Why The Five Nights At Freddy's Films Should Treat William Afton Like Jigsaw
If you're not familiar with "Five Nights at Freddy's," you'd be forgiven for thinking that the titular FredBear animatronic was the big baddie of the series. Similarly, those unfamiliar with the "Saw" films might see Billy the Puppet as the ultimate villain; after all, his spiral-cheeked face is the one unsuspecting victims see on their video tapes instructing them how to survive a Saw trap. However, in both "Five Nights at Freddy's" and "Saw," there is a proverbial (or literal) human puppet master behind all of the carnage that is the true villain of their respective franchises. There are rumors that there will be at least three "Five Nights at Freddy's" films, which means there's potential that "Five Nights at Freddy's" could be the next major horror franchise if the first film performs as well as Blumhouse and Universal hope it does.
For decades, horror franchises were often built around a singular character, but in the last decade or so, all of the major new horror series feature multiple villains, like in The Conjuring Universe, or an existential threat like "Train to Busan" or "The Purge." Save for Art the Clown in the "Terrifier" series (which operates under traditional slasher rules) it's become less and less likely that a non-legacy horror series will be centered on one ominous figure and their acolytes.
All of that could change with "Five Nights at Freddy's," whose central villain, William Afton, rivals Jigsaw in the "horrible human" department. Also known as "Purple Guy," Afton is a serial killer who murdered an estimated dozen children, and is the co-founder of Fredbear's Family Diner and Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. He's a real piece of work and a genuinely terrifying antagonist who could hold his own among any of the genre's most-loved human monsters.
But if you ask me? The best thing for the "Five Nights at Freddy's series would be to treat Afton like Jigsaw.
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Tobin Bell's John "Jigsaw" Kramer died in "Saw III," but is present in later films through prequels, flashbacks, and dramatized events as described by other characters. In fact, Bell has appeared in some capacity in every "Saw" film. The lone exception is "Spiral: From the Book of Saw," but Bell will be returning to the role for "Saw X." This has allowed Jigsaw to have a constant, haunting presence throughout the franchise without turning him into a slasher villain like Michael Myers. Hell, he spends almost the entire first film playing dead on the floor.
Considering John Kramer is a mortal being and not an undead killing machine like Jason Voorhees, a dream demon like Freddy Krueger, or a possessed doll like Charles Lee "Chucky" Ray, having an elderly man dying of cancer be the sole antagonist for a massive horror franchise would be a little absurd. There's already a lot of suspension of disbelief required to accept that regular people could set up these ridiculously intricate death contraptions with the correct engineering to work effectively, but thinking this dying old man could do it all on his own would have been a step too far.
Not only does this help with the realism of an already pretty unrealistic story, but it positions John Kramer as an almost god-like figure. Even if we don't see him, we can sense his presence and influence in every scene. William Afton serves a similar role throughout the "Five Nights at Freddy's" games, and his role in the films should reflect that.
Five Nights at Freddy's thrives on fan speculation
When Scott Cawthon put out the first "Five Nights at Freddy's" game, there was no way he could have predicted it would explode into a pop culture phenomenon. This also means that he didn't have a full idea of what the backstory of the games would be until the game had already become massively popular. The lore is admittedly, even by the standards of some of the most die-hard fans, convoluted and some details have even been retconned. But that's part of the fun of "Five Nights at Freddy's." It's not just a horror video game, it's also an expansive horror story with plenty of unanswered questions. Part of why the fandom is so active is because of the communal effort put into trying to solve the mysteries of the story, theorize about what details may or may not mean, and ultimately develop a fan-accepted canon.
In order for that aspect of the franchise to carry over into the films, an aura of mystery surrounding William Afton is key. So much of the horror of "Five Nights at Freddy's" took place long before Mike Schmidt became a security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, and there's no way to fully flesh out all of the details in under two hours without things feeling rushed or skipped over. Showcasing William Afton in small doses across a series of movies allows the story to breathe, keeps Matthew Lillard on all of our screens in a horror movie (always a good thing), and allows the space to retell the story in a new medium.
William Afton absolutely has the potential to be the next Jigsaw, and with "Saw X" likely marking the end of Tobin Bell's reign of terror in the role, it's the perfect time for Lillard's Afton to pick up the torch and let the games continue.