Eric Forrester is the patriarch of the Forrester fashion dynasty and co-founder of design house Forrester Creations. He has four children with Stephanie Douglas (Thorne, Felicia, Kristen, and the deceased Angela), two with Brooke Logan (Rick and Bridget), and an adopted son in Marcus Walton, whose mother is Donna Logan. Eric also raised Ridge Forrester, finding out years later that Ridge was actually Massimo Marone's biological son.

Dissatisfied in his marriage to manipulative Stephanie, Eric turned to his college sweetheart, Beth Logan. Eric and Stephanie briefly bonded over discovering that their comatose daughter, Angela, had died and been replaced with an imposter, but ultimately Eric still wanted a divorce. Eric was hurt when Beth reunited with her estranged husband, Stephen Logan -- not knowing Stephanie was pulling the strings -- and compensated by pursuing their daughter, Brooke Logan. Eric and Brooke married and had a son, Eric Forrester, Jr. (Rick), though Brooke still pined for ex-boyfriend Ridge. Eric agreed to give Brooke a divorce after it was revealed she had slept with Ridge on Forrester's lab floor while celebrating her discovery of the wrinkle-free BeLieF formula, but the proceedings were delayed when Eric was temporarily blinded saving Rick from a toppling bookcase.

Eric moved on with nurse Sheila Carter, but Brooke was pregnant and didn't know whether Eric or Ridge was the father. After Ridge was revealed to be baby Bridget's father, Eric married Sheila in a ceremony where all the guests wore black. Eric had a stress-related heart attack after Brooke gained control of Forrester over the rights to the BeLieF formula and named Sheila her liaison. Eric was stunned to learn from family friend Lauren Fenmore that Sheila had tried to kill Lauren in Genoa City after stealing her baby; Eric and his family were held at gunpoint by Sheila when her misdeeds were revealed, but Eric forgave Sheila as she attempted suicide. A disillusioned Eric served Sheila with divorce papers at the mental institution where she was incarcerated.

Eric briefly pursued Ridge's ex-wife, Taylor Hayes, and later went so far as to propose to fashion competitor Sally Spectra so she'd admit to stealing Forrester designs. But when a letter surfaced suggesting Brooke had faked Bridget's paternity test (which no one knew had been tampered with by Sheila), Eric and Ridge submitted to a second test that named Eric as Bridget's father. Eric almost remarried Stephanie, but Sally stopped the ceremony by putting a naughty photo of Eric's encounter with Lauren in the minister's Bible. Eric and Lauren's plane went down on the way home from a fashion show in Italy and they were stranded in Greenland, where they were held captive by crazy Rush Carrera. Eric shot Rush with a crossbow and later fought Rush when the psycho followed Lauren to Los Angeles. Eric and Lauren, who already had Sheila in common, further bonded over the ordeal, but it wasn't enough to solidify their romance.

Eric and Stephanie found their way back to each other over their mutual objection to Brooke's pursuit of Thorne, not to mention gold-digger Amber Moore's pursuit of Rick. After Stephanie recovered from a stroke, Eric remarried her. Eric's daughter Bridget married bad boy Deacon Sharpe, who wanted Amber but used Bridget to goad the Forresters into relinquishing custody of "Little Eric," Deacon's son with Amber's cousin Becky Moore; Eric tried to run Deacon down with his car after Deacon broadcast Bridget's deflowering over a speakerphone. Eric was also concerned when his other daughter Kristen married HIV-positive Tony Dominguez.

Eric was annoyed by the presence of Stephanie's former love, Massimo Marone, who arrived in Los Angeles to reclaim her. Eric couldn't believe it when he learned that the then-pregnant Stephanie had only married Eric to keep him from Beth, meaning Ridge was Massimo's son, not Eric's. Later, Eric became the target of Sheila, who turned a gun on him for refusing a reunion; Eric and Brooke got the gun away from Sheila, but not before Taylor was fatally shot.

