Delta's Writing Desk: FNaF Theories

So, I wanted to do a thing here talking about the many theories that exist for Five Nights at Freddy's. You all probably know that I never went with the supernatural side in terms of the Just Another Night at Freddy's series, and I can still argue that it's just robotics making them do what they do. (Hell, that's how I explain it in the series.) I won't be so bold in saying that my series has perpetuated that idea further, but it does seem to be the most popular explanation circulating around FanFiction, especially after my series took off (I know I'm not the first, nor am I the most popular, but still. Gotta have a little bit of ego). But forget all that, I want to try the other sides. After all, Scott himself said the pizzeria is haunted.

"So Your Pizzeria's Full of Ghosts..."
Yes, apparently Freddy's is haunted. It's not that hard to assume who the ghosts are, since there's the murdered children. Several fan theories exist that follow the same kind of explanations:
The animatronics are directly possessed by the spirits of the dead children. Very popular theory, although it has varied to the degree of the possession and to who's actually possessed. What I mean in the first point is that in some stories, the kids remember nothing of their past lives, only knowing that they're inside robots now, and have to deal with that. Conversely, some stories have the spirits remember their deaths, sometimes their past lives, and each other before they were killed. In terms of the second point, I saw a story where Freddy, Chica, Foxy, and Bonnie were robots, but it was Golden Freddy that was possessed. It was actually really unique in that Goldie's voice sounded like a chorus of five other voices, and referred to itself as "we." Very clever. Others have had it be Goldie that's a spooky ghost (understandable, considering his behavior in the game) that's essentially a manifestation of evil, or the spirit of the murderer himself, and a combination of all of them.
As for me, I like the Golden Freddy is all of the kids idea, and combining that with him being the controller. Now we go to the less popular theory, the one offered up by Game Theory that blew my mind, and immediately refute.


"So Your Guard's a Serial Killer"
That's right, I'm talking the theory that all of this is inside Mike's head, that these our his nightmares terrorizing him for killing the kids. It 100% makes sense, and is a fascinating take on the horror game, and is the closest to what Scott was probably imaging. Pretty deep for a kid's restaurant, eh? I'm not going to deny it's validity, but again, you know the route I took, and Mike is very much a good guy. This appears to be the trend in the Fanfiction world as well, with Mike serving a protagonist role or simply being an important supporting character for many stories. This idea helps connect to the biggest confliction in terms of canon in my opinion: Five Nights at Freddy's 2.


"How to Make a Stealth Prequel"
Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is, in my opinion, just as good a horror game as the first one. I think a little bit of it's charm is diminished, but it's hard to get rid of the feeling you get when you first stared at that tablet. But moving on. So, is the game a sequel or a prequel? There's plenty of evidence supporting both, so I'll split this up.

Reasons Making FNaF 2 a Sequel
-The animatronics from the first game are being dismantled. They're even referred to as the "Old" characters.
-Foxy's damage is a progression from the first game. I mean, the tears he had seem to have expanded, and the same loss of suit on the legs makes him the same one, as does his love of charging the office.
-The animatronics have been replaced by "newer" ones. Same as the first one.

Makes sense, right? If that's all you knew, you can definitely put it after FNaF 1 on the timeline. But then there's... well...

Reasons Making FNaF 2 a Prequel
-Phone Guy's alive. That's a big one, he even says he'll take over the night shift once you're done.
-The date on the check. Yeah, that's the big kicker here. It takes place in the year 1987. That 1987.
-Night 6 takes place during the murder investigations. Phone Guy's dialogue indicates this.

Why It's So Confusing
-The Mangle is an old Foxy model, since Pirate's Cove is closed. But which Foxy? How is there more?
-The aforementioned "Old" animatronics.
-No mention of this location in FNaF 1. None, zip, nada, and it's clearly a different building. Granted, I don't think Scott was expecting the huge amount of success the first game would get, and wasn't entirely prepared for a sequel.
-Phone Guy is the same guy. But again, 2 different buildings.

My Take on This
Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is most definitely a prequel, but a confusing one. I think that Scott originally wanted a sequel, but got the idea to change it into a prequel, and some changes weren't implemented to allow for the game to release on time.

Jeremy Is The Killer
One theory persists that Jeremy is the killer (relating to Mike being the killer), but the difference is that it takes place in reality, as opposed to a dream. Phone Guy says that the animatronics have facial recognition connecting to a criminal database, allowing them to know about any predators. He also says that it's malfunctioning, and that's why they're so hostile, but what if it's not? What if they are trying to do their job, and Jeremy wound up killing those kids. Phone Guy also says that it's odd that Jeremy came back on Night 6, despite it being closed, and just ignores it, saying that he'll put him on the day shift for "one last party." What if Jeremy came back to make sure his tracks were covered? It would also explain the intensely aggressive behavior on Night 6. The day shift thing connects to the last theory I wanted to talk about.


Jeremy is the Victim of the Bite of '87
Think about it: Jeremy is transferred to the day shift, told to stick with the animatronics and make sure everything goes okay, and with their criminal database going haywire over the murders, they put two and two together. The result? Chomp! Now Jeremy lacks a frontal lobe, and Freddy's fate is sealed. It's never explicitly said that the victim was a child (although that is a popular theory), and I feel it makes sense.

That's all the theories I'm currently aware of, and welcome to a more opinionated little thingy where I talk about... stuff, really. Have a good one, and thanks for reading!