Why The Animatronics Are So Obsessed With Hunting Humans In Five Nights At Freddy's
This article contains major spoilers for "Five Nights at Freddy's."
Michael Myers is the embodiment of evil. Freddy Krueger is a vengeful dream demon. Jason Voorhees is killing at the behest of his mother. And Freddy Fazbear is ... well, why are Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie the Bunny, Foxy the Fox, and Chica the Chicken (with Mr. Cupcake) so hellbent on killing people? "Five Nights at Freddy's" is a horror franchise spawned off of the popular video game series from Scott Cawthon, now entering the world of live-action adaptation with a feature film from Blumhouse Productions and Universal Pictures.
"FNaF" boats a fandom that rivals any of the icons of horror's yesteryear, and contains a sprawling lore across 13 games and over 30 books. For those not in the know, "Five Nights at Freddy's" is known as "that game where Chuck E. Cheese-like animatronics come to life and kill you," but few outside of the fandom actually understand how or why these events are taking place.
Fortunately, the games and film adaptation have two similar yet extremely different approaches to explaining the mysteries of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. This means that even the most diehard fan is in for a surprise with the new film, and those coming to the franchise for the first time through the movie won't be able to predict how the games play out if they so choose to play afterward. So why are these animatronics so obsessed with hunting humans? Let's dive in and explore the truth to how fantasy and fun come to life in such terrifying ways.
What the game lore has to say
The first "Five Nights at Freddy's" game features security guard Mike Schmidt listening to a series of messages from his predecessor and the mysterious "Phone Guy." At first, it sounds like the animatronics are free roaming at night because their servomotors lock up if they are left off for too long. He's warned that if an animatronic comes across him after hours, it will shove him into one of the mechanical suits, which will kill him because the suits aren't meant for humans to fit inside. This is because the animatronics are programmed to outfit any "naked" exoskeletons, and confuses them with humans. They're not capable of being evil, just operating as scheduled.
Although fans of the game know the truth. In actuality, the animatronics are running on the souls and corpses of dead children, victims of the serial killer and Fazbear Entertainment co-founder, William Afton. These spirits are looking for payback, and taking out their frustrations on any human they encounter, believing them to be the person responsible for their pain. The last thing the children saw of the "Purple Guy," aka Afton, is a badge ... one that resembles the one the security guards now wear. This is just the lore of the early games, and there are different reasons behind the animatronics' movement in later games, including overridden code, faulty software, and even a child's nightmare playing out before the player's eyes.
In the later "FNaF" games the lore introduces something called Remnant, a metallic substance used to trap souls in inanimate objects. In the books, it's the name of the endoskeleton metal used to make the animatronics. Afton believed if he killed enough children and captured enough of the Remnant that made the animatronics come to life, he could make himself immortal.
What the film lore has to say
Throughout the film, an animatronic that resembles a small girl is shown, with a retractable claw chest that snaps down almost like a bear trap. This is Circus Baby, the main star of "Circus Baby's Pizza World," aka the "Sister Location" of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. As police officer Vanessa tells Mike Schmidt, "They want to make her like them." If Abby's soul and corpse were to reside within the Circus Baby chassis, she would be able to join the rest of Afton's victims inside Freddy, Bonnie, Foxy, Chica, Cupcake, and Golden Freddy. They like playing with her and view this as the way to be able to play with her forever. Their intentions, while sweet, are incredibly misguided. However, it's when William Afton from within the Spring Bonnie suit starts ordering them around that the violence truly escalates.
These children have been inside the suits for so long that they don't realize that the yellow bunny is actually the source of their pain. William Afton used the Spring Bonnie suit to lure them near, only to kill them and shove their bodies within the suits. Sadly, they've forgotten this, and instead see him as a leader. They're not evil, they're just listening to his commands. It's only when Abby draws a picture to remind them that Afton is not only in the Spring Bonnie suit but is the reason that they're all inside the animatronics in the first place that they're finally able to break free, turn on Afton, and finally kill him once and for all.
The film ends with Afton inside the suit, transforming from Spring Bonnie into the villainous Springtrap. If Blumhouse and Universal are smart, they'll immediately greenlight production on the sequel, and bring Springtrap back for round two.
"Five Nights at Freddy's" is now playing in theaters and available to stream on Peacock.