Eric entertained a relationship with Massimo's ex-wife, Jackie Payne, but ultimately renewed his vows with Stephanie. Later, when Deacon and Bridget revisited their relationship, Eric struggled over a gun with Deacon which caused Deacon to take a bullet.

Eric felt responsible for having played favorites with Ridge when Thorne, who now felt he was the only true Forrester son, defected to Spectra Fashions. Eric was overjoyed when Taylor turned up alive, but furious when Stephanie faked a heart attack to manipulate Ridge into leaving Brooke for Taylor. Eric divorced Stephanie and explored things with Jackie, then briefly remarried Brooke to blunt her interest in Bridget's husband, Nick Marone. When an angry Stephanie discovered that Eric had kept secret a 40-year-old trust in which her father named her the sole owner of Forrester Creations, Eric found Stephanie's knee in his groin.

Though Eric wanted to marry Jackie, he reunited with Stephanie when their daughter, Felicia, almost died of cancer, and stood by Stephanie as she faced her childhood abuse at the hands of her father. Eric was forced to sell Forrester Creations to Jackie's son, Nick, after Jackie fell from a balcony in a tussle with Stephanie; Eric competed by starting up new design house Forrester Originals with his sons. But after Stephanie's vendetta against Brooke led to Brooke being raped, Eric agreed to divorce Stephanie, which was Nick's stipulation for returning Forrester Creations.

Eric dated Brooke's sister, Donna Logan, whose brother, Storm Logan, shot Stephanie. Because Stephanie promised to let Storm go free if Donna stayed away, Eric and Donna pretended to break up; when Stephanie nearly caught them together, Eric hid naked on a ledge outside Donna's window and found his picture in the tabloids the next day. Eric was free to marry Donna once Stephanie relented, but Stephanie's unstable sister, Pam Douglas, objected; soon Eric had a heart attack while in bed with Donna and lapsed into a coma. Eventually it was revealed that Eric had been poisoned by Pam, who meant to weaken Eric sexually and make him undesirable to Donna so he would return to Stephanie. Later, Eric and Stephanie stopped Pam from killing Donna at the Big Bear cabin.

Eric adopted Donna's long-lost son, Marcus Walton. But Eric sensed Donna's attraction to her assistant, Owen Knight, and nearly divorced Donna when security footage showed her making love to Owen; "Donna" and "Owen" were really lookalikes Thorne had hired to get Donna away from his father. Later, Eric and the Logans took hits as Stephanie defected to rival fashion house Jackie M and bashed them online, and Eric lost Forrester when Bill Spencer, Jr., the son of Eric's late nemesis, Bill Spencer, Sr., took over the company and installed his wife, Katie Logan, as CEO.

Eric and his sons refused the power positions Katie offered them, and Eric objected to Donna's new gig as co-host of the Spencer-owned cable show The Catwalk. Eric tried and failed to sabotage Bill by creating the gaudy Dare line, but soon Eric's granddaughter, Steffy Forrester, swindled the company away from Bill in a seduction attempt and put 25% of its stock back in Eric's name.

Eric and Donna divorced when Beth, who suffered from Alzheimer's, drowned during an altercation with Stephanie and Eric took Stephanie's side. Eric gave Donna half his Forrester shares in the settlement, which she sold to Bill. Thinking Stephanie had turned over a new leaf while undergoing treatment for Stage IV lung cancer, Eric was appalled when Stephanie convinced their grandson, Thomas Forrester, to lie that he'd had sex with Brooke to rid the family of Brooke once and for all. Eric forgave Stephanie, but was troubled when she chose not to be intimate with him. Eric turned to Jackie, stopping short of an affair. Eric spontaneously remarried Stephanie in time for their 50th anniversary when Sally's old friend Gladys Pope, a notary, showed up on the door.

