Hi Guys! This is my stab at a timeline for the FNAF games. MatPat is my favorite theorist, and I agree with the majority of his theories. This is my response to his, "choose your theory" question. The major debate in his live stream is Dream Theory, Timeline Theory, or both? I will confess that I haven't had time to watch the whole live stream, so the professional theorists on there may have discussed the issues and problems I have with the theories.
I own NOTHING but my thoughts, which are about the Game Theorist theories. These are MY theories, but they are in response to MATPAT's theories. Please make that distinction. I will use different colors to make things easier.
NOTE: doesn't allow color. This will make it harder.
NOTE: Please go watch all the Game Theories on FNAF, or you will understand NONE of this.
While there is definitely a lot of proof to the Dream Theory, especially with the Grandfather Clock Reveal, I do have a few problems.
MatPat has made it clear that something had to frighten the child in FNAF 4 and points out that the murder of five children would do the trick, making nightmares. However, why would the nightmare be about the ANIMATRONICS chasing him? Why wouldn't the nightmare feature the Purple Guy, the one who killed the kids? This is also a valid point for the argument that the child only saw Purple Guy helping an employee into a suit.
Scott confirmed MatPat's FNAF 2 theory, which wouldn't make sense if it were all a dream.
What is The Puppet? Why would he be in the child's dream?
Why are the dreams so detailed?
Similarly, there are several problems with the timeline theory.
How could the child have witnessed the murders if they took place in a separate location? The child only goes to Fredbear's, while the murders took place at the FIRST Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, the place where the Fredbear and Friends characters headline.
As MatPat pointed out, there are issues with the Grandfather Clock and Hospital alarm sounds.
Scott mentioned Chica's beak, and why it had fallen off.
What character does the spirit of the child inhabit?
Please keep in mind that I don't have a perfect theory, but I think that it's a satisfying mix of both theories.
FREDBEAR FAMILY DINER
Our story begins at Fredbear Family Diner, where it's been proven over and over that the Purple Guy, who has some unknown, crazy attachment to the franchise, kills a child whose angry spirit becomes The Puppet. The Puppet becomes obsessed with finding his murderer, but never gets the chance to act on these feelings, because the restaurant is closed and sold to Fazbear Entertainment.
FREDBEAR'S & FREDDY FAZBEAR'S PIZZA
As MatPat explains, the year is 1983, seen on the child's television. Freddy has been redesigned into Golden Freddy, with his new partner, Golden Bonny. Both animatronics are springtrap suits, which are normal animatronics that walk around and sing, with one new feature. The parts inside can be wound back by springs, allowing for employees to wear the suits and walk around. These two suits appear in Fredbear's, a line that also has plastic toys and plushies, as well as a TV show called Fredbear and Friends, which inspired a sister restaurant, known as Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. The fact that these two are open at the same time is proven by Phone Guy in FNAF 3 mentioning, "...an unfortunate incident at a sister location."
WARNING! This is where my theory is drastically different from that of MatPat, so bear with me. I do have proof and I use logic.
This is the point where Timeline Theory problem 1) comes in:
How could the child have witnessed the murders if they took place in a separate location? The child only goes to Fredbear's, while the murders took place at the FIRST Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, the place where the Fredbear and Friends characters headline.
My theory for this is simple. He WAS at the first Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, but not in any of the games. Why would the child, who loves Freddy Fazbear pizza SO much, and watches Fredbear and Friends be content with the restaurant that only has two of the characters, who don't look like the ones in the show, because they're gold? Because he'd already been to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. He was there with his friends, and saw them get led away by the Purple Guy, who was dressed in the Golden Bonny suit, newly delivered by Fredbear's, but unused in the show.
This brings me to the next part of my theory, which answers Timeline Theory problem 2): What character does the spirit of the child inhabit?
Well, in order to answer this, I'll need to change something that's been accepted with no real proof: 5 children were murdered here. I know, I know, the posters in FNAF 1 say five, blah blah blah. But we don't know what restaurant those were talking about. In fact, those posters were talking about the second set of murdered children, the ones from the restaurant in FNAF 2. And no, I'm not just saying that because I want my theory to be right, I have actual proof. The posters say the children disappeared on June 26, in the summer time. In FNAF 2, Phone Guy says, "...welcome to your new summer job at the new and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza."
MatPat has already proven that these tapes were recorded months before Jeremy takes up the Night Guard job, months after the new Freddy Fazbear's Pizza was held responsible for the deaths of five more murdered children. I just find the thought that both sets of murdered children were murdered in the summer to be a little strange.
