About Five Nights At Freddy’s
Five Nights at Freddy’s is an indie game series created by Scott Cawthon. The series is based around a Chuck E Cheese-style pizzeria (called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza) complete with arcade games, balloons…and those scary animatronic creatures that spooked us as children of the 80s and 90s.
The basic gameplay involves you as a security guard. You must watch the security cameras carefully. The animatronics roam around at night and will attack you if you let them near you. Needless to say, these games are full of jump scares.
A game about a pizza place isn’t all that scary. However, a story unravels as the game progresses. This story involves a serial killer, haunted robots, and the families destroyed by the actions of this company.
While the main plot of the game is mostly understood, the underlying story is incredibly cryptic and mysterious.
Five Nights at Freddy’s is now more than just indie computer games. The series now consists of novels, activity books, a VR game, a mobile game, and console ports. I can’t believe that a game about animatronic animals has become so popular, but I am really glad that it has.
Today I want to tell you about the basic lore of the series. Since the lore is so cryptic and mysterious, many of the plot concepts are up for debate. However, this is my rudimentary breakdown of Five Nights at Freddy’s.
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FNAF Lore By Game
*Warning: Spoilers Ahead*
There are many details that surround the cryptic story of the FNAF franchise. While many details are still up for debate, here is my very basic explanation of the story so far for those uninitiated with the series.
FNAF 1
A security guard is working the night shift at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzaria. They are guided by a mysterious coworker that leaves voicemails for them (known by us fans as ‘phone guy’). Newspaper articles let us know that many local children have been going missing in the restaurant. We are haunted by the business’ animatronics, as well as a yellow animatronic known as Golden Freddy.
FNAF 2
Though this game is a sequel, story-wise it is a prequel. We find out that other children have gone missing in the past. To cope with this, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzaria has created a new set of animatronics that can recognize bad adults. This is bad for the player, who is also playing as a night security guard.
In this installation, we are also introduced to a main character of the series known as The Puppet. This robotic marionette is known to be a protector of the murdered children and will defend them against any harmful adults.
We are also introduced to the protagonist of the series: William Afton. While his true intentions may be hidden, William is the man responsible for murdering the children. He is also an owner of the business.
William the souls of the children haunting the animatronics. He is then haunted by their ghosts. William attempts to hide in a hybrid animatronic/costume of a yellow rabbit, but the robotic parts crush his body and kill him. His soul then haunts the suit, rebirthing him as the villain known as Springtrap.
FNAF 3
Years after the events of the first two games, a haunted house opens. Fazbear’s Fright is a horror attraction based on the murders of William Afton. During a search for authentic props for the house, the owners of Fazbear’s Fright stumble upon one of the original animatronics.
The night security guard at Fazbear’s Fright finds themself locked in the building with none other than Springtrap. The player must use audio cues of children’s voices to lure Springtrap around the building until their shift ends.
FNAF 4
This is the most contested game of the Five Nights at Freddy’s series. FNAF 4 tells us the story of a small child (known as ‘Crying Child’). This kid is afraid of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. He is also tormented by his brother who exploits the child’s fears.
One day, Crying Child is at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. His brother and his friends show up. As a prank, the group puts Crying Child into Freddy’s mouth. Crying Child’s head is then crushed in Freddy’s mouth.
The player plays as a child in a bedroom. There are scarier ‘Nightmare’ versions of the animatronics attempting to break into the child’s bedroom. The player must fend off the Nightmare robots until the night is over.
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FNAF Sister Location
This is our first introduction to William Afton’s son, Michael. William tasks Michael with breaking into his underground facility. The facility is home to new animatronics, including a circus clown named Baby. We find out that Circus Baby is Michael’s sister.
Michael navigates his way through the underground lair, avoiding certain death along the way. Michael ends up dying in a machine made to dismantle the animatronics, known as The Scooper. Baby, along with a combination of the other animatronics, place themselves inside of Michael’s corpse in an attempt to escape.
Michael is surprised to still be alive. He knows that he should be dead, and while his body is rotting he is still able to move around. Eventually, the animatronics decide to separate themselves from Michael’s body. Michael, finally understanding what is happening, pledges to take down his father.
FNAF Pizzeria Simulator
In the sixth game of the series, a new Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria opens. Michael applies to be the night security guard. Part of his employment involves rescuing animatronics from the back alley after his shift. When he looks outside, he is greeted by Baby, Springtrap, and a bear named Lefty who is housing The Puppet.
With all of the series protagonists inside the restaurant, it is then burnt to the ground. We find out that the restaurant is a front created by Williams’s ex-business partner Henry. Henry is also the father of the child haunting the puppet. Henry wants to burn down the pizzeria in hopes of freeing the remaining souls and ending this saga for good.
FNAF Ultimate Custom Night
After the events of FNAF Pizzeria Simulator, we find ourselves in an office being haunted by every character in the series. Many believe that this is William’s torment in the afterlife, while others believe that it is Michael’s version of Hell.
Many of the previous games had a custom night mode. However, this is the most comprehensive version. It contains many characters from games across the series.
FNAF Help Wanted
The player is a beta tester for a new virtual reality game created by Fazbear Entertainment. The game is meant to revitalize the company and erase the damage done to their name.
As the beta tester progresses through their testing, they are stalked by a virtual yellow rabbit. It turns out that the soul of William Afton has found he was into the game.
William’s goal seems to be to corrupt players of the game, and create a psychic link for him to continue his terror. The beta tester ends up succumbing to William’s wishes and creates their own rabbit mask to show allegiance to the villain.
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FNAF Special Delivery
Fazbear Entertainment has started a new delivery service! Animatronics can now be delivered to your door. However, things are not what they seem. The animatronics are attacking the customers, and the employees seem to think that someone sinister is behind it.
Once again, this is just my interpretation of the main games of the series. This does not include the spin-off games, the novels, or the sinister novella-length stories. Horror master Scott Cawthon has created an incredibly terrifying tale that no one has been able to figure out so far.
What Do You Think?
I hope you enjoyed my breakdown of the Five Nights at Freddy’s lore. What is your take on the series? Let me know on social media!