When Stephanie's returning cancer was diagnosed as fatal, a devastated Eric threw a party celebrating Stephanie and her accomplishments. After Stephanie died in Brooke's arms, Eric learned that Stephanie had arranged for Eric to become Forrester's permanent CEO. Eric refereed as Rick, Thomas, and Thorne all jockeyed for power at the company. Though Eric was able to grieve Stephanie with the help of Pam, Eric became romantically involved with Taylor and moved her into the mansion. Eric and Taylor were shocked when Pam burst in brandishing a "knife," which was really a spatula. Visiting Genoa City, Wisconsin, Eric designed a wedding dress for socialite Nikki Reed Newman and caught up with Lauren, as well as Ridge's former fiancée, Ashley Abbott; at home, Eric designed a black pantsuit wedding ensemble for Steffy.

Eric told Taylor to back off when she voiced suspicions that Brooke was having an affair with the married Bill; Eric lovingly refused to pose as Brooke's babydaddy upon learning she was pregnant by Bill. Once Taylor exposed Brooke and Bill's affair, Eric defended Brooke and found himself single again after Taylor walked out on him.

Time passed, and Eric kissed jewelry designer Quinn Fuller, causing Stephanie's portrait to fall off the wall, as it had during Eric's relationship with Taylor. Eric disapproved of Ridge seeing Brooke's sister, Katie; trying to reunite Ridge and Brooke, Eric made them co-vice presidents and forced them to work together. Eric joined Katie and Thorne in Abu Dhabi to search for Ridge, who had gone to the Middle East to stop Bill from marrying Brooke and went missing after falling out of a helicopter into the Persian Gulf.

Eric enjoyed a visit from his nomadic brother, John Forrester, who had been living in Australia. Lonely without Stephanie and envying John's freedom, Eric stepped down as CEO and awarded the seat to Ridge, giving it to Rick instead when it came out Ridge had kissed Rick's wife, Caroline Spencer. Eric felt betrayed when Rick tricked him into signing a document that kept Rick in power for a year, but left town to lecture at design schools and travel with John. Not taking action when Rick tormented employees and fired a gun at Ridge and Caroline, Eric was stunned when Ridge, Steffy, Thomas, and Bill, who owned 62.5% of Forrester Creations between them, combined their stock and installed Ridge as CEO over Eric's objections.

Eric happily greeted his Thorne's daughter, Aly Forrester, when she came home from college, but soon Eric discussed his granddaughter's increasing instability with Thorne, who admitted that Aly had mental issues caused by the traumatic loss of her mother, Darla Einstein. Eric accepted Rick's transgender girlfriend Maya Avant and received an awkward overture of friendship from her intolerant father, Julius Avant, but Eric was floored when Aly, who raged at Maya's gender identity and Steffy's open sexuality, died during a violent confrontation with Steffy. Eric chastised John's daughter, Ivy Forrester, for trying to blackmail Steffy with a video she'd taken of Steffy's fatal fight with Aly.

Though Brooke turned down Eric's invitation to move into the mansion, Eric reminisced with Brooke about Stephanie and declared Brooke his best friend, supporting Brooke when Katie wouldn't let go of Brooke admitting Bill was the love of her life. After Ridge took down Rick's beloved portrait of Maya and reinstalled Eric's portrait of Stephanie, causing Rick to move out of the mansion, Eric let Ridge and Caroline take over the main house, taking up residence in the Forrester guest house instead. Eric and Brooke further bonded over the birth of Rick and Maya's daughter, Elizabeth, whose surrogate mother was Maya's sister, Nicole Avant.

After it was revealed that Ridge tried to pass off Thomas' son with Caroline as his own, Eric removed Ridge as CEO and resumed the position himself. Eric began a secret relationship with Quinn knowing his family would balk -- especially Steffy, who was still furious over Quinn kidnapping her amnesiac ex, Liam Spencer, and posing as Liam's wife. Eric debated whether to continue things with Quinn after Steffy caught them together, but later Eric took Quinn back and defiantly reinstalled her as Forrester's jewelry designer over the objections of his loved ones. Eric ruffled more feathers by moving Quinn into the mansion, yet warned Quinn she would be out if she reverted to her criminal ways.

