By Mark Rodriguez
It's been known to some that Scott Cawthon, creator of the Five Nights at Freddy's series has been wanting to make a live action movie based on the games. I honestly forgot what was the first studio he was trying to work with, but after some time it was announced that it fell through and it was back to the drawing board. Then some time ago he announced Blumhouse productions, the guys behind Get Out, would be the ones working on the movie now, which some have praised because they have done decent horror films using practical effects. It's been literal years since all this started, our VGM review of the first game already mentioned a movie was 'on the way' and that was back in 2015. The story behind the games has changed so much since then that I wonder how the movie is going to work with what we know now?
Other than jumpscares, the FNAF games have been known for their deep lore. While the later games have added more gameplay elements, most of them play roughly the same. You're an employee of sorts, in some kind of facility, and you basically point and click through the cameras to keep an eye on killer animatronics and use several methods to prevent them from killing you. The in-game cut scenes show hints of the lore, but hidden Easter eggs in the background, hidden mini games, and in the later games, voice acting, all shed some light on what's going on behind the scenes and just why these things come to life at night. Even the final game (as of right now anyway) Ultimate Custom Night, that was meant to be just crazy fanservice for the hell of it, still turned out to add more to the lore.
So what is the story of Five Nights at Freddy's? Hoo boy, where to even begin? I will not even try to dissect the entire story, but I will explain how it went from simple to extremely convoluted. Hold on tight.
The first game was pretty easy, and I assume it was because at the time it would have been hard to predict that it was going to be such a success. Scott hasn't had the best of luck at creating games at this point and took it personally when a critic compared the characters in his Chipper and Sons Lumber Co game to creepy animatronics. Instead of giving up though, he decided to purposely make a game about creepy animatronics, but this was his make or break game. Had FNAF failed, he would have either quit creating games, or possibly had a long hiatus before even thinking of creating another video game.
Anyway, the first game had you take the role of Mike Schmidt taking a job at Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria. The Phone Guy informs the player that the animatronics, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy walk around at night and if they see a human, they will confuse him for an animatronic without their suit on. They will forcefully shove the person into a spare Freddy suit which will result in death due to the sharp things inside. The gameplay is pretty simple and news papers in the backgrounds reveal the lore. Basically a former employee used one of the costumes to lure kids to their deaths, and since the game has 5 animatronics (Golden Freddy was a secret character of sorts), and 5 kids were murdered, it was pretty easy to put it all together. The animatronics were not malfunctioning. They were possessed by the murdered children and were killing security guards cause they couldn't tell them apart from their actual killer. Open and shut.
FNAF 2 opened a new restaurant and had updated animatronics and introduced the killer as the Purple Guy. We also met the Puppet/Marrionette that would be the one to transfer the kids' spirits into the animatronics to help them get revenge. The ending revealed it was actually a prequel and also introduced the idea of other restaurants before both locations were opened. It expanded the lore and explained how the kids possessed Freddy and his crew, but still didn't deviate too much from the first game's backstory. So far so good.
FNAF 3 takes place years later after the demise of the restaurant from the first game in a horror attraction that's taking advantage of the rumors of the animatronics killing people. Mini games reveal Purple Guy went back sometime between the end of FNAF 1 and this game to destroy the animatronics, inadvertently releasing their spirits and scaring him into hiding into a springlock suit, killing him. We got more expansion to the backstory and we thought we were done. The horror attraction burns down in the end, so we assume this was the end.
FNAF 4 originally had the subtitle 'The Final Chapter' and was later removed. You play as a kid in a house full of nightmare versions of the animatronics. The backstory revealed the kid was actually in a hospital after he had his head smashed in the jaws of the original Fredbear animatronic and the game was in his head. It was later revealed that the game was the kid's delusions and nightmares from getting his skull crushed until he finally flat-lined. Plus, all of this seems to have happened before all three previous games. It was a weird way to end the series.
FNAF World was a cute RPG game that the fanbase rejected violently, so much so that Scott took it down, refunded everyone's money and re-released a new and improved version for free. The reason I mention the game is because, surprisingly... it still had hints of lore and storyline.
Then the book came out, FNAF The Silver Eyes, that added a more human touch to the story and introduced Henry and William Afton, with Henry being the good animatronic creator and Afton being the Purple Guy. The book was supposed to be an alternate take from the games, but several ideas introduced here would find their place in the games.
FNAF Sister Location came out and confirms that Purple Guy is not only Afton, but he also creates animatronics. The game also introduced voice acting from the Circus Baby and the new crew, and the stuff they say add more to the story. The game's secrets reveal that the Funtime Animatronics were purposely designed to kill and capture children. They were designed to act harmless until they were alone with the victim, and this tragically resulted in Circus Baby killing Afton's own daughter. The game's ending reveals that the Funtime Animatronics wanted to escape their facility and merged their wires and electronics together to form a single entity named Ennard.
