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This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (July 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Eric Forman is a fictional character on Fox Network's That '70s Show, played by Topher Grace. The character is based on the adolescence of show creator Mark Brazill. Most of the show takes place at the Forman's home, particularly in the basement, where he and his five friends hang out. He has a doting mother with impending separation anxiety and menopause (Kitty Forman), a strict, war-veteran father (Red Forman), and a promiscuous older sister (Laurie Forman).

Date Of Birth

Eric Forman's birthday was originally said to be March 8, 1960. In one episode, he said his birthday is in March, but this was while making other ridiculous and false remarks in "the circle". Another episode had his birthday exactly one month after graduation, which would make it July. The second episode of the series further corroborates this date, as it is set on Eric's birthday sometime after the first episode, which takes place on May 15, 1976. Therefore, it can be reasonably inferred that his birthday is, in fact, in July. This is further hinted at in the third episode of season six, Magic Bus, where Eric's 18th birthday coincides with the night that Donna is supposed to go to college to start the fall semester - once more hinting at a late July/early August date for his birthday. Eric was almost 17 when the series began in 1998 (his 17th birthday was in the second episode of the series).

Personality

Though a nice guy at heart, Eric is also generally cowardly and weak, being mortally afraid of spiders and being unable to play sports, even quitting tee-ball as a child. Donna is far stronger than him (although there are indications that she is stronger than the rest of the guys in the group) and several jokes portray him as effeminate — Jackie once referred to him as a "really masculine girl", just like Donna. Eric compared himself to the Cowardly Lion, in having "no courage", even as he compared Hyde to the Tinman (no heart) and Kelso to the Scarecrow (no brains).

Eric has never taken a zit-free yearbook picture, and has at least one or more (more often than not) on his face in every year. He is frequently embarrassed by this and when Hyde mocks him for it, he quickly tells him to "just shut up". From the episode in which this is shown, each year Eric is given more and more nicknames based on his last name, his pimples, and other personality aspects. They include "Foreplay", "Foreskin", and "Zitty Stardust". In the episode The Keg, Kelso calls Eric "Opie" (for the character Opie Taylor, from The Andy Griffith Show), and in The Velvet Rope, Eric is also called "Archie" by a nightclub doorman (for the doorman's apparent perception of Eric's resemblance to the comic strip character, Archie Andrews). Eric also frequently trips over himself. This could be because he's a klutz or to the fact that he's growing. Either way, it frequently becomes a problem for him.

Despite this, Eric can show a surprising amount of spine and even physical prowess when necessary. To name a few instances, Eric righteously scolded a pair of jock bullies when they broke a beer tap, manipulated his way into a nightclub, plays basketball regularly, and in a rare display of masculine pride, refused to be Donna's second choice when Casey Kelso dumped her. He stood up to Red when he was troubled upon Kitty's apparent pregnancy and told him to be a man for her, stood up against both of his parents in his insistence on marrying Donna, despite their repeated attempts to stop him, was dead serious when he threatened to hurt Casey physically if he hurt Donna, and even defended his father when he broke the nose of another teen who informed him that Red will eventually lose his job at the auto parts plant. He also beat a Green Bay Packers fan up during a game, after he insulted Eric for wearing a Chicago Bears jersey and Red. This made his father proud enough to compliment that his son has the "Forman Rage".

His skinny frame has been subject to many jokes by all his friends and even his own father.

• "Nobody wants to see an 80 pound boy dancing with his mother!"

He is a smart-aleck teenager, with a lightning-fast wit and charming sense of humor, and is generally deadpan most of the time.

Out of all the friends in the group, Eric has known Steven Hyde the longest, and he considers the rebel his best friend, whom Red often treats better than him. Eric is a fan of Bruce Lee, as well as Star Wars (much to the annoyance of his friends and family), G.I. Joe, Star Trek, and other sci-fi shows. He likes bands, such as Led Zeppelin, KISS, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Styx. It is also hinted that he is a Spider-Man fan, due to his having Spider-Man bedsheets and a considerable amount of comic books, most of them bearing the Marvel Comics logo with the titular character on the covers, and when he fought a fan at the Packers game, he tells Red that he learned his moves from Spider-Man (incidentally, Topher Grace starred in Spider-Man 3, in 2007).

Red tends to put Eric down by calling him a "dumbass" or threatening to shove his foot up Eric's ass, because Red thinks that Eric fails to fulfill the ideals of what a man should be. In many ways, Eric is a younger version of his father, as both display a dry sense of humor and tend to be the sanest people in their circle of friends. Kitty, however, supports Eric against Red, and while Eric appreciates his mom's support, her overblown displays of affection often leave him feeling embarrassed. At times, Kitty's love for Eric borders on Hitchcockian. After Eric disobeys his parents' orders not to get married, Red finally considers Eric a man and offers his blessing. Kitty, however, is devastated, and even turns on Red for allowing the marriage.

His mother is often insecure about being replaced by Donna as the woman in Eric's life. Their rivalry is played up in many episodes (often comically, but sometimes to the point of it being a problem); for example, in one episode, Kitty went into a depression after learning that Eric and Donna had sex. Eric assured Kitty he would always need her because, "Dad's going to be riding my ass for the rest of my life!"

Eric's jobs have included stints at the fictional Fatso Burger, as a stock boy at Price Mart with his father, at the local dog food factory, and at the Holiday Hotel as a waiter, before taking a year off in season seven to contemplate his future and enjoy being lazy. Red vehemently opposed Eric in trying to get another job during the second season, citing that it would interfere with his school work and make it harder for him to get into a good college far away, and Kitty supported Red by designating Eric's job as being her "precious baby boy". Eric eventually got fed up, getting a job at Price-Mart behind Red's back, just before Red took a job there.