Eric endured more than one intervention from his family, insisting he had his eyes open about Quinn's past. Eric proposed to Quinn and looked forward to his family's attendance, but when Ivy was his only wedding guest, Eric raged at the betrayal of his children and grandchildren and collapsed from a brain hemorrhage. While recovering, Eric made Quinn interim CEO of Forrester, disgusted that Ridge had kept secret Eric giving Quinn power of attorney. Eric also gave Wyatt a leadership position for his loyalty to Quinn and invited him to move into the mansion.

Eric helped Katie get her son into an exclusive school and spent time with her, assuring an uncertain Quinn she had nothing to worry about when Katie bought the house next door. Eric applauded Quinn's idea to make Steffy CEO, hoping Steffy would cancel her divorce from Wyatt; Eric also knew that combining his 37.5% share in the company with Steffy's 25% would give him and Steffy controlling interest. Eric held firm when Ridge and Rick complained about being made co-vice presidents while Quinn was appointed president.

Eric offered Steffy a million dollars and the mansion if she'd stay with Wyatt, which she refused. Wanting to pull his family together, Eric sent Ridge and Quinn to a design symposium in San Francisco, and was pleased when they returned having transcended their animosity. Eric took Quinn's suggestion to make Ridge co-CEO along with Steffy, and was amused when Brooke confided that Katie had a crush on him. Eric visited Lauren in Genoa City and helped her negotiate a difficult deal with Jabot Cosmetics honcho Jack Abbott, then returned home to host the wedding of his adopted grandson, Zende Forrester Dominguez.

Eric flew to Australia for Steffy's wedding to Liam, but became concerned when Brooke, who was also slated to marry Ridge Down Under, came to Eric in tears; Eric became increasingly frustrated that no one would tell him why Brooke called off her wedding. Later, after Sally's namesake grandniece revived Spectra Fashions and stole designs from Forrester, Eric stepped in at Steffy's request to reinstate Thomas, who had been fired by Ridge for giving the young Sally $100,000 to keep Spectra afloat.

Eric happily put Katie on Forrester's jewelry design team with Quinn, but when Katie lacked the necessary skills, Eric reluctantly asked Quinn to fire Katie; Eric couldn't believe it when Katie pulled a gun on Quinn. After Quinn dodged bullets on his balcony, Eric was dismayed by the idea that Katie could have taken aim at his wife. However, when Sheila came back wanting to make amends for her criminal misdeeds, Eric was sure Sheila was the shooter, but it turned out Deacon had been gunning for for Quinn. Eric fumed at Sheila when she declared Ridge and Quinn were having an affair, but turned his fury toward his wife and son when they couldn't deny they'd kissed on several occasions. Eric threw Quinn out, then holed up in a hotel for privacy, unaware that Sheila was staying down the hall.

Eric allowed Sheila to retrieve his electric razor from home, which led Quinn to think Sheila had a gun in her purse; Eric couldn't believe it when Steffy burst in and shot Sheila before she could go for her"gun." Eric tended to Sheila's minor injury and helped lie to the authorities when they came investigating a gunshot. Eric appreciated Sheila's loyalty and allowed her to kiss him, later telling the contrite Ridge that he no longer had a son in him. However, impressed that Quinn signed his divorce papers that left her nothing, Eric ripped up the documents and reunited with her.

Eric came home and found Sheila on the floor bleeding following a vicious catfight with Quinn. Eric let Sheila recuperate in his home but brought family psychiatrist -- and Sheila's ex-husband -- James Warwick in to examine her. When Quinn ran to Eric revealing Sheila had been well enough to attack her again, Eric asked Sheila to leave but worried about Quinn slipping back into her own violent ways. Eric had to smooth things over with Quinn when she was upset he'd known about Wyatt's burgeoning relationship with Katie but kept quiet about it.