The game also featured a scooping machine designed to knock the endokeletons right out of the animatronic shell. Ennard uses its Circus Baby voice to lure the player to have his insides knocked out by the scooper so the animatronic could crawl inside and escape the facility posing as a human. The human would eventually rot until one day he regurgitated Ennard out of his body. Despite all this, the human came back to life. The game's hidden ending revealed the player was Afton's son, Micheal Afton and even he is not sure how he survived the ordeal, but he is out to find his father for answers.
Notice how it took two paragraphs to explain the plot of this game, and that's with me leaving stuff out.
Around this time the second book, FNAF The Twisted Ones came out that introduced the idea of new animatronics with the ability to emit waves that make people see them as more terrifying versions of themselves.
Some secret rooms and maps in Sister Location reveal that while that game was going on, the rooms in the house of FNAF 4 were under surveillance. This new idea featured in the book reveals that the Nightmare Animatronics seen in the game could have been real animatronics, but using that technology to look scarier and more nightmarish.
Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Simulator would turn out to be FNAF 6 with Rollercoaster Tycoon type gameplay where you can customize your own pizzeria, add your own animatronics and games, and you can even play the games too. However, this game turns out to continue the story as the new pizzeria turns out to be a trap to lure any remaining possessed animatronics to their final deaths, orchestrated by Henry, the guy introduced in the book series.
Two more books were released, a Survival Log Book that was supposed to be a fun activity book and whatnot... but actually has critical and extremely difficult clues to revealing more about the backstory. The final book in the series proper, FNAF The Fourth Closet brings in even more ideas, the craziest ones yet.
The last game, so far, Ultimate Custom Night was supposed to be just for fun, and the chance to mix and match challenges from every animatronic in the series. However it turns out to be the story of Purple Guy Afton being trapped in purgatory where he'll be killed over and over again by all the animatronics. Almost every animatronic in the game from the older games now has voice acting as well, and they talk about 'The One You Should Not Have Killed' hinting that this vengeful entity is keeping Afton trapped in purgatory instead of passing on.
To make everything even more confusing and convoluted, combining the lore found in all the games, books, and whatever else brings up three very interesting possible story bits, that, assuming they are correct only add to the convolution.
- Micheal Afton has been the guy you played as throughout most of the series, changing his name time and time again to stop his father's plans.
- Micheal Afton could possibly be the child that died in FNAF 4... but later came back to life in a method very similar to what happened to the main character in the books, which I won't spoil.
- Apparently Remnant is some sort of substance that contains the souls of murdered children that can be injected into animatronics to posses them, which is what most likely was done to the Funtime crew. Henry's plan in FNAF 6 was to burn down any remaining animatronics with Remnant. It turns out the Scooper or SCUP is what is used to inject this stuff into the already killer robots.
And this is where I say... what the hell??? What happened to it just being about animatronics killing security guards and you just trying to survive your shift? We somehow went from haunted animatronics that the establishment thought were just malfunctioning and the Purple Guy just being a child killer.... to William Afton being a guy that creates animatronics purposely designed to capture and kill children, and then injects them with some sort of soul juice to make them come alive, possibly inspired by the fact this his daughter possessed one of his creations. WHAT??? Just..... WHAT???? A simple story of possessed machinery has become something from a complex mad scientist scheme in a sci-fi movie.
When the movie was first announced in 2015, I was wondering how it was going to work. This was based on the fact that at the time of the original trilogy, it was assumed that while we were the ones trying to solve the backstory, the actual security guard in the game was only concerned with keeping Bonnie and Chica out of his office without really knowing the real reason they're alive and trying and to stuff him in a suit.
But now between the books and the stuff we discovered in later games, we now have characters that know what is going on behind the scenes and are out to stop William Afton and his sick plans involving possessed killer robots.
So what possible route is the movie going to take? They might just adapt the books into the movies. Or they just might go with just the story of the first game, ignoring all the over-complicated stuff. I kinda feel they really need to leave out all the SCUP and Remnant stuff to prevent the movie from being too complicated or save that for a potential sequel. All the extra lore stuff might turn off the casual audience that think the games are just crazy critters and jumpscares.
The other thing to consider, since Scott is known to be carefully overseeing the movie's plot, is that the movie will give even more hints and ideas that go back and better explain or answer the still unexplained questions of the series. For example, the movie actually starring Micheal Afton posing as Mike Schmidt (possibly an end of movie reveal) will confirm that the one theory is correct.
The only way to find out is to see the movie, if it actually comes out. If Ultimate Custom Night really is the final game, the movie should be released relatively soon while the game is still somewhat on people's minds. Back in 2015 I thought the movie would have been released years after the games have become forgotten, but that was before books and more games were released. Unless we get a surprise update it doesn't seem we'll be hearing news about the movie's production any time soon, so we're back to the risk of having it be released after the games have been forgotten.