As to the number of children murdered in the first Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, I submit that there were only FOUR murders in that particular killing spree. Again, I have proof. The child, as MatPat pointed out, stands in the middle of his plushies and says, "These are my friends." MatPat points out that this is a little strange and introduces the theory that the murdered children actually were his friends, and that he links the spirits of his friends with the plushies. Evidence for this can be found at the end of FNAF 4, where you see the plushies with Psychic Friend Fredbear and the child. How many plushies are there? FOUR!
The next day, the murderer is taken into custody, but released due to a lack of evidence. This is because the murders took place in the back room, which is invisible to the animatronics and cameras. The place eventually closes down because the suits start to reek. All of this is represented by the Foxy: Go! Go! Go! minigame, explained by MatPat.
As for Psychic Friend Fredbear, he represents the child's mind, which can't comprehend the horror of watching his friends be killed and stuffed into reason Psychic Friend Fredbear looks like Golden Freddy is because Golden Freddy is the only suit not connected to the murders, and is safe in the child's mind. After the four children disappear, the child's frightened parents leave, moving to a new place, which, coincidentally enough, is the site of the sister location, Fredbear's. This makes sense, because it explains why the child is so scared of the yellow suits, because in his mind, Golden Bonny is the murderer of his four friends! This theory even explains Scott's remark, "What is seen in shadows is easily misunderstood in the mind of a child." The reason that the child freaks out about seeing someone helping a fellow employee getting his costume on is because it sends him into flashbacks about the horrible events he witnessed, and makes him think that the Purple Guy is at Fredbear's and is coming for him, making him paranoid of everyone in a suit, even if it's a Golden Freddy suit.
A few days later, the child is stuffed into the mouth of Golden Freddy, the character he trusted the most, sending him into a coma and eventual death. In his death scene, MatPat explains that The Puppet is telling the child that he is broken, and that he will save the child and all of his friends. The spirit of the child is put in the Golden Freddy suit, given evidence by The Happiest Day minigame, where the child is seen wearing a Golden Freddy mask.
MatPat continues to explain that this event caused the springtrap suits to be sent to the back room in Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. However, Phone Guy says something that makes me think one of MatPat's earlier theories were correct. Phone Guy says, "After learning of an unfortunate incident at a sister location, involving multiple and simultaneous spring lock failures, the company has deemed the suits temporarily unfit for employees." MatPat already explained the multiple spring lock bit could mean one suit, and I agree that both suits failing at once is a little coincidental, but if moisture, or an environmental issue caused it, then both could malfunction. The child's death wasn't what made the suits unusable, the deaths of two employees were. The suits malfunctioned, causing two deaths, which led to Shadow Freddy and Shadow Bonny, and the closing of Fredbear's. Think about it. Fazbear Entertainment has had a LONG history of dodging blame and is known for the lack of care towards employee safety. This is the only time throughout the games where can't be blamed for the tragic event. Why would they acknowledge it and deem the suits unfit for wearing when they didn't even malfunction?! The child was stuffed inside the mouth of Golden Freddy, which triggered the spring locks to release, not some malfunction. Fazbear Entertainment doesn't take responsibility for deaths that actually are their fault, public image or no, so there's no way they'd take responsibility for one that actually WASN'T their fault.
THE SECOND FREDDY FAZBEAR'S PIZZA
Fast forward to 1987, when the second Freddy Fazbear's Pizza opens, featuring new animatronics, based on the plastic action figures, that can roam around at night and are equipped with facial recognition software to keep out criminals. However, Purple Guy returns as the day guard and kills five more children, who only remember that they were killed by a day guard before being put into the toy animatronics by The Puppet. A guard gets fired for tampering with the animatronics, who begin acting strangely towards adults, and Jeremy gets put on the day shift, just in time for the enraged spirits to attack, making Jeremy the Bite of '87 victim. The restaurant closes down yet again, and the second set of victims may have found peace, believing that they did indeed kill their murderer. I say this because they never reappear in the games again (except as actual toys), even as hallucinations.
THE LAST FREDDY FAZBEAR'S PIZZA
Freddy Fazbear's Pizza opens for the last time in the run down site of the original Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, after the toy animatronics have been replaced by the original cast. Being there stirs up their spirits, who are freed when the Purple Guy destroys the suits, and they attack the person that they have finally identified as the Purple Guy, who hides in the Springtrap suit and dies.
Now, there is a lot more to this theory than an accurate timeline. There is a place for all of this, including the identity of the Purple Guy, where the dreams fit in, and the good versus bad endings in FNAF 4.
