[Fredbear laughter]
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For the past month I’ve been teetering on
the edge of my seat waiting for all of it
to come together.
Every part of the FNAF puzzle laid out before
me…
And totally bingeing on any content that pops
up relative to the lore.
I released two videos encompassing the extent
of my thoughts for my initial mind dump of
Ultimate Custom Night.
And as someone who loves diving into the lore
behind games, I equally love hearing other
people talk about them.
Now we’ve had a multitude of theories pop
up on YouTube, Reddit, in wiki discussions,
on the Steam forums, and in so many more places.
And being from the YouTube space, I always
appreciate the analytical views of my peers
the most.
I’m not sure if it’s just the idea of
these theories coming to life in video form,
or more so the rekindling of my childhood
- where I would spend hours watching documentaries
on mysteries and other horrifying things.
But I binge.
I binge haaaard.
I always love it when my buddies over at Treesicle
upload their thoughts around the same time
as me because it’s neat to see how the topic
can be perceived from different angles.
And then of course we have Dawko as well - who
is someone I had the pleasure of collaborating
with a few years back.
Now watching him grind through UCN was absolutely
gut-wrenching and I feared for his sanity,
but it was pretty awesome seeing him clear
the dreaded 50/20 night.
He completed it and then literally exploded
into a sea of emotions.
That moment alone took me back to when the
first dreaded 20 / 20 / 20 / 20 night was
cleared…
It’s been a trip, man.
But when it comes to trying to piece together
FNAF’s lore, and honestly probably what
inspired me to start delving in the lore of
FNAF, one person immediately comes to mind.
And that’s Matthew Patrick of The Game Theorists.
The Game Theorists has literally made so much
FNAF content that I can comfortably say that
if all the cutscenes in Metal Gear Solid 4
were replaced with these animatronic lore
dumps, it would fill those hefty 7 and a half
hours pretty darn well.
But with this statement you probably are wondering
about the title of the video.
And before I dive into any of that, first
you need to know that Matt is someone I certainly
respect.
He was one of three YouTubers who got me back
into this whole YouTube thing and I actually
had the pleasure of working with him for about
a month.
But I say all of this because I want you to
know that me commenting on another person’s
theory is not me putting them down or anything
negative.
It’s all merely for the sake of discussion,
and even though this video will get dislikes
just for the general idea of commenting on
someone else’s work, I thought it was important
to say that.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s
talk some lore.
The reason this video even exists is because
I’m someone who has pretty much watched
all of Matt’s FNAF content.
Back when Markiplier was playing it years
ago, I naturally migrated over to The Game
Theorists to see the breakdown of the story
that I had missed.
And it’s because of this legacy of watching
video after video of creepy animatronic lore
that I’ve reached the point I’m at now…
A point where I’m not too satisfied where
the theory trail is heading.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been
impressed with the deductions and logic that
goes into everything Matt has done with Five
Nights at Freddy’s, but if these last two
videos are TRULY the end of his FNAF videos…
I think I’m going to feel a little off.
Not because I think the videos aren’t well
made or thought out, but because I feel like
the foundation they are set up on is extremely
unstable and is already showing its cracks.
This past Sunday Matt and his team had uploaded
Game Theory: We Were Right ALL ALONG! which
breaks down the lore to Ultimate Custom Night
in a way that makes sense.
Given the pieces that are in play, Matt like
many others determined that William Afton
was stuck in a repeating nightmare within
hell - where as the creepy demon face child
thingy was the one holding him in this torturous
limbo.
And that’s all fine and well, and because
of the things covered I don’t think he’s
wrong at all.
It aligns with what the internet, myself included,
was generally thinking about what was taking
place…
And all of this was fine until the concept
of the crying child was brought up again - where
Matt reinstated that the bite victim was Michael
Afton…
And I just can’t believe that.
It doesn’t logically add up given the age
discrepancies between the games and when they
took place.
And ultimately with Matt’s final timeline
being released next week, if this one detail
is set in stone, then that means the entire
timeline is going to be laid out with that
being the linked factor.