I love the series and the original concept while still trying to accept the bizzare new ideas introduced in Sister Location and onwards. I would love the movie to be awesome and be more Freddy killing security guards and less Afton using Remnant. Only time will tell.
It's been known to some that Scott Cawthon, creator of the Five Nights at Freddy's series has been wanting to make a live action movie based on the games. I honestly forgot what was the first studio he was trying to work with, but after some time it was announced that it fell through and it was back to the drawing board. Then some time ago he announced Blumhouse productions, the guys behind Get Out, would be the ones working on the movie now, which some have praised because they have done decent horror films using practical effects. It's been literal years since all this started, our VGM review of the first game already mentioned a movie was 'on the way' and that was back in 2015. The story behind the games has changed so much since then that I wonder how the movie is going to work with what we know now?
Other than jumpscares, the FNAF games have been known for their deep lore. While the later games have added more gameplay elements, most of them play roughly the same. You're an employee of sorts, in some kind of facility, and you basically point and click through the cameras to keep an eye on killer animatronics and use several methods to prevent them from killing you. The in-game cut scenes show hints of the lore, but hidden Easter eggs in the background, hidden mini games, and in the later games, voice acting, all shed some light on what's going on behind the scenes and just why these things come to life at night. Even the final game (as of right now anyway) Ultimate Custom Night, that was meant to be just crazy fanservice for the hell of it, still turned out to add more to the lore.
So what is the story of Five Nights at Freddy's? Hoo boy, where to even begin? I will not even try to dissect the entire story, but I will explain how it went from simple to extremely convoluted. Hold on tight.
The first game was pretty easy, and I assume it was because at the time it would have been hard to predict that it was going to be such a success. Scott hasn't had the best of luck at creating games at this point and took it personally when a critic compared the characters in his Chipper and Sons Lumber Co game to creepy animatronics. Instead of giving up though, he decided to purposely make a game about creepy animatronics, but this was his make or break game. Had FNAF failed, he would have either quit creating games, or possibly had a long hiatus before even thinking of creating another video game.
 |
| Not responsible for injury and dismemberment? Sure! where do I sign? |
FNAF 2 opened a new restaurant and had updated animatronics and introduced the killer as the Purple Guy. We also met the Puppet/Marrionette that would be the one to transfer the kids' spirits into the animatronics to help them get revenge. The ending revealed it was actually a prequel and also introduced the idea of other restaurants before both locations were opened. It expanded the lore and explained how the kids possessed Freddy and his crew, but still didn't deviate too much from the first game's backstory. So far so good.
FNAF 3 takes place years later after the demise of the restaurant from the first game in a horror attraction that's taking advantage of the rumors of the animatronics killing people. Mini games reveal Purple Guy went back sometime between the end of FNAF 1 and this game to destroy the animatronics, inadvertently releasing their spirits and scaring him into hiding into a springlock suit, killing him. We got more expansion to the backstory and we thought we were done. The horror attraction burns down in the end, so we assume this was the end.
FNAF 4 originally had the subtitle 'The Final Chapter' and was later removed. You play as a kid in a house full of nightmare versions of the animatronics. The backstory revealed the kid was actually in a hospital after he had his head smashed in the jaws of the original Fredbear animatronic and the game was in his head. It was later revealed that the game was the kid's delusions and nightmares from getting his skull crushed until he finally flat-lined. Plus, all of this seems to have happened before all three previous games. It was a weird way to end the series.
 |
| A prank that went horribly wrong. He got better though. Somehow... |
FNAF World was a cute RPG game that the fanbase rejected violently, so much so that Scott took it down, refunded everyone's money and re-released a new and improved version for free. The reason I mention the game is because, surprisingly... it still had hints of lore and storyline.
Then the book came out, FNAF The Silver Eyes, that added a more human touch to the story and introduced Henry and William Afton, with Henry being the good animatronic creator and Afton being the Purple Guy. The book was supposed to be an alternate take from the games, but several ideas introduced here would find their place in the games.
FNAF Sister Location came out and confirms that Purple Guy is not only Afton, but he also creates animatronics. The game also introduced voice acting from the Circus Baby and the new crew, and the stuff they say add more to the story. The game's secrets reveal that the Funtime Animatronics were purposely designed to kill and capture children. They were designed to act harmless until they were alone with the victim, and this tragically resulted in Circus Baby killing Afton's own daughter. The game's ending reveals that the Funtime Animatronics wanted to escape their facility and merged their wires and electronics together to form a single entity named Ennard.
