed? Sure, but this only further proves the point, for Floki himself is also a bit off his rocker.

3 He’s The Worst: He Speaks For The Gods

Almost all of the characters are passionate about their individual devotion to the Gods, but Floki is the most outspoken of them all. Floki isn’t only passionate about his faith but becomes a sort of self-designated voice for the Gods. For some reason, many people tolerate and even go along with his assertions, but for the most part it’s confusing and tiresome.

2 Love Him: He’s Sympathetic

When viewers aren’t occupied being annoyed with Floki, it’s easy to suddenly realize how pitiable he is. Floki comes off as a pest and often a madman, but taking a modern-day perspective of his character allows one to see that Floki’s behaviors are a possible sign of a struggle with mental illness. Such a possibility wouldn’t define everything about his unique personality, but it certainly makes one consider how difficult things must have been for such people at that time.

1 He’s The Worst: He’s Narrow-Minded

The worst thing about Floki’s character is his inability to see anything outside of his own preferred version of the world. Floki has an idea about how things are and how things should be, and when somebody challenges that he goes haywire. This is the reason that he couldn’t stand for Athelstan and Ragnar being friends, and why he chose violence over a possible union of differences.