the true story of five nights at freddy's

theories and trivia

Theories

The game doesn't confirm whether the man convicted for the incident was actually the murderer, or if kids were stuffed into the animatronics. Since the animatronics attempt to kill other people in a similar manner, some fans believe that the animatronics were the real murderers. Others believe that it was a homicidal employee (as they would have access to the costumes and the animatronics' AI controls), though the newspaper says nothing as to whether the killer was an employee. Scott's hinting of paranormal activity within the pizzeria gave rise to speculation that the ghosts of the five children (and the other victims) might have possessed the animatronics, which caused their macabre behavior. Most fan theories agree that the Purple Man from the Death Minigames is the true murderer involved in this incident.

A variation of two certain theories speculates that the murderer may have been a previous night guard, which would explain why the animatronics are so determined to reach Mike Schmidt (and supposedly Phone Guy before him, as heard during Night 4's phone call). Since the killings may have occurred after-hours, this theory raises the possibility that the victims haunting the animatronics want revenge but can only remember for certain that their killer was a night guard.(This is leading towards the other theory of where fans believe that the Phone Guy is stuffed into Golden Freddy.

Another theory speculates that the missing children were stuffed into the four animatronics. This would explain the animatronics' foul odor, the leaking blood and mucus, and the parents' comparisons to reanimated corpses. No one knows what happened to the fifth child, though it is theorized that the fifth child may have been stuffed into Golden Freddy. This could explain why Golden Freddy has a little girl's laugh. It is possible that all of the children were killed and disposed of in a more traditional way, though.

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 hints that the previous day shift guard is the one who murdered the children. Phone Guy mentions on Night 5 of the second game that "no one is allowed in or out...especially concerning any...previous employees." This is also possible because Mike worked after both this incident and The Bite of '87 took place and due to the fact that Jeremy is the only protagonist to not be fired from his job as a night guard.

Another candidate could be Fritz Smith, the security guard on the Custom Night that is fired the following day after he tampers with the animatronics (just as Mike was). However, "tampering with the animatronics" could simply allude to the Custom Night gameplay where the player adjusts the A.I. levels of the animatronics. Also, the fact that Fritz worked after previous employees were neither allowed in or out possibly disproves this accusation.

Another theory proposed by the fan base is that Phone Guy is one of the likely candidates who took the missing children. This theory was brought up by MatPat of the famous YouTube theorizing gaming channel, The Game Theorists. The possible connections between The Purple Man and Golden Freddy to the Phone Guy are described; The Purple Man might be a security guard, which Phone Guy was, and The Purple Man's glowing white eyes in the rare "You can't" version of the SAVE THEM death minigame are similar to the ones Golden Freddy has in Five Nights and Freddy's and you can see "You can't" on the bottom left corner of the death screen from the purple guy. The kid starts to cry so the kid appears to turn like the puppet and crashes your game. In one of the other mini games, you deliver the items to the kids there is a kid in the middle which pops out a face of Golden Freddy, (This is leading towards the other theory of where fans believe that the Phone Guy is stuffed into Golden Freddy) and crashes your game.

Furthermore, he makes comparisons with the Death Minigames to the previous events - suggesting that the crying child in the Take Cake to the Children minigame happened to become The Puppet, that the Give Gifts, Give Life minigame is actually about the children being stuffed into the old animatronics, and that five children were taken by someone wearing a Golden Freddy costume. Phone Guy also mentions that Foxy was his favorite, giving fans a reason to believe that he was responsible, as in the Foxy death minigame The Purple Man is seen smiling outside Pirate Cove.

Trivia

Although the police stated that the killer was dressed in a mascot suit, Phone Guy states that the wires and beams within the suit would make it impossible for any human to stay alive while inside of it. But, the Phone Guy in Five Nights at Freddy's 2 states that someone used a spare, yellow suit, thus implying that it was an empty costume.

The bare endoskeleton may support the theory that the killer might have removed the wires and beams from his chosen costume before killing or kidnapping the children.

Also, Golden Freddy in the second game has wires sticking out of it, suggesting that the killer may have ripped out the wires and crossbeams to fit in.

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 features a new gameplay mechanic where the player wears an empty Freddy Fazbear Head as a means of defense, which implies that there may have been an empty costume available for the kidnapper to wear during the day time, that is, if the mask was returned before the next night.

One popular theory suggests that the suit worn by the kidnapper is that of Golden Freddy. While Phone Guy implies this in Night 6 of the second game, it is still speculation at this point.

Also, by Golden Freddy's appearance in the second game (with wires popping out of the eyes and shoulders), it would surely be impossible to get in the suit, although, these wires could just be hanging out of the outside of the suit, being barely inside. This could, however, also mean that the wires and beams were removed and the ones seen are just leftovers.

There is another recently popular theory that suggests that The Puppet was the possible murderer or orchestrator of the Incident. The Death Minigames in the second game seem to back up the idea, as in the "Give Gifts, Give Life" minigame, that The Puppet is shown putting the heads of the original animatronics (Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy) onto the corpses of children. During the SAVETHEM Death Minigame, Freddy must chase The Puppet, as if trying to catch or stop it, but The Puppet could also be trying to lead it.

Similarly, in all but one of the minigames a purple figure is present, particularly ominously in some playthroughs of the SAVE THEM Death Minigame. This purple man is heavily theorized to be the actual kidnapper and/or murderer, as he always appears alongside imagery of deceased children, and, in one Death Minigame, appears to kill a crying child.