Eric discovered that Sheila had bribed his estate manager, Mateo, to seduce Quinn, so Eric went along with Quinn's plan to turn the tables on Sheila and announced to his ex-wife that he was through with Quinn, going so far as to replace Quinn's portrait with one Sheila had commissioned of herself. After telling Sheila that his desire to reunite had been a ruse, Eric asked Sheila to leave for good, yet initially shared Quinn's fear that Sheila had let herself in to the Forrester guest house.

Eric eventually approached Ridge and admitted he'd only disowned him to be hurtful; after Eric and Ridge made up, Eric declared the issue of Quinn kissing Ridge resolved, even when Rick and a newly returned Thorne disparaged Ridge for it. Eric concurred with Quinn's idea to hold Ridge and Brooke's remarriage in the Forrester mansion and put Stephanie's portrait back up for the ceremony; Eric was surprised to walk in on Thorne hugging Ridge and agreeing to be Ridge's best man.

Despite worrying when Quinn stormed out upon learning Bill was threatening to disinherit Wyatt over his engagement to Katie, Eric defended Quinn to the police, who viewed her as a suspect after Bill was shot in the back. At Forrester, Eric granted Wyatt's request to hire the down-on-her-luck Sally and welcomed the return of Steffy, who had been AWOL for months due to her pregnancy and problems with Liam.

Eric was overjoyed when Pam announced that she and her long-time boyfriend, Charlie Webber, were getting married, but found himself in the middle when Quinn denied Pam's request to also marry under Stephanie's portrait at the mansion. Eric insisted he and Quinn were happily married after Pam suggested that the returning Donna might be a better match for him. Later, after Hope miscarried Liam's baby, Eric offered his support and reported that he and Ridge had once again decided to infuse capital into her Hope for the Future line. Eric took the news of Sally rebooting her fashion house in stride and welcomed the idea of being in friendly competition with her, but couldn't help being glad when Sally changed her mind and stayed at Forrester instead.

Eric happily joined Quinn in inviting her old friend, Shauna Fulton, to stay at the Forrester mansion along with Shauna's daughter, Florence Fulton. But Eric also joined in mourning Emma Barber, a teenaged Forrester intern who died in a car accident. Later, Eric was horrified to learn Shauna and Flo were part of a cover-up started by obstetrician Reese Buckingham, who stole Hope's baby, switched it with a dead one, and used money from its adoption to pay gambling debts; Eric understood that Quinn was conflicted because of her friendship with the Fultons. Eric was also deeply disappointed to learn that Thomas had known Hope's baby was alive but married her while keeping the secret.

Eric counseled Brooke and Ridge as they fought over the apparently rehabilitating Thomas to the point they took off their wedding rings; Eric allowed Ridge, Thomas, and Thomas' son, Douglas Forrester, to move into the mansion. Eric also let Shauna stay in his guest house but soon got an earful from Brooke, who learned Shauna and Ridge had been kissing; Eric played referee upon finding out Quinn had smacked Brooke in retaliation for Brooke slapping Shauna. Eric agreed with Brooke's request to have Shauna move out of the guest house, but not with her demand that Eric divorce Quinn.

Later, at a family dinner, Eric reeled as Thomas proposed to Reese's daughter, Zoe Buckingham, with whom Thomas had only been seeing a couple of months. Along with Ridge, Eric questioned the timing, knowing that Thomas had been obsessed with Hope until he suddenly started dating Zoe. At Thomas' wedding to Zoe, Eric was numb to learn that his grandson had been using his child and fiancée in a new quest to win Hope. Eric expressed his disgust and watched as Thomas ran out of the ceremony. Eric happily attended Ridge and Brooke's reunion party, but received a shock when the digital picture frame Ridge had bought for the occasion displayed a video of Brooke kissing Bill. Eric was deeply disappointed in Brooke, but also in Quinn, who had unapologetically uploaded the video for the purpose of bringing Brooke down.