The theory and the timeline starts with that
identity in place, and with what I personally
believe is a mislabel for a character.
Now immediately a lot of you may be thinking
“Who cares?
It’s just a video.
He’ll probably make another one anyways.”
And while that last part may be true, I think
part of the reason I do care is because the
series is at a place where Scott is satisfied
with the lore.
Regardless of people clearing 50 / 20 night
there won’t be anything additional.
So given that, and given the amount of time
and energy that went into crafting Matt’s
upcoming timeline - I feel like it won’t
ever sit right if Michael Afton being the
bite victim is a focal point.
For those of us who have been along for the
entire ride, I don’t know how to feel about
it.
A lot of people won’t understand that, but
I think it’s still important to state.
In my last video I explained a few different
angles to how we could be playing as William
or even Michael in Ultimate Custom Night,
but ultimately felt William was the stronger
choice.
I strongly believe that Michael is not the
bite victim, simply based on his age alone.
I believe Michael to be the older brother
with the Foxy mask - and even with that said,
I don’t believe we play as Michael in FNAF
4 either.
If Michael is the brother with the mask, then
we can already see how tall he is compared
to his younger brother.
Yet, the player in FNAF 4 is only as tall
as the door handles in the house.
As we run to the door we can see that we are
still a child.
I think it’d be weird to introduce the brother
as an initial antagonist and then write him
out of the story.
When the younger brother is being carried
to his inevitable bite, we can also see shadowy
versions of Freddy and Bonnie in the background
behind a table - almost as if they are watching
the bite victim being lead to his execution.
In the eyes of a child, these terrifying animatronics
were twice as gruesome from his point of view.
The house in the cutscenes and the house we
play in aren’t the same place, but they
do appear to still be linked to Sister Location.
Now majority of this is information you probably
already know, but I think the lens in which
we perceive it changes everything.
To the child these nightmares were real even
though no one else believed him.
And what’s terrifying about this is that
what we are experiencing in FNAF 4 could very
well be the same thing William is experiencing
in Ultimate Custom Night.
This house, these rooms, the random glimpses
of hospital equipment alongside the bed…
I think the FNAF 4 child was stuck in his
own limbo.
The bite didn’t kill him, but it put him
into a coma.
He was unconscious to the outside world, but
within his head was a never ending nightmare.
One in which he was never safe from any angle.
He was in a constant state of fear and yet
no one could help him.
When the night was over, the next one simply
began.
And the cutscenes we see were merely the steps
that led up to the limbo this child existed
in.
The older brother who had lead the charge
with taking the bite victim to his untimely
chomp was the one we are with in the end.
The grey text lets us know he is the first
one who is talking, and he is sorry for everything
that he has done…
Even though he knows his brother probably
can’t hear him.
When he leaves though, that’s when William
steps in.
He can put him back together.
He can make everything right again…
And so, he kills his son.
That’s why the heart rate monitor sound
plays…
It goes flat because William Afton ended his
son’s life.
He knows that he can preserve his son within
an animatronic shell, similar to how Baby
was an embodiment of Elizabeth.
And it’s unknown whether or not Michael
actually knew it was William who had killed
the bite victim.
When the bite victim died, the guilt from
this incident could have been what set Michael
into motion when he needed to save his sister.
It could have also been reoccurring nightmares,
which I’ll touch on in a bit.
Although, this venture in general almost seemed
like William Afton was sending his son to
his own death given the deadly animatronics
that resided in Sister Location, given the
final ending to the game.
Which takes us to Ultimate Custom Night.
Michael Afton cleansed his own sins by burning
himself in FNAF 6.
He was possibly the security guard in all
of the establishments under fake names post
Sister Location’s ending in an attempt to
fix the problems caused by his father in each
establishment.
He had to change names because former employees
aren’t allowed to work at the company again.
Any sane person would just leave, but he stays.
I strongly believe that William placed the
bite victim within Fredbear, and that’s
entirely why Fredbear is inaccessible during
Ultimate Custom Night minus summoning him
by death coining Golden Freddy.
Of course this takes us to another crazy debate
- is Golden Freddy and Fredbear the same character?
