William Afton (Five Nights at Freddy's)

"you can't"

- The Killer

The Killer (or the Purple Man or Violet Guy) is the unseen, yet true main antagonist in the Five Nights at Freddy's series. He is only mentioned in apparent newspaper excerpts on posters in the game.

The Killer was a man who dressed up as one of the mascots at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza and used his kid-friendly disguise to lure five children into the back of the pizzeria. He then murdered them and stuffed their remains into the mascots' costumes. He was arrested the following day and charged, but his current status and influence on the game's events is unknown (it is also speculated that he wasn't really arrested and the one who was caught was simply a scapegoat). The prequel states that the killer was a purple man who possible could somehow associated with the Puppet (if the Puppet had anything to do with the murders) or is even possibly one of the security guards.

Role in the series
In the prequel, The Killer isn't mentioned up until the 6th night (that presumably takes place after the murders), Phone Guy states the place is closed down because someone (heavily implied to be the killer) stole a spare yellow suit, and none of the Animatronics are behaving right.

In the second game, The Killer also appears in the very cryptic "Death Mini-Games" which are sometimes triggered when the player dies. Failing and even winning the game will result in a jumpscare (except for one).

Take Cake to the Children
He first appears in the "Take Cake To the Children" game where have to please a bunch of children by giving them cake, all while playing as Freddy.

As the player tries to serve cake to all six kids, a purple car will pull up outside and a purple person gets out, then proceeds to kill the sad child (who actually appears to stop crying and then cry even harder while this is happening).

The sad child will then turn gray when dead. All the while, letters are called out, spelling "S-A-V-E-H-I-M", and the player begins to move slower and slower. If the player is able to make all the children green at the same time, the player will be unable to move and will be forced to watch the children turn red. Freddy may have tried to stop him since the animatronics protect the kids, but once again failed. Failing the game will result in a Golden Freddy jumpscare, winning will result in a Marionette jumpscare.

S.A.V.E T.H.E.M
In a minigame where Freddy is following The Puppet (while yelling 'Save Them" constantly), there is a very rare chance that near the end, the Killer will appear and kill Freddy while saying "You Can't", the game may crash if this happens.

Foxy Minigame
Playing as Foxy, the player walks out of what appears to be the curtained Pirates Cove and into a room with children, who celebrate his arrival. All five children appear to be happy, with the bottom one offset so it looks sad due to the black bars. The player is then returned to the curtained area and has to repeat this twice.

On the third playthrough, the purple man who killed the crying child in the Take Cake to the Children minigame (see above) is seen standing in the corner of the starting room, smiling mockingly at Foxy. When Foxy approaches the children, they seem lifeless. It is possible that the cake was poisoned by the killer and Foxy did not know it (also further suggesting that the killer worked for the restaurant). Therefore, Foxy inadvertently helped the killer. The minigame then ends with Foxy's jumpscare.

Five Nights at Freddy's 3
The Killer appears in Five Nights at Freddy's 3 as the true main antagonist, he also appears in the minigames that act as cutscenes between each night. Instead of murdering children, however, he tears the animatronics apart in order to protect himself from the kids he murdered in the previous game. In the Night 5 minigame, you play as the ghost of the Marionette and chase the terrified Killer around. After the Marionette and the spirits of the original animatronics corner the killer, he hides inside of Springtrap in order to protect himself. After maliciously mocking the spirits, his laugh is cut short as the suit closes in on him (presumably caused by the suit's spring trap, hence the name of the character), destroying the Killer and ending his physical reign of terror, but also allowing him to possess the animatronic.

In the ending of the game, "Fazbear's Fright" burns down, presumably destroying both the animatronics and the remains of the Killer's body, ending him once and for all.

In the minigame "Happiest Day" shows the spirits of the the children leave the animatronics, meaning the Killer's death finally set them free into the afterlife.

Personality
Not much is know about his personality, but he seemed to enjoy killing the children as he always smiles. He may be traumatized with fear or guilt following the murders, causing him to return to the Pizzeria and destroy the animatronics (although this could have been an attempt to hide any evidence.)

Theories

 * Recently, several fans of this game have theorized that the Killer is really the security guard that the player plays as; Mike Schmidt and later Jeremy Fitzgerald. Several hints throughout the game also indicate that this is all in the Killer's mind:
 * In the game, if the player managed to beat all five days, the player will receive a check of $120.00, and since the player has to endure six hours (12:00am to 6:00am) for five days, the player receives $4 an hour. This hints that this game takes place somewhere between late 1980s and to 1995, but sometime after the The Bite of '87. Also the check player gets upon beating all 5 nights is dated for November 1987.
 * It's also been hinted that the Killer may've been the one responsible for the Bite of '87 for tampering with the animatronic, which resulted in one of them biting the frontal lobe off a child. If the player endures the 7th night, the player receives a pink slip (or a termination slip), for tampering with the animatronics, general unprofessionalism and odor. So, for revenge, the Killer disguised himself as a mascot, lured five children and stuffed them in the animatronic, hoping that the place will be forced to close down.
 * Throughout the game, the player encounter several hallucinations. One of them is a split second of the words; "It's Me."
 * When the player observes the other rooms via security cameras, one may encounter various messages appearing and disappearing, including the words; "It's Me" again.
 * Even though the reports never say that a former employee was the Killer, the killer must've had access and knowledge of the Employees Only Room very much like Schmidt himself.
 * While in the security room, the player can spot cobweb and right window of security room is seemingly broken if turn on the light for Chica to be there, indicating that Freddy Fazbear's Pizza is already closed down.
 * There's a possibility that Phone Guy is The Killer due to the fact that The Killer had a phone on his hand and a security guard badge on him.
 * The killer is also rumored to be The Puppet, due to strong supporting evidence in the minigames but due to evidence in the Cake minigame (after child outside gets killed puppet jumpscare can be seen) this may not be true.
 * A theory is that Golden Freddy, instead of possibly being the 5th child murdered, is really the Killer reborn as an immensely powerful entity with powers even the Puppet does not possess. Golden Freddy itself also implied to be the very animatronic that the Killer once modified into actual costume before committing his killing spree.
 * In the Five Nights at Freddy's 2 trailer if one plays "London Bridge is Falling Down" backwards the children say what appears to be "The killer is out. Mike kill all. Can you hear me now? Mike kill all. Mike kill all. That is enough." Furthering proof Mike may be the Killer.

Trivia

 * The Killer seems to like Foxy as he smiles at him as he exits Pirate's Cove in one of the Death Minigames. If this is why The Killer was smiling, it further supports the theory that he is Phone Guy, as of this line, "Did Foxy ever appear in the hallway? Probably not. Like I said, he was always my favourite."
 * If the minigames are based on true events within the game (the crying child and the children in the Pirate Cove minigame), The Killer has murdered 10 to 11 (the same number of animatronics) children.
 * The Killer's motivation for killing the children is still a mystery, although many people assume he did simply for fun.
 * People assume that the Phone Guy is the Killer due to him holding what appears to be a phone and wearing a badge in the minigames.
 * The Killer is similar to HABIT.
 * Both are implicated to be the hidden driving force behind the story.
 * Both of their symbolic color is purple.
 * Both murder children.
 * Both are described as a "smiling man".
 * HABIT's favorite food is pizza, The Killer's massacre takes place in a pizzeria.
 * Both are enigmatic villains.
 * Neither of them seem to have any motivation for the atrocities they commit other than for the fun of it.
 * Their both Rabbits.
 * The Killer is noticably the only Five Night's at Freddy's character to be truly evil and malevolent.
 * The Killer ironically dies the same way he killed the children: being stuffed inside an animatronic suit.