THE PURPLE GUY
Now, most of you probably noticed that my color-coding gave away who I think is the Purple Guy. Yes, I agree with the MatPat theory that the Purple Guy is Phone Guy. MatPat explains it better than I can, but I would like to add that he always has a chipper, almost bored attitude when talking about death, and has no fear of the animatronics, going on about how Foxy is his favorite and how he hates The Puppet. The only times he sounds upset are when he's talking about the spring lock suits. In one call, he says, "Someone used one of the suits. We had a spare one in the back- a yellow one. Someone used it." Now, he knows that these tapes serve as an alibi of sorts, so he sounds scared, but it is very fake sounding, or at least it sounds like he's about to laugh. In this other tape from FNAF 3, he says, "This is not a break room, and should not be considered a place for employees to hide and/or congregate. And under NO circumstance should a customer be taken into this room and out of the main show area. Management also has been made aware that the spring Bonny animatronic has been noticeably moved." This is the only time he sounds angry, when people are poking around in the back room, poking around with HIS spring lock suits. One guard was fired for tampering with the suits, which could very well be the guard who was trying to mess with the suits to investigate. Or maybe it's another alibi. Either way, Purple Guy isn't happy. MatPat pointed out all the ways that it would make sense for to be the Phone Guy, including the fact that we are meant to trust him, the person who the animatronics hate SO much that his voice over the phone wakes them up every night and leads them to the office where the new guard is trying to protect himself from the murderous animatronics. Remember this, because it's part of the next bit.
THE DREAM THEORY and Good vs Bad endings
This is where the Dream Theory connects to the Timeline theory, and all hinges on the child from FNAF 4. He's been turned into Golden Freddy and is witness to his friends' hunt for the Purple Guy in order to avenge themselves. Only, they're attacking a lot of innocent people, a lot of innocent guards, and the child doesn't want that. He doesn't want his friends to become murderers, but he's powerless to stop them, because Golden Freddy is in suit mode, unable to walk around.
In the good ending, you see four empty masks, signaling that the spirits moved on. Golden Freddy is not among them, because he never needed the murder of the Purple Guy to move on. In the bad ending, the spirits are still angry, and Golden Freddy is in the background, witness to his friends' crimes and continuing hatred. The guilt of not being able to stop his friends eats away at Golden Freddy, who constantly has nightmares about the innocent security guards that his friends are attacking.
That's right. The levels we play through are dreams, the dreams of the child trapped inside Golden Freddy. MatPat was right when he said that it seemed like the child would be playing the part of the nightguard. That's because he is. He's powerless to stop his friends, so his guilt makes him relive over and over what the night guards are facing. He even dreams of his old room, and his friends have become so twisted in their hatred that they appear as horrifying versions of themselves and attack him, destroying any of his old memories of the fun he used to have with the animatronics. Golden Freddy is forced to listen to the Purple Guy, someone the night guards trust, but whose voice awakens his friends and bring them running to kill their murderer over and over. All of FNAF 3 is a nightmare, the guilt of scaring a man into a suit that he bleeds out in coming back to haunt Golden Freddy, reminding him that he's just as guilty of murder as his friends.
Like most dreams, memories resurface. Toy Chica doesn't have a beak, because he remembers the toy in his past whose beak fell off, and the other five murdered children chase the night guard in toy form, their own hatred clouding their judgement. He hears the grandfather clocks and the hospital alarms because those are the noises linked in his mind with waking up, with completing and making it through each night.
Sometimes, he sees himself in his dream, a vision that wakes him up and brings him out of the nightmare. He sees his slumped over self, and the words "It's Me," flash as he recognizes the animatronic he's trapped in. This shock wakes him up, a jumpscare of sorts, until the next night when he will have the same dream.
You see, MatPat showed us that the Good Ending is something that the player must physically do. It's not what actually happened. The good ending is Golden Freddy's dream when he is able to save his friends, to allow them to pass on. In reality, they are all still trapped, full of hatred, and always out for revenge. Purple Guy has turned them all into murderers, something that constantly haunts Golden Freddy as he tries to survive in his dreams, tries to make all the night guards they killed stay alive...tries to save his friends from the monsters they've become. They will never forgive, and Golden Freddy will never forget.
Well, that's it guys. My theory, in a nutshell is that the child in FNAF 4 was stuffed into Golden Freddy, who helped kill Purple Guy and now feels guilty. We play through his dreams as his guilt makes him relive the deaths of the innocent security guards and their fight to stay alive, while also giving Golden Freddy the chance to dream that he saved his friends.
Please tell me what you think!