The game also featured a scooping machine designed to knock the endokeletons right out of the animatronic shell. Ennard uses its Circus Baby voice to lure the player to have his insides knocked out by the scooper so the animatronic could crawl inside and escape the facility posing as a human. The human would eventually rot until one day he regurgitated Ennard out of his body. Despite all this, the human came back to life. The game's hidden ending revealed the player was Afton's son, Micheal Afton and even he is not sure how he survived the ordeal, but he is out to find his father for answers.
Notice how it took two paragraphs to explain the plot of this game, and that's with me leaving stuff out.
Around this time the second book, FNAF The Twisted Ones came out that introduced the idea of new animatronics with the ability to emit waves that make people see them as more terrifying versions of themselves.
Some secret rooms and maps in Sister Location reveal that while that game was going on, the rooms in the house of FNAF 4 were under surveillance. This new idea featured in the book reveals that the Nightmare Animatronics seen in the game could have been real animatronics, but using that technology to look scarier and more nightmarish.
Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Simulator would turn out to be FNAF 6 with Rollercoaster Tycoon type gameplay where you can customize your own pizzeria, add your own animatronics and games, and you can even play the games too. However, this game turns out to continue the story as the new pizzeria turns out to be a trap to lure any remaining possessed animatronics to their final deaths, orchestrated by Henry, the guy introduced in the book series.
Two more books were released, a Survival Log Book that was supposed to be a fun activity book and whatnot... but actually has critical and extremely difficult clues to revealing more about the backstory. The final book in the series proper, FNAF The Fourth Closet brings in even more ideas, the craziest ones yet.
The last game, so far, Ultimate Custom Night was supposed to be just for fun, and the chance to mix and match challenges from every animatronic in the series. However it turns out to be the story of Purple Guy Afton being trapped in purgatory where he'll be killed over and over again by all the animatronics. Almost every animatronic in the game from the older games now has voice acting as well, and they talk about 'The One You Should Not Have Killed' hinting that this vengeful entity is keeping Afton trapped in purgatory instead of passing on.
To make everything even more confusing and convoluted, combining the lore found in all the games, books, and whatever else brings up three very interesting possible story bits, that, assuming they are correct only add to the convolution.
- Micheal Afton has been the guy you played as throughout most of the series, changing his name time and time again to stop his father's plans.
- Micheal Afton could possibly be the child that died in FNAF 4... but later came back to life in a method very similar to what happened to the main character in the books, which I won't spoil.
- Apparently Remnant is some sort of substance that contains the souls of murdered children that can be injected into animatronics to posses them, which is what most likely was done to the Funtime crew. Henry's plan in FNAF 6 was to burn down any remaining animatronics with Remnant. It turns out the Scooper or SCUP is what is used to inject this stuff into the already killer robots.
And this is where I say... what the hell??? What happened to it just being about animatronics killing security guards and you just trying to survive your shift? We somehow went from haunted animatronics that the establishment thought were just malfunctioning and the Purple Guy just being a child killer.... to William Afton being a guy that creates animatronics purposely designed to capture and kill children, and then injects them with some sort of soul juice to make them come alive, possibly inspired by the fact this his daughter possessed one of his creations. WHAT??? Just..... WHAT???? A simple story of possessed machinery has become something from a complex mad scientist scheme in a sci-fi movie.
When the movie was first announced in 2015, I was wondering how it was going to work. This was based on the fact that at the time of the original trilogy, it was assumed that while we were the ones trying to solve the backstory, the actual security guard in the game was only concerned with keeping Bonnie and Chica out of his office without really knowing the real reason they're alive and trying and to stuff him in a suit.
But now between the books and the stuff we discovered in later games, we now have characters that know what is going on behind the scenes and are out to stop William Afton and his sick plans involving possessed killer robots.
So what possible route is the movie going to take? They might just adapt the books into the movies. Or they just might go with just the story of the first game, ignoring all the over-complicated stuff. I kinda feel they really need to leave out all the SCUP and Remnant stuff to prevent the movie from being too complicated or save that for a potential sequel. All the extra lore stuff might turn off the casual audience that think the games are just crazy critters and jumpscares.
The other thing to consider, since Scott is known to be carefully overseeing the movie's plot, is that the movie will give even more hints and ideas that go back and better explain or answer the still unexplained questions of the series. For example, the movie actually starring Micheal Afton posing as Mike Schmidt (possibly an end of movie reveal) will confirm that the one theory is correct.
The only way to find out is to see the movie, if it actually comes out. If Ultimate Custom Night really is the final game, the movie should be released relatively soon while the game is still somewhat on people's minds. Back in 2015 I thought the movie would have been released years after the games have become forgotten, but that was before books and more games were released. Unless we get a surprise update it doesn't seem we'll be hearing news about the movie's production any time soon, so we're back to the risk of having it be released after the games have been forgotten.
I love the series and the original concept while still trying to accept the bizzare new ideas introduced in Sister Location and onwards. I would love the movie to be awesome and be more Freddy killing security guards and less Afton using Remnant. Only time will tell.
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