What Condition Did Floki Have In Vikings?
Floki is one of Vikings' most popular characters, but his actions and personality have raised questions about his mental health. Let's take a look.
Vikings introduced a variety of characters, and one of the most popular ones was Floki (Gustaf Skarsgård), who stood out for his eccentricities, but his personality and actions raised many questions about his mental health and what condition he could have possibly had. Created by Michael Hirst, Vikings premiered on the History Channel in 2013, and even though it was originally planned to be a miniseries, it quickly caught the attention of viewers, and so the series lived on for a total of six seasons. Vikings came to an end in December 2020, but the stories from the Viking Age continue in the sequel series Vikings: Valhalla.
Vikings covered the first years of the Viking Age with Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) as the lead during its first seasons. Vikings followed Ragnar and his travels and raids alongside his Vikings brothers, but as the series evolved, it shifted its focus to Ragnar’s sons and their own journeys, and after Ragnar’s death in season 4, Björn, Ubbe, Hvitserk, Sigurd, and Ivar became the leads of the series. Accompanying Ragnar’s sons for the rest of Vikings were other characters close to Ragnar, most notably Floki, Ragnar’s best friend who, like most characters in the series, didn’t have an easy life.
Floki was Kattegat’s incorrigible prankster and an exceptional boat builder, which made him an important part of Ragnar’s team. Floki is one of two characters from season 1 to make it to the final one, which allowed the audience to get to know him quite well, follow him through many ups and downs, and see how these victories and tragedies changed him. By the end of Vikings, Ubbe reunited with an older Floki who seemed more unstable than usual, raising the question of whether Floki had a condition throughout Vikings or not.
How Accurate Is Vikings' Floki To Real Life?
Floki presented himself as energetic and joyful, but he was actually a deeply troubled man and often considered himself not worthy or capable of doing certain things that actually brought him joy, like when his wife, Helga (Maude Hirst), got pregnant with their daughter, Angrboda, and Floki was worried because his child was going to have a “terrible father”. Still, Floki was loyal and very intelligent, but the way he acted and reacted in general, as well as his eccentricities, obsessions, and more have led to the belief that he was actually suffering from mental illness. Although there’s no confirmation of Floki suffering from mental illness by Vikings’ creator, Gustaf Skarsgård once shared that he saw Floki as a man who struggled with certain mental illnesses. In an interview with TV Insider in 2015, Floki’s sanity was brought up, with Skarsgård sharing that Floki is “a sick man in many ways”, that he’s bipolar, “probably psychotic”, and “on the verge of schizophrenia”. By then, Vikings had just finished its third season, where Floki killed Athelstan (George Blagden), a moment seen as Floki being pushed over the edge, and Skarsgård agreed that Ragnar putting him in charge of the Paris raid “magnified Floki’s ego”, which led to him fully falling into insanity.
Floki’s sanity or lack of it has been discussed on social media and forums for years, especially after Floki killed Athelstan, which was a turning point in his arc. It’s generally assumed that Floki was more on the lines of schizophrenia due to his religious delusions and erratic manners, though some have suggested that he might have been autistic. Of course, there’s also the easy-to-forget fact that Floki used a variety of psychedelic herbs and mushrooms, so his mannerisms, reactions, and more could have been more associated with the constant use of these than with a mental illness. By the end of Vikings, it was implied that Floki had become senile, which isn’t that surprising after all the battles and tragedies he lived through from beginning to end of Vikings, but his exact condition (if any) hasn’t been revealed.
