If you want to understand Five Nights at Freddy's, the concept of symbolism is vital. The games are filled with it, presenting multiple layers of story.
Masks are a concept with plenty of existing symbolism. Five Nights at Freddy's capitalizes on this.
Masks are associated with acting and theatrics. It literally hides a person's face, presenting a false facade.
It often goes hand-in-hand with the concept of deception or hiding
The idea of 'masking your emotion' is a metaphorical concept of wearing a different expression to hide your true feelings
'Masking' is also a concept associated with Autism - an individual might 'mask' to appear neurotypical
So how does this relate to FNAF?
Believe it or not, ALL of the animatronics are wearing a mask. The series goes through pains to show the casings are detachable - endoskeletons can be stripped of them. Underneath though, they are just machines that can be redressed with new casings and reprogrammed into someone else. Without casings, they hold no identity and are indistinguishable from one another.
We also see kids wearing masks during the 'Bite of 83' and Happiest Day minigames. The big difference, though, is that they still hide a human underneath. Fundamentally, that person is still an individual and the mask is automatically more theatrical in nature.
Going one step further, Vanny wears not only a mask but a full costume in Security Breach. This essentially hides her form totally from view, concealing her identity completely. In the Ruin DLC, we will also see a return of the mask from Help Wanted, judging from the trailer.
We also see signs that masks are being used symbolically on display within Security Breach. Not only are they collectibles, there is also a display implying the animatronics wear multiple 'masks'.
You might think this is where the use of masks end but this is where things get even more interesting.
In Five Nights at Freddy's 2, the player character uses a mask to hide from the animatronics.
You see, there may be a minor glitch in the system, something about robots seeing you as an exoskeleton without his costume on, and wanting to stuff you in a suit, so hey, we've given you an empty Freddy Fazbear head, problem solved! You can put it on anytime, and leave it on for as long as you want.
You are literally 'masking' yourself to hide and hide your true form. You have to appear like a robot in order to avoid detection and 'being stuffed into a suit'. The animatronics want to make you like them - forced into a mask, even though it will cost you your (human) life.
The most important use of a mask, though, is a secondary character who often gets overlooked.
The puppet and her derivative, Nightmarrione.
This character wears a white mask with dark black eyes, a wide black 'smile', tear stains and red rosey cheek patches. This is reminiscent of a classical theatrical tragedy mask. There is no trace of a face underneath, as if 'masking' is the only identity they have.
But, if you think for a moment, this character is even more unusual in that it isn't an animatronic.
The game goes through pains to show the puppet is more of an ethereal entity, with limbs that can extend and morph. Why would Scott Cawthorn put a puppet into a story about animatronics?
Symbolism.
Puppets are not programmable, nor do they have lives of their own. They are merely props able to be used and controlled by a puppeteer. They lack agency and a life of their own. They don't have a 'self'. Yet, the puppet does have a will and independence of her own, showing 'items' other than robots can become possessed in the series. This does bring the keypad in Sister Location and the phone that plays messages early games into question…
Why - if anything can become possessed - does William Afton keep persisting with animatronics? Who knows…
Regardless, all this tells us something about the game series' themes. It is about the roles and constraints we suffer as humans.
The animatronics are all powered/possessed/containing the remnant of past humans. They are forced into a form where they permanently wear a mask, exist only to perform and can be reprogrammed at will. You can avoid this by pretending to be an animatronic and wearing a mask.
This may be an extended metaphor for:
The social and professional roles we wear
The need to 'mask' and hide emotions
The cage of being a public figure, unable to present a full human self (e.g think Hollywood and youtubers)
Living under surveillance and social pressure
Living with secrets you cannot share
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