Toys have always been an integral part of the Five Nights at Freddy's series. After all, plushies feature prominently not only in the games but as merchandise in the real world.
For many years, I ignored them in my theorising - chalking them up to a clever marketing ploy and quirk of Scott Cawthorn's design choices. However, on revisiting the early games, one game in particular made me pause.
In FNAF 4, we have multiple plushies that play an integral role in the story. We have Foxy, whose nightmare variant turns into a plush when you close the closet door. We have Plushtrap, who sneaks up on the player in the dark and you must flash to get him to stop on an x on the floor. And, of course, we have the purple-hatted golden fredbear plush that accompanies Crying Child.
This proves that plushies are not just a superficial detail with no relevance to the plot. Plushies mean something to the themes of the story.
So what do they mean? This theory builds on the foundations I discuss in Trauma Theory, which envisions each iteration of the animatronic as a reflection of trauma. They are fundamentally a singular entity, their character design is there to indicate their state of mind and position within the band.
Fundamentally, I think the plushies echo the themes of the series that the animatronics are just items there to be manipulated, both in-world and within the real world.
In-world, animatronics exist only to perform and follow their programming. Yet, they contain the souls of real people. You could even go as far as to say the animatronics are - themselves - employees of Fazbear Entertainment, doomed to a limited life of performance and servitude. They are just elaborate corporate toys - items of manipulation - designed to capture and lure in children.
This concept is crystalised in FNAF 2, where we get the introduction of the Toy animatronics. Why is 'toy' in their name? It's not because of their cuter character designs, it's an explicit reference to their purpose as more attractive, high tech means of luring in children. We also have the Mangle - a literal toy designed for children to tear down and rebuild, making this idea explicit.
This means that the animatronics are not the real monsters. The humans that built them, programmed, and potentially remotely controlled them are the ones that are the real criminals. This is a great allegory for any employee of a shady organisation manipulated into deeds they don't want to do. The animatronics are stuck in a system and powerless to change their fates.
How plushies fit in
How does this link to plushies? Well, plushies are naturally considered harmless playthings associated with comfort and friendship. I believe their inclusion is designed to represent the friendly side of the animatronics - who are themselves representative of human characters.
If we go back to FNAF 3, this makes the inclusion of plushies more meaningful. Plushtrap represents the softer side of Springtrap and - for Crying Child - his continuing role of father despite his rough exterior. Likewise, Nightmare Foxy transforming back into a plushie when the closet door has closed indicates that Foxy/Mike is both a friend/brother and threatening presence to Crying Child.
Golden Fredbear is where things get even more interesting. This plush is shown to be a companion to Crying Child, comforting him and promising to put him back together. His nightmare variant is even stated to be 'friendly and sympathetic… most of the time' in the Original Character Encyclopedia. Yet, we still go up against Nightmare Fredbear as an enemy - meaning he is both a threat and a friend to Crying Child, just like Foxy.
Many theorists have suggested that Nightmare Fredbear reflects Crying Childs fear of getting bitten or memories of bite. However, I think the Silver Eyes trilogy gives us a different, more symbolic suggestion. Golden Freddy/Fredbear is stated to contain Mike. Therefore, his appearance as an enemy suggests that Crying Child fears what his brother can do to him. However, Fredbear is ultimately the one who says he will put Crying Child back together, showing he can also be a force for good.
Why is Golden Freddy/Fredbear Mike? That's a theory for another day. However I want to point out that base Fredbear doesn't feature in the Original Character Encyclopedia just like Mike is missing.
This theory also gives an answer to why Glitchtrap turns into a plush at the end of Help Wanted. It represents him becoming trapped in a friendly, harmless form.
In the real world
I think that - through these themes - the series is also reflecting the nature of characters and their creators. We know from both FNAF world and Security Breach: Fury's Rage that Scott Cawthorn is fond of breaking the fourth wall. He had himself - the creator - as the final enemy to be defeated in both games, showing that he himself is integral to the lore. This is also reflected in the fact that the FNAF 4 house has pictures of his own family within it, creating a level of metafiction. The inclusion of plushies that have real world equivalents only strengthen these links. We also see signs of this in Security Breach, where scenes from the VR Help Wanted are hidden away in the pizzaplex.
However, this line of thinking also brings up the nature of being a creator of fiction. Characters you make come to life may have elements of reality to them, such as being based on a real person or events (fictionalised to varying degrees). It's a common technique to create self-inserts or fictionalised versions of parts of yourself. However, there is always a line between fact and fiction. Characters are the creators toys, they can be used and put into scenarios that don't reflect the real world equivalent's real life. They may be used to explore dark themes or concepts within the safe space of fiction. So it is vitally important to keep that division in mind while theorising. After all, even if there are some elements of reality fictionalised into metafiction, we can never tell where that line is as an outsider. It's important not to assume or make judgements about real world events from any work of fiction.
コメント