Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) took the video game world by storm in 2014, giving players a chance to play as Mike Schmidt, the unlucky night shift security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Think of this pizza place as a fictional knock-off of Chuck E. Cheese—instead of featuring an animatronic mouse, the original Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza featured a host of four main animatronics: Freddy the bear, Chica the chicken, Bonnie the bunny, and Foxy the fox.
Over 10 games, multiple spin-offs, and a movie later, FNAF remains a mainstay in the hearts of horror fans everywhere—but what exactly is this franchise about?
The Lore of FNAF
To call FNAF’s narrative lore “complicated” would be a massive understatement. The 10+ games weren’t released in chronological order, leaving diehard fans to string together the plot pieces for themselves (with one YouTuber, GiBi’s Good Idea Bad Idea, releasing an almost 9-hour video on the topic). If you’re new to the world of FNAF or just want a basic rundown of the franchise’s plot, here are a few key points you need to know:
- The game series revolves around a franchise of restaurants and entertainment complexes that are famous for their animatronic mascots (with Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, and Foxy being some of the most notable ones). In the story, co-founders William Afton and Henry Emily created the franchise together, with the famous Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza gaining popularity in the 1980s.
- Afton is a psychotic serial killer who tragically ends the lives of multiple children at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Their spirits end up possessing the animatronics, which is why they’re able to come alive and “haunt” the restaurant in the games.
- One of the children possessing the animatronics is believed to be Afton’s youngest son. He lost his life at Freddy Fazbear’s Family Diner (the restaurant that came before Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza) in an infamous incident known as the “Bite of ‘83,” when his head was chomped on by an animatronic due to a malfunction with the spring locks in the machinery. This event ultimately led to the diner being closed down.
- The disappearance and deaths of the children occur at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, which opens up after Freddy Fazbear’s Family Diner is closed down. Ultimately, it’s the “Bite of ‘87” that causes the restaurant to close when a security guard gets part of his noggin chomped off by an animatronic.
Note: This is only a bare-bones look at the FNAF lore. The true plot is immensely more complex and convoluted—if you’d really like to take a deeper dive into the iceberg that is Five Nights at Freddy’s, we recommend watching a lore video on YouTube that clearly outlines everything: Crog’s and The Game Theorists’ videos are both great places to start.
FNAF Games
- Five Nights at Freddy’s (2014)
- Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (2014)
- Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 (2015)
- Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 (2015)
- Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location (2016)
- FNaF World (2016), a spin-off game
- Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator (2017)
- Ultimate Custom Night (2018)
- Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted (2019)
- Five Nights at Freddy’s: Special Delivery (2019), a spin-off game
- Fredd in Space 2 (2019), a spin-off game
- Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach (2021)
- Security Breach: Fury’s Rage (2021), a spin-off game
- Freddy in Space 3: Chica in Space (2023), a spin-off game
- Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 (2023)
Does the 2023 FNAF movie follow the plot of the video games?
Yes and no. The 2023 FNAF movie branches into its own unique plotline that reimagines the roles of the franchise’s well-known cast members. It borrows Mike Schmidt, the playable character of the first FNAF video game, and gives him—and the rest of the movie—a plot that differs from the canon video game lore in some ways.
- In the movie, Mike (played by Josh Hutcherson) is the guardian and caretaker of his younger sister Abby (played by Piper Rubio). Haunted by the grief of his younger brother’s abduction years prior, Mike struggles to hold down a job. Through the help of a career counselor (played by Matthew Lillard), he’s able to land a nighttime security gig at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a closed-down family entertainment center and restaurant. However, it doesn’t take long for him to realize that this pizza joint isn’t what it appears to be.
- The movie also repurposes the character of Vanessa (played by Elizabeth Lail), who originally appears in a later game, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach.
