Five Nights at Freddy’s is a game series known for its expansive lore which includes a whole host of creative and somewhat disturbing characters.
From murderous animatronics to morally defunct humans, many characters are seen and referenced throughout the series. Let’s take a closer look at the characters of FNAF to help you get started if you are planning on diving into the depths of the FNAF lore. Be aware we’ll be going into spoiler territory for a range of plot points from the FNAF series.
Animatronics
Let’s begin with the animatronic characters, as they are the most iconic element of the series and the reason behind FNAF‘s huge success.
Freddy Fazbear
The titular character of the series, Freddy Fazbear is an animatronic brown bear who became the star of the animatronic show in the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza restaurant in the 1980s. Freddy is far from your run-of-the-mill animatronic though, as he is possessed by the spirit of a murdered child named Gabriel. Yeah, this series gets dark real quick. Gabriel’s body was stuffed into the animatronic bear, leading to the possession.
There are a wide range of variations on the classic Freddy Fazbear design across the series, so let’s take a look at some of the best-known ones.
- Golden Freddy: A discontinued golden version of the Freddy Fazbear animatronic. A girl named Cassidy was one of the five children murdered in the pizzeria (including the aforementioned Gabriel) and her body was put into the Golden Freddy animatronic.
- Withered Freddy: An older, withered version of the classic bear animatronic from FNAF 2.
- Shadow Freddy: A shadowy, mysterious version of Freddy.
- Toy Freddy: Also from FNAF 2, this shinier version of the character is toy-like and has a more approachable look.
- Phantom Freddy: A hallucination version of Freddy that is severely damaged and burnt from FNAF 3.
- Nightmare Freddy: One of the most disturbing versions of Freddy, this animatronic has huge, spiked teeth and smaller Freddy heads on its body. A fun fact here is the FNAF community has nicknamed these little heads “Freddles.” Kind of cute for something so horrifying.
- Funtime Freddy: This pink and white version of Freddy appears in Sister Location. Don’t let his pinkness fool you. He’s still a fan of good old-fashioned murder.
- Molten Freddy: Another contender for the most disturbing Freddy iteration, Molten Freddy is a robotic nightmare made up of wires and electronics.
- Rockstar Freddy: Another cuter variation of the character, Rockstar Freddy, is a combination of some of the other iterations of the character.
- Glamrock Freddy: This version of Freddy from FNAF: Security Breach is the first to not try and murder you, as he actively helps the protagonist Gregory and protects him as he is not corrupted like his fellow animatronics.
Bonnie
Bonnie is a purple rabbit animatronic (though his fur later changes to blue). He’s the most aggressive. He is inhabited by the spirit of another murdered child, Jeremy. Bonnie was designed to be the guitarist animatronic of the group, as he is seen with a red electric guitar during his performances.
Let’s check out some of the Bonnie variations found throughout FNAF. You’ll notice some of these are the same as the Freddy variants:
- Withered Bonnie
- Shadow Bonnie
- Toy Bonnie
- Phantom Bonnie
- Nightmare Bonnie
- Rockstar Bonnie
- Spring Bonnie: This yellow version of Bonnie was one of the first versions of Bonnie and one of the first animatronics created. This is the suit that was used to lure the five children away so they could be killed. It also makes a reappearance later on in the series, but we will get to that later.
- Bon-Bon: Bon-Bon is a hand puppet Funtime Freddy uses in Sister Location. Though a much smaller, puppet version, Bon-Bon has the same design as the Bonnie animatronic.
- Glamrock Bonnie: Glamrock Bonnie doesn’t appear in FNAF: Security Breach, but his poster can be seen throughout the pizzaplex. There are also references to him during the game, such as via dialogue lines and security report logs. It remains a mystery as to what happened to him, as he was last seen going into the Gator Golf course before disappearing and being replaced with Montogomery Gator.
Chica
Chica is a chicken animatronic possessed by the murdered spirit of a little girl called Susie. She holds a cupcake named Carl Cupcake on a plate and her behavior is similar to Bonnie, though not quite as aggressive. She also loves pizza. A lot.
Chica’s variants are as follows:
- Withered Chica
- Shadow Chica
- Toy Chica
- Phantom Chica
- Nightmare Chica
- Funtime Chica
- Rockstar Chica
- Glamrock Chica
- Ruin Chica: This version of Chica can only be found in the Ruin DLC for FNAF: Security Breach. She appears as a dilapidated and severely damaged version of her Glamrock design. The animatronic has a grotesque look thanks to the trash bag stuffed into her chest and the melted cheese dripping down her face.
Foxy/ Mangle
Foxy is a fox animatronic who has a specific pirate theme, emphasized by his hook hand and eye patch. He is replaced later down the line by a Mangle, but we are going to keep them under the same category here as Mangle is just a redesigned take on Foxy.