A lot of people think they are based on the
Fredbear jumpscare in Ultimate Custom Night,
but I think the opposite.
The bite victim has to be living on in a character,
and it seems oddly fitting to be placed into
the animatronic that put him on his death
bed.
But based on the logbook solution, the name
Cassidy from the Fourth Closet novel pops
up.
And that’s one of the reasons why I think
we’re dealing with two different animatronics
here.
Fredbear attacks you when you death coin Golden
Freddy because Golden Freddy is the only spirit
who has yet to be free.
The crying child, aka the bite victim is exactly
where he wants to be.
He’s a vengeful spirit who wants to punish
his father for killing him because he was
never given the chance to recover from his
coma.
He’s the one who shouldn’t have been killed.
By this point in the series though, majority
of the animatronics present here are just
lingering memories from the past.
All except for Cassidy who was never truly
set free.
Death coining her is the most heartless thing
that can be done in Ultimate Custom Night
because she never had her chance to pass over.
It’s as if William can just ignore her,
but Fredbear finally appears in defense to
reset the cycle… to punish his father for
trying to silence her once again.
Now at this point you might be thinking, but
what about the rest of the logbook?
It obviously belonged to Mike and all the
questions in it seem like they are directed
towards the crying child from FNAF 4.
Shouldn’t that be enough to verify they
are the same person?
And this is what takes us back to the conundrum
with MatPat’s theory.
In my last video I mentioned that if we were
the crying child we wouldn’t be old enough
to work in the establishments until we were
way older.
The games happen too quickly in succession
and a minor wouldn’t be able to work extremely
late hours or even over a certain amount of
hours in a week.
However, the older brother, who is probably
in high school - would be able to assuming
he graduated not long afterwords.
But beyond this, the questions in the book
definitely seem directed towards the crying
child and someone who lost their memory - which
is what would happen if you damaged your frontal
lobe.
Buuuuut, it makes me wonder if these questions
were written in the logbook specifically because
Michael was trying to connect with the spirit
of his younger brother.
If Michael knew his brother was trapped in
an animatronic, there’s still no way Michael
could know if his brother remembered who they
were or if they simply became an enigma.
Perhaps leaving this logbook at the various
locations overnight would hopefully yield
a response by the next shift.
It’s also possible that it is the bite victim
reaching out with rhetorical questions because
they can’t remember who they are…
Which would explain why the phrase “my name”
is written but is never finished, almost like
the thought is lost before it is fully explained.
A lot of people online have also suggested
that FNAF 4’s animatronics are nightmares
that are occurring with Michael Afton, the
older brother, because of the guilt of killing
his younger brother.
Nightmare Fredbear levels up into Nightmare
once the bite victim passes on, and guilt
consumes Michael.
And that’s why I can sit comfortably in
terms of accepting that the bite victim is
Michael Afton.
Now many of you may disagree with me on this
and that’s entirely okay.
That’s part of the charm in debating the
different possibilities.
For me though, no matter how well things are
strung together, I will always have a part
of me who just can’t accept the fact that
someone who completely died is the protagonist.
I understand they dodged death with the scooper,
but I always felt like that was because not
all of Ennard left Michael.
And in some ways it was sort of poetic because
at that moment every known member of Afton’s
family we’ve encountered was now part robot.
And also to clear things up since someone
brought it to my attention, the robotic voice
of Michael at the end of Sister Location was
actually a fluke - as Scott confirmed the
voice wasn’t actually supposed to sound
like it was powering down.
That wasn’t something I knew, so thanks
for sharing it.
But with all of that said, what are your thoughts?
Do you think Michael Afton is the bite victim
or the brother?
What about the logbook conclusion?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments
below!
And as a last note, I also highly recommend
checking out some of Dawko’s theory breakdowns
to really get your gears going.
And with that…
Thanks for tuning in for this lore ultimatum!
Five Nights at Freddy’s may finally be done
now that Scott is happy with where the lore
is…
But I wonder what the future will hold.
Anyways, thanks for watching guys and gals
- and until my next video, cheers!
