Since the early days of cinema, colour has been used to convey important information. Five Nights At Freddy's is no different but I'd posit colour theory in the series has been a neglected area of analysis. Some people have drawn some widely accepted conclusions but I think its a topic that warrants deeper analysis.
So, lets look at the following questions:
How should we use colour as part of FNAF theorising?
What or who does purple represent in FNAF?
One of the best ways to theory craft is to make hypotheses - statements that make a prediction about your theory's conclusion. This allows us to look at patterns across a series in a broad way, rather than hinging conclusions on specific evidence.
This is particularly important for something as subjective and unspoken as colour - where each colour has a large number of potential meanings. All colours have existing associations. For example, blue can mean cold, calm, air, freedom, inspiration, sky, sea, trust, wisdom and many more just based on existing colour associations. Colours can also be assigned specific artistic, thematic or character associations depending on the work, meaning applying the wrong approach will reach faulty or shaky conclusions.
So, here's my three hypotheses
Hypothesis 1: The colours represent particular characters
Hypothesis 2: The colour design is based on existing colour associations
Hypothesis 3: The colours are used to represent ideas or themes communicated by FNAF specifically
Let's test these ideas one by one
Hypothesis 1: The colours represent particular characters
One of the most common arguments I've heard around the fandom is each color has specific character associations within the series.
For example, people often stipulate that green is the colour of Charlotte - the child inside of The Puppet - due to her wearing a wristband of that colour. Other floated associations are William Afton with Purple, Baby with red and Chica with yellow.
In my opinion, this is the easiest hypothesis to reject. While the idea is sound, there is not as much supporting evidence as you might think.
Let's use Purple as a case study
Purple is undeniably the most important colour in the series, being the color most strongly associated with the series antagonist, William Afton i.e Purple Guy. Does this mean purple implies an impliciy link to William Afton? In my opinion, no.
If we look at the character designs, purple is used on multiple characters with no association to William Afton. For example, Bonnie (unless you think he's blue), Ballora and Funtime Freddy all have predominantly purple designs. Even more characters have purple design elements, including the Puppet, Glamrock Monty and Rockstar Chica, all of whom have no special associations with Afton as far as we can tell.
Even the idea that Afton is purple is debatable, given that his character wears a golden suit. We also have Mike Afton who literally turns purple in Sister Location.
The evidence against this theory gets even stronger when you consider other colours. Let's look at yellow - we have both Sun and Chica - which one is more relevant? Chica isn't even yellow in all of the games. Likewise, pink is associated with Funtime Foxy and Glamrock Chica - does that imply the link between the two? What about light blue, which is used in multiple designs yet has no specific character associations at all? The logic doesn't follow.
In conclusion, I think it's unlikely this is what Scott Cawthon was aiming for. There is little evidence of systemic colour use to represent specific characters.
Hypothesis 2: The colour design is based on existing colour associations
So, let's look at that second hypothesis. What can existing color associations tell us about the character designs?
In my opinion, this is a more fruitful direction. The fact that there are - for example - multiple purple characters suggests that purple is an attribute conveying particular characteristics or themes.
It also explains some interesting quirks in designs going back as far as FNAF 2.
Take Mangle. Unlike all the other toy variants which mirror the original's colours, Mangle is predominantly white and pink, setting them apart from Foxy and the rest of the animatronics. Why is this? Could it be that these colours signify Mangle's personality or attributes in some way?
The colour white has associations with purity, coldness and innocence. Pink has very strong associations with love, kindness and femininity. Red, the colour of their lips and cheeks, is strongly associated with danger. This paints a picture when it comes to Mangle's personality - at least in theory. They appear innocent and kind but present a hidden danger.
This also makes the sudden shift in animatronic colour design in Sister Location, Pizzeria Simulator and Security Breach far more meaningful. It makes each character design communicative, rather than just aesthetic. In my opinion, this is especially so in Security Breach where there is very little uniformity in design.
However, this still doesn't tell us what each of the colours means. Looking at existing colour associations, they don't always seem to give us meaningful or helpful attributes.
Going back to purple, it's a colour with more ambiguous meaning, with lots of weaker associations. It's linked to royalty, nobility, luxury, power, ambition, devotion, peace, pride, mystery, independence and magic. None of these aspects appear to fit or have particular relevance. This means we need to look deeper, considering colour use across the series.
Hypothesis 3: The colours are used to represent ideas or themes communicated by FNAF specifically
Now this is something I personally agree with. I think that, by working backwards, we can discover more about what each colour 'means' in FNAF.
Some suggest that purple is the colour of evil, as Afton's character is associated with evil deeds. However, while this is a logical assertion, it actually doesn't have much evidence. As far as we know, none of the other characters with purple in their design are especially evil. So what could it mean?
In my opinion, there are several particularly notable uses of purple that can help guide us.
During Sister Location, after being scooped and inhabited by Ennard, Michael looks in the mirror to see his eyes are purple. Ennard did not have purple as part of his design so I think this shows the purple colour must have a symbolic/thematic meaning.
Next, we have Security Breach. When we upgrade Freddy, his claws and bowtie become purple. While his voice is impacted, this doesn't have any effect on his character. In fact, from a game narrative POV it does the opposite - enabling Gregory to access and battle against Burntrap. That said, I will note that Burntrap himself has purple eyes and his influence on Freddy has this colour which adds a layer of complexity/a counterpoint to things.
We also have the princess in Princess Quest. As part of the puzzles, she summons a purple shadow to enable her to light torches her other form cannot. This purple form of light is just as important as its golden counterpart in solving the puzzle.
With this in mind, I think the series is indicating that purple isn't a colour with purely negative associations.
Some take Purple to mean 'shadow' and I think that's a fair assumption. However, given that purple is now often used in the game design for Ruin and Help Wanted 2 (Vanny in graffiti and in Ruin's digital realm), I think there may be a thematic reason for the colour use.
Personally, based on purple's use across the series, I think it instead symbolises the concept of the greater good - where necessary evils and shadowy deeds must take place for a larger goal. This links back to the game's theme of science and experiments - where people are sacrificed for the sake of bettering mankind or scientific discovery. It still represents negative activities but ones with a wider, positive goal in mind. It could be argued that this is what Purple Guy does - he sacrifices the children to experiment with soul possession.
This idea also makes Michael's purple eyes make more sense - Ennard has instilled in him a need to find and end his father - and arguably Freddy's - for the greater good.
This also provides a better symbolic meaning for Glitchtrap's purple eyes. He's the Greater Good virus. A virus that takes over your body, locking your 'self' away in the interests of pursuing the greater good. Finding the tapes could even be seen as a metaphorical representation of the process of becoming radicalized, with each tape illuminating the bigger picture and need for the greater good.
The more you approach purple in character designs with this mindset, the more sense it makes. For example, the Puppet's purple tear marks become symbolic of the painful act of reviving the dead kids in inferior metal bodies.
With his purple hat, Fredbear becomes a symbol of necessary evil, both Crying Child's friend and tormentor - as part of William's experiments - and our guide through FNAF World.
If this line of logic is correct, it may suggest that colour has more meaning in the series than we first thought. However, its also possible I'm just overthinking things and its just not that deep :).
I'm working on more analysis of the other colours and character designs generally so follow me for more.
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