Foxy is possessed by the spirit of a child called Fritz, another who was murdered in the pizzeria in the 80s. Let’s take a look at some of the Foxy variants found throughout the series:
- Withered Foxy
- Nightmare Foxy
- Rockstar Foxy
- Captain Foxy: Captain Foxy is very similar to the original Foxy, but the pirate themes are even more prominent as he wears a large pirate hat alongside a long blue coat with golden trims and accents. He is also wearing more clothes than the rest of the animatronics, as he wears brown pants and a white shirt with a buckled strap across his chest.
- Mangle: Mangle is a pink and white version of Foxy that was introduced to replace him when Foxy was considered too frightening for kids. Mangle is equally horrifying though, as most of its metal exoskeleton is exposed, with the external casing only seen on the head. Mangle is also—as the name would suggest—pretty mangled, with wires hanging everywhere, a missing eye, and appendages where they shouldn’t be.
- Funtime Foxy: Though this is technically a Foxy variant, it looks much more like an intact version of Mangle due to the pink, red, and white color scheme.
Springtrap
Springtrap is a decayed and broken version of the Spring Bonnie suit we mentioned earlier. The animatronic is possessed by William Afton, the man who murdered the children whose spirits possess the other animatronics.
Afton hid in the Spring Bonnie suit when the spirits of the children confronted him, but the faulty spring locks crushed him to death due to a malfunction, leading to him dying and possessing the suit to become Springtrap. It’s a gory fate, but one that is thoroughly deserved.
Circus Baby
This next animatronic appears in the game Sister Location, and she was designed by the aforementioned William Afton to lure children in and kill them. She is possessed by none other than Afton’s daughter Elizabeth, effectively causing him to kill his child by his own creation. This guy really is the worst, but more on him later.
Ballora
Ballora is a ballerina animatronic who also appears in Sister Location. While it isn’t clear if a spirit possesses her, some speculate it could be William Afton’s wife.
Balloon Boy (BB) and JJ
BB and his female counterpart JJ are small, humanoid toy animatronics, but it isn’t clear if they are possessed. Neither BB nor JJ will try to kill or jump-scare the player, but they will make life difficult by doing things such as disabling the flashlight or the door controls.
The Puppet
The Puppet first appears in FNAF 2. It is an animatronic possessed by a young girl named Charlotte Emily, another unfortunate victim of William Afton. The Puppet is also known as The Marionette, and her connection to Afton comes from her father Henry once being Afton’s partner, with the two creating the original Freddy Fazbear animatronics together.
There are also various animatronics in the series we know for sure aren’t possessed by human spirits, including the following:
- Roxanne Wolf
- Montgomery Gator
- Daycare Attendant (Sun and Moon)
- Happy Frog
- Pigpatch
- Nedd Bear
- Mr. Hippo
- Mystic Hippo
- Orville Elephant
Humans
Now we have looked at the most prominent animatronics across the FNAF series, let’s look at some of the important human characters.
William Afton a.k.a. The Purple Man
We’ve mentioned him a few times already due to the heinous crimes he’s committed in the series, but why does William Afton become an evil child-killing murderer? Well, it is never really explained, which makes sense as some people simply are just cold-blooded killers. I’m sure there are fans of the series who have done an in-depth analysis of his character, but there is no concrete evidence of him having any ulterior motives other than being an evil man who wants to kill.
His first suspected victim is Charlotte Emily, the daughter of his business partner, Henry Emily. After her, he goes on to set the FNAF series in motion by killing the five children, who go on to possess the animatronics in which their bodies are hidden.
The Missing Children: Gabriel, Susie, Fritz, Jeremy and Cassidy
These are the children who are killed by Afton and then possess the bodies of the animatronics. Though they are already dead when the story begins, their deaths are a huge part of the FNAF lore.
Charlotte Emily
Much like the missing children, Charlotte’s death is also vital to the narrative of FNAF, as she seems to have been Afton’s first victim. She was also the daughter of Henry Emily, making it a particularly personal murder for Afton. She possesses the animatronic known as The Puppet.
Elizabeth Afton
William’s daughter Elizabeth becomes a victim of the animatronic he created to kill more kids, making for a cruel yet ironic twist in his plans. She possesses the animatronic Circus Baby.
Henry Emily
Afton’s former business partner and the father of the murdered Charlotte, Henry eventually dies while freeing the soul of his daughter by lighting the pizzeria on fire. The fire is also intended to kill Springtrap, but it is unclear whether he escaped or died.
Gregory
Gregory is the child protagonist of FNAF: Security Breach. After being locked inside Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex, he must survive until morning with the help of Glamrock Freddy.
So, that is everything you need to know about the major players throughout the Five Nights at Freddy’s series. With a dark and eerie narrative and painfully tragic characters alongside unnerving jump-scare-filled gameplay, it is no surprise that the series has taken the world by storm since it first began nearly a decade ago.
