From Hugh of @hughv302

On October 27th, the long awaited adaptation of the popular horror video game franchise Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) finally hits the big screen ready to bring animatronic terror to audiences. There is an intense amount of detailed and compelling lore that surrounds the many events and characters of this series including the iconic animatronics that will be making their live action debut in the film. But who are these haunting animatronics? Why do they kill people who enter the restaurant they inhabit at night? What secrets do they hold? Find out now below!

Origin

Across many mainline games, several spin-offs and various books, the lore of FNAF runs deep and may be understandably overwhelming for somebody new to the franchise. This overview will focus primarily on the animatronics and their story from the first three games in which the film adaptation is using. The four animatronics featured in the film are Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie the Rabbit, Chica the Chicken and Foxy the Pirate who were the primary antagonists of the first three games. The first game explains that the animatronics come from a family pizza restaurant franchise called "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza" where they started off as mechanical mascots meant to entertain children and families. The pizzeria where the first game is set in is in a state of disrepair thanks to a series of tragedies associated with it, namely the kidnapping and murder of several children by a man named William Afton, who also happens to be the cofounder and owner of the company behind the restaurant. It is rumored that the victims' bodies had been stuffed inside the many animatronic mascots of the pizzeria, which had led to a widespread boycott of the business and directly led to its demise. It is later explained through visual story telling across the three games that the animatronics have been possessed by the souls of the murdered children and therefore have become sentient. They proceed to become extremely active during the night and they attempt to kill any adults that are in the restaurant, mainly the night shift security guards who come in including the protagonist of the first game, Mike Schmidt, who will be the main character of the film. They capture any human they can reach and brutally stuff them into spare mechanical suits, which kills them in the process. It is implied in the games that the reason they try to kill the adults that come into the restaurant is that they seek to avenge their own deaths by going after the adult that killed them. However since they seemingly don’t remember the exact identity of the one who murdered them they go after any adults they come across believing one of them to be their killer.

Powers & Weaknesses

Every animatronic in the games share similar abilities but their behaviors are individually different. As animatronics they all have unnatural strength and are therefore able to easily overpower a human adult with ease. They have strong mechanical jaws and teeth that are strong enough to bite through a human skull as indicated by an event in the games involving one of the animatronics called “The Bite of 87.” They can also be extremely stealthy and fast allowing them to surprise their victims at any point. Bonnie, Chica and Foxy follow a specific pattern in the game when they attack humans while Freddy is an almost complete wild card that can be hard to predict. As for weaknesses, the animatronics have certain limitations that change for every game. In the first game the  animatronics can be easily blocked by reinforced metal doors. But when there are no doors present like in the following games flashlights and cameras can be used to slow them down but only temporarily. As for whether they can be physically defeated no one has gotten close enough to try and live.

What to expect?

The animatronics all look exactly like their video game counterparts but whether they will act the same way as them has yet to be determined. The trailers for the film do indicate that the animatronics are indeed possessed by the murdered children and their motive to kill their killer from the game are more than likely the same for the film. But like with most adaptations, certain changes could be made to the story and characters based on personal creative choice by the director, which can include simplifying the story to make it easier for audiences to understand especially since FNAF has such a complex lore with its characters. The film also seems largely based on the first game but includes elements introduced in later games. Depending on what happens in the film they could leave it open for more of the lore to be explored in potential sequels since there is plenty of source material to adapt and even more killer animatronics waiting to come out and play.

Five Nights at Freddy’s hits theaters and Peacock on October 27th, 2023.

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