Eric is usually very supportive of his friends, even though it is not always reciprocal. On several occasions, whenever the gang find themselves in a predicament as the result of a prank gone awry or some other unforeseen circumstance, the rest of the group take off and abandon Eric, leaving him to absorb the brunt of the trouble, after which the gang (particularly Hyde) hassle and tease Eric for getting into trouble (examples of this occur in the episodes Stolen Car, Eric Gets Suspended, Eric's Hot Cousin and Rip This Joint). This has much to do with Eric's trusting nature, which his less morally-inclined friends are quick to take advantage of and also take for granted, but Eric is also quick to stand up for himself and set things straight whenever he feels wronged by his friends' actions.

Relationship With Donna

Eric's first love is Donna Pinciotti (Laura Prepon), the girl next door. Through thick and thin, their relationship has been one of the show's main storylines. They have been friends since they were children and in the first season, their friendship evolves into a relationship. In early episodes, a jealous Hyde tries to steal Donna from Eric. This plotline was discarded until the It's a Wonderful Life episode, where it is revealed that Hyde was waiting for Donna after the Todd Rundgren concert the gang went to in the pilot. This episode suggests that had Eric and Donna not kissed, Donna would have ended up with Hyde, and Eric would have ended up with Big Rhonda and as impossible as it sounds, even more miserable. Eric would have spent the rest of his childhood trying to win his father's approval, even kowtowing to him and he, Donna, Jackie, Kelso and Hyde would have all ended up a lot worse (although Fez seems more or less at ease with his situation).

Eric and Donna's relationship hits a major snag near the end of the third season, as Donna starts to put her job with the local radio station and her goals of being a writer and potential newswoman before Eric. The big turning point comes when the gang goes to a Chicago rock concert featuring Ted Nugent, for which Donna got tickets as an apology to Eric for blowing off so many of their recent dates. Donna is invited backstage after the concert. She wants to go, but Eric is upset that she would "ditch him". Donna ends up spending much longer backstage than Eric expected. She refuses to apologize, saying that Eric shouldn't be jealous that she got to have fun. They break up after Donna refused to accept Eric's "promise ring", sending Eric into a downward spiral. Red, who is usually very hard on Eric, was sympathetic because he has been in a similar situation. Eric and Donna competed for their friends loyalty, but soon put that aside and managed to be civil towards each other. Eric made several attempts to move on with his life by finding another girlfriend, but all proved unsuccessful, as his feelings and affection for Donna still remained.

When Donna started dating Kelso's older brother Casey, Eric immediately objected, in light of the fact that Kelso's relationship with Jackie was in perpetual suffering. He also knew that Casey really wasn't the Prince Charming Donna thought he was, but merely a smarter version of Kelso - a smooth talking frat boy who just wanted to sleep with Donna and move on to the next girl. Eric tried to warn Donna, who thinks he is motivated by jealousy. He then threatened to hurt Casey if he hurt Donna, telling him "If you make her cry, I'm coming right back here to kick your ass!" Bob, Red, Kitty, and Eric try to get Donna to break up with Casey. This backfires when Casey instead decides to break up with Donna, lazily explaining that their relationship had gotten to be too much of a hassle and flatly admitting that he didn't really mean it when he said he loved her. Afterwards, Donna turned to Eric for comfort and support. Genuinely feeling sorry for her, Eric offered her all the sympathy he could, but when a tearful Donna said she wanted to be his girlfriend again, he refused, saying to her that he "can't be your second choice". Eric remained firm in his decision, despite pressure from Red and Kitty. Eric maintained "I'm not a rebound" as his defense for not taking Donna back, even though Red said he didn't have enough going for him to justify being too proud to take her back.

Unable to handle Eric's (and Casey's) rejection, Donna ran away to California with Kelso, who was running away from Jackie, and lived with her mother until she could sort out her feelings. Donna decided that she did love Eric and tried to call him, but couldn't get a hold of him because he was "busy". When Eric finally found out about her calls, he tried to call her back but couldn't work up the courage. Hyde resolved this by stealing some of Eric's money to buy him a plane ticket and then sending him on his way. Eric showed up in California and found Donna on the beach. A magical moment of silence between them was ruined when Kelso playfully tackled Donna. Once that had passed, Eric confessed to Donna that he still loved her. She embraced him, and they returned to Point Place.

In season five, Eric proposed to Donna at the Point Place water tower. They were able to keep their engagement secret until the episode The Crunge, during which Eric accidentally slipped the information to the gang. In the episode When the Levee Breaks, Eric revealed his engagement to Donna during an argument with Red. Red tried to break their engagement by firing Eric from Price Mart and pressuring the couple to marry, but Laurie suggested to Eric and Donna that they just move out of Point Place. They had plans to move to Madison, after graduating from high school, but during the episode Celebration Day, Red had a heart attack, and Eric was persuaded to stay home in order to help his family.

Towards the end of season six, as Eric and Donna's wedding date drew near, Eric didn't show up for the rehearsal dinner. This is because he had a dream where a future Donna left him, unhappy with her life. He believed that she was giving up the future she wanted to be with him. Although initially upset with Eric, Donna admits that she also had cold feet. They have a relaxed relationship for most of the seventh season.

In the season seven finale, Eric left Point Place to teach in Africa, in order to earn money to help pay for his college education (this was because Topher Grace had not renewed his contract, so he could work on his film career). Eric broke up off screen with Donna during the eighth season, and this action is considered by many fans to be a jump the shark sign. Eric returned for the series finale, which aired on Thursday, May 18, 2006. In the final episode, it is revealed that they still love each other and it is implied that they renew their relationship.

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