After Ridge had mysteriously and drunkenly married Shauna in Las Vegas, Eric overheard Quinn and Shauna on a video call talking about how Quinn had gotten Ridge and Brooke's divorce papers filed by having Shauna forge a text, then how Quinn had encouraged Shauna to lead the inebriated Ridge to a wedding chapel. Eric felt Quinn had slipped back into her old ways and walked out on her; to Quinn's chagrin, Eric invited Shauna to stay in the Forrester guest house. Despite both Shauna and Wyatt advocating for Eric to take Quinn back, Eric wasn't sure what he wanted. Finally, after more deliberation and convincing from Shauna, Eric decided to give Quinn another chance.

Despite sharing a home with Quinn again, Eric couldn't bring himself to make love to his wife and began pushing her away. Eric gladly took part in the vow renewal ceremony that Quinn threw for them, but was devastated when it was interrupted by Brooke's claim that Quinn was sleeping with family friend and Forrester COO Carter Walton. When Quinn couldn't deny it, Eric threw Quinn out and filed for divorce, insisting that Carter handle the proceedings. As his divorce was about to become final, Eric thought better of it and ripped up the papers, asking Quinn to come home. He pretended to be asleep their first night back together and then confessed that the reason he had initially spurned Quinn's overtures was because he was struggling with erectile dysfunction. Eric lamented not being able to do his husbandly duty but was heartened when Quinn vowed to stand by him and get him the medical help he needed.

Eric sacrificed his own happiness by insisting that Quinn get her sexual needs met by Carter. Despite his decision causing him misery, Eric shut out his increasingly inquisitive family members; when they found out about Eric's ED, Eric declared that he wanted Quinn around regardless of a lack of intimacy because he preferred that over loneliness. But Eric ultimately thought better of his open marriage and asked Quinn to call things off with Carter. Soon after, Eric discovered that he could achieve arousal being near Donna but not Quinn; Eric accepted Donna's resignation when the threatened Quinn demanded that Eric fire Donna. It struck a chord with Eric when Quinn admitted that she might be the problem in their marriage, so Eric recommitted himself to her.

However, months later, Eric began distancing himself from Quinn and spending an inordinate amount of time at a country club playing a game called "pickleball"...or so he told Quinn. Eric was really maintaining an affair with Donna behind Quinn's back despite some lingering guilt. Eric tried to break things off with Donna, but couldn't help himself, leading to being discovered by Quinn and Bridget. Eric had an amicable split from Quinn, then moved Donna into the mansion. Eric was moved when Donna eschewed the usual matriarchal Forrester portrait and commissioned one of him instead.

Eric tried to referee between Donna and Thomas when Thomas began crowing about Ridge leaving Brooke for Taylor, but Eric ultimately sided with Donna. Eric joined in ousting Thomas from Forrester when he found out that Thomas had framed Brooke with a fake call to Child Protective Services to ruin her marriage to Ridge.

Eric approached Ridge with the idea of collaborating on a "legacy line", but Ridge didn't seem interested; Eric's takeaway was that Ridge preferred him to retire and stay clear of the company. The true reason Eric had wanted help was because he had become arthritic and had trouble holding a pen, so Eric recruited his grandson, R.J. Forrester, to bring the designs he conceived of to fruition. After Eric developed tremors and began coughing up blood, his doctor informed him that he had six months to live, though no specific condition was mentioned on-screen. Aware that the stress of what had become a fashion showdown with Ridge could kill him, Eric soldiered forth anyway, reveling in once again seeing his work on the runway. Eric was thrilled to learn that he had won the showdown, but continued to reject medical help.

Getting progressively worse, Eric decided to throw a party for his family, which included visits from Thorne and Bridget. After realizing that everyone knew about his terminal diagnosis, even after he'd asked for it to be kept secret, Eric took the news that Ridge had lied about him winning the showdown with grace, only to collapse. Hovering between life and death, Eric saw a vision of Stephanie welcoming him home, but later woke up in the hospital, learning his loved ones had gone with an experimental treatment for him rather than following his do-not-resuscitate order. Eric slowly recovered, and when he was given the all-clear, he hosted another impromptu party at which he spontaneously remarried Donna.